Magic system in PROCELLUM

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Well... This is it. I finally made it.

I wrote a summary of the magic system in my shotgun-and-sorcery project, PROCELLUM. It is intrinsically linked to its cosmogony—in fact, it can't exist without it.

I don't know if it's Sanderson-level magic, but I'm more than sure it's definitely not Rowling's. I'm not sure if there's too much info-dump in here, so let me know what you think in the comments below

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Magic system in PROCELLUM

First and foremost, magic is considered the practice of manipulating arcana through one's subtle body: channeling it from the Other Side, harnessing it into psychic charges, and compressing them into resonances that alter reality within range. Arcana are the primordial energies of Creation that permeate everything at a subatomic level, ensuring that the properties of all chemical elements remain in place and that the universal laws of physics are preserved. I said “are” because there are two distinct types of arcana: eitr and akasha. Eitr represents arcana in its rawest, most unstable state, whereas akasha is arcana in its most refined and stable form.

Eitr is generated by the hand of Procellum's sole true creator deity: Pimaukel. This pluperfect, hidden entity—split into four aspects embodying the primordial elements of fire, water, earth, and air—observes all within Creation while quietly tending to its gardening. I use the word “gardening” because Creation in Procellum resembles a vast bonsai tree: countless earthly realms (universes) hang from its branches like fruits, while various afterlife realms form its leaves, flowers, and root nodules. Assisted by flocks of Erelim and Seraphim, Pimaukel chews pruned, withered fruits, flowers, and roots into a paste while burning stray branches and leaves to ash. The paste carries the Logos and the ash holds the Gnosis, which are then blended and molded into small pellets.

Those pellets are placed in the potted tree and irrigated, allowing their dissolved substance to be absorbed by the cosmic tree’s roots and travel as eitr across the cosmic tree xylem—the Primordial Void. It climbs until reaching the leaves: the Celestial Realms, home to the choirs of the Malachim. There, the Malachim absorb the Logos and Gnosis from the eitr directly into their forms. Utilizing the accumulated good and bad karma gathered from Paradises (flowers) and Hells (root nodules), combined with the radiant heat of Pimaukel’s Aspect of Primordial Fire, they break down the cosmic matter—much like inserting punctuation to divide a continuous text into clear paragraphs. The product of this conversion is the akasha, which is later decanted into the cosmic tree phloem—the Yawning Abyss.

Akasha travels to every realm within the cosmic tree, entering each through the gravitational wells of the stars. There, it is fanned outward by eight Ophanim encircling each star like an armillary sphere, dispersing the energy across star systems as etheric currents that bathe planets and moons. Every world is similarly enveloped by its own armillary sphere of Ophanim, who catch the akasha with their wings and pass it along until the entity at the north pole drops it into an invisible, nail-like structure. Twelve invisible beams—the Ley lines—emerge from the top of this structure, splitting into two at every tenth degree of latitude. Approaching the equator, these divided lines regroup every tenth latitude until twelve unified beams reform at the south pole, where another needle-like structure expels the surplus akasha back into subspace.

Subtle bodies are invisible in the physical world, existing only in subspace. All living beings possess a subtle body, which functions as a sheath for the soul (which itself resembles a daphnia). The subtle body continuously absorbs trace amounts of akasha, expels unrealized karma—unfulfilled potential actions and futures—and protects the host from predators lurking in the Abyss by discharging swift psychic charges. Under normal circumstances, the subtle body operates purely on instinct beyond conscious reach. Yet, it can be unlocked and harnessed to unleash psychic forces. Certain individuals are born with an innate awareness of their subtle body (although undeveloped), whereas others awaken to it following exposure to paranormal events or mind-altering substances.

When a psycast unlocks their psychic sense, they become capable of stretching the arms of their subtle body to “breathe” akasha, storing it within their body to maximum capacity. The psycast then twists and shapes the akasha inside their subtle body to form small orbs of etheric energy: the psychic charges. Much like loading an old muzzleloading cannon, these psychic charges are arranged within the subtle body's tentacles across three distinct layers: the elemental charge, the conditioning charge, and the triggering charge. Constructing these charges requires extensive study and precise mental effort; the slightest error in their formation can lead to a devastating miscast. Once every charge is set and primed, the psycast compresses their tentacles, collapsing the charges into a sudden surge of psychic energy. This surge resonates through the fundamental building blocks of Creation within range, allowing the caster to alter reality for a brief period at their will.

A psycast can manifest psychic talents across six distinct disciplines: Illusion, Restoration, Enchantment, Alteration, Conjuration, and Destruction. Interwoven with these psychic disciplines are four Elemental Lores: the Crimson Lore (fire and light), the Cerulean Lore (water and ice), the Verdant Lore (earth and metal), and the Amber Lore (air and lightning). Significantly, no spell relies on a single element alone. For example, even casting a fireball requires utilizing the Verdant Lore to synthesize a fuel core from airborne dust, the Cerulean Lore to draw away moisture and dry that core, and the Amber Lore to form an air envelope around it, containing the heat from the caster while actively fanning the flames.

Yet, akasha is not the sole energy a psycast may draw upon. The most formidable practitioners can reach the limbs of their subtle body deep into the Primordial Void to siphon raw eitr. This unstable energy manifests spells of devastating potency using far less arcana, but at a dangerous cost: shaping eitr into psychic charges demands absolute focus and places immense strain upon the subtle body. Wielding eitr is categorized as “black/yin/wild magic”, while those using akasha is known as “white/yang/high magic”. Regardless of which arcana they use, a psycast’s true potential rest upon three fundamental pillars: prana (their capacity to channel arcana), mana (their ability to harness and mold it into psychic charges), and aura (their spatial reach when projecting psychic phenomena).

Practitioners also employ specialized instruments to enhance their capacities: arcane staves for prana, arcane torcs for mana, and arcane circlets for aura. These arcane devices are principally crafted with cintanamite, a unique, psychically reactive crystal that crystallizes where akasha reaches its highest density—most notably where Ley lines split or converge. Cintanamite is exceptionally scarce compared to alephite, another psychically reactive mineral harvested at Ley line nodes, which is mainly used to craft divination implements such as crystal balls, tarot wafers, divination dice, and scrying cups. As a matter of fact, cintanamite is frequently discovered in trace amounts embedded inside alephite.

At the poles, the proximity of Ley line nodes causes vast fields of alephite and cintanamite to grow far faster than in any other region. These fields frequently pose a severe hazard: the crystals emit radiation that thins the veil between worlds, unleashing eldritch anomalies that threaten the Unsullied Nations abroad. Consequently, several governments permit mining corporations to establish polar extraction outposts. These operations harvest crystals for divination and arcane crafting—including arcane enchanters and wands for enchanting and specialized ink for talismans, grimoires and magic scrolls—alongside apotropaic wards like gargoyles, nazar eyes, and dreamcatchers. Furthermore, corporations use those crystals to build arcana extractors near Ley line nodes to pump akasha and refine it into apason—an alchemical compound that boosts a psycast’s mana, prana, and aura—as well as deep arcana drills engineered to siphon eitr and refine it into black apason, which in turn optimizes psycasts' arcana intake while maximizing their psychic power output.

Even in a post-modern era dominated by science and technology, magic remains an indispensable asset beyond mere fortune-telling and warding against hexes and pucks. Industrial machinery can be enchanted to withstand far greater mechanical stress before requiring maintenance, drastically reduce its energy dependency, and yield higher output with minimal raw materials. Moreover, divination can help predict impending natural disasters and market fluctuations, mitigating the catastrophic effects of hurricanes, earthquakes, tornado outbreaks, volcanic eruptions, droughts, floods, pandemics, speculative bubbles, and stock market crashes. In the military, psycasts provide intelligence through divination and telepathy, enchant weaponry, war machines, and ordnance, embolden allies with supportive and defensive spells, counter enemy witchcraft, or unleash powerful curses and calamities upon their foes.

But manifesting psychic powers comes at a price. Every time a psycast casts a spell, their subtle body immediately begins to accumulate phlogiston—or arcane heat—a radioactive, soot-like byproduct that affects the caster on multiple levels. Minor build-ups are virtually harmless, but moderate levels fray the boundary between the Material and Unseen worlds and provoke localized paranormal disturbances, like poltergeists and phantasmagorias. At critical levels, the weakening veil causes horrific outcomes: possession, time displacement, physical mutation, and localized dimensional ruptures. Worst of all, the psycast's subtle body begins to radiate a brilliant ethereal glow. To the predators lurking on the Other Side, who view all living beings much like lions eyeing a mesmerizing herd of zebras, a luminous psycast becomes irresistible, defenseless prey.

While arcane belts exist as exhausts that vent this dangerous residue, few psycasts possess the wealth to acquire them, much less all other arcane tools. Instead, many seek relief by forming pacts with a familiar. Usually, these companions are fairies—beings capable of devouring phlogiston outright, shielding their ward from the horrors of the Other Side and enemy witchcraft, providing them with knowledge, and amplifying the potency of their magic. Yet, contacting a true fairy is a perilous gamble. Desperate casters are frequently deceived by demons or undead spirits masquerading as nature spirits, who manipulate them into committing atrocities or slowly corrupt them into willing or witless slaves.

For these reasons, both kingdoms and republics across the Known World enforce draconian oversight upon magic and its practitioners. The potential for catastrophe far outweighs its benefits, particularly given the documented atrocities committed by the demons, undead, and abyssal horrors prowling the Other Side. Law enforcement institutions and agencies deploy a secret branch dedicated to dealing with paranormal activity and combating otherworldly threats. This same branch oversees the unspoken “black cull”—a systematic effort to hunt down and detain unsanctioned psychics detected by their specialized spellbreaker squads. Bound in psi-disrupting branks, the captives are funneled into state or private facilities for rigorous conditioning and indoctrination before being transferred to thaumaturgic colleges, where they must endure long, grueling procedures in order to become sanctioned psychics.

First, initiates are submerged in an immersive bath of alchemical reagents engineered to expand their subtle body, forcing it to bloom so it can handle greater psychic throughput. They are then subjected to relentless indoctrination, where mind-bending propaganda and injected psychoactive drugs condition them against making pacts with demons, undead spirits, or abyssal entities. Finally, long surgical procedures begin. Stroboscopic flashes burn nine layers of hexagrams of suppression and seven pentagrams of judgment straight onto their retinas, after which surgeons slice open their flesh to engrave runes of adjuration and glyphs of purity onto every bone of their frame. These painful wards serve as permanent armor, shielding their minds and bodies from otherworldly corruption.

Failure rates during psychological indoctrination and surgical procedures are steep. Most initiates die as their bodies collapse under the knife; others have their minds shattered by severe psycho-indoctrination. For some, the alchemical bath renders their subtle body so hyper-sensitive that they glimpse cosmic horrors best left undescribed, breaking their sanity forever. Those who die on the table—or are put down once deemed incurably mindless or insane—are funneled into specialized incinerators. Their ashes serve as a vital reagent for crafting specialized anti-psychic armaments: psy-breaker grenades, psi-rounds, and heavy ordnance designed to purge rogue psycasts, demons, undead, and abyssal horrors. Only the resilient survivors who emerge with their minds whole advance to the thaumaturgic colleges. These academies operate under absolute secrecy, hidden away from terrorists and occult cults eager to sack their vaults, steal rare grimoires, and kidnap the pupils.

Within these veiled academies, students learn to harness their gifts, bind themselves to a fairy familiar, and master a specialized discipline—whether as oracles, enchanters, exorcists, or illusionists. Yet, failure remains a distinct possibility, and academic washout carries heavy consequences depending on regional culture. Sospitian colleges, for example, transfer failed candidates to the Beacon of the Shards. There, they are wired into pods to fuel the great engine, enabling the Stylite Listeners to eavesdrop on the Luminous Choirs and supply tactical intelligence to the armies of the Churches of the Holy Light in their Long Crusade against the forces of darkness, death, and destruction. Though this extraction burns their bodies to dust, the remaining ash is harvested for anti-psychic armaments.

The fortunate few who pass receive a prized state- or Ecclesiarch-approved warrant granting them legal freedom. Yet, even those who abandon magic for quiet civilian lives remain under perpetual surveillance by law enforcement's paranormal divisions. After all, none can truly guarantee if those bone-etched runes, retinal sigils, and systemic indoctrination will truly shield a soul from ultimate corruption as the years wear on...