Belsedori system of magic (Aurora)

The Belsedori system of magic encompasses the complex of spellcasting, enchantment, alchemy, and other forms of applied and theoretical magic as understood and practiced by the Belsedori. Many elements of it are frequently and widely utilized by the Belsedori of Belsegallia throughout their daily lives as a result of their high innate magical aptitude and ease of access to necessary reagents. It exhibits a strong degree of adaptability to a broad variety of magical applications and can be used to perform almost any task accomplishable with magic when cast by a skilled practitioner.

The principle users of Belsedori magic are the eponymous Belsedori, who possess a natural affinity to it due to their inherently magical nature. Individuals of other magic-capable sapient species are also able to learn how to utilize Belsedori magic, with a moderately greater degree of difficulty and less consistency in an individual’s degree of aptitude to it in comparison to other types of magic usage.

The primary divisions of applied Belsedori magic are spellcasting, alchemy, and enchanting. Hybrid techniques using two or three of these basic magic types also exist, as do rarer forms of applied magic that do not neatly match any of them. Virtually all Belsedori are skilled in at least one primary form of Belsedori magic, while most know at least two types.

Basic principles

Fundamentals

The theoretical basis of the Belsedori concept of magic centers around three fundamental types of energy conventionally referred to as Shisana, Daishi, and Kasa, or roughly translated as life force, soul, and mana or magical energy.

Life force in the Belsedori system of magic is the core energy that provides the animating force to conventional living things, such as plants, animals, and people. It is the medium through which certain common magical effects, such as those that provide healing or detect the presence of living things, are enacted. Additionally, concentrations of life energy produced by environments such as dense forests and other vegetation-heavy areas can promote higher-than-average levels of mana in the environment or cause small magical effects.

The soul in Belsedori magic is associated specifically with sapient beings, particularly those with some sort of connection to one or more deities. Belsedori magic relies on the practitioner’s use of their soul to touch and manipulate magical energy in a broadly analogous manner to handling objects with their physical body: as such, a practitioner’s ability to use Belsedori magic is intrinsically bound to their connection with their spirit.
Spiritual energy comprises the reserve from which a caster draws the ability to perform magic, and is consumed with each instance of using magic through the Belsedori method: in the same manner that using the soul to touch magic is analogous to lifting a physical object, spiritual energy is analogous to physical stamina. This energy regenerates naturally over time in proportion with the maximum that a user can possess, and repeated practice with using Belsedori magic can improve both the amount of energy that a practitioner possesses and their efficiency with using it.

Mana as applied by Belsedori magic is the central source of energy and form for spells, enchantments, and other magical effects. Mana drawn from reagents, the surrounding environment, or specially formed vessels forms the substrate that all forms of Belsedori magic are woven from, and the presence of mana in some form is absolutely necessary for its usage. While conventionally regarded as an intangible, spiritual presence, the mana used by Belsedori can precipitate into a physical object when the local environment is saturated with excessively high concentrations of it: the best-known of these physical manas in Belsegallia is the crystal referred to as Witch’s Tourmaline, which is widely used in Belsegallia as a source of mana and a focusing medium for magical devices.
In addition to its usage in the practice of magic, mana is also the energy consumed by Belsedori and other arcanovores similar to them. Mana consumed in this manner is typically taken as a powdered crystal or other physical form.
The degree to which mana can be safely channeled or stored in a given material is referred to by Belsedori as its magical permeability. Materials possessing a high magical permeability can channel stronger magical forces, retain more powerful enchantments, and store greater quantities of magical energy, and are thus much more desirable for most applications than those with lower permeability.

Common tools

The single most common tool among all users of Belsedori magic is the spellcasting focus, which is used as a casting aid to assist users in efficiently and safely directing mana for spellcasting. While a spellcasting focus can take the shape of nearly any object built from properly conductive materials or specially enchanted to be effective at directing mana, the most common form factors used by Belsedori are wands and various types of enchanted weapons: these are typically used by male and female Belsedori, respectively. Spellcasting foci are widely used as an everyday tool by Belsedori magic users to reduce the energy expenditure of spellcasting and improve the ability to safely cast spells that are more complex, powerful, and/or mana-intensive.

Practical divisions

While the divisions of applied magic as practiced by the Belsedori system often blend together, most commonly used books and other sources discussing Belsedori magic use the categories of alchemy, enchanting, and spellcasting to classify its particular applications.

Enchanting

Enchanting under the Belsedori system is the practice of infusing a target object with magical energy in order to create a persistent magical effect that either passively operates or can be activated on demand. Simple enchantments may be used to, for example, allow a sword blade to self-sharpen and repair, create a sphere that can glow on command, or make a self-heating cooking surface, while more complex procedures can create such things as self-reshaping weaponry and controllable constructs. Most enchantments utilize consumable or durable reagents of some kind, along with specialized tooling, and are thus broadly analogous to Belsedori alchemy in that they both involve the use of reagents to create magical objects; the primary distinction is that enchanting applies or changes properties of an existing object rather than creating a new one.

Enchanting using Belsedori methods may be a single-step or multi-step process, depending on the magical permeability of the object and the complexity & quantity of the desired enchantments(s). While simple enchantments may be applied to a finished object with minimal preparation beyond an application of enchanter’s solvent to remove stray magical effects, applying powerful enchantments to complicated objects requires the application of magic in stages throughout the manufacturing process in a procedure referred to as layer enchanting; enchantments may be applied first to unprocessed metals, fabric, gemstones, and other components, then re-applied and/or layered with other enchantments onto each stage of semi-finished components, and then bound together into a coherent whole in a finishing pass performed after final assembly. Equipment used for intervening non-enchanting operations, such as blacksmithing tools, may also need to be specially made for usage with enchanted materials in some cases. Though the complex multi-step process, specialized tooling, and typically unusual reagents required by the more involved forms of layer enchanting renders it impractical for true mass production, its application in conjunction with other forms of Belsedori magic is capable of producing exceptionally powerful magical artifacts.

See also

• Magic in Aurora