MAGIC

Magical energy exists throughout the universe. Some was created when the universe was formed, as a "shadow" of the regular matter and energy which formed at the same time. As the "regular" matter and energy of the universe formed itself into galaxies, stars, and planets, so did the magical energies coalesce. In some places, where conditions were right, the magical energy was concentrated enough to become "alive." These beings of pure magical energy could affect regular matter and energy; they were of varying levels of power. Most were quite weak, but some few controlled vast amounts of power. The difference between a god and a puny air elemental is one of degree, not kind. As a general rule, these beings draw their power and existence from the place where they came into being, and do not stray from that place. (There are exceptions, which will be covered below.)

Physical living beings also generate magical energy; the more advanced the creature, the more intense the energy. This energy is shaped and focused by the power of one's will--assuming that one has the necessary talent to do so. Not everyone can become a wizard, and not every wizard can become a great wizard.

Spells:

Theoretically, anyone with magical talent can produce an effect simply by concentrating. In practice, this takes immense training and single-mindedness. The vast majority of wizards use aids to concentration, i.e., spells. Here is where the diversity comes in--the METHODS various schools use to shape and focus that energy vary wildly. Some wizards use chanted spells, some use objects, some use gestures--just about anything you can imagine has been used somewhere. Not all schools of wizardry realize that all magic is one under the skin. Many honestly believe that their magic is fundamentally different from everyone else's. This is especially true of priestly schools, many of which make it an article of faith.

Some people's personalities or mental quirks make them better suited to one school of magic than to another--obviously a tone-deaf man would have a hard time learning a system based on musical sequences. Even within a particular school, spells are modified or discarded constantly. The mark of a really good wizard is the ability to take a generic spell and modify it so that it works best for him.

Because one is most in tune with one's own energy, the most complex and delicate spells are best performed by someone who is drawing upon their own personal magic. However, there are some wizards who prefer raw power. This can be obtained in several ways: 1) Draw on the ambient magic left over from the creation of the universe. This doesn't always work--there isn't all that much left. 2) Draw on the loaned power of someone/something else--a priest might call upon his/her god for a miracle, for example, or several wizards might pool their powers for an especially demanding spell. 3) Take the energy from other living things around you. At its worst, this involves human sacrifice.

Items:

Objects can be invested with a particular spell, and enough magical energy to cast the spell a specified number of times when a certain trigger is used. Higher-quality magical items will have a permanent link to a source of energy, allowing them to be used indefinitely.

Items, spells, spirits/demons/gods/whatevers and wizards from other universes will NOT be able to function as effectively in Ghea's universe as in their own. This is because each universe's magical energy has different vibrations or wavelengths, and spells/items etc. designed to work on one frequency will not work as well at a different one. A spirit from another universe, which actually exists on a different frequency, may find it painful to be in a universe not its own. One can, with time and training, learn to adapt the magic of one universe to another, but it is not easy.

Gods, demons, etc.:

It may be noted that there are dozens, nay, hundreds of different magical creatures recorded as existing on Ghea--dryads, ghosts, elementals, pixies, you name it. None of them really exist. The way it works is like this:

An anonymous spirit exists in a forest somewhere. It is a typical spirit, a being of pure magical energy, able to alter limited amounts of matter and energy within a few hundred yards of its "home base." It has limited intelligence. It has never been contacted by a human being. Three hunters walk into the forest and into the spirit's domain.

The first hunter feels vaguely uneasy, as if someone is watching him.

The second hunter, who has a little more innate magical talent, senses the spirit. He knows there are wolves in the forest. The spirit absorbs the idea of "wolf" from the hunter's memory, and perhaps is influenced to take on the physical form of a wolf.

The third hunter is horny, and dreaming about beautiful women. Again, the spirit takes its cue from the hunter's thoughts.

The three hunters return to their village, each telling tales of the weird presence in the wood--but the first hunter mentions only a weird feeling, while the other two tell tales of werewolves or dryads. Over the years, other mortals hear these tales and enter the wood carrying their own preconceptions, and the spirit in the wood takes on the characteristics that humans assign to it. After a certain point, the physical form it can take on becomes fixed--that is, if a spirit has been manifesting as a dryad for five hundred years, it's decided that it IS a dryad, and you won't be able to change it into a werewolf by thinking at it. Thus one finds distinctive types of supernatural creature in different parts of Ghea, according to the local beliefs: fenniths in the Karnhorn Empire, dryads and wood-fays in the Ardiventi Barony, and so on.

Now, more powerful, more intelligent spirits, in the demon/demigod range are not so limited, but even gods are, to some extent, influenced by their worshippers. For example, Mantor COULD manifest as a giant three-toed sloth if he really wanted to, but he doesn't usually.

Please note that the English word "demon" is being used to translate a term which means simply "powerful supernatural being." Alastari and Ghea do NOT have a Hell, a Satan, an Asmodeus, or any other devil, demon, angel or god from Earth. The beings that Gheans refer to as demons are not necessarily evil; but they are powerful and their motives are often inscrutable. It is not wise to mess around with them.

When attempting to call or control a spirit, a wizard has two options: call one which has been already named and more or less settled into being something, or try to call up a brand new one which s/he can mold to his/her liking. (Though this last may sound attractive, it's HARD. And most of the unnamed spirits left to be called are on the level of a minor poltergeist, power-wise. No tame demi-gods allowed.)

It is to be noted that while most spirits are limited to a particular area of influence, some have managed to get around this limitation. A spirit which has been bound to a wizard as a familiar, for example, has transferred its attachment from a place to a person, and can go anywhere the wizard does. Some of the gods have transferred their attachments from a particular place to a race of people--i.e., Demnat and the Aruaki. On the other hand, many gods remain in an area regardless of what the humans do--Dannesjoh Quickhand, for example, who has remained in the Shewish Forest throughout the reigns of the Van Empire, the Shewish Empire, the Frafejan Empire, the Ferencian colonization, and the current Karnhorn Empire. (See Gods for further information.)

MAIDEN HAIR

Maiden hair is a very dark green almost black moss which is native to the Syrinwald. It was domesticated by the Mordanti. Maiden hair is harvested and dried. The resulting material is then used as pipe weed. There are several sedative and mildly hallucinogenic compounds in maiden hair. It is physiologically addictive and excessive use can lead to a loss of higher brain function and delusions.

MARIK

Baron Marik of Deshanse (a non-arena Aruaki city) is a high-placed member of the Andorian Assasssins' Guild, head of the King's Eyes for the Aruaki Clanhold. He is a typical Aruaki in appearance, about 45, a widower with a son and daughter. Marik is one of those people who is always so sure of his own correctness in any situation that arguing with him is an exercise in frustration; he is efficient, reasonably loyal to the League and the Clanhold, autocratic, and expects to do well out of his position in the Guild, eventually getting more power; he sees himself as the logical next head of the King's Eyes, when Vri'in Zan becomes head of the Guild as a whole. His son, Devaan, is a quiet, self-effacing young man who actually runs the Barony; his daughter, Tayriin, is extremely wild.

MARK

The common copper coin of Dullens. It is worth about the price of a night's lodging and a meal at a reasonably decent inn.

MEJOBOOL

See Jobool.

MERE DRAGON

A large, non-sentient therapsid living in the deserts south of Alastari. Mere dragons are about the size of a small horse, four-legged and reptilian in appearance, though their hides have coarse, sparse hair rather than scales. Though slow, their heavy claws and whip-like tails make them formidable foes, and their bite is poisonous. The poison flows from glands located behind the incisors, and is not "injected" as most snake venom is. Mere dragons must get a good bite on their victim and grind the venom into the wound.

Mere dragons were tamed and trained as mounts by the Folstom Empire ages ago, before the Folstom mastered the art of enslaving true dragons. Vicious in a fight, the mere dragon cavalry is still remembered with a shudder in some of the more southerly Alastarian cities, though in most places legends of the Folstrom invasion focus on the devastation wrought by the true dragons. (See Dragon)

Modern mere dragons do not seem to correspond with ancient descriptions of the animal; there are definite indications that mere dragons as a species may at one time have been intelligent, and closer in abilities to the "true" dragons. It is speculated that the large number of mere dragons who were present at the last battle of the Folstrom, when the destruction magic was released, suffered some sort of genetic damage as a result. On the other hand, records of the ages between the Folstrom wars and the present are quite incomplete, and it is possible that the ancient accounts are speaking of an entirely different animal, since extinct.

Most of what is sold as dragon steak, dragon hide, dragon bone, and so on in Alastari is mere-dragon products.

MORIK INTOR

High-placed member of the Andorian Assassins' Guild, head of the King's Hands, the assassins proper. He is a Raltuman, about 40, a widower (may have killed his wife). He is secretive by nature, very controlled, but has a cruel streak which he hides. Little is known about him, even by his fellow department heads within the guild; he is presumed to be loyal to the Guild and the League.

MORTIMEER

One of Urlick's henchmen, used for anything Urlick didn't want to dirty his own hands with. Mortimeer was a sadist who enjoyed torturing small animals to death, and scrupled at nothing. He disappeared at the same time Urlick and Kristina left.

MOSSRUNNER

Colloquial term for smuggler and/or drug dealer in the Mordanti Alliance.

MOSS TEA

A green hanging moss native to the Syrinwald. Moss tea was domesticated by the Mordanti. The moss is harvested, sun dried then roasted. The roasting brings out flavor and unlocks a caffeine-like chemical from the cell walls of the plant. It is steeped in hot water to produce a popular morning beverage.