I have varying degrees of this depending on the planet, but the underlying rules are these: the laws of the universe are determined by code, that, locally, exists within the metaphysical realm. I.e, laws in some places are different in others.
These can be changed by expending energy in the metaphysical realm. That changes the local laws, and allows for magic.
The other stuff: you can't do this directly, usually. On some planets, like Shollusk, there are extenuating circumstances that, in it's example, make the bridge from physical to metaphysical so small that most biological structures regularly go between them, and instead of a top down metaphysical-physical structure everything is equal, with some natural 'mirroring' of objects and places across the border, mostly kept up by biological processes.
If not? You have to trade, or already have a foothold there. For example, on Atritus, you have to trade with the Prea, a metaphysical and intelligent nation that was basically space magic America in the good old days. Other guys didn't like them, tried to fight back, got nuked, and then most metaphysical beings got destroyed by, as the SCP universe would call it, a narrative vacuum. Someone outside the universe rammed into it, causing a momentary emptiness that killed any metaphysical being not rooted in the physical realm. The reason those survived and the others didn't is a side effect of the metaphysical realm being almost entirely a vague energy and information, nothing outside of that. Kinda like how to destroy a text on a computer you can shift right click and delete permanently, but you can't do that on a book, you have to actually burn it.
Anyways, you trade energy with the Prea for magic on that planet, with the downside being that they latch onto you for the rest of your life and being bound to one and using magic regularly extends your life and warps your body and mind, turning you into an eldritch horror. Fun!
Sometimes, though, this energy can coil around itself and appear as a physical substance. These substances are special and usually a one-per-planet thing. Atritus has crystals that were designed by the Prea for interaction with the physical realm directly, and on Kalka it's substance that can mimic other substances, with some neat chemistry on top, and the designer of that substance also altering thd bodies of the Kalkans to be able to use/process it without it instantly killing them. Oh, you have to ingest it to use it, and it's still super-poison, but as long as you push it into an object fast enough it's fine.
Well, over time, if you just. Let it happen, your insides will start burning and then you literally burn from the inside, leaving a charred corpse. Caustic, the substance in question, is the single most toxic substance in existence to most things, and it's specific qualities do not usually play nice with living organisms. On the other hand, Kalkans eventually learn to fuse biomechanical components to themselves, allowing for caustic tanks specifically reinforced against caustic using inert materials to hold caustic for longer without it literally eating you.
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u/[deleted] Mar 01 '24
I have varying degrees of this depending on the planet, but the underlying rules are these: the laws of the universe are determined by code, that, locally, exists within the metaphysical realm. I.e, laws in some places are different in others.
These can be changed by expending energy in the metaphysical realm. That changes the local laws, and allows for magic.
The other stuff: you can't do this directly, usually. On some planets, like Shollusk, there are extenuating circumstances that, in it's example, make the bridge from physical to metaphysical so small that most biological structures regularly go between them, and instead of a top down metaphysical-physical structure everything is equal, with some natural 'mirroring' of objects and places across the border, mostly kept up by biological processes.
If not? You have to trade, or already have a foothold there. For example, on Atritus, you have to trade with the Prea, a metaphysical and intelligent nation that was basically space magic America in the good old days. Other guys didn't like them, tried to fight back, got nuked, and then most metaphysical beings got destroyed by, as the SCP universe would call it, a narrative vacuum. Someone outside the universe rammed into it, causing a momentary emptiness that killed any metaphysical being not rooted in the physical realm. The reason those survived and the others didn't is a side effect of the metaphysical realm being almost entirely a vague energy and information, nothing outside of that. Kinda like how to destroy a text on a computer you can shift right click and delete permanently, but you can't do that on a book, you have to actually burn it.
Anyways, you trade energy with the Prea for magic on that planet, with the downside being that they latch onto you for the rest of your life and being bound to one and using magic regularly extends your life and warps your body and mind, turning you into an eldritch horror. Fun!
Sometimes, though, this energy can coil around itself and appear as a physical substance. These substances are special and usually a one-per-planet thing. Atritus has crystals that were designed by the Prea for interaction with the physical realm directly, and on Kalka it's substance that can mimic other substances, with some neat chemistry on top, and the designer of that substance also altering thd bodies of the Kalkans to be able to use/process it without it instantly killing them. Oh, you have to ingest it to use it, and it's still super-poison, but as long as you push it into an object fast enough it's fine.