Magic in Eldorath

To understand the magic using classes in Eldorath, the construction of the universe itself must be understood. This is in fact, the principle pursuit of great Wizards of Eldorath, one of the five basic forms of Eldorath ‘magic’ user, but before I elucidate them allow me to outline what magic is, and how it works.

The universe, according to Xagyg, the ancient philosopher of Vyzanch, encompasses the heavens, the Earth, and the aquatic Under-earth. These are formed of matter, within a space composed of void. the matter is a glomeration of invisibly small particles called Atomi.

Atomi themselves were formed in the birth of the universe from the condensation of the Great Fields; Magic, Aether, Spirit, and the five Elemental fields; Wood, Water, Fire, Air, and Earth. Each field is independent of the others, and like a fluid fills the whole universe. So all fields exist in all places at the same time. Waves within this gaseous fluid of a field create places of thickness and thinness, and the thick places in the fields when condensing out of the primordial chaos during the early universe sometimes overlapped one another.

When sufficient wave overlap in all fields at the same point occurred, an Atomi was born; an indelible, indestructible particle of matter composed of some ratio of each field bound for eternity into a whole. As you can see there are a very large possible number of Atomi, born of the chaos of fields, floating through the void like dust-motes in a sunbeam.

The Void itself is not “empty” but simply the places where Atomi are not, and where the energies of Magic, Spirit and Aether operate to push and float and pull the Atomi. Shapes and Affinity of the Elemental parts of Atomi allow them to bind together in various ways to make the matter we percieve.

NosenRa of Agamroria theorized in his Res Gnosticam, that the five Elemental fields were the source of Weight, and Substance, while the fields of Magic, Aether, and Spirit were binding “energy” fields. And therefore the key to the practice of Magic.

Nosk’Saj of Nevets wrote the History of Magic when the Elves still ruled from Vyzanch, in it he explained the birth of the Immortal Gods from Ana the Firstmother, herself born the instant all fields achieved unity. These first-born intelligences are composed of a perfect balance of the binding fields, and thus have unlimited control of matter fields by simple will. The small imperfections in their makeup of Elemental fields is what gives Gods individuality, and affinity for certain elements.

Where Spirit, Ether, and Magic synchronized more unevenly the secondary intelligences were born; these things we call Souls, or Spirits.

A Soul is bound into a physical manifestation by the affinity of it’s Spiritual and Aetherial fields with those fields of the physical matter of it’s form. Interrupting that affinity causes a soul to part from it’s body, and results in the phenomena we observe as death.

It was the Gods who shaped the matter of the universe into the objects we observe, they used their perfect control of binding fields to sculpt the Atomi, housing Souls in some forms, and making the everyday objects we interact with. The first souls the Gods took interest in and formed shapes for were the Primal Dragons, following them came the Great Giants, the Elves, and the other “magical” creatures of Eldorath; those whose inherit magical nature allowed them to shape reality with a natural ease similar, but lesser than Gods.

Finally were created the lesser mortal things, Souls easily parted from life, and jailed in a material existence shaped by Gods and magical beings. Humans of course, are in this category.

Rellim of Kram claims in his book that mortal beings were bound to matter, whereas immortal souls were not, and that death disintegrates the soul permanently, except in rare instances usually involving the use of magics. He also claims that some souls, those that are exceptional for beauty, will, creativity, and so on can leave a sort of shadow in one or two of the binding fields...if this shadow persists in the Spirit field, it is perceived as a ghostly being, and so on. He also thinks that the vibrations of these shadows can sometimes grow enough to reanimate matter and therefore reincarnate into the physical world.

And so on to who can perform acts of “magic” and how.

First are Gods These intelligences access the Magic Field, the Etherial Field, and the Spiritual field directly, they simply will changes in the state of the material world by controlling the fields that are extensions of their being. This is effortless and only lightly limited by a Gods individual affinity for particular material Elements.

Next come the “magical beings”; Elves, Primordial Dragons, Great Giants, Unicorns, and so on. These creatures are bound into a material body, but enough of their soul is made of the Magic Field that they can manipulate matter with it, again by will, but to a lesser extent, a lesser power, than Gods.

The “mortal beings”; Humans, among others, cannot do magic by will. They are too tightly bound into matter. However these beings can LEARN to manipulate the Binding fields indirectly.

Wizards are the greatest mortal magic users; they have a weak spiritual affinity for the Magic Field that eases their way, gives them access to minor powers unattainable to other mortals, however this can be powerfully augmented by knowledge; Astronomy, and Alchemy are studies that find indirect ways to push and pull the Binding forces through manipulating matter. Where Gods manipulate Forces to change the material world, Wizards manipulate the physical world to manipulate Forces, which in turn manipulate the physical world. Thus magical Spells, are recipes that use matter, gesture, and word as “handles” for twisting and guiding changes in physical reality.

Witches, also called Shamans, or Hedgewikkes, also have affinity to the Magic field above other mortals, but also and more strongly to the Aetherial Field. Like Wizards they manipulate these fields indirectly, but rather than rely on centuries of accumulated written knowledge, they forgo writing in favor of oral history, concentrating on words and gesture above material stuff, and passed down “trial and error” methods. Aetherial connection gives Witches access to seeing individual beings (persons) futures and pasts, and events near and far to a greater degree and ease than any Wizard of equal competence. They are born fortune tellers. They also differ from Wizards in that they have more magical investment in manipulating other individual souls than Wizards, but less than Clerics.

Clerics have a soul weighted to Spirit. They are far more able to manipulate the Souls of others than the material those souls inhabit. Again they access Supermortal powers indirectly this time by invoking the help of specific Gods to which they are bound. In effect Clerics are a tiny mortal bound to a God through a string of the Spirit Field, almost an extension, with an individual existence and independent soul, but one that harmonizes or communicates with the Godhead more strongly than other mortals. The ultimate goal of a Cleric is to improve the potency and power of their deity through creating connections between the God to other mortal Souls.  This is accomplished by ritual, the more mortals that perform rituals the more spirit field energy becomes available to a cleric and through them to the God in question. Gods enjoy this vibration and give the Cleric responsible attention and the miraculous powers we see here on Eldorath.