History of Magic

The Birth of Magic

In the ages after the Twilight Rebellion, mortals began to uncover the lingering threads of Aetherium woven through Caelthys — the same celestial essence Solarin had wielded in creation. Drawn to its radiance, early scholars, shamans, and dreamers learned to touch this living current, shaping its flow through will and ritual. Thus was born magic — the mortal art of bending divine power. Though its use echoes the hand of Solarin himself, it remains a perilous gift; for every spell cast is a whisper tugged from the same tapestry that once nearly unraveled the world.

Lunira’s Breath

Lunira, the Moon Celestial, saw the danger that was brought with the wounds of the Twilight Rebellion. She knew the world that she had grown to love would cease to exist unless something was done. To prevent the world from collapsing, she imbued celestial energy - Aetherium - into the fabric of the universe to mend the wounds that had been created. This divine act infused reality with a powerful energy that it had not known prior. Aetherium sealed the world’s wounds, stitching existence back together. The presence of these threads - this energy - became the foundation of what mortals now call magic.

Sites of the greatest battles during the rebellion required an especially large amount of Aetherium to keep them together. These sites became known as The Seams.

Wielding Aetherium

The first mortals to encounter magic did not understand it as a controllable force. Instead, it manifested as unpredictable anomalies: storms that spoke in voices, rivers that flowed backward, forests that healed or cursed those who entered. Over generations, individuals sensitive to Aetherium learned to channel and direct it. Some studied it to learn how to harness its power and others were born with innate sensitivities to Aetherium. However they wield it, mortals dedicate lifetimes to mastering the art of harnessing Aetherium and using it in all kinds of different ways. The manipulation of this celestial energy allowed spell casters to bend the elements to their will, influence the minds of others, and all kinds of other unnatural actions.

Contemporary scholars agree that magic is not inherent to the natural order but rather a scar-tissue of creation. It binds the world but also bleeds into it, allowing mortals to access powers far beyond their own nature. While magic is indispensable to civilization, it is also unstable—its origins in catastrophe ensuring that even now, its use carries the risk of unraveling the very weave it sustains.