Magocratic Musings
Random notes on a setting in mind... or the background for one. I see a world that rose to great heights of magical prowess and understanding, which all fell apart in a vicious war. This leaves a world of crumbling ruins, lost knowledge, and some great wonders still around. In the decades after, civilizations on a smaller scale rebuild. Would-be mages struggle to regain the understanding of the height of society, some cities are still guarded by small armies of automaton soldiers, creatures and races that were brought into being by the great mages of old run rampant or struggle to find their place...
Torvarian Magocracy
Magic and Science
Magic, simply put, isn't fully understood in a quantifiable fashion. It's most often defined as the use of one's will to exert unnatural change upon reality.
It's understood that magical energy exists both within the human being and existing within the rest of the world, and that there is a connection between those reservoirs. A person can only expend or commit so much energy before needing rest - drawing in from their surroundings to replenish what was spent. Several units of measure have been put forth and theories abound on maximum capabilities, but facts on the matter have been elusive.
Three components are necessary to wield magic in a meaningful manner. A mage requires sufficient will to enact the desired changes. A mage requires an empowered magical circle to focus his energy, most also use spoken words as a focusing aid but that is not always necessary. And a mage requires sufficient knowledge of what he is attempting to do. One cannot simply transform a person into a frog, rather they must have a good knowledge of human and frog anatomies as well as an understanding of the manipulations of mass required.
This last point led to the rise of science to great heights in concept, but not application. The transfer of power from a natural source to a harnessed did not lead to mechanical power plants, merely the understanding required to make magical ones. Scientific knowledge in the magocracy was simply not pursued for mundane use, but rather for the furthering of magic.
Education
Because of the knowledge required to functionally wield magic, all mages are scholars and education is highly prized. While some tried to make such knowledge universal during the height of the magocracy, it ended up becoming more restricted in practice. Due to the power such education unlocked, it was most often sold at a high price, leading to aristocratic dynasties of mages while lower classes were left out.
Sigil and Circle
During the height of the magocracy, every mage was known to have a personal sigil. This was, however, little more than a signature on record. While some accorded great importance to them, or even warded sigils magically, sigils themselves had no power.
Circles, on the other hand, are of primary importance in practicing magic. The ornate pattern of a true magical circle is unique to a mage, and vice versa. To empower a circle, a mage must commit a measure of his personal power, and an empowered circle is needed for working magic. While the pattern can be duplicated visually, no other person would be able to empower a mage's circle. Many mages kept an empowered circle close at hand inscribed on a staff or tablet of some sort to enable casting without the preparation time. Few, however, keep more than one or two circles empowered at any given time due to the personal energy requirements.
Familiars
Familiars are beings marked by a mage's empowered circle, creating a link between that two which strengthens a mage's ability to shape magic while the two are close. While the trade-off was generally considered worthwhile for one familiar, sustaining more than one was usually believed to be more trouble than it was worth as the return benefits were not generally cumulative.
It is generally accepted that only a willing creature can be bonded in this fashion, creating a very interesting history. During the rise of the magocracy, human familiars were not uncommon among mages. One of the earliest international laws established, however, banned this practice. This added a new barrier of entry to having a familiar, where a mage would have to grant a form of sentience to a creature (allowing it the ability to be "willing) before bonding it. In some circumstances, this led to widespread alteration of a populus in an attempt to skirt the "human" restriction.
Rise of the Church
During the peak of the magocracy, the Church of Torva was seen as little more than an annoying cult by the aristocratic mages. The religion drew upon old creation myths, directed mostly toward the non-magical classes. The priests offered hope and fear, solace and purpose, gaining a following the mages gave little thought toward.
When the magocracy fell, however, the church was quick to blame the hubris of mages. Their misuse of power, it was said, caused all the ills of the world. As war ravaged the magocracy, the church gained power and turned many against their former patrons, protectors, and rulers.
The Weave and the Scourge
At its height, the magocracy showed feats of incredible engineering and organization. Convenient power devices were created and linked to share and spread the power for lights, heating, and cooling. Similar links were made for sharing information between vast repositories. The increasing number of systems came to make use of naturally-occurring ley lines as well. The lattice of natural and unnatural magical energies across the world came to be known as the Weave.
While fighting was not uncommon among mages and their territories, international laws held in check the most dangerous of powers - or so it was believed. The fall of the magocracy is marked by the Scourge - an assault that poisoned the Weave itself. Information was corrupted, power cells went dark, mages with even a minor connection to the network were driven mad - what had become the foundation of civilization was destroyed almost overnight.
Even worse, that ephemeral web remained toxic. Many accounts are known of mages driven mad trying to retrieve lost knowledge, or devices being destroyed trying to connect to corrupted power nodes. Though mages of the time believed it a ruthless attack among their own, and the church called it the wrath of the Creator, the true cause of the Scourge is simply unknown.
Inversion of Life
While some mages were able to bring back the dead in some form, the term "undead" was not known until after the Scourge. It seems some of the greater power nodes of the Weave did not only go dark, but inverted in some fashion, drawing in power rather than sending it forth. The corruption that bled out from these nodes not only killed, but caused the dead to rise again in a sickly parody of life. Destructive to the core, true undead beings kill and drain the living in a futile attempt to restore their own life energies.
Fortune Cookie of the Day: You are a leader in your own way
Torvarian Magocracy
Magic and Science
Magic, simply put, isn't fully understood in a quantifiable fashion. It's most often defined as the use of one's will to exert unnatural change upon reality.
It's understood that magical energy exists both within the human being and existing within the rest of the world, and that there is a connection between those reservoirs. A person can only expend or commit so much energy before needing rest - drawing in from their surroundings to replenish what was spent. Several units of measure have been put forth and theories abound on maximum capabilities, but facts on the matter have been elusive.
Three components are necessary to wield magic in a meaningful manner. A mage requires sufficient will to enact the desired changes. A mage requires an empowered magical circle to focus his energy, most also use spoken words as a focusing aid but that is not always necessary. And a mage requires sufficient knowledge of what he is attempting to do. One cannot simply transform a person into a frog, rather they must have a good knowledge of human and frog anatomies as well as an understanding of the manipulations of mass required.
This last point led to the rise of science to great heights in concept, but not application. The transfer of power from a natural source to a harnessed did not lead to mechanical power plants, merely the understanding required to make magical ones. Scientific knowledge in the magocracy was simply not pursued for mundane use, but rather for the furthering of magic.
Education
Because of the knowledge required to functionally wield magic, all mages are scholars and education is highly prized. While some tried to make such knowledge universal during the height of the magocracy, it ended up becoming more restricted in practice. Due to the power such education unlocked, it was most often sold at a high price, leading to aristocratic dynasties of mages while lower classes were left out.
Sigil and Circle
During the height of the magocracy, every mage was known to have a personal sigil. This was, however, little more than a signature on record. While some accorded great importance to them, or even warded sigils magically, sigils themselves had no power.
Circles, on the other hand, are of primary importance in practicing magic. The ornate pattern of a true magical circle is unique to a mage, and vice versa. To empower a circle, a mage must commit a measure of his personal power, and an empowered circle is needed for working magic. While the pattern can be duplicated visually, no other person would be able to empower a mage's circle. Many mages kept an empowered circle close at hand inscribed on a staff or tablet of some sort to enable casting without the preparation time. Few, however, keep more than one or two circles empowered at any given time due to the personal energy requirements.
Familiars
Familiars are beings marked by a mage's empowered circle, creating a link between that two which strengthens a mage's ability to shape magic while the two are close. While the trade-off was generally considered worthwhile for one familiar, sustaining more than one was usually believed to be more trouble than it was worth as the return benefits were not generally cumulative.
It is generally accepted that only a willing creature can be bonded in this fashion, creating a very interesting history. During the rise of the magocracy, human familiars were not uncommon among mages. One of the earliest international laws established, however, banned this practice. This added a new barrier of entry to having a familiar, where a mage would have to grant a form of sentience to a creature (allowing it the ability to be "willing) before bonding it. In some circumstances, this led to widespread alteration of a populus in an attempt to skirt the "human" restriction.
Rise of the Church
During the peak of the magocracy, the Church of Torva was seen as little more than an annoying cult by the aristocratic mages. The religion drew upon old creation myths, directed mostly toward the non-magical classes. The priests offered hope and fear, solace and purpose, gaining a following the mages gave little thought toward.
When the magocracy fell, however, the church was quick to blame the hubris of mages. Their misuse of power, it was said, caused all the ills of the world. As war ravaged the magocracy, the church gained power and turned many against their former patrons, protectors, and rulers.
The Weave and the Scourge
At its height, the magocracy showed feats of incredible engineering and organization. Convenient power devices were created and linked to share and spread the power for lights, heating, and cooling. Similar links were made for sharing information between vast repositories. The increasing number of systems came to make use of naturally-occurring ley lines as well. The lattice of natural and unnatural magical energies across the world came to be known as the Weave.
While fighting was not uncommon among mages and their territories, international laws held in check the most dangerous of powers - or so it was believed. The fall of the magocracy is marked by the Scourge - an assault that poisoned the Weave itself. Information was corrupted, power cells went dark, mages with even a minor connection to the network were driven mad - what had become the foundation of civilization was destroyed almost overnight.
Even worse, that ephemeral web remained toxic. Many accounts are known of mages driven mad trying to retrieve lost knowledge, or devices being destroyed trying to connect to corrupted power nodes. Though mages of the time believed it a ruthless attack among their own, and the church called it the wrath of the Creator, the true cause of the Scourge is simply unknown.
Inversion of Life
While some mages were able to bring back the dead in some form, the term "undead" was not known until after the Scourge. It seems some of the greater power nodes of the Weave did not only go dark, but inverted in some fashion, drawing in power rather than sending it forth. The corruption that bled out from these nodes not only killed, but caused the dead to rise again in a sickly parody of life. Destructive to the core, true undead beings kill and drain the living in a futile attempt to restore their own life energies.
Fortune Cookie of the Day: You are a leader in your own way
*settles at your feet, attentive and bright-eyed* Tell me more, Unca!
ReplyDeleteWell, see, back in my day... ;) That's really all I have at the moment. As is typical: if I were planning to run a game based on this, I'd be deliberately trying to put more thought into things and flesh them out. Since I'm not... well, I'll leave these thoughts here are a seed in case I should want to come back to them. Such a campaign could be about rebuilding society, or rediscovering lost knowledge. Perhaps the taint of the Weave has faded, or some nodes were shielded. Though the base idea is that society has fallen from its high point and what magic-based technology exists may still work, but isn't understood the way it once was because the people with the detailed know-how (and their information storage devices) mostly bit it when things went bad. A city-state might have an army of golems (MtG Yotian Soldiers came to mind) at its command, but be unable to produce more. Mage characters should be viable just because knowledge is hard to stamp out completely. It might be a little tricky, though, because the paradigm of the world is one in which a mage could ascend to ridiculous heights that a non-mage probably shouldn't mirror. For the course of a campaign, most RPG systems might work fine, but... if I really wanted to model the concept of the world, a "fighter" probably would not have the same upper bounds as a "mage." Various "demi-human" races and monsters are the results of magical interference in an ecosystem that was once much like Earth, with the nature of familiars having led to a lot of "smart" animal types. I could see some pro-human purist factions and racial tension in general.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I'd build up the Church as a faction of some power in the new world as an international political force even without obvious presence of divine power. Gee, where could I draw from for ideas like that...
ReplyDelete