The New Era # 2 - The Life Essence

ORIGINAL FORUM POST 30/08/07

As you are aware by now, the “Soul Shaker” scenario marks the dividing point between the old and new eras, which upon Althéa will be a time known as The Darkening to some or The Changing to others. Prior to this time there was Colour Magik, whereas afterwards the peoples of Althéa now refer to something called Life Magik and The Life Essence.

The Life Essence

Without trying to give too much away at this stage, the “Life Essence” is what remains of the magik after “The Changing”, or to be more precise, it is what “Colour Magik” has become. To give you an idea how this is different (or compares), I need to give a reminder of magik through the ages:

Soul Magik: During the Age of Creation there was Soul Magik, also referred to as Pure Colour Magik, because it was magik in its purest form and anybody could use Soul Magik no matter what there “class” or “status”.

Classic Magik/Magic: During The Age of The Moons there was the Classic Magik or what on some worlds is simply called Magic. This was the magik first rediscovered through 'rituals with gods' (by clerics) or alchemy & study of the moons (by wizards). Its connection to the old Soul Magik was not understood by all worlds at this time. This is why some worlds referred to it as magic to differentiate it from the energies they had prior to the disappearance of Soul Magik.

Colour Magik: In some worlds (including Althéa) the Classic Magik was removed or changed again, and the peoples had to learn how to recall spells in different ways once again. Normally, it was these worlds that could now understand the connection between the original Soul Magik and subsequent changes to the magik, as they could see the common theme throughout the various changes that had affected the Magik: Colour or Light.

Life Magik: Then comes “The Changing” and the force behind the Colour Magik is made totally clear: The Colours that make the Light are more than magikal colours, they are “Life” itself. The original magik was called “Soul Magik” for a good reason. It was called such because the energies (represented by colours) that comprised the magik, is, in fact, the “Essence of Life”. It is Life that is the common theme throughout the forces of magik!

The Dawning of A New Era

The historians of Althéa originally thought the next period of time would be called the “Time of Wisdom” within the current era: “The Ages of Recreation”. However, “The Changing” will bring about such drastic alterations to magik and life in all worlds that it will demand the historians designate the beginning of a new Age, which will be known as: “The Age of New Life”. I will not go into details about how these changes will affect the PC from the story point of view, but we can start discussing how it will affect the mechanics of the game now, especially for wizards, who will be the most affected since the loss of Colour Magik.

That is all for now, but I will go into more details about this in my next “New Era” post, which I hope will include such topics as: -

• Life Essence Acquisitions (Generic) (E.g. XP based)
• Life Essence Acquisitions (Class Specific) (E.g. Fighting, Turning, Spell Casting.)
• Life Essence Benefits (Generic) (E.g. Handling Death)
• Life Essence Benefits (Class Specific) (E.g. Arcaene Lore Scrolls)