Codex Chapter 2 – Magic & Formations

About Magic

Origin, Formations, Rankings

About the origin of magic (excerpt):

Magic is something that became widely available when the Six Gods came down from the Heavens and lifted us all up, sharing their knowledge.There is an argument amongst historians about this period and when it took place, but most agree that it was somewhere between BE 200 and BE 50, spanning around 100 years. It was God Wayland, the God of Magic itself, who bestowed his knowledge to the first mages of the land. We don't know much about his lessons, as his writings were lost to time.Many of his words were imbued into artifacts that could only be accessed by mages. Anything written is recorded by disciples and not made by the God of Magic.

Magic originates from the Heavens; it is what makes up the Realm of the Gods. In ancient times, the essence of the Heavens was permeating around our world, an untapped resource that we were blinded to. Early shamans and sensitive individuals may have been able to use it, but those attempts mostly resulted in catastrophic events.BE 311 - Destruction of Astare - There was an island nation west of the main continent, at the size of the current size of the Grand Dutchy of Belse. In a cataclysmic event, it sunk into the ocean, disappearing and killing all 2.8 million inhabitants. Legends say it happened because of a violent magical backlash.

When the Gods descended from the Heavens, they realized the peril we were in. Tapping into the powers of Heaven, without knowledge and guidance, those who were capable were risking destroying us all. They spread around our world, teaching us their wisdom, and God Wayland introduced the Creed of MagicIt describes the origin of magic, its formations, and how to use them. It is a segment within the lost artifact, The Book of Magic. to us. It was the foundation of what we now call Modern Magic and how every mage in every corner of the world is capable of using magic as it was intended. 

About formations (excerpt):

While the Gods themselves were capable of using magic from within their bodies, it was not what we mortals could withstandThere are recordings of Goddess Orsi's words proclaiming that our mortal souls are too weak to control magic without focus. We only harm ourselves if we try, and we can only cause damage to our surroundings. To allow us to explore the powers of the Heavens, God Wayland gifted us his knowledge and brought forth the first formations. 

A formation is nothing but the language of Gods and the written rules of magic. They are made up of runesThere are 333 runes in existence. In theory, from their combination, any magical circle can be replicated. The complexity of a formation determines its rank and strength, and the most complex ones can be broken up into multiple parts, performed by different mages, and still work.

When a formation is accompanied by verbal casting, it creates an effect called a Resonance CascadeThe name originates from God Wayland., which reinforces the formation and its purpose. Combining the two speeds up its activation, and there are known formations that only work by using incantations, as the words provide the 'missing' parts within them. The language of magic is often referred to as the Language of GodsMortals, without magical abilities, are unable to speak the words without risking Heaven's backlash and dying a horrible death. AE 2989 - A group of rebels inside the Kingdom of Markoth tried activating an attacking formation, but it backfired, blowing up half of the 4th largest city within. Without proper control of a mage, they are extremely volatile, and this event kicked off the Markoth Rebellion, which is still ongoing to this day..

Levels of formationsThe images below are artistic recreations by your humble historian, capturing the essence of the same formation on all of them: Fireball. :

• Basic
  • These formations are what every mage learns and practices with. In almost every country, qualified mages must be capable of drawing one up in a set period of time by themselves to be considered a fully-fledged wizard.
  • It is a pre-requisite to qualify for the following rank to be able to create the formation by incantationBy speaking the magic words alone. 
• Intermediate
  • A step above, these spells are considered the main fighting strength of any mage. Be it offensive or supporting spells, most mages are using these spells to do battles as these formations can still be used with only incantations, without the need to draw their physical version up beforehand.
  • Any mage who is capable of using Intermediate spells with only incantations is considered to be at the doorstep of becoming an Adept.
• Adept
  • From this level onwards, all the formations can be broken up into smaller segments. Adept version can be separated into a minimum of two and a maximum of four segments. All separated parts are usually a tier lower than the main formation, and in the case of multiple segments, they can even go two levels down from the original. These segments can then be activated simultaneously by different mages of varying strength.
  • The head mage, leading the casting of the spell, must remain in complete control and focus, including their helpers. Any interruption can result in a backlash and the failure of the spell.
  • Mages who can single-cast Adept-level spells are considered to be a step away from the Expert-level.
  • Adept levels can still be summoned via only incantations, but any mage capable of doing it is already considered an Expert-level mage.
  • Adept spells are dangerous and destructive. They usually play the main role in any engagement they appear in.
• Expert
  • These spells most of the time, are used by a group of mages, and they count as strategic spells. One such spell can turn the tide of any battle or determine the outcome of a war. 
  • The same rules of segmentation apply to Expert-level spells, as previously mentioned.
  • Expert-level spells are considered national secrets in most countries.
  • There are only a few known mages throughout history who could cast an Expert-level spell by themselves.
  • There are no known mages who managed to use Expert-level spells only with incantation.
• Master
  • Master-level spells are mostly unknown, but we can conclude that most of the same rules are applicable.
  • No known mages exist who managed to cast a Master-level spell by themselves or by only incantation.It is considered an impossibility and only a skill reserved for the Gods themselves.
  • The last recorded usage of a Master-level spell happened in AE 1784No more information is available. We only know of its result: Lake Deepwater, the body of water separating the Kingdom of Moros and the Ishillia Empire. The lake is not present in any earlier maps found throughout the continent..

This Codex excerpt was written by Authorya Cortyn, your humble historian.