Post by pepsi on Aug 16, 2022 18:32:05 GMT
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For millennia humans have been on the pursuit of magic. Countless offshoots of this primal desire have emerged through the ages: myths, rituals, religious beliefs, alchemy, occultism.
Most humans throughout history never had any experience of magic. Even though several aspects of the world have been labeled as unexplainable, and even paranormal, as time progressed humanity became more and more disillusioned. As time went on, the pursuit of magic has become associated with irrationality, delusion, and non-reality.
But that, of course, is no grounds to reject it.
Magic powers stem from five different pillars, or Gates, that each represent one possible facet of magic.
It is important to remember that these are simply pure categories of magic, distilled through observation and rigorous study, and that most magic powers tap into multiple Gates simultaneously.
The Gate of Elemental Mastery represents the capacity to control the fundamental building blocks of reality - the Elements - and to be able to create such things ex nihilo. This Gate has deep positive connotations, as generally the act of creation is regarded as a good act. It is also called the first "mastery-type" Gate.
Through the Gate of Elemental Mastery the magic user may produce and manipulate the fundamental forces of nature: gravity and electromagnetism figure as the most common. Among the most simple applications of Elemental Mastery is "Lightning Manipulation", where electromagnetic forces are harnessed to induce electrical currents.
Skilled users may go a step beyond, and consolidate their control over the very fabric of reality: time, space, and matter.
Elemental magic users who specialise in matter are capable of producing pure elements out of thin air, all the way up to generating entire chemical compounds. This is the point where Elemental magic gives way to Conjuration magic, as it becomes infinitely easier to summon already existing matter than to produce complex structures.
Time and space-bending abilities are by far the hardest to master, and they are also among the most dangerous to the user as they may remain trapped in paradoxes of their own creation.
Psychic Mastery is the second "mastery-type" Gate. While the name of this Gate may hint at a mastery of the mind, it actually refers to a complete mastery over the near-unexplored power of the soul.
The soul, in loose terms, is the abstract shape of the body. The soul has control over the body, and determines its identity - its abstract shape. The Gate of Psychic Mastery represents the ability of a magic user to extend this power of the soul from one's body to one's environment.
This has a number of applications, the first of which is the control over the outside world as if it was part of one's body: applying forces to external objects by one's willpower, also known as "telekinesis", is the primary application of this Gate and the easiest to achieve. More difficult is the extension of one's soul into time rather than space, an application commonly referred to as "future sight" or "premonition".
More advanced uses of this Gate open up when the control of the soul extends to other souls. Taking control of another soul is a grueling process, and it only gets difficult the more complete the control is. By taking hold of another soul's sensory perception it's possible to inject illusions into the subject's mind. More thorough control of another soul may result in effective mind control, although this practice is extremely dangerous especially if the two souls overlapping both belong to skilled Psychic users.
With some work, one can learn to inject their own consciousness into the external world. While this is one of the hardest applications of the Gate of Psychic Mastery to achieve, it has been routinely performed by humans throughout history under the name of "astral projection".
The first of the three "summon-type" Gates, the Gate of Invocation represents the ability to overlap the abstract properties of two separate objects into the same point of space and time. More succinctly, to Invoke means to be able to infuse an object with the properties of another without changing anything about the two.
Mediums throughout history have tapped into the Gate of Invocation to temporarily infuse their soul with the memories and the personality of a departed's soul. While this is a valid application, there's a wealth of other possibilities for Invokers to use.
The most obvious is to enhance the physical characteristics of an object or the Invoker's own body. To enhance one's skin with the strength of iron, or to inspire the breath of life into an inanimate object by Invoking an animal soul into it are more advanced, but quite feasible applications.
Some may go further from here, and Invoke the power of demons into their own bodies and souls. They may decide to simply draw upon such demonic power to obtain their skills, or partially manifest physical characteristics of the Invoked demon together with its abilities. This gives Invokers incredible flexibility over the kind of powers they may expect to gain from this Gate of Magic.
It is clear that Invoking is a practice that comes with its own risks. Selecting which properties should be Invoked and which shouldn't, as well as making sure that the process doesn't leave long-lasting effects on either object is exceedingly difficult and should not be brushed off as anything easy.
The second "summon-type" Gate, Conjuration represents the magic user's ability to summon objects and entities in the external world without changing anything about them. Using the Gate of Conjuration, Conjurers can draw upon similar power and flexibility available to Invokers without the risk of permanently damaging the original object. This comes at the cost of a general lack of control over the summoned entity, especially if it's a demon.
For this reason, Conjurers like to establish contracts with the entities they summon on a regular basis. Because many powerful demons are ambitious and have a strong desire for personal gain, these contracts often come with terrible prices to pay for the Conjurers.
Conjuration and Elemental Mastery both are able to produce objects from pure application of magic, but the crucial difference between them is that Conjuration needs the object to exist beforehand. As an upside, Conjuration is vastly simpler to perform especially when dealing with complex objects.
The first and easiest application of Conjuration is to summon inanimate objects: weapons, armor, tools; with enough foresight, a Conjurer can have an answer to virtually any situation.
Conjuring living beings requires the summoning of both their bodies and their souls, and a soul is much harder to correctly summon than a body; if the soul is weak-willed, this is not too hard. However, summoning stronger wills may be more difficult as they may resist being summoned. This is especially true in the case of summoning demons, where consent is key to a successful summon - hence the contracts that Conjurers sign with demons.
Interesting side application of Conjuration is the one that conjures the magic user themselves. This is akin to teleportation, and can achieve similar effects to mastery over space with less risks.
The third and final "summon-type" Gate is the Gate of Transmutation. This Gate represents the ability of a magic user to fundamentally alter the composition of an object. While an Invoker temporarily infuses the properties of an object into another, a Transmuter permanently changes the object into a different one.
Throughout history, humans have pursued methods to transmute lead into gold; the Philosopher's Stone was the ultimate goal. These efforts, dubbed "alchemy", are but only a branch of the Gate of Transmutation. In a sense, they are a simple application of Transmutation; a more complex practice would be to transform a material of some kind - like a metal - into one of a completely different kind - like paper. Even better, transmuting can affect just the shape of objects, giving Transmuters a certain degree of control over the external world not dissimilar to Psychic Masters.
Most importantly, a Transmuter needs to know how to operate their magic in both directions, or else they run the risk of permanently damaging the outside world or themselves with no means of turning back.
Every transmuted object stores within itself some faint traces of magic power, which most magic users - and some very sensitive humans - can pick up. It's through these traces that a capable Transmuter can turn the object back into what it used to be.
The applications of the Gate of Transmutation to souls is nearly unexplored territory. To fundamentally alter a soul is to fundamentally alter the abstract shape of a body, which in turn means that one could permanently transform a body by manipulating its soul. Therefore, shapeshifting is an advanced application of Transmutation. Constructs like chimeras and homunculi enter the realm of possibility as well.
Throughout the series, magic appears under many different visuals. Some characters pull ethereal objects out of thin air, some are engulfed by a demonic red flame, some decorate their attacks with shocks of black lightning, some store their magic in living tattoos.
A common visualisation of magic in the series is through Magical Circles. Magical circles are a great way to clarify where the magic is happening and roughly the size of the area that is going to be affected by magic.
On Buried Light, you are free to customize the visual aspect of your magic. Magical Circles are a very valued visual style because of the aforementioned advantages (clear location, clear size), and we encourage considering this option; plus, it's very Devil May Cry-ish!
For millennia humans have been on the pursuit of magic. Countless offshoots of this primal desire have emerged through the ages: myths, rituals, religious beliefs, alchemy, occultism.
Most humans throughout history never had any experience of magic. Even though several aspects of the world have been labeled as unexplainable, and even paranormal, as time progressed humanity became more and more disillusioned. As time went on, the pursuit of magic has become associated with irrationality, delusion, and non-reality.
But that, of course, is no grounds to reject it.
[attr="class","rules_focus"]On Buried Light, magic has a more clearly defined classification than what is seen in the series; nevertheless, this only serves as a means of categorising and providing intuition about how magic works in the DMC universe. All of the lore tied to magic in this post is only site-canon.
Magic powers stem from five different pillars, or Gates, that each represent one possible facet of magic.
It is important to remember that these are simply pure categories of magic, distilled through observation and rigorous study, and that most magic powers tap into multiple Gates simultaneously.
[attr="class","rules_subtitle"]Elemental Mastery
The Gate of Elemental Mastery represents the capacity to control the fundamental building blocks of reality - the Elements - and to be able to create such things ex nihilo. This Gate has deep positive connotations, as generally the act of creation is regarded as a good act. It is also called the first "mastery-type" Gate.
Through the Gate of Elemental Mastery the magic user may produce and manipulate the fundamental forces of nature: gravity and electromagnetism figure as the most common. Among the most simple applications of Elemental Mastery is "Lightning Manipulation", where electromagnetic forces are harnessed to induce electrical currents.
Skilled users may go a step beyond, and consolidate their control over the very fabric of reality: time, space, and matter.
Elemental magic users who specialise in matter are capable of producing pure elements out of thin air, all the way up to generating entire chemical compounds. This is the point where Elemental magic gives way to Conjuration magic, as it becomes infinitely easier to summon already existing matter than to produce complex structures.
Time and space-bending abilities are by far the hardest to master, and they are also among the most dangerous to the user as they may remain trapped in paradoxes of their own creation.
[attr="class","rules_subtitle"]Psychic Mastery
Psychic Mastery is the second "mastery-type" Gate. While the name of this Gate may hint at a mastery of the mind, it actually refers to a complete mastery over the near-unexplored power of the soul.
The soul, in loose terms, is the abstract shape of the body. The soul has control over the body, and determines its identity - its abstract shape. The Gate of Psychic Mastery represents the ability of a magic user to extend this power of the soul from one's body to one's environment.
This has a number of applications, the first of which is the control over the outside world as if it was part of one's body: applying forces to external objects by one's willpower, also known as "telekinesis", is the primary application of this Gate and the easiest to achieve. More difficult is the extension of one's soul into time rather than space, an application commonly referred to as "future sight" or "premonition".
More advanced uses of this Gate open up when the control of the soul extends to other souls. Taking control of another soul is a grueling process, and it only gets difficult the more complete the control is. By taking hold of another soul's sensory perception it's possible to inject illusions into the subject's mind. More thorough control of another soul may result in effective mind control, although this practice is extremely dangerous especially if the two souls overlapping both belong to skilled Psychic users.
With some work, one can learn to inject their own consciousness into the external world. While this is one of the hardest applications of the Gate of Psychic Mastery to achieve, it has been routinely performed by humans throughout history under the name of "astral projection".
[attr="class","rules_subtitle"]Invocation
The first of the three "summon-type" Gates, the Gate of Invocation represents the ability to overlap the abstract properties of two separate objects into the same point of space and time. More succinctly, to Invoke means to be able to infuse an object with the properties of another without changing anything about the two.
Mediums throughout history have tapped into the Gate of Invocation to temporarily infuse their soul with the memories and the personality of a departed's soul. While this is a valid application, there's a wealth of other possibilities for Invokers to use.
The most obvious is to enhance the physical characteristics of an object or the Invoker's own body. To enhance one's skin with the strength of iron, or to inspire the breath of life into an inanimate object by Invoking an animal soul into it are more advanced, but quite feasible applications.
Some may go further from here, and Invoke the power of demons into their own bodies and souls. They may decide to simply draw upon such demonic power to obtain their skills, or partially manifest physical characteristics of the Invoked demon together with its abilities. This gives Invokers incredible flexibility over the kind of powers they may expect to gain from this Gate of Magic.
It is clear that Invoking is a practice that comes with its own risks. Selecting which properties should be Invoked and which shouldn't, as well as making sure that the process doesn't leave long-lasting effects on either object is exceedingly difficult and should not be brushed off as anything easy.
[attr="class","rules_subtitle"]Conjuration
The second "summon-type" Gate, Conjuration represents the magic user's ability to summon objects and entities in the external world without changing anything about them. Using the Gate of Conjuration, Conjurers can draw upon similar power and flexibility available to Invokers without the risk of permanently damaging the original object. This comes at the cost of a general lack of control over the summoned entity, especially if it's a demon.
For this reason, Conjurers like to establish contracts with the entities they summon on a regular basis. Because many powerful demons are ambitious and have a strong desire for personal gain, these contracts often come with terrible prices to pay for the Conjurers.
Conjuration and Elemental Mastery both are able to produce objects from pure application of magic, but the crucial difference between them is that Conjuration needs the object to exist beforehand. As an upside, Conjuration is vastly simpler to perform especially when dealing with complex objects.
The first and easiest application of Conjuration is to summon inanimate objects: weapons, armor, tools; with enough foresight, a Conjurer can have an answer to virtually any situation.
Conjuring living beings requires the summoning of both their bodies and their souls, and a soul is much harder to correctly summon than a body; if the soul is weak-willed, this is not too hard. However, summoning stronger wills may be more difficult as they may resist being summoned. This is especially true in the case of summoning demons, where consent is key to a successful summon - hence the contracts that Conjurers sign with demons.
Interesting side application of Conjuration is the one that conjures the magic user themselves. This is akin to teleportation, and can achieve similar effects to mastery over space with less risks.
[attr="class","rules_subtitle"]Transmutation
The third and final "summon-type" Gate is the Gate of Transmutation. This Gate represents the ability of a magic user to fundamentally alter the composition of an object. While an Invoker temporarily infuses the properties of an object into another, a Transmuter permanently changes the object into a different one.
Throughout history, humans have pursued methods to transmute lead into gold; the Philosopher's Stone was the ultimate goal. These efforts, dubbed "alchemy", are but only a branch of the Gate of Transmutation. In a sense, they are a simple application of Transmutation; a more complex practice would be to transform a material of some kind - like a metal - into one of a completely different kind - like paper. Even better, transmuting can affect just the shape of objects, giving Transmuters a certain degree of control over the external world not dissimilar to Psychic Masters.
Most importantly, a Transmuter needs to know how to operate their magic in both directions, or else they run the risk of permanently damaging the outside world or themselves with no means of turning back.
Every transmuted object stores within itself some faint traces of magic power, which most magic users - and some very sensitive humans - can pick up. It's through these traces that a capable Transmuter can turn the object back into what it used to be.
The applications of the Gate of Transmutation to souls is nearly unexplored territory. To fundamentally alter a soul is to fundamentally alter the abstract shape of a body, which in turn means that one could permanently transform a body by manipulating its soul. Therefore, shapeshifting is an advanced application of Transmutation. Constructs like chimeras and homunculi enter the realm of possibility as well.
[attr="class","rules_subtitle"]Addendum: Magical Circles
Throughout the series, magic appears under many different visuals. Some characters pull ethereal objects out of thin air, some are engulfed by a demonic red flame, some decorate their attacks with shocks of black lightning, some store their magic in living tattoos.
A common visualisation of magic in the series is through Magical Circles. Magical circles are a great way to clarify where the magic is happening and roughly the size of the area that is going to be affected by magic.
On Buried Light, you are free to customize the visual aspect of your magic. Magical Circles are a very valued visual style because of the aforementioned advantages (clear location, clear size), and we encourage considering this option; plus, it's very Devil May Cry-ish!
[attr="class","rules_subtitle"]In summary...
- Magic powers fall into five categories, or Gates. Most of the time, an application of magic will tap into multiple Gates at the same time.
- Elemental Mastery deals with control and production of basic building blocks of nature.
- Psychic Mastery deals with extending one's soul to control not just their body but also their environment.
- Invocation deals with infusing an object with the properties of another temporarily and without long-lasting effects.
- Conjuration deals with summoning objects and entities whole.
- Transmutation deals with fundamentally altering the shape or substance of an object.
