With the second debut of Nyx and her looming debut on Amazon, I find myself wanting to write about Windemere’s magic.  Every fantasy world has a system of magic with some more complicated than others.  Many times there’s no explanation at all beyond some people have it and some people don’t.  Other times it’s an art that is honed through years of difficult training, except for the magical hero who is a natural without training and never makes a magical mistake.

Through Nyx, you get an idea of the essence of magic even though she falls into that exception category.  She has been training since the age of 4 and she’s 20 by the time people meet her, but she is a natural.  Due to imminent spoilers, I can’t go any further into that.  The Lich explains the concept of auras while Nyx demonstrates it.  Here is a brief explanation and history of Windemere’s magic:

When the plane of magic, Mylrix, crashed into the physical plane, everything was enchanted with aura.  This is the life energy that can be used to cast spells.  Some beings have more aura than others, but everything (minus undead who are voids) has an aura.  To create a spell, a caster can do one of two things.  First is the accepted method of manipulating their own aura into the spell that is needed.  So when Nyx is hurling a fireball, she’s actually hurling a manipulated piece of her aura.  This can be exhausting, so casters are tried from day one how to build up aura in their bodies.  In this way, aura is identical to ki/chi/whatever.  Most casters need a focus such as incantations and gestures to set off the spell, but Nyx is a special case, which is part of her secret.

The second method is necrocasting and, to a lesser extent, emotion magic.  These types of magic require a manipulation of someone or something else’s aura.  It’s seen as intrusive and violating, which is why people shun it.  Emotion magic is less shunned because it does involve using some of your own aura for the spell and leaving yourself open to the emotion you’re playing with.  Most necrocasting is basically the equivalent of (I apologize for the phrase) aura rape.  That’s really the best way to put it.

Now, there have been a few different caster types that have appeared in Windemere besides Nyx and Trinity with their uber-caster ways:

Song Caster– A feared type from the old world because Gabriel was the first one.  Anyone who develops this power is from his specific genetic line.  He had a bunch of kids during his mortal days and he’s probably sneaked a few mortal lovers in over the centuries.  These casters can alter auras by the sound of their singing voice.  The slightest note can create devastation if they aren’t careful.

Wand Warrior– These are casters who only mastered charging up aura and don’t know any spells.  They collect wands and use their simple ability to charge the wands up.  Each wand has one or a few spells, but the Wand Warrior isn’t able to do anything about that.  They aren’t seen as real casters by elitist casters, so they feel like outcasts.  Many of them take on jobs as mercenaries.

Spirit Channeller– Also called a Shaman, these are people who can let another being’s aura possess their body.  This can be anything from changing into that other being or simply delivering a message.  These types are typically found in tribal societies because a closeness with nature is requirement to become one.

Chrono– I’m not sure if this is the name that will stick, but I just came up with this today.  I noticed a character doing something strange and figured out what was going on.  As the name suggests, this is a caster who can manipulate time with his or her aura.  It is something that is rarer than song magic and more outlawed because everyone believes no good comes from manipulating time.  Another reason it’s rare is that using time magic ages a person, so only those that are long-lived or have a version of immortality can cast it.

So that is the nutshell of Windemere magic, which will slowly evolve along with the rest of my stories.