TrashierThanThou
法皇の緑
On the Subject of Magic in Mages.
Heredity
Magic is passed down from generation to generation. With lack of a better scientific explanation, Magic in this case is treated a dominant trait, and will display itself in individuals with one parent possessing Magic and the other without. In rare occasions (less than .5%), Magic may not present itself in the offspring of parents possessing Magic. That being said, it is possible for a child with Magic to be borne of parents without Magic. (.2%)
Mechanics
- a) Acquisition vs Enhancement. Magic is something that one is born with, not later acquired. It is possible to enhance the innate magic which you already possess, but not to gain magic when you do not already possess of any in the first place. The legality of certain enhancement magic is dubious, but some are still in use. Many of the spells or rituals have been outlawed, but they are still in practice underground.
- b) There are two different factors that affect the total effectiveness of one's magic- Mana and Channel.
- Mana is the amount of magic that one possesses within them. This determines how many spells or the magnitude of magic that a Mage can do at once. Mana does not determine how effective your magic is, it is simply a measurement of the maximum amount magic you hold within you. You can have a small mana pool and be able to cast powerful spells. It simply means that you will run out of magic to cast spells faster than those with larger mana pools. A person's mana pool will grow with age, but will usually stop when the person reaches adulthood, at around 16 or 17.
- Channel determines how effective one is at using their mana. Mana comes in two forms- passive mana and active mana. Passive mana is the form in which mana is stored within a person, and is inactive, to prevent the mana from reacting with possible catalysts that might set off a chain reaction I.e. Potions, spells, etc. Active mana is in a form which allows it to be used. To convert passive mana into active mana, a Mage must gather their mana and expunge it through a Channel, which facilitates the conversion of mana from passive to active form. A Mage's Channel determines how powerful the activated mana is and therefore, determines the strength of the Mage. Channels are sealed when a Mage is first born. They will develop (usually during childhood) and mature with age, reaching full potential after a certain period of time.
- c) Affinity A Mage, once their Channels develop, is capable of an Affinity, which gives them particular skill in a certain field of magic. (e.g. Fire, Earth, Necromancy etc.) Affinities, however, are hard to awaken and though it has never been proven, usually only manifests itself in life-threatening situations or after traumatic events. However, most Mages opt to try and discover their Affinity through experimentation- by practicing a huge variety of spells meant for each Affinity. However, as the number of Affinities are immense and the awakening process not nearly studied enough to be understood fully, many Mages do not awaken their Affinity during their lifetimes. Statistically, about 1 in 20 mages have awoken Affinities.
Known afflictions.
- a Mage may possess of innate magic and be unable to use them due to blocked channels. This block is permanent, rendering the person affected unable to use magic, and there is no known way of reversing this.
- Cases of abnormally small mana pools have been reported in scattered dozens of cases, in which case an instrument worn outside the body that draws mana from the air is prescribed.
- There are cases where the mana pool within a person is unstable, otherwise known as a 'leak'. Active mana will spill out uncontrollably from the person and depending on the severity of the condition, may be hazardous and cause serious damage to the person affected as active mana may react with outer catalysts. A 'leaky' mana pool may be regulated with a spell or with an instrument, but there is no known way to fix the instabilities.
- There are many known channel disorders, but common ones include not being able to facilitate the conversion of inactive mana to its active form (resulting in abnormally weak spells), and lack of control over one' channel, resulting in poor magic control.
- Channels or mana pools may start to deteriorate with age. It must be noted, however, that many do not and some even may not stop developing with age.
((Tentative: more may be added in the future.))
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