The Sea of Magic

In the world of Samirkan, there exists two worlds. One which composes the physical aspect of reality, from the vast mountain deserts of Xuma, to the individual creatures that call this place home. Opposite, but co-existing with the physical word, is the world of magic, a place of no physical substance, where spirits roam and the primordial energies of the universe flow freely. This world has been dubbed commonly by mortals as "The Sea of Magic”.

According to myths, during the age of the gods, there existed only the sea of magic, a vast endless plain of chaotic energy, which destroyed any physical components that would dare try to lay roots. Thus the gods banded together their energy, and together managed to harness the energy of the sea of chaos to create a new plain of existence, one which would later come to be inhabited by mortal life. Originally the sea of magic and the mortal realm were kept far away from one another, so that the sea might not inadvertently rip the newly born land asunder. Only very powerful magical beasts and crystals were able to siphon magic from the sea at this point in time.

Then came the Calamity. Though none know truly what caused it, what can be said is that magic poured forth in vast quantities across the material plain, and of more dire consequence, pulled the sea of magic and mortal realm closer together than ever before, stretching thin the boundary between the two worlds. The barrier now weakened, the magic of the sea radiated out into the mortal plain, ebbing and flowing along all the bends and curves of the material plain, yet still quite unable to pour forth to return it back to the chaos from which it had sprung. Because of this effect, the amount of magic within different portion of the world can vary wildly, as the sea flows in and out, thus leaving magic users in some areas hard pressed to perform even mundane tasks on their own such as lighting a fire.

Another side-effect of the sea being drawn closer was that strange creatures, born within the sea, began to cross over into the physical realm. These immaterial creatures, which would come to be known by mortals as spirits, infested the plain in large numbers. This effect worked in the opposite direction as well though, with exceptionally powerful mortal spellcasters able to breach the boundary between the sea and the physical realm for a short time so that their spirits might traverse it. Though any who would dare do so must be wary, as unlike a spirit, their soul will not be reborn if they are washed up in the currents of the sea.