#magic system
SUNLIT MAGE– the magic system
I. MAGICAL ABILITY
People known as mages have an additional sense, similar to how some animals can sense the Earth’s magnetic field. They can “see” magic as moving threads in different colors and shape them with their minds and gestures—“see” in quotation marks because it’s a synesthetic experience, and they feel the color more than anything. Magic itself is raw emotional energy drawn from the thoughts and feelings of the surrounding people; positive emotions produce Light Magic, negative ones Dark Magic, and emotions in between fall on the Twilit spectrum. A neutral form can also be artificially generated; this type is easier to control, but less powerful and often used by Light Mages for emergencies where they can’t rely on positive emotions being present. Magical abitily is genetic and usually inherited from a mage parent, but can sometimes occur in non-mage families through mutation.
II. TYPES OF MAGIC
There are different types of magic, and most mages can only use one of them. None of them are inherently good or evil; the only thing that sets them apart are the emotions from which they are derived.
1. Light Magic
Light Magic is magic derived from positive emotions, such as happiness, joy and love. Traditionally it’s considered the weaker of the “binary” magic types, as it relies on people being happy and is less effective in times of crisis or danger. However, it’s also seen as the more morally pure, largely through propaganda by the Light Mages themselves. To compensate for their weaknesses, Light Mages have done extensive research, which they guard jealously, and are the most magically advanced of all the magic types. Users perceive it as shining threads of light.
2. Dark Magic
Dark Magic is derived from negative emotions: anger, fear, hatred or sadness. As such, it tends to thrive in times of war and crisis, which has led to accusations of Dark Mages leeching off of other people’s suffering and even intentionally creating it to make themselves stronger. This, in turn, has led to centuries of witch hunts and persecution and now strict exclusion from Light Mage spaces and knowledge. The Dark Mages have built their own communities and conducted their own research, but are still far behind Light Mage knowledge. It’s perceived as black threads like spilled ink in water.
3. Twilit Magic
Twilit Magic is derived from emotions that are neither positive nor negative, such as doubt, surprise and confusion. Too dark for Light Mages, too light for Dark Mages, its existence has always been hushed up, especially since Twilit Mages can only come from a mixed Light-Dark couple or parents who are Twilit themselves. Since Light and Dark Mages rarely produce children together, Twilit Mages are very rare and don’t have their own community, although they’ve recently been allowed into Dark circles. Twilit Magic is perceived as gray threads that can range from silver to almost black.
4. Spectral Magic
Spectral Magic is the rarest kind and virtually unknown. While normal mages are limited to just one magic type, Spectral Mages can access Light, Dark and Twilit Magic selectively, only being able to use certain types for certain spells. Unlike Twilit Magic, Spectral Magic is not a result of mixed ancestry but a mutation that can occur among any type of mages; whether it can be inherited is unclear. There are, however, theories that every mage is Spectral to some degree and can sometimes access forms of magic other than their default one, e.g. under extreme duress.
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A Guide to High Fantasy Worldbuilding
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1. Subgenre
One of the first things you need to establish in your story is the subgenre of the high fantasy story you’ll be writing. But Azura, high fantasy is already a subgenre?? Yes, it is, but what type of high fantasy?
Different types of high fantasy will require different types of worldbuilding. For instance, dark fantasy needs horror elements and an eerie setting, while steampunk fantasy will have complex machinaries instead.
Here are some examples of high fantasy subgenres :
• Epic fantasy
• Steampunk fantasy
• Dark fantasy
• Medieval fantasy
• Heroic fantasy
• etc!
2. Magic system
Most high fantasy stories will have a magic system, so if you’re planning to include one, you’ll need to do loads of planning.
Who can or cannot use magic, and why is that? Is it inherited, learned, or both? Are there any taboos in using magic? Are magic users praised or feared? What’s the limit of using magic? Are there any incantations or magical tools involved? There are countless questions to tackle while coming up with a magic system, so make sure you plot it in detail.
3. Culture
Where there’s people, there’s culture. Although it won’t be too frequently mentioned, having certain cultures in your world will make your worldbuilding more realistic.
Are there religions? Do people worship God(s)? When are the holidays? Are there any unique traditions? What gestures are considered impolite? It’s little things like these that bring your story to life.
4. Type of government
Naturally, your world will have a government system. Decide what yours will be. Republic? Monarchy? Democracy? Theocracy?
Your government should also reflect your time and location setting - maybe using an emperor or empress to reflect a more medieval timeline, and using a president for a more modern setting. If your world is going through a war, you can use a system governed by the military. I have a post about writing a fictional government, you can refer to it for more info!
5. Language
What language do the people in your WIP speak? Is it fictional or not? If your setting is in a single region, they’ll probably have the same language, but if it’s set in different parts of the world, it’s only natural to have more than one language.
Different languages can also be used to indicate diversity. If you’re wondering how to incorporate multiple languages in a single language book, try reading Six of Crows as a reference - it shows the contrast of people speaking in different languages perfectly, even though the book is only in English.
6. History
Having a history of your world will help you understand it better. Has there been any previous wars between nations or disputes between the government and civilians? Or has the land always been peaceful, for some reason?
A great way to record your world’s history is to make a timeline of main events that affected the plot. I also suggest creating a history for your magic system - how magic was discovered and normalized.
Some magic systems become more realistic if there is a consequence brought onto it’s user. Sometimes this can be as simple as balance— if you heal a life, another life must be given. Here are some ideas to get your mind churning on what consequences your magic could cause to its user.
1) Pain. If the magic is brute and aggressive (fire, lightning, mind control in a negative manner) the user feels all of that same pain they exerted onto someone else.
2) Emotional disconnection. The more the user plays with their power, the less emotion they can feel. Eventually, this could lead to complete disconnection from everyone they love and a decay into pure evilness.
3) Headaches. If the user has a mind-related power, giving them headaches could be a simple yet effective consequence. The headaches could make their power unstable, chaotic and truly dangerous.
4) Years off their life. Every time they use their ability, it slowly takes days, months and years away from their life. If they’re immortal, they risk mortality.
5) Slip into madness. The power either gets to their head or it has an evil origin thus causing them to become mad and insane overtime.
6) Freedom. The power is actually an entity of its own and while the user thinks they have control over this awesome ability— it’s really controlling them. Over time, it forces them into doing things or hurting people and one day they just become a soulless puppet. (Makes me think of a parasite )
7) Increased aging. The speed at which you age is increased, but the user doesn’t realize it until they start seeing grey hairs or wrinkles.
8) Blood loss. The magic draws upon the users blood and they have to wait for it to restore before using their abilities— if they don’t, or use a large surge of their ability, it can drain them of blood.
9) Memory loss. The wear and tear on the users mind causes them to slowly forget their lives until they have nothing left to remember. Alternatively, maybe the power needs to use these memories as source of energy.
10) Decay. The users body slowly begins to wither. Nails rotting, skin peeling, eyes drooping, knees weak… mama’s spaghetti.
11) Extreme exhaustion or tiredness. The power keeps them up at night and takes a ton of energy to use. This renders the user constantly exhausted which can lead to death either from exhaustion, or from making fatal mistakes because they’re so tired.
12) Sacrifices. The power requires some sort of sacrifice to the gods or else they take their power back. An animal, a conjuring of different herbs and items, blood… a life.
13) Addiction. Similar to foods or drugs, magic can become addictive and deadly at high dosages.
14) Bad luck. The magic brings upon bad luck. The more magic you use, the worse luck you’ll receive.
Some interesting power + consequence combinations (from the top of my head and from literature/movies):
- The healer who is constantly bleeding internally.
- The rebelled servant who has finally gained his freedom but becomes slave to the magic itself.
- A magical ring that brings someone back from the dead. Every time this person comes back from the dead, they lose their compassion and humanity bit by bit. (The Vampire Diaries)
- A witch brings someone back from the dead and as a consequence, the person begins to see dead people and can interact with them. (The Vampire Diaries)
- The power induces OCD— after using their power they feel a compulsion to do something. Sometimes it’s as small as drinking a beer and other times it’s as intense as breaking their own bones. (Darker than Black)
- Magic gained from a celestial source (the moon, a star, etc) causes earth to become painful to the magic users. In extreme cases, they are pulledtowards that celestial body and need to weigh themselves down/tether themselves to something or else they will drift upwards. (The Anubis Gates)
Pt. 2 — Coming Soon! Because it’s really fun to just sit here and brainstorm and research magical consequences! I feel like the possibilities are endless!
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