Enderal:Encyclopedia Arcana - Magic, Part I

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Encyclopedia Arcana
Magic, Part I
by Baledor Dal'Goldenstein

There is probably no natural phenomenon that is as eclectic, fascinating and widely misunderstood as magic. This corpus aims to provide an overview of what is currently known of this innate ability and to disprove some common misconceptions.

Small History

Little has been handed down about how Asâtoron, the first Aeterna, and the Ash People explained magic. What is known is that Asâtoron considered the higher prevalence of magical talent among Aeterna evidence of the Aeterna as an inherently superior race. After Starfall and Asâtoron's disappearance, the natives of every continent came up with their own interpretations of magic. These predominantly focused on the role of a netherworld or gods of nature as the source of magical abilities in humans.

The first serious scientific examinations of magic began when the Light-Born came into power. The God Saldrin is regarded as one of the pioneers of the field. This might explain why many renowned arcanists are descendants from Qyra, his realm.

Since approximately 6000 a. St., consensus exists in the civilized world regarding the way in which magic functions. Some scattered wild mages might still operate under a more primitive understanding of their abilities, but these fringe theories can at the very best be considered outdated in academic circles and ought to be of little interest for the student of magic. Only in wild, Pathless parts of the world does magic continue to be regarded as a shamanistic, supernatural phenomenon.

The Sea of Eventualities
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To understand the foundation of magic, the student must grasp one fundamental truth: Vyn and the universe are just one of countless realities. From a universe where the water is red and the sky is green, to one in which neither have ever originated, everything imaginable exists simultaneous to our reality. In other words: every possible event and state of reality exist parallel to what we perceive. Every state of reality that is not ours is termed as an "eventuality", and the sum of these as the "Sea of Eventualities".

Once this is understood, the mechanisms of magic are easily explained: magical talent is the ability to perceive eventualities adjacent to our own; magical power allows one to bring said eventualities into our reality. For instance, if an elementalist wishes to set fire to a tree, they look into the Sea of Eventualities for a reality in which the tree, through a chain of improbable coincidences, has burst into flames. Through vast mental exertion, this aspect of the eventuality can subsequently be brought into our world.

The talent of a mage determines how easily they can visualize the different eventualities in their mind's eye.Their actual power, which requires years of practice to master, shapes the ability to make the eventualities come true.