More world building stuff.
Technology-wise, most of the 'civilized world' has been hovering somewhere between Renaissance and Pre-Industrial - pretty much back to where they were when everything went to hell... but because magic has been juuuuusssst effective enough, no one has ever seen the need to improve upon things.
Food preservation? Magic. Sanitation? Magic. Health issues? Magic.
The primary limiting factor will be that all magic requires a tangible fuel that, for lack of a better term, I'm going to call Mana for now. This has to be mined from deposits in the Earth. And while deposits can be depleted, if left alone for a few hundred years, they can replenish themselves. Thus, while they're not exactly running out, they don't really have mana to burn. It has to be carefully rationed out.
To this end, they use Mana as a currency in a sort of trickle-down system that actually works. All mana deposits belong to the country they're found in. After it's been refined, the noble families get a stipend depending on the services they render unto the country. From there, noble families have to pay everyone that works under them - usually merchants and contractors that handle whatever interests they have in that region. From there, wealth gets distributed among the commoners. Merchants and contractors pay for goods and services to keep their businesses going, and the people that provide these goods and services pay out to their workers. These workers buy goods and services themselves, putting mana back into the economy.
The system can be abused, but this usually doesn't go on very long. It's a well-established fact that mana absolutely must circulate through the economy, otherwise important public services such as sanitation and infrastructure like water works and roads begin to literally crumble. And then it's only a matter of time before the pitchforks start coming.
This is the sheer beauty of this set up: no need for taxes. Why bother with taxes when you're already collecting all of the currency and then distributing it? Maintaining infrastructure and such is paid directly out of the country's coffers, as well as salaries for government employees, as well as maintenance and other upkeep. In this way, the initial distribution takes place, and the mana flows forth.
The biggest issue of all, though, is that magic costs quite a bit. While the formation of mana in the Earth seems to violate the laws of thermodynamics, the usage of mana most certainly does not! And thermodynamics strikes back with a vengeance, at that! The more complicated a spell is, the more mana it will consume. This is because magical spells are similar in some ways to an electrical circuit, and it other ways to a system of pipes.
The circuitry aspects of it are very similar to integrated circuitry in a computer chip.
Yes, that's right. These people have the basics of computer programming in their hands, and they don't even realize what kind of potential this represents.
The analogy of pipes enters the picture in that mana, like water within pipes, must fill the magical 'circuit' before it can function. And like water, it's usually lost once the spell has done it's job - that mana left over in the circuit disperses. (Not to mention the energy spent on doing the actual work. Granted, magic in and of itself is a very efficient process, there is still a measurable loss of energy.)
You could recapture the leftover energy, but it's a zero-sum game. This is where thermodynamics bites the hardest. Recapturing that energy means reverting it back into it's physical form of mana. This is not unlike trying to un-burn coal or oil - it's possible, but you're going to lose a lot more than you gain.
For this reason, simple spells with a small area of effect are common place because the circuit does not need to be large or complex. But the larger the are of effect is (or the more complicated the spell is), then the more mana it will take just to power up the spell. For this reason, larger, more complicated spells are used primarily for public works, and are managed very carefully while being being kept energized over long periods of time.
Spells can be cast in several ways.
Most commonly seen method is runic magic circles. Circles can have layers within layers, and as well as separate circles inside a larger one, allowing for a certain degree of modular building. These are typically your larger "public works" spells.
Another common method is to carve a wand or a staff with several prepared spells for quick casting. These are useful for self defense, but can also be used as tools. Wands are generally one-note devices, while some staffs have been known to have as many as twenty different spell arrays carved into it. It all depends on the available surface area and your skill with a whittling knife.
Modular spell construction factors in here much more, as you can selectively activate arrays to combine into various effects. An example would be a simple fire-blasting spell. While one array carries the fire spell itself, several more arrays can direct how it is to be employed - such as an area effect, a wall, a concentrated burst (fireball!) and so on.
Another method of spell casting is by verbal incantation. The simple fact is that with a sufficiently disciplined mind, the spell arrays can be created out of the raw magical energy itself. The incantation serves as a focus for the mind in order to help visualize the array.
The downside is that this can take time, especially for more complex spells. Even worse, if the caster's concentration is broken, the energy already present in the array can backlash against them. And on top of it all, if you have an enemy who is particularly sharp, they can discern what sort of spell is coming before you can finish casting. However, the bonus here is that a spell can be altered on the fly, which can grant a critical tactical advantage in a constantly shifting battle.
Of course, there is also the option of silent casting. This is much more difficult to pull off because you don't have the incantation to act as a focus for your mind. You need to come up with it entirely inside your head. This has an advantage over recitation in that with a sufficiently disciplined mind, a spell can be cast much faster and leave your enemy without any clue as to what's coming.
This makes silent casters the most difficult of all mages to deal with, though they are exceedingly rare in number. Typically, most silent casters are members of the longest-lived races , such as Kitsune, Fae Elves, Vampires, or the rare human who's mind is such that simply imagining the spell arrays that clearly comes as second nature to them.
As for societies....
*Sighs*
This is going to take a lot of work and effort, because I'm having to do what D.D. Webb has been doing with The Gods are Bastards (more or less, anyway, as I blend DnD and JRPG elements with historical fiction), only with the additional step of piping it all through the lens of "Women Have Controlled The World For The Last 5,000 Years". No playing in the shadows, no subtleties. It is a Woman's World, full stop.
And I'll undoubtedly be having to beat a path through quandaries like: What does true equality among the genders look like? It's not like I haven't grappled with subjects like this before, but now it's going to be implicit in the very setting.
For the moment, I'm looking at how things in North and South America would have developed in this case. Particularly Mesoamerican and similar cultures. I'm playing with the idea that there was never any Conquistadors, but there was an attempt at annexation that did not go well. Combined with the plagues of Smallpox, Measles, Whooping Cough, and others... The various shattered empires eventually all wound up being gathered together into one very authoritarian and VERY MEAN monoculture that sees war and conquest as a way of life, only more ion line with the Apache's Counting Coup.
Fantasy elements I'm thinking of including would be mostly elves and forest spirits... But socially speaking, these elves would have more in common with the Drow seen in Forgotten Realms. And the creatures and spirits of the jungles would be every bit as blood thirsty and vicious as what you'd find in the Underdark.
That's just an idea for now, as I'm intending for there to be conflict in the south such that fortress cities are a fact of life.
Any help would be appreciated
Technology-wise, most of the 'civilized world' has been hovering somewhere between Renaissance and Pre-Industrial - pretty much back to where they were when everything went to hell... but because magic has been juuuuusssst effective enough, no one has ever seen the need to improve upon things.
Food preservation? Magic. Sanitation? Magic. Health issues? Magic.
The primary limiting factor will be that all magic requires a tangible fuel that, for lack of a better term, I'm going to call Mana for now. This has to be mined from deposits in the Earth. And while deposits can be depleted, if left alone for a few hundred years, they can replenish themselves. Thus, while they're not exactly running out, they don't really have mana to burn. It has to be carefully rationed out.
To this end, they use Mana as a currency in a sort of trickle-down system that actually works. All mana deposits belong to the country they're found in. After it's been refined, the noble families get a stipend depending on the services they render unto the country. From there, noble families have to pay everyone that works under them - usually merchants and contractors that handle whatever interests they have in that region. From there, wealth gets distributed among the commoners. Merchants and contractors pay for goods and services to keep their businesses going, and the people that provide these goods and services pay out to their workers. These workers buy goods and services themselves, putting mana back into the economy.
The system can be abused, but this usually doesn't go on very long. It's a well-established fact that mana absolutely must circulate through the economy, otherwise important public services such as sanitation and infrastructure like water works and roads begin to literally crumble. And then it's only a matter of time before the pitchforks start coming.
This is the sheer beauty of this set up: no need for taxes. Why bother with taxes when you're already collecting all of the currency and then distributing it? Maintaining infrastructure and such is paid directly out of the country's coffers, as well as salaries for government employees, as well as maintenance and other upkeep. In this way, the initial distribution takes place, and the mana flows forth.
The biggest issue of all, though, is that magic costs quite a bit. While the formation of mana in the Earth seems to violate the laws of thermodynamics, the usage of mana most certainly does not! And thermodynamics strikes back with a vengeance, at that! The more complicated a spell is, the more mana it will consume. This is because magical spells are similar in some ways to an electrical circuit, and it other ways to a system of pipes.
The circuitry aspects of it are very similar to integrated circuitry in a computer chip.
Yes, that's right. These people have the basics of computer programming in their hands, and they don't even realize what kind of potential this represents.
The analogy of pipes enters the picture in that mana, like water within pipes, must fill the magical 'circuit' before it can function. And like water, it's usually lost once the spell has done it's job - that mana left over in the circuit disperses. (Not to mention the energy spent on doing the actual work. Granted, magic in and of itself is a very efficient process, there is still a measurable loss of energy.)
You could recapture the leftover energy, but it's a zero-sum game. This is where thermodynamics bites the hardest. Recapturing that energy means reverting it back into it's physical form of mana. This is not unlike trying to un-burn coal or oil - it's possible, but you're going to lose a lot more than you gain.
For this reason, simple spells with a small area of effect are common place because the circuit does not need to be large or complex. But the larger the are of effect is (or the more complicated the spell is), then the more mana it will take just to power up the spell. For this reason, larger, more complicated spells are used primarily for public works, and are managed very carefully while being being kept energized over long periods of time.
Spells can be cast in several ways.
Most commonly seen method is runic magic circles. Circles can have layers within layers, and as well as separate circles inside a larger one, allowing for a certain degree of modular building. These are typically your larger "public works" spells.
Another common method is to carve a wand or a staff with several prepared spells for quick casting. These are useful for self defense, but can also be used as tools. Wands are generally one-note devices, while some staffs have been known to have as many as twenty different spell arrays carved into it. It all depends on the available surface area and your skill with a whittling knife.
Modular spell construction factors in here much more, as you can selectively activate arrays to combine into various effects. An example would be a simple fire-blasting spell. While one array carries the fire spell itself, several more arrays can direct how it is to be employed - such as an area effect, a wall, a concentrated burst (fireball!) and so on.
Another method of spell casting is by verbal incantation. The simple fact is that with a sufficiently disciplined mind, the spell arrays can be created out of the raw magical energy itself. The incantation serves as a focus for the mind in order to help visualize the array.
The downside is that this can take time, especially for more complex spells. Even worse, if the caster's concentration is broken, the energy already present in the array can backlash against them. And on top of it all, if you have an enemy who is particularly sharp, they can discern what sort of spell is coming before you can finish casting. However, the bonus here is that a spell can be altered on the fly, which can grant a critical tactical advantage in a constantly shifting battle.
Of course, there is also the option of silent casting. This is much more difficult to pull off because you don't have the incantation to act as a focus for your mind. You need to come up with it entirely inside your head. This has an advantage over recitation in that with a sufficiently disciplined mind, a spell can be cast much faster and leave your enemy without any clue as to what's coming.
This makes silent casters the most difficult of all mages to deal with, though they are exceedingly rare in number. Typically, most silent casters are members of the longest-lived races , such as Kitsune, Fae Elves, Vampires, or the rare human who's mind is such that simply imagining the spell arrays that clearly comes as second nature to them.
As for societies....
*Sighs*
This is going to take a lot of work and effort, because I'm having to do what D.D. Webb has been doing with The Gods are Bastards (more or less, anyway, as I blend DnD and JRPG elements with historical fiction), only with the additional step of piping it all through the lens of "Women Have Controlled The World For The Last 5,000 Years". No playing in the shadows, no subtleties. It is a Woman's World, full stop.
And I'll undoubtedly be having to beat a path through quandaries like: What does true equality among the genders look like? It's not like I haven't grappled with subjects like this before, but now it's going to be implicit in the very setting.
For the moment, I'm looking at how things in North and South America would have developed in this case. Particularly Mesoamerican and similar cultures. I'm playing with the idea that there was never any Conquistadors, but there was an attempt at annexation that did not go well. Combined with the plagues of Smallpox, Measles, Whooping Cough, and others... The various shattered empires eventually all wound up being gathered together into one very authoritarian and VERY MEAN monoculture that sees war and conquest as a way of life, only more ion line with the Apache's Counting Coup.
Fantasy elements I'm thinking of including would be mostly elves and forest spirits... But socially speaking, these elves would have more in common with the Drow seen in Forgotten Realms. And the creatures and spirits of the jungles would be every bit as blood thirsty and vicious as what you'd find in the Underdark.
That's just an idea for now, as I'm intending for there to be conflict in the south such that fortress cities are a fact of life.
Any help would be appreciated