All Magic is Mist. Mist is what early mystics called the life force of the universe. A short tangent, "Mist" is the root word, those who learned how to manipulate the Mist are called "Mystics", ergo the word "Mage" comes from the combination of two words "Mystic" & "sage" (meaning "wise man") thus combining the words created the word "Mage". Anyways, back to the lesson. All Magic is Mist, before I explain what magic is, I suppose I should explain what magic is NOT. Mages within The Blue Mist Universe cannot create objects ("ex nihilo" or "from nothing" for you uneducated folks, just kidding), Mage can only generate objects out of raw materials, for example;
a Mage is capable of creating a brick wall from dirt on the ground as they are merely manipulating objects without the use of machinery. He wouldn't need water and other elements to mix the cement as he can pull hydrogen & oxygen from the atmosphere to create water and transform the dirt into mortar and perform this feat instantaneously. The way the early mages defined Magic is "Magic is a manipulation of the Mist, bending it to your will. An accelerated course of action which causes natural events at force of will drawing resources from materials available". For example, a mage cannot suddenly make an iPhone appear, but a mage can draw sources from the earth and assemble an iPhone without the use of a factory.
This isn't to say that Magic isn't more than drawing upon available resources, Mages are capable of teleportation, summoning creatures, generating illusions, shape shifting and other abilities many would deem supernatural (future sight and many others). However, being a Mage doesn't mean being capable of all forms of Magic. Much like any profession, Mages can specialize is various areas: there are Mages who are experts in vegetation and use their Mystic abilities to grow crops, enrich the ground and ensure lands are able to grow crops even during droughts. There are other Mages who are experts at healing, others who are experts at music and use musical devices as their primary tool. Not all Mages are equal but all Mages are incredibly trained in their field.
The Mist is essentially The Life Force Of The Universe, Mages merely work as conductors of the Mist and channel it through their bodies and expel it, the effect in which the Mist is expelled is called "Magic". Long story short, Mages themselves are not powerful as they do not self-generate Mist. Despite not having the power within them, they can train their bodies to be able to channel more of the Mist for greater and much larger forms of Magic. Because of this, a Mage is only as powerful as they want to be. However, channeling too much Mist can cause a Mage's body to be tasked greatly and is extremely dangerous. Channeling the Mist is similar to lifting weights, all Mages start off with small feats of Magic increasing as training continues.
Because The Mist is everywhere, anyone and everyone can learn to Magic, however it's noted that there are those who an advantage over others but that advantage doesn't mean one will naturally be more powerful than others. Witchbreeds & Elves are born with a natural inclination toward Magic and may use it in simple ways, but a learned Mage who is human will still exceed them. I guess now would be the time to explain the different types of Magic. There is Magic, Light Magic, Dark Magic and Combat Magic.
Magic is pretty much manifested in the forms I listed above: teleportation, summoning creatures, generating illusions, shape shifting, future sight, influencing nature, etc. etc. Light Magic is magic that gives back to The Mist or increases the amount of Mist. Light Magic users use their abilities heal others and serve The Mist because maintaining the Life Force of those around them. Therefore, Light Magic use their magic to grow crops, heal others, and establishing peace for all, as all things being in harmony help keeps The Mist strong. Some of best and most notable Light Magic users are Karafin. As I stated earlier, Mages do not generate Mist, they merely channel it. Dark Mages channel The Mist into themselves and store it there, thus making themselves self-generators of Mist.
Dark Mages don't necessarily use Dark Magic but more often than not, they do. Dark Magic is any form of Magic that violates the will of another sapient being or distorts the natural course of things, as an example things like Mind Control or draining things of their life force or necromancy ("raising the dead" once again for you uneducated folks, hehe). Necromancy is a BIG NO, NO in The Blue Mist Universe. But unfortunately, Mages are capable of such feats and therefore certain manipulations of The Mist have become illegal to perform. In order to perform such feats as raising the dead or mind control in takes an awful lot of Mist, and Dark Mages known this, therefore they absorb Mist in either bodies and accumulate Mist thus making themselves strong enough to perform such feats.
The problem with this practice is stated above, if channeling too much Mist can be a problem, storing Mist within yourself is a HUGE problem and causes those who do to become unstable and power hungry. This is because now that they're storing Mist within themselves their thought process becomes warped leading them to believe they are like The Mist. The Mist is infinite power and therefore Dark Mages seek to absorb more Mist in order to be like The Mist (ie, infinite power). Essentially Dark Mages are driven mad by a hunger they cannot satisfy, this dissatisfaction with this hunger turns to rage and rage leads to violence. Dark Mages require the use of Dark Magic because overriding the will of another being is naturally outside of The Mist's purview. Despite being a force, The Mist, much like magnets will repel when encountering a force similar. In the realm of The Mist, when a Dark Mage imposes his Will on another person, The Mist will read this as a The Dark Mage essentially turning the other person into another one of themselves, but The Mist understands that that person is another person and therefore is naturally repelled by this.
Because Dark Mages are generators of Mist unlike Mage who merely channel it, Dark Mages are stronger than Mage, but they are also incredibly unstable, psychologically and physically. Think of Dark Mages as Steroid users and you get the point. Stronger doesn't mean better, and despite the fact that they can perform more Magic faster than your average Mage, due to the shortcut of relying merely on their self-generated Mist, it takes them much more will power to maintain control over their magic than Mages. Combat Magic is pretty self-explanatory, anyone who can learn how to manipulate forces of nature can naturally learn how to turn them into weapons. Every Mage goes through basic combat training and that's where Ether comes into play.
Ether is NOT MAGIC! Ether is NOT MIST! Ether is "the inner strength of a person's will manifested in a spiritual form.". Everyone has Ether and just like Mist you merely have to learn how to channel it. Think of Ether as the difference between Martial Arts & Being a Jedi. One involves telekinesis and the other involves self-discipline and learning the dynamics of how to throw a punch & kick. Unlike Mist, Ether comes from within and is entirely based on your will. Those will high amounts of Ether can learn how to manifest their will into shields made of spirit energy, increase their speed, strength or accelerate healing. Most Mages learn to use their Ether in order to augment or enhance their ability to channel more Mist.
Just like Mist, Ether is increased by concentration and performing various feats with increasing amounts of difficulty. Many soldiers and Martial Artists in The Blue Mist Universe are primarily Ether Practitioners with different styles of Ether manifestation. Because Ether is a manifestation of will and not a manipulation of Mist, Ether can be used to dominate the will of another, but not impose your will unto them as to make them your slave, but merely overpowering them through sheer force of will. Soldiers are trained heavily in Ether combat. Hope that explains the difference between the cards you will be using in "Blue Mist" once you start playing! Thanks for reading and joining us for another Blue Mythos!
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