When people think of magic, they tend to think of a “special power”. Perhaps like a “force” that works outside of the “boundaries” of the physical world. Conjuring up a ball of fire from nothing is a good example.

Magic differs from this simplistic notion in a number of ways. On Nave, music, math, physics, art, Alchemy, and so on are all intermixed—not entirely separate fields—and magic is just another component. For instance there isn't any “border” between magic and music, because magic is an inherent part of music, just like math is a part of music and vice versa.

Indeed, a small portion of magic is always present even in everyday life. On Nave there is no difference between a card trick and a “magic” card trick—at least not for the layman. And even for the expert in theoretical magic the difference is vague. One trick may deal with math, another with aether planes. Both are very real. Both have parts of magic in them.

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The question is: Is there even such a thing as “raw magic”—outside of magic theory—and if there is, what would be the use for it? You can isolate math, but it has no use, and it is only theoretical until you actually apply it to another field, whether it be theoretical physics or dividing a corn field. There is no use for “raw math”. Similarly, magic is not separated from the other fields—it's a component that is intertwined in everything else.

Continuing to use physics as an example, you can isolate physics into a specialized field that only deals with the laws of physics—but are those a set of rules that reality must obey, or are they what one can derive from the current state of reality?

On Nave, one could ask if the laws of nature where put there by the Gods as a firmament for creation, or if the Gods themselves had to adjust their creation to the laws of nature—bending and sometimes breaking them to get their will through. The same questions can be asked in regards to magic.

In less words: On Nave, magic does not break the laws of nature, it is a part of the laws of nature.

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The use of reagents is—in a way—Alchemy. Reagents are loosely based on chemical reactions, but there is much that can be done with them beyond simple chemistry due to the nature of magic. It is best not to fall into the trap of separating the two, however, for one cannot really exist without at least a small portion of the other. In “pure” Alchemy, one mixes materials with the aid of magic, but the goal is likely not to fling or teleport the result onto another.

Perhaps most important to note of all, there are magical practices and schools which do not rely on these alchemical reactions and as a result do not consume reagents.

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Animism is about communicating and interacting with “nature”, more specifically the permeating energies of living and active things—but not always living entities. It's often hard to separate theological beliefs from practice in the many branches of the school, meaning one Animist may attribute their craft to “communication with the Anam spirits”, while another will say “harnessing the inherent life forces by becoming one with the sacred dowsing rod”, and so on.

Simply put, the Animism school doesn't necessarily imply a literal animistic belief, and especially not a specific animistic belief system among the many that exist.

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As practical research related to Demonology had been long-forbidden on Myrland even prior to The Irruption, information about the school and even Demons themselves is extremely limited. If any information about the school still survives, surely one might find it on Isla Piska where all manner of forbidden magics were practiced.

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Perhaps the only parties who may still have knowledge of Dragon Magic and its possible use during the Imperial Campaigns as part of the rise of the Tindremic Empire prior to The Conflux are the Alis caste of Tindrem or the underground Huérgar. As both of these parties are incredibly secretive, what little in the way of outside knowledge which survived both The Conflux and The Irruption is mostly scholarly speculation.

Some Tindremic scholars have suggested that the bones, hide, teeth, and scales of Dragons have unique magical properties, citing obscure tales of mages and shamans who have utilized the remaining power within them through spells or rituals.

There also exist rumors of isolated communities in the Talus Mountains which revere Dragons as Gods, going so far as to collect their remains and worship them, praying for their return. Whether or not these communities actually exist is questionable, but even more so is the notion that they might have some knowledge about Dragon Magic beyond local superstition.

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The Ecumenical school primarily consists of deeply “institutionalized” or “common” spells using reagents and easily memorized patterns which can be taught to anyone at almost any level of magical aptitude. This ease of learning has led to them becoming a common foundation of many formal magical educations, such as those taught by the Tindremenes.

Prior to The Irruption, it was even a standardized practice for medics in the Tindremic Empire's army to memorize and utilize healing spells from this school.

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Elementalism is a school of magic centered around manipulating and combining the magical energies widely believed to be the threads that make up the fabric of existence. The very basics include training oneself to have elemental discernment—the sense of recognizing elemental energies in the environment.

It also encompasses the practice of using elemental discernment and one's own mana to concentrate elemental energy.

Some Elementalism spells can be grouped into branches or areas of study—though it is worth keeping in mind that spells which fall outside of those listed here certainly exist or could be created due to the nature of magic itself.

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The study of condensing and quickly propelling elemental energy forward, a key component to many forms of war magic found across the known world thanks to the efficiency of the approach.

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The study of emanating elemental energy within a space, creating a large area highly polarized toward one particular element.

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The study of aggregating condensed elemental energy, resulting in highly concentrated shapes. The resulting spells have a high degree of stability, allowing their effects to be more complex without risk of destabilization.

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The study of arranging condensed elemental energy, resulting in distinct formations. The resulting spells are remarkably stable, sometimes resulting in entirely solid structures.

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The study of actively directing concentrated and released elemental energy. Such methods are highly advanced, requiring incredible focus and concentration from the caster.

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The highly controversial and widely forbidden study of manipulating the elemental polarization of an entire region through the repeated use of highly reactive reagents. Knowledge of this method was incredibly difficult to obtain prior to The Irruption owing to the impact it can have on the balance of the natural world, but sightings of mages using the method have become increasingly common as a result of a number of researchers readily sharing their knowledge with the public.

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Harmonism is deeply intertwined with all aspects of Nave's societies. As with many other things, it is often challenging to discern where music ends and magic begins.

In Kallardian culture and the Norn language, terms like Bard, Bardd, or Skáld refer to composers and poets. However, these epithets carry ancient meanings that may not align with the expectations of other cultures. So Bard Laglegur might not have been a “Bard” in the Tindremic sense. Conversely, a Noaid or Nåjd is a title that holds significant religious importance, akin to that of a “shaman” or spiritual leader.

In the case of Ingunna the Drummer, Noaid of Skadi, her embodiment of this title—along with her reputed actions—suggests a strong connection to Harmonism.

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The practice of Illusionism extends well beyond attractive and mystifying displays from street performers, but practitioners of the school often find themselves shunned or exiled from societies due to mistrust. As a result, while it's not excessively difficult to find an Illusionist, written knowledge surrounding the school and training in it is difficult at best to obtain.

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The practice of Mentalism appears to be something of a lost art after The Irruption, with surviving texts depicting practitioners as performing feats such as teleportation, the hardening of their skin like steel, breathing underwater, and various other alterations focused around their body.

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Contrary to some expectations, the widely forbidden school of Necromancy doesn't normally deal with specific spiritual entities or planes at all. Necromancy is typically limited to animation of organic matter. When rising a servant or steed, the mage provides the necessary artificial bonds—or willpower—for the semi-living matter.

In other words: a Necromancer controls and partially becomes the will of the animated organism. In essence they act as a surrogate for a spirit, although spiritual energy may still be needed. Some extremely talented and powerful Necromancers are even said to have devised methods to forego spiritual energy in favor of other forms of power, though details surrounding such methods are even more scarce than the rumors suggesting them.

A Necromancer most often uses Kau to animate semi-living, organic matter. But there are different forms of Kau—such as “free-flowing” Mana/Shī, or dollops in more or less aggregated shapes, like Kau or Auw in various aspects. These can be channeled into the subject.

External Kau provides the needed connections and energy for the organic subject, but the willpower of the necromancer—transmitted by using Mana/Shī—is necessary for the subject to perform instructions and functions. It would probably be possible for a powerful mage skilled in both Necromancy & Spiritism to use an Akh to possess a corpse, giving it a will of its own, for instance by Seph rituals.

This, however, would likely result in less control over the possessed body. Further, it is likely that a powerful Necromancer could manifest both the necessary Kau and Mana/Shī without having to resort to “external” Kau to completely control an undead entity, although that would require immense concentration and probably be dangerous as being the subject differs from just controlling it.

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Spiritism deals with spirits on the mundane or ether planes. They primarily target some sort of "consciousness" on one side, manipulating its tethers to various planes of existence. Sometimes a Spiritist may encounter "Spiritual Entities" that don't seem to belong on either side, or “spirits without consciousness” which most often manifest as simple clusters of energy.

Spiritists handle communication and passing through various states of tangibleness, such as allowing a “consciousness” to possess a body or enabling a “spirit” move between planes. Very seldom is the occasion where would a Spiritist would do this for an animal or beast of burden, which is likely to have a very limited consciousness.

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What little records of Staff Magic which have survived both The Conflux and The Irruption indicate that practitioners used staves to channel and possibly amplify a wide variety of spells.

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Little information about the Symbolism school of magic has survived The Irruption, with references to it stating it was based on geometry and mathematics.

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Perhaps the most convenient way of understanding magical affinity is by comparing real-life and in-world aptitude for music and art to the practice of magic.

This section is a comparison of magic and magical ability to music or art and musical ability or artistic ability in real-life as a means of better explaining magic in the settings of Mortal Online and Mortal Online 2 to players.

While its implications are canonical, it is not written from an in-world standpoint, and should be both read as well as referenced accordingly.

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All people have heard music in quite a few forms. Simple rhythms, hums and haws, marching chants etc are probably the most basic expressions of “musicality”. Arguably anyone without some form of severe physical or mental handicap affecting speech, coordination, sense of rhythm, and so on could repeat or join in on such utterances. Let's say this applies to 25% of a population.

If we compare musicality to magic affinity, at this level you probably wouldn't notice the small fluctuations of magic in the environment at all. Anything or nothing in daily life could be attributed to magic, Gods, or luck. If faced with palpable or unmistakable magic such as spellcasting, perhaps not even the immediate effect of a spell—harm or heal—would define or overcome your prejudices against it

Some examples of these prejudices might include “all magic is evil”, “all magic is good”, “all spellcasters are evildoers”, among many others.

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The next level range would be being able to sing at a half-decent or decent level, having an average sense of rhythm, being able to hear when something is really off-pitch, or being able to play basic tunes on an instrument. This might constitute 70% of a population.

In the world of magic this would translate to being able to sometimes—more or less unconsciously—perceive and recognize some of the small magic events occurring in your close vicinity; a feeling of “here is more at play than meets the eye”.

Perhaps this is somewhat comparable to real-world feelings of déjà vu, jamais vu, or mild mental dissociation, experiencing “very lucky or unlikely” coincidences, finding patterns with true meaning in randomness, or having a chill run down your spine when something you couldn't have possibly physically sensed happens. However, in no way whatsoever could you actively and consciously produce magic yourself, unless potentially in an extremely non-rational and stressed state of mind.

Common people on Nave understand that there's ambient magic in the world but lack the ability to define or communicate properly about it. A palpable fireball on the other hand, is definitely magic—however the perceived difference between throwing a burning object or launching one by force of mind is actually not that large in a world where magic is everywhere.

For instance you recognize that there is a hidden spirit world, but how to communicate with it is beyond your knowledge. You may have seen small funny creatures in the marketplace that can actually grow their tail in the blink of an eye—and when the Animist in the other tent shows you the same trick with her fingernails you may feel that this is magic, whether by potions or by spellcasting.

Yet again, how all this works is beyond you—just like being able to bring out speech from symbols on a parchment, or draw things so that some seem to pop out of the painting and some seem to disappear in the distance, may be a great mystery to you.

This could be said to be the natural base level for the Alvarin and Sith races.

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Next are the artists-in-training, or those with a natural sense of musicality. You have a trained voice, you are able to discern nuances in more skilled singers, you can sing a tune after hearing it only a couple of times, or you have practiced an instrument until being able to play several rather complicated songs without mistakes, or you can compose basic songs according to common practice—maybe even perform at taverns where you pass for being a musician.

In short, your musical sophistication is quite high. Let's say 4% of the population.

If we translate this into magic affinity, at this level you have a more tangible sense of the magic around you, but still haven't reached any deeper understanding of how to interact with it. Either you have it in your blood, or you have practiced several years, and if really focused you can make a marble roll of a table, make a piece of coal glow, change the color of a paper from yellow to green, hear vague whispers from the Etherworld, make your nails grow a tenth of an inch, and so on.

If you panic or are in critical situations you might trigger greater effects, but without any direct control. We have now covered 99% of the population, with the exceptions following.

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Here are the good, professional musicians. For instance people being able to compose, improvise, or sing in harmonies to tunes in real-time. At most 1% of the population.

About 1% of the population knows how to cast “real spells”. This means that most of that 1% know how to use reagents—probably from tutoring or some form of schooling—meaning they have started to develop an understanding of how magic can be stored or focused into matter, and how to channel that into spellweaving.

The skill of using reagents practically and intuitively—as opposed to understanding them in theory or memorizing a specific routine—is usually the first and biggest step for a real mage, meaning this is the big threshold that sifts the wheat from the chaff. As a reminder, however, not all magic requires reagents.

It is also worth to mention that certain magic has been more or less institutionalized—although only a small portion of magic could ever be. For instance, all medics in the Tindremic Army go through a rigorous course to learn healing spells by the use of reagents, and the same routine exists within other factions of the army concerning other types of spells.

Not everyone succeeds—but more importantly—learning how to cast a specific spell by memorizing strict thought patterns, movements and appropriate handling of a certain reagent does not equal, or require, actual knowledge about magic in the greater whole. It would in some cases be a good start, however these people are not considered to be “mages” by common people—certainly not by educated mages—and they do not count towards that 1% figure.

Many spells in the Ecumenical Magic school are “institutionalized” or “common” spells which consume reagents, and they would probably be the first ones you would study parallel to theoretical magic if you attended a mage academy like Clerus Magica prior to The Irruption.

For the Khurites this level would be representative for most Angaqs or shamans, although their magic is both powerful and reliable. The difference from many other magic users is that Angaqs are powerful within a certain area—or school—that has been refined through many years of tradition, and furthermore harmonizes well with their life and surroundings in general.

It is arguably much easier for a Khurite acolyte born and raised in a tribe to master these traditional spells and rituals under the supervision of an Angaq than it is for an acolyte in Tindrem to learn any deeper theories behind flinging fireballs, curing poison or producing earthquakes.

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Real artists, having practiced meticulously for more than a decade, having studied music and practiced composing for years to be able to write unique and original songs or arrangements for orchestras, those born with prodigious talents in composing, those with absolute pitch, masters at one or more instruments, and so on come next.

As they are quite few, most likely fewer than 1/1000 or 0.1%, they would probably attract a lot of people when performing in a city.

At this level you will find mages who have studied for a long time, probably within one or more schools of magic. They have the ability to improvise magic and draw upon other sources of magic than reagents.

Here are also prodigal mages that seem to be born with magic, wielding it like it was an natural extension of their mind, finding appropriate reagents as if being able to smell them. Such a native affinity is extremely unusual for Humans, though slightly more common for the Alvarin and Sith.

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There is also at least one massive difference between the two worlds and subjects. With music, you could say that your musical sophistication and knowledge deepens when you study and practice, even beyond a certain level. You get even better at playing faster, or you can handle even more complicated tunes or rhythms. You certainly benefit from reading musical theory, mathematics, or other forms of art.

Your compositions may get ever more complicated, perhaps you discover beauty in non-pentatonic scales, or begin building your own unique instruments. Thus the theoretical knowledge is perhaps exponential, however it is easy to argue that the external, perceived results can be said to be diminishing the further you go—not just to an audience but to you as a musician.

With magic, in many aspects it is the opposite. If you learn the geometry and mathematics of Symbolism—not only is that knowledge beneficial to your theoretical understanding of your other spells in your repertoire—it will actually enhance them. The musical theories behind Harmonism will improve your understanding of Elementalism, and it will also let you make those spells stronger. And so on.

In this aspect both magic knowledge and execution could be said to be exponential.

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Everybody knows something about music, and it's hard to draw a line between the different stages in musical sophistication. Generally speaking, the more you learn the better you get, your theoretical knowledge may expand exponentially, or at least cumulatively. However at a certain point you are probably experiencing diminishing results, especially practically. It is also quite possible to get very good in music by practicing on your own.

Conversely, most people know about magic but don't know what it is, or the natural rules governing it. Few people learn magic although most have the physical and mental ability to do so. A few magic spells can be memorized—similar to playing a short tune on a flute ten thousand times—leading to actual results but without gaining any deeper understanding of the processes behind it.

Being able to control magic in a wider sense, however, is extremely hard to learn up to a certain point, most people simply don't find the time or experience the urge to do it, unless they have some natural ability that drives them—and beyond that point you almost have to find a tutor. If you are among those few who pass that somewhat vague critical point though, your knowledge and power will expand exponentially.

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