creating a magic system | Stephanie Flint

There are several types of magic in The Wishing Blade universe (because I like making magic systems). Some are closely related, and others aren’t. Here’s a look at the different types:

Ribbon Magic: One of the most common forms of magic in Cirena (until the Stealing) is ribbon magic. These invisible ribbons float through a person and can be commanded to do various tasks, depending on the type of ribbon. Some mages can see ribbons (Magic’s Sight), and those who can note that different ribbons have different colors.

A non-exhaustive list of some of the known colors of ribbons and what they do:

Pink – Telepathy
Gold – Healing
Yellow – Fire
Lime Green – Telekinesis
Royal Blue – Shapeshifting
Navy – Teleportation
Violet – Portals
Turquoise – Light

Ribbon magic can also be tied to various objects to enchant the object and allow non-mages to use their magic. The most common usage is the light crystal, in which light ribbons are attached to a piece of quartz, or a similar material.

Note: Ribbon magic is mostly seen in the Wishing Blade series and Legends of Cirena series.

Immortal Magic: Closely related to ribbon magic, immortal magic appears as ribbons except that it is much, much stronger. These ribbons tend to be black and silver, though the hue of their primary ability may still show through. Those with immortal magic tend to age slower, if at all, but are still susceptible to being killed by weapon or disease (though they tend to heal faster and be more resilient to diseases).

Note: Immortal magic is mostly seen in the Wishing Blade series and certain Legends of Cirena stories.

String Magic: Everything is made of tiny, invisible strings, which few mages can manipulate. It is possible to indirectly manipulate strings by using word magic, but the ability to see and touch strings directly is limited. Often, even these abilities are restricted, with string mages able to feel/sense strings or see strings, but not both. They might not be able to manipulate them, even with these abilities.

Even the gods and goddesses are limited in terms of how well they can manipulate string magic, so mortals born with this ability tend to be closely watched, feared, or respected.

Note: String magic is primarily seen in the Wishing Blade series, but also in a couple Legends of Cirena stories.

Shadow Magic: A consuming, unstable magic. Shadow magic tends to infect the mortal world, rendering objects and people invisible to those who aren’t shadow. If wounded by a shadow weapon, a mortal will become shadow. Shadows do not like fire or glass-stone (both can kill them), and shadow weapons can also wound them. A non-shadow weapon, while it might hurt temporarily, will quickly heal. Most unstable shadows can’t see color, and feel cold.

That said… what we see of shadow magic in the Wishing Blade universe is primarily unstable… but stable shadow magic acts a bit differently. While still cold when in the mortal realm, stable shadows don’t infect, and being touched by magical ribbons will cause them to temporarily become visible before vanishing again.

Note: Unstable shadow magic plays a huge role in the Wishing Blade series. We’ll get to see stable shadow magic in Legends of Cirena #9: The Dark Forest of Aneth!

Word Magic: Technically, the Cantingen language doubles as word magic. While it’s used for everyday purposes, spells are activated by phrasing things between “Be la” and “la be.” This works independently of other magic types, though it can be used to control and manipulate string magic.

An example of word magic: Be la russéan micasi la be. (“Release my spell.” — This phrase is used to cancel a previously cast spell).

This magic is relatively straightforward, but dangerous because of the necessity of using an exact phrase. Intention plays a role, but only those with extremely strong willpower are able to speak a vague spell and have it do what they intend versus an exact rendering of what they say.

Note: Word magic doesn’t yet exist in the Legends of Cirena era, but we do see it in the Wishing Blade series and in the Stone and String series.

Charlago / Magebane: This isn’t technically magic, but its anti-magic properties mean that it interacts with magic and thus is included as part of the magic systems I try to keep track of. Magebane is a material (technically uranium, radium, or pitchblende, with special properties in the Wishing Blade Universe) which explodes when brought in in direct contact with immortal magic, and may explode depending on the concentration of ribbon magic. Ribbon magic may fray rather than explode, causing it to behave erratically, and sometimes with more… personality… than normal. When brought in contact with shadow magic, magebane loses its destructive tendencies and stabilizes the shadow.

Note: Magebane plays a huge role in later books of the Wishing Blade series, and in certain Legends of Cirena stories.

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Explore the different magic systems in these three series starters…

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Happy reading and writing!

In the world of The Wishing Blade universe, everyone has two strings of magic. One strand is life. The other strand is death.

Actually, their entire world is made of strings, which is why string mages are particularly powerful, but those two strings are extra important for magic.

Why?

Life magic is the key to a person’s free will and awareness. Without it, they go into “zombie mode” and act solely on instinct. They’re quieter, and don’t tend to resist magical commands well.

This is also the string used to created “inhabited” or cursed objects (and if that object is glass-stone, it changes from clear to a smoky, glossy black, reminiscent of obsidian. This is a huge point in my upcoming Legends of Cirena novel, The Dark Forest of Aneth. People, and especially priests and priestesses, typically try to avoid inhabited objects.)

But why tie life magic into an object?

Well, it allows the wielder, or a specific user, to power enchantments without expending their own willpower. (The catch here is that if you tie someone’s life magic to an item and that person has a strong will, you might be fighting their will instead of simply powering an enchantment).

Life magic is the string provided to mortals by Listhant-Nsasrar (Lishivant), Cirena’s high god.

On the other hand, death magic is the key to a person being able to die, to sleep, and to dream.

Without their string of death magic, they will eventually go mad unless they have a way to magically induce sleep or go into a meditative trance. (And getting mortally wounded without death magic unpleasant, to say the least. But very effective at keeping them technically alive).

This is the string provided by Madiya (Madia), the goddess of the dead.

If you’ve read “Stone and String,” you know that Edyli lost her death magic after infuriating Madia.

But she’s not the only one who has made Madiya furious.

Ralendacin (Shevanlagiy in The Wishing Blade series) lost access to her death magic, but due to a magic-meets-magebane accident that she might have overpowered with some artifacts she shouldn’t have used, when she “dies” she instead wakes up in another world. (Is this at all tied to something to do with her life magic? Read the Wishing Blade series to make some theories of your own on that…)

Unfortunately for those worlds, Shevanlagiy has a tendency to destroy any world that fails to give her what she’s after, and thus she gained the nickname, “The Destroyer of Worlds.”

Her method of destroying worlds tends to unravel the strings that hold them together, or outright obliterate the strings, giving the gods in the Wishing Blade series a very strong incentive to keep her from destroying this one, too.

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A spell to infuriate the goddess of the dead (Stone and String)… or an opponent who has already made that goddess furious (Magic’s Stealing)…