Tales of the Uncrowned #5: Magic System

Bloodline Magic Passed Down Through Blood: Sorcery

Bloodline magic is an innate form of magic. It is a power inherent in one's blood from birth, manifested not through acquired knowledge but through instinct, intuition, insight, and inspiration. With intuition, one can modify their own spells. Without intuition, however, one can never grow as a mage even if they dedicate their entire life to the craft.

That is why bloodline magic is difficult both to teach and to pass down. Even those born with the gift can rarely wield two or more powers at once. For generations, the kingdom's great houses have been treasure troves of bloodline magic.

Among them, House Harborwell's Book of Rites stands at the apex, and only those of its bloodline can open it to awaken their own magic. But while they alone possess the key, what lies beyond the gate remains a mystery — even to them — until the moment of awakening.

Veritas Academy: Treasure Trove of Bloodline Magic

Veritas Academy is an academic institution that upholds the kingdom, as well as a society of mages who have studied bloodline magic more deeply than anyone else. Their foremost mission is to protect the kingdom, while also analyzing, classifying, and testing the limits of the power that resides in family bloodlines.

The Tower of Enlightenment in Towerstead serves as their headquarters. In the domain where canals cross through the streets, they draw upon the aether of the Sealing Sites to power their magical circles.

Since bloodline magic cannot be taught, their gates are narrow, admitting only a select few. For this reason, the Academy serves as a gathering place for the kingdom's nobility who possess the most prestigious and powerful bloodline magic, and its name has become synonymous with honor and authority. The name Veritas carries the weight of lineage, talent, and prestige.

Common Magic as an Academic Discipline - Wizardry

Common magic is learned, not inherited. It is a form of magic that even those without a magical bloodline can master through relentless study and accumulating knowledge. Mages manifest magic through a deep understanding and manipulation of the forces and aether that compose the world, along with their properties and components.

It is founded on reason and logic, and practiced through study and analysis. Even a single spell can have countless variations, and all spells can be taught and passed down to others. Thus, common magic has evolved through academic communities, teacher-student bonds, and schools of thought and networks of colleagues.

While bloodline magic is locked away in family treasure troves, common magic unfolds across bookshelves, lecture halls, and debate halls. This is why some call bloodline magic sacred, and common magic unbound.

Cordia Arcane Society - Proving Through Research

The Cordia Arcane Society is a community formed by mages who left Towerstead in protest against the Veritas Academy's restrictive policies. The name "Cordia" derives from a root word meaning "connection." This society pursues a single goal: to free magic from the constraints of bloodlines and make it accessible to everyone.

They are innovators who pursue free and equal exploration of magic and dream of making magical power available to all. If Veritas mages sought to lock a book away in a vault, Cordia mages would make a thousand copies and send them to libraries in every village.

In doing so, they have been branded as heretics, have suffered persecution, and have been scorned by nobles who held bloodline magic above all else. Yet the resolve of those who sought to free knowledge and magic from the constraints of bloodlines never wavered.

Elven Magic - Those Lost at the End of Excess

The elves have delved deeper into aether than any other race in this world. Their lives are long, their knowledge vast, and their magic lies beyond anything a human could ever hope to achieve in a lifetime. The civilization they built on the old continent was dazzling, and the magic they wielded bordered on myth.

But they took too much, for too long, and with too much greed. Where the balance was shattered, the abyss overflowed, and their homeland slowly withered away. Some were consumed by the abyss and corrupted; some descended into madness; and some fled to a new continent in search of survival.

The elves who landed on Rinea coveted its aether and decided to conquer this continent of humans. They drove stakes into the ground, using them to absorb aether and expand their forces in an attempt to dominate Rinea.

Skill Gems: Magical Crystals

Skill Gems are magical crystals that Veritas Academy developed after years of research. They inscribed a mage's intent into raw stones that had naturally solidified near an aether spring, trapping a strand of magic within them. Aether that flows from a spring slowly seeps into the cracks in the surrounding rocks, mineral veins, and ancient ruins, eventually forming a single crystal over decades or even centuries.

In its natural state, an aether crystal holds light within but remains in a pure, blank state, untouched by any magic. It is the mage's task to refine the crystal and imbue it with a single strand of magic. Some mages pour flames over the crystal to inscribe fire magic within it, while others channel wind through it to inscribe wind magic. Some even seal their curses deep within the crystal, turning it into a chain that binds their enemies.

Veritas first developed the crystals to allow the mages of their families to further refine their magic. However, the crystals soon slipped from their hands and spread far beyond their reach. Now, even those without noble blood or academic degrees can borrow a strand of magic as long as they hold a crystal in their hands.

Aether Springs, Where the Aether Tree Grows

Throughout Rinea, there are places where aether gathers in unusually high concentrations. People call these places aether springs, and it was Veritas Academy that first discovered them and explored their essence. The aether from the spring remains in one place, condensing slowly over time to form a seed. The seed sprouts at regular intervals, taking the form of an aether tree.

This tree, with every one of its branches bearing fruit of pure aether, is an invaluable treasure to mages and the most tempting prey to those lurking in the darkness. The elves who destroyed their own homeland due to aether abuse were not about to leave the aether of this new continent untouched. To them, every aether tree is a legion to command, a weapon to wield, and a precious source of nourishment to restore strength.

Ever since the elves arrived in Rinea, revenants under their control have surged in from all directions like a tide whenever an aether tree reveals itself. If no one steps forward to stop them, the tree will be stripped bare, with not even a single branch remaining. Protecting the aether tree is not simply a matter of protecting a single tree — it is a matter of keeping the last remaining strand of pure aether safe from those who covet it.