Magic

Magic is a broad and diverse concept that underpins the primary diversion of the fictional world of Offetstine from the real world. Practicioners of magic, often referred to as mages, form a diminutive yet significant subset of the total population of the world of Offetstine.

Practices

Various magical practices exist in the world of Offetstine that usually have parallels to real-life pseudosciences or schools of magic in fantasy fiction. In many cases, the same name refers to a family of independently derived practices, which are often quite different in nature. Due to the fundamentally underground nature of magic as per the Masquerade, developments in magic very rarely trickle back to human science, although the fields are nonetheless considered pivotal to each other in their shared quest for applied, empirical knowledge.

While it is impossible to offer a comprehensive list of magical practices, for the same reasons as it is impossible to offer a comprehensive list of demi-human species, as the art of species taxonomy nonetheless aims to create. To that extent, this list is incomplete.

Editor's note: This section is very incomplete. There is no world in which the two most important fields of magic are "alchemy" and "necromancy". Fix urgently.

Alchemy

Full article: Alchemy

Named for the real-life pseudoscience of alchemy, often understood as the forebearer to modern chemistry, and its subsequent reifications in fantasy fiction, alchemy refers to the diverse set of magical arts in Offetstine that focus on the craft of potions and other materials that bear magical properties.

Necromancy

Full article: Necromancy

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History

Magic is typically understood to have originated from demi-humans in prehistoric times, at the approximate beginning of the Neolithic Revolution. Common myths state the initial practitioners of magic were demi-humans who unknowingly used the power to guard their interests, such as through the illusion of animal-folk, to hide their inhuman traits and uphold the Masquerade. These demi-humans are said to have expanded on their practice and developed it into serviceable general-purpose forms that augmented the technology of the time, and as such passed the practice down through generations.

Magic practices are said to have eventually spread through certain isolated human communities who were already exposed to magical energy, although since the practice of magic is predicated on that exposure, most humans were unable to take up the practice. Even to date, mages remain a highly exclusive circle of individuals, far overshadowed by demi-humans who are either magically empowered or controlled but do not practice a general-purpose form of magic. However, especially at the time, mages were frequently opposed by mundane humans to whom they demonstrated their powers, and the practice of general-purpose magic was largely vilified even in communities where demi-humans were accepted.

The precise cause of this effect is unknown, although the vilification is commonly attributed to the malicious portrayal of mages in common superstitions which stem from religious myth. The source of religious myth in Offetstine varies, either being born of interpretations of demi-humans such as spirits and deities, or of entirely mundane means, though despite the prevalence of magic in Offetstine, even mages and demi-humans lack consensus as to the particular truth of any particular religious myth. However, in part because of this persecution, magic is often viewed by mages as a secular art, detached from the doctrine of any particular faith.

Culture

Mages are generally known to form isolated communities when possible. Magic is often considered a carefully guarded secret, in part by virtue of the Masquerade, but even to the extent that demi-humans who do not practice a general-purpose magic are excluded from communions of mages. The Masquerade is varyingly recognized as either imperative statute to the continued and safe existence of magic in Offetstine, or archaic and discriminatory legislation that stunts the scope and pervasiveness of the practice. As many members of the Veilkeepers, the organization responsible for upholding the Masquerade, are themselves mages, conflicting perspectives are even more pervasive from within the organization.

Mages occasionally form underground communities in regions where magical energy is abundant, as presence in such areas further empowers them. For instance, one such location is Cedar Crest University, a university built around an ancient cedar tree commonly recognized to amplify magical energy. While due to the Masquerade, the university cannot openly acknowledge its openness to demi-humans or mages, its founder, the mundane human Erin Hazell, has previously privately acknowledged the magical community which sprung up around her institution and given it her blessing.

Due to the nature of the Masquerade prohibiting overt communication, societies of mages and demi-humans have historically favored the use of telecommunications gear to facilitate communication. The use of ciphers and encryption traces back to the roots of magic in Offetstine, where grimoires were frequently written in high-entropy ciphers or mystical languages unknown to humans, and ephemeral messages were often communicated in cant. In modern times, criminal organizations such as the Coalition and Ringleaders, both of which limit their membership to demi-humans, have created encryption toolkits for private use. One such framework, CREST, has found use across the Greater Offetstine Area for computer-aided secure communications between mages.

Secrecy

Mages generally express mixed perspectives with regards to the Masquerade in Offetstine. While some mages note the benefits that magic has to the broader scientific community, a perspective especially shared by magical epistemologists, others argue that the continued existence of the Masquerade is critical for protecting magical civilization from mundane human oversight.

The exact motives for the Masquerade vary by individual. Generally, the most prevalent belief is fear of persecution. Mages and demi-humans frequently rationalize that through the exposure of their secret, humans will launch military-scale attacks out of fear. As many schools of magic pose threats that mundane humans are plainly unequipped to deal with, such as the mind control of many vampires, such a hypothetical war is suspected to end in a conclusive victory for demi-humans and mages. Despite this, such a victory is projected to herald the casualties of, among others, humans who are falsely suspected to be mages, demi-humans such as many subspecies of harpies who are weaker than humans, and mages who are genuinely interested in the betterment of humanity such as magical epistemologists.

Another common belief that is often used to justify the Masquerade, though often frowned upon from within and without, is the notion of supremacy conferred by magical powers, especially demi-human nature. Certain communities of mages view themselves as inherently superior to humans by virtue of their powers and through their exclusive nature. This belief is typically countered by the viewpoint that the ability to wield magic is a skill, and thus is not a privilege, but rather the result of innate ability, with no inherent difference between the average human and a mage. Despite this, it remains the foundation of the Coalition, a defunct criminal organization in Offetstine, which during its height was exclusive to demi-humans and quite prevalent.

Concepts

Demi-humanity

Full article: Demi-human

Demi-humans are a rare and diverse class of magical species that roughly demonstrate some form of humanity, usually in the form of sapience and humanlike bodies. While their exact nature is difficult to pinpoint, demi-humans are most often the result of magic affecting the body of an otherwise biologically human individual (such as with vampires and harpies), or causing a humanlike entity to manifest in a human-populated area (such as with spirits and deities).

While demi-humans are magical in nature, only a subset of them are themselves mages. Most demi-humans have magical abilities and powers, commonly including shapeshifting and various psychic powers, and they are generally not considered to be mages in their own right. Only some demi-humans are able to command a full, general-purpose school of magic and are considered mages.

Magical epistemology

Magical epistemology is the idea, named for its respective branch of philosophy, epistemology, that magic is a fundamental branch of the pursuit of knowledge as it pertains to humanity and demi-humanity. Many fields of science (especially anthropological and humanitarian, such as archeology and medicine) and magic regularly overlap in scope, and to that extent, it usually benefits mundane humans and mages alike to ensure that information and knowledge is exchanged between the two parties.

While no overt relations can exist as a consequence of the Masquerade, and under threat of the endangerment of many humans at the hands of more powerful mages, and vice versa, mages of the belief of magical epistemology often attempt to communicate knowledge and best practices across the barrier.

Despite this, due to the fact that magic often has a knack for violating certain laws of physics, especially those of thermodynamics, and the exact nature of this relation prevents many magical innovations from reaching the human world, or even being used to affect large swathes of people.

Some mages have used their talent to excel at human arts, such as the somewhat infamous schoolteacher, mathematician and aerospace researcher Eliza Teak, who has markedly used her magic to aid with space travel, chemical production and engineering and silicon fabrication. However, this is a niche use case and magic remains a largely private art.

Will of the People

One of the most prevalent ideas of magic in Offetstine is that concepts are often reified by nature that are prevalent in the minds of people, often referred to concretely as the Will of the People. Many concepts in the world of Offetstine, including magical species such as spirits and deities, are usually considered to be born only because of their prevalence in the minds of people.

Similarly, many common species, especially those that have notable ties to folklore such as most subspecies of vampire may usually trace their progeny back to a time and place in which the folklore was especially culturally prominent, such as in fictional storytelling, religious mythology or superstition, again implying that they were "willed into existence", as it were, by the people.

The exact mechanism of this phenomenon is still unknown, and notoriously difficult to harness despite the abundance of humans who have attempted to leverage this known phenomenon to confer magical power unto themselves. The relation of this power to social concepts of ethics and sympathy is unknown.