Arcane Field

The Arcane Field covers the entire world. It's basically a magical fog that's not usually visible to people. It ebbs and flows just like magical leylines, except it's more like a half-metaphysical sea. It's quite similar to the ocean in the way that there are "tides" like the ocean. There can be Arcane droughts or floods, however, they're unpredictable since there doesn't seem to be any one particular force that moves the Arcane. (AKA I haven't fully decided on what shifts it.)   Some places have naturally lower levels of Arcane Energy while others have higher.    The Arcane Energy is diluted quintessence that leaked in from the Outerrealm when the Arcanist was present in the world. He's basically like a massive tap that can't turn itself off. So to not oversaturate the world in Arcane Energy, he departed to the Aether where he watched over from a distance.

All people are like a proxy between the Arcane Field and the real world. People have different natural aptitudes as well as strengths with the Arcane. No one is completely unable to manipulate the Arcane, but some people are naturally better at it than others. Arcane Energy naturally clusters more inside of people. People's effectiveness at drawing in the Arcane and channelling it is kind of what determines someone aptitude at the art.    Certain spells are able to "choke" the Arcane, essentially completely dispelling the location of Arcane energy until it creeps back in like fog.   Arcane chokeholds done through an Arcane spell means that the caster cannot use any magic after. There are exceptions to this rule, however. (Nexa hosts, Astrolumancers, and Cor Coelesta)   People have traced Arcane flow to the sinkhole below Starfall's Landing. There is a constant flow in as well as a flow out of the sinkhole. They do not know what this means, but it has led to theories about what's down the sinkhole. All of them are wrong because it's actually a physical connection to the opposite world.