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." — The Nature of Magic (S208)
Magic in Terrun is the moving of Ether by those who have dominion over it, and every tradition is a way of reaching some source of power and shaping it. Most mortals cannot cast at all. The magic they meet is that of priests who borrow a god's power, of alchemists and artificers who make it from materials, of the few born with a gift in the blood, and of those who bargain with demons for what they lack. Which traditions flourished has changed with every age: the Eldritch ruled with Elder magic, the elves and the orders of wizards with Mithis, and in the Fifth Age arcane magic is all but gone, leaving the field to gods, demons and witches. What magic is, the Binding Rule, Astral Law and the energies it draws on, is told under Nature of Magic; Mithis itself under Mithis. Rules for spellcasting are in the ARCS wiki.
The four origins¶
The treatise The Nature of Magic names four origins of magic that can be harnessed on Terrun: Alchemistry, Arcane, Faerie and Ethereal. A caster's Focus is how they reach an origin and their Spellcraft how they shape what they gather. The kinds of magic practised under each, and the traditions within them, are:
| Origin | Kind of magic | Traditions and practitioners |
|---|---|---|
| Alchemistry | Alchemy | Corporeal and Empyrean alchemists; Artificers; Reagents and Herbs |
| Witchcraft | Aegic, Malefica and Aphotic witches (also counted as Elder magic) | |
| Arcane (Mithis) | Arcane Magic | Magicians, Conjurers, Enchanters, Evokers, Incanters; Arcane Colleges; Mithi'nulias, the mage-hunters; Casting Focuses of the Earlier Ages |
| Hollow Magic | Hollowcasting: Hollowlocks, Hollowmages, Hollowsmiths | |
| Rune Magic | Khardic Runecasting, Namakan Runecasting, Runic Inks | |
| Faerie (Elemental) | Fae Magic | Fae Domains; Primal Spellcraft: Shamans, Spellfuries, Bards, Shapechangers |
| Ethereal | Elder Magic | Eldritch magi, Psions, Confessors; Death Magic |
| Divine Magic | priests, clerics, paladins, monks and inquisitors | |
| Demonic Magic | warlocks, Daemus, summoners, sorcerors | |
| Druids | an Elder spellcraft that survived the fall of the Eldritch | |
| from Sharuvas | Fel Magic | the Uk'Zarai and the Dark Angels |
Rune magic draws on Mithis, Fae and Divine sources alike and is placed under Mithis here only because its first runes were arcane. The treatise's four origins leave out Fel magic, which came to Terrun from another world.
Materials¶
Magic settles in matter, and some materials are magic in their own right. They are described under Materials: the Mithis Metals and Gemstones, Adamantium, Argentium, Aurumite and the Sancturi holy substance Praestus. The herbs and components of the alchemist are under Reagents and Herbs.
Magic through the ages¶
Each age had its own magic. Fae magic ruled the Primordial Age; Elder magic was the art of the Eldritch in the Age of Titans and was stamped out in the Age of Demons; arcane magic was born with the first wizards in the Age of Dragons and had its golden age in the Age of Magic; in the Fifth Age Mithis was corrupted and then removed from the world, and "all magic is the now the province of Gods and Demons" (S014). The story is told age by age under Nature of Magic and on the History pages.
How the world sees magic¶
Magic is feared. "The association between Demons and Magic-use is a strong one in most people's minds. This is why overt magic use is generally frowned upon, feared, or outlawed and in many places a capitol offense" (S519). After the mage wars "magic-use, once fairly common in humans, became rare, and a thing feared by the populace" (S372), and the elves were shunned for keeping their casters. In the Fifth Age the Divine's nations seek the eradication of "Magic-Users, Dragons, Demons, Fae and Rift-folk" (S004), and rune magic is forbidden in his domains (S112). The traditions' pages say how each is regarded.
Legacy rules material from the archive's magic systems is organized under Mechanics and is not canon for play.