Magick!

The Beyond

Reality has layers. The physical world that mortals inhabit represents only the most obvious and tangible aspect of existence. Beneath, around, and through it flows the Spirit Realm — not another dimension or distant plane, but the underlying spiritual substrate that gives meaning, emotion, and consciousness to physical matter.

The Spirit Realm is where thoughts have weight, where emotions cast shadows, and where the abstract concepts that drive mortal behavior take on quasi-physical form. It's a place of symbolic truth rather than mechanical precision, where the strength of belief matters more than the laws of physics, and where the landscape itself shifts to reflect the spiritual "weather" of the locations it underlies.

Layers of Reality

Mundis, the Physical World, appears to spirits as a dim reflection of deeper truths. What mortals see as solid matter, spirits perceive as crystallized intention, emotion given temporary form. A sword is not just metal and wood to spiritual sight — it's the accumulated hopes, fears, and purposes of everyone who forged, wielded, or faced it.

The Borderlands exist where physical and spiritual reality overlap most strongly. These are places where the veil grows thin — ancient battlefields where powerful emotions soaked the earth, sacred groves where generations offered prayers, or cursed locations where terrible deeds left permanent spiritual scars. In Borderlands, both mortals and spirits can interact more easily across the veil. Even when the veil is not thin, this is where most interaction occurs — this is where spirits stay when they don't want to leave without the ability to return, and this is where mortal arcanists go when entering the realms of spirits.

The Dreamlands encompass regions of pure spiritual existence, disconnected from physical anchors. Here, abstract concepts take on landscape-like qualities. The realm of a particular emotion might manifest as an endless storm or a crystalline desert, while the domain of a powerful spirit could appear as anything — a medieval court, a vast library, or a living maze of thorns. Mortals typically cannot enter these realms without assistance; they are thus little known, and most often visited only by accompanied Conjurors if at all.

Spiritual Geography

The Spirit Realm doesn't follow physical geography exactly, but it does reflect the spiritual significance of locations. A small village might cast a large spiritual shadow if it's the site of important events, while an entire empty plain could barely register in spiritual space to mortals who don't know how to look.

Focus Sites
Some places accumulate power. Such Focus Sites generally arise from concentrations of powerful emotion or strong magical conflict. These manifest as chaotic regions where navigation becomes nearly impossible and exposed consciousness suffers constant buffeting. Ancient battlefields, sites of great tragedies, or areas of ongoing magical conflict often generate this sort of persistent sites of power. These can be tapped as pre-existing Boosts as a free action if your intended use aligns with any Aspect on the power.

Anchors appear as beacons or landmarks in spiritual geography — bright points of connection that make navigation possible and aid certain behaviors. They might manifest as towers of light, distinctive architectural features, or symbolic representations of their purpose. A scrying anchor might appear as a great eye or a crystal, while a teleportation anchor could look like a doorway or crossroads.

Spiritual Currents flow between significant locations, following paths worn by repeated travel, strong relationships, or symbolic connections. An experienced astral traveler learns to ride these currents, while a novice might struggle against them or become lost in psychic eddies. Currents of this sort often follow rivers and roads, or the mountain crevasses carved by repeated avalanches and glacial melts. They also sometimes form Ley Lines between similar sites of power. These lines and currents frequently become Aspected, lending themselves and boosting actions that accord with their Aspect (especially magical activities) — but hindering any that run counter.

Wards manifest as barriers in the Spirit Realm — walls of force, storms of hostile energy, or mazes that lead intruders in circles. The appearance depends on the ward's nature and the spiritual signature of whoever created it. A priest's ward might appear as a wall of golden light, while a witch's protection could manifest as a barrier of thorns and shadow.

Astral Projection

When a Spellweaver casts a scrying spell, they project their consciousness into the Spirit Realm while their physical body remains behind. This projection retains their personality, knowledge, and magical abilities, but exists in a form suited to spiritual travel.

One's Astral Form appears as the projector's self-image — how they see themselves or wish to be seen. A proud wizard might manifest as an idealized version draped in stars and cosmic symbols, while a humble scholar could appear as a simple robed figure carrying books that represent their accumulated knowledge.

Perception in the Spirit Realm reveals both the underlying spiritual nature of things and their physical manifestations. An astral projector can observe physical objects and events, but also sees the emotional undercurrents, the spiritual connections between people, and the hidden magical influences affecting a situation, and these things can easily cloud what is seen and heard. For clearer scrying without these psychic intrusions, the caster must fabricate an ethereal eye and then drag it along to wherever they want it. They must then leave it and return to their body where they can tune some medium to it such as a scrying pool or crystal ball.

Astral travel is dangerous. While projected, the consciousness can be attacked by hostile spirits, trapped by spiritual snares, or lost in the deep currents of the Spirit Realm. Wards designed to exclude spirits work equally well against astral projectors, who must find other routes or abandon their reconnaissance.

Navigation requires following established etheric currents to known destinations, or carefully threading through unfamiliar spiritual terrain. Travelers can move at tremendous speeds when riding favorable currents, but moving against the spiritual "grain" of an area proves exhausting and slow.

Ethereal Travel (Teleportation)

Teleportation represents a more dramatic form of projection where the caster transforms their entire physical being into ethereal form for high-speed transit through the Borderlands.

Etheric Transformation converts the caster's physical body into pure mana capable of movement through the Spirit Realm. Unlike Astral projection, this form allows the caster to rematerialize at their destination.

Velocity and Navigation in the etheric form present the primary challenges. Ethereal travel happens at supernatural speeds — what might take hours of physical travel can be accomplished in minutes or seconds. However, this velocity makes precise navigation difficult. Traveling to familiar locations following well-worn spiritual paths is usually somewhat safe, but reaching new destinations requires careful steering through unfamiliar spiritual terrain. One can become lost even traveling to a destination that was in clear sight.

Materialization happens automatically, hopefully when the ethereal form reaches its intended destination, but the etheric form is inherently unstable. If navigation fails, if prevented by wards or other barriers, of if the spell is otherwise somehow destabilized, the caster will be returned to physical form somewhere else. The caster cannot remain in ethereal form for long — the magic naturally seeks to restore physical existence. Interference from wards, spiritual storms, or hostile entities can force premature materialization, deflect the traveler's path, or even trap them temporarily in ethereal form. These represent the primary risks of teleportation beyond simple navigation errors.

Spiritual Anchors

Anchors serve as fixed points in the shifting landscape of the Spirit Realm, providing reliable navigation references for both astral projection and ethereal travel.

Creating Anchors requires investing spiritual energy and intention into a physical location or object. The process resembles creating an enchantment — significant time, energy, and often permanent commitment of magical power. Most practitioners can maintain only a few anchors due to these costs.

Anchor Types vary in their spiritual signature and function:

Detection and Vulnerability make anchors inherently risky. Any astral entity can perceive them as obvious landmarks in the Borderlands. More dangerously, anchors create permanent spiritual connections to their creator — skilled opponents can follow these connections back to their source, potentially tracking the anchor's creator across great distances.

Fortunately, most anchors fade pretty quickly. Maintenance requires occasional spiritual attention to prevent anchors from dissolving or being corrupted by hostile influences. Abandoned anchors might become haunted, attract unwanted spirits, or develop unpredictable properties as they accumulate spiritual "debris" from the surrounding area.

To create a temporary anchor, an arcane practitioner can create a Wagered Boost. Spending a Luck Token has the same effect. For a more permanent anchor a character may devote a Maneuver. This can be one spent on a spirit, and does not have to be solely devoted to the purpose of creating the anchor; any Maneuver point permanently spent on a spirit or any other entity creates a permanent anchor line to that point. As with any Maneuver, these can be bought with Karma.

Spiritual Hazards

The Spirit Realm contains dangers beyond hostile entities and protective wards.

Spiritual Storms arise from concentrations of powerful emotion or magical conflict. These manifest as chaotic regions where navigation becomes nearly impossible and exposed consciousness suffers constant buffeting. As with natural anchors, ancient battlefields, sites of great tragedies, or areas of ongoing magical conflict often generate persistent storms, so many anchors are to some degree inherently dangerous. Emotional Currents can overwhelm unprepared travelers with the accumulated feelings of a location. A projector exploring the spiritual echo of a massacre might become consumed with rage or despair, while investigating a site of great joy could leave them euphorically unable to focus on their mission.

Labyrinthine Regions exist where the spiritual geography becomes self-referential or paradoxical. These areas might loop back on themselves, stretch distances impossibly thin or thick, or shift their layout in response to the observer's expectations. Navigation through such regions requires spiritual strength rather than conventional wayfinding.

Psychic Predators hunt in the deep regions of the Spirit Realm — entities that feed on consciousness, memory, or magical energy. Unlike typical spirits bound by the Accords, these alien intelligences follow different rules and may view astral projectors as prey rather than potential negotiating partners. Fortunately, such terrors rarely surface into the Borderlands — rarely.

Practical Applications

Understanding the Spirit Realm transforms how practitioners approach traditional magical effects:

Scrying becomes reconnaissance through spiritual projection rather than merely a means of mysterious remote viewing. You can only observe what you can spiritually reach, wards genuinely block access, and hostile entities can detect and interfere with your surveillance.

Teleportation becomes high-speed spiritual travel with real navigational challenges. Missing your target isn't random magical failure but the result of navigation errors during ethereal flight with no brakes. Familiar destinations are only easy because you know the spiritual route well.

Communication Magic works by projecting messages or aspects of consciousness along established spiritual connections. Sending a message to someone requires either knowing their spiritual signature well enough to navigate to them, having an anchor that maintains connection, or firing a message off like a carrier pigeon that could be intercepted by trained or wild hawks.

Summoning operates by calling out through the Spirit Realm to entities by their True Name. Note that only spirits have True Names. The spirit must still travel through spiritual space to reach you, and their response time depends on their current location in the realm's geography.