Origins of magic [discussion]

[Lmns Crn]

Oh, come now. Salacious' explanation isn't all that obtuse, really. Turtles all the way down! :turtle:

But it hits upon one of the things I like most about Dystopia: for many reasons, the whole world feels like a waking dream. Being in Dystopia is walking sleeplessly through the hallways of your empty house, while the moon casts distended shadows from outside the window, with the clock perpetually on the verge of striking three o'clock in the morning. You do not know whether you are asleep or awake, and although you can't be sure why, some nagging instinct insists that all is not well with the world.

I blame the IoValde.

[snakefing]

In Axa, I have an explicitly dualistic cosmology, in which Mind/Spirit can have (temporary) dominance over Matter/Substance. Stronger, trained minds can directly perceive the root essence and manipulate it in ways that aren't available to those restricted to purely physical senses. Others can work directly in the realm of Spirit, bypassing the essence altogether.

All consciousness is composed of fragments of the First Consciousness, a concept I borrowed/modified from the Brahmin of Hinduism. What people call gods are just larger fragments - correspondingly more aware and more powerful. Similarly, there are a vast array of spirits of various power ranging from sub-animal up to the most powerful of deities. And who knows what else might be out there in the aether, if one were foolish enough to venture there.

These gods can not "grant" power to their followers. But they can teach, and they also control an array of servant spirits that might be delegated on need to aid their allies.

Thus, there are three types of magic which I designate Essence Magic, Spirit Magic, and Familiar Magic. Unfortunately, my spell system remains incomplete, although mostly roughed out in concept.

[SA]

Oh, come now. Salacious' explanation isn't all that obtuse, really. Turtles all the way down! :turtle:

But it hits upon one of the things I like most about Dystopia: for many reasons, the whole world feels like a waking dream. Being in Dystopia is walking sleeplessly through the hallways of your empty house, while the moon casts distended shadows from outside the window, with the clock perpetually on the verge of striking three o'clock in the morning. You do not know whether you are asleep or awake, and although you can't be sure why, some nagging instinct insists that all is not well with the world.

I blame the IoValde.

...Wow.

It's amazing to have someone else easily sum up your setting in a way you had so much trouble doing yourself.  Particularly the 3 O'Clock thing, as the number three has great metaphysical significance in Dystopia (along with eight, four and eleven).  Can I quote this remark in my introductory post of Dystopia Revisited?

[Lmns Crn]

Can I quote this remark in my introductory post of Dystopia Revisited?

Sure, of course.

[Raelifin]

The whole world feels like a waking dream. Being in Dystopia is walking sleeplessly through the hallways of your empty house, while the moon casts distended shadows from outside the window, with the clock perpetually on the verge of striking three o'clock in the morning. You do not know whether you are asleep or awake, and although you can't be sure why, some nagging instinct insists that all is not well with the world.

:ninja: Man, that's creepy. I suddenly want to go far away and bury anything that might remind me of Dystopia in a portable hole.

 :ontopic:
Phaedoras uses a boring system in comparison. Most magic is... well, magical. Being magic, nobody knows why it does what it does or how to use it. Magical springs, beasts from beyond, etc. have no logical explanation and simply are. I get tired of the "magic is physics" explanation and I'm happy using the "magic is magical" one. ^_^

Phaedoras is also animistic. Spirits can use magic, but they themselves are magical and alien. "Spellcasting" is the act of binding a spirit and convincing it to use its magic.

[inside joke]At least I have a shiny rock... >_> [/inside joke]

[Kindling]

In my embryonic setting (not yet posted, so far its almost all in my head) magic and psionics will probably work as follows...

Magic (there is no distinction between Arcane and Divine, as I will be created snazzy new core spellcasting classes with snazzy new spell lists et cetera) is the act of using rituals to channel extradimensional powers into the world.

Psionics is the fact of having a mind which is attuned in such a way as it can affect the material world with its thought processes. One could either be born with one's mind already in such a state or move it into such a state through extensive meditation and so on.