Rules of Magic in the Mythoverse

The Mythoverse is a universe in which magic is accessible to all regardless of parentage or aptitude. Some may be more receptive than others, but magic on the whole, like fire, is an elemental force that has always existed and that anyone may utilize. Unfortunately, like fire, it is a good servant but a bad master. Highly useful but also catastrophically dangerous when mismanaged, it is not a thing to be taken lightly.

Throughout history the ready availability of magic has led to countless world changing and threatening events, many of which drew the attention of truly horrific dark entities which sought to slake their bottomless appetites on the helpless inhabitants of the worlds they subjugated. On our earth, the situation grew increasingly chaotic and dangerous, leading to the eventual formation of The Order of the Carolingian Cross, a fellowship of holy warriors who sought to contain and control the misuse of magic.

Paladin Magic

Philosophy

The magic utilized by the order of the Carolingian Cross was initially developed under a philosophy of defense, denial, and restoration, over outright direct imposition of force. While that may have changed since the days of Charlemagne, the echoes of the order’s original purpose and mission remain to this day.

First and foremost, four major dictums guide the actions of a Paladin in combat.

A Paladin leads. A Paladin is a wall. A Paladin is a force multiplier. A Paladin is the first to die.

Most of a Knight’s training revolves around amplifying the efficacy and resilience of the fighting force they lead, through various implementations of defensive or augmentative magic. A Knight first learns to manifest these effects in relation to himself, later expanding to encompass a single companion, then a squad, a regiment, a battalion, and even an army. The Holy Emperor Charlemagne, the world’s first and greatest Exemplar, could extend his power and protection over several legions simultaneously, turning them into an inexorable and irresistible juggernaut of divine retribution that swept all before it.

In combat, above all, a Paladin must draw and attract the danger to himself, where he can best mitigate, manage or redirect it, even if this results in his death. To die in defense of those he is sworn to protect is the duty and hope of all Knights.

Categories

There are three essential categories in a Paladin’s Magical Repertoire.

Blessings

A blessing is a type of incantation that is used for restorative effects on oneself or others, or for defensive effects on others. Healing a wound, restoring sight or a lost limb, or curing poison or disease are all examples of blessings. Providing a holy bulwark, or greatly enhanced strength or speed for a battle mate would also fall under this category, as would the consecration of any object for use as a weapon.

Prayers

A prayer is used when the Paladin needs to empower himself; the often used combat mobility spells that make a Knight so terrifying in combat are the most common examples. A more advanced form of prayer is the manifestation of the Paladin’s Oath, or Spirit Weapon. This weapon is unique to each Paladin and often takes a form that reflects the nature of the individual Knight’s innermost soul.

Exactions

An Exaction is used when the Paladin calls upon the holy light to directly smite or destroy an opponent. Depending on the level of conviction and power the Knight possesses, an exaction can be a truly terrifying thing to behold; ranging from a simple rebuke to momentarily stun a lowly ghoul, to blazing white holy firestorms that can lay waste to entire cities. Charlemagne and his 12 peers employed the latter to overwhelming effect when facing the rampaging forces of a chromatic dragon and her ravenous brood.

Source

A Paladin’s power is derived from the strength of their belief and conviction in its own reality. The greater a Paladin’s conviction that what they are about to do is real, the more potent their prayers. The main difference between a Paladin and a Wizard is that a Wizard seeks to impose his will on the world, whereas a Paladin enacts the will of God. It is this firm conviction that has led the Paladins to rise to power over the human world and its use of magic.

The magical energy itself is powered by the Paladin’s own bodily energy. Each prayer, blessing or exaction consumes calories; if there are no excess calories to burn, the Paladin’s magic will begin to consume the Paladin’s own body directly. This is referred to as “blunting,” and any damage caused in this manner is irreversible; like arable, fertile land that was burned down to bedrock. Thus, a Knight must constantly be aware of their level of exertion and compensate accordingly.

Substantiation

The act of creating real world effects through a Blessing, Prayer, or Exaction is called substantiation. A Paladin accomplishes this through his belief in the reality of the effect, and then finally by declaring his intent out loud. Far more advanced Knights are capable of nonverbal declaration, but this is known to be almost tortuously difficult for the inexperienced.

To declare his intent, a Paladin need only speak a word or phrase that best embodies and amplifies his belief. The form this word or phrase takes is unimportant, as long as it accomplishes the above task. The declaration can be in any language, and can even be nonsensical; in the end, it’s up to the individual Paladin to make it work. This is referred to as finding the voice of your light.

Interrupting a declaration can potentially disrupt the effect of the given Blessing, Prayer, or Exaction. In the case of Adobe Kroger, a speech impediment could result in unpredictable, often hazardous consequences.

Raiment

A Paladin without his consecrated equipment is fighting with one hand behind his back. Not only does this special gear provide extraordinarily beneficial properties to enhance the Knight’s competitive prowess, it does so without the need to expend the Knight’s own energy. This alleviates the threat of blunting and greatly expands the Knights resilience, longevity, and efficacy in battle. Although a sufficiently powerful Knight is capable of exerting tremendous force without Raiments, It is when a Knight is fully clad that he truly becomes an opponent born of nightmares.

There are five principal categories of Raiment, in ascending order of potency, they are:

Light Combat Regalia

The most commonly seen and used. Adobe Kroger wears a full set in the first issue of Adobe Kroger - Dame Commander.

The individual articles of Light Combat Regalia are:

Anorak

An undershirt, typically black. Although it is as light and flexible as cotton, it is fully fireproof, acid proof, and is capable of deflecting the thrust of a combat knife or bayonet on its own. When worn, a strength prayer is automatically substantiated, increasing the wearer’s natural strength five fold. A knight may substantiate his own strength prayer to augment this effect, and requires no further energy expenditure to maintain it.

Greaves

Pants, typically resembling military issue; indistinguishable to an uninformed onlooker from ordinary clothing. On their own, they can withstand forces that would shatter bone, and are fireproof and acid proof like the Anorak. When worn, they substantiate a vertical mobility prayer, enabling a user to leap the equivalent of a city street, or roughly two to three stories, which can vary based on ability. As with the Anorak, a Knight may substantiate his own mobility prayer to augment the effect without additional energy expenditure.

Sabatons

Boots, typically resembling standard military issue. They are as sturdy as the items above, and substantiate a Speed prayer, enabling most inexperienced wearers to run comfortably at speeds between 35-45 mph. As above, they can be augmented by a Knight’s prayer.

Gauntlets

Gloves, typically black. They are as sturdy as the items above, and prevent the wearer from being disarmed. They also enable the wearer to recall a weapon they willingly release to their grasp.

Greatcoat

Usually resembles a black duster/overcoat. When worn, it substantiates a shield prayer, which provides extreme protection from most mundane or magical force, again made stronger by a Knight’s own shield prayer. The jacket also augments the power of all of the other pieces of the kit substantially, which allows a fully adorned knight that has substantiated his own prayers to be a truly fearsome opponent, capable of overcoming most mundane or paranormal threats singlehanded.

(optional) sheathes

Heavy Combat Regalia

For extreme combat. Much of the same rules from LCR apply to HCR, but HCR more closely resembles tactical combat armor. HCR is visibly more than ordinary, with holy sigils glowing whitish blue, as a means of containing/channeling the increased potency of the equipment.

HCR is broken down into the same categories, but their power is 4 times as great as LCR. A Knight in this kit becomes, for all intents and purposes, a main battle tank, capable of near impossible levels of endurance, resilience, and combat power. Only the most capable Sentinels are permitted to train in the use of this gear.

The individual pieces of Heavy Combat Regalia are:

Anorak Greaves Sabatons Gauntlets Greatcoat

(optional) sheathes

Champion Regalia

Worn only by the heads of each of the minor three branches of the order and their immediate lieutenants, as well as any sufficiently accomplished and distinguished Knight of lesser rank. It is rare to see a Knight clad in Champion Regalia unless the situation truly calls for a show of overwhelming force, because the use of these raiments can cause severe collateral damage.

By way of comparison, Champion Regalia outmatches HCR by 200%.

Sanctified Regalia

There are only 13 sets of Sanctified Regalia at any one time; each is worn by an Exemplar, and only under the most dire of circumstances. A sufficiently powerful Knight clad in a full set of Sanctified Regalia approaches the power of the divine.

Charlemagne’s Regalia

It is said that the suit of armor worn by Charlemagne himself still exists, but many consider this to be apocryphal. If this were true, one can only imagine what a wearer would be capable of.

Basic training

A Knight is trained to resist all poison, disease, inebriation or charm, but they must willingly do so. Adobe Kroger often jokes that she “could stop herself from getting drunk, but chooses not to.”

A Knight is trained to gain a high degree of sensitivity toward the above threats, giving him ample opportunity to resist.

A Knight’s training fundamentally changes him. Constant immersion in and exposure to the holy light renders them poisonous to creatures like vampires or other entities that feed on living flesh. Most vampires become violently ill from even a taste of a Paladin's blood, and too much could mean death.

Common Spells

Most Knights are trained in the use of these Blessings, Prayers, and Exactions before being permitted on active duty without a senior Knight leading, or to even be considered the lowest level of Sentinel (Acolyte Sentinel, third class).

Prayers

Shield prayer - defense against harm Speed prayer - increased movement Vertical mobility prayer - increased ability to leap horizontally or vertically Strength prayer - increased strength

Blessings

Restorative blessing - healing wounds Curative blessing - curing poison Shield blessing - providing the effects of a shield prayer to another Consecrate Weapon - strengthening/toughening a weapon, tool or object

Exactions

Rebuke (single target) - disorients/knocks back a paranormal creature Repel evil (Area effect rebuke) - as above, with a constant area effect

Advanced Spells

Below are some examples of effects that require significantly more experience to substantiate.

Prayers

Oath - Manifest a spirit weapon of pure light, of greater strength and durability than any earthly equivalent. Divinity - Draw upon the holy light to greatly increase the effects of all existing prayers and exactions. Ascension - Temporarily ascend to the level of the Seraphim, Allowing for bursts of extraordinary power. Highly intensive and exhausting, this prayer should be used only to finish a foe when all else fails. Exemplar are often the only Knights capable of maintaining this prayer for any meaningful span of time. Merely standing too close to a Knight who has substantiated this prayer can be fatal; Adobe Kroger suffered severe internal and external injuries while exposed to its effects, even under the protection of a powerful shield prayer.

Blessings

Strength Blessing - provide the effects of a strength prayer to another Mobility Blessing - provide the effects of a mobility prayer to another Mind Lock Blessing - allow an ally or allies to instinctively possess all of the combat skill and experience of the casting Paladin, turning green troops into lethal opponents instantly. Unity Blessing - allow an ally or allies to instinctively receive direction from the casting Paladin’s thoughts, allowing for extreme tactical efficiency. Consecrate weapons (multiple targets) - provide the effects of a Consecrate weapon blessing to an ally or allies, can be applied to melee weapons and firearms. Tranquility - Calm the anxiety or trauma of an ally or allies.

Exactions

Suggestion - Provides the casting Paladin with undeniable authority. All affected individuals will see the Paladin as whatever authority figure they are most inclined to obey. Exorcism - Destroy a wandering spirit, or expel a powerful creature’s soul to its home plane. Draw Soul - Bring a powerful creature’s soul into our plane, allowing it to be permanently destroyed; best used in conjunction with Obliteration (below). Revelation - Forcibly extract all of a subject’s thoughts and memories, or reveal an entity's true form. Highly traumatic to the subject. Obliteration - Utterly destroy an entity’s body and soul, preventing the soul from escaping to another plane, and preventing the body from ever being reanimated or revived. Sloth - Place supernatural encumbrance upon the target, slowing it and forcing the target to expend an excessive amount of energy to perform basic movements, greatly reducing their efficacy in combat. Mirror Soul - Essentially a reverse, offensively oriented version of the Mind Lock blessing, enabling a Knight to read and anticipate an opponent. Cleansing Fire - Call upon the holy light to incinerate an area. Efficacy and range of the effect increases with experience. Effect is centered around the paladin, but can be targeted to a specific area if the Paladin has achieved sufficient mastery. As this causes extreme collateral damage, it is often used sparingly. Purgation - Completely deny an area to dark entities, utterly obliterating lesser creatures if they enter the area and repelling even the most powerful for a short time. Most churches in the use of the order have this effect continuously applied.

Origins of Paladin Magic

The Holy Roman Emperor Charlamagne was responsible for granting humanity access to all of the above magic, and he did so to free humanity from the continuous threat of supernatural incursion into our world. It was, in essence, a counter attack, with the end goal of acting as an impregnable bulwark against the likes of ancient chaos gods and other rapacious entities. While these entities may not have been able to be defeated permanently, they were able to be held at bay for the (relative) long term.

The nexus of all power used by the order of the Carolingian cross lies at the peak of Jungfraujoch in Switzerland, the location of Charlamagne’s first vigil. Very few are privy to the entire truth, but it is at this point that a colossal tear between worlds was sealed by the conviction of the holy Emperor, and the power of an ancient creator god, born of the collective faith of humanity, was bestowed upon Charlamagne, granting him the ability to subdue and defeat the beings which threatened to devour all life.

Were this nexus of power on the peak of the mountain range to be discovered and somehow destroyed, the strength of the order would be undone and the world would once again be at the mercy of the entities Charlamagne expelled. Fortunately for the world at large, the true nature of this sacred location has been largely lost to time.

Fae Magic

Short version fae magic is a type of magic that is accessible to only the fae themselves or changelings as they are born of fae blood. Different fae clans have spells unique to them and cannot be learned by anyone else. Fae spell also have specific conditions they can be performed under with equally specific effects. All fae have the ability to grant boons through signing contracts with mortals. This is extremely unwise as fae will do one of two things with a contract; either word it in such a way that it benefits them at the expense of the mortal, or they will find ways to follow the letter of the contract without obeying its spirit (Again at the mortal’s expense). The defining theme of the fae’s magic is manipulation. Manipulation of the senses, perception, the mind, or even outright illusions, nothing is what it seems where the fae are concerned.

Fae and changelings are vulnerable to iron, and their magic can’t affect it either. Fae are creatures born from dreams and imagination, and iron represents cold logic which is anathema to them.

Glamour - Illusory magic used to disguise fae and changelings as human

Fetch - Magic that allows fae to turn random objects into dopplegangers of themselves. Fetches are incredibly weak and disappear after a single hit.

Banshee magic - Scream that paralyzes those who hear it with fear, the ability to meld with shadows and darkness for camouflage, receive visions of a person’s possible death, can phase through solid objects

Bavahnsee magic - feed on human blood for sustenance, can gain skills/abilities/memories of those they feed off, retractable claws, gaze that magically charm men into obeying their commands if they make eye contact

Pooka - Can shapeshift into an animal form, can command animals they have an affinity toward, can magically escape bonds (exceptions being iron)

Mythics Magic

Introduction

The Mythic Order uses magic only in extreme circumstances, the domination of the Order of the Carolingian Cross over the world had forced the Mythic Order to be a secretive order with their headquarters in the realm of the Valan. While all humans have the ability for magic, those that are recruited are those with an innate ability to use magic without over a decade’s worth of training.

Magic does reside in all living beings, however the Mythic Order takes from the most sensitive with magic.

Basic Magic

The basic form of magic is the beginning stage for the Elemental, Restoration, Destruction, and Mysticism.

Advanced Magic

Advanced magic involves Support which involves advanced healing, negating, and strengthening the magic of another, as well as more advanced magic of the basic magic category.

Spellwriting

A mythic is capable of writing new spells to fit the appropriate situation they’re in. Spellwriting is a way to use magic without drawing the attention of the paladins, and while effective, it takes time for a mythic to write and perfect a new spell. Most mythics dislike how long it takes for spellwriting, but those that do often talk about their enjoyment of writing the new spells, as though it puts them more in tune with the supernatural elements.

Those proficient in spellwriting tend to gravitate toward writing, or artistic professions.

The mechanics of spellwriting involves focusing the user’s energy into the glyphs to give them power, and the arrangement, and combination of the glyphs to create either a powerful attack, or defense.

Familiars

Familiars are spirits that are attached to mythics whom are unable to naturally control their powers. The bonding between humans and spirits is a practice that has been going on since the beginning of time. The affinity between the two races is currently unexplained, though there are theories that when spirits die, they’re reborn into humans, and vice versa. The bond between a spirit and a human lasts as long as the human lives. The death of a bonded partner causes severe depression in the survivor, and if left untreated, it can lead to suicide.