Nature of Magic¶
"Magic is a means through which beings in Terrun accomplish feats which affect the world around them that the majority of others do not understand." — from The Nature of Magic (S208)
Magic in Terrun is the moving of Ether by a being that has dominion over it. Everything observable is Ether; only the Void is Nether; and what a caster may touch is fixed by the Binding Rule. Above the planes that were made stands Astral Law, which governs the Astral, Material, Elemental and Abyssal Planes and stops at the Ethereal, the Shadow and the Void. Power comes from a handful of sources, each with its own reach, and which of them the mortal races could draw on has changed with every age. This page is about what magic is and where it comes from. How it is practised, the traditions, colleges, spheres and feats, is Magic's.1
Ether and Nether¶
"All observable things in the universe are composed of Ether. Energy, Matter and Intelligences are all composed of Ether. Even the soul is Ethereal. Only the Void is made of Nether. Nether and Ether are opposites but related in mysterious ways. All Ether is bound. Bound is a property that means it is owned or tied in a hierarchical fashion to other Ether. Ether forms relationships with other Ether across space and time (Nether). Nether operates much the same as Ether except that it is unbound and acts as a free agent. Many immortals believe that Nether is simply Unbound Ether" (S208).
Ether has states. "While solid matter is a low-energy Ethereal state, intelligence is the highest energy Ethereal state. Some beings stockpile high quantities of Ethereal Energy (such as Gods). The amount of Ethereal Energy in the universe is constant, it is never created or destroyed. When a new object is formed, there must be an Ethereal Energy cost. Ethereal Energy is available in any Plane" (S205). "Intelligence is the highest energy state of Ether, heat and simple matter are the lowest energy states. The beings which can command Elder Magic can use this Ether to form and create whatever they wish" (S208). What this means for a living thing is told under Souls and Spirits.
The Binding Rule¶
"Magic can only directly affect Ether over which a magic user has Dominion (energy and matter). The exception is for Nether, which can be affected by anything. Among casters, this constraint is often referred to as 'The Binding Rule'" (S208). Bindings have properties: a binding is Symmetric ("A->B and B->A"; "Symmetrical bindings are also often called 'Bondings' or 'Covenants'") or Directional, and "most bindings are directional"; Transitive ("if A->B and B->C then A->C. In other words, A Transitive Binding inherits all of it's target's bindings as well") or Intransitive, and "almost all bindings are transitive" (S208). Two more properties explain everyday magic. Proximity: "at microscopic levels, bindings merge in spatial proximity and form an ad hoc Symmetric & Intransitive binding. This is the reason that some magical effects require touch and why magical potions work on targets, because proximity breaks down the dominion rules that would otherwise exclude the magic from having any effect." And Conditional bindings: "Arya, Goddess of Life, has a Binding with every living thing on Terrun. However, this Binding is with the living form only and when it dies, the binding is lost when the soul is no longer in proximity with the body" (S208).
The treatise's examples run from the self outward: "Yourself : Body <-> Soul (Symmetric & Transitive)"; "Creation : God -> Created Matter and Energy (Directional & Transitive). This is also known as the Demesne Binding"; "Summoning : Summoner -> Summoned Matter and Energy"; "Pedigree : mother/father -> biological child" (S208). The bindings between creatures and the gods' shards are the Astral Contracts. The 2022 Cosmology says the same thing in older words: "Matter and space can only be manipulated by things with dominion and different focuses have different dominions, which can include places, things, natural systems and even shadow realm constructs (ideas and thoughts)" (S013). Mithis, with no owner since the Shattering, "is claimed by proximity" (S208; see Mithis).
Astral Law¶
"Astral Law is a universal law that governs all of creation, including the Astral, Material, Elemental and Abyssal Planes. However, its power does not extend to the Ethereal, Shadow or Void Planes; as these were not created by the Creators, and have existed since before creation. These planes can be interacted with via Astral Magic, but only inasmuch as they intersect with a plane where Astral Law rules" (S205). Fae magic, which "existed when Elemental Chaos ruled", "became bound under Astral Law at the end of the Primordial Wars, when the Chaos was defeated and order was brought to the Material Plane ... The ability to harness Fae Magic is restricted to Fae creatures, Elementals, Titans and Gods (under Astral Law)" (S208, S279). How the planes under Astral Law were made is told under Creation.
The archive's cosmology claimed more for the Astral: "Astral is the binding plane and has control over all other realms of existence (no other focus is really needed)" (S421). The newest account narrows this to the created planes.
Sources of power¶
The newest treatment names four sources of Astral power, each with its own reach (S205):
| Source | Also called | Who draws on it | Where it is available |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arcane | Mithis Magic | mortal races since the Shattering | gathered only on the Material; works wherever Astral Law holds |
| Divine | Astral Magic | gods, elementals and other shard-holders, and their ordained | Astral, Material, Elemental, Abyssal; not Ethereal, Shadow or Void |
| Demonic | Abyssal Magic | demons and the possessed | as Divine; the Mithis is "stored inside the demon" |
| Ethereal | Eldritch Magic, Elder Magic | "everyone and everything" | any plane |
"Available to mortal races since the Shattering, Mithis magic is by far the most common form of magic across the Seven realms of Terrun. Mithis casters draw their energy from Mithis energy which permeates the world since the destruction of the Worldstone" (S205). Divine Magic "functions a little differently from Mithis Magic and requires a focus, which is a normally an Astral Object. Gods, Elementals and other Astral Shard holders are the only possessors of this magic" (S205), and it "has the advantage of having a single ever-present and inconsumable Source, which is the God's Astral Shard" (S205). Demonic Magic "operates under the same principles as Mithis magic, but is more widely available" across the planes (S205). Ethereal Magic is "Possessed by everyone and everything ... All physical matter, all intelligences and spirits are made up of Ethereal Energy" (S205). The same notes add that the three sources of "Astral Magic / Elder Magic / Eldritch Magic / Elemental Magic" "coordinate with three different expressions of life. Astral Beings, Ethereal Beings and Mortal/Physical Beings" (S205), without saying more.
The 2022 treatise counts the origins a mortal can harness as "Alchemistry, Arcane, Faerie and Ethereal Magic" (S208), the first being the science of reagents, the second Mithis, the third the Fae energy of the Elemental Chaos, and the fourth the energy of Ether itself, which "can vary in form, from Demonic Incantations, Psionic Projections to Divine Magic and the power of the Immortals themselves" (S208). Divine magic, on this account, "is Ethereal magic drawn from the Astral Plane under Astral Law. Divine Magic is whatever the owner of the Astral Shard decides it should be" (S208).
The archive's cosmology lists five magical energies: Elemental ("Elementals are their own source of energy"), Mithis, Positive/Negative ("The Positive and Negative energy planes are built from opposition. Good and Evil. Creation and Destruction, Happiness and Misery ... The Clergy have especially have learned not just to tap into it, but to help form it, which is why Holy sites are often found to have the very highest levels of this energy"), Astral ("All Astral Beings have their own source of Astral energy, whether they possess and Astral Shard or not") and Ethereal ("All souls have their own associated energy. Tapping it is often difficult without doing damage to the soul. Demons and practitioners of Death Magic often make use of this kind of energy") (S421). The runecasters of the Fifth Age grouped the energies they could read in three pairs, "Runic, Hollowing or Abyssal", "Fae or Mithis", "Ethereal or Divine" (S256), and wrote their master runes on Mithis, Fae or Divine sources, with a Sovereign Rune of Aetheris for an Ethereal source that "is bound (dominion) to the rune" (S246).
Focus and energy¶
Older thought separated the two halves of a spell. "A magical focus is the what of magic. It determines what is possible and what the boundary conditions are. Focuses are defined by dominion ... The major known focus types are: Astral, Fae and Demonic. A fourth special category of focus is known as Adamant (also known as sovereign matter)" (S013). "Magical energy, or power, is channeled into a focus to produce a desired magical effect. Magical energy always comes from an Ethereal root, even if the Ethereal energy source is bound up in lifeforce, souls or some other construct" (S013). The later drafts use Focus for the way a caster reaches a source, "the determining factor for how much energy the caster can hold and gather" (S304), and Spellcraft for "the ability to construct and control magic and turn them into spells, actions and rituals" (S208). Sovereign matter as a focus is described under Astral Shards.
Where magic fails¶
Magic is a property of place. In the Shadow Realm "magic does not function here. However, strong minds can find it possible to alter or bring things into existence" (S013); the archive allows an exception, "no magic (other than Astral) functions here due to the lack of connections with any energy plane" (S421). In the Ethereal "no magic functions" (S013) and "only projections may visit" (S421). In the Astral Plane, "because of a lack of a connection to the Mithis Plane ... arcane magic does not function" (S421); in the Abyss, "because of a lack of a connection to the Negative or Positive Energy Planes ... Divine Magic does not function" (S421). Inside an Astral Shard "the only viable magic in the shard is that granted by the shard itself" (S182, cited under Astral Shards). In the Rift "Elemental Magic is weakened" (S017, on that page), and in the ash left by the Netherworm of Acadia "magic is unstable … magical effects can randomly fail or be dispelled" (S358, cited under Creation).
Magic through the ages¶
The 2022 treatise gives magic a history, one age at a time (S208). The ages are named here as the sources name them; their order and ordinals are History's.
In the Primordial Age, before the Einar, "Fae magics ruled and great elemental lords shaped, played and created on the Material Plane ... Arcane Magic did not exist and while Ethereal Magic has always existed and will continue to exist until the end of the universe, there were no known practitioners of it on Terrun" (S208).
In the Age of Titans, after the Throne of Law bound the elementals and made the Titans their jailkeepers, "Ethereal Magic became a prevalent form of magic during this age and its most prolific practitioners were the Eldritch, who were the chosen of the High God Tamariel. Fae Magic was also widely practiced by Faeries and Titans" (S208).
In the Age of Demons the gods made Dragons, "well-versed in Ethereal Magic, in some cases rivalling the Eldritch"; the Throne was destroyed and its shards claimed by the younger gods; and "Eldritch and many other Ethereal Magic users lost favor with the Gods and were driven extinct. By the end of this age, practitioners of Ethereal Magic outside of those under the direct influence of the Gods (Divine Magic) and Dragons were scarce" (S208). "The Gods stamped out the widespread use of this magic on the material plane when they allowed their foremost servants, the Eldritch, to be replaced by the Elves, with their affinity to the more limited, and more controllable Divine and Arcane Magics" (S208). At the age's end Kalar made the Worldstone and banished the Demons to the Abyss.
In the Age of Dragons "Great power was granted to the twelve Archwizards and their disciples who were able to tap directly into the power of the Worldstone. This was the birth of Arcane Magic. However, it was limited to High Elves, Dark Elves and some breeds of Draconians and Dragons" (S208).
In the Age of Magic, "after the Shattering, Mithis became available to all beings, not just those with a birthright to it (High Elves and Dark Elves). This was the golden age of Arcane Magic, when great orders of magicians were formed and magic was commonplace" (S208).
In the Fifth Age, which the treatise calls the Sanctuary Age and numbers sixth (a numbering the designer has ruled wrong), "Mithis became a corrupted substance controlled primarily by the Archdemon Asmodeus. This led to the worldwide abandonment of Mithis as a Focus and Source of Magic for the mortal races" (S208). The Fifth Age notes go further: "All magic is the now the province of Gods and Demons. The fall of the Old gods (known widely as the Riven Gods, Dead Gods or Kalari to their faithful) has led to many upheavals in the natural order ... Mithis Magic and Divine Magic are no longer distinct, as the source of both is Astral Magic ... The Mithis Plane is gone, its echo being the Rift and its bridges to Astral Shards (Astral Folds) ... Divine Magic is unchanged, though most deities capable of it have considerable expectations (not unlike Demons) ... Demonic Magic (was Mithis Magic) is now solely the province of Demons ... Ethereal Magic - as the ultimate source of all magic, Ethereal magic remains unchanged, but rarely held or used" (S014). The Fae Realms "have fallen under the sway of Demons, Demi-Gods and Elemental lords" (S014), and Fel magic, "imported from the world of Sharuvas by the Uk'zarai", "draws power from the lifeforce of corrupted entities, draining them of life" (S014); it is Magic's.
After the Redemption, in what the newest Fifth Age notes call the Age of the Divine, the sources of magic "in order of prominence" are the Divine, Seth'Arax and his Araxians, the dragons with "Fae, Mithis and Astral Magics", the Rift's Mithis through Warlocks and Riftmetals, Astral Dust, "the Dead Gods, Elder Gods, Eldritch, Demi-Gods and Demons", Fae Magic among Elves, Gnomes and Stonekin, and Fel Magic, "strictly forbidden in domains of the Divine" (S112). "Mages, Wizards and Hollowlocks -- have lost their power source" (S112). The runesmiths felt the same shift: "Fae energy tends to be more limited and fickle than other kinds of energy, which is why it has been out of favor with runesmiths. Now that Mithis is no longer available, this is probably the easiest type of power source to locate" (S246).
Earlier accounts¶
The earliest magic-user draft divided all magic into five spheres, Spirit, Living, Arcane, Conjuration and Elemental, and had Conjuration manipulate "the mithis plane to create planar tunnels from any plane adjacent to the Mithis plane to the Inner Planes" (S371). The 2022 Cosmology names the energy of the Einar's shards Astral and that of souls Ethereal, as the later sources do, and already has "Magical energy always comes from an Ethereal root" (S013). The treatise The Nature of Magic and the 2026 Advanced Magic notes carve the practice differently, twelve Arcane colleges in one and nine major and twenty minor Spheres in the other; that difference is Magic's to settle.
Gap
S205's "Three Expressions" of magic and of life are named and not explained. No source says how Astral Law was established or by whom "the Creators" are meant beyond the Einar. The treatise's account of magic in each age gives lengths for the ages that no other source confirms.
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The ARCS spellcasting rules and casting traditions: Spellcasting ↩