Spheres of Aetherology

The study of the Five Elements and their application in various spheres of magic and psionic studies is a fascinating field. These elements are manipulated through a discipline known as Aetherology. This field encompasses both psionic and magical studies, which, despite being fundamentally different in their processes, are essentially the study of the same thing. Psionic studies involve the manipulation of one's own energies into patterns to achieve a goal, while magical studies manipulate ambient energies for the same purpose. These two methods feel and are executed differently, but they share similar principles. For the purposes of this document, magic and psionics are used interchangeably, even though their execution would differ in each case.

Laws of Aether

The study of Aether is governed by certain immutable laws. These laws form the basic fabric of how Aether, and thus magic and psionics, work and interact with the world. The most fundamental of these laws is the Law of Equivalent Exchange.

Law of Equivalent Exchange: This law states that an equivalent amount of energy must be expended to achieve a particular outcome. In simpler terms, to perform work with Aether, one must spend an equivalent amount of Aether. In spell work, this means that to gain some substance, matter, or energy from Aether, one must expend at least an equivalent amount of matter or energy. This principle forms the basis for how Aether flows into and out of the body.; Certain types of energy can be converted from one form to another. For instance, elemental energy can be transmuted from one element to another with relative ease. However, other types of energy can only be converted in one direction. For example, in Sanguimancy, life energy from blood can be converted into other forms of energy, but energy cannot be converted into life, as this would violate the Law of Life. Similarly, the soul or essence of a living being is unique and can be drained of power but cannot be destroyed or created, only exchanged.; The Law of Equivalent Exchange also stipulates that the amount of energy used to pattern Aether to influence the world is always greater than the energy yielded by that work.
Law of Life: This law delineates the boundaries between life and death. It dictates that all living beings will eventually die and that the dead cannot return to life. The Law of Life also encompasses the cycle of life itself, where a person's essence or soul moves from one plane to another, from birth to death, but only in that direction.; The Essence of Life refers to the fact that a person's unique life energy (Aether) is a special form of Aether. The essence or soul is not only composed of a specific and ever-changing pattern of Aether but also contains another quality. It is cohesive and separate from, yet also belongs to, the Aether in the world around it and contains within it a finite well of life energy. It is the unique and ineffable quality of being a living being. Thus, it is a special kind of energy that can only be exchanged for similar energy.
Law of Time: The Law of Time defines the barrier between past, present, and future. It refers to the natural anchor all living things have that ties a life to an instant in time and the continuity that moves that consciousness from past to future. This law dictates that one cannot simply travel backward or forward in time at an increased rate. A person's place in time is fixed, moving at a specific rate and in a singular direction.

Elemental Arts

For information on the elements of Aether, see the page on the Five Elements. In theory, all magic is tied to the four elements, as Aether is a manifestation of all four elements.

Geomancy: Geomancy involves the manipulation and control of the elemental force of earth.
Anemancy: Anemancy involves the manipulation and control of the elemental force of air.
Wedomancy: Wedomancy involves the manipulation and control of the elemental force of water.
Pyromancy: Pyromancy involves the manipulation and control of the elemental force of fire.

Elemental Amalgamations

Each of the elemental forces can be combined to create an amalgamation of those forces.

Cryomancy: Cryomancy is the result of combining Pyromancy and Wedomancy. It deals with the absence of heat. Water quenches fire, but when mixed, water and fire turn to ice. One can manipulate ice as an elemental force by understanding the intersection of water and fire.
Thurdomancy: Thurdomancy is the result of combining Anemancy and Wedomancy. It deals with storms, particularly lightning and thunder. This powerful magical art deals with the mixing of air and water to create storms, rain, thunder, and lightning. When mixed with Cryomancy, it can create devastatingly powerful ice storms.
Thadjomancy: Thadjomancy is the result of combining Geomancy and Wedomancy. It deals with plants and wood, focusing particularly on trees and the wood that comes from them.
Iskiomancy: Iskiomancy is the result of combining Geomancy and Anemancy. It deals with shadow, the absence of light. Much like its close relative Cryomancy, this art deals with the absence of light, forming darkness and shadow.
Magnimancy: Magnimancy is the result of combining Geomancy and Pyromancy. It deals with sand, glass, and magnets. This art also focuses on the tempering of minerals from the Earth with the heat of fire into things like steel, brass, and even glass.
Ammomancy: Ammomancy is the result of mixing Wedomancy and Pyromancy. It deals with sand and glass, which are powerful, but subtle, components of magic. Both can serve as both a boundary (such as a window or a paper wall) or a record for Litaurmancy. Practitioners of this art are particularly schooled in the arts of what is real and unreal, illusion. Of particular interest here is also reflections. Reflections hold a special power, the opposite of our normal selves, often revealing more than we asked for. This can also be mixed with Taximancy. Mirrors can be portals, allowing one to pass from one realm into another easily. The study of this, along with other schools, can provide powerful adaptations of spells.
Eniguramancy: Eniguramancy is the result of combining Geomancy with Anemancy and Wedomancy. It creates a special study of magic dealing with paper. Often mixed with Litaurmancy to create powerful spell effects. As its own substance, paper is a powerful tool for spellcraft. Those who study this sphere are particularly schooled in the passage of time, writing present events into history and recalling those events. Paper is at once a boundary, a tool of record keeping, a tool of study, and a component of most advanced shellwork. Those who study this sphere are rare but they are powerful.

Arts of Aether

These arts deal directly with Aether itself. The force of life in the universe naturally only occurs at three times; birth, life, and death. Thus all the arts which deal directly upon that force naturally deal with those being born, those who are alive, and those who have died. Life and death are powerful elements of magic, they are the only times when natural gateways to the other planes open up. Manipulation of the natural flow of life is never without cost, those who study it understand that each act one takes to interfere in the life force of another takes a toll. Using one's abilities for good, such as for healing, enhances one's own life force and imparts a piece of the life force of the one healed upon the healer. In contrast, to harm with such power takes a toll and expends one's own life force. Since sex is the gateway to the creation of life, magic using sex is also included here.

Dominant in Aether Magic is the idea of equivalent exchange. A life for a life. There are nothing free when dealing at this level.

Coituimancy: Coituimancy is the magical art of using sex as a basis for drawing, using, or manipulating magical energy. It specifically involves drawing magical energy and using sex as a component in casting magical spells. It usually deals with using sex and orgasm as a sealing trigger to complete magical spells, or pulling energy away from a living being through their orgasm. It also deals with sex and orgasm as a way to manipulate the life force of a living being.; The act of sex and orgasm is one of exchange of life force. The spark of life which can be created using said exchange can be repurposed and utilized for the casting and sealing of patterns of aether. It is a particularly powerful kind of casting, and psionics are especially good at this form of casting. At the moment of climax, especially joint climax, the energies of both parties are linked and exchanged. Thus, that intense flow of energy can be exploited and used to cast and seal spells. It is particularly good at sealing intricate magical patterns, especially when linked with Litaurmancy, to create an incredibly potent final piece of casting. This form of casting also is especially powerful to use in wards and summoning.
Necromancy: Necromancy is the magical art of manipulating the dead. While it does deal with the reanimation of corpses, it also deals with the manipulation of energies at death. Death is a powerful thing, and the previously alive can be used as components in casting. This art focuses not only on imposing one's own will onto the previously alive but also on manipulating the release of energies at death. Death, in and of itself, sees the release of the naturally animating life force of a being. Sentient beings provide the most powerful energy release at death. This art also deals with a study of the soul as a usable and manipulatable energy. In this, necromancy can be used for both good (as in keeping the soul of a person from escaping for the purposes of healing) and for evil (as in trapping the essence of the fallen to be used in casting). Most often associated with evil because its spells can be used to reanimate the dead into mindless automatons.; This differs from Sanguimancy in that it deals explicitly with the events of death and not with the living. Though the two arts can work in tandem, they are specialized spheres of study.

Ortuimancy: Ortuimancy is similar to necromancy but deals with the imparting of a life at the point of birth. A particular quality of life energy (aether) occurs at the time of birth. This is a rarely learned sphere of study as it requires extensive knowledge of birth and experience in birthing. At its most evil, the life of a newborn can be stolen, resulting in a stillborn baby, and used by Ortuimancy similar to how Necromancy uses the energy released at death. At its most good, the art can be used to protect life at the moment of birth to use a portion of that energy to heal the mother, child, or both.; Like Necromancy, the doorway between life and death is open for an instant at the moment of birth. As a component of magic, that momentary opening can be an incredibly powerful element, even if one does not harm the child being born. It is likely, however, that any infusion of casting into the birthing process will result in a child born with unique and special qualities.
Sanguimancy: Sanguimancy is the magical art of using blood as a basis for drawing, using, or manipulating magical energy. It specifically involves drawing on blood as a source of magical power and using blood in ritual to cast or consecrate the use of powerful spells. It also deals with using blood to draw magic from the life force of another person. Similar to Necromancy but focuses on living beings rather than the dead.; Blood magic is especially dangerous as it allows the practitioner to draw the life force out of blood and use or manipulate it. This can easily cause death but also takes a toll on the caster. Nothing is given without risk, the target of such casting is momentarily connected to the life force of the caster, as it is impossible to cast blood magic without using some of one's own blood. This school is especially difficult for psionics to accomplish, due to the nature of their abilities.

Utility

There are some spheres of study which are simply utilitarian and used in the creation of magical items or the casting of spells. These are not so much schools of magic as they are tools used by magicians to accomplish their goals.

Litaurmancy: Litaurmancy is the magical art of using writing as a basis for drawing, using, or manipulating magical energy. It specifically involves drawing magical energy and using writing as a component in casting magical spells. It usually deals with using writing as a sealing trigger to complete magical spells, or pulling energy away from a living being through their writing. It also deals with writing as a way to manipulate the life force of a living being.; The act of writing is one of exchange of life force. The spark of life which can be created using said exchange can be repurposed and utilized for the casting and sealing of patterns of aether. It is a particularly powerful kind of casting, and psionics are especially good at this form of casting. At the moment of writing, especially joint writing, the energies of both parties are linked and exchanged. Thus, that intense flow of energy can be exploited and used to cast and seal spells. It is particularly good at sealing intricate magical patterns, especially when linked with Coituimancy, to create an incredibly potent final piece of casting. This form of casting also is especially powerful to use in wards and summoning.
Taximancy: Taximancy is the magical art of using travel as a basis for drawing, using, or manipulating magical energy. It specifically involves drawing magical energy and using travel as a component in casting magical spells. It usually deals with using travel as a sealing trigger to complete magical spells, or pulling energy away from a living being through their travel. It also deals with travel as a way to manipulate the life force of a living being.; The act of travel is one of exchange of life force. The spark of life which can be created using said exchange can be repurposed and utilized for the casting and sealing of patterns of aether. It is a particularly powerful kind of casting, and psionics are especially good at this form of casting. At the moment of travel, especially joint travel, the energies of both parties are linked and exchanged. Thus, that intense flow of energy can be exploited and used to cast and seal spells. It is particularly good at sealing intricate magical patterns, especially when linked with Coituimancy, to create an incredibly potent final piece of casting. This form of casting also is especially powerful to use in wards and summoning.
Shellwork: Shellwork is the magical art of using shells as a basis for drawing, using, or manipulating magical energy. It specifically involves drawing magical energy and using shells as a component in casting magical spells. It usually deals with using shells as a sealing trigger to complete magical spells, or pulling energy away from a living being through their shells. It also deals with shells as a way to manipulate the life force of a living being.; The act of using shells is one of exchange of life force. The spark of life which can be created using said exchange can be repurposed and utilized for the casting and sealing of patterns of aether. It is a particularly powerful kind of casting, and psionics are especially good at this form of casting. At the moment of using shells, especially joint using shells, the energies of both parties are linked and exchanged. Thus, that intense flow of energy can be exploited and used to cast and seal spells. It is particularly good at sealing intricate magical patterns, especially when linked with Coituimancy, to create an incredibly potent final piece of casting. This form of casting also is especially powerful to use in wards and summoning.