so, you may be asking: what's a mancy? a hand flare? conjures? you'll find answers to that and more here!
what are some common spells?
how does your mancy impact your life?
magic is both a set of particles that "grow" in certain places, and a system of drawing those particles to use in spells. magic behaves similarly to light, being both a wave and particle, although it is not visible. magic has a low wavelength, longer than infrared but shorter than radio. however, magic particles, when under control of a person, can lose their wave properties and become solid by being squashed together. magic, when reacting to biomagic, will emit a flame that is harmless to the person, with the color signifying the mancy of the user.
(this chart isn't perfectly accurate! the hues can vary from individual to individual)
"mancy" is a slang term derivied from the names of the 6 "elements" that a realmian can be born with: pyromancy, hydromancy, geomancy, aeromancy, photomancy, and umbramancy. your mancy controls what you draw your magic from. what mancy you're born with doesn't affect the general-use spells you have access too, but it often impacts life in other ways.
the prefixes give a good idea of what each mancy draws from, but here's a quick refresher:
pyromancy: heat energy (once thought to be fire)
hydromancy: water
geomancy: earth and minerals
aeromancy: air
photomancy: light
umbramancy: darkness
there's also biomagic, a kind of magic that is biologically constructed. centered around the soul, it functions dual purposes of supporting the soul and immune function. biomagic cannot be used for spells, however, and must be supported with outside magic.
a soul is a biomagic construct built around the heart. it's the center of the magic system, built around the circulatory system. the soul interfaces with the brain through unknown means to preserve the genetic coding of the body and the consciousness, including memories. in short, it acts as a repository for the human body in order to transfer to the realm.
in addition to being a repository, it also provides immune function, using magic in order to move cells around quickly. this is used to quickly mobilize an immune response, stopping a majority of infections quicker than a base plane immune system.
what are some common spells?
the most used spell by far is telekinesis. it's very simple to learn; you just surround an object with magic and move that magic around. it's so common, in fact, that it's used as a gross motor skills milestone.
next is hand conjures, which in day-to-day life, can function as a crutch, cane, or simply lifting heavier items that would require too much stamina when using telekinesis.
mancyswimming is a common transport alternative; one dissolves their body into a mixture of their mancy and biomagic in order to become one with whatever they're swimming in. unfortunately, many rural areas do not have the infrastructure for mancyswimming to be viable.
pulses are most often used in navigation. it's a mixture of mancyswimming and telekinesis, where one "pulses" out a wave of their mancy to scan the environment. it was once used in hunting, too, but animals felt the pulse and ran away, effectively negating a hunter's cover.
how does your mancy impact your life?
the most common example is that of magic dependency. common in realm borns, it's a condition where magic must always be drawn in order to support the magic system. without that magic, the immune system may go haywire, resulting in shock, seizure, and if immediate medical treatment is not available, death. in most cases, however, it's mild enough to just result in headache or fatigue.
mancies with more common sources, such as photomancy or hydromancy, are privileged over uncommon sources, namely umbramancy, in society. infrastructure is typically built with support in mind- lights have to be at 50% for equal opportunity for both photo and umbramancers- but not all buildings have that luxury.
the mancy of the parents may not affect the mancy of their child. for example, a pyromancer and geomancer may have a hydromancer child. this often places families under financial strain as they scramble to find resources for the child, as they have no experience caring for that mancy or live in a suitable area.
your mancy may determine how you're percieved, too. similar to zodiacs, mancies have personalities associated with them (although this also falls under the barnum effect, like zodiacs).
(clockwise from top: photomancy, aeromancy, hydromancy, umbramancy, geomancy, pyromancy).
