Magic In Bastian

Magic is a volatile force in the world of Bastian. Feared by many, its misuse has wrought misery and tragedy on the world many times before.

 The Nether 

All casters draw arcane power from a realm known as the Nether, be it through innate arcane bloodline such as sorcerers, the careful study and manipulation of wizards or the prayer and beseechment of gods and spirits from druids and clerics; all power originates in the Nether.

All casters, especially those of an arcane calling without the protection of a guiding spirit or god, know the inherent risks of drawing on the power of the nether: Sickness, madness, and sometimes even demonic possession.

 Denizens of The Nether 

The neither is home to otherworld beings. Spirits made manifest by the dreams of mortal folk, these spirits are oft formed and driven by a single emotion and can exemplify the very best or worst of such traits. These beings are known as spirits or demons.

Travel between the nether and the mortal plane is physically impossible for all, both mortal and divine.

Mortals have been known to catch glimpses of their magical source in their dreams, often seeing it as a dimly lit perversion of their own reality. Heavy mists pervade the realm and anachronisms are rife. Ruins stand where castles exist or fields in place of great quarries, as the realm of the Nether has no regard for time.

It is in these dreams that casters are most at risk, thought they themselves cannot travel to the Nether, neither can demons travel to the mortal plane. Unless they acquire a mortal host that is. As magi slumber demons will probe, test and scratch at their defences until they are overwhelmed and driven mad with the sheer force of the entity of the other side of their connection.

In some rare cases, casters have been known to offer themselves up for possession, in misguided attempts for power or salvation.

In even more rare cases benevolent spirits may enter mortal hots, though this is impossibly rare and never without a host’s consent.

 Demonic Possession 

If an untrained mind becomes lost in the nether, it can fall prey to demonic possession. Seizing up the host’s connection to the Nether, the demon forces their own essence back through it, subduing the host and taking control of the form for themselves. Unwilling hosts can fight possession, but it is nigh-on impossible to wrest the mind free from a demon unassisted. Killing the host will always return the demon to the Nether unharmed. Spells like Dismissal, Banishment and Dispel Evil are known to free poor souls from demon’s grasp.

Some demons are known to be so powerful they can even grant their host forms new abilities, warping them into twisted mockeries of their former selves. Such changes will strain a mere mortal and cannot be withstood for long without the greatest of power to sustain them.