Overview
Any mage college or specialized scholar can tell you that arcana exists all around us. Arcana is a fundamental force of nature in Ilisara, just like gravity or electromagnetism. It is evenly dispersed throughout the entire world. One can imagine it to be as common as the air Ilisara's denizens breathe. Arcana is inside every home, at the bottom of the ocean, and in remote mountains. It was infused into the entire planet long ago. There is nowhere without arcana.
Although arcana is invisible and intangible, it is measurable and capable of being harnessed into a spell.
How are spells cast?
The Physical Act of Casting a Spell
All spells require an anchoring motion, gesture, behavior, or word from the spellcaster. This anchor is combined with something essential: either knowledge (mind), physical sacrifice (body), or will (soul). The combination of anchor and an essential force transforms arcana into a new form: a spell.
Examples:
A psychic mage uses a wink to implant a thought in someone's mind.
A pyromancer shouts "Ignire!" when she conjures a fireball.
A druidess hums a melody when she heals a wound.
An arithmancer draws the mathematical symbol used to measure luminance in the air with his fingertip as he conjures light.
A minstrel strums specific notes on a mock air-guitar (or real guitar).
Anchoring motions can be learned. For accessibility's sake, most institutions teach how to cast spells with words. More advanced spellcasters may develop their own methods of anchoring arcana and transforming it. Of the examples above, the mage shouting an incantation is the most common way spells are cast in the Crescents. In the Isles many various non-standard methods are used.
Depending on the essential force (mind, body, or soul) used in tandem with an anchor, certain spells are more readily cast with greater effects. Although any anchor and any force can result in any outcome, using the essential force that complements a spell type is much easier and more efficient.
The Scientific Process of Casting a Spell
A spellcaster acts as a conduit for ambient mana. When they cast a spell, they are transforming ambient arcana into either a new form of matter (such as conjuring a fireball) or ascribing specific attributes to the arcana and utilizing it as a visible, tangible form of energy (such as casting a healing spell).
Spells and Impermanence
Spells that produce physical objects are impermanent. Ambient mana has a very strong tendency to "desire" its raw, untamed form. After a brief period, any physical objects conjured by magic fade back into ambient arcana. Conjured plants, foods, rocks, bricks, and other items made by magic never persist. In this way, no arcana is ever lost from the world, and it always returns to equilibrium.
What Does Magic Look Like, and How Does it Behave?
Ambient arcana is invisible to the naked eye, and relatively unobservable except after it has been transformed into a new form of energy or matter via a spell.
Spells that produce energy include healing magic, light/radiant spells, electric spells, time magic, sound, and illusory spells among many others. The manifestation of these energies are typically defined by their closest natural counterpart, with minor input from the expectations of the spellcaster.
For example:
A druid's healing spell might be green and include images of blooming flowers and moss, but a holy priestess' healing spell may appear as ribbons of gold that wrap around a wound
A spell that conjures electricity or utilizes electricity in some way may appear like jagged forks of lightning, sparks, or audibly crackle
Spells that produce matter involve solids, liquids, and gases; more commonly known as elements (fire, earth, water, air) and conjuration. These always appear as their natural counterpart. Summoning fire means conjuring an incandescent, flickering gas that lets off heat and light. Infusing that fire with energy, such as holy radiance or gravity, might change its color or shape; but it will still behave the way natural fire would be expected to.
Sensitivity to Magic
All magic can be learned from a competent teacher or books describing how to do it. Like swinging a sword, patching a wound, or growing crops, using arcana is a learned skill. However, some individuals have a higher sensitivity to arcana. They can sense its presence, or wield it with less effort. This sensitivity is typically a quirk of the individual's soul.
There are two ways arcana is used by creatures:
Instinctual: Use magic instinctually, inherently, without thought or deliberation. It just “happens”. This type of propensity for magic exists inside a creature's soul.
As a learned skill: Use magic as a learned skill, acquired after study and practice. It “happens” with conscious effort by the wielder.
Most beasts have no instincts for using arcana. However, some creatures have evolved to move, hunt, or shelter with magic. Magic adaptations in nature include the ability to fly, camouflage, or otherwise survive more effectively. Intelligent life forms such as humans, elves, dragons, and others have different natural propensities for magic.
Most people – 80% or more – have no natural disposition towards the usage of magic, and their species' disposition guides their ability to harness and use it effectively.
Where does Arcana come from?
Arcana was Esk's gift to the world. Long ago, the god of magic sought a solution to the primitive species' endless fighting. He sacrificed himself and made his body one with the world. Arcana is Esk's essence. By his design, it only responds to organic life. Typically, inorganic material has no effect on it except to halt physical manifestations of arcana. Put simply, a brick wall can stop a fireball, but ambient arcana persists everywhere at all times.
In the Isles, magic has always been a part of the ebb and flow of life -- but its secrets have been lost to time, and few know how to wield it with mastery. The usage of soul magic and other intuitive or instinctual magics are prevalent in the Isles. Animals and some plants in the Isles have magic adaptations left over from the bygone times when magic was more common.
In the Crescents, knowledge of magic is confined to institutions only the wealthy or naturally-gifted can attend. However, its applications have been worked out to a science. Replicable spellcraft, learning from tutors and master magicians, and prescribed formulas for creating effects with arcana is the most prevalent form of magic.
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