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Night Whispers Magic System

Elements of Magic

There are five elements of magic: Water, Earth, Fire, Air, and Spirit. They are further divided into Positive, Neutral, and Negative forms. These are not necessarily good or evil, just the presence or absence of something. Neutral magic is the untransformed “base” state of the element.

Positive Water is Steam, and Negative Water is Ice.

Positive Earth is Life, Negative Earth is Metal.

Positive Fire is Light, while Negative Fire is Darkness.

Positive Air is Sound, while Negative Air is Silence.

Positive Spirit is Order, while Negative Spirit is Chaos.

General Rules

Magic works differently for different types of beings. However, some ground rules apply to all beings.

As magic is an expression of willpower, a spell can fail if a spellcaster has doubts about what they are trying to do.

Magic is like a muscle– it grows stronger with use and atrophies with disuse, and the stronger your “magic muscle” is, the bigger and more complex things you can do with magic.

Furthering the muscle metaphor, magic drains energy the same way physical exercise does. The fitter your “magic muscle” is, the more magic you can do without becoming tired.

Your metaphorical “magic muscle” is your soul (or at least part of your soul), so soulless beings such as vampires cannot use magic.

Human Magic

Humans, who evolved through natural selection instead of being born from magic, need methods to focus and channel their magic. Most spellcasters focus their magic through a wand– we’ll go over wands in a future post, but note for now that they’re basically hollow sticks filled with a magically conductive substance and tipped with a crystal.

Incantations and gestures are not standardized, as they’re just verbal/physical expressions of a spellcaster’s willpower. Most American and Canadian spellcasters, especially young ones in training, use the Morrison Standard, invented by Virgil Morrison, a Maine spellcaster. However, other standards exist, and it’s not uncommon to see human spellcasters make up new, personalized gestures and incantations. Things like the Morrison Standard exist mainly to teach new spellcasters; it’s easier to learn when you don’t have to make something up for every new spell.

Typically, humans can use Water, Fire, Earth, and Air magic just fine (although individual humans have their specialties), but struggle with Spirit magic due to its divine nature.

Fae/Angel/Demon Magic

Due to being born of magic, Fae, Angels, and Demons don’t need focuses to channel their magic. However, they may use informal gestures and incantations to expedite their magic use.

Angels focus almost entirely on Order magic (Positive Spirit magic), while demons likewise focus on Chaos (Negative Spirit) magic. Demons find it easier to deviate from Spirit magic than angels, although this may be due to cultural differences rather than anything else.

The fae, as demoted angels, likewise have their specialties. They are divided into four Courts based on their element: the Summer Court is Fire, the Autumn Court is Earth, the Winter Court is Water, and the Spring Court is Air.

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