Overview

The medieval conception of magic and its underlying mechanics is much like our own. They believe in stellar rays, or radiant energy, from each of the seven planets that the magician may manipulate to his own ends. Steller rays, in fact, are the fundamental building block of all reality, and the material world is a by-product of them.

   

What is Magic?

Magic is the art and science of affect change in the world. It is a dependably repeatable mental science and as such is often mixed with science by philosophers, medical professionals, artificers, alchemists and engineers.    

Who Uses Magic?

Magic is available to everyone in Aorlis. It can be as mundane as wise woman’s home remedies to a magician’s far-reaching and complex effects on the world. Few practitioners are full-time mages, but use it as a tool to help navigate life. Alchemists, wizards, necromancers, and others practice magic, but magic also is used as a tool for royals, medical doctors, or blacksmiths. This having been said, active magic users are not common and make up perhaps 10% of the population.    

Magic Frequency

Magicians believe there are higher and lower planes, with higher or lower degrees associated with each. A higher plane, such as Heaven, has a much higher vibrational frequency, and matter there is more “fine” or “subtle.” Heaven is the realm of gods, angels, and saints. As you travel down the frequency scale, you get to the material world. Further down, as you fall toward Hell, the vibrations get slower, heavier, and cruder. That is the realm of unclean spirits, spiritual scavengers, and demons.    

Elemental Magic

While stellar rays are a case of degree, there is also an elemental aspect. The current belief is that the universe comprises four elements: air, earth, fire, and water. The material world exists at the juncture of these four states and is a mix of all four. Many advanced theorists believe in aether, which some consider a part of elemental air; or a fifth, spiritual medium that pervades world’s totality.    

Magic and Morality

Magic has a moral component. White magic, also called stellar magic, the right-hand path, or ritual magic, is considered good. People regard natural magic as neither good nor evil, but it uses the powers of nature to produce effects that nature would not otherwise produce. People consider black magic, also called sorcery, or the left-hand path, to be evil, or morally gray at best. Like any tool, magic is amoral. Good or evil are a matter of how it’s used. Religious practices are often indistinguishable from magic. Necromancy is regarded as evil, but that is not necessarily the case. Practicing exorcists, using their powers for good, are just another sort of necromancer.    

Magic and Religion

Anywhere in Aorlis. Magic used in religion for miracles is called theurgy, and priests and monks are more likely to be magicians because of their greater education. Indeed, most necromancers are monks and priests.    

Magic and Time

Finally, there is an element of time, being the past, present, and future. People exist in a perpetual “now,” or the present, but the past and future both exist, and it is possible for magic to reveal events from either.    

Magic and Visualization

One aspect of intent, or the art of focusing one’s mind, is visualization. This suggests that significant power can be focused into pictures, sigils, talismans, glyphs, and symbols.    

Magic and Voice

The magician’s tools, no matter what background he comes from, include true will, intent, and voice. Academics believe that the spoken word possesses its own aural vibration or radiation, which helps the magician’s will and focused intent access the underlying mechanics of the universe. Most mages perform magic in their native language, the vulgate, but many believe that Tol, the original human tongue, is much more potent. Few magicians know Tol. Old Karmithian is also a popular occult language.    

Magical Outcomes

Regular day-to-day magic has minimal effect. At the far outside possibility, magic has been used to animate objects, summon weather, see things far removed in space and time, summon spirits, curse victims, and know unknowable things. The possibilities almost are limitless.  

Magic and Handwriting

There is a written element to magic as well. As bourne out by the term “grammar,” which in the modern world means the morphology of language, in medieval times is understood as the power imbued in hand-written documents. The magic often composed in a grimoire (aka grammar) are spells, ceremonies, herbals, astrological, alchemical and religious affirmations. Hand-written books (as most are in this period) of sacred or magic knowledge become magic items themselves, because the words within are powerful distillations of writer’s thought and intent. The word thus retain much of the author’s original magical intent. The act of writing such a document itself is a form of spell-working. An example of this belief is wearing written talismans, or the Ars Notoria. Notoria spells claim an entire field of knowledge instantly can be downloaded by washing the ink off a page, and then drinking the ink-infused water. This is popular among students who wish to learn a subject on the go, although in fact studying that subject probably will be less time consuming than the ceremonies required to work this spell.    

Magical Senses

All magicians on Aarthus share the ability to sense magic. This trait allows the mage to sense areas of heightened magic, even down to knowing which item is itself magical in collection. In this way, magicians may follow magic items to their source, honing in on them as they go. The magician is sensitive to energy and concentrations of stellar rays or fields. This is not a precision sense. If a thing is paranormal, or illusory, disguised as something it is not, then the mage will know that something about it is “off.” They won’t know the specifics, but the feeling is there none-the-less. They often receive mental images.    

Detection and Magic

The standard mage will sense invisible entities, but won’t be able to identify them. However, mages with advanced visualization skills won’t see the invisible being or item with his physical eyes, but will see them in his mind’s eye in some detail.    

Energy Work

All mages are energy workers. By their very natures, these practitioners are adept at drawing in, focusing, and releasing stellar radiation.    

Types of spells

Cantrip or charm—These are few words or an action resulting in a limited result. Most folk magic falls into this category.

Spell—This is a quick recipe of words and gestures, often repeated, and it calls for ten minutes to an hour casting time for noteworthy results.

Ritual—This is a full on ritual endeavor, normally taking six to ten unbroken hours and a closing of the circle ritual.

Working—This is a communal spell where multiple mages or communities combine to produce epic, large-scale results. The working might even call for multiple groups of coordinated mages stationed in different places.

Extended Working—Rarely attempted and notoriously difficult, this is a working that lasts from one to six months or more of unbroken casting, requires multiple assistants, heavy monetary expenditure, and may produce epic results.

 

Pending spells

If the magician wants to keep a spell handy for quick use, he can cast it without finishing, keeping it ready for later. Then, he can instantly release it with the right trigger.

If the wizard saves up multiple pending spells, he risks burning himself out, or having multiple spells go off at once in an unplanned way. This may injure the magician, or affect his mind or sanity. Some wizards have likened this to sitting on a mound of dry hay while playing with fire—it can all get out of control easily with disastrous results!

However, if the wizard binds the pending spell to an object, such as a wand, he doesn’t risk harming or burning himself out. The magic item will work later instantly when triggered.

 

Chained Spells

Sometimes, a desired magical result calls for a combination of spells, one cast after another. If any of the spells in the process fail, then the whole process fails.    

Scaling Spells Up or Down

A wizard may spend extra time and effort to turn a cantrip into a ritual, for example, or downgrade a working into a spell, etc. You can adjust the level of actual spells as you desire.