Magic

 ''Magic's not complicated. Most of the time it just kind of...happens.''

 - Erasten Kole, Mage of the Spire

Magic is an incredibly sensitive subject in Canthia. Though predominantly responsible for many of scientific and technological advances in the last centuries, it is still a discipline largely misunderstood and generally feared.

Though there is much science done on the matter, magic is largely down to an innate hereditary trait in the individual as well as their own willpower to manifest, control and resist magical phenomena.

Testing and Grading of the Gift
Like most of the regulatory and cataloguing involved in magic, the Spire has the final say on all matters. In this they are responsible to seek out, test and grade any and all suspected of having the Gift. Though the respective nations who have signed onto the Nine Seals Charter can refuse to cooperate with the Spire's laws, such a refusal usually carries heavy penalties and sanctions by the various colleges and guilds associated with the Spire.

Testing
A Spire-Sanctioned Test or SST is normally given during the respective individual's pubescent growth cycle, i.e., in humans around 14 standard years or in Aei'kar around 110. In a Charter signatory area, the SST is normally given at an educational or governmental facility in order to expedite the process. Students are led into a room and asked a series of personality questions in order to gauge their general moral and ethical preclusions. After the questionnaire, the adjudicator gives the student a small enchanted stone known as a 'soulstone'. The enchantments within it are capable of detecting the spark of magic in an individual and will give off a faint glow when they come into contact with a Gifted individual. Those found to be Gifted are then taken to a separate testing to gauge their level of Gift.

Grading
Like most of the Spire's grade levels, the Gifted are organised in different Tiers. These range from the Incredibly Ungifted to the High Magister level. Tiers are ordered from lowest to highest.

Tier Zero - T0
Those categorised as a Tier Zero are found during the test when their lightest touch shatters the soulstone. These people are completely immune to magic in all of its forms excepting the divine. In fact, a small percentage of Tier Zero's can reflect magic back on the caster. This rare ability is called the Mundane Aegis and make useful Vindicators. T0s in general have a hard time in modern society because their touch is anathema to magic whether cast or enchanted. Because of this, most T0s are forced to wear protective gloves when coming in contact with enchanted materials like the wood of a zeppelin or ornithoptor.

Tier Seven - T7
Moving up to Tier Seven illicits the faintest of glows from the soulstone and is the category that most Gifted fall under. T7 have a wide ability range which can take them from a weak Artifex to a mid-level Alchemist. No T7 has thus far been able to apply successfully to the Magister's College. Tests for T7 include a "will manifestation exercise" which tests the student on their ability to strongly manifest willpower. Depending on the results of that exercise the T7 will be given applications to the Alchemist's Quorum or the Artifex Forge.

Tier Six - T6
Tier Six Gifted create a clearer glow from the soulstone and one that changes the stone's colour from it's distinctive purple to a deeper red. These individuals generally make up the mid-levels of the Artifex and Alchemist guilds but they are still generally refused from all but the lower rungs of the Magister's College. Most humans tend to fall between this Tier and the Fourth, making up about 47% of Tiers 4-6. Notable T6's include, Kestrel Adain and Hepthet Urd.

Tier Five - T5
Those in Tier Five are the first Tier to have a regular application acceptance rate to the Magister's College. The soulstone test with a T5 creates a bright blue shine and a soft humming. T5's are rarely find but in the highest realms of the Artifex guild and are more common in the Magister and Alchemist groups. T5 is also most commonly made up by the Shards of Elfdom, notably the Aei'kar and the Talo'kar. Humans make up a significant minority in T5 as well.

Tier Four - T4
Tier Fours are where truly amazing magical potential begins to manifest. Most Tier Fours become High Magisters and only in a singular case has a T4 become a member of a guild other than the Magisters, the Nua'dar Tuir'atelna the legendary Master Artifex. T4s tend to have a much greater magical effect on things. For instance, where a T6 or T5 would have to channel a potent fire spell for a few minutes in order to bring it to full strength, a T4 could take only seconds. Though this feat is not as impressive when one considers that a Tier One Gifted can spell something as strong as a firestorm in the blink of an eye, it is still an achievement. Tier Four and above is an incredibly low percentage even within the magical community, numbering only around 3%.

Tier Three - T3
Though uncommon sight outside the Spire, most Tier Threes are well known to the rest of the magical community. In recent years, most of the Table has been made up of Tier Three Gifted, even those guilds that do not normally have a T3 in their ranks are normally led by them. This leads many in the Spire to view T3s as more of a bureaucratic class than anything else. However, they are quite powerful in their own right though most never have the occasion to use it.

Tier Two - T2
These individuals are on a completely different level from most. Capable of seeing the very essence of magic, their flowing lines of energy as they connect all things, a T2 Gifted is a rare thing. Because of their years of study and training, most Mor'kar have attained the level of Tier Two though it is suspected that few were born to it. The Brightening might also have an effect on the Mor'kar's magical abilities and given that those selected fro the process are already T4 or above, a jump in magical power is not an unsurprising side effect.

Tier One - T1
A flawless diamond of Gift, a Tier One is an almost impossible combination of divine favour, parentage and luck. An almost god-like power imbues a T1. As such, they can effect great things on the world and in most cases they have. Fewer than .2% of the magical population is born into Tier One and there hasn't been a new one born since 2E 1034AS. Notable T1s have included the First High Magister Aei'klatharius D'uun, the Godqueen Amorantha, Eustace Frennen, and Iora Wraithborn.

Disciplines of Magic
There are varying disciplines, colleges, academies and orders that achieve expertise in a single area of magic. However, despite what many believe this does not limit a magic user to a single element or form, rather it is a mental constraint of the user. There are a few, many of them Mor'kar, who have mastered most magical disciplines over their long careers.

Aei'Khal
Ostensibly the first magical discipline to be employed. Recorded history from before the Schism shows that Aei'Khal was extensively used by the Aei'kar in the years leading up to the worldwide cataclysm. This magic concentrates on a harmonious connection with the natural world. Of the other magical disciplines, this is one of the few that is populated exclusively by a single race, the Aei'kar. For whatever reason, the natural world seems hesitant to connect with any but them. Some scholars have posited that the world only recognises the Aei'kar because of their status as the First Race.

Artifice
Artifice is the enchanting of mundane items with various magical energies. Often derided as a "weaker" form of magic by those who don't practice it, it has a strong stigma which keeps it from the popularity of the more direct schools, despite the lesser requirements for joining it. However, it has the benefit of being the only school which allows non-Gifted the use of magic (through artifacts). This has made Artifice very popular among those who value function over tradition, including geurilla military and intelligence groups, as well as many adventurers and soldiers of fortune.

Scribes
A small offshoot of Artifice, Scribes devote themselves to a singular focus on the working of scroll magics. Where most Artificers are content with the enchanting of mundane objects with some manner of power or another, a Scribe's focus on the written word

Shadan'Mo
One of the more popular disciplines within magic, Shadan'Mo is one that concentrates entirely on the manipulation of fire. A rather simple discipline requiring little Gift, Shadan'Mo has become the most populous disciplines within the magical community. Manipulation of fire has given the Shadan'Mo a slight stigma in the Mundane world, one that is not helped by an overwhelming number of renegades coming from this discipline. This statistic is easily explained by the sheer number of practitioners, with so many, it stands to reason that there would naturally be more renegades present.

Magical Sicknesses and Ailments
As with any skill that requires the user to channel large amounts of energy through one's (generally fragile) frame, there are dangers inherent in the use of any kind of magic. As most casters carry manashard on their persons, the most prevalent is shard sickness, though some races seem far more resilient to its effects than others. In particular, the Coalfolk, whose master artifex handle and mine raw shard on a regular basis, are affected little or not at all by the disease. This suggests that, despite many of its symptoms, shard sickness is an affliction of the flesh rather than the mind. Certain metals, particularly some of the more exotic alloys crafted by the Nua'dar, seem to prevent the ill effects of the shard though this is still in its trial phases.

Additionally, those who do not practice caution and discipline in the pursuit of magic can be afflicted with magefever. It should be interesting to note that this is a fairly new disease. From the records that remain of the pre-Schism era and artifacts discovered in cities from that time period, it appears that the Gifted were unaffected by such an ailment. This has led many at the Spire to deduce that it is a sickness given by the Gods as punishment for mortals' magical avarice. This being the pervading opinion, those afflicted with magefever are pariahs both in the magical and Mundane communities. Symptoms of the magefever vary widely but the more common include: hallucinations (both visual and auditory, usually the patient will also interact with these hallucinations), uncontrollable energy discharge, extreme paranoia and dizziness. It is rapidly degenaritive and leaves the patient as a highly dangerous paranoid. Because of the danger magefever poses to both the Gifted and the Mundane, they are usually quarantined and eventually euthanised. Those that escape are tracked and brought back to the Spire by the Vindicators.

Magically-Classified Materials (MCM)
These materials are those in which a magical ability or effect lie. These can range from a subtractive effect, a multiplicative result or even an explosive response.

Nullified
Though technically a class to itself, only one material is in this category of MCMs: Varrite. This singular metal is the only known substance to completely nullify the presence or effects of magic.

Subtractive
Magically resistant or those materials that actively weaken a spells effect fall under this category i.e. : shimmerplate, Var'khal mail.

Additive
Materials that increase the effects of magic even slightly are listed in this classification. I.e., spellsilk, sillis chitin.

Multiplicative
Those materials that increase magic to an even greater extent, especially when several items containing the material are collected together, are sorted into this category. I.e., erudium, manaweave

Unstable
These materials are considered highly dangerous to be around magic. They may react with violent and sometimes fatal results should a spell be worked in, at or around them, i.e., dukarium.