Tag: baota

Magic in Muunfel

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I did a post on this last year, which covered most of the basics.

This year I can go into the gods that govern magic: Gem and Baota.

Baota is the god of focusing and shaping magic, and is the patron of all who use magic without their own inherent connection to it. Enchanted items are his domain, and his followers have an easier time learning spells and techniques under his tutelage. He is able to redirect and ground out magic from beings that have their own inner magic, and that includes other gods, so very few tend to go up against him or try to slight him in some way.

When Baota takes a physical form, his skin is covered in geometric patterns that glow and pulse as energy moves over him. His markings provided some inspiration to the machinists of Genfierz, and enabled them to create some of the earliest working automatons.

Gem is Baota’s opposite. Where he is calm and focused, she is impulsive and quick to leap into an emotion. She is the god of freeflowing magic, and is the patron of beings that are connected to it. Magical locales are her domain and her followers emphasize adaptability over all else. She can tear spells apart with ease, and reshape magic into something she deems more natural for it. She and Baota have abilities that more or less cancel each other out, and this annoys her to no end.

When Gem manifests, she tends to avoid a fully humanoid form sometimes with extra limbs or the wrong shape of body. It’s rarely the same whenever she appears on earth, but one common feature is her hair. It is long and tied into many braids that are in constant motion around her head. Looking closely at the ends of them (if one is able to approach) reveals that the ends fade out of visibility; they are woven into the flow of magic itself, always moving with it.

Double Feature Pt. 2: Baota’s Battlemages

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Before the current archmage took his seat at Scytheshadow College, the rules were much stricter about what kind of studies could be conducted in the college. Development of new ways had stagnated for decades due to adherence to traditions and old ways. Many magic users became disillusioned with the place.

One of these up-and-coming mages was Zhabor Ito, a half-elf whose work on developing new and better magical foci put him close to the Scytheshadow Staff quite often. As he studied the famed focus, Zhabor came to some ideas about how magic could be used in relation to a focus.

Noting that many magic users don’t employ a focus at all, Ito argued that it was the person’s connection to the focus that gave it its efficacy. At the time, this was a radical idea. A focus was a tool, not an extension of the wizard.

Disagreeing, Ito eventually took his studies and what few acolytes he had and left the college. They were on a boat in the middle of the bay when Baota himself appeared to them.

The god of channeling magic blessed Ito’s work and confirmed that he was absolutely correct. With this encouragement, Ito and his followers founded their own small community separate from the college to develop their new school of thought.

Eventually, this lead to Ito and his students developing arcane weapons, weapons that could channel unique spells through them to cater to the fighter’s existing style. These battlemages trained and honed their skills and drew in more, both from the college and from elsewhere, and their fame grew. To this day, they accept new students, who are then trained in the art of crafting their own weapon and imbuing it with a personal connection. They are some of the most fluid battlemages Muunfel has ever seen.

“When the new archmage took over, he invited us to return to the college. With no hard feelings, I told him that we had formed our own community and settlement. We need room for training, anyway.” – Zhabor Ito, Battlemage of Baota

Magic and the People Using It

Neon Bright1 Comment

(Going with the theme suggestion from @worldbuildingjune because I’m not sure what else to do for today oops)

Magic is one of the three energies of the universe, winding through almost everything. It is the energy responsible for the Tamkind, and it also helped produce the gods and the Fae. These three categories of beings interact with magic in a different way.

The Tam (explained in an earlier post) channel magic directly through their bodies, storing it within themselves until they need to put it to use.

The Fae tend to mix natural forces with magic, resulting in some very intricate or very destructive and widespread magics. They are the least predictable of the bunch, and the chaotic tendencies of Nature explains why there are so many varieties of Fae.

The gods have long-lasting magic. Because they come from Time, they endure longer than the others and their magic threads through the ages. They exist to help other things exist, and for that they need to pack a lot of power.

Other beings (elves, humans, etc) are able to use magic, but they never channel it directly. They need a focus and a lot of practice, and sometimes it doesn’t work the way they want to. The god Baota is the patron of people like this, people tapping into the energies of Magic despite having no direct connection to it.

Muunfel: The Creation Mythos

Neon Bright1 Comment

The world on which Muunfel resides holds a myth about the Three energies of the universe: Time, Nature, and Magic. Vayla, the goddess of time and steward to Time itself is the only being in all of existence who holds the full account of how the world came to be. This is what she has spoken:

In the beginning, there were the Three.

Time brought order and direction.

Magic formed the ever-stirring energies and the constant heartbeat of existence.

Nature brought change and renewal.

When Time and Magic reached out to each other, the First Union began. Into existence came Creation. Leleurya, mother of all things, took form. With the Lullaby of Creation, Leleurya sang the roiling energies of the Three into the universe, giving form to existence. Time provided rules and reason for the world, Nature the ever-changing vigor, and Magic the life and foundation.

When energies awoke from their slumber, there came Destruction. Diakon, partner and counter to Leleurya, took form to awaken the sleeping energies and destroy what had been created. Existence was brought into balance as they circled each other in the endless dance, voices intertwining in harmony.

Leleurya saw the universe as a place for something new. With the Song of Life, Leleurya created living beings with bodies, minds, and souls. The earliest race of mortals, the precursor to humanity, was born. As the First Union continued, Cel and Sarin were drawn into existence to watch over the death of Leleurya’s creations, and the cycle of mortality began.

Nature, not a part of the First Union, began forming its own creations. The Darkind, wild beasts and monstrous creatures, roamed the newly-sleeping land with unchecked abandon. Time and Magic created the Four to act as stewards for Nature and its Dar.

Finally, Vayla and the Twins Baota and Gem came into existence as the First Union ended, ensuring that among the First Gods each of the Three had a patron.

As Mankind, Leleurya’s first creations, expanded over the world, Magic created the Tamkind, beings of magic, and Time created the Vaykind, beings of time.

The Second Union began when Nature and Magic collided with one another. It was as fruitful as it was unexpected. The Fae, wild, diverse people, were created. The Rights of Singularity were formed, allowing the cycle of Fae Dominion and giving an otherwise chaotic people a sense of order and balance.

When the first Una and Aubry answered the call, the Second Union ended.

The Third Union and final partnership among the Three was between Nature and Time.

Polar opposites, their Union was difficult and fleeting. Elfkind, creatures of balance and chaos both, came to be. A number of varieties were created. The Ether elves, the last of all races to be created, were unfinished when the Third Union ended.