Theomancy

Theomancy is the umbrella term and defining mechanic for all "magic" practiced on Known. The practice, source and abilities of Theomancy differ greatly with each culture having its own unique powers, practices and practitioners based on the collective belief of their shared religion or belief system.

"Essence"
All human beings on Known contain a supernatural energy known as "essence". Essence represents the sum of a person's life force, similar to a soul. When one dies, their life force leaves their body to re-enter the world's cycle of energy in one form or another. Essence is not only has the power to sustain human life but also to make changes and effect the physical world in what can only be described as magic.

Essence Wielders (Theomancers)
Though all humans contain essence, most are unaware of the power it makes them capable of or how to control it. There are two main reasons for this:


 * 1) The use of essence expels the substance from one's body. As essence also acts as a person's life force, using too much essence will cause your body to decay and die.
 * 2) Only those with a specific blood type are able to channel more essence than their body is naturally designed to handle. Those who take in more essence than is natural without this extremely rare mutation experience burst blood vessels, cancer or even spontaneous combustion.

Theomancer Powers
The nature of theomancer's powers differ from culture to culture and depend on the collective belief of what people think these individuals are capable of. One culture may believe these blessed individuals are able to manipulate air to fly while another may believe they can control the elements and their not be any overlap.

These abilities are usually closely associated with religious or other belief systems unique to each culture and increase in scale with the amount of believers. This effect happens because even though 99.9% of the world's population cannot take in or properly use excess essence, their belief expels miniscule amounts of essence throughout their life which when combined with their culture's collective belief, enhances and enables their resident theomancer's power.

Even though this mechanic is common throughout all school's of theomancy, a theomancer who believes in one religion cannot use the power's of another without fully and genuinely converting to and sharing their beliefs.

Limits
While all theomancy schools differ, their limitations stay the same. While theomancers have almost unlimited ability to alter the physical world, moving earth, freezing water or manipulating air pressure to effectively fly, their powers do not allow them such powers as telepathy, mind control, outright destroying atoms (though they may change their state and even make up), outright creation of atoms or telling the future. Theomancers are also limited by their essence reserves, having to be careful not to use too much lest they begin to kill themselves. Greater actions require greater use of essence but even then these actions are not possible without the full belief of the user and a substantial part of their culture group.

Smaller, decentralised cultures and religions often have weaker theomancers and smaller scale powers where as large centralised cultures have the power to effectively create gods.

Blood mages of the Ordre ef Tome (Souvon)
The Souvonese art of blood sacrifices dates back to the ancient Glorian empire and even before that to the mysterious cultures of the southern continent. Souvonese blood mages draw their power from human sacrifices (usually prisoners sentenced to the death penalty) who are executed in a secret ritual where a blood mage captures the essence of their victim just as it is escaping their body. The mage then draws the essence into their body, adding it to their existing essence pool, thus allowing them to conduct more magic.

Ordre ef Tome blood mages have the ability to bend the elements to their will, a power quite common throughout other Glorian and Known theomancy schools. They are able to telekinetically throw rocks, create waves, cause gales, churn the earth and rapidly heat material to create fire. Blood mages are also known to become much stronger and have more energy while carrying excess essence. In some extreme cases it has even appeared to lengthen a mage's life span.

The practice has been strictly reigned in since the time of the Blancourtian empire where thousands of slaves and peasants would be sacrificed every year in order to give the Ordre's mages incredible power. Now, only mages under the direct control and approval of either the Souvonese military or emperor himself are allowed to conduct their magic with sacrifices being capped as well as being limited to death row criminals.

Ordre ef Tome mages are a fearsome sight on the battlefield, sprinting in their pristine white and gold officer uniforms at unnatural speeds across the ground, sabres drawn and gloved hand ready to bend the elements to their will. It is not uncommon for battle mages such as these to conduct sacrifices directly on the battlefield, killing an enemy soldier, extracting and capturing their essence before moving on with renewed strength.

The Druids and Ancestorism (Autumn Dominion)
One of the oldest belief systems in Gloria, Autumn Ancestorism is the belief that when someone dies, their soul leaves their body but stays watch over their descendants for all time. Autums often pray to their ancestors for guidance and assistance, prayers which sometimes go answered, if subtly. Custodians of the Autumn faith are the druids, an ancient order which have acted as the bridge between the ancestors and their descendants as well as being able using the ancestors to grant them immense power.

It is thought that because of the strong Autumn belief that those who are dead watch over them, when essence leaves a dead body, it takes with it a part of who they were, somehow transforming into something else, a phenomena unheard of in other schools of theomancy. When an Autum prays to their ancestors, they are subtly directing the remnants of their essence to alter the world. A student praying for help on a test will receive no help but a soldier who asked his ancestors to keep him safe may find the bullet that he swore was heading straight for him hitting the ground at his feet.

Unlike blood mages, druids do not hold excess essence within their bodies in order to do magic. Instead they draw in the essence expelled by past Autum's, held to the earth by the belief that the ancestor's are always watching over their descendants, use it to move rocks, throw flame or uproot trees, before expelling it back into the environment. This way a druid becomes a conduit for essence which constantly flows through them as they use its power. Because of the constant intake and release of essence, druids often tire much quicker than other theomages who rely on stored essence.

Autumn druids serve the role of elite soldier and spiritual guide in the Dominion army. Before battle they will recite the stories of the saints, particularly venerated ancestors honoured across all Autumdom, easing soldier's nerves and inspiring them. In battle they become a force of nature, often used as a spearhead for assaults or a to flank enemy positions to reap havoc. After the battle they return to the role of spiritual guide, praying to the injured ancestors and ensuring they are prepared to have their soul move on to join them.