[SETTING] Magick of Ädamίr, Part I: Crystal Magick

A primer on the harnessing of Blight and an introduction to magick in the dark fantasy setting of Ädamίr

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This is the first in a multi-part series on the magic systems of Ädamίr. Each week, I’ll showcase a new system, who uses it, and how it functions in the world and for characters.

The lands of Ädamίr have seen their fair share of tumult over the eons that have crossed its face.

In that time, magick has been one constant in which each age has witnessed its unending beauty, mighty potential, and cruel destruction.

Many say magick comes from the stars above, a primal energy radiating outward from strange cosmic engines. Others assert that the ancient Mother Moon¹ brought magic into the Seven² and thus into the world by their Grace³.

Still, some say magick has always existed here, since before the days of the Mother Moon and the Seven and before the stars flared into life or death and when the many spheres upon which Ädamίr and other realms sit waged war for countless eternal cycles.

In any case, magick manifests in one of two ways: hexes and incantations.

• One may consider hexes ‘arcane’ magicks in that they are typically cast alongside or through some form of material conduit. Crystal⁴ and Lunar⁵ magicks, True Words⁶, Dread Rites⁷, and Manifestations of the Elden World⁸ are considered hexes.

• One may consider incantations ‘divine’ magicks in that they are typically cast by beseeching a greater power as their source. Black Iron miracles⁹, Cinder traditions¹⁰, and testing one’s skill to earn knowledge from a Guiding Spirit¹¹ manifest via incantations.

Crystal, Black Iron, and Cinder magicks are relatively newer, historically speaking, with the first having been “born” in the past century or so:

After the War of Iron and Silver¹², the Argentum Lords¹³ — who controlled all of Ädamίr as mighty rulers — beat back the Black Iron Faith¹⁴ invaders and restored peace across Ädamίr.

This peace was not to last, however, as a mere three years after their victory the Visitor — a massive cosmic entity in the form of a dying meteor — crash-landed into the world, piercing its soul.

Its arrival destabilized the delicate control the Argentum Lords had over the world's innate magic, banishing all of their rank from existence. All semblance of structure across Ädamίr crumbled, lurching the world backward into a Dark Age that remains to this day.

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Crystal Magick

• LANGUAGE: Arcanum

• CONDUIT: Crystal shards, chunks, growths

• PRACTITIONERS: Arcanists, Gemfolk

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Crystalline accretions spawn along the general paths of the world’s leylines due to the Blight incurred by the arrival of the cosmic entity known today as the Visitor. Magickal energy is stored in the crystals, allowing magic users with a sensitivity to the Blight (called Sense) to harness them in their castings.

Crystals appear in one of three ways: shards, chunks, or growths.

• Shards are often harvested by crystal miners (or desperate arcanists) and sold to traveling merchants for silver bobs¹⁵. Magic users often find such merchants at busy crossroads, settlements, and other small bastions of civilization. Once shards are used, they typically lose their magical properties.

• Chunks, while similarly extracted, are much larger and exceedingly rare and, therefore, fetch a much higher price in gold pieces. These are often sold to nobility, and those in power to hoard rather than use. More experienced arcanists will often hold a chunk on their person for repeatable magickal energy, as chunks often replenish their power over time when near the leylines.

• Growths are something else entirely. When an arcanist grows dependent on crystal casting, Blight can spread from stone to skin, causing crystalline growths to appear on the arcanist’s flesh.

  • The arcanist begins to witness strange visions of distant crystal groves and is encouraged to travel to find them by a sourceless voice in their mind.

  • The most afflicted are said to be entirely encased in crystal, becoming Gemfolk from then on — entirely subservient to the Visitor.

  • These Gemfolk can harness the Blight and cast magick as naturally as breathing, their bodies becoming the ceaseless conduit for their casting.

    Notably, the greatest potential of finding a crystal chunk comes from the slaying and harvesting of Gemfolk.

    Most arcanists will attempt to avoid this method of harvest, not only for its overtly antagonistic methods with significantly armored and powerful foes, but also due to the widespread belief that the killing of Gemfolk invokes the ire of the Visitor itself.

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[AD] This Week’s Addendum

As a follow-up to this article, I’ll write a [ADDENDUM] detailing the items that can benefit a crystal caster, whether they’re an Arcanist or have become one of the Gemfolk.

Here’s a sample:

Blight Dowser. For those without the Sense for Blight, a dowser can be used to locate the magickal crystals necessary for certain spells. A long metal rod, capped with a small open chamber, is steeped in crushed, expended crystal shards and oil. After a day passes, the dowser can detect nearby Blighted crystals by vibrating slightly in the hand. This ability lasts up to two days, with less efficacy as time passes.

To access that [ADDENDUM] article, consider becoming a paid subscriber today. This is the last day of our October sale, where you can subscribe for 40% off and keep that price forever. You can sign up or upgrade your membership using the article itself.

Look for the article on Sunday, November 3rd.

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1. The ancient goddess, mother to the Elfin Seven. Abandoned her children and the world of Ädamίr at the climax of the Upheaval before the Age of Ice.

2. The Seven (Anaelia, Faerion, Kalios, Lyros, Nyxera, Seravara, and Zilar), or the Elfin Seven, were god-like beings and children of the Mother Moon. Their order was splintered in the Upheaval, where brother fought sister, and the whole world bled.

3. According to the Scripture of the Elden World, the Seven granted Grace to the Solothi, or "the faithful servants.” This grace manifested as power in magickal ability and long life, which still exist in Solothi bloodlines.

4. See the above article.

5. Magick derived from the extant Mother Moon. None but the Sisters of the Moon know how this power is summoned, as the Moon disappeared long ago.

6. Every part of reality holds a True Word. Speakers spend lifetimes mastering fewer than five; to learn more would verge on prophecy. Anyone who could speak beyond this limit would wield messianic power, bending the world to their will.

7. In the fallen city of Darkenhold, the man known only as the Archbishop has taught a fledgling group of aspirants the Dread Rites, magick that channels power through the dead.

8. The latent power of the Seven rests far to the north in the Elden World beyond the Cradle of the Visitor. Solothi ascetics reside there, some supposedly from the days before the Upheaval.

9. The Black Iron Faith worships the fell Ebon Lord and is granted magickal power in exchange. This power manifests through the Daughters of the Ebon Lord, a sect of priestesses zealously loyal to their god.

10. The Cindervale Knights practice dark and cruel methods, harkening back to the days of the Shattering, none so historically oppressive as their Cinder traditions. Rituals of imperishable flame, Cinder traditions are considered blasphemous by most if not all other magick practitioners.

11. Honored dead not allowed to move onward to the afterlife, Guiding Spirits offer their power to worthy few. Some respect this honor, while others reject it — becoming Dread Specters, malevolently twisting the world around them to match their hatred of their station.

12. The War of Iron and Silver began nearly two hundred years ago with the invasion of the Black Iron Faith and their massive spireships. Lasting for nearly five years, the war came to an end when High Lord Iridiex Ironsinger was stripped of his divinity by Ferigal the Dreaming Lord, one of the Argentum Lords.

13. There were seven Argentum Lords who ruled as praetors over the shattered isles of Ädamίr: Ferigal the Dreaming Lord, Seric the Silverspinner, Nax of the Crystal Path, Lirien the Stormlord, Semathas of the Spheres, K’lakar of the Blood, and Anastaria the Many. They presided over the regions of the world in their prismatic stone towers, often separate and apart in their own machinations.

14. The Blackhands, followers of the Ebon Lord and the Black Iron Faith, came from the far east beyond the Misted Sea. No one knows why they invaded the lands of the Argentum Lords, but they were loyal to their mission to the very last soul. Fragments of their order still linger in the ruins of their spireships and deep underground.

15.