In all of avishraa, there are only two - possibly three, now - major places where the Chosen can live openly without being hunted down, enslaved, or otherwise made miserable. One is the Abethine city-state of Ǣdyihòzh, whose peculiar tolerance for “witches”, and indeed other types that society might consider unsavory, stems from its history as a penal colony for the city of Uzhidam and the revolt that led to its independence. One, which is very tenuous but might strengthen over time, is the area of the western Brightness dominated by the sect known as the Great Illumination; its intensely universalist ethos generally considers all thinking beings to be potential foes of the dark entity Vom, to the point that the Illuminators are already one of the few takma groups to openly embrace xtauh as equals. While the Chosen are traditionally considered agents of Vom, the Illuminators' contact with Ǣdyihòzhis culture has introduced a certain amount of sympathy for them.
Both of the above are areas dominated by takmar that allow, or may soon allow, Chosen to exist within the wider culture. The third and most important, however, is a place of Chosen alone, called the citadel, a valley refuge tucked amid the Spine of Sirdanth. For generations, Chosen in danger of persecution have found their way there, led by trusted guides from the Citadel itself, or by powers or instincts unknown. It's in the Citadel that the study of the nature of the Chosen has been the most complete, for the simple reason that there are, and have been for a long time, more of them together there than anywhere else; while Chosen will breed true among themselves, for a Chosen to be born to ordinary takma parents is a relatively rare occurrence. Most takmar never meet one, and most Chosen would not survive long enough to be studied if they did.
For the last generation or two, the Chosen of the Citadel have been moving beyond the simple ascription of their magic to the grace of the gods, and begun to gain (very dim) insights into where it comes from.
It is known that, for each Chosen, some tissue of their body possesses an attunement to some mystic field or resonance: mana. Which tissue the mana resides in determines which type of abilities the Chosen has. Mana departs the body at death as the relevant tissues die, but remains with it while it lives; while organ transplants are largely unknown, mana-infused organs would probably be capable of granting their recipients the abilities of the donors. (There is some confirmation of this; blood transfusions are possible through the intervention of lifegivers, and these have been known to temporarily imbue recipients with minor Spark abilities.) Most Chosen have only one type of power; no Chosen is known to have more than two.
There are eight known types of magic, and they are arranged here roughly in order of rarity:
- Element: known as elementalists, attunement to Element magic is found in the bones. Element magic allows control of particular substances; each elementalist has their own speciality, and can control only that and no other. They're something like the benders from the Avatar setting.
- Substance: known as alchemists, attunement to Substance magic is found in the muscles. Substance magic does not allow its users to physically control any particular substance, but instead allows them to change one substance into another, or to combine or separate them. The appropriate set of alchemists and elementalists working together can achieve remarkable feats of manufacturing.
- Shift: known as shifters, attunement to Shift magic is found in the internal organs. Shifters are, indeed, shapeshifters; they can turn themselves into organic forms differing from their original one, though how different depends on an individual's skill level. Some are capable of transforming others as well, if they're within a certain distance.
- Semblance: known as illusionists, attunement to Semblance magic is found in the epidermis and scales. Illusionists are manipulators of light, and can make non-physical images or lights out of nothing. While there is some overlap here with the skills of energists, very few of the latter are capable of controlling light with the same level of delicacy as illusionists… or without accompanying heat or other discharges.
- Spark: known as energists, attunement to Spark magic is found in the heart, the blood vessels, and the blood itself. Energists are manipulators of energy - usually thermal or electrical, which are the easiest, but other kinds are possible as well. Of all the magic types, Spark lends itself most directly to destructive purposes.
- Mind: known as mentalists, attunement to Mind magic is found in the brain and nervous system. Mentalists can read minds, project thoughts, and can also exert their will to physically move objects - this ability is not nearly as powerful as that that elementalists have over their specialties, but far more generally applicable.
- Life: known as lifegivers, attunement to Life magic is found in the reproductive organs. Lifegivers can heal wounds, cure diseases, boost fertility and growth, and (if sufficiently skilled) alter living organisms - not temporarily, in the way that shifters do, but permanently and inheritably. They can also infuse sufficiently preserved corpses with enough life force to animate them, though this type of necromancy is seen as a curiosity at best. Lifegivers are rare enough and useful enough that, in any society where Chosen are accepted, they tend to make a good living.
- Span: known as oracles, the physical seating of their mana is unknown; it is speculated to reside with the soul rather than the body. Span magic allows one to see the tapestry of the past and the yet-unwoven threads of the future, to see, communicate, and sometimes even travel over great distances, and to cleave the fabric of space. Oracles are so rare that there are times when none may exist anywhere, but when they appear, they are capable of terrifying feats.
While the condition of being Chosen is heritable, the type of magic one has is not; Chosen of any parentage have the same chance of developing a given type as any other, and one of the great unsolved mysteries of their gifts is why this is and what instigates the development of one type over another.
In following Tirades, I'm going to be taking a closer look at each magic type and some of the considerations each has to face.