Soviet Panda
Red Panda Commanda.
The lands of Estridus are great and varied, as is their residents. From the noble elves of the frozen north to the orks of the marshy south and everything in between. The exact specifics of these races, and magic, will be entailed in this book written by yours truly, Sir Kuvar Metalbrand of the Moorian hold.
Dwarfs are short, yet stout, humanoids renown for their strength and durability. Dwarfs typically don't trust any form of magic outside of the runic system. Instead, they have developed their mundane technologies. Airships are a common sight in dwarf country, and dwarven merchants make good money transporting people as well as merchandise.
Elves are a reclusive sort, keeping to themselves and their own. Perhaps for the better, as their company is insufferable. They think the powerful and uncontrollable form of Wild magic is the end all be all and base their society around it's use. Those that are either more powerful with it or have more control are higher up on the social hierarchy. As a result, Elven communities thrum with the sound of magic.
Proud and capable warriors, Orcs, in recent years, would much rather be left to their own. Considered the most savage of the four races, Orcs are just as smart and capable as the finest Dwarf engineer. They are simply steeped in tradition and their old ways. They dabble with all three forms of magic and seem to be a jack of all, but master of none. But you know what they say, jack of all master of none is better than a master of one and a jack of none.
As snooty as Elves, stubborn as Dwarves, and numerous as rabbits, humans are under almost every rock I have turned over. They aren't all bad, only those that dress up in gaudy colors and strut around like peacocks are as insufferable as elves, and twice as stupid. The common folk have a good head on their shoulders. And quite engineering. They were the ones that pioneered the use of rituals and magical contracts between themselves and more magic savvy beasts.
And those are just the ones I've seen. I've heard tales of many, many more lurking in the unexplored regions of this world. But one day, I will find them, and they will be documented in this book.
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There are three types of magic that inhabit this world. Wild magic is the magic that was woven into the world by Tedis as it was created. This magic is primal and cannot be controlled, as likely to tear off and destroy your house as it is to light a small fire. Don't listen to those elves that say such nonsense as 'be the bank that guides the river, not controls it', they're full of it.
The runic system seeks to safely control wild magic in a symbol of power. While this control and seeming tameness of the magic lessens it's power, it does not do what it isn't meant to. And long chains of runes can do much finer work than anyone waving their hands about and muttering spells under their breath.
Ritual magic is a combination of the two, wild magic and the runic system. It seeks to limit what the magic can do by providing clear guidelines for it to operate on and asking it instead of commanding or forcing it. It takes such a long time to set up and perform the ritual, however, that in most scenarios it's impractical at best. Though I've heard tales of some humans binding things like lesser elementals in a form of a contractual agreement. I've yet to see it with my own two eyes, but if this is true then these humans can have their familiar, for lack of a better word, cast spells in their steed. Though I can see there being limitations to what certain familiars can do. I should also look into whether or not there are any benefits for binding non-magical entities in this manner.
Dwarfs are short, yet stout, humanoids renown for their strength and durability. Dwarfs typically don't trust any form of magic outside of the runic system. Instead, they have developed their mundane technologies. Airships are a common sight in dwarf country, and dwarven merchants make good money transporting people as well as merchandise.
Elves are a reclusive sort, keeping to themselves and their own. Perhaps for the better, as their company is insufferable. They think the powerful and uncontrollable form of Wild magic is the end all be all and base their society around it's use. Those that are either more powerful with it or have more control are higher up on the social hierarchy. As a result, Elven communities thrum with the sound of magic.
Proud and capable warriors, Orcs, in recent years, would much rather be left to their own. Considered the most savage of the four races, Orcs are just as smart and capable as the finest Dwarf engineer. They are simply steeped in tradition and their old ways. They dabble with all three forms of magic and seem to be a jack of all, but master of none. But you know what they say, jack of all master of none is better than a master of one and a jack of none.
As snooty as Elves, stubborn as Dwarves, and numerous as rabbits, humans are under almost every rock I have turned over. They aren't all bad, only those that dress up in gaudy colors and strut around like peacocks are as insufferable as elves, and twice as stupid. The common folk have a good head on their shoulders. And quite engineering. They were the ones that pioneered the use of rituals and magical contracts between themselves and more magic savvy beasts.
And those are just the ones I've seen. I've heard tales of many, many more lurking in the unexplored regions of this world. But one day, I will find them, and they will be documented in this book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are three types of magic that inhabit this world. Wild magic is the magic that was woven into the world by Tedis as it was created. This magic is primal and cannot be controlled, as likely to tear off and destroy your house as it is to light a small fire. Don't listen to those elves that say such nonsense as 'be the bank that guides the river, not controls it', they're full of it.
The runic system seeks to safely control wild magic in a symbol of power. While this control and seeming tameness of the magic lessens it's power, it does not do what it isn't meant to. And long chains of runes can do much finer work than anyone waving their hands about and muttering spells under their breath.
Ritual magic is a combination of the two, wild magic and the runic system. It seeks to limit what the magic can do by providing clear guidelines for it to operate on and asking it instead of commanding or forcing it. It takes such a long time to set up and perform the ritual, however, that in most scenarios it's impractical at best. Though I've heard tales of some humans binding things like lesser elementals in a form of a contractual agreement. I've yet to see it with my own two eyes, but if this is true then these humans can have their familiar, for lack of a better word, cast spells in their steed. Though I can see there being limitations to what certain familiars can do. I should also look into whether or not there are any benefits for binding non-magical entities in this manner.
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