Ars Vestigieae

"Everyone says that you were never meant to wield this power, mother. Now I know why. Because with it, I think I can change the world. Something you never had the stomach to do."

— Tauri Watickayaku, wielder of the Shard of Worlds, The Helm.

Magic is the unnatural practice mortals use to access the powers of creation. Raising the dead, turning lead to gold, riding the lightning, and the creation of artificial life; such divine acts are only possible thanks to magic. But with great power comes even greater rigor, risk, and responsibility.

Overview

The Macrocosm is a universe overflowing with the fantastical. It is the scholarly opinion that "magic" is a term that is misused and often incorrectly applied to a wide variety of essentially natural phenomena or cultural rituals. To further complicate it's study, the practice of real magic has varied wildly throughout history, and varies wildly still today between different practitioners and cultures. Certain commonalities can be found however, and today magic is best understood as the power of creation, manipulation, or destruction over the trace element called Vestige.

The History of Magic

Over the eras, magic has changed in rarity, accessibility, and potency. Though observing these trends is difficult, longer-lived ancestries or monsters have written or oral records detailing historical events and people that are invaluable resources. Consultations with devils, demons, or celestials have also proven fruitful in providing direct accounts of certain magical events, though typically these dialogues are done under the coercion of planar bindings and summoning that deteriorate the academic relationship with the creature. Scholars generally divide the history of magical practice into three or four periods depending on their philosophy on creation or the Shattering.

The Age of Creation

The Age of Creation is understood as the period of time in which the world, its fundamental elements, its inhabitants, the heavens, and the hells were formed or created. Scholars, and particularly wizards, disagree on the substantive details of this time period. In fact, many disagree on whether the Age of Creation should be formally recognized as an age of magical practice; believing that it is a matter better left to religion. Many have lost their minds to madness attempting to divine these secrets of the universe.

The Age of Chaos

Though much of this time period is prehistorical, scholars have gathered enough evidence to infer the existence of an age of magic pre-dating the Mortal Shard. Magical practice during this time was raw and highly unstable. It is theorized that mortals were capable of manipulating vestige directly without any external medium by emulating or harnessing divine power. Practitioners would have been called many things during these times, but in the common tongue they may have been referred to as Demiurges. The Demiurges were able to create Great Works during their time, and may have wielded power that dwarfs even the greatest wizards of the modern age. Many religions are, blasphemously, believed to have originate not in the worship of God or the Angels, but with worship in a Demiurge. Entire species of creatures are believed to have originated during this time period including the Yuan-Ti or the Owlbear. The best references come from the ongoing translation efforts in reading the Ordning Stone. Eventually, in keeping with Tauri's Theory of Syntropy, divine power began fading from the surface of the Mortal Sphere. Demigods and Chaos magic as a whole began to disappear.

The Age of High Shard Magic

Also called the Age of the Shard. The Age of High Magic began in the Kingdom of Ostoria and the inheritance of the Mortal Shard. Whosoever wielded the Mortal Shard was capable of emulating a Demiurge and all of their terrible powers including control over the weather and the elements, creatures and biology, laws of physics and time, and more. The Age of High Shard Magic lasted through the Fall of Ostoria and throughout the entirety of the Ancient Elven Empire, and ended with the Shattering during the rise of the Dwarvish empire of Az-Mundu. The age is defined by the use of the Mortal Shard for civilization building, and particularly with the ascendancy of the Elves. The age was dominated by totalitarian regimes in control of the Mortal Shard. These ruling parties exercised near-complete control over vast swaths of the world population with little resistance.

The Age of Low Shard Magic

The Age of Low Shard Magic is the current, modern age of magical history, and includes all of history post-Shattering. When the Mortal Shard was broken in the Shattering it separated into many pieces, called Mortal Shards. These shards spread throughout the Mortal Sphere and the Macrocosm. Some of the shards are highly unstable, or have reality-warping affects on their surroundings and the world. The Age of Low Shard Magic is defined by the interactions with these shards. Whereas in the Age of High Shard Magic, wherein magic was essentially monolithically defined by the wielder of the Mortal Shard, the Age of Low Shard Magic contains countless different, discrete schools and theories of magic. Furthermore, the Age of Low Shard Magic is defined by the emergence of Clash. Magic can vary by the individual and their magical medium. The overriding commonalities between these practices connect the schools of magic to one of the Mortal Shards or a wielder thereof. The period of Low Shard Magic is the weakest period of magic in history.

Modern Magical Theory

Magic, in its current practice, is the creation, manipulation, or destruction of the trace element called Vestige. In the current age, normal people cannot manipulate vestige by themselves. All magic requires a connection to a magical medium, one of the Mortal Shards. These connections are called the Viarchs by the Elves, or Holloways by the older Giants. All magic flows through these pathways of power. The basic flow of magic is simple: when someone casts a spell, vestige throughout the Macrocosm is called by one of the Mortal Shards to channel through the Viarchs, becoming pieced together to become a spell. Different practices of magic differ by the source of the vestige, which Mortal Shard serves as the medium, and which Viarchs the spell travels along. Scholars also occasionally differentiate magic by the cultural background or rituals that compose its casting traditions. Putting all of these elements together creates the unit in which magic is measured: the spell.

The Sources of Vestige

The magic begins within the sources of vestige. By its very nature, more vestige is found in areas where death has lingered. Typically, the older the vestige is, the better. The bonds that tie vestige together are made weaker the longer it rests undisturbed, making it easier to channel as a spell. The specific origin of the vestige reserve used for spellcasting defines the magic's "source". Most magic today traces its source to the Elder Dead Worlds. This vestige is incredibly potent, having not been touched for eons, and its source is called "Arcane". The other most common form of magic traces its Source to the Angels (or at times, the Devils). Though they are loathe to confide in the particulars, the powers they grant their Saints is proof enough that both Angels and Devils maintain vast stores of Vestige. The magic that comes from Heaven has a "Miraculous" origin, while magic from the Hells has a "Diabolic" origin, though both fall under the general umbrella of "Divine" source. Druids are notable for sourcing their vestige directly from what remains on the Mortal Sphere, being "Taean" in source. A spell's source can tinge the magic with its distinct flavor. For example, Arcane source magic appears cold and astral, whereas Diabolic source magic burns hot with the brimstone flames of hell. Using the elementary spell "Magic Missile"; an Arcane Magic Missile may appear as scouring stars with comet trails, while a Diabolic Magic Missile might appear as flaming canine heads that relentlessly hound their quarry.
Though the Sources of Vestige seem distant and infinite in reserve, the scholarly community has noted that as history progresses, complex spellcasting takes longer, a phenomenon called the Increasing Component Trend. Though there are competing theories as to why, many sages familiar with the Origins of Vestige suggest that vestige, across all sources, is slowly running out per Tauri's Theory of Syntropy. The consequences of a widespread shortage in vestige are unknown at this time, but the current trend suggests that at minimum, spellcasting could continue growing in complexity and casting-time, becoming unwieldly or impractical. Just the gradual decline in accessibility and convenience could have wide-reaching ripple effects over time. Worst-case scenarios go even further, suggesting that in time, all magic will become completely inaccessible, leaving the world in total mundanity.
For more examples of vestige sources, see the Sources of Vestige Table.

The Mediums of Magic

Normal, everyday people cannot manipulate or command vestige by themselves. All magic is controlled through commanding one of the magical mediums, the Mortal Shards. Now, most spellcasters are not fundamentally aware of the existence of these mediums, nor the functions they serve. A ranger, for example, may truly believe that their intrinsic connection with and respect for the earth and its spirits allows them to harness magic. And in part, they are correct! The Foundational Theory of Components claims that the magical mediums are commanded by a "Language of Power" composed not of words or letters, but of an esoteric collection of material, verbal, and somatic components. Certain rituals invoking the Language of Power have been incorporated over time into the practices of certain cultures and traditions, which has resulted in producing magical practitioners who are fully capable of casting spells without knowing the exact mechanics of what happens when they cast them.
The locations of the magical mediums are largely unknown. It is believed that they were scattered across the Macrocosm. Even from this great distance, they are capable of "listening" to mortals on Taea when a spell is cast. When the correct components have been accepted by one of the magical mediums in this Language of Power, the medium performs the necessary location, extraction, and modification of vestige, transforming it into a spell to be delivered through a Viarch. A Typology of Sorcery is one of the first attempts to sort and identify these mediums, classifying them into the Eight Magical Schools. It was believed then that eight mediums existed, and each medium controlled one of eight "schools" of magic, such as Necromancy. Modern scholars have added to and modified the designation of spells and schools over time, but more research is required to prove the existence of more than eight "listening" mediums.

The Pathways of Power

Viarchs are the channels through which magic flows. Magical Historians assert that Viarchs existed long before spellcasting, with competing explanations as to their purpose or creation. The largest Viarch is the River Myr, also known as Muriennemyr, which carries the souls of the dead from Taea to the afterlife. Other Viarchs exist throughout the Macrocosm, connecting places together as pathways of power. For example, the Viarchs that connect the realms of the Feywild and Shadowfell are called the Veils.
The strength of a given magic user is measured by the number and degree of Viarchs they command. Meditations, by Tauri Watickayaku is the seminal text taught in the The Colleges of Magic to new apprentice wizards. It covers broad subjects, from magical theory to the nature of the divine, but it is renowned for its categorizations and maps of the Viarchs.
Commanding a Viarch is no small feat, and typically involves intensive study or dedication. Tauri classifies many types of magic-users based on how they command their Viarchs. For example, she identifies a class of magic-users who each derive their practice from a theory of Viarch command that originated with the High Elves of Selendir. These magic-users, who Tauri called "Wizards", engage in intensive study and discipline to learn the most elementary of spells that tunnels a Viarch to the caster and persists for future use. These spells are called Wizardings and grant the caster command over its degree of Viarchs. You may be familiar with other classes of magic-users that Tauri identifies, including Sorcerers, Warlocks, Druids, Clerics, and more! Each class harnesses the command of Viarchs differently.
Once controlled, a Viarch can be used to cast spells. Tauri notes that spells vary in complexity and can be sorted into one of nine degrees. Simple, low degree spells can be channeled through low degree Viarchs, whereas the most powerful spells require the most powerful Viarchs. Each Viarch commanded by a magic-user can be used for a single spell of its degree or lower and then closes, requiring meditation or further

Clash

One of the fundamental realities of wielding magic is that it is incompatible with mortal bodies. Maintaining Viarchs is particularly taxing on the mind and body. This incompatibility causes both acute and chronic symptoms called Clash. Clash is caused byt the innate discordance between a mortal body and divine power. Even simple spells can cause adverse side effects such as nausea, headaches, and dizziness. More powerful practitioners, who maintain several high degree Viarchs, are afflicted with more intensive conditions: sudden hair loss, hallucinations, memory loss, aphasia, or worse. Clash symptoms are unique, emerging differently in each user.
Practitioners undergo extensive training to make their bodies more harmonious with magic, learning how to manage or endure the worst of their Clash symptoms. Even still, minor side effects known as Clash Signs betray the effort and control a spellcaster must exert in order to cast their magic.