EDRulebook: 10 Workings of Magic

Magic is the key to our civilization and the source of our greatest challenge. Without magic, our world would be far more primitive, but at least we wouldn't have faced the scourge.
-- Mestoph, Elven Nethermancer

Magic is at the heart of the Earthdawn game. It is the source of the characters’ abilities and it is the Horrors’ path to the world. Magic is a part of everyday life in Earthdawn. It is used to light villages and towns at night, as well as to battle the remnants of the Horrors. Heroes use magic to become legends, while the Horrors and those who serve them use it to spread their corruption and evil over the world. As the history of Barsaive and the rest of the world is played out, magic will play the central role.

[The Magician Naal] This section describes how magic came to the world of Earthdawn, the theory behind how it works, and how characters can manipulate it to their advantage. It also provides the basics on two of the three different types of magic, thread magic and blood magic. Thread magic tells players how to find and learn to use the magical treasures scattered across Barsaive that will increase their status as heroes. Blood magic is a special use of magic that allows characters to strengthen their magic-wielding powers. We devote an entire separate chapter to the third type of magic, spell magic, which allows characters to shape and power spells by drawing magical energy from astral space to the physical plane.

THE CYCLE OF MAGIC

Over the course of time, the magic level of the world of Earthdawn grows and subsides, at times imbuing the denizens of the world with magical abilities, at other times not.

The positive side of this magical cycle is that for periods of up to 5,000 years, the world is magically active. On the negative side, the surge of magical energy enables dreadful creatures from astral space to cross into the physical world. These creatures are collectively known as the Horrors. At the peak of the magical energy cycle, the Horrors cross into the physical world, laying waste to the land in an orgy of destruction known as the Scourge. (See Creatures for detailed information about the Horrors.)

Sages across Barsaive theorize that this cresting of the magic cycle has occurred at least one other time in the past, bringing an earlier Scourge. According to the few documents remaining from that time, the level of magic dropped steadily after the Scourge ended, eventually disappearing altogether. After the most recent Scourge, however, the magic level ebbed but did not disappear. Magic scholars in Barsaive projected that by the end of the Scourge, the world’s magic level would have reached a certain point, then continued to drop. In fact, the Scourge ended earlier than predicted, and instead of steadily ebbing away, the magic level simply stopped dropping and then remained steady. The magic level has remained stable and relatively high for the past 80 years. Many scholars have devoted their lives to unraveling this mystery. Others believe that the workings of magic and the Universe are beyond our ken, and we shouldn’t even attempt to comprehend its deeper ways. Though debate over the ambient magical energy of the world rages on, one thing remains true. The magic level of the world has stabilized, and it is possible that this age of magic will endure for all time. [Earth View]

ASTRAL SPACE

Any discussion of magic must include an explanation of astral space. Essentially, astral space is another dimension of our own world. It exists on a different plane than the physical one on which we exist, but the two planes are inextricably linked. Indeed, they are interdependent, for astral space cannot exist without our world, nor can ours exist without the astral. The biggest difference between the way our world looks to us and the way it appears astrally is that, when viewed from astral space, we perceive the glow emanating from all living beings—a glow that represents their life energy. Living beings include not only people and animals, but also plant life, elemental air, earth, fire, water, and wood, and the magical energy of the world.

The current high level of magic makes incredible feats of magic possible, but the only way to access that magical energy is via astral space. The people and creatures who use magic do so by drawing energy from astral space into the physical world. As the magic level rises, beings can actively perceive astral space, an ability known as astral perception. Astral perception and the nature of astral space are more fully described below.

Only through astral perception can magical energy be manipulated. A being must be able to perceive magical energy in order to manipulate it, and magical energy is only visible in astral space. All the talents available to characters in Earthdawn are magical in nature and allow Adepts to manipulate magical energy. For example, an Adept’s use of Karma is just another method of magical manipulation, accomplished through a character’s force of will.

NATURE OF ASTRAL SPACE

During the approximately 400 years of time known as the Scourge the Horrors from the depths of astral space roamed the physical world, leaving it ravaged and scarred, populated by twisted creatures, a pale reflection of its former splendor. Because the Horrors are astral in nature, the harm they did to the physical plane was reflected in astral space. During the Scourge, the Horrors corrupted the very nature of astral space.

Under most normal conditions (depending on what is normal for astral space), the astral plane is imbued with magical energy that appears as misty, swirling streams of energy, similar to wisps of smoke. The Scourge polluted that magical energy, poisoning the very fabric of astral space itself. The view of the astral is now obscured by black, inky swirls, a residue of the Horrors’ corruptive influence. This pollution can cause serious damage to magicians and Adepts unless they use magical energies with great care. This pollution makes casting raw magic (see Raw Magic in the Spell Magic section) unpredictable and dangerous.

The only way an Adept or magician trained in a Discipline can use magic without fear of damage from the polluted astral plane is by first learning to draw pure astral energy from the polluted energy. The ability to draw pure energy from astral space is an integral part of any magician’s training, as is forming that pure energy into spell matrix constructs. The matrix acts as a filter, allowing magicians and Adepts to draw pure energy from astral space while at the same time shielding their magical activity from the Horrors. The Horrors generally cannot detect the use of magic to weave threads and power spell matrices, but they always notice the use of raw magic, because a character who uses raw magic draws both polluted and pure magical energy into the physical plane.

[Astral Space]

ASTRAL SENSING

Astral perception is a dangerous activity in the world of Earthdawn. To fully perceive astral space, a character (or being) must concentrate on forming an image of himself in astral space, essentially creating a huge projection guaranteed to attract any Horror’s notice. Fortunately, the talents, spells, and abilities characters use for astral “perception” allow a limited type of astral viewing called astral sensing. Astral sensing allows a viewer to sense the magical energies, the astral imprints and images of people, places, and things present in astral space, but does not force him to see astral space itself. Essentially, astral sensing allows characters and beings to view the auras of magical beings and items. A character who has an astral form can be noticed by creatures who inhabit astral space, as well as by others actively perceiving astral space, making the character vulnerable to astral attacks. Its polluted nature makes astral space an very unnerving sight for most viewers, and magicians perceiving astral space can become disoriented quickly.

Many tales tell of those who attempted to view astral space directly and ended up either insane or dead at the hands of the Horrors. The presence of the Horrors alone discourages most characters from even attempting astral perception.

MAGIC IN OUR WORLD

The following is from Writings of Jaron, a magical treatise dated 435 TH. Both the Eternal Library of Thera and the Great Library of Throal still consider this work the definitive explanation of magic.

When discussing the workings of magic, one must first consider the role that magic plays in our lives. Magic is a part of all things, animate and inanimate. Its energies permeate us and everything around us.
My fellow scholars call this age of powerful, ever-present magic the Age of Magical Thought. They contend that magic is such a fundamental part of our daily existence that it pervades our every thought and action. Building on that principle, they argue that as the magic of our world affects our thoughts and actions, so too do our actions and thoughts affect the magic of our world. This basic tenet explains the existence of heroes. As those adventuring men and women we call heroes learn to use magic to perform their valiant deeds, their understanding of magic grows. As their understanding of magic grows, they learn to use ever more powerful magics to reach their goals. And as ordinary people hear of and admire their deeds as actions worthy of heroes, these heroes continue to behave more like other, legendary heroes. Magic affects our actions and thoughts, and our thoughts and actions affect magic.
The workings of magic in our world are diverse and complex. I endeavor to explain them here to the best of my understanding, in the hope that my attempt leads others to an even greater understanding of magic than my own.