Magic

The Veil and the Void

Many often wonder what is the veil, what lies beyond it, and what manner of creature could exist in such places? For mages, sorcerers, clerics, and scholars there is some insight from tomes and knowledge passed down through the ages, ruined cities of the ancients hold great libraries on the subject and many adventurers often find good coin bringing back information from those ruins. What is known is this, the Veil is a barrier composed of what is known as corruption, this corruption is the raw forces of creation and chaos, in most ways it is as deadly and poisonous to mortal life as any toxin known. However the Veil is home to a form of life, any demonologist can tell you that the creatures they make their pacts with and often summon come from within the Veil, it is best to think of it as a wall to a house, with rats living within.

As for the other side of the veil? Well there lies the void, a realm of non-existence in which the various worlds of the Yunda and gods all float. These worlds are not the void itself but dwell within it, cut off from the mortal realm by the Veil. One might find the heavens of Ramil, or the tortured mad realm of Utroghu here, as well the worlds in which the Hali, Velas, and Soben once called home, and many others uncharted realms. It is believed that the most pious believers in the gods on death have their souls pulled through the veil and brought into their realms, if they are not tainted and consumed by the creatures of the veil during their travel. And at some point during the reign of the ancients a bridge was created large enough to transplant a population of Yunda from their native realms into ours. It is since said the Yunda, while some have accepted their new home, search for a way to get back to their ancestors home and reconnect with their people. 

Veil Breaks

By the power of the gods, though their clerics or mortal worshippers, or by blind use of magics on the mortal plane from time to time cracks appear in the Veil, pulling the void though and allowing planes to bridge from one to another. This melding of worlds is what is known as a veil break, and is the only known way for a living being to travel realms beyond the veil, at great risk as the beings of the veil itself well hound their every step. However this is a one way trip, and the broken veil unleashes havoc on the mortal realm, as the “rats'' or demons of the veil rush into the realm. Which has made the practice of opening these breaks punishable by death, and most kingdoms rush to close them.

Types of Magic

Sorcery

Magi who use corruption to fuel their spells, the stuff from beyond the veil. Necromancy, Demonology, and Witchcraft all fall under the blanket of Sorcery, as each one calls upon powers and abilities from the other side of the veil, either to curse another, call demons in from the void, or pull spirits back from the otherside of the veil to animate corpses. This puts sorcerers at high risk of corruption from veil energies, and as such most people tend to be afraid of those who use such magics be it for whatever reason.

Arcani

Magi who use natural forces to fuel their spells, natural energy from their surroundings such as life force. Shamanism, Clerical, and Mesmerism all fall under the powers of an Arcanist, as each one uses energies native to the world and plane that the common person dwells on. While the knowledge for the use of arcani may come in whispers from deities through prayer, or taught to shaman’s through their dreams and mystical vision, or from probing the depths of the mind in the case of Mesmers. The spells of Arcani require more focus, and prep to avoid breaking the veil, this does not mean they are completely safe from corruption, sometimes bending the veil too much causes cracks in which it seeps through, effecting an arcanist to a lesser extent then one using sorcery.

The Sorcerer

Simply by virtue of having corruption, the sorcerer is immediately identifiable as a character of magical significance by whatever demons, magical beasts and rival sorcerers with whom he may come into contact. Once they have that knowledge they must treat him differently – perhaps regarding him as a threat, or perhaps simply gazing hungrily at his soul. 

Often two sorcerers or creatures of magical power will, on recognizing each other, begin immediately to consider ways of making common cause. Even the presence of a sorcerer in an adventuring party can be enough to avoid otherwise terrible battles with powerful foes, but it can also place the party under threats they would not otherwise need to face if a creature is interested in preying on only sorcerers.

The Arcanist

In contrast to Sorcerer’s, Arcanist do not borrow or barter with the veil for their magical arts. Rather they work out the mystery of the world and its infinite energies, through the use of alchemy, mathematics, and other pursuits of knowledge they unravel the hidden truths and wield a force similar to corruption, Arcani.

Arcani however is bound solely to the physical, not needing to call upon the veil to work their powers and magics. Though it carries the same risks, as manipulating the laws of the physical allows for bits of corruption to seep in, should the arcanist not have a proper understanding of how to manipulate the forces they are trying to call into the world. This has the same effect of corruption infesting the caster, so Arcanists tend to be very strict on their spell casting and when teaching new students. 

But the rate of corruption is lower among Arcanist and as such, the use of Arcani is more common and accepted than sorcery, with the Guild of Magi training and teaching solely the use of Arcani and ensuring few people are turned toward the dark use of sorcery.

On corruption.

Even those with stringent codes of honour may fall from their principled stance, usually without any hope of regaining it. There are no cosmic forces for ‘Good’. Even the supposedly good gods, such as Ramil, are few and far between. The only good is that which is to be found in a few human beings of high moral standing, though even they are far scarcer than the self-serving or actively evil humans who make up the majority of ordinary people and great heroes and villains alike.

On the other hand, ‘Evil’ exists in a very real and concrete manner. Dark forces are always afoot. The foul sorcerous knowledge of evil priests and the vile demons they conjure up are far more powerful than any magics or defensive prayers to which their supposedly ‘Good’ counterparts might have access to but the cost to them is far greater.  These ‘good’ magics bend the same laws of mortal, natural life and attract the same attention from the demons from beyond.  Many folk, who might otherwise be moral, take the first steps on the road to damnation when they realise that even if they behave virtuously, there is no paradise in the next life, that a god may not always bring their soul into the light,  no guarantee of salvation; they might as well take what they can here and now.

Corruption is a more serious problem for sorcerers and arcanists than for most characters. Their research typically causes them to make more saving throws against corruption than most adventurers; moreover, even those who successfully avoid being corrupted have a tendency to grow madder and madder as they gain more and more unnatural knowledge. For the amoral sorcerer, with some insight into just how powerful and dangerous are the forces aligned against humanity, there is a stark choice between simply giving in to those forces and giving in to despair or madness at the recognition that those forces will someday win.

There are things and places in the world that are described as 'corrupted' . These places and/or objects (example: artifacts) are capable of twisting the very nature of living things around them. Exposure to the presence of corruption will erode  and twist the will and drive of those that linger in it. Longer exposure causes greater vulnerability to this  dark influence. Other things that can effect corruption is extreme mental distress, such as mental torture or severe trauma. Prolonged exposure to eldritch entities, demons, or even being in the presence of powerful sorcerers for too long.

The ones most at risk of corruption are sorcerers, and scholars.  As then, the very nature of their work has them dealing with these outer forces more than the common man.

In Game

If a character is exposed to a source of strong evil or corrupt magic the effects should scale with the character's vulnerability (Mild / moderate / severe ) dice can be used if preferred.

Corruption's effects on a character are cumulative with previous effects (example if your character was effected by mild corruption and began to see hallucinations - as the corruption progresses the character will still suffer hallucinations but may also end up paranoid or murderous. effects of corruption do not simply fade with time.)

If a character reaches a critical point of corruption (extremely severe) this could result in death. At a high enough tier that death occurs a character is unable to be restored / cured / resurrected. However corruption can be cured by restorative magics and rituals.

Corruption tiers

0 - 4: No effects

5 - 9: Alignment shifts, good to neutral, starting to care just a little bit less

10 - 14: Neutral to Evil shift,  more callous, paranoid

15 - 19: Lovecraft Levels of madness, paranoia, and hallucinations

20: Point of no return (Death)

Examples of corruption effects can carry some form of mechanical detriment, but it's for each character to be aware and include ill effects into their narrative and rp scenarios. Take into account how these effects might alter an RP encounter or adjust a character's reaction to events/encounters. Also note that corruption will not effect everyone the same or to the same degrees. Some may prove more resistant or more in control of themselves than others.

Examples:

• Imaginary Parasites

• Broken Will

• Chronic Fatigue

• Compulsive

• Coughing

• Easily Distracted

• Paranoid

• Moral Decay

• Reckless Behaviour 

• Getting Jittery

• Developing phobias

• Manifestation of curses

• Hoarding

• Hallucinations

• Too trusting

• Severe phobia

• Seeping sores

• Stench of death/decay

• Withering flesh

• Warped bones (Developing a hunched back or elongated fingers etc.)

• Rotten Joints (Eg: Arthritis. Dexterity disadvantages.)