Basic Arcane Principles
The fundamental laws of magic
Anthologica Universe Atlas / Universes / Archaeron / Magic and Magitech / Basic Arcane Principles

The fundamental source and nature of magic still eludes understanding, but the following principles represent what Imperial scholars have determined:

• Magic involves the manipulation of ‘arcane energy’.
• • Arcane energy is a form of weightless substance much like heat and light.
• • Arcane energy can be either inert or active.
• • • Active arcane energy is often called ‘mana’.
• • Arcane energy is related to thought, and each can directly affect the other.
• • • Sufficiently intelligent and focused thought can draw forth and control magic.
• • • Sufficiently powerful magic tends to create thought and intelligence.

• Fields of inert arcane energy exist around congregations of thought, whether generated by thinking creatures or invested in their creations.
• • Strong arcane fields extend out from settlements of intelligent creatures and the roads that bind them together.
• • Weaker fields cover any area with wildlife or, to a lesser extent, foliage.
• • Arcane fields extend a long distance from what generates them – almost all of the known world contains some inert arcane energy.

• Active arcane energy radiates from its point of origin, gradually becoming inert as it effects change.
•• Objects and substances exposed to large quantities of active arcane energy can become radiators themselves.

• Intelligent beings can both activate and control arcane energy with faith, understanding, and imagination.
• • Monks use faith, instilled largely by rote training.
• • Wizards use understanding, aided by personally developed magical 'languages'.
• • Sorcerers use imagination, aided by an innate connection with the ambient magic fields.

• Wizards develop personalized languages to organize their thoughts into discrete, functional effects called 'spells'.
• • Any spell recorded in this manner can shape active arcane energy from any source, even if the caster is not present.
• • Spells functioning independently of their defining intelligence must be stored, generally in a written form of the caster's personal language.
• • Due to the common underlying structure defined by all personal magic languages, knowledge casters (wizards, arcanists, and mechanists) can generally translate spells written in other casters' languages.

• Magical effects are achieved by activating a measure of energy from the ambient inert field.
• Magic which is deliberately controlled once activated is known as 'Hermetic magic'.
• Magic which is allowed to randomly act is known as 'Wild magic', and its effects are referred to as 'Cascades'.

• Cascades are largely unpredictable, but follow a few basic rules:
• • A cascade's scope is limited by the amount of available unstable arcane energy.
• • Cascades tend to reverse the effects of entropy, reforming substances and objects into complex and organized states.
• • Cascades tend to produce effects, substances, and objects which exist as discrete concepts in the background web of thought and perception.

• Any stable cluster of matter has a magical 'coreform' inherent to its structure.
• • Living organisms have stronger coreforms than nonliving matter, and more intelligent creatures have more powerful coreforms.
• • Spells which directly alter an object or creature must overcome its tendency to retain its coreform.
• • • Due to this principle, directly altering the mind or body of an intelligent creature takes more energy than effecting a similar change on an animal or nonliving matter.
• • All objects and creatures have a tendency to revert to their coreform when arcane energy is introduced.
• • • Due to this principle, restoring an object or creature to its natural, undamaged state takes less energy than effecting a similar change away from its coreform.
• • The coreforms of inert objects are largely defined by intelligent creatures' unconscious perceptions of them as discrete and stable concepts.
• Mana can be converted into matter by transmuters and certain natural processes.
• • Mana can be most readily converted into pure elements (Fire, Earth, Water, and Air).
• Mana which is partially converted into elemental substance exists in a state called ‘aligned mana’.
• • Mana is attracted to mana of the same alignment and repelled by mana of opposite alignment.
• • • Fire repels Water, Earth repels Air.
• Pure elements spontaneously decay into aligned mana at a slow rate.
• • Most soil and rock contains Earth mana, generated by the decay of elemental deposits and trapped by microcrystals.
• • Earth mana radiation and fossil mana are harvested by various species of fungus, fuelling underground ecologies.

• Any object which is has a complex, regular fundamental makeup (such a crystal) can store active arcane energy.
• • Aligned mana is more stable and most energy storage crystals store a specific alignment of mana rather than its raw form.
• • • Ember crystals (Fire mana) are good for quick, powerful pulses of energy and constant illumination.
• • • Terran crystals (Earth mana) are good for slow, steady flows of energy.
• • • Aqua crystals (Water mana) are good for strong, responsive flows of energy.
• • • Wind crystals (Air mana) are good for rapid, light pulses of energy.