The Magickal Manual- Mistbinder's Primer, Book One, The Basics of Mistbinding

Introduction

The Nature of Mist, Magick and its Place in the Natural World

Magick is the term used to describe any act or phenomenon that manipulates or otherwise affects the Mist, and therefore, the world. Magickal phenomena are frequent in nature, and greatly impact other natural phenomena such as the weather, plantlife, and animal life.

The most obvious example of naturally occurring magickal phenomena is the weather. Elgathæa, the planet, is angled about 23.5 degrees relative to its orbital plane around the goddess Eulfae's spiritual body, the sun. In most circumstances, it is the movement of air to low pressure areas from high pressure areas, combined with the movement of water, that creates weather. This is then influenced by the god Caius. However, the Mist sometimes interacts with these systems, strengthening storms, turning snowstorms into blizzards, and even creating obviously magickal phenomena- blazestorms, ash-storms, flood-winds, and, in extreme circumstances , desert glass-winds. Other naturally occurring Mist-born phenomena include Sky-lakes, Mistonium and its many compounds, Magickal Salts (salts that have taken upon anomalous magical properties unrelated and only partially hindering to their natural chemical properties), and Mist Climes (areas where the weather is completely different than what it should be).

Plant life is also affected by magickal phenomena. Certain species of plants have evolved with special properties, sometimes obvious (magickal plants), sometimes only revealed through the application of magickal alchemy (alchemical agents). Magickal Plants are generally rare, often only found where the mist is highly active, such as deserts, the poles, Fae lands, and certain places where Leylines connect. Alchemical agents are far more common. Examples of alchemical agents include Lavender, Nightshade (chemical poison enhanced by alchemy), and many types of flowers and roots.

Certain species of animals have evolved magickal traits, and all animals are capable of Mistbinding if they have the intelligence for it. Any species with natural magickal abilities unrelated to the use of Mistbinding are known as Mistbeasts. Mistbeasts, as a result of their magickal nature, have mortal-level intelligence, though their instincts are still fairly strong. Most Mistbeasts are not hostile nor friendly towards mortals, their disposition completely determined by their individual personality and experience with a mortal individual.

Magick and Mortals

Magick can be used by mortals, and much of the world's knowledge has been supplied by mortal discovery. Most mortals simply call the act of casting spells Magick, and label those who use it as wizards or mages. However, those who practice magick call their craft by a more specific name: Mistbinding. They usually call themselves Mistbinders, and use the other mortal labels such as wizard, sorcerer, mage, witch, warlock, shaman/ cleric, and psychic as terms to describe their specialties and ways of life. It should be understood that a Mistbinder can be considered multiple of these things, as long as a magickal contract does not say otherwise.

Wizards are Mistbinders who specialize in the pursuit of magickal knowledge and wisdom. Their Mistbinding is versatile, clever, and often described as miraculous. They learn their spells through grimoires rather than spell books, learning alongside the sentient tomes and sometimes creating a storehouse of their power in the form of a Wizard's Tower. These towers grow as their creators accrue power and knowledge. From the point that a Wizard creates a tower onwards, that Wizard is bound to it. He can store power within, and then withdraw power to use later. This comes at a price; if a Wizard stays away from his Tower for too long, he will die. He is therefore at his most powerful whilst residing in his home. Wizard Mistbinding is worked through philosophy and need, so the only time he can use magick freely and continuously is within his tower.

Sorcerers are Mistbinders who create a contract with a spirit in order to work magick. Instead of drawing or storing Mist in their own bodies, they channel it through their contracted spirit (a familiar), essentially using the spirit as a mage or wizard would use a wand. This act strengthens both the sorcerer and the familiar, but almost always comes at the cost of the spirit maintaining a physical form until its master dies. The sorcerer in this relationship also becomes vulnerable to the same type of magicks that spirits are. Both the sorcerer and the familiar experience the same pain as each other, but will survive if the other dies. The spirit will return to it's incorporeal form after death, until it has reaccrued enough strength.