Magic
Introduction
Magic is the lifeforce of all beings - what gives rise to sentience, intelligence, and awareness. All living beings have some quantity of magic, but only in vast numbers does it allow for true sentience - and thus are the minds of Numbers, created not from neurons and gray matter, but Magninium.
Magic provides the fundamentals of the world, both in how it operates and why it exists. It is the blueprint on which the world was created, and is a powerful tool. It is expressed through Magninium.
Magninium is a chemical element, though its properties are foreign to earthlike compounds. Firstly, it attracts: it always seeks to join with more of itself and clump together, accumulating in larger and larger quantities. It also harbors the ability to transform itself and its surroundings instantly into any other element, allowing for a wide range of uses, and replenishes itself through this method overtime when used. A caster's magic imposes itself on the air around them and, with their will and intuition, alters the very oxygen and nitrogen around them to conjure something, pass telepathic messages, teleport themselves, and more.
There are functionally no limits, as magic is a facet of sentience and intelligently understands intuition and meaning. One does not have to understand the inner mechanisms of a car to magick one up - one must simply want a car. But, its properties are limited by quantity: the larger a change to be enacted upon the world, the more Magninium is required to do such - and it spikes exponentially very quickly.
Table of Contents
Conceptual Wavelengths
What are conceptual wavelengths?
To explain as simply as possible: all things exist because in some fashion, there is an 'idea' defining them. Words and language can be used to articulate these ideas, but they exist even when they are not being spoken of. The concept of fire does not stop existing if no one in a room speaks of it, for example.
Magninium serves as the basis for these concepts. It 'resonates' its own wavelength, which translates into the material world as a certain concept. 'Fire' Magninium resonates with the very concept of fire - warmth, heat, pain, cooking, anything and everything related to fire (all concepts that also have magic resonating with them). Because it resonates with that idea, something such as fire can exist in the real world - you can strike a match and tend a small flame.
Magninium does not stop resonating with its concepts if it is part of a sentient being. As people are made out of massive quantities of Magninium, they too have conceptual wavelengths. Someone whose majority of Magninium is made of fire will feel attached to fire; they might be a pyromaniac, a chef, an outdoorsman, or a firefighter. They will find it easier to do things with their magic related to fire, like cooking, warming someone up, or starting a campfire. They will have some trouble with the conceptual opposite of fire - water, to give an idea - but will not be totally restricted from that branch of magic.
Most people do not know what concepts they resonate with; they simply have a talent in one area or another. However, many people do resonate with a plethora of concepts, and their concepts can even change over time as their identity changes. Someone may be born resonating with fire, but when a house fire in their childhood traumatizes them, they may instead resonate with water or houses or what have you.
There are no "limits" on what a concept may be. It can be as broad and fundamental as steel, dirt, fire, wind, or as specific as westerly breezes, rain on tin rooftops, tiny gears inside of air conditioning units, etc. Neither are more common than the other.
The Origins of Conceptual Wavelengths
Conceptual wavelengths and the resonation of magic began when the primordial entity, Singularity, first split itself apart. Though this split was regarded to primarily make the creator deities, Genesis and Bereave, large sections of its magic were spread across the metaphysical underground framework of the world - the conceptual "plane" of sorts. These vast fields of magic coalesced with what was familiar with them and became the foundations for the world's construction, as they produced ideas that would develop into resonations that the creator deities could then use to craft Timelines, including the Main Timeline.
These conceptual fields delineated themselves and communicated to one another on this conceptual plane - as sentient and aware as any enormous store of magic. They would come to be known as the Magnitude Fragments, the "shapes" of the world and the reason for things to exist. All magic and ideas in the world begin on the conceptual plane, as a part of one of the Magnitude Fragments, and are altered/extrapolated/explored by mortals and beings lesser than them.
Casting
Magic must be casted through the body in some way, usually through parts of the body with the most nerve endings. This usually means that individuals are most likely to cast through their hands and fingers, though it's not impossible to learn how to cast through other limbs, body parts, or gestures. Most spells are prepared in the hands, and then released when the fingers are snapped.
Notably, all horned races' horns also light up when they cast. Most horns are hollow glasslike structures that collect smaller pools of magic, making horned races on average slightly better mages - though the margins are tiny.
In the vast majority of living beings, the major pools of magic are stored in the skullcase and in the heart. It travels through the body's bloodstream, keeping them alive and moving. When casting, a rush of magic floods through the body towards the exit point - usually the fingers - and is expelled through the skin. It is not blocked by clothing or gloves.
Most casted magic resembles simple shapes, the foundational building blocks of the world and Magninium itself. The more shapes included in a spell, the more elaborate it typically is. In a sense, shapes are the "language" of magic - a way to connect to particular conceptual wavelengths forcibly and impose one's will on them in order to cast a spell.
Casting Examples
Preparing an elaborate trap spell to plant in a guarded place.
Summoning a weapon made entirely of magic to use in combat.
Using magic to illustrate a part of a story he is telling to children.
This orb has not been formed into a spell, and is solely for intimidation.
A homing "bolt" of magic, to be thrown as-is for damage.
Viewing a magical starmap that tracks one's location.
Gemstones
As attaining enough magic to actually cast large spells is difficult, many people must turn to outside sources of magic to supplement their base pool. This comes in the form of gemstones, which naturally accumulate ambient magic and have enormous capacities for it. While a semi-expensive upfront investment, gemstones are easy to maintain - simply leaving them outside for a few hours a day replenishes their magic. Many mages will have a handful of gemstones they grow attached to and use constantly.
The higher on the Mohs scale a gem is, the higher its capacity. Higher hardness gems can be dangerous for the layperson to handle, as they can sometimes rip magic out of sentient beings if used or held improperly.
Most weapons that mages use are fashioned either wholly or partially out of gemstones. They augment the mage's natural magic and help hone it into finer shapes or more precise work. It is difficult to cast through an object that does not have conductive materials - i.e. a staff made only of carved wood is not an easy weapon for a mage, but a thin gemstone through its stem or at its tip elevates it to useful tool.
Magic-Rich Materials
Some plants or animals also accumulate vast quantities of magic. Though all living creatures contain some amount of magic, these special lifeforms are unique in the amounts they either obtain or grow themselves. They are highly sought after by mages, potionmakers, enchanters, collectors, and merchants alike, as their myriad of uses means they fetch quite a luxurious price at market. Some absorb ambient magic and take on the properties of the region they grow in, and may be specialized in use aligned to that. Still others are unique in their production of a particular mix of magics, and are used for more abstract circles or potions.
Several of these plants are hallucinogenic, and are sometimes consumed recreationally. Others still are hyperspecialized - for example, there is a certain plant that feeds on magic-rich slugs and snails. When its oil is extracted and refined, it can be applied topically to Zlimi to break down their outer membrane temporarily.
Poison-Metals
Casting can, however, be blocked by the poison-metals: gold, silver, and copper, in order of most to least dangerous. These metals consume magic in order to multiply, and will "eat" someone's magic used to cast if placed around the limbs used for casting. Copper is the most tolerable and easiest for people to smith into cuffs or daggers, while gold is so dangerous that it consumes magic out of the air and often "chokes out" areas around itself, eating the ambient Magninium. Being sliced open with a gold dagger will result in a permanent scar that healing magic cannot fix.
These metals' dangerous properties can be reversed by storing them in talc, which chokes their magic-eating. However, their power is only negated for as long as they are sealed.
Their use is heavily regulated in most universes; owning anything made of the poison-metals is typically illegal (but, of course, that doesn't stop people from attaining weapons made of them). They are universally hated, seen as inherently evil or corruptive, and their names carry extreme negative connotations. Gold is not associated with wealth or luxury, and wearing faux-gold is considered questionable and edgy.
Uniquely, iron ponies are unaffected by the poison-metals, and can wear them with no ill effects. Many do so, enjoying the thrill and rush of power it gives them.
Most "silver"ware would be made of ceramics, platinum (which is also a common metal for jewelry), or steel.
Mages
A mage is an individual who has specialized in some form of magic as their primary career. Most individuals know the Three Ts, but mages are the ones hired to fight battles, to mass-enchant a clothing line, or draw enormous magic circles for emergency city protection.
Mages are notoriously hungry - using magic consumes vast amounts of energy, so they will eat everything and literally anything to keep their magic pools full. As the saying goes: if a mage isn't snacking, they're slacking!
They usually expend magic near-constantly - as if flexing a muscle to keep it in practice - and are stereotyped as being erratic, unpredictable loose cannons. As magic is literally imposing one's will on the world around them, it does usually take a certain personality type to willingly go into it as a regular career - shredding small parts of one's own sentience, soul, and lifeforce to force reality to bend to their decisions.
Practical Mages
The most common career of mage, practical mages do grounded, long-term utility work. For example, a practical mage may be hired to create en-masse auto-refilling dye vats in order to provide dyes for clothing lines, or perhaps design a rune for that clothing line to enchant their clothes to never stain or tear. They may reinforce crystal networks (used for long-distance storage/communication), maintain the local teleportation pads, conjure raw materials for use, manage household or small business wards, run telepathy networks, or work as a personal servant to a wealthy patron. Most practical mages will also do commission work for friends or their neighborhoods.
Combat Mages
Combat mages are more uncommon during times of peace, but still have a place hunting dangerous wildlife, behemoths, and maintaining city-protection wards. Combat mages must be creative and have good reflexes, able to adapt in real-time to the shifting field of battle and react appropriately, with helpful or useful spells that are not easy to predict or counter. It is a demanding job, but one many mages enjoy, as it stretches the limit of their abilities. They often must keep well clear of magebreakers - units armed with gold weaponry that hunt down enemy mages, either during battle or as assassins.
Healer Mages
Healer mages almost entirely replace the profession of doctors and nurses. They are expected to have good bedside manner and an encyclopedic knowledge of anatomy, as well as enormous pools of magic in order to repair large wounds. In fact, they on average have the largest pools of the three career paths. Many work short shifts, clocking out when their pools and gemstones are expended, and head off to eat a ravenous meal.
Necromancer Mages
Licensed necromancers often work as morticians and funerary directors, raising the recently-deceased as zombies to temporarily allow them to settle their last business, say goodbye, and handle their funeral. They will also be the ones storing and preparing bodies, and ultimately handling bodies' fates. Most settlements only need one or two necromancers unless they are exceptionally large.
Often, this is the only legal form of necromancy in a given universe, as the threat of abuse of the power imbalance is otherwise too high. For more detail on this system, see here.
Unlicensed necromancers are often assumed to be abusing their power and arrested, even if there is no evidence they are doing as such. Anyone with a history of necromancy generally must keep an updated license on them at all times and be prepared to present paperwork showing that the local government is aware of them and has approved them.
Mind-Altering Mages
A sobering career path - and one that is most typically done in the shadows. Magic is capable of influencing other magic, and when this is done to sentient beings, it is known as mind-altering magic, a branch that is highly regulated and oft illegal. To directly influence a living being, one must cast magic directly through their skull to their brain, which requires placing a hand on their head. They then must break through the victim's mental defenses and wards, which vary per the individual (based on several factors, such as trauma, willpower, previous attempts at mind-altering, and enchantments), and then finally can access their mind and mindscape - filled with their passing thoughts, deep thoughts, memories, dreams, reactions, etc. The caster can do as they please here - influence the other's emotions, alter/insert/remove memories, warp how they think about something... the possibilities are endless.
Though supporters of mind-altering magic claim it can be used to solve mental illnesses, the actual "solutions" they present are hotly contested and still illegal. They often fail to address the core of the illness and simply cover up symptoms, giving the appearance of health.
Typically, someone who is mind-altered will not realize that they have been. However, most mages will be able to tell if they are allowed to check the other's mind (in the same fashion), as mind-altering leaves noticeable "scars" and "tears" behind - that is, unless the mind-altering mage is exceptionally talented or skilled. Most adept mind-altering mages are incredibly powerful and well-feared if their name has any renown.
Despite this, there are several "entry-level" mind-altering spells that most can learn, such as sleep spells - inducing sleep in another person, typically administered to insomniacs and those with trouble sleeping. Most of the time, this work is handled by healer mages, especially as one cannot cast a mind-altering spell on the self.
Specializations
There are many subtypes of mage - for example, someone who mixes potions is a kind of mage, as they typically imbue their creations with some of their own magic and study magical reagents extensively. While they would be called a potionmaker, they would be considered a sub-branch of practical mages. So on and so forth.
The Three Ts
While "magery" is a proper career, complete with stereotypes, jobs, hobbyists, and scholars, everyone in Numbers utilizes at least a smidge of magic in their lives. In fact, the three most common uses of magic - the "Three Ts" - are so ubiquitous that it's seen as strange for someone to avoid one or all three of the minor spells.
Telepathy allows the caster to speak directly into someone else's mind, or into the mind of an animal or plant (these are more alien, though, and can be difficult to disentangle from). The caster is upholding the "call", so to speak, and cannot be silenced by the receiver unless they physically move out of the mages' range. As it is the caster who holds the call, this means that a Beaut can "use" telepathy so long as others are contacting them through it. Telepathy is considered a "noisy" spell, as most mages and non-mages can pick up on the sudden increase of ambient magic when others use telepathy.
Teleportation can be a little more complicated. Most teleportation is only used for moving small objects not terribly far from the self, or teleporting the self to known locations that the caster can visualize. Both of these limits are imposed due to the magic cost; moving large amounts of objects or moving the self long distances is difficult, as is teleporting to a location the mage does not know personally. This can be mitigated with the use of public teleport pads - huge magic circles that can intake hundreds of travelers/commuters at a time. They oft also handle major outgoing teleportation, taking most of the strain on the magic circle rather than the caster.
Telekinesis is oft used in day-to-day life, serving as another pair of hands. Precision work is difficult with telepathy - things such as transcribing notes or piping icing are better done with the hands, but carrying around supplies or bringing a cup to the hand are trivial. There are no limits on the things that can be lifted with telekinesis, and it is generally low-cost in terms of magic to use.
Other Applications
Incantations
Spells, point blank, do not need to be spoken at all. The definition of a "spell" loosely is magic casted with some intention and a tangible end result, but as casting does not require speaking or chanting, there is no "incantation". However, individuals can lace their voice with magic, charging the soundwaves in order to carry a spell to those listening. The uses of this are limited, as most spells of this fashion would fall under mind-altering magic - which is highly regulated in most universes (see above).
An example of a spell that may be used better in sound is a busker lacing their music with subtle commands to give them money... though, again, this is mind-altering magic and illegal.
Incense
Similarly to incantations, incense is created by imbuing flammable material with a spell (typically through enchanting it), which then releases the spell as a scent later when burned. It has limited, niche uses - primarily being that of mild relaxation, aphrodisiacs, or occasionally sedation. The act of being burnt and then released into the atmosphere dilutes the magic powering the spell, so anything provided through incense is expected to be weaker than simply casting the desired effect.
Some alchemists deliberately create potions that are meant to be burned solely to give off unique or rare scents like candles. Most of these scents are not found in nature and are wholly unique to the alchemist.
Chalk & Magic Circles
A character, Vivinite, designs a magic circle by drawing it in the air with raw magic. Once he is done designing it, he will redraw the circle in its intended location in chalk.
Chalk is a porous, white, rocklike substance that can be used to draw magic circles. It is produced when pockets of superheated cores under the ground burst and form pockets of "magma", which then cools into sheets of chalk. These sheets are broken up by other pockets of cores exploding, resulting in earthquakes and geysers, which shift these sheets upwards. When entire sheets are exposed to the surface, they are known as chalk flats, and are prized for their ability to continually produce chalk.
Chalk itself is rather dangerous to handle and hold, as it is a highly excitable material due to the shards of cores within it. They react with magic that gets too close and can easily explode as they once did underground, meaning that large-scale harvesting must be handled carefully. Small slivers are chipped off from the great sheets and packaged individually to be sold to mages.
It is not impossible to create artificial chalk, but the process is so dangerous that it is easier to simply harvest from chalk flats.
Magic circles are, in a way, "upgraded" runes. They follow the same general rules as runes - being made up of the fundamental language of magic, shapes, which encodes instructions for a spell. When ignited with magic, these circles will produce exactly the effect encoded within them, but are able to hold this spell indefinitely due to being made of chalk.
The small core fragments within the chalk create a closed-loop system, wherein they intake the initial ignition magic of the spell, execute the spell they were drawn for, and then consume a fraction of the spell's magic to then execute it again, in a cycle that does not produce entropy. All magic circles do need a self-feeding instruction drawn into them because of this, but learning that instruction and memorizing it is standard fare for mages who make circles.
They can be favored for heavy use by virtue of the fact that they are functionally infinite (unless turned off deliberately or the instructions contain an end-loop) and can be used by many people, including non-mages, as they take the strain off the individual when casting spells (as the circle is casting, not a mage). They are used for an enormous variety of uses - any spell that can be cast can be encoded into a circle with the right knowledge. The limiting factor is often practicality and knowledge.
An incredibly common use of magic circles is to create teleport wards that prevent unauthorized teleportation from occurring in an area. A handful of mages may have access to the admin of these wards, and can whitelist certain magical signatures to allow them to teleport in - as, by default, wards allow no teleportation at all. Many are used in businesses and homes.
Enchanting & Runes
Earlier, it was stated that magic circles are upgraded runes - in that they are an organized set of runes, arrayed in order to command magic to execute a certain set of instructions. Runes, at their core, are the fundamental language of magic - comprising the most basic conceptual ideas: shapes. These shapes can be arranged together in various configurations to spell out, conceptually, ideas for the magic to execute. These arrangements are what is known as runes. They are less complex and smaller than circles; runes are also more likely to be used for objects, while magic circles are better for areas.
Typically, a rune will absorb ambient magic around itself to continue looping. Some runes can have extra instructions added to allow them to create a mini-loop of the magic cycle with a small gemstone or other magic-storing item. This means that runes are easy to uphold indefinitely in highly saturated universes, but have a chance of running out in lower saturations.
Runes can have a physical or metaphysical element. Physical runes are those carved into things - for example, a rune carved into a rock, sword, or utensil will empower that object with whatever spell the rune encodes. These are often fairly simple, but helpful - porcelain bowls that will never shatter, knives that never dull, clothes that do not stain - so on and so forth. Many mages will use runes on their clothes protectively, but will also carve runes into anything they use often to extend its lifespan.
Metaphysical runes are those which do not have a physical carving, but instead are 'carved' into the conceptual 'soul' of objects. This is vastly more difficult to accomplish, as the mage must be able to access, read, and edit the metaphysical concepts, but is considered the more elegant of the two methods and does not allow for other mages to read the runes of an object more easily. Many weapons will have metaphysical runes instead of physical to prevent damage to the smithing or construction.
The art of carving runes into objects as a whole is known as enchanting, and those who do it for a living are enchanters.
Alchemy & Potionmaking
Alchemy - though more commonly referred to as potionmaking - is the act of mixing together highly-magical materials in certain quantities and order in order to produce a concoction that invokes a spell as it is drunk. This is most often used for temporary spells and transformations, as the effects of a potion's spell wear off as the body digests the mixture. Some potions may be applied topically as a cream, but they too are temporary.
Many potions are minor mood influencers - a jolt of energy, aphrodisiac, a sleep-inducer, etc. Another large branch includes temporary body modifications for fun, such as altering one's sex, changing their race, growing temporary horns, etc. Others can be made into poisons - inducing the drinker to perhaps vomit up liquid magic, burning their throat with acid, or induce heart failure of some sort. Some are just tasty placebo drinks.
Most potionmasters will source their ingredients themselves, either growing their own or foraging locally. Sources of plants and animal parts are hotly contested, as those unlucky enough to lack a source will often have to pay a premium to acquire ingredients. Regardless, this makes potionmasters a well-versed expert on their local flora/fauna, and many keep several pets or familiars.
For many potionmasters, their craft is more akin to cooking than magery. Most recipes for standard potions are well-known and memorized, and most unique or strange potions are one-off customs or private orders. Thus, the real skill of a potionmaster comes from their ability to distinctly flavor their potions - as otherwise, the mixtures will taste like raw Magninium, which most people associate with tasting like blood. Altering potions' taste is a fine art, as one must take care not to influence the actual spell within the drink while working around the natural flavors of what was already mixed together.
Many people have favorite potionmakers solely due to taste and drink, who they will loyally order from.
A character, Aite, smiles up at a blue cloud core held safely in tongs a distance from him. Though he's wearing a proper bodysuit for core-handling, he is missing the eye, ear, and hand protection. (Don't do this at home.)
Cores & Ambient Magic
Ambient magic is the catch-all term for loose Magninium, though typically it refers to the gaseous Magninium floating around in the atmosphere. The amount of ambient magic dictates a universe's overall magical saturation, which is detailed lower. Ambient magic resonates with certain concepts, influencing the area to be more like those concepts and gathering other similarly-concepted magic around itself. In simpler terms, deserts are dry because "dry magic" is collected near them.
High ambient magic in an area is conceptualized as having an acrid, blood-like smell and taste to it. This is because, as Numbers' races' blood is made primarily out of magic, their first association with tasting it is to think of blood - similar to the taste of copper compared to human blood.
Liquid magic is rare to find in extreme amounts, but is often the most dangerous, as it is often highly acidic and radioactive. While it does not affect Numbers beings, as they too are made of the same material, it can chew through unreinforced metal, plastic, or wood, and is hard to properly contain. Though considered somewhat uncouth, the best way to remove hazardous liquid magic in an area is by drinking it. Some individuals are indeed somewhat addicted to drinking liquid magic, but the difficulty of acquiring much of it hampers formation of new addictions.
Ambient magic, when enough exists in an area, can solidify into what are known as cores - the solid matter form of Magninium. They are less dangerous to handle than liquid magic, and have a myriad of uses which incentivizes their formation and collection. Cores harvested from an area carry a large amount of that ambient magic within them, meaning that a core collected from the bottom of a lake is likely to be classified as a "water core" (classifications are vague and are applied by the organizations collecting or creating cores, but are generally accurate).
This water core, when removed from its natural environment, will attempt to reproduce that environment wherever it is placed. For the water core, this likely results in a constant production of freshwater. This freshwater may be harvested and then used for some purpose, typically providing a source of clean drinking water for a city. Cores can be broken through great effort - a large water core may be shattered and pieces distributed to many local villages in order to supply them with water.
As cores can be as conceptually varied as people, there are a large number of cores with many different resonances and uses. Lava cores may be used to keep forges hot, or an anti-leaf core may be rolled across the yard to scatter fallen leaves into the neighbor's lawn.
The use of cores can be hotly contested, however. Some people consider sizable cores to actually be baby gods (or Kirin!) of some sort, and wish for them to be left alone to grow.
Spontaneous Sentience
Because magic is always ambiently shifting in the air, sea, and ground, when it accumulates in certain places, objects, or creatures, it can sometimes allow for a process called spontaneous sentience to occur. When enough has gathered inside one thing - specifics unclear - it is suddenly imbued with "low sentience" in a flash of magic: the object it is possessing is now alive and aware of itself, now able to communicate to others and express wants, ideas, and planning. While newly aware, many are not vocal as they struggle to comprehend the world around them, able to communicate with their magic and "see", "hear", "speak", etc., metaphysically to others' magic. As they become more stable, they often become more talkative and curious.
This process is more common in highly-saturated universes, as the ambient level of magic in the air means there is more to be caught in various objects. Items that are enchanted heavily or often can also attain sentience over time, especially family heirlooms.
Note "low sentience" - this is the term used for objects/animals/plants that lack a theory of mind, which is what Numbers races consider to be the marker of true intelligence.
Depending on the amount of magic that was stored before sponsen occurred, this can result in several types of beings.
Puppets are the most common result of spontaneous sentience. They are exclusively born from inanimate objects only - not animals. They are able to communicate to others and respond to communications.
However, as these beings are only made up of few conceptual wavelengths (unlike the sentient races, who are made up of thousands and thousands), their scope of the world is very small and repetitive. Puppets constantly, repeatedly request to be "used" for whatever their object is made from - for example, a teapot born from a puppet will want to pour tea, hold tea, and be involved in the making of tea, and nothing more. They are unable to express empathy or understanding of anything beyond that.
As such, many people end up killing puppets - their incessant demands and inability to stop makes them frustrating to deal with, and they happen accidentally most of the time. There are researchers who deliberately attempt to create puppets, granted, but they are not very common.
If allowed to live, puppets will continue to accumulate magic until a turning point, wherein they finally achieve theory of mind and true sentience. This is usually marked by the puppet becoming quieter before ceasing communication entirely as they grapple with their new realizations of the world and understanding of it. They will then undergo alterations and mutations, and become a pygmy behemoth, their final life stage.
Pygmy behemoths are only born from puppets that have achieved true sentience, and are considered "people" due to their theory of mind and ability to communicate with the other races. They are typically quadrupedal in nature and vaguely resemble the object they were born from, but with expressive features and a cardiovascular system. Some pygmys may lack specific organs, depending on what their object was - objects that more closely resemble creatures, like plushies, figurines, carvings, or drawings, are more likely to have functioning organs alongside, but more abstract things (like the teapot) may lack them. They do universally have eyes, mouths, ears, and noses, and seem capable of digesting foods, which they need to consume. They are also capable of casting magic.
They are generally aware of cultural feelings towards puppets and often feel guilty for contributing, even unknowingly. Their feelings on puppets in general can be mixed - some may deliberately create puppets as children of sorts, while others may absorb societal annoyance towards them. They generally enjoy meeting other pygmys, but are tense around greater behemoths - and find most to be terrifying. Many think "pygmy behemoths" is a terrible name, especially as they are unrelated to behemoths and are sane by default.
Behemoths are born when animals and creatures attain large quantities of magic, which begins to warp their bodies and minds. Magic always seeks to find more of itself, which drives these mutating creatures to seek out other sources of magic to feed upon, which furthers the cycle. Late-stage behemoths appear totally unlike their original selves, changed into visages beyond any animal with strange patterns, new limbs, and some forms of sentience. They are a massive problem for cities and villages, as behemoths will eventually make their way there to feast on the enormous quantities of magic within the sentient races. Exceptionally long-lived behemoths may attain true sentience, but will typically only use it to develop cleverer ideas for consuming people.
However, if a behemoth's growth is slow enough, they may attain true sentience early in their lifespan and cease their previous senseless murder. These behemoths are friendly and inquisitive, and often approach the sentient races of their own volition to sate their curiosity.
Kirin, like puppets, are born from objects - but are born when an object attains a vast quantity of magic swiftly, rather than over time. The magic pours into the first conceptual mold it can find, which is that of the sentient races - and gives birth to a Kirin as a young adult. They are unique in that there are no other ways for Kirin to be born; they are incapable of sexually reproducing. This, of course, makes them incredibly rare, and they only appear in notable quantities in universes with a high magical saturation.
You may find more information about them on their detailed page.
Robots are artificial beings - somewhere between puppets and Kirin. They are made by individuals tethering a source of magic and a magic-cycle system to a created body, typically made of wood, steel, fur (for touch), and blood. The magic placed within them can be pared down to specifics and parts of their body enchanted so that they follow certain commands, act a certain way, or are restricted in what they can do, essentially "programming" them for certain functions. They are not considered sentient at all.
Robots are incapable of using Magninium in casting, as doing so would expend their lifeforce. They also cannot break their programming, which is literally ingrained into their very being and body, unless under extreme circumstances - some sort of identity-shattering event that would open up their magic to further concepts and break the enchantments around them.
Though their bodies may technically be of anything, most robot-creators design and build bodies that resemble those of the sentient races, finding it awkward to give commands to and interact with animal or object look-alikes. Their pupils are rectangular or square, universally.
Click to Display: Beings Made by Spontaneous Sentience ⮟
Puppets
Pygmy Behemoths
Behemoths
Kirin
Robots
Tidbits
A character, Provenance, who naturally has dual-colored magic and can cast with either color whenever he needs.
Magic Colors
All magic has a color to it. That color in sentients and animals is displayed as their eye color, and it does not change naturally. The only way to change one's magic color after birth would be attaining some massive quantity of foreign magic, which is more difficult than it sounds. Stolen magic may be integrated into the existing pool and change color to match its new host, or may resist and become a secondary color that may or may not physically manifest as a halo or miscolored eye.
Some individuals have two (or more) kinds of color in their magic. This usually manifests as heterochromia, though not always, especially if the secondary/tertiary/etc pool of magic is significantly smaller than the first. Typically, dual-colored magic symbolizes two "pools" of magic with significantly different wavelengths that did not harmonize at birth, and is often associated with identity issues (or is assumed to be from stolen magic if the owner is shady).
It is considered very poor taste to wear color contacts in Numbers, and is seen as a sign of criminal activity or extreme self-loathing. Getting one's hands on contacts in the first place is oft difficult.
Magic's specific color has no tie to the conceptual wavelengths that govern it; red-hue magic could just as easily be ice- or water-aligned as it is fire-aligned. Paradoxically, that also means pink-colored magic can resonate with the idea of green, for example. Yellow eyes are not intrinsically linked to gold, but are still seen as somewhat unlucky and unattractive. Individuals whose fur and hair colors are harmonous with their eye colors are seen as beautiful.
Magical Signatures
Because of the unique myriad of concepts that make up an individual's identity, every person, animal, plant, and object in Numbers has a unique magical signature. These cannot be seen by the naked eye, only through lenses that can see the conceptual plane (and the resulting image is similar to an infrared camera). Non-sentient things' signatures are "cooler" and less visible, while higher beings shine brighter than the sun.
Mages can "ping" for certain magical signatures in the area, provided they're familiar with what they're looking for. This tells them the approximate location of the specific signature they're pinging for. False positives are always a potential hitch in pinging, though.
Okapi see the world through magical signatures only by default - they do not have normal vision and must wear corrective lenses if they wish to see the way other races do.
Magical Saturation
This is a term used to describe the level of ambient magic in the atmosphere. Generally, it is influenced by the amount of mages, gods, magic circles, and other high-magic entities constantly expending their magic - the more, the higher the saturation as excess from their spells permeates the air. Saturation is the marker by which a healthy Magninium cycle is judged; Harmonics, Chaotics, and lesser gods may involve themselves to restore the balance if it tips too far in either direction.
People can either be "intakers" or "outtakers", though most aren't aware of this. Intakers naturally absorb ambient magic, meaning they have a larger pool to access typically, but don't produce as much magic themselves. Outtakers produce most of their magic themselves and naturally expel overuse into the atmosphere when casting, adding to saturation. Gods may tweak the ratios of these two in order to keep saturation at a balance; generally, more intakers than outtakers is preferred.
If there is too much saturation, then spontaneous sentience's frequency increases, mages in general become more common (and more skilled), gemstones fill faster, and more cores are created. At the extreme, however, magic can begin to break apart continents, shift into its radioactive solid or liquid forms, warp more animals into behemoths, turn large tracts of land sentient, and overall serve as a destructive force. In addition, poison-metals grow more ferociously during periods of high saturation.
On the other hand, with too little saturation, magery becomes extremely uncommon (and difficult), sicknesses overtake the land, living beings become lethargic and cold, and many spells may fail. At its extreme, living beings may suddenly drop dead, miscarriages and stillbirths increase, plants wither, and ascension or the birth of new gods may genuinely fail, as there is not enough ambient magic to support them. Poison-metals do grow slower, if they grow at all, however.
High saturation does make it harder to "ping" and read magical signatures, but not by much. On the brightside, it makes upholding longterm spells (magic circles, wards, enchantments, etc.) much, much easier.
A character, Caiche, who has a purple halo that is mismatched to his yellow eye color. It could mean he has another color of Magninium, or he stole and consumed someone else's magic.
Halos
A halo is an overexpression of magic - the individual produces so much Magninium naturally that it bursts out of them in a glowing ring around their heads. Exact shapes, brightness, and size varies by the individual, but they are always that person's magic color. Halos can be multicolored if the owner has multiple magic colors. Areas may also be transparent. Larger halos generally mean stronger overproduction, which means a vastly higher pool of magic. The threshold of magic that must be passed for halo display is unique to each person.
If a halo is colored differently to the individual's eyes, they either have a latent second color they aren't aware of... or they attained their halo by stealing someone else's magic and consuming it.
Beauts can never be born with halos, nor attain them through the consumption of magic - magic they eat converts into more body mass and nothing more. Zlimi, however, can have halos, as they can cast and utilize magic.
Infographics
Below are infographics. I'll add more when I can.
A simpler overview.
Spontaneous sentience.
Magical capacity.
The personal Magninium cycle.