GENERAL INFORMATION:
HOW DOES MAGIC WORK IN THE WORLD OF 3WSR?
Magic itself is omnipresent in the 3WSR universe. Like matter and energy, it is everywhere. Humans can access it when trained to be able to, and it is broken down into eight elements:
The classic four:
fire
water
earth
air
The derived four:
dark
light
ice
electric
CAN ANYONE USE ALL EIGHT ELEMENTS?
In theory, yes. In practice, no. To use a magical element, one must have an "aptitude" for it. The average person has one or two, some have three, but it is extremely rare to have more than four. In the 3WSR Universe, only nine people to date are known to have been "Elementals"... extremely rare mages who have all eight aptitudes. As far as the historical record goes, the last elemental was the first Man In Blue, Matthew Erdagovern, who only found out about this after he was blessed by the Prism.
It is possible to learn magic of a type one does not have an aptitude for... but it is very hard and mastery cannot be reached beyond the most basic spells. For example- if one does not have the aptitude for electric magic, the best they can hope to achieve is casting a single, non-lethal lightning bolt. They will never be able to master the ultimate form of Lightning magic- the dreaded "concentrated Lightning cascade" spell.
WHAT ABOUT HONEY MAGIC?
(All yours toz
)
WHY DO MAGES SPECIALIZE?
When a mage determines his or her aptitudes, they devote their lives to becoming mages of that type, be it a fire mage, ice mage, earth mage, etc. For example- a mage with fire aptitude will devote his life to learning and perfecting fire magic, because that is the aptitude he or she can achieve mastery with. Once a mage achieves mastery with his element, traditionally said mage is now obligated to take on apprentices- pupils who the mage will teach his knowledge to, as to ensure that the art of his craft is not lost to time.
Because of the time taken to train, learn and master a single element, then teach it to pupils, it is extremely rare for a mage to achieve complete mastery over more than two elements in his or her lifetime.
WHY WERE MAGES FORCED TO LEARN UNDER AN APPRENTICE SYSTEM?
Put simply- that's how things worked back then, and it was really the only way for anyone to learn magic prior to the establishment of a certain institution (see below)
IS THE APPRENTICE SYSTEM STILL USED "TODAY" IN THE 3WSR WORLD?
Yes, but usage of it is almost gone. Following the establishment of the "academy of magic" in Germany, which became the "standard school for magic" mages from all over the world would flock to said school and learn about it in an academic manner.
The apprentice system was often tied to groups of mages called factions or guilds, and being tied to one of those often meant devoting one's life to said faction or guild in the same way a monk is devoted to his monastery for the rest of his life. Though some factions allowed the freedom to have families and have separate lives, as time marched on the appeal of being tied to a faction or guild began to lower, with people now preferring the "freedom" given by being a "non-faction" mage that being a graduate of the Academy of Magic offered.
DOES MAGIC HAVE LIMITATIONS?
Yes- they are outlined in the Eight Laws of Magic. Discovered by renowned Colorman Scholar Blake Erdagovern, the Eight Laws of Magic are not Judicial laws, but rather fundamental laws, like the Laws of Thermodynamics. They are as such:
First Law of Magic: One's ability to use magic is not dependent on strength of one's body, but strength of one's mind
In the earliest years of magic's existence, it was believed that strength of the body was directly correlated to the strength of one's ability to use magic. This is not the case- if all other factors are kept equal, a man of frail, small build has the capacity to cast spells just as powerful as someone with a large, muscular build. Unlike physical strength, magic strength is not limited by muscle mass, because magic is not directly linked to anything physical in the body. Rather, one's mind is the reason the user can harness magic
Because this wording was deemed confusing by some, Blake went on to clarify “Magic does not come from physical strength. Rather, it comes from study, from a natural aptitude, or from an external source. The frailest old woman and the obese craven can still be a powerful mage in one of these ways”
Second Law of Magic: Magic can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only be harnessed or blocked
Magic, like matter and energy, exists in a finite amount in the universe. When spells are cast, magic is harnessed from one's "pool" of magic, and when the spell is cast, the magic then dissipates back into the world. Though it is possible to enlarge one's "pool," the amount of time needed to refill it is directly proportional to the size of one's pool. Barring the use of an artifact, when one is left to his own accord, someone with a smaller pool of magic will re-accumulate his/her magic quicker than someone with a larger pool. However, said pool, being limited in size, will run out more quickly than a larger pool. Likewise, it is possible to block one from using magic, by preventing them from harnessing it. This is commonly done with a hex, or the Colorman Alloy Vallerium
Third Law of Magic: Magic is learned, not inherited
This law can be tricky to understand because of the existence of Colormen bloodlines. Put simply- the strength of one's ability to use magic is not dependent on hereditary characteristics, but on the individual. If a powerful sorcerer and sorceress had children, this does not mean that their children are guaranteed to be powerful mages. Rather, it depends on the individual's ability; so it is very much possible that children of powerful sorcerers can have little, or even no talent for magic at all.
Fourth Law of Magic: Magic can heal, but it cannot cure
Even in the early days of magic, it was understood that healers could only do so much. Physical injuries, such as burns, gashes, even amputations to an extent, can be healed with magic. Diseases however, cannot be cured with magic alone. Magic is capable of many great things, but it cannot cure disease. (Believed to be foresight into the inability to of magic to prevent many of the worst epidemics in history, such as the Black Death or Spanish Flu). Magic also cannot treat terminal illness, but it can alleviate suffering.
Indeed, magic did fail to prevent the great epidemics of history, for magic could treat the symptoms, but not the root cause. Even after the discovery of germ theory, disease proved tricky. Desperate for the answers they craved, some mages studied bacteriology or virology, even though this was not necessary. Ultimately, science beat magic to most cures, rendering any research in the area moot.
As time marched on, some mages made (unverified) claims that they were able to cure disease, which made people wonder if the fourth law was wrong. However, when the full manuscript was considered, Blake did mention the following:
“We are only human. We are given life, and life eventually goes away. Magic is capable of many great feats and deeds, but even it is unable to overcome our mortality. We must appreciate life when we have it, because like how the flower must eventually wilt, the body must eventually die and the soul move on to its eternal rest”
This passage has lead most modern magic scholars to believe that when Blake said that magic could not cure, perhaps he wasn’t necessarily referring to disease alone... but rather, there is no cure for the mortality of man... death, in essence, is an unavoidable part of The Human Condition.
Fifth Law of Magic: Magic can restore life, but it cannot create or return life
Building off of the fourth law, this law explains that while magic can conjure nonliving things, such as fire, rock or even metal or food, it cannot create "life" as we know it. Rather, magic allows one to become a "puppeteer" and control that which would otherwise not be alive. For instance- golems are magma, ice or stone that has been brought to life because a mage used magic to animate said material; but the material itself has no intelligence. It is only as "intelligent" as the mage who controls it. Likewise, when someone dies, magic cannot bring them back to life because the soul has already moved on to its final destination. A necromancer controls dead bodies the same way a puppeteer controls a marionette; the body itself is not alive.
In other words- magic cannot create souls; and therefore, cannot create life. While the Spirit of the Prism may sound like an exception to the rule, remember- it is a being of pure magic, and does not possess a soul. Therefore, the Spirit is technically not a "life" in the typical sense of the word.
By extension, this means that artificially-created beings, like golems and hommunculi, do not possess souls, because they were born of magic. As such, mages to not consider being such as them to be "alive" since magic cannot create life (i.e. souls)
Sixth Law of Magic: Magic itself possesses no morality, but can be influenced
Magic in and of itself is morally neutral; however there are ways to make magic good or evil, such as an artifact, or the way it is used by the individual. The topic of what makes something good or evil is not what is being discussed in this manuscript, but rather, the good and evil magic itself. Although evil magic is not more powerful than good magic, and vice versa, the moral influence of magic can still have an effect on the user. For example- The Prism only contains good magic, because evil magic is not compatible with prism magic (Author's note: for more on Prism Magic, refer to the discussion Types of Magic in the 3WSR Universe). Because this is so, nobody evil can access the Prism's power because, put simply, they are not able to harness the proper magic to be able to use it. On the other side of the coin, there are some artifacts that can only be used by those who use evil magic. Fortunately, they are rare and hard to come by; most often, such artifacts are destroyed or purified before they can do more harm.
Seventh Law of Magic: Magic is limited by the knowledge of the user
It is often said that magic can "do anything" but really- it is limited by the user's ability to use magic. For example- many spells in the early years of magic were based around the classical elements of earth, air, water and fire, because they were what made the most sense to magic casters at the time. But then as magic was researched and humanity's understanding of it expanded, different kinds of spells emerged. The Colormen's ability to use spells no one had seen before when the Prism first arrived was directly due to the knowledge granted by the Prism to those who were worthy.
For example- the Colormen Alloys, Vallerium, radmiium, viktrium, etc. did not exist prior to the Prism's appearance. But when the knowledge was granted to the Colormen of how to use magic to forge alloys with special properties, these were able to exist because the Prism granted the knowledge of how to do so.
In principle, magic can accomplish "anything" but only if the user pretty much knows "everything" which of course, is not possible.
Eighth Law of Magic: It is impossible to completely master magic
Magic comes in many forms, regardless of morality. Even if one devoted his life to studying magic, and absolutely nothing else, he would still be unable to travel the world, and learn and master every single discipline of magic, because it often takes a lifetime to master just one type of magic. (i.e. black magic, golem magic, prism magic, etc)
Then factor in that good people cannot use evil magic, evil people cannot use good magic, and that many kinds of magic were lost following "The Dark Times" (NOTE: Believed to refer to the fall of the Roman Empire and the coming of the Dark Ages)- it is clear that it is impossible to master magic