Rigen
Rigen
Rigen is a raw magical essence or energy created by the Goddess, Nilata. Rigen, in Siliren, pulses through every living thing, as well as the open atmosphere, constantly moving and traveling. Before The Change Days, Siliren was a magic-free world. However, the Rigen portal made by Nilata, Citah, and Keuntan released a massive amount of Rigen from the world of Anore into the unsuspecting Siliren, permanently transforming it. Rigen lies unnoticeable in the atmosphere and every living thing with only those properly trained being able to detect and manipulate the energy.
History
Rigen was first created by the Goddess of Magic and Rigen, Nilata, and weaved into the very thread of Anore. Magic and Spells were an everyday part of life for both the Anorian populations as well as many of the plants and animals of the world. Magic worked alongside technological advances and each civilization was ripe with wonders. Now such things exist only in old stories and rumors passed down through the generations. Siliren, before The Change Days, was a world completely devoid of any magic. The portal that moved the Anorians to Siliren was made completely from Rigen, all of the Rigen in Anore, in fact. This massive accumulation of magical essence spilled into Siliren just as the Anorians did. The energy swiftly moved through the land, altering nearly everything it touched. Land erupted into flames, wind blew over entire villages, earthquakes broke apart huge pieces of land, creating entirely new continents.
Plants and animals were mutated and changed if they were lucky. Unlucky masses simply died, unable to handle the new energy attempting to bond to them, Humans included. The landscape was forever changed. After a few months, the Rigen seemed to calm and the disasters it caused stopped. The world returned to a relatively normal state. Rigen seemed to find its place in Siliren and bonded with the living things on the planet, from the Human race to each plant and animal. Many of these living things were forever changed. Many animals were mutated and their different types of mutations have been passed down the generations and can be seen in current times. Many Humans died as their bodies could not handle the magical energy attempting to bond with their life force. But eventually, the energy calmed and successfully bonded with the living forces on Siliren. In the atmosphere, Rigen still swirled, but no longer caused massive changes in the landscape and weather. The energy had found its place in Siliren.
Bonded v. Unbonded
Unlike on Anore where Rigen bonded with everything, living or not, on Siliren the energy only seemed to be able to bond with living things. Many hypothesize that this is because the agreement between Nilata and Imser that allowed Rigen to bond to minerals, was broken upon Imser’s death during the Domain Wair. From plants to animals to the Human race, living things now have a swirling energy inside their bodies, largely unknown. Rigen, as well, can be found in the atmosphere, unbonded.
While not much is known about bonded versus unbonded Rigen, those who practice the magic can explain their differences. Bonded Rigen appears calmer, easier to control by a Caster, and more predictable in action. The spell types of Personal and Harnessed Rigen manipulate the bonded Rigen energy inside a living being. Most Casters begin by working exclusively with bonded Rigen because it is safer for both the Caster and everyone nearby. Many Casters will never work with unbonded Rigen because of the complexity of the energy. Caster’s who use their Rigen to cast spells may release some of the Rigen in their own body into the atmosphere or into other living things.
Unbonded Rigen is considered the purer form of Rigen, as it is not ‘mixed’ with living things as Bonded Rigen is. Unbonded Rigen is in a state of constantly attempting to bond to living things, thus making it more unstable than Bonded Rigen. While Unbonded Rigen cannot force out Rigen that is Bonded, Rigen is always in a state of decay and Bonded Rigen will eventually return to an Unbonded state and be replaced with incoming Unbonded Rigen.
Unbonded Rigen exists only within the atmosphere and not within a living being. This energy is constantly moving and very unpredictable, and follows ever-changing paths in the atmosphere, similar to water currents. While Unbonded Rigen no longer causes massive destruction to the earth, natural disasters caused by unstable, unbonded Rigen can still occur rarely. Some spells in the Harnessed Rigen spell group deal with unbonded, atmospheric Rigen. Only experienced Casters attempt to cast Harnessed Rigen spells because of the damage it can cause to both the caster, surrounding people, and the environment. Unbonded Rigen is extremely chaotic, unpredictable, and dangerous.
Bonded Rigen is sometimes refered to as Personal Rigen when speaking of the specific Spellpool within a living being. Unbonded Rigen is sometimes refered to the Atmopool when referancing the amount of Rigen within a specific area.
Personal Rigen
Personal Rigen is a spell group that uses Bonded Rigen from inside the Caster’s body. These spells, therefore, have a limited Rigen pool that is equal to that of the Casters, called a Spellpool. While unbonded Rigen from the atmosphere will be attracted to a body that has lost some Rigen, the process is rather slow so the Caster does have a limited amount of Rigen that will be replaced over time. A Caster can use up all of their Spellpool in which case it is possible that they will die. More commonly they will fall unconscious and have semi-permanent aftereffects. A Caster can be aware, with high levels of the Rigenology skill, of how much Rigen they have inside their body and will be able to know when they are about to run out, or how much Rigen a spell used up.
Spellpool
Even the most powerful mages have a limited amount of magic that they can wield. Rigen has a stronger bond to some compared to others, allowing those individuals to have a more impressive reserve. Every Character, NPC, and living thing in Siliren has a Spellpool. Their Spellpool determines the finite amount of magic they are able to wield in a single day. Once a person reaches adulthood their Spellpool ceases to grow. Their body has naturally bonded with as much Rigen as it possibly can. Certain races have greater pools than others due to certain exposure. Humans have the smallest reserve as opposed to Hellbends, who were reformed through Rigen.
This system is designed specifically to give players an understanding of how much magic is a reasonable amount to cast in a thread. It is not required for a player to actively track their spellpool count during a thread, but Moderator Intervention can occur if the character is believed to be exceeding their limits of magic usage. In a Moderated Thread, or in a PvP fight with Moderator oversight, the Moderator can choose to require casters to track spellpool use during that thread.
Characters and NPCs have the following Spellpool based on their race:
Regardless of race, a Caster that exhausts most of their Spellpool will require a couple of days to fully recover. Using large amounts of Rigen does take its toll. Once the first third of their total Spellpool has been used a Caster will begin to sweat profusely. After two-thirds of their total has been spent in a short duration, they will experience dizziness and shortness of breath. Should their reserve have fewer than 15 points remaining, the Caster may fall unconscious. If they spend enough Rigen to reach zero the Caster may die.
Personal Rigen Spell Costs
Most Spells from Personal Rigen have the same system regarding spell cost. If it deviates it will be detailed in the Spell’s lore page. The base cost is the number of points expended by a Caster to use a Spell at their highest capability. There is no change to the cost based on the duration of a spell. If a single Spell were to continue through multiple posts in the same thread, it is still a one time cost. When a Caster advances to the next tier, the cost of spells for the previous tier are only half of the base cost. For each tier below the maximum capability, the cost is halved. This allows Masters to use a spell at an Apprentice’s level for one-eighth of the base cost.
Additionally, when a master reaches 100 with their spell the cost of all tiers halved. When dividing a cost in half, always round up to the next whole number. For Example: Delugism has a base cost of 28 points. It will cost 28 points for an Apprentice to cast Apprentice spells, Journeymen casting Journeymen, etc. But if an Expert were to use Delugism to perform a task that a Journeyman could’ve accomplished, it would only cost 14 points. And if that same Expert were to use Delugism to an Apprentice’s extent it would only cost 7 points. Once they became a Master and performed an Apprentice’s level of use it would cost 4 points (3.5 rounded up).
Harnessed Rigen
Harnessed Rigen is a spell group that uses Bonded Rigen from both inside and outside of the caster’s body, as well as Unbonded Rigen from the atmosphere. This can be a plant, animal, or another person. This can be a slightly more difficult spell group to learn since it is harder to read another being’s Rigen and control Unbonded Rigen. While a Personal Rigen Caster might have better luck learning and exploring magic on their own, Harnessed Rigen Casters need more specific training. Harnessed Rigen has a bit more of a dangerous component than Personal Rigen.
Atmopool
The atmospheric Rigen is also not without limits. Only so much Rigen can be harnessed before the spells lose stability. As such, every general area has its own Spellpool of unbonded rigen. Every 10,000 square foot area (100ft x 100ft) has its own Spellpool. This collection of points is the Atmopool. Some areas, especially those frequented by Casters, have a known Atmopool amount, however many places are unknown and Casters should proceed with caution when casting many Spells in those areas.
The Rigen of an Atmopool is rather quick to replenish itself, however, it takes a couple of days for it to stabilize. It is still possible to cast Harnessed spells when the Atmopool’s initial reservoir have been expended. But every Harnessed Spell cast after that threshold will grow increasingly volatile. The Caster and the surrounding environment can suffer backlash from each Spell usage. Injuries can range from mild burns to permanent scars or disfiguration. With each Spell cast beyond the safety milestone, the severity of the backlash increases.
Harnessed Rigen Costs
Several spells of Harnessed Rigen are powered by a source that isn’t the caster. However, a bit of power is expended in order to begin the process. Unless a Spell’s lore page specifies otherwise, a Harnessed Rigen Spell requires 10 points to cast. This cost is halved for using the Spell at a lower tier’s capability, but only once. A Master can use a Harnessed Spell at an Apprentice’s level for 5 points. After the Caster’s initial contribution to the Spell the remaining Rigen is taken from the atmosphere or another living entity’s Spellpool.
Unless a Harnessed spell states otherwise on its descriptive lore page a Harnessed spell has a base cost of 50 points from the Atmopool, in addition to the caster’s contribution to initiate the spell. Like most Personal Rigen Spell costs, the amount of Rigen is reduced when a Caster grows more competent. The amount reduced from the Atmopool is halved when casting a Harnessed Spell one tier below the character’s maximum capability.
For Example: A Master Pyromancer could generate a fireball to affect a massive area and take 50 points from the Atmopool. But if that same Pyromancer were to generate a smaller fireball, over a prolonged time, equal to an Apprentice’s ability, their advanced understanding would allow them to do so while only taking 7 points from the Atmopool (25 for Expert, 13 for Journeyman, 7 for Apprentice).
Creative Rigen
Creative Rigen is a spell group that can use Bonded or Unbonded Rigen in a number of ways not possible with Personal or Harnessed Rigen. For the most part, this type of magic helps infuse Rigen energy into items that do not naturally have Rigen, or help Casters mix different spells to create something unique. Spells like these are very detailed and precise. Specialized training and knowledge are required.
What You Need To Know
Rigen is a complicated system and there is a large learning curve associated with it. While the Character Sheet guide can help a Player understand in what ways a new Character can learn Spells at Creation, learning new and improving existing Spells IC is difficult and must follow a specific process outlined in the Learning New Spells Lore Article.
The Rigenology skill is required before any PC can learn any Spells, and so reading the Rigenology skill is important, not only to understanding Spells, but to understanding Rigen and how Casters understand it. Throughout your reading of Rigen and Spells, a Player may come across terms that are unfamiliar. In this case, it is important to read the Rigen Glossary Lore Article to define these words that are very important to the Spells.
During solo or social threads, it is not required to actively track a character’s spellpool, as it is meant to serve as a guideline for how much magic the character can use. During a moderated thread, the moderator leading the thread can make it a requirement that every character’s spellpool is actively tracked.