Post by Mika on Jul 28, 2016 3:00:26 GMT
Precognitive Casting
It is a common misconception that the brain can only handle so much information, and that only a select few with unique cognitive abilities, are capable of retaining large amounts of information more quickly and for longer periods of time. While it is true that there are those who do possess greater abilities for retaining more information faster and longer, it is false that only those select few are capable of retaining so much. With the proper training and practice, anyone is capable of learning and retaining massive amounts of information.
The belief is held that the magic known as Glyphics is easily one of the most powerful and diverse of all the arcane practices; capable of enacting great and terrible acts. That being the case, the only reason it is looked at as inferior to others, is due to how it must be used; taking the time to draw out intricate and complex circles is far from convenient or realistic if you were in the midst of a battle. Not only that, the circles must always be precise and exact when being drawn, lest you risk devastating consequences in the case of an incorrectly drawn circle.
For many years long ago, arcane practitioners researched countless ways of speeding up the process of using Glyphic magic, without lacking in precision and detail, and suffering the resulting consequence. The answer itself came in the form of a group of twelve practitioners performing the actual act of magically branding a magic circle on one’s own brain. The plan was simple: Cast a circle designed to sharpen and hone the user’s cognitive skills, so they in turn could draw and cast multiple magic circles perfectly, in quick succession, for a short period of time. In doing this, the practitioners were able to cast magic circles that would have normally taken several or even dozens of minutes to complete, all in under a minute. It was extraordinarily successful.
However, their studies and practices would result in unexpected side effects. The first was the unforeseen spread of the circle’s effects on the rest of their mind. The hope was only to significantly enhance their short-term memory retention, specifically dealing with magic circles. But those involved in the original practice, reported first, a growing retention speed for everything relating to magic circles, second, a growing retention period for said information on magic circles, third, the information they retained began to encompass everything they heard and witnessed, and fourth, resulting in the development of a full-on Eidetic Memory. The original practitioners of this spell discovered long after they first cast it, that they could retain any and all information that they ever heard or saw, with perfect recollection even unto their dying day.
The fifth unexpected side effect of the original spell, was the result it had on their children. What first started as a simple attempt to enhance the process of using Glyphics Magic, resulted in the development of an entirely new bloodline inheritance. The children of the first group of practitioners started off life with Eidetic memories, and what’s more, they displayed knowledge of any and all magic circles their parents had ever studied or used. But the last side effect, one being equally terrifying and awe-inspiring, was the fact the children never needed to physically draw any circles to use the magic.
Whenever one of the children wanted to cast a circle, all they needed to do was recall it in their mind, and add the needed energy to activate it. Upon doing so, the circle would actually appear in the real world, depending on where the caster wished it to. The circles would appear glowing; the lines and glyphs a radiant neon color, the hues depending on the nature and type of circle cast.
These children were beyond prodigies, able to now instantly cast extremely complex and powerful circles, and even multiple at a time. However, this seemingly god-like power came at a cost. Whenever they cast a circle instantly, it would require two to three times the normal amount of energy to use. This discovery came at the cost of several children losing their lives, due to energy loss. They had all the necessary knowledge to cast the circles, but not the required energy, something they had to naturally gain over time.
Over the generations since the first group of twelve practitioners cast the spell, their offspring have grown significantly in knowledge and power. And this knowledge has been hoarded and kept specifically within their bloodlines. The original twelve even went as far as to lock away their discovering’s in magically sealed bunkers, inaccessible to any and all but their own bloodline descendants.
It has been four generations since the twelve discovered the spell that would lead to the magic known as Precognitive Casting. It has developed and grown into its own specific kind of magic over the years. The magic circles the users of Precognitive Casting are capable of using, can do far more than perform the simple phenomena as the circles of old could. It was discovered within the last two generations of the families that the users of Precognitive Casting could do more than simply instantly recall and cast any and all magic circles studied by their predecessors. These children had veritable libraries of information on magic circles just sitting in their heads, and they learned that they could actually mentally take the information they learned, and mold and develop entirely new and unique circles The original Glyphic Magic was diverse and powerful, yes, but Precognitive Casting elevated it to a whole new league.
Precognitive Casting Magic can be split into six categories as follows: Elemental, Summoning, Reality, Terra, Physics, and Spatial.
Precog Casting – Elemental: These types of circles allow the user to wield any element however they see fit, regardless of whether they have any natural affinity for the element or not. The circles actually allow the user to control the molecular makeup of the element, giving them absolute control over the element; they could then mold it into a physical object, or creature, fuse it with another type of magic, or simply just use it as is. The possibilities are virtually limitless. More than that, these circles can give the user control even over the weather around them.
Precog Casting – Summoning: Creatures of the Maelstrom, and creatures of the Plane of Order. These two categories of creatures are able to be summoned by these circles. However, it is never a process that is taken lightly, and requires immense concentration and willpower to subdue even the weakest creatures for the first time. The entities that sit on the higher planes of existence, those whom have come to be known as more myth than truth; even these entities are not free from being summoned by these circles. However, anyone but the most skilled and adept at summoning would be torn apart in an instant if they were to try such a feat. Even still, there are some creatures you just don’t bother.
Once the creature is summoned forth, the user of the circle can choose to make a contract with them. After the contract is formed, the circle will initiate a link between the caster and the creature. Once the link is formed, the caster merely needs to speak the creatures name to summon them, and will have complete control, and full disposal of the creatures’ abilities. However, the ease with which the caster can use the abilities of whichever creature is summoned, entirely depends on the type of relationship that is developed between the caster, and the demon or angel.
The caster has the ability to be linked to up to twenty creatures at once. They cannot summon twenty simultaneously of course, doing so would merely kill the caster. However, they can have instant access to that many creatures, giving them the chance to summon any of them instantly if need be. Once the final link is formed, the caster cannot summon any other creatures besides the one’s they’ve already formed links with. If the caster wishes to summon another type of creature, they must then break one of their links, which will break the contract they had formed with the specific creature, effectively freeing them.
Precog Casting – Reality: These circles are so powerful, they can manipulate the laws of reality itself, within a certain area. Within the confines of the circle drawn, the laws of reality can be changed; words can be made taboo in the literal sense, made impossible to say, sounds can be changed, gravity altered. Even something as powerful as death could be postponed, but not stopped. But there is a catch. Altering reality is seen as a HUGE offense to nature, and as such, the cost of doing so is astronomical.
For each and every event of reality that is altered by the circle, a constant supply of energy must be given to the circle while it is active and in place. For instance, if a circle were cast that omitted the word “But” from being spoken, weakened gravity by half, and kept people under the age of twelve from being able to enter the area, the user of the circle would have to constantly fuel the circle with energy from the moment they cast it, to the moment they canceled it, along with providing even more energy to alter each event as they happened.
Naturally, the energy cost could easily prove fatal to the user, so these circles are very seldom used. There is however, a way around the astronomical cost, and that is to tie the circle in with energy of the surrounding nature. But this isn’t a fail-safe, seeing as the circle will only draw on energy forces it is directed to. Once the energy of those sources runs out, it will then default to draining the casters energy.
Precog Casting – Terra: These circles allow the user to create and manipulate nature. They could potentially create an entirely new forest where one hadn’t existed before, however such an act would be nigh impossible because of the energy required. Most often, they are used to alter what already exists; creating new hybrid plants, molding living trees together to create a “living” house, or other such phenomena.
Precog Casting – Physics: These are some of the simplest and most commonly used circles. Whenever the caster uses them, they alter, enhance, or hinder the traits or physical abilities of whomever, or whatever they are placed on, for the duration of the spell.
For instance, a caster could place a circle on himself that would enhance his speed, or his strength, endurance, agility, etc. And the effects would last for however long he fueled the circle. He could also place a circle on himself, or someone else that would alter their physical traits, essentially disguising them until he canceled the spell.
Precog Casting – Spatial: These circles allow the caster to create and utilize pockets of reality. They are invisible to all but the creators of them, and ethereal in form. These pockets can be used for a multitude of means, and oddly enough require very little energy to maintain them. The pockets can be used to store and transport, but living things, creatures, or people can’t last more than a few seconds or so in these pockets.
The pockets that the caster creates are all interconnected, and are static in their existence, never moving from the location the caster first creates them. They can be used to transport items instantly over massive distances. And so long as the object being transported is inanimate, the energy required is minimal.
However, though it is possible to transport living things through these pockets of reality, it is advised against. Not only is it exceedingly dangerous for living creatures to step foot in the pockets, the energy required to transport the living organism any distance would exhaust even the most trained casters.
An example of how the circles may appear when being cast and used.