Magic

The Name of a Thing is the Whole of a Thing...

All things have a Name, and that Name is the Whole of that thing. The universe is the Book of Names, which contains all Names, and thus, the Whole of all Things. Among these Things are the Names of ideas, concepts, ideals, behaviors, abstract things, and from these, magic is derived. One need not know the Name of the concept, simply the method implied by the Name to wield it.

All Names are aligned to one of four alignments, unaligned, or mundane. The four alignments are elemental (referring to the natural world and its magic), fey (referring to magic from stories, legends, and dreams), infernal (magic from imperial power, industrial destruction, or infernal agony), or supernal (magic from popular power or supernal empowerment). Unaligned Names refer to those that do not fit into the previous categories and derive magic from conflict, neutral aspects and concepts, Names and the identities of beings, faith and belief, or contradictions. Mundane Names do not have magic, but these are extremely rare in the setting.

The method of wielding the magic is partly tied to its alignment. A supernal Name cannot be wielded by acts that control or abuse people. Elemental Names cannot be wielded by those who are enemies of nature. Infernal Names cannot be wielded by those who seek to help and uplift the people or those who seek to destroy and exploit nature. Fey Names cannot be wielded by those who refuse to believe in stories and legends, who have no sense of fun, who violate the Lore or the Tradition of spirits. Unaligned Names are more flexible, but anything too aligned to one of the four alignments will find them harder to wield.

The other part of how to wield the magic is tied to the concept it represents. The magic from the elemental Name of Water must be wielded by mimicking, soaking in it, drawing from it, and being a friend to nature. The magic from the fey Name of Stories derives from the telling of, belief in, and understanding of stories. The magic from the supernal Name of Kindness requires the character be kind to a degree beyond normal or reasonable measure. The magic from the infernal Name of Despair derives from causing despair and hopelessness in people, not merely from feeling it, because it is infernal. The magic from the unaligned Name of Faith requires belief in something or someone who is unaligned and earning their favor through acts of faith.

Almost anything can be a concept for a kind of magic. GMs may come up with their own. Those magicks listed within this are a fraction of the infinite possibilities. They can be as broad or specific as the GM wants to use.

alignments -

shared energies

occupations - abilities

species - powers

concepts

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