About the Magics Within Lankhmer

Magic is ever-present in the world of Lankhmer. It perplexes mortal minds, seeming to be a link to the raw power of the universe. To some it appears to be godlike power, others it seems to be a part of nature's cycles, and then others still will view it differently. Magic is not a simple thing, and like much of the world of Lankhmer, it is unlikely that mortals will ever truly understand it in full.

Like all things, magic is determined by lineage, but lineage is rarely so predictable. Magically potent bloodlines may foster for millennia, to seemingly die out over night. An impoverished peasant with no known ties to history may be born with the magical power to reshape the lands that he walks on a whim.

Magic does not suffer from any morality, nor does it imbue anyone with any inherent drive towards a particular lifestyle. Only a strong will and mind may retain these aspects, and give the magic form. Though, increasingly powerful magic will be increasingly tempting, and slowly drive the user to something that is not what they once were.

Magic, like much in Lankhmer, offers moments of light and rejoice... but also offers a gritty glimpse at what power can offer, lurking deep in the darkness.



Magic and People.

People with an affinity for magic are more or less rare, depending on the area that they come from. Magic is trivial in no way, and is among the most difficult to master of all skills. Someone truly gifted with magical potential will still find difficulty, in learning to control their power, while those with minor potential may only suffer from drawing it out.

People with magical affinity seem to age slower than those whom do not, depending on the quality of their living conditions. A king with the best access to health and medicine may live twice as long as a mortal of their race.

People whom develop their magical powers to certain degrees also experience particular ailments that manifest quite clearly in them the more they develop their powers. These effects only start to manifest at a level of significant magical power.

They build up progressively, an average mage only suffering partially from one or two. Powerful magi, arch mages, spellmasters, and any other walk of truly devoted and powerful mage may suffer from multiple partially progressed, or a couple fully progressed ailments.

Truly ascendant mages, masters at their craft, whom suffer from only an elite peerage, usually develop a considerable number of heatedly progressed ailments. These mages also develop physical atrophy even further at the demands of channeling such power. These mages often work to nullify some of these ailments with their own powers, rendering their mastery almost entirely beneficial. Though, no mage has ever truly reversed both their atrophy and their ailments at the same time while retaining the ability to cast spells. The effect of reversing their degeneration also usually appears in unnatural, at times hideous appearances or transformations of their bodies.

Nonsapient creatures that have inborn qualities or traits originally fostered by magic form the things that today's peoples know as monsters.



Magic Objects and Consumption

Magical objects retain a certain amount of power within themselves, which is either Sustained or Expendable.

Expendable magical objects are objects which release their power when directed towards a specific function. Many enchanters utilize this method when crafting items, casting a simple spell into the object to allow it to acquire power on its own, then release it. Objects enchanted in this way can be dispelled by another mage with a specific spell of a power enough to remove the original spell cast upon the item. They are rarer in nature, but not uncommon where magical objects are concerned.

Sustained magical objects are objects which retain their magical powers without expense, and are usually passively active, or in some cases can be activated or deactivated. They are the pinnacle of the enchanter's art, requiring great power and planning to create, for the spells that go into them must thoroughly entwine itself with the matter of the objects. Removing the spell removes forcibly destroying most of the object. They are slightly more common in nature where magical objects are concerned, though the most common of them are usually minute magical powers. Elemental stones are a prime example of this.

Consumption of magical objects can easily result in death by an unlearned individual. The scholarly field of alchemy has been developed from rural botany, compiled folklore, and basic chemistry to be the practice of extracting magical properties from matter, and making it usable by humans. Commonly, alchemy is utilized for the brewing of potions. Alchemical potions are said to be vastly effective and considerably powerful, but they come with considerable risk. Magical potions can easily toxify inside of you if too much is imbibed, and a person's tolerance for magical potions are the same as their cumulative spellcasting ability.

Needless to say, swallowing large elemental stones, magical amulets, rings, sword, a cuirass, or pavise shield is probably a bad idea.



Magic, Schools and Gods

Secularizing magic is a popular act of mortals in the world of Lankhmer. Scholars are often keen to pronounce schools, or forms of magic. Primal, Elemental, Generatus, Intersticy, and Gnosis are among the agreed upon schools. Often they are argued, but among scholars this system has remained relatively in place.

One of the most often speculated points is the presence of the gods in magic.

While the gods are an adamant force in the world of magic, they aren't so much active as they are passive. Most assume that gods grant magical forces to their followers, though this doesn't seem to be the case, as it has never been recorded. Gods seem to both proactively and sub-textually guide their followers to magical practices.

For example, Sep is considered to give the best enlightenment into the practice of Lightning magic. And the magisters of Stygia / Sabbaht are the only people to master Illusion style magics. Could it perhaps be that he has given them this power?

Not quite. It is not his holy power that gives this result. Though the magical affinity for the people of Sabbaht is explicitly potent, they themselves do not claim descent from Sep, so that outright refutes the hypothesis. It is not the power of the god that brings the magic forth, but the teachings of that god, of their world-view, symbology, and society. When all these things come together, and the mages of a society begin to perform magic as their culture depicts it, all the puzzle pieces seem to fall into place.

So, in short. The gods do not grant magical power, but their cultural depictions and the world they cultivate grooms mages towards their particular practices. Some may argue that these gods do not grant power, but supreme knowledge for how to most effectively channel these particular abilities.



Magical Competency

Magical competency is gauged in a number of ways across the world. Arbitrary systems of judging a mage's competency simply do not exist. Though, scholars have constructed arbitrary terminology to address particular skill levels for a mage; it is very commonly the case that that most mages will likely protest the system if they hear someone using it - as not only is it most times ineffective at diagnosing a skill level, similarly so can it be offensive in some societies.

Untrained/No Skill > Novice > Apprentice > Devotee > Journeyman > Adept > Expert > Master > Grandmaster > Primus/Prime-Mage > Archon/Archmage.


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The titles from novice to grandmaster are common titles that vary throughout regions, cultures, and history. These are persons who continue to hone their craft, and develop it into a powerful force. The titles of Primus and Archon signify truly brilliant and unparalleled figures of magical potential, remembered in history.

Prime-Mages have been diligent masters who have furthered understanding, or left their name or following in history; many orders or groups will try and identify their founder as a Prime-Mage.

Archmages are undoubted figures of power and prestige, who stood at the pinnacle of magical power for a time in history. Archmages redefine the limits of magical potential, and command power that seems unstoppable to most. Stygia's ancient magocracy was always lead by at least one Archon - where the title Archmage comes from. At the height of its power, Stygia was seating four Archons, wielding such power that it claimed it could've destroyed all other realms of mankind.

No histories make formal record of response to this claim, but history shows no other nation did provoke the ancient Magocracy until half of those Archons had died.