Magic on Galwyndor - during the time of the Everwind Series - is outlawed and regarded by most of the population as a myth. According to lore, its use and study was widespread during the time of the Befores (people from antiquity) until it was universally outlawed for fear that magic would destroy the world. A massive campaign was undertaken to seek out all magic users with the aid of powerful eggs called Eari Stones, and all who practiced magic were put to death. An unintended side effect of this was that any races with more than a trace of inherent magic were also killed. This included the Inar and the Meninar.
A scattered number of groups and individuals have attempted to learn, revive, and restore magic throughout the ages up to the current time with no success due to the existence of the Eari Stones. The Arkaeni is one such group dedicated to revival of magic. It was believed that magic was impossible, but recent developments have proven that it can be done with limited but devastating effects. The drug adoxipham is believed to be infused with magic.
The Nature and Types of Magical Energy
There were different beliefs in the ancient world about the nature of magic and where it came from, how it worked, and how best to use it. Each school of magic taught its own particular system and methodology, but similarities existed between all the schools.
They also all knew that magic had different properties depending on where it was sourced from, and thus different types were used for different things. For example, the Runesworn understood that Bone Stray, which came from the earth, worked best for runes used with objects made from metal or stone. Each school understood similar concepts, but had different names for each type of magic or beliefs about how it works optimally.
Note: Because the Runesworn were the first to name these properties, this article uses their terms for the organization.
Three Aspects
All disciplines agreed that magic was an energy, force, or resource that was widespread and could be harnessed and used. There were also two opposing forces, one that acted as a vacuum, and one that acted as a repellant. These were the three main aspects of energy.
Soul Stray
One of the three main "aspects" of magical energy is the Soul Stray (Soul of Grellis).
- Eari name: Omnifex
- Draol name: Vorsys
- Nature: Vital energy, raw magic, soul-force.
- Behavior: Expansive, expressive, and animating.
- Philosophy: This is life itself, the current through which Grellis sings.
- Interaction: Empowers life and spellwork. Seeks to manifest.
Hollow Stray
The second of the three main "aspects" of magical energy is the Hollow Stray (Wound of Grellis). This aspect attracts Soul Stray.
- Eari name: Holefex
- Draol name: Vordark
- Nature: Attractive void — a sponge or sink of magic
- Behavior: Pulls magic inward, drawing vorsys into itself
- Philosophy: Seen as corruption or decay, like rust on a divine mechanism
- Interaction: Weakens magic and bleeds vitality slowly
- Analogy: Like black holes—mysterious, gravitational magic deaths
Void Stray
The third of the three main "aspects" of magical energy is the Void Stray (Silence of Grellis). This aspect repels Soul Stray.
- Eari name: Nulifex
- Draol name: Bleak
- Nature: Repellant void — magic’s antimatter
- Behavior: Pushes all stray away; nullifies presence and potential
- Philosophy: It is not corruption. It is non-being
- Interaction: Dead zones; nothing can live, die, or change here
- Analogy: Cosmic silence; the absolute zero of the soul
Lesser Strays
Bone Stray
Breath Stray
Blood Stray
Skin Stray
Embers
Iember
Oember
Magic Users
Certain individuals were naturally capable of harnessing magical energy, which was necessary for any kind of magic work. These were referred to as vorbright by the Draol, fex-endowed by the Eari, and stray-bound by the Runesworn. Some non-magic users simply referred to them as "magickers." They all amounted to the same thing. Another type of magic user was the soulpiercer, which was capable of accessing magic from within another individual.
Harnessing and Using Magic
In order to use magic to any degree, one would first have to collect or harness enough magical energy to perform the desired act. This ability was thought to be what enabled one to use magic in the first place; it was what set magic users apart from typical people.
One could still perform a thing and use more magic than they had harnessed, but at a great cost; doing so would actually age the wielder. Expending too much could also lead to death.
8 Disciplines of Magic
There were several disciplines of magic, based upon the type of action being performed. These were antemancy, convocation, enchantment, fexilurgy, illusion, inculcation, necrolurgy, and transmutation.
Antemancy
Antemancy was obtaining information or observation through arcane or nonstandard means. Seeing future events falls under this.
- astrology
- reading auguries - interpreting or divining omens and signs
- cartomancy - divination using cards
- perciperation and anteperciperation - viewing past or future events through memories or "future memories"
- scrying - observing events at another location through a magical object
Convocation
Convocation was the act of transporting or contriving things.
- Contrivition of creatures or objects; creation. This includes golems and some types of automatons.
- Summoning creatures, people, or objects from one location to the summoner.
- Teleportation of creatures, people, or objects from one location to another.
Enchantment
Enchantment was the act of influencing or controlling others. This is typically done through, but sometimes it was used in conjunction with illusion:
Fexilurgy
Fexilurgy was manipulating magical energy to achieve a desired effect. Technically, most all magic use falls under this, but this is done in the pure sense.
Illusion
Illusion was manipulating the senses of others. Some uses of this were unethical, such as using it for deception, according to the Ygwer Code.
Inculcation
Inculcation is the act of imbuing objects with magical properties or stone other enhancement. It is the oldest discipline.
Necrolurgy
Necrolurgy was manipulating the dead, to include what might be considered "ethical" resurrection (as opposed to using the revenent as a thrall). This is forbidden by the Ygwer Code.
Transmutation
Transmutation was altering one substance, object, or creature into another.
Magical Substances
A number of magical substances exist, which were used for different purposes besides the use of simple energies like fex and vorsys. Many of these had specific properties that lent themselves to the creation of magical items. This was usually done by filling an object with magic or imbuing it with magical properties.
Vorshards
Other substances were thought to be "magic-adjacent". Vorshards, for example, do not contain vorsys, but are nevertheless found to be rich in non-magical energy. The Runesworn were said to have used these shards to power automatons to conserve magical essence for other things. Vorshards were also thought to be responsible for sparking all life on the planet. After the Purge, the use of automatons grew tremendously, especially by the dwarves, as they did not require magical abilities to create or power.
Vordark Crystals
Vordark Crystals are concentrated vordark energy, and were very dangerous to magic users, as they would kill any users who expended magical energy in their proximity. This is what the Eari Stones are made from.
Magic Schools
Several magic schools existed, which had different specialities and methods for teaching. At the time of the Great Purge only two generalist schools remained; the rest taught specific trades. Of all schools of magic, the Runesworn were the eldest.
- Cleric's Guild of Shajin - focused on divine magic
- Eari - generalist
- Draol - generalist
- I'dunal - perciperation and anteperciperation
- Runesworn - inculcation, runes; oldest school
Present Day
- Arkaeni - generalist
- New Draol Order - generalist
The Ygwer Code
All schools, orders, and guilds had a universal code of conduct that forbade certain acts, which was known as the Ygwer Code. One of the preeminent was the killing of living creatures (or poaching certain parts) for the purpose of harvesting magical energy, with the exception of certain plants. The Draol and some other minor orders got around this in use of battlefield mages who harvested energy from slain soldiers killed by non-magical combatants. The illicit arts were also barred, which included attempting to reanimate the dead, resurrection, etc.
Eari and Fex
The Eari school taught that magical energy possessed different properties based on where it was gathered from. There were several types of energy, called fex, each named after gods from the Grellist pantheon, and they viewed these from a more scientific perspective.
- omnifex - combined of all the sources
- drenifex - sourced from earth
- orifex - sourced from air
- helifex - sourced from water, which they used mostly for making potions
- gernafex - sourced from plantlife, which they used mostly for making potions and items
- antifex - a type of energy that was devoid of fex, and created a pull effect for magical energy
Draol and Vorsys
The Draol school taught that magical energy called vorsys permeated everything as a result of a cosmic battle between two vordragons. Unlike the other schools, the Draol did not differentiate between different types of magic, but viewed it all as being simple vorsys that could be obtained from different sources. Where the other schools viewed the source as being imbued with the essence of the energy, the Draol believed it was the source that imbued the vorsys with its characteristics. So, for example, where the Runesworn might believe that metal was imbued with the essence of Bone Stray, making that the magical energy of choice for making runes for that substance, the Draol thought that the vorsys that worked best with metal was that which was found in the earth, as it had been imbued with earthen characteristics.
The Draol, therefore, were the only ones who would use any sourced vorsys for any task if a more optimal source was unavailable. The Eari argued that this was impossible, and that the Draol were mistaken. They posited that because the Draol hoarded magic, that any successful use of the improper magic source must have been because they already had it within and didn't realize it.
The Draol held that those capable of wielding magic were born with higher than usual amounts of vordark energy, which was unleashed on the world from the blood of the vorwyrm Dekilia. This energy, which acted as a vacuum, sought to attract and consume vorsys, which is why magic users could collect magic.
Runesworn and the Strays
The Runesworn taught that magic came from different energies that were released during creation; these magical energies were called the Strays. This idea was taken from the Grellist mythos. There are five types of magical energy, called the Essences of Grellis, or Strays. These five essences were released, or strayed, when Grellis created the world, and they are said to permeate all of its creations, as well as the creations of the celestial gods. These essences are Soul Stray, which is the highest and purest form, with the four minor or lesser essences being Bone Stray, Breath Stray, Blood Stray, and Skin Stray, which were all released during the creation event. There is also an essence called Void Stray, which is the pure absence of magic.
- Soul Stray - Known to Eari as omnifex, Soul Stray is the purest and more powerful essence of Grellis, as it contains a portion of the soul of Grellis. This was solely used to create the Eldinar race of beings, who predate the gods. The other creations, such as the earth, air, and water, contain only a portion of Soul Stray with the rest coming from lesser essences. Even the gods do not possess only Soul Stray, but half omnifex and half another essence.
- Bone Stray - One of the lesser essences of Grellis, which was infused in the earth when a piece of Grellis broke off during creation. This was used to create the god Drend, and thus all the creatures Drend created. It permeated throughout the earth.
- Breath Stray - One of the lesser essences of Grellis, which was infused in the air when Grellis cried out in pain after the earth broke off during creation. This was used to create the god Orend, and thus all the creatures Orend created. It permeated throughout the air and all the creatures of the sky.
- Blood Stray - One of the lesser essences of Grellis, which was infused with the water when Grellis bled after the earth broke off during creation. This was used to create the god Helirend, and thus all the creatures Helirend created. It permeated throughout the water and all of the creatures there.
- Skin Stray - One of the lesser essences of Grellis, which was cast upon the surface of the earth during creation. This essence was used by the gods to create plantlife and some creatures.
The Embers
In addition to the Strays, Grellis imbued some of its creations with Embers, which are required for creation. Embers are akin to a spark of life, another type of essence of Grellis, that when combined with another essence, can bring new things into existence. There are two types of embers: inward and outward. It should be noted that the Eldinar were imbued with neither of these embers. Both Eari and Draol make no distinction between types; Eari call it vitafex and Draol call it gleam.
- Iember - The first of the embers is the Iember, or inward ember, which Grellis imbued into the etherwood tree, the nurlworm, the espitris, and the flidfish. These embers enable a creature to self-replicate, but do not allow for creation of other species. Grellis provided the gods with a piece of its heart called the Emberdel, which was only to be used on their creations to imbue them with inward ember so that they could self-replicate. The only celestial being to use the Emberdel against protocol was the angel M'ranin, who used it to beget her seven children, the Fouled Seven. As a result, her and her offspring were all banished to the Shadow Lay for eternity.
- Oember - The second of the embers is the Oember, or outward ember, which Grellis imbued into the gods. These embers allow for creation of other species and things, but not self-replication. If they wish to give their creations the ability to procreate, they must imbue them with Inward Ember using the Emberdel.