Magic on Varzzen

Origins of Magic

Creation of Magic

In the beginning, the Radiant One created the planes by taking hold of Chaos and shifting it to new purpose and new form. Potential was transformed into matter, action, and secrets. And so the world was formed, from streams of chaos shifting into recognizable forms, drawn from the void beyond the world and tucked neatly into the material sphere. When chaos is brought into order, the result is what we might call "magic".
The Order Gods inherited the ability to draw in streams of chaos from the Radiant One, and they in turn passed this gift to their children, the first insectoid peoples. As the Chaos Gods came into themselves, they gained magical abilities as well.
Some, like the Six Hearts, Matara the Serene Angel, or the dragon god of Yonghéng Dìguó, drew on the chaotic streams of their home spheres to supplement their power. Others, like Arachnida, took on enough pure Chaos to fundamentally transform their very beings. Still others sprang forth from domains that were unclaimed by the Order Pantheon - Auromatra and the fields and hearths, for example.

Great Power And Great Cost

For early insectoids, small magical spells were used as tools in a warrior's or scholar's arsenal - nothing incredibly powerful, but enough to make life a little bit easier. The first known spells to be developed and practiced are today known as “cantrips” - very weak, but very easy to learn. Simple magic tricks, such as changing the color of an object, summoning a burst of flame, or lacing mocking words with extra bite. To this day, only the most skilled and passionate of casters know how to bring forth more than a handful of spells, and most of them cantrips at that.
Fundamentally, insectoids are creatures of order. Without the limitless power of the gods, they can only take hold of so much chaos before their bodies and minds begin to reject the magic outright. Most casters learn their limits through trial and error, although formal magic academies teach that different spells constitute different levels as they increase in power and scope, one through nine.
The higher the level of a spell, the more energy it will take to cast. It is technically possible to override these limits and continue to cast. And yet, the shadow of the Eight-Legged Terror looms over most of Varzzen, and Arachnida serves as a powerful example of what happens when a person tries to work with too much chaos at once. Even her own children know that overreaching their magical limits leads to madness.

Divine Magic

Clerics

In the Age of Order, the most powerful wielders of magic were those who devoted themselves to gods. As they learned the hard way, the magic wielded by the gods was so powerful that any spell could fundamentally shift Varzzen permanently, and they couldn’t afford to act recklessly now that their charges were forming civilizations. Devoted mortals, known as clerics, were needed to temper the raw power of pure divinity.
The clerics served as intermediaries between the might and majesty of the gods and the fragile material sphere, allowing the gods to channel new streams of chaos through them in order to create wonders, heal the injured, and defeat the wicked. This method of serving as a conduit on behalf of a more powerful being came to be classified as divine magic. Even Chaos Gods gained the ability to empower their clerics as history went on.
The type of magic a cleric channels is usually determined by the divine domains of the god they serve. Since most gods embody more than one aspect of reality, not all clerics possess the same abilities. A cleric of Aurius could be a noble warrior or a fair and balanced judge. A cleric of Gnol-Dotera might be a curious scholar or a mysterious bringer of night. Nowhere is this more evident than in Rusterov, where Mairun of the Countless Masks has come to embody every domain creation can offer - and thus, so do their clerics.

Warlocks

While the clerics amassed magical acumen, others saw their dedication to deities as limiting. These people also sought magical power, but went about attaining it an entirely different way. They petitioned the gods for slivers of chaos in exchange for deeds and lives. To the Hexalist gods, magic is not something that can be bought or sold through simple commerce, but rather a reward for dutiful and loyal service. As such, these initial prayers fell on deaf ears.
However, Chaos Gods and other powerful magical beings bear no such conditions and were willing to strike deals, or pacts, with these petitioners, who would come to be known as warlocks. From celestial servants of the gods, to elemental creatures of the Inner Spheres, to The Great Wurm itself, to aberrations crafted from excessive chaos, to many, many more, new sources of chaotic streams began to trickle into Varzzen.

Primal Magic

Druids

Clerics and warlocks were not the only ones learning to use the streams of chaos. Deep in the wilderness, small circles withdrawn from civilization came together and discovered a new way of using magic. They called themselves druids, and they wished to truly become part of the world around them as everything was changing under their feet. Instead of creating new streams of chaos, they would manipulate what streams were already there.
Combined with a deep understanding of the natural world, the druids were able to command flora, fauna, and the elements with a skill and scale matched only by clerics. They even learned to shape themselves into the forms of animals and other natural phenomena. Manipulating existing streams of chaos came to be known as primal magic. Primal magic proved to be both a blessing and a curse - drawing on too much of it and manipulating the streams too unnaturally could lead to devastating natural disasters and the draining of the streams.
Druids define themselves by the sort of nature they align themselves with. Many druids create circles that link them to their own specific landscape, from forest to grassland to mountain. Others take the Moon of Order, Orodus, as their symbol, drawing on its rays to fuel powerful transformations into ferocious beasts. As most cultures value different aspects of wilderness, some of these cultures have given rise to specific traditions.
The Akitu of Siogamhor use the residual magic of the Flittermarsh to transform their own home-grown paradise. The Zenith Vespoids of Auroma draw on the magically enhanced beasts roaming their forest floors to perfect their own bodies. Rusterovian Beetlefolk form deep connections to their own animal companions. The Mushfolk are known for channeling rot and renewal in equal measure. Cor Quae’thum’s Luni understand and draw themselves nearer to the heavens. And Detrinian druids wield the destructive power of pure, untamed heat and light - although some members of the Frozen Scorch have inherited this way of life.

Paladins

Some martial types elected to take a more active approach in protecting the realms of nature, swearing themselves to its defense. These oaths created bastions of order, around which the sworn were able to manipulate chaos according to the oath they’d sworn. These swearers of oaths became known as paladins.
Word of the glen-knights found its way back to civilization, and other nations began to develop their own oaths, fueling their own sorts of magic. Auroman paladins swore oaths to their queen, Cavanans to their country and people, Quaethans to defend against threats from beyond the material plane, and Detrinians to conquest and war. Hexalism also took in those who swore oaths of justice, strength, and mercy. Other, darker oaths also formed during the dark times of the Eight-Legged Terror, with many paladins swearing vengeance on mortal enemies. So too did the consequence of breaking an oath become all too clear, with those who dared to do so rising as chaotic paladins with necromancy and banes where honor and blessings had once laid.

Sorcerers

Another, perhaps more accidental, form of primal magic became known in Varzzen’s early days. Some insectoids were born with chaos already flowing through them, through various means. Some were the result of influence from the Order Pantheon and their servants, others the Scions of power from the Inner Planes, still others random quirks of fate.
With this enhanced chaos came an innate understanding of how to summon, sculpt, and snap the chaos of the world, in alignment with their own personal magic. These empowered ones, known as sorcerers, tend to act as independent agents, although many receive magical education at schools or temples in order to better wield their magic.

Rangers

While most skilled adventurers who use magic put a lot of time, energy, and effort into learning it, not all do. Rangers, wandering fighters and hunters with an affinity for the wilds, still use primal magic as but a tool, never more, never less. Of this magic, some of it is taught to them by druids, some by fellow rangers, and some discovered independently. However they learn magic, rangers generally rely more on their own skill rather than the ability to change the world around them in a substantial way.

Tidrev Rituals

In the ancient days of the Kalaree Empire, the greatest and most powerful wielders of magic drew their power from Varzzen itself, but not in the ways of the druids. Their goddess, Matara the Serene Angel, was said to sing a beautiful song, naming every part of creation within its melody. By repeating tiny snippets of her song, the crickets were able to weave the threads of magic around them into far more complex and powerful spells than they had ever managed in The Cullpines.
When the empire fell, the spells brought about by the song of Matara remained important to the ever-wandering crickets. Over time, the melodies drifted further and further away from the song, although the magic remained. The crickets had unknowingly tapped into an entirely new sort of magic…

Arcane Magic

Wizards

When the gods ascended to the Outer Planes, the magical abilities of clerics was severely diminished as a result of the gods being more distant. However, a new sort of magic made itself known, differing from that of the divine or of the primal - that of the arcane. Priests of Gnol-Dotera, seeking to understand the flows of chaos that the Weaver of Words had once effortlessly channelled through them, discovered that, through a combination of words, gestures, material alignment, and sheer will, they could draw in their very own streams of chaos from beyond the planes, without the need of a god to act as a source of power. They devoted their lives to the study and practice of this new form of magic, eventually splitting off from the priesthood to focus on the academic study of magic. Thus they became the world's first wizards.
Cor Quae’thum’s university system established not only the methods and inscribement of each individual spell, but also ten different schools of magic, named for the specialties of the legendary nymphians. Other places of formal magical education emerged throughout Varzzen, each with a different combination of magical schools in their curriculums, some even daring to develop new schools altogether. Some cultures developed their own unique forms of magic: Zenith Bladebuzzing, Cavanan and Detrinian War Magic, and Cor Quae’thum’s own Order of Scribes and Order of the Cicada, the birthplace of sonomancy.

Bards

Meanwhile, priests of Mairun also felt the absence of their god and their magic. and sought to reignite the spark within their hearts that they felt when casting spells. Instead of using logic and intellect to interpret and summon the flows of chaos, they made use of creativity and passion, through the arts and crafts that brought them and others joy. Much like the crickets before them, the beetle priests learned how to weave chaotic threads through song, story, and art, becoming Varzzen’s first bards.
The beetles split from the preisthood to pursue their passions, transforming their home, Alanadael Monestary, into the first bardic college. Other such establishments rose around Varzzen, although not every bard is educated at one. Many are self-taught, and still others are taught by a mentor or a group of friends. Different locales developed different practices through which to channel magic as the idea of bardism spread, from Ahda-Sha’s blending of art and passion with ancestral spirits to the Black Leaf and Golden Verse using their magic to spread secrets, rumors, and danger.

Warlocks

Some warlocks, rather than choosing a divine path for their magic, opt for a version of arcane magic. Their patrons teach them how to manipulate their own chaos streams, often through magic that is so chaotic that most traditional schools will outright refuse to teach it. Most patrons help this process along by giving their warlock a spellbook or talisman that can help record or channel their magic.

Other forms of Magic

Crafting With Magic

Artificers and alchemists may be able to mimic the effects of spells through their inventions and potions, but they are not capable of manipulating chaos directly. Instead, they work with inherently magical materials such as amber, or make use of the material alignment methods pioneered by wizards.
Anyone, caster or no, can use a magical item, and such items are fairly common on Varzzen, with many craftsmen providing minor enchantments to even the most mundane of their wares. Artifice is generally most associated with the Roaches of Sol Sphera Societas, but has proliferated throughout much of Varzzen at this point.

Psionics and Ki

The clans of Kamaran have long made use of an entirely different sort of magic, granted by their ancestral spirits rather than the gods of Order. This isn’t to say that Mantises are incapable of casting spells in the traditional sense. Many family spirits empower their chosen families as either clerics or warlocks, and some families have shown curiosity about arcane magic, leading potential wizards of Eastern Varzzen to the lands of the Philippi Clan, and would-be bards to the lands of the Hapri Clan.
Traditional mantis abilities center around the manipulation of Order, rather than Chaos. They change the structure of something, rather than the substance, so to say. Psionics is the name they grant to manipulation of the ephemeral, and ki to manipulation of the physical. Those who develop their psionics to the level of mastery are known as psions. Masters of ki are called monks, and train in monasteries to master different paths through which to direct their ki. The eldest of these is the Way of the Mantis, and from that way all other paths spring.