Magic

The Magic of Iuldar is here summarized briefly. All humanoid beings of Iuldar (with some notable exceptions) possess a khaalnas, or a ‘magic network’. This is a series of vessels and small organs that runs roughly parallel to the circulatory system. The khaalnas is made of five basic components: vessels (conduits), soul receptors, nodes, capacitors, and discharge points. In short, ‘soul receptors’ generate the energy used for magic, called khaar or mana. As the name suggests, the energy that makes up mana is partly taken from the soul. Energy from the soul and Aural Energy are mixed together in the soul receptors. Not much is known about Aural Energy, only that it is somehow connected to The Void and permeates the world. Mana vessels deliver the charged raw mana throughout the body. Nodes are responsible for shaping the raw mana into usable magic energy, and for controlling the magic energy once released from the body. Properly charged mana is stored in capacitors for later use, and when magic is executed by the person, mana is ejected through the discharge points. Also of note in the magic system is the aura. An aura is a sort of field surrounding a person that is generated by excess mana being leaked from the capacitors into the air. Though not a physical organ, it is also very important in the execution of magic. Despite the similarity in name, a person’s aura is not related to the Aural Energy that mana is largely composed of.

There are two fundamental types of magic that the body can produce. These are referred to as ‘cast’ and ‘field’ magic. The energies of cast and field magic are shaped by different types of nodes: ‘stream nodes’ for cast magic and ‘locus nodes’ for field magic. Locus nodes are more closely linked with instinctive parts of the brain, especially in the Vros races (more on that later), but are harder to manually control than stream nodes. Because of this, cast magic is typically the first type of magic used by an aspiring mage. However, most cast magic-based actions involve field magic to a small degree, but its use is instinctive and involuntary when used like this. It is believed that locus nodes developed as a means of communication between the brain and the stream nodes, and that the resultant capacity for field magic was a happy accident. Regardless, most advanced magic users can perform voluntary field magic.

Cast magic is the simplest form of power control. It is essentially just ejecting charged energy from the body. Some amount of control over the ejected energy is possible once it leaves the discharge points, but not nearly as much as with field magic. As such, its most potent use is for combat magic. Beginning mages often learn to control magic power by simply ejecting energy from their hands in the form of raw mana pulses. As magic itself is a form of energy, the easiest thing for a mage to manipulate is energy. In fact, the primary function of cast magic is environmental manipulation, but it is easier to start with energy manipulation and work from there. Forms of energy that mages can easily control include fire, frost, light, darkness, electricity, and pure magic energy. Once the control of energy is mastered, a mage can begin learning to manipulate material substance. This use of cast magic is referred to as Elemental magic. There are more advanced techniques than just Energetic and Elemental magic usable with cast magic, but these are more specialized. One such example is the manipulation of the soul itself, often referred to as ‘sorcery’ or simply ‘soul magic’. Cast magic can also be released internally, and is often used for enhancing bodily performance.

Field magic is more difficult to master than cast magic. It involves using mana to project and control an invisible, intangible field. This field can then be given different properties, and can become visible and tangible if additional energy is poured into it. Common uses for field magic include communication and shielding. Mastery of field magic is a requirement for highly advanced magic techniques such as compositional magic and sealing. Field magic on its own cannot carry a “charge” like cast magic, though it is possible to bestow properties of cast magic on a field, including charge and condition (see below), by filling it with energy of the appropriate type. Field magic is also an unconscious component of most cast magic techniques. An example given in many magic schools is that of a fireball. The caster would burn their own hand if there wasn’t a small field generated in front of their palm that serves as both the launch point for the fireball, and protection for the caster’s hand. Conscious control over fields is much more difficult, and even more skilled mages can rarely control more than two without a serious penalty to efficiency. In fact, being able to multitask fields is a good sign that someone is naturally talented in regard to magic.

Among mages, basic energy control is believed to be controlled along two axes. The two axes are as follows: fire/frost is called ‘condition’, and light/darkness is called ‘charge’. By default, mana has a neutral charge and condition. In this situation the only energy that can be controlled is pure magic energy. Pure magic bolts are often used by mages in law enforcement due to their stunning properties. When mana is shaped by “moving” its energy value up or down one of the axes, its nature is changed. Moving “down” on the condition axis will produce frost magic, while moving “up” on the charge axis will produce light or electrical magic. In broad physical terms, the condition axis controls thermal energy while the charge axis controls electromagnetic energy. In fact, all four axial directions have a secondary effect that was not apparent until the publication of Prinzipien der Chemie by the alchemist Xaltaras in the latter part of the Time of Sages. The secondary association of electricity with light was known before this time, but it wasn’t until afterward that the secondary association of magnetism with darkness was revealed. In addition, magic oriented along the condition axis can also accelerate or decelerate objects by a macroscopic application of its ability to affect molecular speed.