Magic

Magic in Shechilushoeathu, is a generally accepted phenomenon. It is generally studied and applied by specialists. A large portion of Magic practicioners are Scholars, as Magic, like so many things, still has a lot of secrets to be unfolded.

Known to the general population of Thichana are five types of magic. These are Negatism, Vocalism, Linking, Celestial dance and Mechagics.

Negatism
Negatism is the school of magic with the least variety but requires a lot of understanding from the surroundings. Negatism basically reverses or cancels out any type of energy. This also includes gravity, and many Negatism practicioners tend to hover, rather than walk. Negatism is very useful for stopping things from happening and moving large or unweildy objects.

Vocalism
Vocalism is the school of magic which is probably the hardest to learn, but is arguably the most powerful. Vocalism is practiced by simply speaking a magical language. However this is the most precise and difficult language anyone could ever imagine, it has very specific tonal variations, has grammar which litterally fills books just trying to explain it, and have sounds in them, most people havent even heard of. Further, every word is pronounced differently depending on the context. Learning one word generally takes several years for a Vocalist.

There are stories of someone, long ago, being able to sing in the Vocalist tongue, the effects of that are said to have sunk an entire continent, whether this is possible, Scholars dont doubt it, but whether it happened is still heavily debated.

Linking
The school of linking sees a lot of importance in social gathering, and getting to know people. This is because if one person uses linking magic, it is rather pathetic compared to the other magics, however if other Linking practitioners use their magic to link themselves to the caster, his or her magic will become more powerful than the people who are linking to the person combined. Linking magic practitioners tend to trust eachother fully, and a group of linkers can be quite powerful.

Celestial dance
This type of magic is quite simular to Vocalism, however instead of using words and sentences to produce magic, it uses movements of the body to produce magical effects. This school of magic is most often practiced by dancers and acrobats, as it requires good athletics and agility to successfully produce any magical effects. Celestial dances can also produce so called golems, these are basically walking sculptures, mimicking the dancers every move.

Seeing a practicioner of the Celestial Dance practice his or her art is truly a feast for the eye, as its difficult movements, which come just as precise as the words of vocalists, tend to be graceful and dramatic.

Mechagics
The youngest of the magical schools, this is the only school of magic which does not require a Lo to practice it. Practicioners of Mechagics basically apply magic to inanimate objects, and imbue them with certain bits of magical effects. placing these inanimate objects together in certain ways, allows them to produce certain magical effects. Mechagics is changing the known world by storm with constant new inventions and automated constructs, as well as the supporting infrastructure for this mechagical revolution.

Most notably, Mechagics has allowed certain nations to transcend mortality. This was already possible with Vocalism, however it was incredibly difficult, and required 5 lines to be spoken perfectly, and only a small amount of people were known to be able to do it. However with Mechagics, this process could be almost automated, as magical machinery, which only required a few people to opperate it, were reviving people only days after they died. It does not even require the original body.

The major drawback of Mechagics, compared to the other magics is that it requires a lot of resources, and can not produce any wished result right on the spot.

Confirmed Pseudo-Magics
Pseudo-magics are forms of magic that have a big focus on Raw Magical Energy, rather than on the physical world or can be types of magic which have not been confirmed to be real and are generally part of superstition. Confirmed Pseudo-Magics are magics which have real effects.

Listening
Listening is not officially accepted as a full type of magic, instead it is seen as a pseudo-magic. The reason for this is that Listening does not affect the material world through the use of Raw Magical Energy, instead it only manipulates Raw Magical Energy or more commonly just observes it.

Listening is the art of observing the 'flows' and 'ripples' in the fields of Raw Magical Energy and manipulating them in a small scale. Listening is believed to be even older than Vocalism, and has throughout history been used for many different purposes, from long ranged communications, to predicting magical usage and gauging the density of Raw Magical Energy in an area. Masters of listening can also move 'clouds' of Raw Magical Energy, herding it from one place to another in a very slow fashion.

Every Lo has a natural listening ability, being able to sense very dense concentrations or very rapid conversions of Raw Magical Energy. This natural ability causes many Lo-o to feel uncomfortable, or even jump out of the way just before a dangerous spell is about to fly go to their general location.

The Raw Magical Energy is perceived by a small organ located in the brain of a Lo which also communicates with parts of the body through Raw Magical Energy streams. This organ can be trained to become more perceptive, and to have a stronger sending signal, thus allowing for Listening.

Unconfirmed Pseudo-Magics
Unconfirmed Pseudo-Magics are generally seen as superstition, and are frowned upon and often even persecuted. Claiming to have invented a new form of magic is a very dangerous thing to do, as it often leads to heavy torture or death by persecution. Several scholars believe that this heavy persecution has caused the loss of numerous true magics or pseudo-magics, but they dare not investigate further for fear of persecution.

Organicism
Organicism is the supposed ability to convert organical matter directly into Raw Magical energy without it first going into the After-Realm. Scholars believe that if this Pseudo-magic were to be real, it would be a very powerful form ability, which would allow mages to produce powerful effects without the need of dense concentrations of Raw Magical Energy. The exact details of this Pseudo-magic, like many others, are vague at best, some people claim you have to touch the object you want to convert, others say you can only convert parts of your own body, yet others say that as long as you can see it you can convert it.

The first account of Organicism was in the year 284 AM