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Rant 07 - Magic System

Today's topic is the magic system I'm gonna be following in Little Tentus. As the Cast page indicates, magic is a big part of the character's lives, but it's not as simple a system as you see in most games and literature.

At the bottom of the page is a little image that shows the basic layout of the 12 magic classes. Each class can be mixed with another class to form a new class (for example, Earth and Storm equally mixed create the Sandstorm class). Such mixings are not as powerful as a single "pure" class, but they do have their benefits- they are capapable of either very special tasks or they have more rounded capabilities- it depends both on the mix and the user.

On top of that, the mix does not have to be equal- it is actually more common for magic users to be primarily one class with lesser talent in the other. An Air mage with Fire as their secondary talent is officially classed as a "Foehn mage", and can sometimes cast fireballs, even though Air mages shouldn't be able to handle fire.

This means there are really 276 magic classes: 12 pure classes, 132 equal mixes, and another 132 unequal mixes. For simplicity's sake, I'm only going to go over the 12 pure classes and their general characteristics.

• Fire: One of the most destructive classes, it require great strength to master. Usually used for combat and destruction, but has been used in forging. Fire mages tend to be extremely aggressive and clever, and all of them are seriously injured by their own magic sooner or later.
• Astro: The stars and other heavenly bodies are studied by Astromancers. This field has no introductory-level combat spells, but it does have devastating high-level spells. Often used for prediction and foresight magic. Astromancers tend to be aloof and prideful, but generally wise.
• Air: Air magic is often used for observation and transportation, but it's greatest strength lies in communication. Not terribly useful in combat by itself, but it can augment other spellcasters significantly. Air mages tend to be easily amused and distractable, and are often musical.
• Storm: Storm magic applies to violent and peaceful weather equally, but the easily turned nature of Storm mages earned them their name. They commonly used lightning and torrential rain in combat, to great effect. Deceptive magic comes easily to Storm mages.
• Water: Water mages are usually quite peaceful and make great healers, but if pushed long enough they can be extremely frightening. Ice is a common aspect of Water combat, though waves of water are pretty effective. Water magic has great purifying aspects, and can also be used for transportation.
• Nature: Nature magic is deeply tied to living creatures, especially plants. A Nature mage can become an amazing healer, and are usually very peaceful people. However, Nature combat is extremely vicious, frequently turning weapons against their masters, or calling up the local plants to attack.
• Earth: Earth mages are patient and steady, hard to get into motion. The Earth magics are usually used for construction, but they can be used for battle-wide attack spells with great effect. Earth magic is best suited for large-scale spells, making small-scale spells difficult.
• Beast: Beast magic is like Nature magic in that it relies on living creature, usually animals. Though usually used for augmenting existing creatures, Beast magic can also be used for controlling the actions of others through instinct. Beast mages are known to be extremely passionate.
• Necro: Necromancy is the most disliked of all magics, because it deals directly with death or raising the dead. Necromancy can be used for short, devastating one-on-one battles, but widespread necromancy is impossible. A Necromancer will usually be secretive and grim in personality.
• Mind: Mind magic deals with logic, numbers, and language. Mind magic can be used for translation and encoding to great effect, and is commonly used in records. Mind mages rarely fight directly, but help command battles. They tend to be smart but distant from their fellow mages.
• Order: Used for justice, healing, and clarity. Order magic depends on self-sacrifice and purity, which means a Order mage is exactly as powerful as their personality allows for. Many governments rely on Order magic to run their judicial systems, and many armies are led by Order mages.
• Soul: The hardest of all magics to teach, Soul magic fluctuates in strength depending on everyone nearby, and directly feeds off and affects their emotions. An Soul mage is often a powerful speaker, and a great augment to other mages, but they are extremely fickle and have poor control.

As immediately noticeable from the image below, the last four magics (necro, mind, order, and soul) are separated out from the other eight magics. This separation has been an eternal problem for theorists in Yggdrasil, because it seriously disjoints all systems that need to cover both the 4 and the 8. While the 8 magics (usually called the "outer magics") are directly related to each other and aspects of the world, the "inner magics" are only loosely connected to each other and mainly deal with the inner world. Additionally, mixes between the inner and outer magics tend to be less successful than outer mixes.

The solution usually agreed upon is as seen below- the inner magics are held within the outer magics, and can be rotated and repositioned in relation to the outer magics as needed. The configuration below is most common because Necro mixes best with fire, Order with water, Mind with air, and Soul with Earth. (Many mages personally disagree with this statement, because the typical personalities of these mages often clash- Mind mages and Air mages are usually at each others' throats in a week).

As the descriptions above indicate, all magic has been turned to combat in some way or another. This is a problem on several layers- magic is massively more powerful than conventional strategies, and is not unlike nuclear warfare: everyone loses. Also, some magics are just not as suited for combat as others. A Water mage is a great healer, but they just can't kill as easily as Storm mages. Finally, mages are pretty predictable and (in certain ways) limited, so a smart person can outmaneuver any mage with relatively little information. This means a fighting force of mages needs to have a representative of each class, which is extremely difficult to gather and maintain.

Part of the problem is there is no pan-magic institution. No place can teach all magics, despite a great number of attempts- a diverse collection of mages simply can't be trained when clustered together. As a result, there a number of magical institutions that teach a single class of magic, such as Thorheim (the dominant Storm mage school). There are a few schools which offer two or three class, but these classes are always neighbors, and these schools are much smaller in number. The location of magical schools are determined by the class- Thorheim is located on the southern tip of the Raging Teeth, a mountain range which butts into the sea and is known for it's storms.

There are a few doctrines which barely have schools at all- Necromancers have no schools at all, but rather a master-apprentice system that is carefully shrouded in mystery. Similarly, Soul magic is taught by a single master guiding a handful of students, constantly on the move. The process is relatively short and removed from society: Soul students have been known to cause city-wide riots and orgies, at the expense of their own lives.

Results of these differences are remarkable. Earth mages will group together to summon earthquakes and landslides of tremendous size, while Fire mages will go into battle alone, so engulfed in their fire and fury that they are unable to even hear orders. This is where Air mages come into play- a commander with an Air mage at his side should be able to to communicate with all his troops flawlessly, even if he has to use the powers of Mind magic to force other mages to listen. Necromancers hardly ever work with other mages, preferring to operate from the shadows (a necromancer can walk up to someone through the spirit realm and pull out their soul, but once detected they're pretty helpless).

So, part of the definition of a mage is a magic user who can be used for destruction and construction- neither evil or good, though many would claim that Necromancers are inherently evil and Order mages are inherently good. (This is NOT true, many Necromancers actively fight to undo the malignant workings of the undead. Simultaneously, many Order mages malpractice deliberately, which is is devastating for their subjects).

But there are other magic users, that come in a variety of flavors:

• Inherently Magical Beings: Beings born with magical talents. There are three types:
  
  • Internally Magical: The magic is passive and outside of their control (unicorns are an example: they cannot turn off their healing properties).
  • Externally Magical: Mages are externally magical, born with the ability to cast unformed spells (untrained mages are extremely dangerous to themselves and others).
  • Consistently Magical: Beings such as the Onodrim which have passive magic at work and control of external magic.
• Acquired Magical Beings: People who have learned to control magic despite a lack of inherent skill. Never as powerful as a being born with magic.
  
  • Ensorcelled Creatures: Creatures that have magical abilities that are thrust upon them by a sorcerer. Almost all Ensorcelled Creatures are unable to properly control their magic.
  • Warlocks: A magic user who has been trained exclusivey for combat, usually a knight or warrior of proven value. Dangerous to the learner, but not enough so to keep people from becoming warlocks on their own.
  • Shamans: A magic user who has been trained in benign magic exclusively. (Note: shamans can and will find ways to fight if pressured hard enough).
  • Sorcerers: A magic user who specializes in the enchanting of objects or creatures, often reliant on literature on their class. Known for doing very stupid things.
  • Oracles: Also called seers, they specialize in foretelling and observation. Greatly disliked by Astromancers and Air mages, who actually know how what's going on and why they know it.
  • Summoners: Someone who summons magical beings to their side: Beast mages have a particular hate for this type. Summoners usually have to have something to use to summon the creature in question, making them some of the weakest users.

As indicated, most magic users don't get along with the other types of magic users. Mages especially brindle at those who artificially acquire magical powers. It is important to note that people who use magic items are not considered magic users, even though sometimes they can appear to be so. Summoners are something of an in-between in this regard- they have to have an item that is bound to the summon through magic to do the summoning, but because they're the one performing the summon magic they're considered magic users.

There is far more to the system of magic which Yggdrasil abides by, but I'll save it for another article later on- this one is quite long enough already. :)