Types of Magic
Elemental
Elemental magic users command forces of nature. Some can bend water to their will, some are able to mold soil, and other can conjure fire or create an electric current.
Elemental mages can cause a great deal of damage. Most work in manufacturing. The greatest elemental Houses tend to run industrial and construction corporations.
Examples
Pyrokinesis – mastery over fire.
Aquakinesis – mastery over water.
Geokinesis – mastery over earth.
Aerokinesis – mastery over air.
Fulgurkinesis – mastery over lightning.
Mental
Magic of the mind would be best described as magic of the will. This category includes a slew of powers that rely on the will of the user. The mental talents are many and varied, from telekinesis, which can be used to a devastating effect, to harmonizing, which enables the mage to make beautiful flower arrangements.
Examples
Telekinesis – ability to move objects with your mind.
Projection – ability to transmit images and feelings to the minds of other.
Therionology – ability to command animals. Practitioners are usually known as animal mages. Rare.
Harmonizing – ability to arrange one’s environment to invoke a specific feeling or mood.
Elenchus – ability to distinguish lie from truth, also known as truthseeking. Extremely rare.
Arcane
The word “arcane” means known or understood by very few. True to definition, the arcane branch of magic talents is poorly understood even by those who are born with these magic powers. Power of arcane magic users comes from reaching into arcane realm, a place of magic outside of our typical reality. Their talents are frequently disturbing.
Examples
Enerkinesis – mastery over magic energy.
Summoning – ability to cause manifestation of creatures.
Animating – ability to impart life to inanimate objects.
Binding – ability to fuse or bind something found in the arcane realm to human host with purpose of giving the host new magic powers
Ranks and Houses
Magic users are segregated into five ranks: Minor, Average, Notable, Significant, and Prime. The difference between Minor and Prime is enormous. For example, a pyrokinetic is considered Average if he can melt a cubic foot of ice under a minute. In the same amount of time, Adam Pierce, a Prime, can conjure a fire that will melt a cubic foot of stainless steel.
Ranks are determined during the Trials, where a panel of Primes test the candidate to determine their power. A mage must be at least 18 years old to undergo the Trials. Gifted children are often tested earlier; however, even if they qualify as Primes, the results of the tests are considered to be preliminary. There are no official under-age Primes.
A family with a powerful magic is considered a House when it produces at least two Primes within three generations.
Some possible combinations:
- Parent and a child
- Siblings
- Grandparent and grandchild
For example, if your grandmother was a Prime and you are a Prime, your family could apply for the registration in the House Ranks. If your grandmother dies, and none of your children or grandchildren are Primes, your family will retain Prime status until you die, at which point it will loose that rank and all its privileges. If you marry a Prime, your spouse doesn’t count toward House certification. There must be a genetic link between the Primes.
Magic is everything in the world of Hidden Legacy. Because magical talents are passed on through the bloodline, marriages between Primes and Significants are often the matter of ancestry and genetics rather than love.
Houses are small economic empires, focused on increasing their power and wealth. Houses frequently feud with each other and mutual attacks between rival Houses are not uncommon. Most of the time the civilian law enforcement stays of of the inter-House conflicts as long as ordinary citizens are not endangered in any way.
The head of a House wields complete authority over their family members. Houses also have their own ruling body, an Assembly, and although Assembly has no official status within United States government, when it speaks, its voice is heard by all branches of government.
To be expelled from your House is one of the worst punishments a member of a House can endure. It means to lose not only the contact with your loved ones, but to surrender your financial security and to lose all of the business connections. Without the protection of a House, such a person becomes easy prey to the House’s enemies.