Genre: Fantasy
GENERAL INFORMATION AND HISTORY
On this planet, there was one suborder of reptile-like animals in which the males possessed a large spine sail made of fused bone. The beautiful sail was necessary for the species’ courting rituals.
The sails contain magical energy and are the only known source of usable magic on that planet.
Even a part of the sail will allow you to use magic but it will be weaker.
The animals could live without a sail (but would have a hard time winning mates). If damaged or removed, as long as the vertebrae of the animal’s spine were intact, the sail could grow back to full size in 2 years and contain enough magic for humans to use (but wouldn’t be as magically potent as one that had been on the animal for a longer period).
If the sail has been growing for at least 6 months, it’s short and unimpressive but has enough magic for the reptile to use for courting. Any sail that’s been growing for less than 2 years (there’s a distinctive color or texture change when it has reached that point) won’t have enough magic for a human to use on its own but more than one sail can be used at the same time to compensate. By doing this, a human can access a lot of magic from several less potent sails at once, or incredibly powerful magic by using several highly potent sails at once.
Because using magic had many advantages, they were (and are) extremely valuable, economically and politically. The people of that world didn’t want to wait 2 years for the sails to grow back. Also, it was easier to kill the animal than to bother tranquilizing it and extracting the sail because the sail is made up of fused protrusions of the vertebrae bones. The sail has to be cut off of the body with a bone saw. It was difficult and time-consuming to do this without killing the animal. Overharvesting without regard to conservation caused the animals to officially go extinct a long time ago.
However, during the time that the story takes place, there are small pockets of one or two species that are secretly protected by groups or countries. There are only a few of these groups. Nobody outside of the protection groups knows that any living specimens exist. For many reasons, the groups keep this a closely guarded secret.
There have been, are, and will be major wars fought over the now-limited resource, since this is the only way you can wield magic.
In the past, greedy people that traded in the sails lied and told people that the other parts of the body had healing properties (for selfish things such as fertility, sexual prowess, strength, love, and riches). At first, they only said the males had healing properties, so they killed off all males. When only females were left, the merchants said the females also had healing properties, so all the females were also eventually killed off, except for those in the hidden populations.
SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE HIDDEN POPULATIONS
Now there are wars over the remaining sails. But there’s also a group of activists that are stealing and burning the sails because they believe it’s sacrilege or it’s taking people away from their god because it’s ill-gotten gains, or whatever the reason is.
The magic can be used when the sail is still attached to the animal, but drawing too much magic through it will kill the animal. But it can be accomplished if the wielder is sufficiently skilled at drawing magic if the sail has a sufficient amount of stored magic or if the animal is sufficiently strong. These factors are highly unlikely but sometimes occurred in the past, mostly in places with a high regard for the animals and the magic they possessed. One of these places currently has some of these animals because they worship them and are very careful with them.
WHY THE SAILS CONTAIN MAGIC ENERGY
There is an extremely poisonous bush that produces poisonous berries that have undetectable amounts of magical energy. Such a low amount that it would take thousands of berries to produce any kind of magical effect. The berries are so poisonous that any other living thing will become ill or die after contact with more than one drop of the plant’s fluids. It’s not a pleasant death but it’s mercifully quick. (The bush’s poison has been used in many murders, assassinations, and suicides.)
The people of that world don’t realize that plant was/is the source of the lizard’s magic because the berries contain such a small amount.
This species of reptile is the only animal that isn’t negatively affected by the plant’s poison. The plant’s berries are its only food source. Its body breaks down the poison and also breaks down whatever causes the plant to have magical energy. It gets rid of the poison but stores the magical energy in its spine sail.
However, only the males do this. They use the magic to make their sails glow, twinkle, change colors, etc, to woo a harem of females. The females eat the poisonous berries but don’t store any of the magical energy.
THE MAGIC IS FINITE
Magic within the sails is a finite resource that is consumed when the magic is used. It can only be replenished if the sail is still properly attached to the healthy, living animal’s body and the animal is eating a sufficient amount of the required berries. However, this is a slow very process.
HARNESSING THE MAGIC / RESTRICTIONS TO IT
The magic can come out of the sail when it’s being wielded but it must have an energy source to activate, which it gets from contact with the wielder’s body. It must also be directed somehow by the wielder’s mind. The mechanisms for this are unknown but the mental techniques can be learned and mastered with experimentation (most don’t experiment in current times because it wastes the magic) or by learning from other wielders.
The energy source that allows the magic to be activated is electricity. So, when it’s in contact with a living body, it’s the electricity of that body that makes activation possible.
The magic cannot exist detached from the sail and the sail must be attached to the energy source or the magic will become inert again. This means the magic can’t be used to create barriers, projectiles, weapons, or anything else unless there’s a “cord” of magic connecting the manifested thing to the sail. For example, a projectile could be created but if the magical “cord” that attaches it to the sail breaks, the projectile will disappear. Likewise, if the wielder drops the sail or otherwise loses contact with it, the projectile will disappear. If the wielder loses concentration or loses consciousness, the projectile will disappear.
TYPES OF MAGIC THAT CAN BE WIELDED BY USING THE SAILS
Because it was collected for the sole purpose of wooing potential mates, the magic is only light-based. The lizards only ever bothered to use the magic for making pretty lights and light shows on and around their spine sails. Although each lizard would experiment with ways to create the light shows, that’s all they ever did with them. Also, the animal’s small size (the biggest species was approximately the size of an average house cat), limited the amount of energy it could use when activating the magic.
But humans are larger and therefore have more electrical energy in their bodies. They’re also infinitely more creative than reptiles. With these advantages, over centuries of experimentation, humans have learned how to create a variety of different manifestations of light-based magic.
Here’s a list of possible uses for the light magic. These would be adapted for the story that this magic system is used in:
1) Laser beams and projectiles (for cutting or vaporizing)
2) Light screens for hiding things or creating visual barriers
3) Light screens with manipulated light on them for creating illusions or mirages
4) Cloaking things with manipulated light to make it look like something else or to hide it
5) Very strong light for blinding an enemy or prey either temporarily or permanently (flash blindness)
6) Using light momentum or thermal force to move things (requires a massive amount of light)
7) Using lights of different wavelengths, and therefore different colors, for various health effects (this idea is based on real-world experimental therapies)
8) Practical uses such as lighting homes, cities, etc.