The Runcible Blog

War of the Plains During the War of the Plains, Kailan Daladand, an extremely powerful celestial mage, found herself among the Plainswalkers, who mostly used mana. There she learned of the gestures they occasionally used to cast their magic, and developed a similar method for controlling common magic. After her escape from the plains and instatement as High Mage, her method led to a sharp decline in the use of totems, and the development of magecuffs.

Great Mage War Though notable as well for the focus on magic during the war, the main event of note was the creation of the Stone Battlefield. Due to the total lack of mana in the area, a celestial spell went awry, turning the entire battlefield and half its combatants to stone. The event also made Naldi a limbo walker and weakened the barrier between the material and spirit worlds, or, rather, strengthened the area's connection to the spirit world. As such, people with both celestial-dominant and earthly-dominant souls find the area uncomfortable to be in.

The War of Shadows The Followers of Anoc cast a spell near the end of the war that, using the capital city itself as a totem, prevented the use of celestial magic. The spell was cast on a number of refugees who were immediately killed; the spell therefore activated in the spirit world as well as the material world, thereby causing a sort of feedback loop of magic that prevented all celestial mages across the northern half of the continent from accessing their source of power. Disrupting the city weakened it as a totem, but the spell could not be stopped entirely, so that mages in the area found it much more difficult to use magic.

Common x Wildsense The combination of common magic and wildsense, being a combination also of celestial and earthly magic, is more powerful than any fully celestial or fully earthly combination. In this case, it allows one to manipulate magic itself, of either type. Users can therefore interrupt a spell in the casting, or clear an area of mana (though not entirely). Particularly in the case of an enemy celestial mage, it can also change the flow of magic, changing a spell or making it uncontrollable. As souls are primarily magical, in extreme cases, this technique can create a Limbo Walker.

This technique is considered forbidden magic. Formally trained celestial mages are taught to use wildsense sparingly in order to minimize the risk that they stumble across this combination; those that do usually try it on purpose, and when they are caught they are reprimanded, but as there is no formal law against it there is no formal penalty either. Many mages, particularly limbo walkers, use both kinds of magic simultaneously on a regular basis anyway; the technique generally requires the intention to combine them in order to actually combine them.

Mana x Wildsense The combination of both earthly types of magic allows one to manipulate life. This does not mean control of minds or bodies, however; it can only change the vitality of a living target. As both active types of magic can damage or kill others, or heal them, anyway, the applications of this, as with the celestial combination, are limited. Earthly mages use it to keep injured companions or combatants alive, or torture prisoners of war for information. This differs from the manipulation of magic/souls offered by common magic x wildsense as it is only the living body, not the soul within, that is affected.

Naturally, as there are different kinds of magic, people have tried to combine them. This can range from having extremely potent and dangerous effects or no additional effects at all. As proficiency with any kind of magic at all is still a specialized skill, magical combinations are generally not taught or regulated. Some are referred to as forbidden, but they are rarely referred to at all, and mostly it's just Cieldor that enforces this.

Active x Active The use of two active types of magic is nearly impossible to begin with; souls are naturally more attuned to one or the other. Using the lesser magic, in this case, is extremely difficult, if not impossible, particularly after the War of Shadows. However, if a mage of one class of magic should learn to cast the other, the result of using both at once is a highly volatile spell that will maim or disable, if not kill, the caster.

Active Known as mana, active earthly magic is drawn from the earth, and is the preferred magic of the Ancients and the Plainswalkers. It is controlled through gestures and words, or mere force of will. It naturally conflicts with active celestial magic, or common magic. The strength of the magic is determined by the amount available in a given location, and can be affected in some cases by weather or natural disasters (or cause them); it varies from place to place.

Mana generally will slowly regenerate over time, but it can be used up entirely, leading to the Stone Battlefield and, more severely, the fall of the Ancients; locations where it is used up will never regenerate. Before humans arrived, it was the only magic used on Norennor.

Active Usually referred to as "common" magic, active celestial magic is the preferred magic of the Second Conian Empire. It is controlled through totems, gestures, and/or drawn runes and circles. It naturally conflicts with active earthly magic, or mana. The strength of the magic is generally determined by the user's connection to the spirit world; it varies from person to person.

Only celestial mages can become limbo walkers. Additionally, reincarnating celestial souls are drawn to other celestial souls; after the War of Shadows this results in magic appearing to be hereditary. During the War of Shadows this kind of magic is blocked entirely, and remains affected as long as the capital city stands.

Passive Passive celestial magic has not been discovered yet.

Totems Totems are items, usually small enough to fit in a pocket, that enable the use of celestial magic. They have properties actually related to earthly magic that restrict the "flow" of celestial magic, making it controllable. They could range in size from small personal items to very large objects, usually naturally created and found; larger totems tend to be more powerful and allow for more powerful spells to be cast with them, however size can be a prohibitive factor in where those spells are cast. Totems were later replaced by hand gestures, which are more versatile (and portable, when considering very large spells) and can't be misplaced as a personal totem can; however, most practicing mages still carry small totems anyway, due in part to the invention of magecuffs.

Magic can be categorized in two ways: one, by source, and two, by usage. The two sources of magic are the spirit world and the earth itself; additionally, some magic can have effects outside the user, whereas some can only affect the user's perception. Thus magic is split into two dichotomies: celestial and earthly, and active and passive. The spirits of the world's inhabitants can also be divided by the former dichotomy. However, all sentient species after the fall of the Ancients have some mix of the two in their souls, even if one is dominant; thus all can use both passive kinds of magic.

The first magic to be discovered, by anyone anywhere, was on Norennor. The Ancients discovered mana and built their great civilization with it; however, as their spirits were entirely attuned to earthly magic, the amount of mana affected the number of Ancients able to live in the area. Their civilization began to decline when the continent's supply of mana was depleted by their use. Around the same time, on Escardor, celestial magic was discovered.

A little context, first. For one thing, I wrote this during NaNo and it’s not at all polished. ;) Worldbuilding-wise, this is a sword-and-sorcery setting. There are two kinds of magic used here: one is your typical hand-wavey stuff, the other is called “wildsense” and allows users to “see” magic, and therefore, to some extent, people that are otherwise visually obscured (in this case because it’s too dark).

Situation-wise, Ren and her companions (Seth, Sersi, Medan, Nae, and Lute) have been traveling to the Stone Battlefield to confront the Agent of Chaos, because 1. the AoC has captured their friend Don, and 2. Ren is the Agent of Order and therefore compelled to fight the AoC anyway (the Pull). They happen to get in sight of the battlefield on Ren’s birthday, and plan to spend the night nearby and go in the morning when she’s well rested. Unfortunately they are attacked on the way and end up running for their lives; they reach the battlefield that night, fatigued and unprepared. Ren has just realized the AoC is here, and has told her companions.

The number of floating lights tripled, and everyone put a hand to their weapons. Ren was staring into the darkness in the direction the Pull had last pulled, but with wildsense she could see the other woman slowly moving back and forth, just out of actual view. 

"Where?" Sersi asked quietly. Everyone was pivoting about but Ren and Seth.

The Agent of Chaos was bright, almost as blindingly bright as Ren herself, though there was a sour taste to the glow. There was little advantage to be found there, then, Ren noted. And she is certainly better with a sword...

"Ren," Seth whispered roughly. "Behind her, is that...?"

Ren looked. There was another light behind the Agent, very faint, a non-mage. It was familiar, somehow.

"Don," Ren whispered back. He's still alive. A wave of relief washed through her; this journey hadn't been for nothing.

Nae turned at that. "Where?" she demanded.

"Here."

The voice was deep and sweet, as Ren remembered, but it was not a friendly voice. As the Agent of Chaos stepped into the light and the group spun to face her, Ren found her sword and shield in her hands almost without conscious thought. The Agent chuckled.

"So you did it yourself after all?" she said. "This will be fun. Tell me, Agent of Order," she spat the words, "shall we fight?"

"Don first," Ren said coldly. Her guts were still writhing like snakes and her heart was beating far too fast, but she kept her voice steady.

"Of course!" The Agent gave her a sinister smile. "How could I forget? I am, after all, a woman of my word." She snapped her fingers, and the glow behind her shifted. Don shuffled into view; his hands were bound magically and his face was blank. 

"Don!" Nae yelled, but he did not react, and she did not yet move. He was walking agonizingly slowly; he stopped halfway between the Agent and Ren's companions. She snapped her fingers again.

The bonds disappeared. Don blinked, and looked up; he made eye contact with Ren for a moment. Then he slowly crumpled, and Nae was rushing forward as Seth's spell kept Don from hitting the ground full force. They gathered around him, Lute and the soldiers too; only Ren did not move. She was watching the still-smiling Agent.

"Something's wrong!" she heard Seth yell, followed by a gruff "move!" from Sersi. Light flashed at the edge of Ren's vision, but she didn't dare look. A sword and shield appeared in the other Agent's hands, a dark set complimenting her own.

"Now that they are occupied," she said, but she didn't finish the sentence. Instead the Agent leapt in, swinging her dark blade, and Ren instinctively lifted her shield to block. There were cries from the side as metal clashed against metal, a loud clanging that echoed off the shadowed stone around them.

The Agent stepped back, and Ren followed, trying to get a hit in on the retreat. It didn't work; they exchanged blows twice more before beginning to circle each other. The Agent looked exhilarated.

This time Ren jumped forward, a downward slash at the woman's head, but the Agent was expecting it; Ren had to twist out of the way at the last second before the barbed blade hit her side. The sour glow around the woman sharpened suddenly, and Ren lurched backward and called up a barrier. The Agent's blast of fire splashed harmlessly around it.

She's too fast! Ren was breathing hard already; she hadn't even fully recovered from the run to the Battlefield. As if I weren't already at a disadvantage!

Ren pushed forward into the flames, ready to swing, but they stopped when she was close enough. Then she was on the defensive again as the Agent struck at her shield again, and again, and again. Ren shoved the dark blade aside with her shield and thrust her sword forward, throwing a spell with it; the Agent's shield seemed to block both, the air of the spell dissipating around it even as silver metal met black. 

The Agent laughed. Ren struck. Again, the shield was in her way. I'm being too predictable, she thought, retreating under the Agent's next onslaught. She staggered as blows she was too slow to block fully glanced at her legs, cutting but not deeply wounding; she barely fended the Agent off long enough to regain her balance.

She reformed her sword into a spear and thrust at the Agent; the woman was taken by surprise, but was fast as always, and the blow merely scratched her arm. With a jerk of that arm, Ren's spear was trapped; a quick spell from Ren, and it was aflame. The Agent let go and Ren pulled her spear back into sword shape.

"You're creative, I'll grant you that," the Agent said, even as Ren threw another spell at her. She blocked it easily. "But I'm done trifling."

The Agent stepped forward and struck down at Ren's head. Ren blocked, but was too slow to block the next slash at her leg. She staggered back. The Agent's blows were coming too fast now for her to do anything but lurch backward and block what she could. She threw every spell she could think of at the blonde woman, each one dissipating off her barrier. There was far too much blood on Ren's legs, on her arms now, she'd lost track of how many times she'd been hit, she couldn't catch her breath...

A slash meant to behead hit high when Ren tried to dodge, but it still hit, cutting across her face. A shower of blood hit her mouth, and the crack of her nose breaking seemed to echo in her ears. She couldn't see out of her right eye. She spat blood and backed up further. The Agent had stopped fighting and was simply watching her, a smile stretching her thick lips.

"Looks like we're about done here," Ren heard through ringing ears. Everything was twisting, spinning. I've lost too much blood, she realized, staggering back as the Agent approached again. She could barely stay upright.

Dimly the sounds of battle reached Ren's ears. Behind the Agent she realized she could make out Seth and Medan fighting back to back, fighting monsters... shadowfolk, she remembered vaguely.

There was a scream behind her, Nae's voice. The Agent was close now. She was pulling her sword arm back, ready to thrust. Ren lifted her shield weakly, coughed around the blood in her mouth.

When the blow hit, she thought at first the Agent had punched her in the gut; then she felt the blood, and the cold metal, and then the ripping pain as the Agent of Chaos pulled her barbed sword free of Ren's chest.

"Ren!" Nae screamed, and there was a flash of light behind her that illuminated the grinning Agent.

The battle began late in 1206 AM when a Eoroean division looking to circle the mountains collided with several Empire regiments returning from the front on the plains. They met, to the detriment of both sides, at the Field of Stone and Sorrow, where the total lack of earthly magic has a draining effect on most soldiers. Scouts from both sides had reportedly avoided the area, assuming the other side would avoid it as well. Nevertheless, the battle began mid-afternoon nearly in the center of the Field.

Fighting ceased at sundown, when both sides retreated for the night to camps at the far edges of the Field. Neither left the area entirely, unwilling to clear the path for the other side; this resulted in fatigue and even deaths among weakened troops due to the magical disturbance. When morning arrived, both exhausted armies resumed the fight.

Early in the afternoon a coalition of Empire mages led by a man later known as Naldi began casting a group spell intended to trap the nearest Eoroean mages in stone. The spell was cast with Naldi as the focus. Without the resistance of earthly magic, the spell had a wider range and force than intended, and turned most mages on both sides, as well as the ground of the Field itself, to stone. The mages casting the spell were also turned to stone, and the force made Naldi a limbo walker.