I'm going to break this down into a few categories for organization's sake, so here they are in order:
Origins of Magic on the Planet Relan
Impact of Magic on Relanian Life
Magic in the Modern World
So without further ado, let's get into it!
Origins of Magic on the Planet Relan
Relan did not begin with magic. Magic was introduced by the Relanian Gods. Gaius, Malor, Fina, Escor, Jan, and Dinora poured their power into the world, granting it magic and enabling the rise of the Sentients. Sentients are the product of feral animal species being born to a world where the very air itself was charged with raw magical power, infusing into their souls and minds the gift of thought, of self-awareness, of intelligence.
With the introduction of magic into the world, many things were "jump-started". Sentients were given knowledge of many things by the power of the gods, Ferals were given powers and abilities, and the first Mythicals were born, Sentient by nature.
In short, magic on Relan is concentrated divine power, given freely to the world to aid its life in surviving, growing, and bettering themselves and each other.
Impact of Magic on Relanian Life
With the introduction of magic into Relan, life underwent an explosive metamorphosis. Some physically, some on a deeper level. Ferals in particular were impacted greatly. Many species developed a supernatural glow, often in the eyes and markings, which over generations became natural bioluminescence.
Fauna was changed as well, with the natural effects of most plant life being amplified exponentially. Toxic plants became far more deadly, and beneficial herbs had their effects increased tenfold. This resulted in herbal remedies and poisons far more effective than our own world's equivalents.
Sentients were changed most of all. Originally Ferals, magic distorted them, changed them into bipedal, humanoid forms. The first Sentients were still very similar to their Feral counterparts, often with paws instead of hands, and rarely with the ability to speak any kind of formal language, though they now had the ability to communicate and assign word meaning to their vocalizations.
Over generations, Sentients became more human-like, with their physiology reacting to the magic surrounding them until they were notably different from their Feral counterparts. Vocal chords specialized for barking, howling, roaring, chirping, etc, became capable of true speech. Front paws became hands. Species with sideways-facing eyes became forward-facing, and many back legs took on a distinct shape both digitigrade and capable of supporting long-term upright movement.
The most notable impact on Relanian life, however, was the sudden addition of Blessings into the world. Blessings are innate magic, to be covered in a later chapter, but are worth mentioning now as they are the most enduring impact of magic on relanian life.
Magic in nature bears a conscience. It is capable of telling positive intent from negative, and is deeply attuned to the wills of the gods. As such, what they abhor, magic abhors, and what they encourage, magic encourages. It gets its sense of good and evil directly from the belief of the gods that created it.
Due to this, the will of magic can be said to be the same as the will of the gods. To fight the magic is to turn against the desires of the gods themselves.
Magic, when it was prevalent and well-known throughout the world, was known to follow a certain moral compass. To make it easy to understand, the list below outlines the laws of magic.
Needless violence is abhorred
Killing for killing's sake is abhored
Defense of one's life is a necessity
Defense of innocent life is a necessity
Innocence is to break no godly law
Magic can, and will, pass judgement on those trying to use it for wicked reasons. To cause harm for the sake of causing harm, to kill for no reason beyond wanting to kill, to use magic for personal gain, these things will make magic less potent, and will reduce its effectiveness.
Meanwhile, magic will empower those using it for self-defense, the defense of innocent life, and the upholding of godly law. Magic inherently works to achieve these goals, and can most commonly be seen upholding godly law as best it can.
In areas full of unspoiled life (deep, undisturbed forests, large mountain ranges, vast and untamed plains, etc) magic is at its strongest, and there are six places on Relan with the deepest connection to magic. These six places are the result of magic coalescing in large concentrations of natural life, and weakening the wall between the physical world and the divine realms.
This weakening of the wall is responsible for one of magic's most profound effects in nature: the Godly Gates. There are six Gates, one tied to each God and their domain, from which magic seeps into the world and into which the spirits of the deceased may enter and exit the world at will.
These gates have magical protections surrounding them, and those who venture too close find themselves lost, or miles from where they initially believed themselves to be. The magic of the land works to protect the separation of mortal and divine realms. It is in its very nature to do so.
Magic, at one time, could be channeled into powerful effects both devastating and benevolent. Sentients, as their understanding of magic grew, began delving into how to gather it within themselves, drawing magic from the elements around them and transforming it into various forms to achieve various results.
Mages across the world developed the Relanian schools of magic, which are:
Conjuration, devised by the Andronians. It holds 3 subtypes which are Reparation, Creation, and Transformation
Evocation, devised by the Dornumites. It holds 2 subtypes which are Destruction and Medical.
Empowerment, a general form of magic all peoples discovered quickly upon experimenting with magic. It holds 3 subtypes, which are Physical, Mental, and Attunement.
Nature, a form unique to Ferusian Mystics. It holds 2 subtypes which are Growth and Necrotic.
A brief description of the subtypes is found below.
Reparation: repair magic. Can restore any non-living thing to it's pre-damaged state.
Creation: Can take the magic in the air and replicate it many times over, then manifest it into physical form as a solid object. Rarely permanent, requires knowledge of the object and how it works.
Transformation: surrounds an object with magic, then manifests a new form over it, melding the old form into the new one, magically changing its physiology or structure to match the new form.
Destruction: powerful concentrations of magic capable of great offense. Flames, lightning, and explosive bursts of raw energy.
Medical: magically enhancing a living thing's ability to heal or fight illness.
Physical Empowerment: increases the user's physical ability, or increases a targets physical ability.
Mental Empowerment: increases the users mental capabilities, enhancing perception, speed of thought, and reaction times exponentially.
Attunement: attunes an object to a user, allowing them to channel their empowerment magic into it to strengthen it or increase its effectiveness.
Growth: Can rapidly grow plant life beyond its normal potential, turning a single tree into a small forest, or grass into head-high walls of plant matter.
Necrotic: Opposite of Growth, decays and withers living tissue. Can be used to cull unhealthy plants to preserve the healthy ones, or on Ferals/Sentients that pose great threat to others.
Channeled magic was incredibly powerful, as the magic of the world was predisposed to support the life forms on Relan. It was their ally, and so obeyed them without question.
This gave rise to three types of practitioners, those who could not only channel magic, but held mastery over it. While nearly all Sentients could channel it, few could claim mastery and so the ability to manipulate this force to your exact will was rare.
The three types of practitioner were:
Mage: one who held great knowledge of magic, and mastery over the magical arts as a whole. Mages were in high demand for their vast wealth of abilities and powers. They were masters of every school of magic. Mages used magic as a tool, an object to be used according to their will.
Warlock: one who mastered the arts of combat magic, but little else. Complete masters of the schools of Evocation and Empowerment, but little to no skill in the other schools of magic.
Mystic: Those who held the balance of the natural world close to their hearts. Mystics were masters of all forms of magic, like Mages, but believed themselves the tool, and magic the wielder. They were deeply attuned to magic, and acted according to its will, rather than forcing theirs upon it.
Innate magic was similar to channeled magic, though far weaker, and while channeled magic held a conscience, innate magic was inherently bound to the will of its owner and thus acted freely according to the will of its owner.
Innate magic took the form of Blessings. Blessings are abilities or traits beyond those natural for the individual given at birth from the mixture of the magical energies of the world and their soul.
Blessings are not given at conception, or during the time in the womb, due to the natural aura that surrounds all living things. The aura grows stronger over time, and by adulthood serves as a natural, albeit thin, barrier between the individual's innate magic and the magic of the world.
Infants do not have this barrier, but are protected by that of the mother until birth, at which point their soul is in direct contact with the magic of the world, leading to a unique and potent mixture of energies that gives them their Blessing.
Blessings are dependent on the current power in the world and its source. Magic's strength waxes and wanes over time, and the source of that magic changes as time moves forward. The months of the year are based around this cycle.
Magic waxes and wanes in 60-day periods, with it being at its strongest and most potent on the 30th day. These coincide with the waxing and waning of the power of the Gods. As one God loses power, another gains power, leading to the cycle. The cycle is, in order:
Gaius, the Overgod
Fina, the Heartweaver
Malor, the Fate Scribe
Escor, the Father God
Jan, the Mother God
Dinora, the Prodigy
As the power of one god gives way to another, so too do the Blessings given change. Blessings bear certain limitations and themes depending on the God in power at the time. Some examples are:
Gaius: Physical Blessings, heightened senses, longevity.
Fina: Strong relationships, greater romantic instinct, powerful emotional insight.
Malor: Luck, foreknowledge, innate sense of possibility and probability.
Escor: paternal instinct/ability, virility, masculinity
Jan: maternal instinct/ability, fertility, femininity
Dinora: intellect, logical insight, perception
These are not the only possibilities, but are the most common themes. Innate magic can be anything from simply enhancing something about oneself all the way to minor channeled effects. As a few examples of known Blessings:
Gaius: Enhanced durability and strength, well beyond physical limitation.
Fina: casual love leaving the lover unable to fathom loving anyone else.
Malor: Precognition, the ability to sense what is about to happen and instinctively react without thinking about it.
Escor: An innate wisdom, always able to find the right words to embolden and educate.
Jan: An innate wisdom, able to instantly understand and empathize with others.
Dinora: Infallible memory, able to store and recall any and all information, stimulus, and/or event one has experienced with perfect, unerring clarity.
Blessings, while unique, are not entirely and wholly different from all others. One individual may have a natural luck about them due to their Blessing, with situations often shifting to benefit them, while another may have the ability to actively rewrite certain events before they happen to be more beneficial.
Outwardly these two Blessings seem identical, as both lead to the beneficiary seeming "lucky", though the exact nature of the Blessings is very different.
Blessings are as unique as the user, and fit the personality of their user perfectly due to the fact Blessings are born from their owner's very soul.
Magic in the Modern World
Magic has been largely lost in the modern world. Due to Sentients using magic for selfish and violent reasons in the ancient world, the world's magic has retreated, spreading itself thin across the globe to prevent Sentients from channeling it. What could not be spread thin has been concentrated in and around the six Gates, leading to deeply powerful magic surrounding them.
Forests, lakes, oceans, mountains, and the like that surround or hide the Gates are protected by these concentrations of magic, with the Ferals and the land itself of these areas being nearly impossible to navigate or remain in for any length of time.
What little magic remains available to the modern world is that which exists in the Blessings, which do not wane in power and remain as deeply connected to Sentients as their very souls. This is the one unbreakable bond between Sentients and Relanian magic, as it is directly tied to them by the gods themselves.
Due to magic withdrawing from the world and preventing itself from being channeled, the arts and schools of magic have been long forgotten, and are largely considered myth outside of Sen and Kanor, which are acutely aware of magic and its existence, as well as deeply reverent of it due to their history with it. Senese and Kanorian shamans even in the modern world can draw on a small amount of magic to read the aura of others and determine the nature of their Blessing, with more skilled shamans able to describe in detail the benefits of it.
The only remaining peoples with a direct connection to magic beyond the Blessings are the Tangkorak tribes scattered across Ferus, which to this day follow the teachings of the ancient Mystics. Despite magic withdrawing from the world, Tangkorak are able to draw on a small amount of it, which is what forms their tongues and eyes, allowing them speech and true sight. Tangkorak shamans are able to use a small amount of Nature magic, enough to expedite the harvest of their crops, or to wither away weeds that pose threats to their gardens, though these powers are greatly limited, and take many decades of training to make even irregular use of.
Relan is a world of magic, with time period playing a key role in whether it is a world of high-fantasy and potent wizardry or if it is a forgotten power, unable to be used directly by all but the most deeply attuned.
When considering Relanian magic, the greatest thing to remember is that it does have a conscience of its own, and will never willingly break godly law. Forcing the magic to go against godly law will inevitably result in the magic turning against the user, either leaving them entirely or some other punishment for misusing it. This does not happen overnight, but over the course of ones life, as their misdeeds increase in number.
Have fun with it, and if you have any questions, by all means ask and I will gladly answer anything at all. Be it about Blessings, ancient magic, the schools of magic, or whatever topic you like.
