Post by Azuloth on Apr 17, 2017 14:13:37 GMT -5
-This text is available in the Korasuan Public Library.
Theories Pertaining to Magic and it's Related Fields of Study
--By: Kataria Av'Surusan
--Written in: Drokagr
In introduction magic is a force that exists outside of normal natural forces. It is understood, widely, that the world would continue to exist without magic, and though life would be different, there would be no apocalyptic natural transition the world would suffer through should access to magic be removed. It is on this understanding that magical theory is built upon. Understanding that it is a mutable force that changes the state of things that regularly occur in nature is indeed the basics of Thaumaturgy and Channeling.
Thaumaturgy itself is a miracle work in that something that did not exist before came into existence through the projection of willpower and energy. Many scholars see Thaumaturgy as an unnatural use of the powerthat the natural state of the world tries to push back against. Of the two forms it is considered most violent and most useful. Thaumaturgy requires much more energy from the Wellspring to accomplish anything.
Channeling in its Nature is the transformation of mass and energy from one form to another, using the given materials around the caster as fuel or bending the material to the casters will with the application of energy. A channeler could in theory divert a river given enough energy and mastery over the element. On the other hand a thaumaturgist could simply create one. Channelers thus operate under a stricter set of rules imposed by nature itself. If there is no light nor heat a channeler cannot create either.
The Wellspring is the place from which magical energy flows. Most creatures have an inborn reservoir of magical energy called The Pool. As far as modern study has indicated tapping the wellspring directly is impossible and all energy from it used in spellcasting of any type comes from the various pools. Over time the wellspring fills all pools to their natural banks. These banks can be extended through practice on the part of the spellcaster.
It is not understood where the wellspring is, how it fills naturally existing pools, and what it's effect on nature is. It is understood that its flow is unnatural. Planar studies show that the wellspring is outside of traveling spaces. No pioneer has ever been able to find its location by following the direction of the flow. Across all documented expeditions only 35% of the pioneers returned alive, the other 65% returning only as retrieved articles. This subject, though interesting is only anecdotally noteworthy in this volume and is more deeply covered in the various research materials devoted specifically to these expeditions.
Magic has many related fields of study follow broad branches that can be broken down into specific categories.
The ability to manipulate magic from ones own pool and unguarded or acquired additional pools of wellspring energy is believed to be a familial trait that passes along all sentient creatures through either parent. Indeed, the ability manipulate magic and sentience in the race are correlated in some fashion, as some creatures that classify as animals can manipulate magic on some level and hold an amount of intelligence that leads to the conclusion of a presence of ruling thought over instinct. In constructs such as golems it is understood that the ability to manipulate magic preceded the semblance of intelligence in the construct. Many golems and guardians can speak in short sentences and follow basic commands. In conclusion the correlation is understood yet the specific detail of which is the cause and which is the effect remains to be proven.
A topic that makes the previous theory difficult to fully describe is the presence of extra-spatial creatures and their placement in the natural order. It is understood that for lack of a better term gods exist. Whether or not their power or the power of their creations strictly classifies as wellspring magic has yet to be determined. This particular field of study is not recommended for singular pursuit as it is inherently dangerous. Extra-spatial beings are definitively hostile to the denizens of our world, contact with one of these beings typically reduces the researchers survival rate to 0%. Please reference the related research materials for more on this topic.
Without the inborn talent to tap into the pool of one's own wellspring energy it is impossible to proceed further in a practical sense. The following are mathematical formulae that must be applied subconsciously to efficiently produce results in the field of Thaumaturgy and channeling. Divination will be covered in another volume, as will the variety of specialties in magical applications.
Statement of Terms
Wa = the amount by which wellspring energy returns to a sentient creature's pool while awake.
Ta = The total amount of time awake.
Ws = the amount by which wellspring energy returns to a sentient creature's pool while asleep.
Ts = The total amount of time asleep.
P = the amount of wellspring energy currently in the pool.
Pm = the lowest amount of wellspring energy necessary for the spell to occur.
PM = the maximum amount of wellspring energy in the pool.
Drops = the unit of measurement pertaining to wellspring energy.
E = Expended energy
Deephollow's Proofs
Wa = (PM - P)/Ta
Ex.1: Wa = (100 Drops - 58 Drops)/16 Hours
Wa = 2.62 Drops per Hour.
This truth shows that though wellspring energy does indeed return during waking hours, it will take nearly all of one's total waking hours in a regular cycle (16 hours in this example) to return the energy. However if the amount of hours is increased, the situation doesn't change, and it still takes the entirety of the person's waking hours to restore the energy fully. It is shown also that it slows down the longer one is conscious. The inverse is true for persons that are asleep.
Ws = [(PM + P) *Ts]/P
Ex.2: Ws = [(100 Drops + 58 Drops)*8 Hours]/58
Ws = 21.79 Drops per hour
This truth shows that the longer one is asleep the faster the wellspring energy refills the creature's pool.
However, neither of these formulas are effective at describing what the rate is like during the actual period of sleep or wakefulness as they are determined by the total length of either of those states. It can be inferred that though the rate can be determined after the fact, it is mutable, and doesn't actually describe anything fully.
In fact, these formulas only work on humans that have no elvish blood in them at all, as some Elven heritages recharge their wellspring energy faster, while humans charge at a negligible rate, where it seems to be almost at 0 consistently during observation and is dependent on state switching.
However that may not even be entirely true, as Danail Erenda Jezebael's law on the matter of wellspring return more accurately describes what happens where Deephollow's proofs rely upon the observation occurring after the change, and ignoring the observed situation before the state change. Jezebael describe's the change as dependent on energy fluctuations in the wellspring connection and more or less infers that it is indescribable and cannot be observed until after the fact because the actual amount of wellspring energy a person has cannot be observed or measured by any means and is actually closer to 0 than Deephollow would surmise, and that the wellspring energy can only be described by the person that has it in loose terms and that there isn't such a thing as a Drop or any measurable unit of it. She continues to state that the recharging of wellspring energy isn't an active thing at all, but is instead a reserve set aside during the waking and sleeping hours that fills the pool after those states change, and can only be described by the sorcerer in subjective and non-quantifiable terms. It is important to note that The Jezebael Papers have been in contended status since Deephollow's time citing that no person with that name ever existed.
Current scholars on magical theory adopt both the Jezebael and Deephollow laws and surmise that though the wellspring is inobservable, and the magical energy can not actually be measured by any means, there are varying states of "fullness" that one's pool has which refills at differing rates depending on the state of sleep or wakefulness, and the race of the individual.
To continue, deephollow describes tapping into the pool of magical energy simply as this:
Pm = E
Pm2 = E2
Pm/2 = E/2
These truths work up until the last formula where it suggests a mathematical impossibility. One cannot spend less energy than the minimum amount of energy required for a spell. However, historically it has been documented that the energy can be halved exactly and the results of the spell are exactly half of what is normal. This phenomenon has not been recorded in over half a millenium. Where Deephollow's formulaes are historically sound for their time, Jezebael's, which are older, are noted to being more accurate once again. Jezebael doesn't go on to list actual mathematical formulas, as she notes there is no point in doing so. Instead she states that the minimum amount for a spell to occur is the minimum amount, and that most people average out about twice as much for the spell to occur. She continues to say that had these sorcerers any modicum of control or talent that they'd be able to achieve an effect many times the norm on the absolute minimum of energy, inferring that the equation could look something like this at the maximum:
Pm/2 = E2
Deephollow rejected this stating that one could not spend less than a drop to light a candle and that the notion of "setting a mountainside on fire with the same amount of energy" is ludicrous. It is held by this researcher that though Deephollow makes a point in that it is hard to imagine a minimal amount of energy achieving anything on that magnitude, it is provable that an individual's talents and power is far more dictating of what can be achieved with any amount of magical energy. It would also happen that Deephollow's rebuttle of her predecessor's assertions disproves her own final formula in this regard, as she states, one can not spend less than one. Which brings us to the final formulas to understand for a basic introduction into magic.
PM = Pm * (S+1 * S2)
It is unknown what Deephollow truly meant by S when she wrote S. Though some believe from later papers that Deephollow was referring to the area of the soul by S, as if it were a quantifiable thing. She provided no further evidence of this theorem, only stating that a drop is a drop, and that energy should be measured as thus. She would go on to further state that she possessed over 5600 drops, and that the average person at most possesses 50.
The Jezebael papers only provide a few sentences on the matter, and is held closer to the truth than the Deephollow formula as there is no evidence concerning how large a soul is. She states "Any attempts to measure the potential energy at a sorcerer's disposal outside of abstract descriptive metaphor is meaningless. While one may say they have a lake of energy, to another that lake may be an ocean. Such is the nature of sorcerers, where one will outclass another not by a small margin ever, but by many magnitudes." It is believed that what she meant by the final sentence isn't that mages are never equal, but in fact that when one is stronger than another, that difference in power is overwhelming. Though evidence suggests that this is closer to the truth, data regarding combat mages suggests that there are many factors that determine what makes a powerful mage.
Theories Pertaining to Magic and it's Related Fields of Study
--By: Kataria Av'Surusan
--Written in: Drokagr
In introduction magic is a force that exists outside of normal natural forces. It is understood, widely, that the world would continue to exist without magic, and though life would be different, there would be no apocalyptic natural transition the world would suffer through should access to magic be removed. It is on this understanding that magical theory is built upon. Understanding that it is a mutable force that changes the state of things that regularly occur in nature is indeed the basics of Thaumaturgy and Channeling.
Thaumaturgy itself is a miracle work in that something that did not exist before came into existence through the projection of willpower and energy. Many scholars see Thaumaturgy as an unnatural use of the powerthat the natural state of the world tries to push back against. Of the two forms it is considered most violent and most useful. Thaumaturgy requires much more energy from the Wellspring to accomplish anything.
Channeling in its Nature is the transformation of mass and energy from one form to another, using the given materials around the caster as fuel or bending the material to the casters will with the application of energy. A channeler could in theory divert a river given enough energy and mastery over the element. On the other hand a thaumaturgist could simply create one. Channelers thus operate under a stricter set of rules imposed by nature itself. If there is no light nor heat a channeler cannot create either.
The Wellspring is the place from which magical energy flows. Most creatures have an inborn reservoir of magical energy called The Pool. As far as modern study has indicated tapping the wellspring directly is impossible and all energy from it used in spellcasting of any type comes from the various pools. Over time the wellspring fills all pools to their natural banks. These banks can be extended through practice on the part of the spellcaster.
It is not understood where the wellspring is, how it fills naturally existing pools, and what it's effect on nature is. It is understood that its flow is unnatural. Planar studies show that the wellspring is outside of traveling spaces. No pioneer has ever been able to find its location by following the direction of the flow. Across all documented expeditions only 35% of the pioneers returned alive, the other 65% returning only as retrieved articles. This subject, though interesting is only anecdotally noteworthy in this volume and is more deeply covered in the various research materials devoted specifically to these expeditions.
Magic has many related fields of study follow broad branches that can be broken down into specific categories.
The ability to manipulate magic from ones own pool and unguarded or acquired additional pools of wellspring energy is believed to be a familial trait that passes along all sentient creatures through either parent. Indeed, the ability manipulate magic and sentience in the race are correlated in some fashion, as some creatures that classify as animals can manipulate magic on some level and hold an amount of intelligence that leads to the conclusion of a presence of ruling thought over instinct. In constructs such as golems it is understood that the ability to manipulate magic preceded the semblance of intelligence in the construct. Many golems and guardians can speak in short sentences and follow basic commands. In conclusion the correlation is understood yet the specific detail of which is the cause and which is the effect remains to be proven.
A topic that makes the previous theory difficult to fully describe is the presence of extra-spatial creatures and their placement in the natural order. It is understood that for lack of a better term gods exist. Whether or not their power or the power of their creations strictly classifies as wellspring magic has yet to be determined. This particular field of study is not recommended for singular pursuit as it is inherently dangerous. Extra-spatial beings are definitively hostile to the denizens of our world, contact with one of these beings typically reduces the researchers survival rate to 0%. Please reference the related research materials for more on this topic.
Without the inborn talent to tap into the pool of one's own wellspring energy it is impossible to proceed further in a practical sense. The following are mathematical formulae that must be applied subconsciously to efficiently produce results in the field of Thaumaturgy and channeling. Divination will be covered in another volume, as will the variety of specialties in magical applications.
Statement of Terms
Wa = the amount by which wellspring energy returns to a sentient creature's pool while awake.
Ta = The total amount of time awake.
Ws = the amount by which wellspring energy returns to a sentient creature's pool while asleep.
Ts = The total amount of time asleep.
P = the amount of wellspring energy currently in the pool.
Pm = the lowest amount of wellspring energy necessary for the spell to occur.
PM = the maximum amount of wellspring energy in the pool.
Drops = the unit of measurement pertaining to wellspring energy.
E = Expended energy
Deephollow's Proofs
Wa = (PM - P)/Ta
Ex.1: Wa = (100 Drops - 58 Drops)/16 Hours
Wa = 2.62 Drops per Hour.
This truth shows that though wellspring energy does indeed return during waking hours, it will take nearly all of one's total waking hours in a regular cycle (16 hours in this example) to return the energy. However if the amount of hours is increased, the situation doesn't change, and it still takes the entirety of the person's waking hours to restore the energy fully. It is shown also that it slows down the longer one is conscious. The inverse is true for persons that are asleep.
Ws = [(PM + P) *Ts]/P
Ex.2: Ws = [(100 Drops + 58 Drops)*8 Hours]/58
Ws = 21.79 Drops per hour
This truth shows that the longer one is asleep the faster the wellspring energy refills the creature's pool.
However, neither of these formulas are effective at describing what the rate is like during the actual period of sleep or wakefulness as they are determined by the total length of either of those states. It can be inferred that though the rate can be determined after the fact, it is mutable, and doesn't actually describe anything fully.
In fact, these formulas only work on humans that have no elvish blood in them at all, as some Elven heritages recharge their wellspring energy faster, while humans charge at a negligible rate, where it seems to be almost at 0 consistently during observation and is dependent on state switching.
However that may not even be entirely true, as Danail Erenda Jezebael's law on the matter of wellspring return more accurately describes what happens where Deephollow's proofs rely upon the observation occurring after the change, and ignoring the observed situation before the state change. Jezebael describe's the change as dependent on energy fluctuations in the wellspring connection and more or less infers that it is indescribable and cannot be observed until after the fact because the actual amount of wellspring energy a person has cannot be observed or measured by any means and is actually closer to 0 than Deephollow would surmise, and that the wellspring energy can only be described by the person that has it in loose terms and that there isn't such a thing as a Drop or any measurable unit of it. She continues to state that the recharging of wellspring energy isn't an active thing at all, but is instead a reserve set aside during the waking and sleeping hours that fills the pool after those states change, and can only be described by the sorcerer in subjective and non-quantifiable terms. It is important to note that The Jezebael Papers have been in contended status since Deephollow's time citing that no person with that name ever existed.
Current scholars on magical theory adopt both the Jezebael and Deephollow laws and surmise that though the wellspring is inobservable, and the magical energy can not actually be measured by any means, there are varying states of "fullness" that one's pool has which refills at differing rates depending on the state of sleep or wakefulness, and the race of the individual.
To continue, deephollow describes tapping into the pool of magical energy simply as this:
Pm = E
Pm2 = E2
Pm/2 = E/2
These truths work up until the last formula where it suggests a mathematical impossibility. One cannot spend less energy than the minimum amount of energy required for a spell. However, historically it has been documented that the energy can be halved exactly and the results of the spell are exactly half of what is normal. This phenomenon has not been recorded in over half a millenium. Where Deephollow's formulaes are historically sound for their time, Jezebael's, which are older, are noted to being more accurate once again. Jezebael doesn't go on to list actual mathematical formulas, as she notes there is no point in doing so. Instead she states that the minimum amount for a spell to occur is the minimum amount, and that most people average out about twice as much for the spell to occur. She continues to say that had these sorcerers any modicum of control or talent that they'd be able to achieve an effect many times the norm on the absolute minimum of energy, inferring that the equation could look something like this at the maximum:
Pm/2 = E2
Deephollow rejected this stating that one could not spend less than a drop to light a candle and that the notion of "setting a mountainside on fire with the same amount of energy" is ludicrous. It is held by this researcher that though Deephollow makes a point in that it is hard to imagine a minimal amount of energy achieving anything on that magnitude, it is provable that an individual's talents and power is far more dictating of what can be achieved with any amount of magical energy. It would also happen that Deephollow's rebuttle of her predecessor's assertions disproves her own final formula in this regard, as she states, one can not spend less than one. Which brings us to the final formulas to understand for a basic introduction into magic.
PM = Pm * (S+1 * S2)
It is unknown what Deephollow truly meant by S when she wrote S. Though some believe from later papers that Deephollow was referring to the area of the soul by S, as if it were a quantifiable thing. She provided no further evidence of this theorem, only stating that a drop is a drop, and that energy should be measured as thus. She would go on to further state that she possessed over 5600 drops, and that the average person at most possesses 50.
The Jezebael papers only provide a few sentences on the matter, and is held closer to the truth than the Deephollow formula as there is no evidence concerning how large a soul is. She states "Any attempts to measure the potential energy at a sorcerer's disposal outside of abstract descriptive metaphor is meaningless. While one may say they have a lake of energy, to another that lake may be an ocean. Such is the nature of sorcerers, where one will outclass another not by a small margin ever, but by many magnitudes." It is believed that what she meant by the final sentence isn't that mages are never equal, but in fact that when one is stronger than another, that difference in power is overwhelming. Though evidence suggests that this is closer to the truth, data regarding combat mages suggests that there are many factors that determine what makes a powerful mage.