OC Note: Knowledge of the Spheres is very patchy currently due to a combination of the Fading sapping knowledge from the world and their nature as being through rifts. The Spheres themselves may appear in a variety of ways at Menhirs Fate sometime in helpful ways and sometime as problems. Discovering, and in some cases rediscovering, information about the spheres will be an ongoing issue for people to figure out and explore.
The magic that is drawn upon to cast rites and cantrips is generally referred to as “Wyrd”. This is a pool of magical energy that infuses everything in the mortal sphere.
In the last few centuries there have been varying arguments as to the ways the spheres overlap, whether the elements that exist in the mortal world are part of that or whether they exist separately. Is all water in some way from the Sphere of Water, for instance? It is a subject of much debate in the various magical institutions of Elandra.
Another contentious question is whether the sphere of the Gods, sometimes called the “Spirit Sphere”, is at the centre of the spheres, or entirely separate. The Gods themselves have refused to give any indication of the nature of reality from their point of view.
Most depictions of the Spheres overlapping – first created by a group of scholars in a coffeeshop opposite Vellichor University in the Westwyk, Hammerstadt in 798 – show the centremost point marked with a star to indicate this possibility. Such a theory has been decried by the faith of most nations at varying times, according to remaining historical information.
The initial moment of realisation was gained by the students, a mixture of mages from Morvalis, Valdraeth and Hammerstadt, when they saw the overlapping circles of their coffee cups on the pale wood of the table, and as such this is a common way that teachers have introduced their students to the theory.
Elemental Spheres
The four elemental spheres are among the first lessons taught to children, and mages often start here when they begin their training; whether at home or in school. Fire, Air, Earth and Water are the four Elemental Spheres, each a pure expression of the element they are home to
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Combined Spheres
Crossed-over Spheres or Combined Spheres are the four Spheres made up from Elemental magic merging together:
Fable is at the meeting point of Water and Earth.
Forge is at the meeting point of Earth and Fire.
Oracle is at the meeting point of Fire and Air.
Athria is at the meeting point of Air and Water.