This and other mystic resources are gathered in my Magic Directory for you to explore.
Find more worldbuilding content in my Codex Directory.
The properties of magic from Part 1 of this series let scholars group all the different magics of the Known World into the Magic Codex, a functioning taxonomy of magic.
This post corresponds with Magic Codex Chapter 5 - Foreign Magic.
The foreign magic class is comprised of magics that must be studied before they can be wielded. These magics arise intentionally in students of magic and are mastered through rigorous focus and technique. All foreign magics have finite potential, and inception and study are halted when a person's limit point is reached. Individual limits vary widely per person, and there are no general standards for a given race.
Check out the Magic of the Known World for more resources!
The four branches of foreign magic are elemental, sensory, life, and ether magic, each of which has a number of purviews. Some purviews are only accessible through study, and other purviews are natural magics, which some individuals are born able to wield. Those born without these natural abilities are able to study these purviews as foreign magics.
In my Tales of the Known World saga, any individual can study any purview as a foreign magic, regardless of his natural magic aptitudes. However, there seems to be a rough correlation between the strength of a person's natural magics for a given branch and his success learning foreign magics from that same branch.
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The Known World is rife with magic. Over time, scholars have compiled all these magics and magical effects into a comprehensive taxonomy. For more about the role and inner workings of magic, check out the complete Magic Codex above.
The elemental magic branch, described in Magic Codex Chapter 3, is comprised of magics that grant powers over a particular element, and that create effects upon or using that element. The two foreign magic purviews are fire and ice magic, accessible only through study. The four natural magic purviews are air, water, earth, and dark magic, which can be studied as foreign magics.
Fire magic involves creating and controlling fire and heat, healing through the self-warming aspects of the thermoregulatory system, and crafting ceramics and other goods made by heating or baking, through factors in the firing process like temperature and convection.
Uniquely, fire magic shares some of its scope with dark magic, a natural purview. However, fire magic tends to burn at the same temperature as non-magical fire, and appears in the normal spectrum of colors. Almost unanimously, mages studying a heat-based purview choose fire magic over the heavily stigmatized dark magic.
Ice magic involves creating and controlling ice and cold, healing through the self-cooling aspects of the thermoregulatory system, and crafting frozen delicacies and other goods made by freezing or cooling, through factors in the chilling process like temperature and convection.
Uniquely, two ice magic spells create coldness by removing heat energy from the environment. The excess heat energy is absorbed by the caster, where it is converted into magic energy that fills the caster's magic reserve, described in Magic Codex Chapter 8. This magic energy can then be used to create yet more magical effects.
For more about these magics, see Chapter 5 of the Magic Codex available above.
Check out the Magic of the Known World for more resources!
The sensory magic branch, described in Magic Codex Chapter 3, is comprised of magics that grant powers over a particular sense, and that create effects upon or using that sense. The two foreign magic purviews are power and peace magic, accessible only through study. The five natural magic purviews are scent, flavor, light, sound, and touch magic, which can be studied as foreign magics.
Power magic involves controlling the presence and availability of magic energy, healing through the sense of magic energy, and crafting magical relics and wards through the manipulation of magic energy.
Peace magic involves controlling the presence and availability of emotional energy, healing through the sense of emotional energy, and crafting meditation totems and religious idols through the manipulation of emotional energy.
For more about these magics, see Chapter 5 of the Magic Codex available below.
Download the complete Magic Codex:
The Known World is rife with magic. Over time, scholars have compiled all these magics and magical effects into a comprehensive taxonomy. For more about the role and inner workings of magic, check out the complete Magic Codex above.
Within the codex, the term life magic is located at (3.2.1) and is defined as:
life magic (N) A magic that grants powers over physical objects and beings, and that creates effects upon or using them.
The term life magic is the branch for magics that manipulate physical matter to create effects (as in, Levitation requires life magic, or, One purview of life magic is artifact magic).
There are four known purviews of life magic, all of which fall into the foreign magic class. The four foreign magic purviews are inert, artifact, living, and sentient magic, accessible only through study. There are no natural purviews of life magic.
Inert magic involves controlling solid non-magical objects and mending them when they are damaged or broken. When combined with ether magic, defined below, this purview also encompasses manipulating an object's location in the ether, as well as the object's existence itself.
Artifact magic involves controlling solid magical objects, known as artifacts, as well as mending them when they are damaged or broken, and restoring their powers if they are weakened or extinguished. It is a specialized purview of inert magic, developed to overcome the substantial sort of energetic mass that magic energy adds to an object.
Living magic involves controlling the physical bodies of life forms and healing them of injury and illness. It is a specialized purview of artifact magic, developed to overcome the substantial sort of energetic mass that the life force adds to an organism's body.
Sentient magic involves controlling the physical bodies of sentient life forms and healing them of injury and illness. It is a specialized purview of living magic, developed to overcome the substantial sort of energetic mass that the intelligence of a sentient life form adds to the organism's life force.
For more about these magics, see Chapter 5 of the Magic Codex available above.
Check out the Magic of the Known World for more resources!
Within the codex, the term ether magic is located at (3.2.2) and is defined as:
ether magic (N) A magic that grants powers over the ether, and that creates effects upon or using the ether. Also: space magic
The term ether refers to the cosmic fabric of time and space through which life energy manifests itself as physical matter and magic effects (as in, The ether is the foundation of the observable universe, or, All matter exists within the ether). The ether has two facets, space and time, which are inextricably linked to each other.
The term ether magic is the branch for magics that manipulate the ether to create effects (as in, Teleportation uses ether magic, or, Ether magic contains only one common purview). Once classified as a form of life magic, ether magic was reclassified into its own branch nearly two centuries ago.
Ether magic involves sensing the ether and its textures, contorting the density of the ether, and piercing the ether to create portals.
There are technically two purviews of ether magic, both of which fall into the foreign magic class. The two foreign magic purviews are time magic, described in Magic Codex Chapter 8, and space magic, but only space magic is considered a viable form of study.
In fact, the term space magic is uncommon even in academic circles, and the term ether magic should be used to refer to the purview of ether magic dealing with space.
That's it for this series! Up Next: Exploring the rarest forms of natural magic...
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