Difference between revisions of "Magic"

Revision as of 15:14, 26 May 2017

Magic on Saylua is a blanket term used to refer to a variety of unusual phenomenon perceived as supernatural which occurred after The Impact. Specifically, unusual observations after The Impact include:

• Creatures near the meteor crash site started to evolve very rapidly, believed to be caused by an increased rate of mutation.
• Some creatures evolved to use elemental powers such as the ability to breath fire.
• Luaria started to have a frequent aurora in the sky, which Luarians call the Aria.
• The planet of Saylua started to have longer days until it became fully tidally locked during an era known as the Transition Age.

Sayluans referred to the seemingly miraculous observations they saw in the meteor crash site following The Impact as magic simply because the occurrences did not seem to be logical. Although it has been widely studiesd, magic on Saylua is still a poorly understood concept. The leading explanation for the working of magic on Saylua is the Arian Particle Hypothesis, which states that magic is tied to extremely powerful particles contained on the meteor.

Behavior

Magic has brought great changes to Saylua. A dramatic example of this is the rapid transformation of Saylua's creatures in the years following the meteor impact. In general, species seemed to develop further along their original lines, although some transformed so completely as to bear little resemblance to their original form.

Magic seems to follow the "will" of the user, from interactions as complex as a bird growing more colorful feathers to those as simple as a river rushing more rapidly to the sea. Indeed, some even hypothesize that the tidal locking was a result of magic used by the planet itself!

In practical terms this means that magic has been incredibly useful to humans and animals alike, even with little training or understanding. Still, the more one practices and learns about magic the more precisely one is able to control their use of it. The feats that are possible are limited only by the skill of the user and the amount of magical energy available, at least as far as all experiments have shown. There does seem to be some sort of law of diminishing returns relating to magical energy, with the requirements for grander tasks growing very quickly.

A budding mage usually begins by training their will as well as working to improve their self-understanding. It is all too often the case that a spell has an unexpected outcome simply because the caster actually intended something other than what they were attempting. Strong desires can help focus one's will, although strong emotions can often be less than straightforward.

The Study of Magic

The methods of magical instruction differ greatly depending on where on Saylua one begins to train. A Luarian teacher might advise a student to jump in and make mistakes as quickly as possible while practicing relatively safe spells. The Saylean school, by contrast, usually begins with a much more theoretical explanation of magical techniques. Both schools emphasize the importance of practice and experimentation in personal development.

The two schools also differ in how they record the details of a magical experiment. Luarian records tend to be more specific, taking note of everything from the source of any ingredients or supplies to the mood and weather on the day the experiment was run. The Saylean system focus more on eliminating confounding variables and describing magic in terms of basic principles which can aid replicability but sometimes omits relevant data if it was not expected to matter. There is quite a bit of effort in magical academia to translate and replicate the work of those from opposing sides. The bulk of this work is done by student-researchers, and as a result it is not uncommon for a novice to find themselves asked to share their findings with those many years their senior.

Most professionals end up working with a sort of a synthesis between the two systems, as ultimately each methodology has strengths and weaknesses that make it suited to specific tasks.

Sources of Magical Energy

The original source of all magical energy on Saylua was the meteor impact, but even conservative estimates of the total mass Arian particles in the world is many times that of the original meteor. This suggests some sort of process is generating or reproducing them in nature, although no such process has been observed under laboratory conditions.

Regardless of their source, Arian particles have to be gathered in sufficient quantities to be able to be used to perform useful magic. The energy density of the famous glowing auroras is extremely low, with a single cloud barely containing enough energy to boil a cup of water, much less cause a dramatic transformation. The primary means for these clouds to enter the food chain is via absorption into vegetation. Arian particles are then concentrated through biomagnification, leaving immense magical power available to apex predators.

Significance on Luaria

The people of Luaria often credit magic with saving their side of the planet, in spite of the great tragedies brought by The Impact. Before the discovery of magic, the meteor crash site was believed to be a near complete dead zone where almost all life living in the area had died. However, the few creatures that did survive The Impact were hardy and eventually reproduced to create offspring with magical capabilities. Before the word Luaria was used to refer to the dark side of Saylua, the word was used to refer to the hope brought to the meteor crash site by the presence of newly thriving life.

In the present day, Luarians value magic extremely highly. While Sayleans tend to see magic as something that should be studied and understood, so that it can be used to create new technologies, Luarians see magic as a necessity to their lives. Luarians are constantly directly interacting with magic and use magic in everyday activities from farming to adventuring.