Magic is the act of changing the laws of physics, reality, and matter in the world of Aloria, by drawing upon other dimensions to break the rules of Aloria. Magic has a different meaning in nearly all societies, with many Heritages split between loving Magic and hating it. This Page explains the logic behind Magic in Aloria. The recommended reading portion is at the top, with Expanded Lore being optional reading for in-depth content.

Quick Start

This section will discuss how to tackle this page as quickly as possible to get into Roleplay as soon as possible. This page can be tackled in collaboration with, or without the Proficiency page, as the choices here are mostly aesthetic and do not reflect in Combat Roleplay.

Step 1 read the Dimensions section, and decide on 1, or multiple dimensional alignments for your Character.
Step 2 read the Learning section, and decide what type of Origin and Training your Mage Character has.
Step 3 read the Regalia section, so you have a general expectation of what Magic Roleplay is like.
Step 4 remember this information, or write it on your Character Sheet. You are now done here, but can read Expanded lore!

The Expanded Lore section is overwhelmingly long, and we understand if it feels intimidating. If you want to tackle it at some point, but need an indicator which sections are the most important, we recommend Arcane Harmony, Magic Costs, Risks of Magic, and Magic Schools, which are most likely to come up in Roleplay. The other sections are roughly ordered in how likely you are to run into them in conversations, but you can just feign ignorance on.

Dimensions

Aloria is separated from other dimensions or realms by the Veil, an imperceivable magical barrier. Magic users reach beyond this Veil to access Magic from the other realms and draw it to Regalia where they use it as fuel to cast Magic. More than one realm can be Aligned with, we generally recommend two realms for a new Character, but one is also good, though connecting to more makes a Mage weaker (see Arcane Harmony). This Page only contains a superficial overview of the realms for the sake of making a quick decision. For more in-depth analysis, see the Magic Realms Page.

The Abyss
The Eidolon
The Anima
The Hollow
The Vortex
The Eternum
The Dictat
The Silence

The Abyss is a realm of darkness, hedonism, and unrestrained freedom, where shadows and eternal red twilight seduce and overwhelm, hosting powerful Demons that seek to impose both liberation and corruption. It is opposed to the Eidolon, and allied with the Vortex.
The Eidolon is a realm of perfect angelic tranquility and geometric divine order, where harmony is achieved through strict dogma and harsh repression of deviancy, emphasizing stability and tradition and creating balance. It is opposed to the Abyss, and allied with the Eternum.
The Anima is a realm of abundant life and beauty filled with all manner of mystical critters and magical beasts, where immortal Fae wage endless wars of trickery and deceit, conscripting mortals to fight for their amusement. It is opposed to the Hollow, and allied with the Dictat.
The Hollow is a necropolis realm of death and finality, where tranquility exists alongside suffering, and Demons either consume souls out of hatred of the living or guide mortals to peaceful ends in pity for their pain. It is opposed to the Anima, and allied with the Silence.
The Vortex is a realm of relentless change and defiance, where chaos reigns, and landscapes shift with every blink. Above all, it is a realm in defiance of fate, that nobody is beyond saving, beyond changing, or beyond redemption. It is opposed to the Eternum and allied to the Abyss.
The Eternum is a realm of eternal stability and fixed destiny, where unchanging beauty and the comfort of the familiar defy decay, yet bring the oppressive weight of immutability. In it, fate is dogmatically followed and obeyed. It is opposed to the Vortex and allied to the Eidolon.
The Dictat is a realm of boundless knowledge and learning, an infinite library that stores every thought, from insights to drivel. Its Demons compulsively seeking information, forcing it on anyone who mistakenly listens. It is opposed to the Silence, and allied with the Anima.
The Silence is a realm of absolute emptiness, where knowledge and ideas are erased, and Demons destroy thoughts and histories to ensure nothing remains. Its hunger is both the gift of forgetting and the grief of unknown losses. It is opposed to the Dictat and allied to the Abyss.

Alignment does not dictate the types of Magic you can learn. Healing Magic for example is not unique to the realm of life. Alignment is chosen for ideological reasons, and while the colors and themes are just guidelines, we recommend gravitating toward them for cohesive character design.

Learning

Magic can be learned a number of ways. While it is possible to learn different dimensions or schools of Magic at various points in one’s life, a Mage only first learns to connect with the Veil once, which is called their Mage Origin. Mage Origins are split into the following.

Birth Origin refers to a Mage who was aligned to any realm from birth, and manifested from an early age.
Teaching Origin refers to a Mage who was aligned by being taught by a mentor, or book.
Blessing Origin refers to a Mage who was aligned as a gift/pact with a Demon, God, or other.
Curse Origin refers to a Mage who first aligned as a result of a Curse from a Demon or Object.

This choice relates to how a backstory pans out. E.g. children born with Magic in anti-Magic societies have a harsh childhood, while they have it easy in Magic societies. No one Origin makes a Mage better at casting Magic, every Mage must be taught, as even Birth Origin Mages are amateurs despite their born inclination. Next, consider how your Character became better at using Magic and practiced. This is called Mage Training.

Mentor Training refers to a Mage who was taught Magic by singular or multiple Mage mentors.
Book Training refers to a Mage who is largely self-taught, learning theory and techniques from books.
Trial Training refer to a Mage who used a process of dangerous trial and error over any official education.
School Training refers to a Mage who attended a prestigious Magical school or academy for learning.
Divine Training refers to a Mage who has their knowledge granted to them by a God of their Faith.
Demonic Training refers to a Mage who learned Magic from a Demon, or can only use it because of a possession.

You can learn different branches of Magic with different Training at any stage in life. Generally, when someone asks “How did you learn Magic?” you should only have to reply broadly which of the above applies, none is better or worse. See Magic Academies for a list of in-lore places of learning.

Regalia

Regalia, the place where most roleplay takes place, has a constantly shifting attitude towards Magic. The story goes, that Regalia is an Empire with a large Magic-using population, but with non-Mage rulers who are either afraid of or disgusted with Magic. Mages have contributed to saving the Regalian Empire numerous times from catastrophe, but are also immediately blamed for these events. Magic usage is also rife in the criminal underground, leading to a stilted view of how Magic could be used. Progressive forces always try to integrate Magic more into society, but are stymied by conservatives who fight to keep Magic hidden. Magic is generally tolerated so long as the Mage casts responsibly, and not in public or on the street without the necessary legal reprieve, for example by being a Knight or having some other form of legal exception to the law.

While the law is generally merciful and gentle, opinions on the ground can radically differ from person to person. While the law is generally protective of Mages and prevents their abuse, there are radicals in society who want to hurt Mages for what they are. Some Demons seek to feed off Mages or possess them, while some anti-Magic radicals want to outright kill Mages. Mages are also often easy scapegoats for noble schemes, making the day-to-day living of a Mage a careful balancing act between living free, and living with restraints to now draw too much attention. Your Mage Character will generally be liked by the majority population but may be randomly attacked by anti-Mage radicals or Demonic forces, while occasionally having to fend off the ignorant arm of the law that over-punishes and misunderstands Magic.

Expanded Lore

This section is not necessary to read to be allowed to use Magic in Roleplay. However, it contains a lot of technical information of how Magic works, moral implications, and the place of Magic in Aloria. As such, to avoid some confusion in roleplay, it can still be a good read, but can comfortably be delayed until later, as many of the problems that arise from Magic do not present themselves early on for new Characters.

The Veil

The Veil is an imperceivable barrier that separates the dimensions and realms from Aloria and even each other. The best way to think of the Veil is that it is like a shell around the planet of Aloria itself, but has cracks in it through which Magic breaks into Aloria. The Veil was once whole, but due to the hubris of the Seraph Civilization, was damaged, which in turn caused the Void Invasions to take place in which legions of Abyss Demons tried to purge all life from Aloria. The Veil is currently largely intact, but is still damaged from all events in history.

Elderlaw

Elderlaw simply put was the Magic before Magic, a form of doing Magical things with energies native to Aloria. Elderlaw is the power of Dragons, a tool by which they shape reality in the universe, but also create the world of Aloria as it is known. The last civilization of mortals that had Elderlaw were the Seraph. After they damaged the Veil in their hunger for more Magic, the Dragons destroyed all knowledge of Elderlaw to prevent it from falling in the hands of mortals. It is still possible to learn Elderlaw, but only through direct Dragon guidance.

Leylines

Leylines are an extension of Elderlaw, a network of imperceivable magical highways created by the Dragons to extend their power. In Aloria, Gods and Dragons aren't omnipotent or omniscient, they are restrained by their field of awareness, which for Dragons is quite narrow. Dragons can only directly see what their eyes can see, so they created the Leylines that span over the whole world to connect Dragon Sites, vast installations of Elderlaw and Dragontech which extend their interactions across the world. One such installation for example is the Orrorey, a vast detector that the Dragons use to locate objects across the world, feeding that information into the Leylines, and allowing the Dragons to perceive it thousands of miles away. The Leylines are sometimes hijacked by Mages, purely because they present a convenient highway through which to transit information, but the Dragons are very protective of who gets to interact with them. Leylines are also seductive to Demons, because of the raw Elderlaw Magic in them.

Religion and Gods

While originally some Religions in Aloria had issues with Magic or outright banned it, by the modern era, all Religions have found some form of acceptance of Magic and even celebrate it within their dogma. For each Religion, the nuance is slightly different, and this will give an overview. Generally speaking, all Religions at a baseline demand the proper and responsible usage of Magic in relation to Venting and Corruption.

Unionism views Magic as a blessed gift by the Gods, but one that can also equally be a terrible burden. To Unionisms, magic is no different than holding high political office, or having some exceptional skill, in that an expectation is attached to use it only for the good of the Empire. Frivolous and self-satisfying use of Magic is frowned upon. Unionism has no general preference for any of the realms.
Draconism views Magic as an irrevocable reality of the world, but one that the Dragons would really prefer to live without, but can tolerate. To Draconists, the right to live a full life is more important than the impact Magic could have, and Magic is still a necessary part of life at this point. Magic is acceptable within the fight against the traditional enemies of Draconism like the Malefica, and violent Demons.
Estelley is a Religion deeply steeped in Magic that not only encourages all of its worshipers to try Magic out, but actively worships the ideal of the Archmage Magic user. The majority of Mage supremacists are Estelley faithful, and being a Good Mage is considered a high virtue. Estelley as a Religion has a strong preference for Eidolon, Eternum, and Anima Magic, with only Abyss Magic being considered stigmatized.
Fornoss is a Religion deeply steeped in Magic, but also with inherent themes of Magic vs. Mundane, the idea that someone should both be able to become a strong Mage, but also strong in body and mind in opposition or defiance of Magic. Both must be considered equal ideals. The Fornoss Faith has a strong preference for Eidolon and Eternum for the Eili Gods, and Abyss and Silence for the Vola Gods, but other realms are also fine.
Evolism is a Relgion deeply steeped in Magic. It is in fact practically unthinkable that a Fornoss believer does not practice some form of Magic, as Magic is the cornerstone of their trans-dimensional ideology. Out of all Religions, Evolism is the most likely to tolerate irresponsible usage of Magic and Magic Corruption, so long as it is done for an explicit purpose other than just because or random terrorism.
Khama is a Religion that was until recently extremely anti-Magical, but has recently become more accepting because of their reality of their followers. Their anti-Magic stance is related to the societal trauma inflicted by Magic usage on their people, but they have come to accept Magic among them because it has become an undeniable part of the identity of some of their flock, who they do not want to reject.
Minor Faiths & Nilthism have no explicitly stated view against or in favor of Magic, and it should generally be considered to be entirely open to interpretation from the individual. Generally speaking though, Magic should be seen as a tool mucy like a weapon.

The Gods themselves have varying Magical inclinations. Generally, every God is at least a little bit Magical, though the exact nature of their Magic is dubious. Because Gods are an extension of the realm-crafting of Dragons, they can use Elderlaw, but they never exclusively use Elderlaw. Many of the Gods are Magically aligned, though their exact nature ranged from extremely obvious to very dubious. The Fornoss Gods are for example very explicit in their Abyss-Silence and Eidolon-Eternum alignments, while the Unionist Gods are very unclear, save for Caan who is explicitly Vortex and Dictat. For more specific information about Magic nuances in each Religion, or the alignment of their gods, see the Religion pages themselves.

Arcane Harmony

Arcane Harmony is the concept of Magical strength through harmonizing realms or alignments. A Mage who has aligned with opposing or many realms for example has reduced Arcane Harmony because their soul becomes conflicted by the many facets of the realms they are connected to. A Mage with low Arcane Harmony can draw upon less Magical energy from beyond the Veil and thus cast weaker spells. This does not affect Combat Roleplay Abilities or Stats, it is purely a mechanical approach for how strong Magic should be in more general Roleplay, which we allow Players to moderate themselves. When it comes to determining Arcane Harmony, the following rules apply to determine a Character's harmony:

Arcane Harmony is at a perfect 100% so long as a maximum of 2 realms are Aligned, and neither realm is of opposing alignment.
Arcane Harmony is reduced by 10% for every additional dimension that is aligned beyond 2, with a maximum reduction of 60%.
Arcane Harmony is reduced by 10% for every opposing pair that is aligned, with a maximum reduction of 40%.
Arcane Harmony cannot go lower than 10%, but such a Mage Is in essence 10x weaker than a Mage who has 100% Arcane Harmony.

Note, an Arcane Harmony of 80-90% is still acceptable. As a ground rule, we want to discourage the over-tuning of multiple dimensions and too many opposing pairs. There are circumstances in which someone with opposing realms can have a compelling character design, however, so try not to take 100% as an absolute necessity, because you may be inadvertently green-housing yourself from interesting character concepts.

Magic Costs

Magic always costs something. Because Magic is inherently against the natural state of reality and the world of Aloria, there is always some kind of impact of Magic on the world, and is usually not a good one. Elderlaw enforces reality as it was intended, and while Magic can suspend or alter that state of reality, Elderlaw will always attempt to correct its own reality and snap back like an elastic band would if stretched too far. For Mages, this comes down to mitigating the damage as much as possible, but complete negation is never possible. For them, the question is whether they want to be responsible with their Magic usage through proper Venting and discipline, or careless for the sake of personal convenience or indifference. Venting describes the general process of off-loading the cost of Magic onto activities or objects, to reduce the damage to the world. Magic is only as immoral as the caster wants it to be. Each Venting process has its own moral implications described below.

Reagent Venting

Reagent Venting is the act of using reagents or other casting agents to reduce the amount of Magic required, thus reducing the amount of strain on reality. For example, if you were to shoot a fireball spell from nothing, you would first need to suspend the reality law of matter (for the spark), then temperature (heat), and then inertia (movement). A Mage can use a flame spark reagent (like a small pouch of spark stones) to ignite, which removes the need to magically create matter from nothing, and also allows the Mage to throw that bag-turned-to-flame thus also removing the need to suspend the law of inertia. Reagents can be used to reduce the difficulty of a spell, thus reducing its impact, which is seen as a moral benefit.

Magestone Venting

Magestone Venting is the act of storing Magic corruption in so-called Magestone, phone-sized tablets that can contain magical corruption. For every spell a Mage uses, some corruption builds up in their body. Small amounts are generally not a problem, but the more corruption that accumulates, the more dangerous it is to a Mage's health. Corruption can effortlessly be transferred to Magestone where it is safely trapped. Magestone in turn can be stored safely somewhere and will slowly over the span of years break down the corruption inside until it becomes completely inert. In Regalia, several Magestone storage services exist, where couriers pick up Magestone tablets from Mages and deliver them to Arcane Vaults made by Aelrrigans.

Magestone Venting has downsides however, which is that Magestone by its nature attracts Demons. Demons are attracted to Magic usage, but Magestone has such concentrated magic corruption that Magestone is an almost irresistible delicacy. Arcane Vaults are routinely attacked by Demons who try to break in and consume the Magestone, as consuming any Magestone empowers a Demon and makes their Magic more powerful against Elderlaw. Furthermore, there are Demon summoners (and Possessed Mages) who go out of their way to try and steal or make Magestone, to feed it to their Bound Demons to make them more powerful. As such, Magestone Venting while most commonly done and seen as morally good, has some danger.

Burdened Venting

Burdened Venting is the act of using some immaterial substance or resource of Aloria to off-balance the cost and corruption of Magic. For smaller spells, one should think of using the life-essence of an animal or plant to prevent the buildup of corruption, but for larger spells this involves exchanging Divinium, Artifactsparks, and so on, to substantiate the cost. Burdened Venting prevents any corruption build-up, and thus the need to use reagents or Magestone Venting, but taking life-essence from animals, plants, or people, is considered immoral. Mages can in a pinch use Burdened Venting on themselves, shaving several years off their own lifespan to empower their Magic or to prevent any corruption from taking place.

Ejection Venting

Ejection Venting is choosing not to care about proper casting processes or responsible usage of Magic, and just ejecting all Corruption straight into the atmosphere or environment the moment it forms. Ejection Venting is obviously considered the most immoral form of Venting, as the Mage does not care what the corruption of reality does, or what the reality-snap could damage as collateral when it tries to correct itself. Corruption can take various forms, from outright making people sick with Magical ailments, killing them, or corrupting the environment, for example by turning plants and animals into rabid monsters. Ejection Venting is often done by criminals or terrorists who just do not care about the collateral.

Venting in Roleplay

When it comes to the practicality of roleplaying out Venting, it is assumed most Mages Vent their reality damage off-screen. That is to say, you can roleplay one of the above techniques if you want to, but nobody will be policing the correct amount of Venting, or policing how many Magestone tablets are being stored where. When it concerns much larger spells however, like moving parts of mountains or crushing whole buildings, we ask that you do not defer the reality damage, and only use such a spell when a Lore Staff DM is present (for example during an Event) to moderate the reality effects these spells cause, because their effects are usually immediate, and the small methods for venting the reality damage are not available. Abilities, Mechanics and the like, are all classified as small Magic. Big massive spells that have an impact on the world, are big Magic.

Risks of Magic

Magic is always a dangerous act, even without the inherent buildup of corruption. Changing the laws of physics in the best of cases can have barely constrained outcomes, but for inexperienced Mages can have catastrophic consequences. Magic usage itself has some risks described below.

Magic Overload

Each Mage has a so-called Overload-threshold, the point at which their body or mind (or both) is no longer able to handle the amount of Magic they are channeling through it. Whether due to skill, teaching, biology, or just distraction, Mages constantly have to prevent themselves from reaching this limit, because Magic Overload is lethal in 95% of the cases. Magic Overload can be reached through constant casting without Venting, or being pushed beyond physical or mental limits in desperation or carelessness. When a Mage enters Overload, they are unable to close their connection to the Veil, and continue to cast Magic involuntarily until they either explode from raw Magic, or are possessed by a Demon from another realm. In the case of possession, the Mage's soul is immediately and irretrievably destroyed, and the Demon is in a state of heightened aggression, immediately trying to kill any living thing it can detect. Magic Overload can be prevented from the outside by having another Mage shut off the connection to the Veil when an Overloading Mage has crossed the threshold but before death or possession, leaving both mentally and physically exhausted.

Magic Corruption

Magic Corruption occurs when uncontrolled Magic energies leak and cause things, or the body of the mage themselves, to change outside of reality damage. In normal cases, Mages draw energy from the Veil and expend all of it to cast a spell, but sometimes a Mage will draw more Magic and then be careless to use up that energy or send it back. In such cases, that energy has to go somewhere, and it will attach to the nearest living being, or inanimate object if it cannot find anything living. The most common occurrence of this, is magical mutations, resulting in non-aesthetic cancers and flesh growths that are painful. An unfortunate pet in the area of errant Magic might be mutated to some horrible creature, while inanimate objects might become cursed or toxic to be around. Magic energy that has nowhere to go will become corrosive, damaging, and corrupting in nature.

Magic Possession

Possession by Demons is generally dangerous outside of Magic Overload, and one of the first things Mages learn when they study Magic is how to guard their mind from being taken over by a Demon. Even Bound Demons have a hunger to assume the body of a mortal as a skin suit through which to experience Aloria naturally, a process which is generally bad for the host. Demons are always looking for Mages who aren’t careful what they are pulling from the Veil, this is why most Mages say that they have “one eye on the Magic, one eye on hunger looking back” - to illustrate that part of their focus is making sure that what energy they are drawing on doesn’t have a Demon attached to it. Demons will constantly prod at Mages to try and break into their mind even when they are not casting Magic. Most Mages protect themselves with wards and spells that reasonably keep them safe so they can enjoy life without worrying too much, but untrained Mages are an exceptionally high risk for possession, because they never learn how to deal with this threat effectively, and are also less skilled at weaving the protections necessary for themselves.

Magic Schools

Magic Schools are centered around techniques or teachings that help Mages suspend specific laws of reality to cast their Magic. For example, to cast a fireball, a Mage has to create an element from nothing (fire), which is from the Elemental school, and then use the Gravity school to move it towards its destination. Generally speaking, most spells appeal to several schools. Not having been taught in a specific school does not mean a Mage cannot do that specific action, it just means that they are less skilled at it. There is theoretically no limit to the number of schools a Mage can be taught, but to grasp each school adequately, a Mage needs about 2 years, and we generally ask Players to limit the number of schools to what is thematically appropriate for their Character design, and not just add Schools for the sake of having access to them or as a skill indicator. Your Character not knowing how to cast a fireball because they do not know Elemental Magic is not a weakness on your part, but a strength to allow another Character to shine and to create an even playing field where Mages can express thematic designs that are unique instead of everyone doing everything.

The Elemental School covers the concepts of weather, temperature, and the permeable state of substances, like solids and liquids. This is thematically seen as the fire, lightning, water, earth, and air school, and the creation of these elements.
The Matter School covers the concept of creating semi-permanent solid objects from nothing, like creating marble or a chair or a whole carriage to ride in. Matter covers the creation of solids not covered by the Elemental School.
The Entropy School covers the concept of destruction and decay of things, commonly thought of as rust, acid, anti-matter, break-down, etc. The Entropy School is often appealed to for the use of Curses, because of their entropic nature.
The Mind School covers all forms of Magic used inside the mind of the Mage, and the minds of others, like psionics, memory and mind reading, mind control, etc. The Mind School has a controversial reputation, due to the invasiveness of scrying minds.
The Mend School covers the concept of repairing, restoring, or reverting humanoid or animal bodies. This is in essence healing Magic. The Mend School is almost universally thought of positively because it cannot harm, and can restore even lost limbs.
The Gravity School covers all concepts of motion, movement, attraction, and repulsion. Traditionally it is used to suspend the laws of gravity but also covers concepts like telekinesis and distance-based object movement (does not allow flight for game balance reasons).
The Enchant School covers the application of beneficial effects on for example weapons or objects or people. Enchants are commonly used as a term in Aloria to define an object that has been magically enhanced or appears magical in some way or another.
The Body School covers the usage of Magic to alter the physical states of the body. This is not healing Magic like from the Mend School, but should be considered for example steroids Magic, or Shapeshifting Magic in its simplest interpretation.
The Techmance School covers the usage of Magic to either fuel, create, or alter Technology. The School of Techmance is generally despised among mundane Technicians because using Magic to skip design stages is thought of as cheating.
The Golemancy School covers the usage of Magic to emulate the creation of Unimatrixes to create Magically animated and automated objects, down from a self-cleaning broom, to a Magically fueled automaton that does not use Tech or Demons.
The Summoning School covers the usage of Magic to dominate Spirits or Demons, restrain them, or add additional security to Demon summonings and contract binding. It also includes using Magic to perform Exorcisms and cast out Demons.
The Alteration School covers changing things into other things in the same realm, for example, changing an apple to a pear, or a door to a window. This is thought of as the burglary school due to the convenience of altering a locked door to an open one.
The Strings School covers the usage of remote string-control like a puppeteer to animate things. It differs from the Necrotic School in that Strings Magic does not create autonomous entities, but unlike Necrotic Magic, can also be used on living people.
The Counter School covers the concept of pure anti-magic, just using Magic to counter other forms of Magic or to even reinforce reality laws around other spells. This also includes saving others from Magic Overload, or shutting off Magic in others (with consent).
The Familiar School covers the use of Magic to telepathically communicate with, control, or soothe wild animals and creatures native to Aloria. This allows for example the taming of animals not conventionally tamed, or to feel connected with animals.
The Armory School covers the explicit summoning of weapons or armor for combat, either for one's self, or one's mount or battle-pets. The Armory school allows the Mage to maintain a vast pocket-dimension armory with many weapons to summon for themselves or others.
The Holding School covers the usage of Magic to create bigger-from-the-inside places like buildings or bags. This is explicitly not pocket dimensions because those are very limited, but changing the interior size constraints of a place or object.

Realm-locked Schools

Realm-locked Schools are Magic Schools that require a specific Alignment. While general Magic Schools can be transposed onto any dimension, Realm-locked Schools can only be used by those who have the associated alignment. Each Alignment is mentioned on the School itself.

The Blood School covers the act of using Blood as a vehicle to do things, such as hardening blood into weapons, armor, or projectiles, but can also concepts like using blood to convey magical effects or affect the blood in the bodies of others or one's self. This is an Abyss School.
The Shadow School covers the act of using Shadows as a vehicle to do things, such as moving shadows around, concealing one's self in shadows, using shadows to attack others, or causing shadows to animate as if they are separate people. This is an Abyss School.
The Chrono School covers the act of reverting objects to their original states. This is in essence limited-time magic without actually being time Magic, turning a rusted sword back to a clean state, or restoring a ruin to its freshly built phase. This is an Eidolon School.
The Light School covers the act of using light as a vehicle to affect things. For example, using light as a weapon through bright flares, or lighting an area, or hardening light itself into solid objects and using them like weapons or armor. This is an Eidolon School.
The Evergrowth School covers using Magic to accelerate mutation and growth of plant matter, and to cause plants to become whatever the Magic wielder wants them to be. This also allows the creation of entirely new magical plants. This is an Anima School.
The Moxy School covers using Magic to summon Fae creatures and critters, for example, to do battle or serve the Mage by fetching objects or performing simple tasks. Moxy Fae creatures can example be magical hybrids, dryads, water spirits, etc. This is an Anima School.
The Necrotic School covers using Magic to animate dead matter into an un-living thing that can perform tasks or fight. Think for example animating a skeleton to serve tea, or a zombie to guard a basement, or animating a dead pet. This is a Hollow School.
The Specter School covers using Magic to create Specters and other ghost-like entities either from the memories of the Mage or from the memories of others, for example summoning a facsimile ghost of someone's own ancestor to fight them. This is a Hollow School.
The Flux School covers the usage of Magic to cause objects or places to take on warping qualities, either constantly changing shapes or shapeshifting objects into different objects to hide the original in plain sight. This is a Vortex School.
The Genos School covers the sampling of genetic material, traits, or appearance aspects of animals or other Heritages and applying it to one's self. This is not Shapeshifting, it's more like selective self-mutation and usually more localized. This is a Vortex School.
The Stasis School covers the usage of Magic to suspend the progression of time on objects, places, or people. Note, that it does not make a Mage immortal, it just stops their aging, rusting, decay, rotting, etc. It can also halt inertia on objects. This is an Eternum School.
The Fated School covers the usage of Magic to create contracts that enact Curses or magical spells on completion (or failure), but also generally extends into the act of precognition and destiny weaving by predicting the fates of others. This is an Eternum School.
The Script School covers the usage of the act of writing, written texts, or letterwork to cast Magic. Think for example writing spells onto paper to make them reality. This also covers magically absorbing info from books without reading them. This is a Dictat School.
The Codex School covers the usage of Magic to create physical material memory storage devices not unlike Skyborn Memkeys, which allows the storing and replaying of memories remotely or by others, or even altering them and manipulating the replay. This is a Dictat School.
The Amnesia School covers the usage of Magic to warp the perception of reality around a person to gaslight them into mistrusting their own senses, and doubting what is real or fake. In a lesser sense, it can also alter memories. This is a Silence School.
The Stillness School covers the usage of Magic in defiance of sound, for example robbing someone of their voice, or an instrument of sound. The Stillness School can also allow the use of soundwaves or complete silence as a weapon. This is a Silence School.

Limited Schools

Limited Schools are Magic Schools that either existed once but have been lost to time or Schools that are so delicate that they are not available for general Roleplay and can in rare instances only be conferred through a Custom Kit approved by Lore Staff. Limited Schools should generally not be established as some kind of OOC ambition, they are mostly written down here for posterity and Lore continuity reasons, not as attainable goal.

The Oblation School covers the act of congesting a living person's body and soul wholly into Magical fuel to use for other Spells to increase the Magic energy limit. This School was lost to time, due to the collapse of the Allorn Empire, and the Cataclysm.
The Soul School covers the act of altering souls themselves, like memories, emotions, and feelings. This school is known to exist, but it is so complex that it is generally unavailable to either mortals or non-Event Dm Characters without some guidance.
The Space School covers the usage of Magic to transpose one place onto another. This covers the creation of portals and elemental gateways and allows instantaneous movement. Because of gameplay balancing and fairness reasons, this is not accessible to players.
The Time School covers the act of altering the flow of time. This School was known to exist at some point but was made impossible when the Dragons destroyed knowledge of Elderlaw among mortals, and locked down the laws of Time so hard it became immovable to Magic.
The Telepath School covers the usage of Magic to communicate over long distances without saying words, but speaking in minds. This is unavailable for gameplay balancing and fairness reasons because it becomes impossible to moderate metagaming otherwise.
The Unseen School covers the usage of Magic to render objects or people completely invisible. This is unavailable for gameplay balancing and fairness reasons because invisible people are impossible to defeat conventionally.
The Life School is a School that theoretically exists and allows the outright resurrection of the dead, however since the removal of Elderlaw, this has not been possible. Only Dragons can resurrect the dead from the afterlife.

Magic Detection

What is Magical and what is not Magical isn't always as easily determined in the world of Aloria. To complicate things further, it is possible for Mages to hide certain aspects about their Magic, or create self-obfuscating Curses or spells on objects that make their Magical nature not easily detectable. This section will discuss the visibility of Magic, and what tools Mages (and anti-Mages) have available to hide or detect Magic. The rules and other things to do with Magic Detection or hiding Magic are described below.

All Mages can be detected by other Mages and even some technological devices that detect Mages. However, this is not immediate. In order for a Mage to be detected, another Mage (or technician) has to activate their Magic Detection, and Magic Detection only works in touch range.
Active spellcasting can never be hidden, even from non-Mages or people who have never seen Magic before. Any Point Buy Abilities, Mechanics, or Attack Emotes using Magic of any kind are immediately telegraphed, even if their explicit spell effects cannot be told.
Mages who are shapeshifted or disguised, can suppress their Magic. While they are suppressing their Magic, however, they are unable to use any Magic, either Magic inclined Point Buy Abilities, Mechanics, or Attack Emotes that derive off Magic Proficiency Stat.
Cursed Items generally hide their own Magic, meaning a Mage (or technician) cannot detect their Curse until it has activated. Some Cursed objects will reveal their own nature on purpose, and Artifacts can never be hidden. Some Dm Characters may also detect Cursed objects.
Magic Sight is an aesthetic form of Magic detection that allows each Mage to have a customized personalized silhouette with colors and lights to identify their Magic. This can only be used to identify a Character past disguises or shapeshifting with consent.
When a Mage or piece of technology has detected the Magic inside an object or person, they are generally able to distinguish from which realm or dimension it is aligned, and whether it is a mortal, object, or Demon, though sometimes Demons can tamper with the effects.

One might observe that, with these rules in place, it is difficult for a Mage to cheat at a game of dice. Rather than the simple method of hiding a spell under the table (which is not possible), Mages just need to think a bit harder on how to apply their Magic in a hidden manner. A spell cast on a rolling dice before the game is started for example to cause it to land on the desired number, is more effective than casting Magic at the dice rolling table.

Curse Magic

Curse Magic is a discipline entirely separate from the Magic Schools (but vaguely related) that causes objects, people, or places to have long-lasting or time-delayed Magical effects. Curse Magic contains a lot of rules and information to grasp, so this section will only briefly discuss the theory behind it, while a more in-depth review of its functions and applications and how to roleplay it can be found on the Curse Magic Page. Curse Magic is almost universally considered immoral because it is not possible to cast Curse Magic with benefits. For example, you cannot Curse a person to never being too late for appointments, or for always being beautiful. Curses must (for gameplay balance reasons) always be a detriment. Curses have a more debatable impact, however. While the act of Cursing itself is immoral, sometimes, depending on the perspective a person may consider a Curse to be divine justice or restitution where the Regalian Law for example does not suffice. Priests can cast Curses to those who have violated their Temples, an act which itself is hostile, but many of their worshipers might consider it just, thus excusable to justify the outcome. Curses work by delaying the Magical effects to a pre-designed trigger or time period, after which the spell takes effect. Curse Magic is generally taxing, and produce a lot of corruption build-up that should immediately be Vented, otherwise the Curse can duplicate itself onto the caster.

Archmages

The concept of Archmages is largely lost to time due to the reduction of Magic in the world. An Archmage is a Mage who is so powerful, that they are able to destroy whole mountain ranges, or flood whole valleys with Magic just with their mind, without it immediately Magic Overloading them. Archmages are so immensely powerful that they reach the approximation of Gods, but there are no Archmages in the modern world. When Cataclysm happened, Magic received such a shock in the world, that it took centuries to recover even a portion of the amount of Magic present in the world. The reality is that less than a tenth of the amount of Magic that was present during the time of the Allorn Empire remains, so Magic simply is not as prolific as needed to birth Archmages. That being said, some people who were Archmages many centuries ago, are still alive in the modern era, albeit with their Magic reduced or completely lost. Archmages are almost universally reviled when regarding them historically, as they destroyed much of the political stability of the Allorn Empire during the Mage Wars era, and generally are a prelude to a Mage seizure of power as no mundane people can stand in their way.

Magic Powerlevels

The concept of Magic Powerlevels is an old Allorn piece of theory that isn't really backed in factual information, but can be a fun tool of comparison in roleplay. It should be noted that the Powerlevels are mostly arbitrary, and do not convey actual skill in the usage of Magic, just a theoretical upper range of a Mage's ability to apply Magic multiple ways. Some of the upper levels are intentionally impossible to reach.

1st Rank: Mages who are capable of casting spells only that affect themselves in their own body.
2nd Rank: Mages who are capable of casting spells no further than what they can touch.
3rd Rank: Mages who are capable of casting spells that can leave their physical body, but must follow a projectile.
4th Rank: Mages who are capable of casting spells remotely, meaning effects take place somewhere without projectile.
5th Rank: Mages who are capable of casting spells that leave their body, follow a projectile, but affect a whole area.
6th Rank: Mages who are capable of casting spells remotely, without projecitle, that affect a whole area.
7th Rank: Mages who are capable of casting spells beyond sight, for example on different continents without seeing.
8th Rank: Mages who are capable of casting spells that can affect thousands of people all at once.
9th Rank: Mages who are capable of cheating death, resurrecting others, and generally approach Godhood in power.

Magic Prevalence

Despite the common usage of Magic among the player base of MassiveCraft, Magic in the world of Aloria is actually pretty rare. It is estimated that for every 1000 people, only 20 of them are Mages. And of those 20, 19 of them are taught through some later-in-life training, while only 1 in every 20 Mages has a Birth Origin. This means that 1 in every 1000 people is a born Mage. On top of these numbers, the rate of Mages who actually reach adulthood is probably somewhere between 60%-40% of this number, due to the effects of war, famine, violence, purists, and Demonic possessions in a pre-modern world. The world is generally dangerous for Mages, and being a Mage tends to shorten one's life-expectancy due to the increased danger from outside forces.

Magic has a more prevalent foreground in the public zeitgeist because a hundred Anglian peasants tilling their fields won't draw as much attention as a single Elf casting fireballs in the street. Magic always has an over-inflated presence in public discourse, despite its relative rarity. We do not impose limitations on the number of Magical Characters among the player base, however, because Magic is a great equalizer that helps characters tackle conventional structures of oppression and change the status quo for the better, and everyone should be allowed to do that. The numbers used in this section are reflective of the Regalian Empire, and the direct roleplay world players experience. Other places, like the Allorn Empire, or other such Elf-like societies, have much higher degrees of Magic usage, almost as close as 50%, but they are not relevant for the immediate world that Regalians exist in. There are also places like the Ashal Isles with 0 Mages in them, but these places are equally not relevant to day to day Roleplay.

Magic Studies

Magic as a field of research is notably not exclusive to Mages only. There are in fact far more Magic scholars and academics in the world than there actually are Mages, just mundane intellectuals trying to grapple and study the concept of Magic and its effects on the world. Arcanology is generally a popular field of studies, because non-Magic using scholars are popular among non-Magic using rulers and politicians. Mages have a reputation for downplaying the dangers of Magic, and overplaying their usefulness to statecraft. Regalia frequently allows Mages to self-dictate laws through for example appointing a Mage to Arcane Minister who determines the strictness of the law on Magic. This practice has however been criticized among purists and anti-Magic people as wolves deciding how many sheep they are allowed to eat, in a society comprised of sheep and wolves. The conclusion of this section, is to say that if your character is not a Mage, that does not exclude them from knowing about Magic. Any aspect of Magic can be learned and understood both in the context of its application, and effects on the world, by someone who is not a Mage or magically inclined.

Mutations and Bodymodding

One of the common points of contention about Magic is its habit of corrupting, and thus causing mutations. Corruption is unequivocally a bad thing, and mutations never cause a person to derive positive benefits from having Magic wreak havoc on their body. Because of the habit of Magic corrupting reality, mutations caused by Magic corruption are almost always cancerous or necrotizing flesh or tissue that breaks down the body. Magical corruption damaging the body is painful, though fortunately generally reversible with (ironically) more and safely practiced Magic. Bodymodding is distinct from corruption-caused mutations, in that body modding is the safe modification of the body to have different features than naturally possible. Think the creation of horns, tails, feathers or hair, changing colors, causing tattoos to move or change shape, etc. Players are free to use Magic to body-mod their character to any desired appearance.

Eye color changes are a very common feature among Mages, Afflicted, and those with Affinities. Any of these can have Bodymodded eyes of any color, orientation, or composition. Godborn for example commonly inherit the eye colors of their parents, or some kind of coloring and appearance that imitates their God-parent's theme, but Players have free choice in this. Similarly, purple irises are commonly a hallmark of Dragons and Dragon-minded people, but Archon (Dragon warriors) can just as well have white glowing eyes or green irises with gold-yellow flecks in them. Example eye colors are usually just visual guidelines for those who lack ideas at first value, but Players are encouraged to be creative.