N/Arcanery/Magic Outline

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Original Ideas By Yunzhong Hou

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Contents 1 The Four Elementary Spells 2 Beings 3 Outside, Inside 4 Aiúas, Quanta, and Stars 5 Tapping into the Stars 6 Using the Stars and Sentropy 7 Telmol 8 Kinetomancy 9 Spells: Teaching this Magic

Magic can be complicated indeed. Here's a guide to understanding its foundations and how it works.

By magic proper, we refer to a certain magic system that includes the various disparate types of magic available. First, we will discuss the four elementary spells so crucial to casting spells.

[edit] The Four Elementary Spells

Each of the Four Spells is associated with its own Element. There are likewise Four Elements:

• Air, symbolizing vision and divine communication
• Earth, symbolizing matter, space, and time
• Fire, symbolizing creation and change
• Water, symbolizing logic and rationalization

Magic in Lorica depends on these four Elementary Spells, which can be altered and combined in various and disparate ways. Each of the Four Elements are associated with its own Spell, as thus:

• Air - Sight
• Earth - Telmol
• Fire - Manos
• Water - Logos

We will discuss these spells and their abilities later on. Note that not all magic is based on these four spells; there are other spells that are not considered magic proper.

[edit] Beings

The Two Universes - the Asset and Tessa (meaning to have and not to have) - are populated with beings. Now by beings we will need a particular definition:

"Beings are entities that contain matter, energy, or both."

For example, a wisp would be energy only and no matter, while an object would have both matter and energy, while adamantium would be matter only and no energy. Other examples of beings include the world as a whole, and Imagi (to be discussed later). There are many different kinds of beings, as such a cursory overview of their variety will quickly demonstrate.

Also note that the term Beings and the term Entities are not mutually interchangeable; an Entity is a complete something and hence is capable of performing actions, such as an individual, a deity, or a god. A Being, however, is any person, place, object, or piece thereof. Therefore, half a Being is still a Being, only it is of half the quantitative significance, and half of that is also still a Being, and so on, ad infinitum.

Why mention this point? Magic relates to the properties of these Beings, or else would have no relevance whatsover in the Two Universes.

[edit] Outside, Inside

There are, as we said, Two Universes: Asset and Tessa. The former is also known as Inside, because from our viewpoint we and everything else in this universe are Inside a particular bubble of cosmic proportions; the latter is known hence as the Outside, being diametrically opposed in its essences. The Inside can be influenced directly through physical means and indirectly by magical means, while the Outside can be influenced directly by magical means and indirectly by physical means. Magic, along with Physics, thus serves as a link between the two worlds.

Beings that are Outside are invisible to Beings that are Inside; likewise, Beings that are Inside are invisible to Beings that are Outside. You will soon see later on that this is not a major problem when we can transport between the two Universes. Additionally, Outside things are invisible and do not undergo reactions; that is, they do not experience time.

Now here is the point that has to be made perfectly clear:

"Through the use of spells, Beings can be moved Inside and Outside instantaneously."

Objects can also be moved Outside for a duration. Such a movement across the Two Universes is known as an Action.

[edit] Aiúas, Quanta, and Stars

As mentioned earlier, we can continually divide Beings into halves, and do so endlessly. What do we get when this process reaches its end? Is there a limit? It turns out that yes, there is a limit (but the proof for this is so difficult that it will not be presented here). All matter and energy in both the Inside and Outside are composed of miniscule packets of Being called Quanta. These Quanta are locked into matter and heat/energy. Such stored energy is also called Aiúas - hence, an Aiúa is a type of Quanta. These Aiúas cannot be directly tapped by magic in the Asset Universe.

What sorcerers can tap into are another form of Quanta, one that is not locked into other Beings. These present themselves as the "Vital Force" that drives living beings, and these are called Stars. Why is this important? Stars are needed in order for Actions to occur. Without them, there would be no magic to speak of, none of this which follow. Hence, in the world of magic, living Beings present a particular and crucial resource for the spell caster.

[edit] Tapping into the Stars

In the last section we discussed how living Beings hold Vital Forces. We now expand this concept further: Stars show an affinity for Vital Force and thus reside inside living objects, an attraction that varies inversely with the distance from the living object. Hence, Stars closer to a living object will be more forcefully attracted to them, and so forth.

Stars can be shaken from their residence objects (Beings) through Vital Actions. In the classical sense, these would include rites, cants (chants), etcetera. This process will be explored later.

When attaching Action potential to a Being, some living object--that is, containing Vital Force--must also be attached. Thus, when a Vital Force is extinguished (such as through death), Stars flee from the object and may therefore immediately be tapped for powerful use. It should be obvious by now that magic and the potential to wield it does not come for free.

[edit] Using the Stars and Sentropy

Beings transfer across the Two Universes involves both the Inside and Outside gaining as much Quanta as is lost so that the total Quanta in both Worlds remains the same. Remember that the two types of Quanta are Aiúas and Stars. We now introduce the First Law of Sentropy:

"Actions result in a reduced amount of order in the sum of both Universes, thereby increasing a quality known as Sentropy."

Hence, there is a definite interchange of Quanta in every Action performed. Do you see how there are two kinds of "actions", one being physical and one being magical? These two are fundamentally different, yet similar. Both reduce the amount of order in the Universes. Likewise, both require something to get started. This concept leads us to the Second Law of Sentropy:

"All Actions, no matter how much Sentropy involved, have an Activation Quanta before they can occur."

An Activation Quanta is the force necessary to drive an Action into commencing. This required Activation Quanta is fulfilled by Stars, and Stars only; it cannot be satisfied using Aiúas.

From this law, we can deduce that, in any action, Sentropy always increases. There is, however, a pattern to be seen. But this applies to the sum of both Universes. There is however another term for the energy and disorder of each individual world: Entropy. Actually, this term came first, but when we add the two values, we obtain the Sum-of-the-entropies, simplified into S-entropy and thus into Sentropy. This fits into what is known as the Corollary to the First Law of Sentropy:

"Actions involving bringing a more ordered Being Inside result in reduced entropy Inside and greater entropy Outside. Actions involving bringing a less ordered Being Inside result in greater entropy Inside and reduced entropy Outside."

Note that this corollary does not state, in either circumstance, which predominates: the gain or the loss; and to which extent one predominates over the other. While the first law already answers the first question, the second has no specific answer, and depends primarily on the efficiency of the magic. This corollary actually has two parts. Note that the first type of Action expends more Stars and generates fewer Stars, and thus require a continuous input of Stars to work, while the second type of Action expends fewer Stars and generates more (in reference to the Asset Universe). The latter type also thus expends only the Stars needed to fulfill the Activation Quanta described in the Second Law. Also note that the Inside begets more Stars at a cost: by increasing its own entropy.

[edit] Telmol

The first Spell to be tackled by Sorcerers is Telmol (also called Telemol and Intermol). Telmol means etymologically "distant" and "matter", or bringing matter across the two physically distant Universes, while Intermol means "across" and 'matter". Telmol causes the Action of Being (Quanta) transfer from Outside to Inside, or vice versa: from Inside to Outside. It thus is the key concept to understanding magic, as well as its various effects, many of which include distortion, creation, and deletion. As with the other three main Spells, Telmol can be used in an infinite variety of ways to create effects of profound complexity; only by your exploration into this astounding world can you comprehend the greatness of this Spell.

Telmol is easily the most simple Spell to cast; even so, the complexity that the spell allows means that such casts can still become extremely complicated. Hence, it is oftentimes better to refer to spells by their intended effects rather than their component variations of the Spells, in the same way that calling an object "apple" is superior to calling it "bright red (fruit) from tall (plant)...". The former method is also more understandable, although with the vast possibilities that the four Elementary Spells can provide, this can quickly become daunting. (You haven't been formally introduced to such complex spells yet; the time for that will soon come.)

[edit] Kinetomancy

The first discipline that we will introduce in magic is Kinetomancy, meaning the "magic of energy and movement". This is because the most basic Telmol Spell works with only energy while ignoring matter. Kinetomancy, in its general sense, involves heating or cooling an object and thus involves Energy Telmol only. Other situations would include electricity, magnetism, forces, the electromagnetic spectrum, and waves. Advanced examples of Kinetomancy can sometimes be pretty sights. Note, however, that spells working with only energy are very limited in scope and variety.

Examples:

• ^[1] You could bring heat energy Inside toward a particular target object, making it hot...then hotter, and hotter....
• ^[2] ...Or you could do the reverse, and bring heat energy from a particular target object Outside, making it cold...then colder, and colder.
• ^[3] You could bring electromagnetic energy Inside toward a particular target object. If your ability to charge an object becomes powerful enough, you could cause a bolt of lightning to emanate from it.
• ^[4] You could provide magnetic attraction energy Inside toward a particular target object, so that it becomes attracted to and attracts a magnet; or you could do the opposite to certain metallic objects like iron for the reverse effect.
• ^[5] You could provide raw kinetic energy to a particular falling target so that upon impact it strikes with much more force than its speed would have made others think.
• ^[6] You could create an instance of a "bump" of water-making the water level temporarily rise and fall at a particular point-to disrupt standing water. Once you have learned Logos and Manos, you can set a Charm to cast this "wave" repeatedly to create actual waves. You could then also apply kinetomancy to create sound waves and thus noise (or if you are really skilled, music).
• ^[7] You could send a seismic shockwave into the ground.
• ^[8] You could heat an object so forcefully that it glows.
• ^[9] You could also make an object glow by constantly bringing light Inside at the site of a particular object to give the illusion that the object is glowing. Once you have learned Logos and Manos, you can set a Charm that will enable the light to be actually attached to the object so that it is actually the object that glows, not its vicinity.

[edit] Spells: Teaching this Magic

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