Magic is the general designation given to the various methods of manipulating the fabric of reality via indirect intervention. Magic predates written history, and was believed to have been used by the dreadwyrm civilization during the void war.

An explanation of its mechanics in a textbook style may be read here: Magic, its Sources, and its Applications.

There are two primary domains of magic, internal and external. Using magic requires the completion of the “open mana” ritual. Using external magic requires some degree of natural aptitude, and the completion of a far more difficult version of the open mana ritual.

Internal magic is the more common branch of magic, accessible by around 50% of the population of Mersia. This branch of magic concerns spells which primarily impact the user. Internal magic may be used to apply a myriad of effects to attacks made using melee or ranged weapons, from the mundane (the weapon catches fire, the weapon carries an electric current), to the abstract (attacks cancel out future attacks from the target, attacks may trade locations and velocities with the user at any point).

External magic is the less common branch of magic, only accessible by around 2% of the population of Mersia. This branch of magic concerns spells which primarily impact the environment around the user, or individuals other than the user. Spells of this type range from the straightforward (a cylinder 20 feet wide starting from the user's open palm will be filled with razor sharp winds) to the unorthodox (user will trade places with a mass of air up to 25 miles away), to the downright bizarre (user unleashes an attack proportional to one fifth of the subjective emotional intensity of a loss incurred by the user due to the actions of the target).

The Tethish School of magic is associated most closely with scrolls and spellbooks. A Tethish mage would likely carry a spellbook as a spell focus.

The Loegish School of magic is associated most closely with gemstones and otherwise sentimental spell foci.

The Bachiite School of magic is associated most closely with leylines and the spirits. A Bachiite mage would likely carry a staff as a spell focus.

The Feyndraigish School of magic is associated most closely with wands.

There are three primary energy sources for Potentia, also called mana, which is a type of life energy that fuels magical spells. Any type of magic may be cast using any school of magic, but these are two different axes of categorization and are not equivalent to one another. To cast a spell successfully, all three sources of magic should be engaged to some degree.

Knowledge magic is the source of magic associated with scrolls and spellbooks, relying on complex glyphs and intensive study to cast. This magic functions based on the relatively high energy density of information in the space around Mersia. It is most heavily relied upon for the Tethish School of magic.

There are two subtypes of this magic, stored information, and performed information.

Stored information uses a medium to store the information, which is consumed in the process of casting. For example, a spell scroll or spellbook.

Performed information uses a set of actions and invocations to store the information across a period of time, which is used to fuel the spell. For example, a dance, a ritual, or a spoken invocation would all be potential types of performed information.

Wisdom magic is the branch of magic associated with drawing power from the planet itself. This branch can potentially be quite powerful, but it carries a significant risk to the user if too much energy is drawn at once. This source of magic is most closely aligned with the Bachiite School, and improvement of this branch will improve the rate at which the magic user's well of potentia is naturally refilled by the available leylines.

Will magic is the source of magic most closely associated with inner power, relying on pure force of individual will as a way to shape spells. This source of magic is most closely associated with the Feyndraigish School, though the Loegish School also relies upon its use to a lesser extent.

Aspectumancy is the external school of magic associated with sensing. Common uses of this type of magic include scrying, remote viewing, or eavesdropping. This magic can be guarded against by other magic users, and often is, with some locations (such as offices of world leaders) or people (such as the world's foremost mages) being so heavily guarded as to brutally injure any magic user who even attempts aspectumancy on them.

Cogitamancy is the internal or external school of magic associated with thoughts, and can be used internally and externally. Common uses of this spell are reading the thoughts of others, broadcasting your own thoughts to others, or shielding one's thoughts from peering with cogitamancy. Less common uses of this spell include directly receiving someone else's senses, debilitating someone else's ability to think, or accelerating one's own mental processing speed.

Convocatiomancy is the school of external magic associated with spells which bring a faraway object into the vicinity of the user, or send objects far away from the user. A common application of this spell is to find lost items which had at some point in the past been marked by the user with a precursor spell. A more combative application would be to use it to bring weapons or ammunition from a faraway storage unit, with a corresponding sending spell to return unused weapons and ammunition to the storage unit afterward. This form of magic is the most common type of external magic in Mersia. This type of magic cannot be used to summon items the user has never laid a precursor spell on (much in the same way as fishing with nothing on the end of the line will never reel anything in).

Facultamancy is the internal or external branch of magic associated with predicting future events. This type of magic is of limited use, as seeing future events relevant to oneself often leads to a change in the course of action that led to that future event, which then changes what the future event ends up being. Some people have driven themselves mad by obsessively checking the future only to see it change slightly each time.

Formamancy is the internal school of magic associated with spells that change the physical form of a target. This type of magic is also known colloquially as shapeshifting magic. Its use is especially prominent among dragons, but it is not unheard of for practitioners of inner magic to use it as well.

Fulgumancy is the external school of magic associated with spells that alter electrical and magnetic charges of a target. Lightning spells are the primary type of fulgural magic, though the same principles can be applied to magnetism spells. This school of magic plays a major part in the Gondwanese practice of stormmaking.

Locumancy is the internal or external school of magic associated with spells that alter the position of a target in space. Teleportation spells are the primary type of local magic, though stationary portal spells are another application.

Luxomancy is the external school of magic associated with spells that alter the interaction of light with a target, or the generation of light. Illusion spells are the primary type of luxal magic, though spells that use light to damage a target have also been developed. Invisibility spells are an advanced type of luxal magic.

Motomancy is the internal or external school of magic associated with spells that alter the speed of a target. This school of magic is primarily useful in powering transports in areas with decent leyline coverage. While motion for the purpose of transportation can also be achieved using Vimancy, motal spells tend to be far more efficient. While vanishingly rare, it is possible for an internal magic user to fly using this ability.

Pondemancy is the external school of magic associated with spells that change the effect of gravity on a target. Gravity and floatation spells are both types of ponderous magic. It is important to note that pondumantic magic does not change the actual mass of the target, but rather, the impact of gravity on the target.

Praevenimancy is the internal or external school of magic associated with spells that change the target's ability to resist forces and other unwanted changes. Primarily, this type of magic is used to apply resistances to a target, for example, shielding a target from damage due to high temperatures, or electrical currents. It is often utilized by practitioners of inner magic.

Resmancy is the school of magic associated with creating temporary objects which disappear after the spell is ended, or when the user's mana runs out. This type of magic is most commonly used to create temporary weapons. This application is similar to the utility offered by convocatiomancy, but there are a couple of differences. Convocatiomancy is far easier to learn, and consumes quite a bit less mana. However, weapons created with Resmancy cannot be damaged or destroyed, will always retain their sharp edges, don't need to consume real ammunition, and can take physically impossible shapes.

Sonimancy is the school of magic associated with spells that create or alter sound waves. Silence and shockwave spells are both types of sonic magic. Sonimancy is related to Ventumancy, and a skilled practitioner of one school will usually be able to grasp the principles of the other quite quickly.

Technomancy is the school of magic associated with the creation or manipulation of devices. This is a barely-studied school of magic with fewer than ten practitioners, whose core principles are still poorly understood. It is the only branch of magic whose application does not rely on the manipulation of matter, energy, or natural forces, rather, it is at its most effective when applied to devices manufactured by sapes with a specific purpose in mind, though this school of magic may also be used to manufacture such devices.

Telumancy is the internal school of magic associated with physical weapons. Common uses of this school of magic are the application of elemental effects to one's weapon attacks, the exaggeration of a weapon's physical characteristics, or other more unusual abilities.

Tempumancy is the internal or external school of magic associated with spells that change the flow of time for a target. Haste and slow spells are both types of temporal magic. Rewind is a niche application of tempumancy which can temporarily return an object to an earlier state. In theory it should be possible to reverse the flow of time for a living target, though this has never been achieved, and a stable method has yet to be devised.

Thermomancy is the external school of magic associated with spells that change the temperature of a target. Flame and ice spells are both types of thermal magic. While some spells function on a basis of transferring thermal energy to something or from something, this is not the only way a thermal spell might work. It is also possible to directly raise or lower the temperature of a target object by directly transferring energy from the source to or from the target.

Ventumancy is the external school of magic associated with spells that change the air pressure of a target area. Wind spells are the primary type of vental magic, though the same principles can be applied to water spells. This type of magic is especially useful for fish who study magic, as it can aid motion.

Vimancy is the internal or external school of magic associated with spells that apply a force to a target. These are distinguished from motomancy spells in that the method of action is different. Telekinesis spells are the primary type of vi magic, though the same principles can be applied to impact spells. Internally, this type of magic may be used to increase the force exerted by one's body without necessarily physically affecting the muscles.

Virtusmancy is the internal school of magic associated with increasing the physical power exerted by one's own muscles. This school of magic encompasses the acceleration of one's blood flow, the hardening of one's bones to bear the increased force, and of course increasing the tensile force of the muscle fibers themselves. This differs from Vimancy in that the muscles themselves become stronger, and thus one's physical toughness is also improved.

Vitamancy is the internal or external school of magic associated with spells that alter the lifeforce of a target. This type of magic can only be cast by fae. Death spells are illegal in every nation on Mersia, however, so they are not well-studied.

Voluntamancy is the internal or external school of magic associated with spells that alter the will of a target. Courage spells are the primary type of voluntorial magic, though the same principles can be applied in Fear spells. A particularly advanced sub-school of voluntorial magic is control magic, which imbues the target with the will to perform a specific action or seek a specific goal. Control magic is strictly forbidden in all nations except under extraordinary circumstances such as self-defense.