Nossi (Magic System)

Nossi’s reality is made up of three realms: the physical realm, the spirit realm and the liminal (in between) realm, which connects the other two. Everything in the physical realm has a liminal dimension as well, but only humans have access to the liminal realm. Humans have a spirit dimension, but they cannot access the spirit realm. The liminal realm is also referred to as the realm of magic since it is through accessing this realm that magic is performed.

By Nossin tradition, the three realms are symbolised by three layers of cloth, each bound to the other by thin threads.

When humans were first given Nossi, they had free access to all aspects of the soul and spirit realms. This was short-lived as they turned on one another, killed the firstborn of their own and broke the agreements they had made. The Rift was formed, separating them from the spirit realm completely and opening a great divide between the realms of the physical and the soul, limiting access to one Thread each, and only that through great effort.

There are seven Threads that link the soul realm to the physical. Each roughly correlates to an aspect of the physical world and one of the senses humans use to perceive that world.

The soul realm is a self-healing system.

There are three aspects of magical ability, no matter which Thread a person possesses:

• Innate: Magic that can be achieved without training or practice.


• Active: Magic achieved through training and practice.


• Passive: Secondary abilities that improve as magic is practised and do not require energy or choice to be used.

The seven Threads of magic, along with their specific applications, are as follows:

THREAD: Phosphomancy (Light magic)
Sense: Vision
- Innate: Glimpse traces of others' magic. These traces manifest as different wavelengths of light in the soul realm.
- Active: Manipulate light. This includes making items glow, bending light in order to make things invisible or harder to see, and altering light traces left in the soul realm.
- Passive: Night vision, the strength and effectiveness of which improves with skill.
Notes: Bending light is significantly more difficult around a moving object or person, and because it requires constant focus from the magic user, it can become extremely exhausting.

THREAD: Nephomancy (Weather magic)
Sense: Chemoreception (Taste and Smell)
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Innate: Sense upcoming weather.
Active: Foretell future weather patterns, create or prevent localised weather events.
Passive: Imperviousness to weather (heavy rain, driving wind, etc.) in line with skill.
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Notes: In many areas, weather magic is used in conjunction with plant magic (c.f.) to create 'greenhouses' where food needing a different climate may be grown.

THREAD: Phytomancy (Plant magic)
Sense: Somatosensation (Touch)
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Innate: Sense the life of plants by touch.
Active: Manipulating plant life. This includes sensing problems/diseases in plants, encouraging them to grow/fruit more quickly, and making them move.
Passive: Differentiate plants by touch (dead/dormant/living, safe/poisonous, etc.)
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Notes: The user's knowledge of plant life often helps with healing of illnesses in animals and humans.

THREAD: Pyromancy (Fire/Heat magic)
Sense: Thermoception
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Innate: Create a spark by snapping fingers.
Active: Manipulate fire, either by creating it, spreading it, or quenching it. Skilled users may also be able to sense the heat signatures of creatures in the area.
Passive: Immunity to fire. This begins at the fingertips and gradually spreads to the whole body as a user gains skill.
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Notes: Immunity to heat does not include an immunity to smoke or a lesser need for oxygen. Although fire created directly by the magic user is smoke-free, it is energy-intensive and a fuel source other than the oxygen in the air is often required.

THREAD: Kineomancy (Movement magic)
Sense: Equilibrioception (Balance)
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Innate: Fall and stumble less.
Active: Travel more easily (and therefore more quickly) across all terrains. This includes over slippery ground, unstable ground, thin ropes or fences, and, if sufficient skill, non-solid surfaces, including water.
Passive: The ability to remain in a gravitationally impossible location without expending energy.
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Notes: Users of this Thread are also likely to ride well, and are only unseated with great effort.

THREAD: Zoomancy (Beast magic)
Sense: Proprioception (~Awareness of limbs)
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Innate: Can calm animals that they come into contact with.
Active: Understanding and using animal communication, eventually learning to 'shift' into one or more familiar animal forms. When shifted, the user has the animal's senses and abilities in addition to their human ones. Because of this, they still have access to human thought and speech.
Passive: As skill develops, it does not require energy to remain in a familiar shifted form, only to shift between forms.
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Notes: A shifted form will bear some resemblance to the user's human form, particularly in hair colour and type and overall build.

THREAD: Phonomancy
(Dream/Sound magic)
Sense: Audition (Hearing)
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Innate: Hear the sound that magic creates.
Active: Manipulate sound, normally by communicating telepathically with other people but also by creating sound as a distraction or to produce an effect (put someone to sleep, wake them, cause pain, etc.)
Passive: Immunity to sound that would generally have a destructive effect on the human body.
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Notes: Sound that the user can manipulate begins within the range of the human voice and expands alongside practice and skill. It is important to note that users cannot read minds.

Only humans have Thread, but it is not passed on genetically. It is possible, and indeed common, for a child to have a different Thread from both his/her parents and from siblings as well. However, entire families of 'fire Thread' have been known to exist.

Although a child's Thread can be identified from the time they begin to walk and speak, it is not possible for them to use their Thread to access the soul realm (and therefore magic) until about the age of seven. Formal training in magic begins around the age of puberty and usually lasts six years.