The Great Tree: Arcane Study In Eden I

Practitioners of Esoteric Magic in Eden divide their studies into a “Great Tree,” a chart that displays the myriad branches of esoteric magic. Even the most brilliant mind has a limit, and very few arcanists find it prudent to study all of the branches of the great tree. Specialization increases one’s focus and the possibility of a breakthrough – the hardcore arcanist is not a dilettante, but one who knows a branch inside and out, who has studied its literature and will continue to study it with unmatched fervor. However, very few students are actually that focused. It is a very tiny population of arcanists that makes up the research elite. Most students are attracted to different types of magic. It is not that these students cannot come up with their own breakthroughs – there are hybridized spells that would have never been invented except by dilettantes – but they are unlikely to have the patience and focus to stick to one type of magic until they know it in-and-out. The attention spans of apprentices are not what they used to be, it is said.

The Basics

Esoteric (“Arcane” informally) Magic in Eden is a product of studying pre-cataclysm texts. The first esoteric texts were discovered during the Aptoas Empire’s Age of Discovery, during the period just short of the Intolerable War. They were hidden in underground ruins in what is now modern-day Andaliel, in the Hetuku mountain range. Due to certain similarities between Adelian script and the Pre-Cataclysm language of the texts, the documents served as a stepping stone to the standardization of the Arcane Language used for Esoteric Study. There are currently three arcane languages in use:

Old Aptoan: The first language used for esoteric magic is now mostly obsolete. Laden with translation errors, misunderstood contexts and difficult, clunky grammar, Old Aptoan would be a nightmare for current young arcanists to learn. It is still in use by some expert scholars who are critics of New Adelian and feel that Old Aptoan is the only way they will make new breakthroughs in the study of the Ancient Spells.

New Adelian: Currently the most widely-adopted arcane language. New Adelian’s language is a restructured Old Aptoan with simpler grammar and built upon a foundation of a much larger amount of correctly translated ancient scripture. Some critics say that New Adelian is too simplified, however. It lost numerous words and syntax rules from Old Aptoan that were critical to study of the base Ancient Spells from which Old Aptoan was derived. New Adelian is easier to innovate with, and to many, the impossibility of casting Ancient Magic with it is a feature, not a bug. Ancient Magic is credited in part with the destruction of the old world. Those who still study Old Aptoan and disparage New Adelian are looked upon with scorn and suspicion.

Andromeda: The magic language used by the Dromidae Empire before their interactions with the Adelians. Though it is much more refined than Old Aptoan, and has the bonus that Dromidae don’t actually have to say the words, they can just think them, this language is falling into disuse as the Dromidae adopt New Adelian.

To cast a spell, one requires the correct incantation in a magical language, as well as the correct mood and gestures. For example, casting a fireball at an enemy without intent to harm will result in a mess – the dangerous intent is part of what will hone the Fireball spell into a directed, successful attack. While performing the incantation you must also move your arms to direct the flow of the fire, or else even with intent to harm and a proper incantation you will just burn yourself. These are the most important elements of casting a spell. Some arcanists train in basic martial arts to be able to move their bodies optimally when making the gestures of a spell, as well as to hone their concentration.

Sometimes components are needed for the act of casting to function. Components depend on the magic being used and are more often than not a patch or safety measure used with a spell that has language holes or is difficult to perform for a certain branch of magic. Kinesis magic for example can cast a fireball spell, but requires a source of flame to manipulate or at least the ability to make a spark. Divination magic on the other hand may require a basin or other controlled, portable mirrored surface as a safety measure. It might have been the case that in pre-cataclysm times, anyone could see into the future without needing to look into a basin of liquid that is just light enough and just dark enough to work. But due to the current state of magic in Adel, these patches are necessary.

Whenever a spell is cast by an arcanist, they lose a bit of essence from their auras. If a mortal’s aura is completely depleted, the mortal will feel very exhausted and further use of magic will lead to physical harm, as the energy to create the effect begins being taken from elsewhere. Some arcanists have devised strange alternate methods of feeding spells – such as eating copiously and having the spell eat off excess body fat. These methods are generally looked down upon and inconvenient, but they are sometimes necessary.

Kinesis

The most basic of the magic arts in Eden is Kinesis, the ability to move or interact with objects and substances magically. By manipulating the essence that flows around all extant material in Eden, the arcanist is able to control the direction of objects and substances, and through manipulation of the pressures exerted around these, can cause expansion, contraction or changes in intensity. Basic Kinesis is a blunt and unrefined force that pushes, pulls and crushes, but more advanced forms of Kinesis allow for more refined control of even transient reactions like the lighting of a flame from a mere spark, or the slowing of water into ice through brute magic force. Arcanists must have some knowledge of kinesis to work with other branches of the tree, but few stick to it completely. It seems rather boring a branch to stay in – after you’ve learned to manipulate essence, launching a fireball, smothering an attack with a magic shield or levitating an object becomes trivial and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of room for improvement beyond these simple tricks.

But Kinesis has oft overlooked powers for those who study it carefully. Through Kinesis, the forces that keep the world in place can be manipulated and the natural boundaries of movement violated. Masters of Kinesis can move matter at incredible speeds, can untether themselves from the world in order to fly, and can even untether themselves from reality, transporting their bodies from one location to another by flowing with the essence and re-tethering back into matter at an appropriate point. These powers are advanced and always dangerous if abused. Teleportation to a place you can see is simple, but teleporting across the continent means just a few crucial extra moments spent in the essence flow, which has had unforeseen consequences to the health of many arcanists.

In combat, most kineticists attack with bursts and blasts and vivid patterns of projectiles. These projectiles often take on a color depending upon the personal aura of the arcanist, or can be manipulated in color to bewilder opponents. Many kineticist arcanists have a fondness towards a certain element or substance, but most have some measure of control over anything they could possibly manipulate into an attack, from certain gasses, to certain known reactions, to certain substances, and in fact take pride in the artistry required to raise the village well into an icy snake projectile, or some other ridiculous attack.

Conjuration

Conjuration is the act drawing forth of matter from seemingly out of nowhere. Conjuration draws forth from ether substances and creatures that exist elsewhere to your location. There are two types of conjuration – Creation means creating the desired substance out of essence, while Summoning means drawing it from a preset location. There might be some perceived overlap between Kinesis, Conjuration and Transformation, but they accomplish things in different ways. Kinesis is the manipulation of the possible – if you can generate a spark, you can create a fire and even make it larger. Transformation cannot achieve this at all, it needs an existing fire which it can then cause to grow or shrink. Conjuration wills into being a fire at the desired intensity. Of these, Conjuration is the trickiest.

The golden rules of Conjuration are that the more complex the object or substance the more difficult it is to create, and that regardless of complexity of the object it will never be as effective as a naturally occurring counterpart. Kinesis and Transformation do not “create,” but Conjuration can technically will into being nearly anything. It is unfortunately very difficult to do so. It is nearly impossible to create living things with conjuration, much as it is impossible to create things of nutritional or substantive value to a living body. A conjurer can create air out of nothing to breathe in the ocean for example, but will suffer diminishing returns and eventually either run out of essence and drown, or die as the air supply becomes less and less able to sustain him or her (or worse, turns into another type of gas). A conjurer can create food, but it will be only marginally more satisfying than gnawing on air. A conjurer can create a sword, but it is liable to break. A conjurer can create fire but it would not be as intense as a fire stoked by a kineticist.

One part of conjuration that is very effective is the art of Summoning. Summoning takes one marked object, substance or creature from one location to another. Many arcanists for example forge contracts with spirits to be able to summon them and the things in their purview. For example, an arcanist could contract a Muikara, and be able to summon birds or the Muikara itself. The Summoning does exhaust some of the creature’s essence in the process, however, so it is again not as potent as physically going to fetch the ally creature and then physically taking it where you want it to be.

However, that’s not what is most important – convenience is. While Conjuration is not perfect, one cannot deny that it is very convenient.

Transformation

Transformation is the act of changing the properties of an object or creature. Transformation has a golden rule as well – the more abstract the object, substance, creature or the nature of the changes, the more difficult it is. Working with substances is the most difficult, as you will read about in a moment. In fact, Transformation is the field of magic with some of the largest and most frustrating obstacles. Some say it is even worse than Divination is, because Transformation has ironclad rules that should work in theory, but in practice in never seems to turn out as perfect as anyone would hope.

For example, an arcanist could indeed take on the form of a Muikara – that is to say, an arcanist can become a pale-skinned Iomadi-like humanoid with blonde-greenish hair and winged arms and taloned feet and a very beautiful countenance. One could look exactly like a Muikara, but not be able to fly, or control the winds. An arcanist with a lot of training can do these things in Muikara form, but that’s the problem – they do not come intrinsically. Even if the arcanist masters flight as a Muikara, these skills do not then allow it to fly as an Anpe. Arcanists believe that in the past, transformation magic was much more potent. It gave you every quality intrinsic to any form you assumed.

Changing the properties of other creatures and objects is a crapshoot. You can make people change with incantations like “become shorter” or “grow fatter” to slow them down or disorient them, without worrying about their previous size, but they won’t remain that way forever. There is always some time limit on esoteric magic, and some amount of sacrifice of health and energy on the part of the caster to extend that time limit. In combat, transformers typically change their own properties in simple ways, like making themselves harder or heavier, or taking the form of a creature that is naturally big and tough like a bear. Or they might do the opposite to an opponent, making them weaker or harmless for a short time. Anything more stylistic would be difficult and dangerous to try.

You could theoretically change the taste of food. But how will you do it? Say you have a bowl of rice. You want the rice to taste like cured meat. What will you do to change the taste? It isn’t a matter of thinking “cured meat” or reciting an incantation that amounts to “change the taste of this rice to taste like cured meat.” If you can even recite the incantation perfectly in the arcane tongue, and will the bowl to taste like cured meat, it may taste salty, it may taste meaty, but “cured meat” is unfortunately not precise enough a command. The bowl of rice will never taste like cured meat unless you specifically define what makes up “the taste of cured meat.” There’s also a problem if you want to multiply the rice to feed more people. Transformations are maintained through essence. To multiply the rice in the bowl and keep it multiplied takes essence and some mild concentration. Eventually you will become exhausted and the rice will vanish out of people’s stomachs, if it even gave them any nutrition to begin with (it likely didn’t because you likely botched the spell trying to get it do this). Changing taste at least works at base because taste is something that happens relatively quickly and is then over.

This need for precision also makes transformation magic more trouble than it is worth as a way to heal or regenerate the body. Cosmetic damage might be repaired, but there may be internal damage or other conditions that the caster would need to be aware of in order to fully heal a person. Only the best users of transformation magic can approach the ability to heal that comes naturally to a member of the clergy. Hymn magic, through its connection with the Spirits, can produce much more effective healing than a Transformation spell.

Next post will look at the remaining parts of the tree: Empathy, Divination and Illusion. The post after that will refer to Hymn magic and the forbidden art of Necromancy.