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Interlude 2: Magic, Maginaria and Chroma (The maginary plane, chroma, and the 11 colors) by Benjamin Yackley (Posted on 11/25/02)

Magic in Delyria is based entirely around the relationship between the two "planes" of reality - the Physical plane, which is where the seven races live (see previous Interlude), and the Maginary plane, which is inhabited by beings collectively called maginaria. The physical and maginary planes are the same size, and locations match up between the two on a one-to-one basis. Physical laws are relaxed quite a bit on the maginary plane, though - gravity is largely subjective, for instance.

The term "maginaria" is both singular and plural. Maginaria are living creatures that are born, live, and die; they are not "spirits" in the traditional sense of being ephemeral or immortal. They, like all living things, must eat to survive, and the substance they eat is called "chroma". Maginaria cannot travel freely between the planes (nor, for that matter, can most physical people), although they can be summoned to the physical plane temporarily.

A (physical) sleeper's mind goes to the maginary plane when they dream. In fact, a lucid dream can be used to actually shape the terrain of the maginary plane. This is exactly the reverse process as summoning a maginaria to the physical plane, where it can shape the physical world according to the color of the chroma it's made of.

Chroma is the maginary analog of organic matter - the same substance that the maginaria themselves live off of. However, chroma is generated by physical processes. A burning fire generates red chroma in the maginary space corresponding to the physical location of the fire, for instance. If enough chroma is concentrated together in one place, some of it will leak back into the physical plane in the form of crystals - the crystals, being physical, can't be touched by maginaria, but can be harvested and used by mages. Such deposits - the bottoms of very deep lakes, the centers of forests, volcanic caldera - tend to be out-of-the-way places, far from civilization.

Chroma comes in 11 different varieties, called "colors"; each color is associated with a certain aspect of the world. The following chart summarizes these relationships:

The colors exist in a pattern of mutual opposition. If you arrange the seven main colors in a circle, Red opposes Green and Blue, Orange opposes Blue and Indigo, and so on. Maginaria of a specific color are attracted to chroma of their own color, and react neutrally to the four adjacent colors (two on each side). The remaining two colors are the ones that repel it; Clorin, for example, is Green, so she stays away from Purple and Red chroma.

Maginaria vary wildly in shape. Maginologists (people who study maginaria) have classified them into a rough system of ten "ranks"; this classification is only ever used by mages who want to get technical and talk shop to each other, and is largely unknown outside academia.

First-rank maginaria are similar to insects or bacteria - small, simple, and single-minded. They are easy to feed, but individually can't do very much. However, great effects can be made by getting swarms of first-rank maginaria to work together; the tricky part here is writing the spell to coordinate a thousand extremely simple minds.

Second-rank maginaria are roughly equivalent to small rodents or lizards, while third and fourth rank correspond to larger animals with more complex behavior. Nhaal and Clorin are both third-rank maginaria. Most summoners deal with ranks three through five.

Fifth-rank maginaria are intelligent beings. They can be talked to. At this stage, their powers are versatile and often quite strong, but cost quite a bit more chroma for a mage to use.

Sixth-rank and above are creatures of great supernatural power; maginaria of the ninth and tenth ranks are quite deservedly referred to as 'gods'. At that level, they no longer rely on mages to meet their chroma demands, but can inspire ranks of followers to devote parts of themselves, gathering energy from hundreds or thousands of people at a time. High-rank maginaria can also transport themselves temporarily into the physical plane to perform effects there, much the same way as trained mages can trance themselves into the maginary.

There are only a handful of tenth-rank maginaria - perhaps 3 or 4 - and there are roughly ten times as many maginaria of each rank as the next higher. So, there are 30 or 40 ninth-rank, 300 to 400 eighth-rank, and so on down to the billions of first-rank maginaria.

In shape, maginaria vaguely resemble physical creatures matching their rank, although there is a great deal more variety thanks to the lax rules of physics in their home plane. It is not unusual for maginaria to have body parts which are hollow and transparent, or hover detached from the body, or manifest any sort of surreal effect one can dream of. Their anatomy is likewise freeform, but is constrained somewhat by their colors. Apart from literally being the color or colors their powers are associated with, their color affects their shape as follows:

Anatomical effects of colors:

These traits are the same ones that manifest when maginaria are Instilled into a physical creature. Instilling is a process by which a maginaria and a person or animal become unified into a single being, partially physical and partially maginary. The relationship is symbiotic - the maginaria gets a guaranteed lifetime food source (from the naturally replenishing stock of its host), and the host gets free use of the maginaria's powers. Viola, for instance, has been Instilled purple; this is where her coloration, forehead marking, and extra arms come from, as well as her ability to teleport short distances at will.

There are, however, several downsides to being Instilled. Firstly, it reduces the host's natural stock of chroma, which, for a mage, would mean less spells could be cast before developing the telltale migraine that comes with chroma depletion. Secondly, the host develops the same sort of color-association as the maginaria, complete with elemental weaknesses. For instance, Viola, being purple, is more susceptible to ill effects from green magic. Thirdly, and most importantly, the Instilled are not entirely in control of themselves. If the maginaria is powerful enough, it can sometimes entirely take over the host body. This happens most often when a maginaria forces its way into a creature matching its own rank - like Clorin inhabiting a fox - although it can also happen if the host's mind weakens enough. When this happens, the host can only watch as his/her own body goes out of control.

Mages Errant (http://mages.delyria.com), its logo, all related text, stories and characters are copyright (c) 2002 by Benjamin Yackley and Lia Itram (save where otherwise noted). Text may not be altered in whole or in part or sold for fun or profit without explicit permission of the authors. Text may not be copied or redistributed without this statement.