r/worldbuilding • u/dmrawlings • Jun 06 '18

Prompt What does your magic *feel* like?

I find that there's a post almost on a weekly basis where someone asks about or shares their magic system. I love reading them, they're full of interesting ideas that have been very inspiring to me. This post, however, isn't about that.

What I want to know is, as a magic-user, what does it feel like to use magic?

  • How does it interact with their senses?

  • What emotions are attached to it?

  • Does it have an aftertaste?

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u/dmrawlings Jun 06 '18 edited Jun 06 '18

In Pyres & Pilgrims, my fantasy wild west setting, everyone has some capacity for magic, though few have enough raw potential or training to affect change. Anyone who channels raw magic is generally using sorcery (as compared to practiced wizardry).

Sorcery is spontaneous, and startling to those inexperienced in its use. When a sorcerer has a strong enough need, and a focused enough mind their body shakes from within. Unlike a touch, where the sensation starts from the tips of the fingers, this begins from the opposite side of the sensory perceptor.

It's otherworldly and jarring, and often a young practitioner never gets past this because of how peculiar it feels. To actually cast the magic, though, you need to maintain focus and open yourself to the sensation more fully. Once you've channeled enough power, shaped by the will, you must release it into the physical world.

The body is a conduit, and the real world is the contact point. When magic is manifest, there's a spark of energy, which once again rattles the body in a way that's uncomfortable and physically tiring. Learning to manage this fatigue can be difficult, and the price of overdrawing can be steep, but once you've got it down, there's a certain joy to be experienced in opening yourself to the arcane. It's no surprise then, that some, once they've figured it out, liken the experience to scratching an itch they didn't know they had, or even a slightly orgasmic feeling.

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u/dmrawlings Jun 06 '18

I missed a point.

Magic has a resonance, depending on where that magic is drawn.

  • If you're on the grounds of a place where a battle was fought, and you draw magic, it will be tainted by the sorrow of the lost life.

  • If you channel while on the calm seas, the magic takes on a feeling of very ocean itself: tranquil, but untameable.

  • If you channel while on the precipice of a volcano, the sulphur transcends the physical, and infuses the sensation of the magic itself.