Magic
In the Lands of Exile, every supernatural force is simply called magic: the small eye enchantments of a carnival magician, spells that shake the world to its core, prayers that keep fear at bay and rituals that raise fallen champions from their graves alike.1
Scholars have argued for a long time over what magic is, questioning its source, its effects and its consequences, because knowledge itself is a kind of power. To understand all magic, it is held, one must understand three things: Aether, Eidar and Miracles.1
Aether
Aether is an essential element of the universe that runs through everyone and envelops everything. Some beings are highly sensitive to it and can turn this fundamental energy into magic by various methods. Chants, arcane focuses, ingredients and hand gestures are only ways of focusing the Aether; they are not the source of magic.1
Under normal circumstances Aether is the only source of magic that mortal sorcerers can reach and use, and it is used only by those who wield arcane magic. The goddess of magic, Zeolet, wove and processed the Aether by working the more potent but uncontrollable force of Eidar.1
Eidar
Eidar predates the gods. It was born when The Dark One created the first thing other than himself, and it lies in the void between realms and waits within everything. Shamans, seers and druids draw on it; it is the source of nature, elemental and time magic, and of the power of many inherently magical creatures. It is potent and transformative, but hard for a mortal to bend, so its users work through ancient traditions and customs rather than research and artistry.2
It is said that a wizard or sorcerer chooses Aether and specialises in that path, while Eidar chooses the shaman or druid who will wield it.2
Miracles
Miracles are not magic, at least not as scholars understand it. So-called divine magic draws its power neither from this realm nor from any force connected to it, but from the upper planes, flowing through worthy mortals able to wield it.2
Other powers
The inborn magical abilities of certain creatures, the supernatural powers that people such as monks acquire, and psionic abilities have one thing in common: their users neither shape the Aether nor use Eidar in the way spellcasters do. How these abilities relate to either source is still debated.2
Rarity and its marks
Teneris is a realm where magic and miracles are exceptionally rare.3 The effect of any spell or miracle, short or long, eventually fades and disappears; binding it to an object or a place so that it lasts indefinitely is a tremendous achievement.4
Spellcasters are known to bear lasting marks of their art, such as eyes that change colour, whitening hair, a sulphur-like smell rising from the skin, or lights shining beneath their eyelids as they sleep. What decides how strongly a being is bound to the Aether is still a mystery.1
The wizards of old
Before the will of the gods restricted the ability of mortals to work magic, there were wizards whose magic shook the world. Most of them came from long-lived and wise races, and their rituals shaped Teneris, for better and for far worse.5
Notes
Sources
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