Caln Codex:

By s. Lei Pyke

Calnese Magic:

Calnese magic is strikingly varied. It comes from many sources. It comes from
the creator, the immortals, humans, and the planet itself.

Native Magic:
Calnese magic coming from the essence of the planet can be used by all of the
native plants and animals. It is even found in the water. In fact, there are certain springs,
such as the spring at Arynstar and the spring on the Lonely Island that virtually gush as
much magic as actual water. The races of Caln have known about the healing properties
of these springs. The water of these are actually a deadly poison to humans, though the
Daitari have no trouble drinking it, even as children.
At Arynstar, the Maestros tapped the water and used it to power and sustain the
city. The magic can be filtered out, leaving the water pure for human consumption. The
wellspring is underneath the temple of Meranna, and since the formation of the city, her
priestesses have tended the water and purified it. They cannot stand to see suffering from
thirst, and they still pass water through the crumbling aqueducts and pipes to the homes
of the Undercity.
The God-emperor has a different method, but he has also found out how to purify
the spring water at the surface. Lumi, the undead emissary of Thrass and Antir the
Omryth emissary of Ixah conduct a monthly blood ritual that removes the magic at the
cost of only a few human citizens.
The native magic falls into Air, Earth, and Water. According to Calnese elemental
theory, fire, electricity, plasma, wood and metal, are not elements at all, but the
combination or expression of elements. The three sentient races of Caln all express one
of the three elements.
Music is an element all to itself. The maestros woke Lemari with music, and
supposedly created a great deal of the planet with it, so complex native spells are always
sung or chanted. Simple spells are usually performed without anything more than a
spoken prayer.

Sorcery:
Sorcery is a forbidden practice among the followers of the Calnese pantheon, but
is encouraged among the pantheon of Man. Sorcery is a brand of magic foreign to Caln
that involves dealmaking and bargaining with selected spirits and entities. A human can
call up a lesser immortal and demand power. The binding rituals are complex and
exacting.
This power is real and quite alluring to those that seek power, but at the eventual
cost to their own souls. Power gained must be used immediately, or it must be transferred
into an object. It is deadly to try to contain sorcery within a human body.
Sorcery can do almost anything that native magic can do and more, but there is
always a steep price. In addition, sorcery is always addictive. The more of it that you
use, the more of it you want to use.
 In the end, all sorcerers wind up in Pathir. Native Calnese species that use it are
tainted creatures that can spread their magic like an infection. Omryth are the ultimate
tainted creature. Only immortal magic can dispel it, so creatures infected by the magic
can be cleansed at a temple to the Maestros.
Those that are on the paths of Salvation dictated to mortals by the Maestros are
highly resistant to sorcery.

Psionics
The three races of Caln are capable of telepathy between themselves, and rarely
with humans. The maestros designed the Three to have it because the vocalizations of
each race are vastly different from one another.
Humans, however, have the capability of psionics to a far greater extent. There
are numerous instances in Caln’s history of firestarters and telekenetics, but the most
common is the type of telepathy that allows them to communicate with the races of Caln.
That gift is a requirement to join the path of Caius. The Togri people of the Ullis forest
south of the Rystooth Mountains on the Continent of Man are famous for their frequency
of this trait, so much so that they base their civilization around the path of Caius.
Psionics are a neutral power, but one that is often exploited. Quite often, a
psionic person will slip into sorcery trying to increase or expand its power. Psionics seem
to be a very straightforward power that is usually simple in use, though it might sap a
user’s vitality. Most psionically active humans only have one or two powers, and these
cannot be taught or bought. They are simply inborn in certain human family lines and
they have existed since before they found their way to Caln.

Divination:
Humans are the only creatures capable of divination. Not even the Maestros are
capable of seeing the future. Demons can give a person educated guesses based on an
eternity of observation, but they cannot actually predict the future. This is not wholly a
psychic power or an arcane one, but sometimes a human will develop this power. These
diviners are sought after by the clergy of all temples as oracles.
Calling spirits, on the other hand, while humans can perform this with no outside
help, is a prohibited act. Sorrith is quite adamant that the dead should not be called.
Humans with the ability to talk to the dead are usually pressed to join his church for their
own safety. Sorrith can offer protection to a medium, directing one to use their talents in
a way that won’t violate his rules. There are cunning, vicious, cruel or lying spirits out in
the world that are barred from the upper and also the lower planes. Some of them can be
directed onward, some are trapped of their own actions in life, some have been rejected
by the Maestros, some have escaped Pathir, and some are there just to cause trouble.
Only Sorrith’s church can train a medium so that the true difference can be discerned. All
other mediums risk calling up a malicious spirit.

Folk Magic:
Humans use folk magic extensively. Usually this is merely taking herbs and
things from their immediate environment. It is a human accessible offshoot of native
magic, but since it begins and ends without a human taking it into itself as a claimed
power, it is permitted by the Maestros. The three sentient races have taught the humans
that they trust a great deal about how to access the magic of Caln, even if they are denied
its use personally.
There is folk magic that works, and folk magic that is superstition or tradition.
The two are so tangled together that it is sometimes difficult to separate it. A human who
uses this type of magic to achieve more spectacular results is called a wizard. This use of
the term goes back to the root of “wise.”
A person skilled in folk magic has to be wise to understand how Calnese magic
works and how to use its environment to produce supernatural results. These people are
also usually quite learned and well traveled, and have a keen understanding of humans
and the human condition. They are also marked by years of struggling against the
demons that would seek to draw it into sorcery, and the careful observation of the
Maestros, who are quick to respond to any wizard that crosses that line.