Magical Essence

Magical Essence is a type of ethereal substance which permeates throughout the universe. It is used to perform feats of supposed impossibility which are colloquially referred to as "Magic", "Sorcery", "Witchery", etc. For us, it is simply the magic system in place for this setting.

To start, magic in this setting is performed by manipulating a substance called "Magical Essence" that permeates through the universe, seemingly indefinitely. This Essence is considered a 5th state of matter that behaves much like a gas, but also like a program. Each particle of Essence can be given instructions by waves that magic-capable beings send called M-Waves. Such magic-capable beings are usually just species of Rimians and Pandametrians, with a few exceptions. Generally, species are ranked as "Human", "Pandametrian", and "Escheronian" based on their ability to create and control these waves as well as their own genealogy. Humans are the most magically able while Escheronians usually can't use it at all.

Variables
There are 3 main variables of Essence considered when using magic, and those are: volume, density, and mass. Different types of magic depend on different variables, but it is generally excepted that voluminous essence is good for kenesis (control), density is good for genesis (creation), and mass is good for overall potency, as it is the product of volume and density. Since Essence permeates like a gas, the dispersion can be very even but is environmentally dependent. As a law, Essence cannot travel directly through solids without a sort of opening, naturally.

The exact way the 3 primary variables actually operate together is not totally understood, but is theorized to be some sort of empathic link between all essence particles in a given area that correlates their act of operation together, allowing the directions given to them to be perfectly evenly dispersed for maximum efficiency in operation. It also appears to execute instructions additively in correspondence with the empathic link. In other words, it appears that all essence is linked together in a network by some unknown force, and they are able to disperse information through this network. This also may be the reason that dormant essence is able to be resurrected as if it were a renewable energy source. This, if true, would mean that the essence network is similar in structure to a brain and could, with work, operate as a sentient network.

States
Essence also has 3 different states: Activated, Dormant, and Deactivated. Deactivated is the default state. In this state, Essence is idle and does nothing but flow in the air similarly to a gas. Deactivated Essence can be activated through the waves that magic-able beings can use. It can thusly be given instructions and be used to perform magic.

When instructed, Deactivated Essence turns into Activated Essence which is what magic basically is. In this state, magic obeys the instructions that it is given. These can be extremely varied in performance. After the instructions wear out (if they do), the Essence will deactivate again, but also enter the third state.

The third state is called Dormant Essence. Dormant Essence becomes heavy and very susceptible to gravity and does not flow easily if at all. It cannot be activated and has a certain "Refractory Period" before it recovers from being activated and becomes Deactivated Essence again. Once more, Dormant Essence CAN NOT be activated. Its refractory period CAN, however, be accelerated. After dormancy is exited, the Essence enters a Deactivated state again.

Branches
In most works of fiction that involve magic, there is a hierarchy of disciplines of magic. These magic "trees" are present in this setting but are far more abstract. Like real life, they can be indefinitely broken down into different branches and sub-branches. The standard fare dictates that a prefix or combo of prefixes and then one suffix of "-kenesis", "-genesis", or "-mancy" are combined to conclude the word's discipline. Very rarely are root words used, but it is also very rare that a suffix is not used or is different. The use of the first two suffixes were mentioned in "Main Variables/Basics", but not "-mancy". "-mancy" is used to denote the presence of both "-kenesis" and "-genesis". In short, it is the combination of creation and control. It can also be called the "divination". These are the semantics of discipline-naming. As an example, "Pyromancy" would mean that it is an art of creating and controlling fire via Magical Essence while "Pyrokenesis" would be JUST the control and not the creation of fire. However, Pyrokenesis might extend to the manipulation of non-magical fire using Magical Essence. In that case, it is just a more specific form of Telekenesis. Pyrogenesis would be the creation of magical fire without the control, making it extremely hard to use.

Interactions between magic and non-magic
Most of the time, magical and non-magical elements are separate. They usually will not interact well if at all, such as between magical fire and regular water. The water would not be able to completely put out the fire because it would not be able to stop the Essence from creating it, but would sate the flames by thermal energy. However, water created from Magical Essence flowing over burning Essence would stop the burning Essence from following its instructions by possibly overwriting them. That being said, magical fire is a completely different class of fire from combustibles, flammable liquids or gases, electrical, metal, or kitchen fires. Magical means are the only known way of dousing magical fire. This is only one example; it is generally accepted that magical elements will often act differently from their non-magical counterparts and only be sorts of imitations.

It is not recommended to ingest magical substances as they have varying effects that often deviate from their non-magical counterparts. To think of it more logically, imagine the particles of Essence as partitions of empty code blocks. These code blocks are injected by sorcerers with instructions. The code blocks follow the instructions to create "magic". To stop the magic, a sorcerer must injector a different instruction into the block, similarly to a computer virus. Each sorcerer has its own strength of projecting instructions, so some may have stronger "security" than others. A novice Pyromancer's flame would be trivial for a master aquamancer to overrun, but a master pyromancer could turn a novice aquamancer's water into fire! Because a physical object can't inject instructions into the Essence, it can't actually directly affect it. It could indirectly affect its properties, but is ultimately insufficient.

Magic inside and outside of battle
Due to its general usefulness, magic is known to be very versatile in and out of battle, able to fulfill the uses of many modern technologies with the right knowledge and conditions. Although some may argue that certain disciplines are simply unfit for one or the other, a creative mind is easily capable of weaponizing even the most harmless of magic. A good example of this would be Purumancy: the control over cleanliness. Normally, one would use it to disinfect objects to make housecleaning more efficient. However, a creative Purumancer would be able to clean another person's body so hard that it destroys the healthy bacteria in their body and causes sickness by over-sterilization. They could also use Purukenesis in particular to move millions of bacterium from a very contaminated area to a victim, also causing sickness.

This isn't particularly powerful as an example, but that brings the point that some disciplines are definitely more inclined towards one of the two. Fire is an inherently destructive force, so many have little thought but to cause destruction with it. Meanwhile, some are versatile both ways such as Aquamancy. This discipline in particular can be used for easily harming people via high-pressure blasts or drowning, for producing energy via hydroelectric mechanisms that may themselves be magical in nature. It could also be used to increase the efficiency of bathing, to assist in irrigation, to create erosive geography, and many other things. One issue is that it is not possible to ingest magical things properly. Doing so will yield far less energy than normal food and drink because the essence cannot itself be broken down and is simply absorbed, transmitting its energy whenever chemically available. Again, it will not voluntarily give up its energy and needs to be instructed to do so. Because it is also only mimicking substances, magical water cannot simply replace normal water and will just go dormant when the body attempts to do so, causing the only addition to be increased infused essence. In this way, magical food and drink CAN be used as a way for those who perform magic to obtain large reserves of it internally in case the environmental essence runs out. This is particularly useful for the Scarlet Knights who do this ritually. As of now, it is still not entirely known how essence recovers energy or if it even expends said energy when executing instructions. The existence of the dormant period seems to indicate such a relationship.

Next, we come to the usage of magic in battle, as a history. Throughout history, the Native Escheronians who could not normally use magic were isolated from the entirety of Sarfall. When they discovered the Pandametrians and Rimians, they had finally met something that could match their supernatural physical attributes: Magic. Although both Rimians and Pandametrians could not hope to even approach the physical superiorities, they had the ability to surpass their limitations through knowledge and the ability to manifest it through the essence. While the Pandametrians mainly relied on a combination of enhanced physique, magic, intelligence, wisdom, and tech; Rimians had reached such a high level that they could rely completely on essence to protect them from the rest of the world's organisms. One may think that the massive capabilities of magic would make anything using it more than a match for Escheronians and the like, but the biggest limiting factor to that is the sheer requirements of doing so and the fact that the less magical beings are so naturally superior that not even the use of magic to cause a match would be possible, and so such a direct confrontation must be circumvented by a totally different approach. Attempting a direct approach would be extremely destructive to the user. Given that the nature of using magic requires intimate knowledge of the specific processes involved to operate and the fact that avenues to victory in battle against otherwise superior foes vary greatly, it can be extremely difficult for small numbers of sorcerers to defeat even single Escheronians. In addition, magic is environmentally sensitive and requires specific conditions to be usable. Most battles between sorcerers and Escheronians end up being struggles of attrition, with the sorcerer fighting to set up the correct conditions to quickly defeat their opponent.

Meanwhile, battles between sorcerers are much different. Nine times out of ten, sorcerers fighting will not match up in discipline given that there are so many. When they don't, battles are usually very quick, tense, and victory is decisive. The only real way to negate attacks from magic are through simply tanking them, evading them, or counter-controlling them. The nature of essence does not allow opposites to cancel each other, so they often just go straight through each other or act extremely chaotically. These battles end very destructively. When disciplines DO match up, battles become drawn out as the two sorcerers fight for control over whatever their discipline is, often resulting in them matching attacks and playing defensively. Offensive play doesn't happen particularly often since it rarely actually yields results. These are mainly battles of attrition like between sorcerers and Escheronians, but these end when the essence has run out, or when one sorcerer simply overpowers the other. It is more akin to mental gymnastics.

Magic is also often used in wartime when specially disciplined soldiers few in number amass mainly as shock troops and skirmishers that will charge in foremost to cause chaos and attack weak points. Meanwhile, lesser-trained sorcerers act as distractions and cannon fodder to detract attention from the frontline troops and cause moderate casualties. Lastly, specialized units are often used for espionage, sniping stragglers in battles, instigating and leading sieges, and leading armies. Medics are also utilized after battles and are considered some of the most useful troops outside of direct combat. It is very common for magic users to simply forego armor completely due to the frequent uselessness of it against Escheronians, who can usually use their supernatural physical qualities to completely circumvent its purpose. The only armor ever known to be useful against them is Scarlet Knight armor because it can adapt frequently to opponents.