The World of Aurora

Aurora teems with magic.

It flows, roars and skips, like rivers on the hillsides, weaving in and out of what we can see and feel, intangible to the uninitiated, but inevitably determining what is and what is not, and while every culture has an explanation on how this came to be, be it Gods or heroes, what is undeniable is that magic is as much a fundamental component of Aurora as the the stars, the sun, or the world itself.

The four Elements of magic make up the physical world. Air, Water, Earth and Fire flow through leylines under the island, and it is by their command that winds rise, rains fall, and flame rages. Everything that makes up the tangible reality are just expressions of those primal forces, and their interactions create all the natural phenomenon you can see around, nature is nature only because the elements set the rules by how nature works. Wherever the Elements are missing, the world becomes static, unchanging, stale and dead.

Unlike the physical world, which is an expression of the Elements, the intangible exists trough the four Essences, Spirit, Mind, Force, Energy. What lies beyond what is, the metaphysical, is dominated by these expressions of the unseen things that while not having a material form, can clearly change the world around us, emotions, memories, light, sound, and souls, things that clearly exist but you cannot hold in your hand, lie within the material world. Real, but not tangible.

The natural state of the world then, is determined by what the currents of magic are at rest, their natural state is the world around us, and because the elements naturally fall into place, they form a reality that we call Aurora.

Every sentient being in Aurora can claim a connection to magic, their physical body attuned to one of the elements from birth, depending of which current of magic was the most influential, and with some effort, almost all can spend a little bit of themselves, expressing their Element in reality, but the few who can truly understand the workings of magic, read their hidden rules and exert their will on the currents, changing them from what is to what it could be, are the ones we call mages.

Some places in Aurora, where the currents of magic are strong, can manifest their effect as pure magic. if that current is stable for a long time, slowly growing crystals of pure elemental mana start to appear, and since those crystals can fuel powerful effects on the real world, those crystals of elemental mana are sought by everyone, from common people who just need a small fire crystal to light a campfire, to Kingdoms and Empires that have built complex canals that use water crystals to deliver drinking water to their population, huge carts that use earth crystals to flatten the ground to form roads, or ships that create their own wind to sail without limits.

It is without saying that strange things happen around these powerful places, as wherever magic becomes strong, the reality around them becomes unhinged.

Ground comes alive, the creatures around grow powerful, the wind may be playful, or malicious, but in any case the places where elemental Crystals grow, are also the places where it is more dangerous to go. The strange individuals that are willing to brave this conditions are called Prospectors, and they temper their skills on the anvils of adversity, so the ones who survive the trials that Aurora has out for them, usually become their greatest heroes, or villains.