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The Imperium and Magic.
6 years ago
So I had always planned on having Magic in the Gaian Imperium, the idea being it starts off as a Post modern fantasy setting, akin to Marvel, and eventually becomes a sci-fantasy setting, but I didn't want magic to be this random deux ex machina thing. So I delayed putting anything about it, and then I came across something on Tumblr, http://mercenary-tributary.tumblr.c.....se-description , http://mercenary-tributary.tumblr.c.....constructs-the , http://mercenary-tributary.tumblr.c.....ar-1962-combat , http://mercenary-tributary.tumblr.c.....up-oc-amalgams , and am essentially using this as the basis for my system. It's a mixture of Psychic abilities and alchemy, i'm also going to be using this system, mechanically at least, for my Fantasy realm, Idir.
So, basic idea is long ago humans had magic, but it kept fucking things up and so a group of them went and created the Null Field Generators, which was build with rather horrendous methods. But the NFG's were made all over the globe, cutting off magic for everyone and eventually it faded into myth, with the help of Gaia the NFG's were buried, keeping them from being accidentally found and broken.
With the Imperium's rise Gaia saw they would be the ones to inherit the earth and go beyond, and so she slowly started breaking the NFG's, allowing for the Imperium to gain significant advantages over the other super powers at the time, as if they technological advanced weren't enough. But the NFG's were still in place over the rest of the globe, and as they conquered new lands the hidden away NFG was destroyed, adding a bit of "Divine provenance" to the Imperium's conquering of the world, which certainly made things interesting.
Mages are uncommon, roughly a 1/100 ratio of a population and have no visible physical traits to separate them from the general population. Genetically they are very much the same, it took a few years before finding the gene in common of the mages. All Magus have the ability to manipulate the elements around them, more practiced mages can even focus on specific chemicals to separate or combine them, they how ever have a rather limited range that grows over time at a steady rate, well steady for the individual but rates between mages can vary.
The Area of Influence is a basic sphere shape with the center being the Magus center of gravity, the radius of it grows with the Magus age, skilled mages are able to manipulate their AOI, how ever no Magus is capable of increasing their max area of influence the most they can do is change it's shape to have it extend out forward in a straight line or any other shape as desired, but their AOI can only shrink, not expand.
So what exactly can a Magus do? In their AOI they can, with training, manipulate the elements, telekinesis, and even being capable of telepathy though that requires much more focus. Primarily they mentally induce alchemical reactions, changing one thing into another thing, like grass into bread, lead into gold, as such most Magus keep a few basic ingredients on them so they can use their preferred reactions, though most basic elemental reactions can be done with basic training, primarily fire being the most common one as it simply requires the Magus.
Further more all Magus have roughly the same potential for their craft, after all it's just a matter of training, though some do take to the training faster than others, as with all things. By default the Magus AOI is always the sphere around them, and always at their max radius unless consciously reduced. The reasoning behind why the Magus are taught to reduce their radius is due to the side effect using magic, which is that the use of it creates the Daiukla, or in simplistic terms Demons.
Under standard conditions Magus radiate a energy when performing their feats of magic, a form of radiation that is so far deemed harmless, save for the effect of creating Daiukla. Standard Daiukla formation happens when a Magus performs magic while a body of water is in their AOI, though the contamination dissipates completely after two hours when it's source of Magus Radiation is gone. How ever, should a Magus perform a rather constant assortment of Magic it can cause Daiukla to form from smaller sources of water, including the Magus own chemical makeup, though this takes an intense amount of effort to actually do as it requires constant and heavy magic use, which is mentally and physically taxing on Magus.
Simplisticaly Daiukla are harmless, or more accurately simply uninterested, to non Magus. A basic mass of Daiukla formed in water is little more than a sinewy fungus to a non Magus, how ever should a Magus come into contact with the mass it will latch on and fuse with what ever the mass can latch onto and feed off of the Magus Radiation. Simple infestations can be removed, some require amputation. Extreme cases, such as a Magus who ends up submerged after death, or who just so happens to unluckily(or mostly stupidly) end up in a body of water that had been contaminated with Daiukla end up becoming Possessed in best case, Amalgam at worst.
Possessed are what happens when Daiukla get a hold of a Magus and consume them, at that point the Magus had better hope they are dead before they hit the water as the process is horrific. Amalgams are what happen when the consuming is interrupted, or it just goes bad. Possession will always happen should a Magus corpse be deposited in a large body of water, such as a lake or a tank of roughly a thousand gallons of water and be left alone. Amalgams happen due to people attempting to rescue a Magus from their fate and are simply are too late, the Possession is interrupted and can leave the Magus deformed, constant pain, or mentally unstable which makes them very dangerous.
The typical process for Possession is the Magus corpse is 'carried over' to the Abhoth realm where the Daiukla continue to congeal on the barest remnants of the Magus corpse, all that is needed for a Possession is the Brain, Spinal column and Lungs, from this the Possessed takes a rough shape. It is both a Daiukla and the Magus, hence the term Possessed. It has access to the Magus memory and knowledge, though this can sometimes be fragmented due to how much decay had settled into the Magus before it reached the large body of water.
For a Magus to be completely Possessed the body has to have at least it's center of gravity submerged, or the torso and head, allowing for partial Possession to allow minor motor control to pull the limbs in and consume them before the Daiukla dissipates into Abhoth to congeal. As such, it takes a Possessed some time to congeal, and then it has to simply happen upon a Magus using magic near a large enough mass of water to allow it to come through back into Gaia.
From the Possessed information about Abhoth is obtained, it's a mirror realm of sorts. It's not a perfect duplication, more like a tracing or interpretation of what Gaia looks like. Abhoth is also getting a more defined shape with more Magic use and more Magus becoming possessed, each bit of Magic used sends out a pulse to Abhoth, providing more unique shape to the realm, but so far no Magus has been able to go to the Abyss and return without becoming Possessed.
Now on to Circuits and Constructs, which is where the Magus truly shine. While all a Magus can really do is mentally invoke chemical reactions in a limited area to achieve a desired result, such as heating up an area, rapidly cooling it, to loosening the dirt beneath their feet and tunneling through it like an ant or simply throwing things, Circuits allow the Magus to do much more complex things.
It is often referred too as "Reality Programming", as the circuits follow exacting and specific patterns, using specific resources to make, to achieve a specific result. Circuits can be made with any conductive material, the more conductive the better, as such Silver is the preferred metal of choice, gold a close second and copper in third place. They are a language, one found out mostly through trial and error of early Magus, and with some assistance from the Possessed who recall information found in Abhoth. Circuits have to be followed precisely if you wish to achieve a certain result, if it's messed up a little the end result can be off, a circuit for a simple Fireball with a deviation could cause said fireball to either be too big, too small, shorten the life span of it, to making it happen so fast it explodes in the Magus face.
This has been experimented on and Circuits allow Magus to not just build, but manipulate laws of reality, such as inverting gravity, creating a oasis in the middle of a desert, or completely blocking off a world from Magic. Also by etching the Circuit into the ground around an area the Magus can then charge it and turn unrefined raw materials and make a building to exacting specifics in a matter of hours with little to no effect upon the Magus.
The Null Field Generators were circuits, the one flaw of Circuits is they have to be powered by a Magus, and Magus are essentially limitless batteries of Magic, though their minds can only handle so much strain from constant use of Magic before they cause Daiukla to infest themselves. The NFG's were powered by Magus that were effectively transmuted into the circuitry, powering them indefinitely, and each one required a lot of Magus for the desired range and effectiveness. Considering the cost, but also potential power of this, Magus Transmutation is highly frowned upon for selfish or basic reasons, and so far every known relic created in such a way has been confiscated by the Imperium, the more dangerous ones were destroyed, such as the NFG's, while the less harmful ones were turned into graves.
Circuits are made with conductive metals on a non conductive surface, such as Lead on Paper or Silver on Wood, this is to ensure the circuit is read properly as during early testing simply channeling energy into a conductive item does nothing. There is a difference between how Magic is done and Circuits as well. Circuits require a Magus to simply hold the item with the Circuit on it and focus on the Circuit they wish to charge, doing this is again, far less draining on a Magus than standard Magic but require much more preparation.
Now from Circuits we have Constructs, which are a bit more complex. Constructs are Daiukla congealed around a Circuit core, which is simply the Construct's heart and brain in one item. More complex circuits for more complex independent thinking, how ever the Creation Pool for a Construct has to be specially created, purified water with some of their Magus DNA in it, Blood works best but hair and other materials can work if the Magus is unwilling.
The DNA in the water allows for a "bond" between Magus and Construct, as the core allows some basic autonomous activities from the Construct, such as motor controls, basic body shape, simple things. The bond allows the Magus to directly influence or command the Daiukla, as well as allowing the construct to react to the Magus instincts, acting as a faint extension/expression of a Magus instincts or strong emotions.
Also the initial congealing requires the Magus be careful, being so close to an infested source is still dangerous, the Daiukla will still attempt to reach out and consume or merge with the Magus. How ever once the construct Congeals and is removed from the infested source it is harmless to the Magus, allowing a Magus to directly interact with the Daiukla mass. Depending on the complexity of the core the Construct can be a simple beast to an moderately intelligent companion.
And as long as the Magus charges the Core, which again is dependent on the circuit, the Construct will keep on trucking on. Without a charge in the core the Construct starts to slow, fall apart, or out right dissolve. Then it's a simple matter to retrieve the core and do the process again. Some Magus create their core's with a "Charging rod", allowing them to recharge their Construct, as empathy is a thing and people bond with their constructs, much like how people bond with dogs, or have a favorite hammer. As well as a theory that Constructs are capable of learning, growing, even evolving, but so far it is just a theory.
Magus also are known to get Circuit Tattoos or Schemas engraved on their bodies, or they write them down on cloth strips and wrap them around a limb to make use of them. Schemas are more complex than standard Circuits, not that circuits aren't already complex, as most Magus Schemas are either extremely low cost passive circuits, such as ones that react to airborn toxin's or to adjust someones eyesight(such as removing the need for glasses/contacts), while others can be toggled on like a lightning schema etched into a magus arm to Schemas that can boost physical strength or neurological processing which is a very common schema for Magus to have engraved on themselves.
It is also known for the Null Schema to be rather forcefully grafted onto offending Magus, and it is intended to not be toggleable and a constantly running Schema that cancels out all other Schema's and prevents all Magic done by the Magus, it cuts them off completely, it also has the added benefit of rendering the Magus immune to Possession, though there are some Magus who simply do not want the gift and welcome the Null Schema.
Other's accept it with a modification, turning themselves into mobile Null Generator's, which when near a Magus disable their magic, how ever Null Generator's only affect Magic done in the Nullifier AOI or Circuits in the AOI, meaning Magus attacks, such as fireballs from a Magus or from a Staff, upon coming into contact with a Nullifier AOI will fizzle out of existence. Nullifiers also are used to quickly clear an area of Daiukla, as a Nullifier cancels out lingering Magus Radiation, which also causes Daiukla to dissolve as they require Magus Radiation to exist in our realm.
How ever not only can Magus benefit from Schema's, but non magus can have them engraved as well, along with an appropriate addition so it can hold a charge, allowing a Magus to charge a person's Schema's and give them the same boost, although only for as long as the charge lasts. Circuit Batteries can be an addition to any kind of Circuit but are not mandatory, so long a Magus is holding the item and channeling energy through the circuit it will function.
It was through the return of Magic that allowed the Imperium to start tunneling into other dimensions. With the use of Circuits and Magus they are able to create gateways to other realms, realities. Their process is simple, send a team through with resources to survive and build a return gate, if they return further exploration is done and possible expansion, if they do not return the 'address' is put on a list and cataloged should the expedition ever return, as different realities can have different passage of times.
So, basic idea is long ago humans had magic, but it kept fucking things up and so a group of them went and created the Null Field Generators, which was build with rather horrendous methods. But the NFG's were made all over the globe, cutting off magic for everyone and eventually it faded into myth, with the help of Gaia the NFG's were buried, keeping them from being accidentally found and broken.
With the Imperium's rise Gaia saw they would be the ones to inherit the earth and go beyond, and so she slowly started breaking the NFG's, allowing for the Imperium to gain significant advantages over the other super powers at the time, as if they technological advanced weren't enough. But the NFG's were still in place over the rest of the globe, and as they conquered new lands the hidden away NFG was destroyed, adding a bit of "Divine provenance" to the Imperium's conquering of the world, which certainly made things interesting.
Mages are uncommon, roughly a 1/100 ratio of a population and have no visible physical traits to separate them from the general population. Genetically they are very much the same, it took a few years before finding the gene in common of the mages. All Magus have the ability to manipulate the elements around them, more practiced mages can even focus on specific chemicals to separate or combine them, they how ever have a rather limited range that grows over time at a steady rate, well steady for the individual but rates between mages can vary.
The Area of Influence is a basic sphere shape with the center being the Magus center of gravity, the radius of it grows with the Magus age, skilled mages are able to manipulate their AOI, how ever no Magus is capable of increasing their max area of influence the most they can do is change it's shape to have it extend out forward in a straight line or any other shape as desired, but their AOI can only shrink, not expand.
So what exactly can a Magus do? In their AOI they can, with training, manipulate the elements, telekinesis, and even being capable of telepathy though that requires much more focus. Primarily they mentally induce alchemical reactions, changing one thing into another thing, like grass into bread, lead into gold, as such most Magus keep a few basic ingredients on them so they can use their preferred reactions, though most basic elemental reactions can be done with basic training, primarily fire being the most common one as it simply requires the Magus.
Further more all Magus have roughly the same potential for their craft, after all it's just a matter of training, though some do take to the training faster than others, as with all things. By default the Magus AOI is always the sphere around them, and always at their max radius unless consciously reduced. The reasoning behind why the Magus are taught to reduce their radius is due to the side effect using magic, which is that the use of it creates the Daiukla, or in simplistic terms Demons.
Under standard conditions Magus radiate a energy when performing their feats of magic, a form of radiation that is so far deemed harmless, save for the effect of creating Daiukla. Standard Daiukla formation happens when a Magus performs magic while a body of water is in their AOI, though the contamination dissipates completely after two hours when it's source of Magus Radiation is gone. How ever, should a Magus perform a rather constant assortment of Magic it can cause Daiukla to form from smaller sources of water, including the Magus own chemical makeup, though this takes an intense amount of effort to actually do as it requires constant and heavy magic use, which is mentally and physically taxing on Magus.
Simplisticaly Daiukla are harmless, or more accurately simply uninterested, to non Magus. A basic mass of Daiukla formed in water is little more than a sinewy fungus to a non Magus, how ever should a Magus come into contact with the mass it will latch on and fuse with what ever the mass can latch onto and feed off of the Magus Radiation. Simple infestations can be removed, some require amputation. Extreme cases, such as a Magus who ends up submerged after death, or who just so happens to unluckily(or mostly stupidly) end up in a body of water that had been contaminated with Daiukla end up becoming Possessed in best case, Amalgam at worst.
Possessed are what happens when Daiukla get a hold of a Magus and consume them, at that point the Magus had better hope they are dead before they hit the water as the process is horrific. Amalgams are what happen when the consuming is interrupted, or it just goes bad. Possession will always happen should a Magus corpse be deposited in a large body of water, such as a lake or a tank of roughly a thousand gallons of water and be left alone. Amalgams happen due to people attempting to rescue a Magus from their fate and are simply are too late, the Possession is interrupted and can leave the Magus deformed, constant pain, or mentally unstable which makes them very dangerous.
The typical process for Possession is the Magus corpse is 'carried over' to the Abhoth realm where the Daiukla continue to congeal on the barest remnants of the Magus corpse, all that is needed for a Possession is the Brain, Spinal column and Lungs, from this the Possessed takes a rough shape. It is both a Daiukla and the Magus, hence the term Possessed. It has access to the Magus memory and knowledge, though this can sometimes be fragmented due to how much decay had settled into the Magus before it reached the large body of water.
For a Magus to be completely Possessed the body has to have at least it's center of gravity submerged, or the torso and head, allowing for partial Possession to allow minor motor control to pull the limbs in and consume them before the Daiukla dissipates into Abhoth to congeal. As such, it takes a Possessed some time to congeal, and then it has to simply happen upon a Magus using magic near a large enough mass of water to allow it to come through back into Gaia.
From the Possessed information about Abhoth is obtained, it's a mirror realm of sorts. It's not a perfect duplication, more like a tracing or interpretation of what Gaia looks like. Abhoth is also getting a more defined shape with more Magic use and more Magus becoming possessed, each bit of Magic used sends out a pulse to Abhoth, providing more unique shape to the realm, but so far no Magus has been able to go to the Abyss and return without becoming Possessed.
Now on to Circuits and Constructs, which is where the Magus truly shine. While all a Magus can really do is mentally invoke chemical reactions in a limited area to achieve a desired result, such as heating up an area, rapidly cooling it, to loosening the dirt beneath their feet and tunneling through it like an ant or simply throwing things, Circuits allow the Magus to do much more complex things.
It is often referred too as "Reality Programming", as the circuits follow exacting and specific patterns, using specific resources to make, to achieve a specific result. Circuits can be made with any conductive material, the more conductive the better, as such Silver is the preferred metal of choice, gold a close second and copper in third place. They are a language, one found out mostly through trial and error of early Magus, and with some assistance from the Possessed who recall information found in Abhoth. Circuits have to be followed precisely if you wish to achieve a certain result, if it's messed up a little the end result can be off, a circuit for a simple Fireball with a deviation could cause said fireball to either be too big, too small, shorten the life span of it, to making it happen so fast it explodes in the Magus face.
This has been experimented on and Circuits allow Magus to not just build, but manipulate laws of reality, such as inverting gravity, creating a oasis in the middle of a desert, or completely blocking off a world from Magic. Also by etching the Circuit into the ground around an area the Magus can then charge it and turn unrefined raw materials and make a building to exacting specifics in a matter of hours with little to no effect upon the Magus.
The Null Field Generators were circuits, the one flaw of Circuits is they have to be powered by a Magus, and Magus are essentially limitless batteries of Magic, though their minds can only handle so much strain from constant use of Magic before they cause Daiukla to infest themselves. The NFG's were powered by Magus that were effectively transmuted into the circuitry, powering them indefinitely, and each one required a lot of Magus for the desired range and effectiveness. Considering the cost, but also potential power of this, Magus Transmutation is highly frowned upon for selfish or basic reasons, and so far every known relic created in such a way has been confiscated by the Imperium, the more dangerous ones were destroyed, such as the NFG's, while the less harmful ones were turned into graves.
Circuits are made with conductive metals on a non conductive surface, such as Lead on Paper or Silver on Wood, this is to ensure the circuit is read properly as during early testing simply channeling energy into a conductive item does nothing. There is a difference between how Magic is done and Circuits as well. Circuits require a Magus to simply hold the item with the Circuit on it and focus on the Circuit they wish to charge, doing this is again, far less draining on a Magus than standard Magic but require much more preparation.
Now from Circuits we have Constructs, which are a bit more complex. Constructs are Daiukla congealed around a Circuit core, which is simply the Construct's heart and brain in one item. More complex circuits for more complex independent thinking, how ever the Creation Pool for a Construct has to be specially created, purified water with some of their Magus DNA in it, Blood works best but hair and other materials can work if the Magus is unwilling.
The DNA in the water allows for a "bond" between Magus and Construct, as the core allows some basic autonomous activities from the Construct, such as motor controls, basic body shape, simple things. The bond allows the Magus to directly influence or command the Daiukla, as well as allowing the construct to react to the Magus instincts, acting as a faint extension/expression of a Magus instincts or strong emotions.
Also the initial congealing requires the Magus be careful, being so close to an infested source is still dangerous, the Daiukla will still attempt to reach out and consume or merge with the Magus. How ever once the construct Congeals and is removed from the infested source it is harmless to the Magus, allowing a Magus to directly interact with the Daiukla mass. Depending on the complexity of the core the Construct can be a simple beast to an moderately intelligent companion.
And as long as the Magus charges the Core, which again is dependent on the circuit, the Construct will keep on trucking on. Without a charge in the core the Construct starts to slow, fall apart, or out right dissolve. Then it's a simple matter to retrieve the core and do the process again. Some Magus create their core's with a "Charging rod", allowing them to recharge their Construct, as empathy is a thing and people bond with their constructs, much like how people bond with dogs, or have a favorite hammer. As well as a theory that Constructs are capable of learning, growing, even evolving, but so far it is just a theory.
Magus also are known to get Circuit Tattoos or Schemas engraved on their bodies, or they write them down on cloth strips and wrap them around a limb to make use of them. Schemas are more complex than standard Circuits, not that circuits aren't already complex, as most Magus Schemas are either extremely low cost passive circuits, such as ones that react to airborn toxin's or to adjust someones eyesight(such as removing the need for glasses/contacts), while others can be toggled on like a lightning schema etched into a magus arm to Schemas that can boost physical strength or neurological processing which is a very common schema for Magus to have engraved on themselves.
It is also known for the Null Schema to be rather forcefully grafted onto offending Magus, and it is intended to not be toggleable and a constantly running Schema that cancels out all other Schema's and prevents all Magic done by the Magus, it cuts them off completely, it also has the added benefit of rendering the Magus immune to Possession, though there are some Magus who simply do not want the gift and welcome the Null Schema.
Other's accept it with a modification, turning themselves into mobile Null Generator's, which when near a Magus disable their magic, how ever Null Generator's only affect Magic done in the Nullifier AOI or Circuits in the AOI, meaning Magus attacks, such as fireballs from a Magus or from a Staff, upon coming into contact with a Nullifier AOI will fizzle out of existence. Nullifiers also are used to quickly clear an area of Daiukla, as a Nullifier cancels out lingering Magus Radiation, which also causes Daiukla to dissolve as they require Magus Radiation to exist in our realm.
How ever not only can Magus benefit from Schema's, but non magus can have them engraved as well, along with an appropriate addition so it can hold a charge, allowing a Magus to charge a person's Schema's and give them the same boost, although only for as long as the charge lasts. Circuit Batteries can be an addition to any kind of Circuit but are not mandatory, so long a Magus is holding the item and channeling energy through the circuit it will function.
It was through the return of Magic that allowed the Imperium to start tunneling into other dimensions. With the use of Circuits and Magus they are able to create gateways to other realms, realities. Their process is simple, send a team through with resources to survive and build a return gate, if they return further exploration is done and possible expansion, if they do not return the 'address' is put on a list and cataloged should the expedition ever return, as different realities can have different passage of times.
So I'm still doing a good amount of work on it, it's just the base mechanics and such of it are credited to the original artist there in the tumblr link.