Guide to the Arcane Realm

Magic

Magic

Well to sum it up, magic is one of the many forms of observable events in the world; either naturally occurring or intentionally produced. Magical effects range from reproducing mundane activity, to unlikely and uncanny events, to things that seem to ignore what we observe as well defined laws of physics.

Magic can be a lot of things to different people: an art, a science, mystery, a force, or a way of life. So instead of ignoring one look in favor of another, we will take a glimpse at these various things that fall under the metaphysical umbrella that is magic.

Natural Magic

Magic is an inherent force of the world that allows things to happen and the universe to be the way that it is. As such, nature and everything in it is at some level inherently magical, so the natural world and magic are not separate. For example, highly magical events include eclipses or giving birth and less magical events include the weather, chemical reactions, and diseases. In times when magic was less understood, magic was seen as completely seperate from or above nature, and that the two were mutally exclusive or that all magic could be dispelled from an area or things. With our current understanding, that all seems farfetched at best since its less that magic is a thing, as opposed to being a property of things. 

The scientific laws observed in physics and chemistry, as well as astronomy, explain how the universe is like when the magic around us is at its most stable, resulting in mostly predictable and consistent results. Metaphysics then, takes over when magic and related forces become unstable or are being manipulated as further explained in the next sections.

Magic Power

Magic has energy that fuels  phenomena whether it be a spontaneous or intentional. It resides in all things like an impersonal and universal force of nature, although some places and beings have more of it than others. There are multiple unique regional and cultural terms for magic power, but the terms "MP" or "mana" are currently the most commonly used worldwide. 

Whatever you call it, the magic power made by natural phenomena and used to fuel applied magic is propagated throughout the known universe. However on a planet flourishing with life like Kaf, magical power is like a world encompassing field. The background magic field of a planet, known as terrestrial or world magic, permeates through all objects and lifeforms on an entire world.

Many things that are exposed to this magical field on a daily basis and can retain some of its energy, this is especially notable for crystals and biological molecules. Living beings can also generate magic power from within themselves (we are made from the same stuff as non-living things after all) and absorb some from the environment. Some classes of creatures are partially defined by adapting to one method more than the another. Magic power within a being also serves a natural barrier to offensive magic applied to the body and the potential means of greatly amplifying the bodies physical stamina and endurance.

A/N: Magic is a big part of this world and was one of the earliest parts I worked on. Despite that, most of what you see written here is much more recently thought up and written.

One thing I noticed in fantasy setrings (well primarily those of tabletop and video games) is that the supernatural forces like magic are seen as seperate from the natural world and that the way things work in our world is natural.

Turns out in the pre-scientific world that magic was more like another layer of nature, as opposed to something else. I guess I sort of wanted to explore that in this world at the same time, while at the same time maintaining an empirical way of looking at the world. That's why I more or less made magic a part of the world as much as the other laws of physics.