World magic

From Mizahar Lore

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Current revision as of 19:26, 15 March 2010

World magic (Kand-djed or 'all-spine' in the ancient tongue) is one of the three categories into which all magic is divided, the other two being gnosis and personal magic. Disciplines of world magic manipulate the Djed of objects in the world to fit the user's purposes: they are forms of magical craftsmanship. This is most often accomplished with tools and rituals and usually takes place in specialized laboratories, workshops or places of power. While very diverse, these sciences have enough in common to seem like parts of a great, lost form of magic. The most significant similarities lie in the widespread use of symbols, glyphs and arrays to harness the power of the world.

Check Magic list for a list of all magic types available on Mizahar, including world magic.

Features of world magic

It is often said that the three magic types form a perfect, complementary triangle. Personal magic comes from within and is based on willpower, focus and concentration as well as self-sacrifice in bearing the ill effects of overgiving. Gnosis is power borrowed from the deities of Mizahar and can be used within the limits placed in the form of marks upon the body, often coming with an implicit or explicit burden of service to that god's higher cause. World magic is definitely the most scientific out of the three, its main strengths lying in its versatile powers and the lack of drawbacks suffered by the other two types: there is no overgiving and no need to please a divine being. The weaknesses include a total reliance on tools or laboratories to perform the craft - without which the wizard is powerless - and the risks involved in wild experimentation.

While one can just receive gnosis and start using it, or pick up a personal magic like Hypnotism and play with it, world magic usually requires arrangements for a laboratory before it can be practiced. Some disciplines, such as Glyphing or Malediction, simply require a quiet place to work in, but others, like Magecraft or Alchemy, need a full-fledged facility for optimal results. Novices rarely own their own lab; much more often, they receive permission to work in someone else's, typically in exchange for money or work as an apprentice. Much like craftsmen, they may become the equivalent of journeymen and masters and finally amass enough funds to buy their own place.

A world magic laboratory is often equipped to perform several disciplines instead of just one. High-level labs are also heavily defended, both from the outside and the inside (especially if they are designed for Summoning).