Mechanics

[TrashierThanThou]

On the Subject of Magic in Mages.
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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.

1. 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.
2. 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.

Removing and inhibiting Magic. The presence of Magic in a person is intangible- it runs through the blood and veins of every person who possesses it. It does not originate from any one organ and as such cannot be completely removed unless through means outlawed by the Council. Inhibition of Magic is, however, still commonly practiced in the law when dealing with criminal classes. The channels may either be damaged or blocked through spells.

Known afflictions.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.))

 

[TrashierThanThou]

On Items, Artefacts and Technologists.​

The difference between a magical Item and an Artefact.

All mages, if not all, have the ability to imbue some of their magic into various items, an art that has been practiced since the ancient times. When imbued with the mage's magic, the object will be able to serve a function or perform an action, now depending on the mage's will. Their functions can be endlessly customised by the user, but the Magic that the mage has give then object will eventually wear off, if not regularly maintained, as the item cannot generate its own mana. To preserve the mana in an item, enchantments must be cast regularly to seal the mage's magic within it, as well as constantly being imbued with more magic to prevent it from running out.

Magical Artefacts, however, are either objects that were created and somehow received the ability to generating its own mana or were made from material that has the properties of a mage mana pool. This means that Artefacts are self-sustainable generators and do not require external mana from mages, as it can generate its own mana for itself to function. As such, Artefacts are extremely rare as it can only be created either from extremely special circumstances or through rare material that cannot be artificially created or otherwise man-made. Artefacts are one of a kind due to the sheer rarity of it, and their properties cannot be fully duplicated by enchanting items to have the same makeup as the artefacts. Imitation is possible, but is otherwise largely inferior to the artefact.

Technologists and Artefacts.

As mana is a form of energy, theoretically speaking, technologists should be able to draw the mana from the artefacts and use it as a form of energy generator to power their engines and machines.

However, in the same way that the human body cannot fully digest cellulose due to the lack of appropriate enzymes to do so, the technologists cannot utilise artefacts to their fullest potential as they do not possess the magic required to do so. They cannot use the artefact for its intended purpose and is only able to draw the mana from it to be converted into energy. (This, of course, comes with the prerequisite that the artefact is not dangerous and that they do not accidentally trigger an unwanted reaction while interacting with it.)

Approximately 30% of drawn mana can be utilised by technologists. The rest of the 70% remains inactive and can only be catalysed with a mage channel. As such, some unfortunate mages have been captured and used as human generators, as well as for research and documentation. Currently, there are developments ongoing by the technologists to attempt to replicate the channels of the mages through human experimentation.