Overview
Magic in Postremo Limine draws on mana held within people, magical items, and the surrounding world. Each person has a base source of mana, while each Node has its own amount of environmental mana.
Casting connects the user to a source through an understanding of how magic works. The method of casting affects how much the spell relies on personal mana and how much it draws from outside. Magic is one of the systems described in Manifested Powers.
Personal Mana and Growth
A person’s base mana source has a genetic basis, but arrival in Postremo Limine randomizes their mana potential. Their former potential should not be assumed to carry over. The base source’s capacity can grow through use. See Arrival and the Reset for the arrival rules.
Personal mana regenerates over time. Drawing mana from outside can speed up that recovery. Drawing on an external source takes time, with the process affected by the user’s skill and the item involved.
Environmental Mana and Node Rules
The world around a caster has its own source of mana. The amount available differs between Nodes, so the conditions for drawing environmental mana are not identical everywhere.
Some Nodes also have rules that affect how magic works within them. Mana quantity and local rules are separate considerations: knowing that mana is present does not explain every effect the Node may have on a spell.
Learning Magic
Most people learn magic from other people or from books. Developing it independently, without existing instruction or knowledge, is possible but unlikely.
Study gives the learner an understanding of the system and the mental image through which they use it. Specialization and deeper knowledge matter when working with complex Arcane Magic.
Grimoires and Mystic Tomes preserve magical instruction and can support spells whose complexity or need for optimization requires a book during casting. Enchanted books can be reproduced through a suitable skill or spell, but their readers still need to study. Only Relic tomes can grant knowledge directly without study.
Casting Methods
Rituals, sigils, spoken words, and purely mental casting place different demands on the available mana sources.
| Method | Use of mana |
|---|---|
| Ritual magic | Heavily relies on environmental mana. |
| Sigil and word casting | Can draw evenly from personal and environmental mana. |
| Mental casting | Casting through the mind alone heavily relies on the caster’s personal mana. |
Circles and symbols support casting and can help conserve mana. Incantations can replace them, while rituals can support more demanding spells. These techniques affect how magic is performed; they do not remove its costs.
Classes and Schools of Magic
Arcane and Divine are classes of magic distinguished by origin. Curse magic is a school of magic generally, without being automatically restricted to Arcane.
| Classification | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Arcane — class | Wild magic or magic created by mortals. |
| Divine — class | Magic originating from Gods. |
| Curse — school | A school of magic, rather than a separate source class. |
Local Deities and Divine Blessings
Feyla and Velshara are deities within Postremo Limine, present and able to act in the plane. Some of their followers receive divine blessings. These gifts are not possessed by every member of either faith. See Followers of Feyla and The Cult of Velshara for their beliefs, worship, and membership practices.
Magical Items and Relics
Magical items have their own base mana source. Some can also draw mana from the surrounding world. An item’s ability to draw outside mana should not be assumed to exist in every magical item.
Magical items and Relics require different explanations. Relics produce effects that ordinary magic, technology, or ritual craft cannot truly recreate. An internal mana source alone does not establish that an item is a relic.
Magical Surveillance
Arcane Observers provide an example of magic used for surveillance. These floating sentries detect intruders and magical disturbances, then report their findings to a master or designated individual.
Mental Images and Source Incompatibility
A mental image is a deliberately developed understanding of how a power system works. Developing a source connection or the relevant mental image can affect a person’s ability to use another system.
Most systems require different images of their operation. Trying to understand another system can reshape or disrupt the image already held for an existing one. This can create interference or make another system inaccessible.
Magic and Esper powers cannot coexist under the established compatibility rule. Ninjutsu is another example of a system that can encounter incompatibility with magic. The precise interactions depend on the systems involved; no universal method of removing incompatibility has been established.
Personal Exhaustion and Overuse
Exhaustion and fainting can result from personal overuse. Attempting to use more mana than the base source can provide, or attempting to pull entirely from outside sources, can cause strain and other problems.
Repeated overuse can cause lasting damage. Access to environmental mana does not remove the risks of drawing and using it.
Mana Depletion and Corruption
Excessive magical use can deplete environmental mana in an area and cause mana corruption. Personal exhaustion concerns the caster’s reserves; environmental depletion and corruption concern the surrounding area.
Mana corruption is most visibly noticeable where plant life is present: most plants begin dying. Magic users may experience an uneasy feeling or a slight cold sensation that feels unnatural.
These symptoms identify a mana-related hazard; they do not by themselves establish the presence of any particular Anomaly.
Environmental Recovery
Recovery depends on how much damage has been done. Using some of an area’s mana, or even depleting it, does not necessarily mean that it has become corrupted.
| Condition | Recovery |
|---|---|
| Some mana consumed | Can recover naturally. |
| Mana depleted | Can still recover naturally. |
| Mana corrupted | Requires intervention or a very long time to recover. |
No fixed recovery period applies to every area. The method of intervention and the thresholds for lasting damage remain unspecified.
Rune Gear in Riseholm
Riseholm brings arcane study and enchanted machinery together in its Arcanum Quarter, where mages, artificers, and Rune Gear scholars work among libraries and workshops. Rune Prisms power its Clockwork Cathedral and fuel airships, making magical machinery part of the city’s daily life.
Rune Gear Technology uses stored mana in enchanted machinery that anyone can operate without personal mana or magical understanding. Mages can charge its Prisms, but machines absorbing environmental mana are the usual method. A mana-poor Node means slow recharge or only small amounts of replenishment.
A Prism's size determines storage capacity, purity determines usable lifespan, and color indicates efficiency and mana transfer rate. These properties govern its suitability for a machine. Operating the finished device does not require the user to cast its magic.
