How Magic Works in the Anteheroes (Part I - Overview and Wizard Magic)

by AstralFire - 06/08/2010

So I thought I'd start detailing this. This is just part I of a multi-part series.

What is magic? The Avalon Council's Codex Principia Magicae defines it as "a fundamental alteration of reality powered by an apeironic source; typically a ley line." The apeiron is believed by scholars of magic to be a relic of the creation of the universe, and those which study multiple fields have blamed the accelerating expansion of the universe on residual apeironic energies. Whatever it is, it can act upon standard energy and matter without being acted upon in return, except in a few very rare cases. This essentially allows magic to break traditional conservation of mass and energy as it is usually understood.

Generally, there are two types of magic available to a person: innate magic, and learned magic.

Those with access to innate magic – fey, as well as a rare few humans, animals and monsters known as arcanists – have a direct inner connection to a source of apeiron energy, and can train themselves to control the flux of power. However, because this connection is severed within minutes of someone being deceased, the exact nature of the connection is unknown. Some scholars have conducted unanesthetized vivisections in pursuit of this knowledge, but the practice is considered extremely cruel, and all magical organizations officially frown on the practice. Many self-regulate members on this point.

The other path, one which anyone can follow if they only have a teacher, is learned magic. A variety of human institutions over the ages have picked up the path, calling themselves Wizards, psychics, mediums, magicians, sorcerers, tantrists, mystics, enchanters, and various and sundry other things depending on the exact nature of their teachings. Learned magic operates on the principle of manipulating environmental magic (usually ley lines) to produce desired effects. Inner connections to magic produce magic of too unrefined and unpredictable nature to develop a unified system of casting around.

Innate magic tends to be more directly powerful than learned, often conjuring matter or effects, but is considerably more limited. A pyrokinetic arcanist can be extremely clever in the application of their fire, but they are still limited to fire. By contrast, learned magic is often subtle, working with what is already present. There are three foremost societies dedicated solely to the study of magic; all three have been operating continuously for more than a millenia, and represent the three major extant learned traditions: the Wizard, the Medium, and the Tantrist. For now, we shall only cover the Wizard.

The masters of this type of magic are often considered to be - in traditional circles - Britain's ancient Avalon Council, headed by High Lord Theophilus (Ted) Pendragon. Wizard (often called Geomancy, Logomancy, or Druidic) magic is typically concerned with the direct but subtle manipulation of the outside – weather magic and magic wards are perennial favorites. Wizards need a focusing symbol to use their powers most effectively; it is possible for an expert wizard to cast most spells without a symbol, but it will take longer and/or be weaker than if she had used a focus. The more mass that a symbol has, the more power which can be channeled through it. The more complicated the shape of that symbol - with a very rough correspondence to the ratio of surface area to volume - the more intricate and precise the spell effect.

Wizard magic always includes a verbal component; traditionally, complicated and archaic Latin, Arabic or Greek phrases were favored, but more recent wizards have begun to use trigger phrases in their own languages for simplicity. Advanced wizards can drop the spoken portion of this component, but they still must envision the word in their minds. The preferred English trigger phrase goes along the formula, "This is the Word of X: Y," where 'X' is the lexicon of magic from which you are drawing your definition of the word 'Y'. However, it is rare for a combat wizard to use this long-hand format; instead, they will develop custom lexicons of a few words - more experienced wizards can have larger lexicons - and switch between these lexicons as needed. (Preferred English command phrase: "Invoke the Lexicon of X.") Only one Lexicon may be active at a time; no wizards are known to be able to circumvent this issue. While a Lexicon is active, a Spell within it may be activated simply by speaking its name.