Spell ThreadsIn order to weave a spell, a caster must first prepare that spell in a spell thread, which is a single fiber of the Weave interlocked with the sacred field of the caster. Spell threads are composed of the smallest functional units of magical energy, and are what allow a caster to use his minute mortal energy to bring about powerful effects.
Spell threads have a simple ranking system. Their power is ranked by the number of threads woven together in a single thread. Thus, they are ranked by he number of fibers. The base unit is the single fibre, designated 1-Fi. 1-Fi are special because they can only be used for cantrips. To partake in proper spellcasting, however, casters must be proficient with the use of the 2-Fi, a much stronger fiber with more potential for magic.
Each Fi corresponds with a tier of spellcasting, but a spell thread of a higher Fi rating can be used for a spell of lower tier, with room for enhancements to the original spell in the form of metamagic, which will be covered later on.
Spell Tiers (T)Spells can be separated into 11 'tiers', which all require a level of skill from a caster. The notation for marking a spell of any tier is T-#, for example, T-1 is a cantrip, T-4 is a Tier 4 spell.
T-1.Tier 1 spells are called cantrips. They can be cast infinitely at no cost, for they don't require any threads to cast, only a thread to prepare, but only a certain number can be prepared at once time. These spells tend to have almost entirely fixed properties, and their effects are minimal and almost without use, but they come with the benefit of never being spent. They can be enhanced by metamagic, but the merits are few.
T-2 to T-10These are the standard levels of spellcasting. The properties of these spells are never fixed, but may incur limits depending on the tier in question. They can also be enhanced by metamagic, like cantrips, but much more effectively. Tiers 2 to 3 are common levels of magic. Tiers 4 to 5 are uncommon. Tiers 6 to 7 are rare and powerful, belonging only to the elite and distinguished. Tiers 8 to 9 cannot be learned by normal means, but must be sought out in the corners of Aeria. Tier 10 spells are legendary, but still follow the model of standard, reproducible spells.
T-11These spells are the 'frontier' of magic. It was Tier 11 magic that lead to the creation of the Way Matrix, the Numbers, the Vindicators, the Blight, and every far-fetched, powerful and world-changing feat of magic. Tier 11 magic has almost no restrictions, given that the one who crafts the spell has the time, resources, knowledge and sheer power to make the spell. These spells don't really exist in a standard manner, are not easily reproduced and cannot be easily taught to others. They shatter the concept of spell creation and design and can even come at the cost of experimenting with and straining one's own sacred field to properly research. Tier 11 spells cannot be enhanced my metamagic, and often have fixed effects, including a partially fixed effectiveness, but can be made variable. They require variable amounts of spell threads, but they are fashioned in such a way that it doesn't matter how many the caster requires, because they are stored much deeper, near his soul, and the limit on how many he can store depends on his soul's understanding of the magic, not his Sacred Field's capacity. In this age, this sort of magic isn't even known of, except for those who guarded the greatest secrets of Aeria.
MetamagicMetamagic is a concept in which one uses standard models in magic to alter a spell in a specific way. These models can be used on any compatible spell, but the effects may vary. Sorcerers apply these ad-hoc, at the cost of additional time and power. Wizards must prepare their enhanced spells ahead of time, using larger tiers of spells to ready them. Metamagic tends to increase the number of Fi required on a spell by a fixed amount. So a 1-Fi metamagic effect would take a Tier 2 spell and make it require 3-Fi, or a Tier 4 spell and make it require 5-Fi. Some powerful metamagic effects can even raise the Fi by 6 or 7.
Magical PotencyKnotsTo manipulate the fibers in a spell thread, even the 1-Fi, a caster must possess a level of magical potency, either by his ability to prepare spells, or by his ability to will them into being. The standard unit of potency is the knot, which corresponds quite literally to the total number of knots made by a spell thread between the Weave and a caster's Sacred field. The more knots the a caster can make, the more power he can draw upon from the weave to fuel his spell.
Maximum Possible Knots (MPK)Because of this, caster's are ranked by their Maximum Possible Knots, or MPK. A caster who has gained the ability to make one knot more than his peer is in a whole level above the latter. In addition to being ranked by knots, certain spell-threads require their casters to have a certain MPK in order to cast them. The pattern to this is quite simple. The MPK required for a spell thread is double its Fi, minus 3, except for 1-Fi, which requires at least an MPK of 1.
The Side-effects of KnotsThe magical potency of someone also determines how many spell threads they can prepare or manipulate in total at a given time. Each time a caster sleeps, he must get a full 8 hour period of uninterrupted rest for his sacred field to undo all the counter-knots and strained shapes it has been conformed to during one's time spent weaving. The sacred field becomes very delicate at this point, and if this process is interrupted, the shape of the sacred field will be ruined anew, and the caster must spend another full period of rest to fix it.
Fi Per Day (FPD)It's also possible to roughly estimate the number of fibers one can manipulate in a day, and this number directly corresponds to MPK. This is called Fi Per Day, for FPD, and can be calculated with the following formula, always rounding down:
FPD = (MPK ^2) / 2 + MPKThe numbers below are normalized to account for someone possessing no additional talent. These numbers also increase by about 25% for someone who practices solely spontaneous magic as opposed to prepared magic. People who practice both kinds may receive mixed results.
| MPK | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 1 3 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| FPD | 2 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 17 | 24 | 31 | 40 | 49 | 60 | 71 | 84 | 97 | 112 | 127 | 144 | 161 | 180 | 199 | 220 |
Magical EffectivenessSome spells perform a task more efficiently than others. This is a given. When it comes to raw, unbridled power, your basic evocation spell is the way to go, thus, the effects they manifest are more efficient in their use of energy. Spells that divide up their work load also perform more efficiently, while spells that try to perform multiple effects at once are less efficient per each individual effect, although they may more efficiently accomplish the sum effect.
Manifestation Rate (MR)We put this theory into quantifiable amounts by identifying a rate, called a Manifestation Rate, or MR, which defines how easily accomplished an effect is. A lower tier spell often has a lower MR, and a spell of a higher tier has a higher MR. Spells within the evocation school, and similar schools, also tend to have higher MR. MR's range from 1 and above, with 1 being special because it is an almost direct conversion of spell cast to energy manifested. There's almost no additional power gained and the caster will notice few differences in the power of the spell.
Energetic Asymptote (MA)Just as spells are limited by their efficiency, they are also limited by their capacity; a given spell is designed to handle and manage only a certain amount of energy on its own, and it's often impossible to exceed this value by design alone. Other factors must apply for that to be done- and even then, the limit is merely stretched or expanded, not erased. We call this the Energetic Asymptote, or EA, a point in the scale of the spell's power that cannot be passed no matter how much one tries to force it.
EA values correspond to MPK values because the power of a spell often only increases with higher knots. Thus, if a a spell is rated EA 5, someone with an MPK of 10 may cast the spell at longer range with more integrity, but the overall power of the spell will be the same as if someone of MPK 5 cast it.
Spell Integrity (SI)As mentioned earlier, spells have a level of integrity. If this integrity is overcome, they can be resisted, dispelled, even reflected. We call this Spell Integrity, or SI, and casters who use more Knots in a spell raise its integrity, so the base measure of integrity is also MPK, but a spell's integrity often fluctuates even after it's cast, making it momentarily stronger or weaker than its average integrity, dependent on what portion of the Weave it is passing through, because the exact layout can be somewhat random.
Other factors, both born of natural talent, learned skill or outside influence by magical items and the like, can raise the SI of a spell. Certain spells may have SI 0, which means they do not require integrity to function, and therefore, cannot be normally disturbed. Dispel Magic is one example of this.
Spell Power (SP)Spell Power, or SP, is the total power produced by a spell and serves as a great, easy to reference tool for comparing the overall effectiveness of one spell over another. Typically used by sorcerers and offensive spellcasters to get an idea of how much destruction a spell can cause, the SP rating is a commonly heard reference in the fields of Fortimancy and Evocation.
SP is not predicted as a single value, but as a range of values, determined by the caster's MPK, and a spell's MR and EA rating of a spell. It's very simple: The minimum SP is the caster's MPK, and the maximum SP is the caster's MPK multiplied by the spell's MR. In both cases, the MPK stays within the limits of the spell's EA.
Just follow these rules:
MPK <= EA
SP1 = MPK
SP2 = MPK * MRDenoted as:
SP (SP1)-(SP2)As an example, a 6 MPK fire mage casts a Tier 2 spell of MR 4 and EA 5. His MPK is limited to 5, so the range becomes 5 to 5 times 4. This is written as:
SP 5-20.
Keep in mind that while efficiency and spell power is important, some spells of low SP produce effects that sheer power cannot recreate.
Magic ItemsMagic items come in many forms, but for items that have magic imbued within them, they possess their own artificial sacred field, which is created from a removed piece of its creator's sacred field. For safety terms, let it be stated that magical artisans use 1% of their sacred fields at most to craft a magical item, and obviously, someone with a more developed and stable field can craft better items, though constant crafting will hinder the development of the sacred field in a marked way.
Magical effects require a certain level of power to be imbued into an item, and as more are imbued, the amount of power may increase linearly, but the effort exerted to create these effects increases exponentially. This is because supporting a denser artificial field in the item because much harder due to instability without a proper soul to anchor the field.
Field Density (FD) and Density Cost (DC)Thus, the most appropriate way to measure how powerful an item is, or how many effects it can support, is by measuring Field Density, or FD. The math here is simple, an item's FD is corespondent to a Density Cost, or DC, of an effect. Some effects may have an FD as low as 1, while others may have one as high as 5 or 6. Items almost never exceed an FD of 10, which requires the riches of a wealthy nobleman and the sacred field of a legendary magi to conceive. In addition, an Item with a given FD has an artificial MPK of 3 times its FD, and this can be used to measure its effectiveness against other items, casters, spells, what have you.
