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Magic is accessed and directed via runes, which are derived from the divine language of the gods. It is inherent in the planet. Humans were first granted the ability to use magic 3,000 years ago. The runes were crafted by demigods, whom the deities sent down to live among people to share magic with them and act as a link between the corporeal and divine realms.
There are 4 types of magic, corresponding to the 4 moons that orbit the planet: The Hand, The Mind, The Heart, and the Eye.
Hand Magic - Magic used for combat, which requires the user's body and soul to have an intense amount of focus and willpower.
Mind Magic - Psionic-based magic, like telepathy, solving equations in an instant, or magic that can reverse damage to inorganic objects, like machinery. Also includes defensive magic.
Heart Magic - Healing magic of varying degrees.
Eye Magic - An older form of magic that includes high intuition and very advanced combat or other techniques. This is the most difficult to master and the rarest type to have an affinity for.
In this world, magic is what society runs on. It powers technology, is used for defense, and is what things such as modern medicine are based on.Â
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Mages
Something like 80% of the world's population is able to use magic; theyâre born with inherent magical potential. Society depends on their ability to do so. The other 20% are completely unable to use magic, but they still have very important roles. Magic users are known colloquially as mages. There is also a rarer type of mage with exceptionally high levels of magic within them. They are known as starbinders. (5-10% of the magical population) Magical ability is often passed down from parent to child. A nonmagical and magical parent could have a magical child, but two nonmagical parents could not.
Most mages are able to use one type of magic each, which corresponds to the moon that was fullest on the night that they were born: Hand, Mind, or Heart. Within their first week of life, all children are exposed to moonlight. If they're a mage, they will get a mark on their wrist that represents the moon they're born under and the type of magic that they'll be able to wield. Within these categories, all mages also have an affinity for a particular element. For example, a Hand Magic user might be able to control fire or wind. It is said that the mark of a mage is the physical entry point of magic into the body.
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Starbinders
Starbinders are a different case. They're only born at rare moments when two moons are full at the same time, one of these being the Eye. However, not all children born on these days will be starbinders. Starbinders are the only magic users who can use Eye magic in addition to whichever other type corresponds to the other moon that was full on the night of their birth. Their marks are slightly different from those of other mages. The demigods Solsoral, Ephoen, and Remion were the first starbinders.
Although the ability to learn Eye magic is certainly a gift to many starbinders, it is also very taxing. As such, starbinders each have a magical animal familiar, called a Lume, which is bound to their spirit and exists to hold a part of their magic for them. Lumes have their own magical abilities that are related to the magical affinities of their starbinders, but which are still unique to them. For example, Idrisse Synodair's magic is based on memory and manipulating time. However, they're unable to time travel on their own--this is the unique ability of their Lume, Thala, who can create time portals. Starbinders meet their Lumes at different points in their lives, usually before the age of 18. The mythology pertaining to Lumes is that they are granted to starbinders by Palaamia herself, as a way to keep them connected to the natural origins of divine magic. Starbinders who have committed grave sins are subject to losing their Lumes, at which point they become known as unbound.
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Nonmagical Folk
Finally, nonmagical people are also very important. While mages and starbinders are able to access and direct magic, only nonmagical folk can inscribe or carve runes into objects to allow them to be charged with magic, as well as craft items that are intended to be imbued with magic. This is because these people have a neutral hand and can't exert their will over one rune or another, as a mage could. Nonmagical people are also entrusted with the power of running the government and performing other such duties.
âž - The Stuff You Read Fantasy For - â˝
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Runes
There are 67 runes total--66 created by the original demigods and 1 more created by Idrisse during the actual story. The demigods created 20 basic runes and 3 archrunes each. Each rune has multiple--or endless--meanings when used in combination with one another. As this is a magic system based on language, knowledge of it in that context is important. If you understand the words of a language, you can communicate with others. If you understand the language of magic, you can employ it to do what you want. Archrunes are only used for Eye magic and have immense power.
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Screbes
Screbes are a type of wand that mages use to direct magic. They are able to draw runes directly in the air, or they can also be filled with a special kind of ink to inscribe runes on paper. They're crafted and carved with runes by nonmagical artisans, called runeweavers, who are also the only people able to repair them if they become damaged. Without a screbe, a mage is unable to direct magic.
Screbes are custom-made for their mages. Runeweavers are trained in the art of reading the auras of their clients, to know what specific material a mage's screbe should be made from. In general, the materials fall into the following categories: stone for Hand Magic, wood for Heart Magic, and metal for Mind Magic The screbes of starbinders are reinforced with veins of crystal or resin, to accommodate their use of Eye Magic. Each individual mage will likely have a screbe made of a different wood or stone, for instance.
Screbes act as a conduit for magical energy to travel out of a mage's body and into the world.
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Willpower and Old Magic
Before runes were granted to humans, magic was only found in certain plant and animal species that have it inherently. It was very rare to use magic, as well as difficult and dangerous because it required the use of remains of living things. If a person wasn't careful, they could corrupt their own Spark and render themself unable to tell the difference between right and wrong, often descending into madness. This is old magic, which requires the exerting of one's own willpower over the willpower of other things.
Old magic is dangerous and illegal. It is the only type of magic that nonmagical folk could hypothetically use, but doing so is more likely to lead to the death or heavy corruption of that person before the outcome is ever realized.
Like any other physical activity, magic requires energy to use and will tire the user out if used for too long. Simpler acts of magic are easier and less tiring to complete. For instance, lighting a candle is perfectly easy, but using fireballs in combat would be very strenuous. Many young mages get tired out more easily and build up stamina as they train and gain more control over their abilities.
Additionally, without a screbe, a mage is unable to write and direct magic in any way. If they were to simply pick up a regular pen and write runes on paper, those runes would have no effect. But if they did so with their screbe, then the runes would work.
Modern magic is unable to force a person to do anything, as well as interact with the afterlife in any way. The dead are dead. The one exception to this rule was in the screbes of the first demigods, which were able to resurrect one person and one person only. But these have long since been destroyed.
Different forms of healing magic are unable to heal a person instantaneously and take time to work, as does medicine in real life. But magic does allow for fewer invasive procedures. For example, surgery might not be required to heal a broken leg, but the treatment for said leg would still take weeks or months.
Finally, magic requires training to master! Mages spend years learning the different kinds of meanings for the runes and ways to employ those runes on the fly without needing to consult a book. Higher levels of education are available for those who pursue skilled magical jobs, like those who want to become doctors.
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While nonmagical folk are typically the ones in charge of the government, the Ministry of Sidereal Witness is the body that governs magical law. This is an international organization, made up of representative mages from all countries involved.
Additionally, there is sometimes some tension among mages and nonmagical people. While most folks try to co-exist peacefully, nonmagical people sometimes see mages as high-and-mighty, and some mages see those without magic as being beneath them. However, all are important to society.
Finally, magic has helped society evolve to a point where things are relatively post-modern in some ways. For example, a version of the internet exists, run by runes, and accessed via crystal tablets.
âž - Demigod-Only Magic - â˝
The following abilities can only be accessed by demigods.
Dream-walking, memory walking, past life regression
Talking to plants or animals
Animating inanimate objects
âž - Further Reading - â˝
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Rune Codex
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Second-Sight Deck
