A Treatise on Advanced Magical Theory
Written in the year 603
By Johan Tandrake, Archwizard of Rifts and Reason
Funded by the Institute of Knowledge, located in the Duchy of Avendale
For the past few hundred years, scholars and intellexia have primarily been
involved with the research of new magics. The development of formal magics,
cantrips, and harmonic spells have been thrilling advances in the arcane arts
and sciences, igniting our ever increasing interest in the field of magic.
However, where we have focused on magic, we have left behind entire bodies of
research. We have made some advances in the mundane sciences, but the opinion
of the academic scholar is that there is little to be gained from simple physics
and chemistry. A mage can channel a dragon's breath much more parsimoniously
than one can construct and detonate a flame trap. Magical healing is much more
practical than alchemical elixir, and formal magic can make a sword stronger
and sharper than the finest weaponsmith.
I implore you this: Do not so quickly discount the mundane sciences, they have
life in them yet! With the aid of the Wizard's Sight cantrip and powerful magnifying
apparatus, I have seen things no mortal eye has yet beheld. The inner mechanics
of the Celestial and Earth Magics are no longer merely theoretical...
The Essence of Magic
Surrounding and penetrating the universe, there are tiny non-corporeal particles
which I have called aurons. Spherical, round, colorless, nearly invisible, drifting
weightlessly in random directions, they fill the universe around us. They are
small enough to be invisible to the naked eye, and yet they are everywhere.
Thousands of aurons could fit in a single tea spoon. There are millions of them
in a cubic foot, and yet we are unaware of them. These, I postulate, are the
very essence of magic.
Aurons have two origins. Aura Astrae emanate from the sun, the moon, and the
stars. They constantly float down from the skies, filtering carelessly through
the air. Being noncorporeal, they are effected by neither the wind nor the unseen
magnetic forces. The celestial magics utilize these aurons, channeling and manipulating
them.
Aura Tyrrae are borne of the planet beneath us. They radiate up through the
ground from the very heart of Tyrra. They will rise up from the earth beneath
us and hang in lower atmosphere of Tyrra, drifting aimlessly. These are the
particles manipulated by the earth magics.
There are "rivers" in which high concentrations of aurons sometimes
flow, floating in a unified direction. These lines can be charted on a map,
and can stretch for hundreds of miles. These highways of aurons have been called
Ley Lines. Their function, cause, nature is still unknown to me.
Aurons sometimes cling together, massing up in dense concentrations. In large
enough quantities, these can be seen by the naked eye, and appear as a radiant,
often spherical glow with a vaguely corporeal form. One can pick up this concentration
and bear it in hand as magical aura. The aura that a mage wields is actually
a collection of millions of neutral aurons, concentrated into a dense cloud.
The Charge of Energies
Aurons, in their natural state, are uncharged. That is to say, they are neutral,
innocuous, and indecipherable from the air around us. An uncharged auron is
imperceptible without the use of high powered magnifying devices and magical
aid unless it's in a large cluster with others.
There are many natural and arcane means of charging aurons. The simplest, and
most common, is through a combination of incantation and intense inner focus.
As we all know, it takes a great deal of concentration to cast a spell. During
this concentration, the spell caster is focusing internal energies on the effect
of the spell, mentally shaping it in his or her mind, and channeling it into
physical form. This act of willful channeling causes internal energies to seep
into a mass of uncharged aurons held in the casting hand.
The mass of uncharged aurons, at this point, are considered a spell.
Charges can take a variety of forms and types. For purposes of this discussion,
there are about thirteen basic types, called spheres: "I Call Forth...",
"I Call Forth Mystic Power To...", "I Call Upon Chaos To...",
"I Call Upon The Earth To...", "I Command You To...", "I
Curse You With...", "I Grant You the Gift Of...", "I Grant
You The Power Of...", "I Rid You of...", "I Summon a Force
To...", "With Eldritch Force I Build A...", "With Eldritch
Force I Grant You...", and "With Mystic Force I...". All of the
basic spells learnable by an earth or celestial spellcaster fall into one of
these spheres. Each of these spheres has a unique charge.
Furthermore, once the neutral aurons have received one of these charges, they
tend to bond together in geometric formations. These formations are natural
to each "level" of spells, becoming increasingly complicated in higher
levels. A first level spell has no particular formation, whereas the aurons
in a second level spell cling together in pairs. Third level spells utilize
three aurons per formation, and therefore form triangles. Formations become
larger and more complicated as spell level increases, with the largest formations
at the ninth level of spells. For example, a Bless involves one particle charged
with "I Grant You The Power Of..." energy, whereas a Greater Bless
utilizes three linked charged particles.
In the event that a sphere has two different spells at the same level of complication,
there are subtle variations in formation. For example, a Cause Disease spell
looks like a linear chain of chaos charged aurons and a Help Undead spell looks
like a triangle of chaos charged aurons.
Nearly all of the uncharged aurons within a unit of aura will be charged and
fall into formation immediately as the incantation ends. This is why the spell
has no power if it is released before the incantation is finished -- the spell
will contain mostly uncharged, unformed, free floating aurons.
The Effects of Spells The term "hot aura", for purposes of this treatise,
refers to aura which contains charged aurons built into level-specific formations
(with the exception of first level spells which have no formation), ie, an active
spell.
When hot aura comes in contact with another object, it will react in a number
of ways, depending on the sphere of the charge. At the moment of contact, the
hot aura will either transfer its charge to its target, or disburse. The Gift
sphere, for example, will disburse if it does not contact another spirit. Summoned
Force only targets inanimate objects with no spirit. How the aurons interact
with their target specifically is contingent upon their formation, though there
is a general rule for each sphere. Some examples follow:
Summoned Force Spells (Disarm as an example)
Summoned Force charges with no formation will divide into two roughly equal
groups. The first group surrounds the object they target. The second group surrounds
whatever holds that object. The two groups of aurons become repellant to each
other and will push each other away as would two magnets. After five seconds,
the aurons will lose their charge and disburse into the surrounding atmosphere.
Binding Spells (Pin as an example)
Mystic Force charges with simple paired formations will form a noncorporeal
vertical rod which pierces the right foot of the target. This rod bonds to both
the foot and the ground which the foot stands on. Why the right foot is specifically
targeted remains unknown at the time of this writing. As with all line-of-sight
spells, the aurons form a chain leading from the target to the caster. Once
this chain is broken, all aurons it involves will disburse. The chain can sustain
itself and remain unbroken even if the caster puts a physical object to obscure
the line between himself and the target, but it will only be able to maintain
integrity for ten seconds.
Protective Spells (Greater Bless as an example)
Granted Power charges with triangular formations, upon contact with a spirited
being, will disburse from the hot aura but will not lose their charge or formation.
The aurons will spread out and surround the target. They are drawn instantly
to quick movements or other charged aurons, and will move to physically intercept
these intrusions to their territory. For example, if a target is effected by
a greater-bless spell, and a magic missile spell is cast at the target, the
greater-bless aurons will intercept as much of the magic missile aurons as they
can, being eliminated in the process.
It should be noted that aurons from the Granted Power sphere have the potential
to block aurons charged with the chaos sphere, whereas their cousins in the
"With Eldritch Force I Grant" sphere do not have this capability.
Spell Barriers (Shield Magic and Reflect Magic)
Mystical energies of the fifth and eighth level, upon contact with a spirited
being, will disburse from the hot aura but will not lose their charge or formation.
The aurons will spread out and surround the target. The charge of these aurons
makes them sensitive to other aurons. They will be instantly drawn to any other
masses of aurons.
The Shield Magic spell utilizes a cancellation effect. Upon contact with another
mass of charged aurons, the Shield Magic aurons will bond to the foreigners.
Once bonded, the aurons from the Shield Magic spell will transmit their charge,
which has a cancellation effect on the charges of Aura Astrae and Aura Tyrrae.
The Reflect Magic spell works in a similar manner. However, the charges of the
foreign aurons will not be cancelled out, but instantly drawn back to their
point of origin.
As anyone knows, it is possible to bypass this barrier. There is some degree
to which one can consciously control the movement of the aurons, but only if
the foreign spell forms a direct link from the caster to the target (or from
the caster to himself). This takes a conscious effort to "receive"
the spell, otherwise the barrier aurons will immediately attack it.
Celestial Damage Spells
"I Call Forth" energies of any level of complexity directly damage
their target by absorption. The aurons transmit their charge directly to the
spirit of the target. As with any eldritch spell, if the target does not have
a spirit or some similar animating force, the aurons will not transmit their
energies, but lose them to the surrounding atmosphere.
In addition to the basic aurons within the spell, some free floating energies
from the surrounding atmosphere are drawn to the aura as it becomes hot. An
ice bolt, for example, is enveloped in freezing energy which bonds to the charged
aurons.
Charms
Commanding energies, including the fear related abilities of monsters, specifically
target the brain humors, causing temporary changes to take place. The nature
of these changes is still uninvestigated. The Awaken spell serves to reset these
humors to their original state.
Necromancy
Necromantic energies have a parasitic effect on the spirit, latching onto it
and weakening it through osmosis. Even after the necromantic effect is cured
by it's reverse counterpart, the necromantic energy that was bound to the spirit
is released into the surrounding atmosphere. Necromantic aurons are sometimes
not un-charged by this process, and will remain as free floating necromantic
energy that will then bind to other living or dead forces. High concentrations
of this energy can cause meteorological aberrations, such as cold days in mid
summer, biological ailments, such as trees dying for no particular reason, or
magical aberrations, such as the dead rising as if animated.
The create undead spell specifically targets a body which still has a spirit,
but only works where the spirit is laid dormant by physical death. The create
undead aurons will spread out through the body and cause it to function unnaturally,
as if the body tissue had been being directed by a natural spirit. The spirit
is in this way supressed and isolated so that a life spell will not effect the
body until the necromantic energies are disbursed. The spirit will remain in
the body for up to an hour after it's natural time of escape, though as soon
as the necromantic energies are removed, the spirit will follow them out of
the body and be drawn towards an earth circle.
In areas of high concentrations of free floating necromantic energies, many
charged aurons may bond to a permanently dead body, drawn to its absence of
spirit. Over time, the energies will fill the body in the same way a spirit
once did, though the concentrations of these energies can often be denser than
the create undead spell, allowing some undead to randomly arise with greater
power than a standard zombie.
Elemental Energy
The raw energy generated by elementals or certain celestial cantrips have unique
properties. I believe these utilize a different type of auron charge, though
there is currently little data on this phenomenon. An elemental shield spell
has success in blocking these attacks much like a shield magic spell will intercept
normally charged aurons.
Conclusion
There is still much research to be done in this area. This theory of magical
theory is still young and has much to gain from the following years. I advise
future researchers to be careful in reporting findings and avoid jumping to
early conclusions. Much of this work would have been sacrificed if I hadn't
taken the proper time to test and re-test many of my findings.
The amount of testing this work required consumed years of my life and hundreds
of gold worth of components and equipment. I would like to thank the Institute
for putting up with me and encouraging me throughout this trying time. I would
also like to thank Archwizard Mathias Ravaloch for his words of encouragement
in my times of stress and desperation.