Magic

Welcome to the CoT Magic Lore Hub.

This page is a general overview of magic in Thedas and the linked pages at the bottom are articles that go into more depth about other more specific areas - some of which will be mentioned in this Hub. This information is sourced from Bioware's original content (sometimes verbatim from the Codex) and then expanded upon by us; there is original lore comprised by the Creators (of CoT) as well. This is an attempt to streamline all content and present it in an organised and easily navigated fashion. There will be everything from the limits of magic and the explanation of the schools of magic, Circle lore and information on various magical specialisations. Blood magic and Fade lore will also be covered, so treat this as your tour guide of Thedosian magic with sign posts to lead you deeper into Magicdom!

= What is Magic? =

Magic, in our setting, is a "natural physical phenomenon", just like gravity or magnetism. Magic is the power that mages possess and are born with and it enables them to "interact, control, and shape" the world around them.

This power originates from The Fade - a realm of Spirits where humans and elves visit when they dream. Because of this mages draw attention to themselves and thus risk possession by demons (malign spirits).

= Types of Magic =

The humans of Thedas created what is known as Circles. These Circles of Magi were first seen in Tevinter and from these towers the lore of the Circle as we know it was created. In the Circles there is a structure to magic known as "The Four Schools".

These are: Creation, Entropy, Primal and Spirit.

At CoT we adhere to the knowledge of these schools and the rules thereof. There is flexibility within the schools and between them, but the general rule of thumb is one mage cannot master all four schools. Neither do they have to learn anything about any of them, you can create your own magical branches and customise your spells and abilities (see "Other Schools" for information on more choices of school). Whether they be passive (sensing a lie) or active (throwing a fireball), they do not have to fall into one of these four schools. The purpose of the schools is to give structure to learning, mostly in the Circles but this has extended beyond the Circle of Magi, the elvhen acknowledge these types for instance, though they likely have different names and methods for similar skills like healing.

The following information is all sourced from Bioware's DA:O Codex and is included to give an overview of what each of the four schools entails.

School of Creation
Threnodies 5:5
 * Opposition in all things
 * For earth, sky
 * For winter, summer
 * For darkness, Light.
 * By My will alone is balance sundered
 * And the world given new life.

The School of Creation, sometimes called the School of Nature, is the second of the Schools of Matter, the balancing force and complement of Entropy. Creation magic manipulates natural forces, transforming what exists and bringing new things into being.

Creation requires considerable finesse, more than any other school, and is therefore rarely mastered. Those mages who have made a serious study of creation are the highest in demand, useful in times of peace as well as war.

School of Entropy
Threnodies 5:7
 * To you, my second-born, I grant this gift:
 * In your heart shall burn
 * An unquenchable flame
 * All-consuming, and never satisfied.

The first of the two Schools of Matter, Entropy is the opposing force of Creation; for this reason it is often called the School of Negation. Nothing lives without death. Time inevitably brings an end to all things in the material world, and yet in this ending is the seed of a beginning. A river may flood its banks, causing havoc, but bring new life to its floodplain. The fire that burns a forest ushers in new growth. And so it is with entropic magic that we manipulate the forces of erosion, decay, and destruction to create anew.

School of Primal
Andraste 7:19
 * Those who oppose thee 
 * Shall know the wrath of heaven.
 * Field and forest shall burn,
 * The seas shall rise and devour them,
 * The wind shall tear their nations
 * From the face of the earth,
 * Lightning shall rain down from the sky,
 * They shall cry out to their false gods,
 * And find silence.

Sometimes called the School of Power, the Primal School is the second of the Schools of Energy, balanced by Spirit, and concerns the most visible and tangible forces of nature itself.

This is the magic of war: Fire, ice, and lightning. Devastation. This is what the vast majority imagines when they hear the word "magic."

School of Spirit
Threnodies 5:4
 * And the voice of the Maker shook the Fade
 * Saying: In My image I have wrought
 * My firstborn. You have been given dominion
 * Over all that exists. By your will
 * All things are done.
 * Yet you do nothing.
 * The realm I have given you
 * Is formless, ever-changing.

The first of the two Schools of Energy, Spirit is opposed by the Primal School. It is the school of mystery, the ephemeral school. This is the study of the invisible energies which surround us at all times, yet are outside of nature. It is from the Fade itself that this magic draws its power. Students of this school cover everything from direct manipulation of mana and spell energies to the study and summoning of spirits themselves.

By its nature an esoteric school, as most others know virtually nothing about the Fade, studies of spirit magic are often misunderstood by the general populace, or even confused for blood magic-an unfortunate fate for a most useful branch of study.

For types of magic outside of these schools please see Other Schools of Magic and Specialisations

= Age of Onset =


 * For humans the youngest they can manifest the talent of magic is 5 years old. If you want a younger human mage or your character to have manifested earlier you must ask the Admin. If you do not the mods will deny your application.
 * For humans the oldest they can manifest the talent of magic is 16 years old. However, the age can be older for manifestation, but it is very rare for it to be older than 16. There is no upper limit but the older it is the more unlikely it will be. You must Ask the Admin and you must have a very good reason for such a late onset.
 * For elves the youngest they can manifest the talent of magic is 2 years old.
 * For elves the oldest they can manifest the talent of magic is unknown.
 * For kossith both the upper and lower limits are unknown, so this will be assessed on a case by case basis.
 * For half blooded characters the age of onset is the same as it is for humans.

= Prevalence of mages in Thedas =

In epidemiology, the prevalence or prevalence proportion is the proportion of a population found to have a condition (typically a disease or a risk factor such as smoking or seat-belt use). It is arrived at by comparing the number of people found to have the condition with the total number of people studied, and is usually expressed as a fraction, as a percentage or as the number of cases per 10,000 or 100,000 people.

Magic is the "condition" in Thedas whose prevalence is as follows;


 * 0.5% of the population of Thedas are mages
 * 1/200
 * 100 per 2,000 people

= How one can learn magic? =

At CoT we prefer that a mage is not entirely self taught - but if they are then they will have serious flaws. Their understanding of the Fade, demons, the schools and their own talent will be severely limited. Below are some suggestions about methods of learning;

We reserve the right to add to this list as the site evolves and the knowledge-base requires it.


 * Circle of Magi
 * Libertarian Circles
 * Tevinter Circles
 * Ostagar Elves and Dalish Clans
 * Mentors (master and apprentice)
 * Within a tribe
 * Temples, shrines, other places of religion
 * As slaves either in Tevinter (and potentially other areas of the world) and amongst the Qunari as a Saarebas.

= Limits on Magic =

We reserve the right to add to this list of "do's and don't's" as the site evolves and the knowledge-base requires it.

The Do Nots

 * Do not have your Templar sense magic or mages. A Templar cannot simply "sense" magic. They need a phylactery to hunt. Think of the witch hunts, how people were arrested and accused. The Templars did this in the war, going on suspicions and reports of others as well as eye witnesses and using phylacteries to hunt.
 * Do not have your mage sense magic or other mages unless they have it as a talent. This gift must be explained. For more info on "mages sensing magic" please see the link at the bottom of the page: "Talents".
 * Do not assume that just because "it was in the games" that it will work on this forum. The games are a different media, your better guide are the books and comics, since they are the same creative medium.
 * Do not break magic lore. Do not over reach. Do not do anything too world breaking concerning the Fade because we will be very strict and say no. Creativity is one thing, re-writing canon lore quite another.
 * Do not argue over the decisions from mods in your application (regarding magic). If they say no then it is no.

The Do's

 * Be realistic. Don't overload your character with difficult and awesome spells and specialisations because they simply will not be accepted (unless the admin approves the powers).
 * Learn in character. Develop magic via RPing.
 * Be inventive! We have a lore team to write lore with and the Ask the Admin thread if you are unsure your magic idea will work.
 * Accept the Admin's word as final. The admin's are diplomatic but they won't debate something that they have decided upon.
 * Ask questions! If you cannot find it in this Hub or linked to from it then Ask the Admin or post a topic in the Feedback Forum.

In general, just be very aware of what combinations you have with your specs and schools and always account for a mages training. Be they a Circle mage or hedge witch, always tell us how they came to learn what they know. CoT is very open to creativity and expansion of magic lore, but our limits are realism. That sounds odd in a fantasy setting but folks seem to forget what lore actually is. It involves limits, laws, knowledge. Our limits are simple - don't make God.

= How to represent magic in your profile =


 * Be clear.


 * We do not ask for a list of spells, but you can list them if you want.


 * We do ask that you tell us the proficiency of the mages talents. Tell us how competent they are in an area of magic. The closer they are to mastering something the more specific you should be! Do not say they are a Spirit Healer and Primal mage and then not tell us what stage of learning they are at in Primal or if they are a beginner in Spirit Healing.


 * The more complicated the magic the more detail is required.

= Magical Artefacts & tools/equipment to aid mages =

You may list any item from the games as your characters equipment. We do not have claims on these since we do not care if it is rare or not in the games. If it is rare we assume you will account for its acquisition in your profile. If you do not, we will ask.

Mages use staffs and some use wands to aid in their casting, but this is by no means a hard and fast rule. The use of staffs amongst the magisters is mainly aesthetic and ceremonial, though theirs will be expensive and magically powerful of course so do have a use. The same is true of the Circles of Thedas, since a mage is easily identifiable by their staff. For this reason an apostate would be far less likely to carry a staff, otherwise they risk being arrested by Templars.

Staffs do have a use, they can be used as staves or quarterstaffs, especially for battlemages and in cultures such as the Avvar and Dalish the Shamans and Keepers are identified in their spiritual and leadership roles by the possession of such staffs, often they are magical and ancient artefacts of their Clan, tribe or Hold (in the case of the Avvar).

For in depth information on specific items please see [Magical Artefacts and Equipment].