THE
CÁR'ÁLL
(THE
MAGICAL
AURA) |
Meaning.
Cár’áll is a Styrásh word meaning “natural astral aura of all things or
beings”, though many humans, especially the
mages at the Ximaxian
Academy, look at it as “magical energy” or “aura” (which is
also used in the context of ethics). Human scholars often use the word
"Cár’áll" also
as a term in their studies and theories of metaphysics, which, as it means literally
translated “that which is above life”.
Cár'áll is life's substance ("soul"), in the most general way this can be
interpreted.
In short, if you want to say so, the alignments within someone's personal
Cár’áll is what constitute this person: how one looks, acts, feels,
thinks and exists in general. Cár’áll, as the substance, on which everything
else is grounded, influences our personalities and how we act and see the
world around us. Cár’áll effects a person both spiritually and physically,
however, Cár'áll is more than that - it also determines the form and
orientation of beasts, plants and inanimated things. The way a rock is shaped,
whether it is hard or brittle, is determined by the structure its Cár’áll has. However,
Cár’áll is nothing determined and unchangeable. It is a substance, which can
change its consistency and alignment temporarily or in a more permanent way. You can lose
Cár’áll and add Cár’áll through magical means
and/or belief, and you can change the structure within your Cár’áll to make you feel
stronger or to make yourself feel more energized. In a way you can interpret Cár’áll
as energy, as a power living in everything and which needs focus and alignment. Changing yourself into something you’re not is
incredibly difficult, if not impossible, at least physically. You cannot easily
change yourself into a lizard or a fly or
a bird, though you can create the illusion that you did by re-aligning the
compositions of the elements within one's Cár'áll e.g. through a spell.
Spiritually, changes in one's Cár'áll throughout a person's life are nothing
unusual and often overlooked, but a wizard manipulates the same Cár'áll only in
different ways to achieve effects.
Composition. Cár’áll is not, by any means, made up of one homogeneous mixture. Each
Cár’áll representing a seperate entity (be it a being, a spirit, an inanimate
thing) is composed of different elements that makes it up. It is the
diversity of each person’s Cár’áll that gives distinct characteristics and
different personalities, and the same is the case in a similar sense with
objects of various kinds. It is the altering (the expanding, contracting and moving around)
of these elements resulting in a more or less ordered alignment within the Cár’áll that the system of
magic is built upon. There
are four different elements of which the Cár’áll is composed of, relating to
the four types of Elemental magic.
The Element of Wind
Mages of
Wind can only alter the Element of Wind within their
own Cár’áll or the Cár’áll of other persons or objects. Some of the main
qualities of Wind include transparency and movement
(physical), as well as matters of the mind (spiritual). For more information on
the spells and qualities of Wind, see the
Wind Magic Entry.
The Element of Water
Mages of
Water can only alter the Element of Water within
their own Cár’áll or the Cár’áll of other persons or objects. One of the most
prominent qualities is change, especially when it comes to emotion (spiritual).
Water can also be manipulated as an element itself
(physical). Water is meant to be an element symbolizing
Wind attempting to act more as Earth
(as suggested by the elven myth of the
Cárpa'dosía). For more information on the spells
and qualities of Water, see the
Water Magic Entry.
The Element of Fire
Mages of Fire can only alter the
Element of Fire within their own Cár’áll or the Cár’áll of other persons or
objects. Fire is often associated with compassion, love,
and urges of all kinds (spiritual) and also deals with the manipulation of
actual fire (physical). Fire is
one of the most chaotic elements of the four, and represents
Earth trying to be more like Wind
(as suggested by the elven myth of the
Cára'dosía). For more information on the spells
and qualities of Fire, see the
Fire Magic Entry.
The Element of Earth
Mages of Earth can only alter the
Element of Earth within their own Cár’áll or the Cár’áll of other persons
or objects. Stagnancy is the most prominent Earth
property. Things that can be made unchanged like emotions (spiritual), also
relate to this element, but also dealing with actual properties of the
Earth, like hardness and sometimes the exhibition of
growth (physical). For more information on the spells and qualities of
Earth, see the Earth Magic Entry.
Manipulation. Cár’áll is held together by a number of flexible links called Xeuá, and often times these links can be used to manipulate certain elemental connections within the Cár’áll. Strengthen or weakening them is what allows mages to cast spells. The ways in which Cár’áll is manipulated it what determines a spell’s sphere. Each element has three spheres, which are further separated into physical and spiritual classes, called Spell Classes. The different spheres manipulate the Cár’áll differently as shown on the table below:
First
Sphere: Intension & Removal of Elemental Energies
The first sphere manipulates the Cár’áll by contracting or expanding the
cár’áll of the element you want to make more or less influential on the target
of the spell. However, the amount of Cár’áll does not change, but the more the
Cár’áll is expanded, the greater the influence that element has on the target.
Xeuá (links) are elastic that the mage can stretch as he
or she wishes to get a desired effect.
Second
Sphere: Application & Initiation of Elemental Energies
The second sphere effects gathering up scattered components to make them more
influential to the overall Cár’áll. In a target’s Cár’áll, the seperate
components of each element are often scattered throughout, and each piece only
holds a limited influence. However, when the pieces are gathered together and
combined, they have greater focus in the Cár’áll of the entity.
Third
Sphere: Creation & Recreation of Elemental Energies
The third sphere deals with adding or subtracting actual Cár’áll of a certain
element to make the element less or more apparent in the target. This deals
with indirectly making Xueá (links) between the original Cár’áll and the new
Cár’áll and, in doing so, make the element more influential and get a desired
effect. The Cár’áll connects like hands that can grab on to each other or break
apart. The kind of elemental Cár’áll, be it physical or spiritual, will
influence the target in different ways. By connecting to or ‘covering’ a
person’s Cár’áll with one’s spirit, it is possible to gain information on that
person based on their Cár’áll.
The alignment of the
Cár’áll, as thus far may be clear, is very affected by Xeuá, or the links that
connect them. The breaking of these links (called Ecuá) can also affect the
alignment of the Cár’áll a great deal. Those who break and create links (Xeuá and Ecuá Mages)
are classed under the two Archschools. Such schools are extremely powerful in
their ability to be able to create and destroy things by directly targeting the
structure of the Cár'áll. If enough of one’s links
are broken, one may suffer great trauma or even death. Xeuá mages have
the great ability to summon things and create things by making connections
between different amounts of elemental parts within the Cár’áll.
Weavers, too, use Cár’áll, but the way in which they are able to use
Cár’áll
and Xeuá and Ecuá links is rather extraordinary.
Weavers, instead of having to
experiment and do connections one by one, have a set pattern in their head of
how Cár’áll connects or breaks in order to create in effect. In this respect,
magic tailors itself to the mage and the desire of the mage instead of the mage
having to tailor him or herself to the magic.
Because of this pattern, weavers are able to
use magic with relative ease, and without
having to utter spells or incantations. Because of their ease with
magic, weavers
are incredibly powerful.
Usage.
Different mages use Cár’áll differently. The way Elemental Mages use Cár’áll
has already been explained, but the differences in technique differ even
between humans and
elves. Elves have an instinctive desire to see how things
work, how different things can be put together to make something new. For
elven
mages, magic is a part of their life and not
often something they can learn or study, but rather discover. For this reason,
elves are more likely to be Xeuá mages, or
mages that make connections or links between different kinds of Cár’áll to
create something. Elves are not ones to
categorize spells, but see them for what they are and what they do without
feeling the need to organize spells into different sects based on what they can
do or how they work. For the elves Cár'áll is
not an idea, a term, which means categorization, but something that accompanies
their life, which certain elves can manipulate
as this is how the Gods and nature have laid out life for them.
While elves are more inclined to understand the way of nature, how the world
around them works and functions, humans try to capture things, to find terms
and explanations for things and put them in boxes instead of accepting the
unexplainable and live with it. Humans prefer the result rather than
the direct path it takes to get
there. Thus, while elves constantly desire to find new ways and discover how
things work, most humans are content to merely follow the set formula that
they’re given without questioning how it’s all done. For this reason,
humans
are more likely to be Elemental mages, or mages who cast
magic to gain an
effect. Elemental Magic is more or less something for beginners because it is
fairly easy to do. It is merely following a set pattern and gaining a result.
Most elves are not happy with just learning the
formula, but have more of a
desire to learn how it all works, how the formula
is reached and why things affect the spell in the manner that they do. The
reagents in magic are primarily for
humans, who need to be able to visualize
things.
So humans, in the manner that they deal with understanding of nature and
magic
as a whole, have difficulty because they have to learn bit by bit what most
elves understand naturally: the connection of things and the way the world
works transcending human explanations.
The
Styrásh expression "to infuse something with one’s Cár’áll" is
best translated into
human terminology by "casting a spell". But whereas
for the elves any sort of manipulation which is conducted on the basis of the
personal aura and in harmony with nature is qualified "magic",
human magic is fundamentally unrelated to auratic phenomena
within the caster and consequently
a manipulation of other
energies and objects; it is therefore as a rule
utilitarian. An elf, for example, will just infuse a piece of wood with his
Cár'áll to make it burn, which in fact is nothing
different to an
elf
than to
shift the aura in the boundaries of nature.
Information provided by
Rayne Avalotus
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