Aether magic is a school of magic that lets mages lift and move people and objects, or crush a target with invisible force. It is practised in Thalcoris, where Zayren serves as the emperor's personal guard.
Uses
People in Tequaltor use aether magic to float through the air. Zayren can also force a target downward and hold them in place: during his test of Eira, he crushed her darkness tendrils to the floor and pinned her body beneath the same pressure.
Aether magic can act on other spells. When Tazarin threw a sun spear to Zayren, Zayren compressed its essence into a controlled explosion. In combat, his crushing waves can strike barriers and injure an opponent directly.
Aether magic is a school of magic used to lift and move people, objects, and water, or to crush an opponent with invisible force. It originates in Xolterra and is practised in Thalcoris and Thalassai.
Movement and combat
Zayren and Thalena can carry other people through the air as well as fly themselves. Thalena can also pin several attackers in place. A gravity wave drives a crushing force across an area; Jin Leiyun used one to knock an opponent down before following with a separate resonance shockwave.
Aether artifacts extend the school into engineered equipment, including windweavers and devices that move bath water.
Learning and limits
Kaelion tried to learn aether magic but showed no affinity for it, whereas Jin learned its foundations under Thalena despite finding it less natural than his elemental magic. Extreme heat and cold interfered with Thalena's aether spells during her fight with Pyrathalor.
Singularities
A singularity, also called a black hole spell, concentrates an immense inward pull at one point. Thalena formed one with patterned arm movements, concentrating almost all her remaining power into that point. She used it to hold Pyrathalor within a divine barrier near Chronasis, drawing the surrounding stone, water, fire, and frost inward with him.
Aether magic is a school of magic that manipulates gravity, space, and magnetism. Its uses range from holding objects in the air to propelling ships, crushing opponents, and forming singularities. Xolterra is its origin, and aether mages are prominent in Thalcoris and Thalassai.
Movement and force
Mages can lift themselves and other people, move water and objects, and guide attacks away from their targets. Collapsing gravity ahead of a moving body propels it forward. Zayren uses this to carry groups and drive vessels, while Thalena uses it for rapid flight. In the void, aether magic provides movement where ordinary gravity is absent, although distant targets can remain beyond a mage's control.
Aether fields can serve as shields or impose pressure on an opponent. A gravity wave drives a crushing force across an area, pinning bodies and breaking the ground beneath them. Jin Leiyun combines such waves with separate lightning and resonance attacks. The field can also be disrupted: Cassian broke Thalena's gravity field with a resonance shockwave during a duel.
Aether artifacts apply the school to transport and waterworks. Thalena also used aether magic to bind her injured body together while fighting, alongside her separate divine healing.
Learning and limits
Kaelion tried to learn aether magic but showed no affinity for it, whereas Jin learned its foundations under Thalena despite finding it less natural than his elemental magic.
Zayren initially could not approach the huge meteor in the void safely, and Thalena could not reach Deylin after he was carried too far away. Extreme heat and cold interfered with her aether spells during her fight with Pyrathalor.
Singularities
A singularity, also called a black hole spell, draws matter and magic into a single point. Its detonation can unleash a devastating shockwave.
When forming a singularity, Thalena traced slow, inward spirals with her arms. An attack that stopped those motions halted her casting before the spell formed.
Thalena used a singularity to hold Pyrathalor within a divine barrier near Chronasis. She later consumed an immense falling asteroid with another black hole during the Thalassai Invasion, preventing it from striking the city while its detonation still unleashed a vast shockwave.
Aether magic is a school of magic that manipulates gravity, space, and magnetism. Its uses range from holding objects in the air to propelling ships, crushing opponents, and forming singularities. Xolterra is its origin, and aether mages are prominent in Thalcoris and Thalassai.
Movement and force
Mages can lift themselves and other people, move water and objects, and guide attacks away from their targets. Collapsing gravity ahead of a moving body propels it forward. Zayren uses this to carry groups and drive vessels, while Thalena uses it for rapid flight. In the void, aether magic provides movement where ordinary gravity is absent, although distant targets can remain beyond a mage's control.
Aether fields can serve as shields or impose pressure on an opponent. A gravity wave drives a crushing force across an area, pinning bodies and breaking the ground beneath them. Jin Leiyun combines such waves with separate lightning and resonance attacks. The field can also be disrupted: Cassian broke Thalena's gravity field with a resonance shockwave during a duel.
Aether artifacts apply the school to transport and waterworks. Thalena also used aether magic to bind her injured body together while fighting, alongside her separate divine healing. In ancient Ulzathir, aether mages lifted sandships to balance their weight while air mages filled the sails.
Learning and limits
Kaelion tried to learn aether magic but showed no affinity for it, whereas Jin learned its foundations under Thalena despite finding it less natural than his elemental magic.
Zayren initially could not approach the huge meteor in the void safely, and Thalena could not reach Deylin after he was carried too far away. Extreme heat and cold interfered with her aether spells during her fight with Pyrathalor.
Singularities
A singularity, also called a black hole spell, draws matter and magic into a single point. Its detonation can unleash a devastating shockwave.
When forming a singularity, Thalena traced slow, inward spirals with her arms. An attack that stopped those motions halted her casting before the spell formed.
Thalena used a singularity to hold Pyrathalor within a divine barrier near Chronasis. She later consumed an immense falling asteroid with another black hole during the Thalassai Invasion, preventing it from striking the city while its detonation still unleashed a vast shockwave.
Aether magic is a school of magic that manipulates gravity, space, and magnetism. Its uses range from holding objects in the air to propelling ships, crushing opponents, and forming singularities. Xolterra is its origin, and aether mages are prominent in Thalcoris and Thalassai.
Movement and force
Mages can lift themselves and other people, move water and objects, and guide attacks away from their targets. Collapsing gravity ahead of a moving body propels it forward. Zayren uses this to carry groups and drive vessels, while Thalena uses it for rapid flight. In the void, aether magic provides movement where ordinary gravity is absent, although distant targets can remain beyond a mage's control.
Aether fields can serve as shields or impose pressure on an opponent. A gravity wave drives a crushing force across an area, pinning bodies and breaking the ground beneath them. Jin Leiyun combines such waves with separate lightning and resonance attacks. The field can also be disrupted: Cassian broke Thalena's gravity field with a resonance shockwave during a duel.
Aether artifacts apply the school to transport and waterworks. Thalassai trains combine artifacts that make them fall forward with essence engines and opposite magnetism. Thalena used aether magic to bind her injured body together while fighting, alongside her separate divine healing. Zayren likewise kept moving despite broken bones by supporting his body with aether magic. In ancient Ulzathir, aether mages lifted sandships to balance their weight while air mages filled the sails.
Learning and limits
Kaelion tried to learn aether magic but showed no affinity for it, whereas Jin learned its foundations under Thalena despite finding it less natural than his elemental magic. Thalena herself learned from Zayren, known as Zero during her early life, and later developed much of her magic independently.
Zayren initially could not approach the huge meteor in the void safely, and Thalena could not reach Deylin after he was carried too far away. Extreme heat and cold interfered with her aether spells during her fight with Pyrathalor.
Singularities
A singularity, also called a black hole spell, draws matter, light, and magic into a single point. Its detonation can unleash a devastating shockwave.
When forming a singularity, Thalena traced slow, inward spirals with her arms. An attack that stopped those motions halted her casting before the spell formed.
Thalena used a singularity to hold Pyrathalor within a divine barrier near Chronasis. She later consumed an immense falling asteroid with another black hole during the Thalassai Invasion, preventing it from striking the city while its detonation still unleashed a vast shockwave.
During the ancient attack on Morindel, Zayren maintained repeated pulling motions with his hands and legs as he trapped Eremion in a singularity while Kaelion summoned a falling sun. The spell consumed the surrounding city and drew in part of the sun before exploding. Their combined devastation created the Morindel Sea.
Aether magic is a school of magic that manipulates gravity, space, and magnetism. Its uses range from holding a small object in the air to propelling ships, crushing opponents, and forming singularities. Xolterra is its origin, and aether mages are prominent in Thalcoris and Thalassai.
Movement and force
Mages can lift themselves and other people, move water and objects, and guide attacks away from their targets. Collapsing gravity ahead of a moving body propels it forward. Zayren uses this to carry groups and drive vessels, while Thalena uses it for rapid flight. In the void, aether magic provides movement where ordinary gravity is absent, although distant targets can remain beyond a mage's control.
Aether fields can serve as shields or impose pressure on an opponent. A gravity wave drives a crushing force across an area, pinning bodies and breaking the ground beneath them. Jin Leiyun combines such waves with separate lightning and resonance attacks. The field can also be disrupted: Cassian broke Thalena's gravity field with a resonance shockwave during a duel.
Thalena used aether magic to bind her injured body together while fighting, alongside her separate divine healing. Zayren likewise kept moving despite broken bones by supporting his body with aether magic. Aether artifacts apply the school to transport and waterworks; Thalassai trains combine artifacts that make them fall forward with essence engines and opposite magnetism. In ancient Ulzathir, aether mages lifted sandships to balance their weight while air mages filled the sails.
Learning and limits
Kaelion tried to learn aether magic but showed no affinity for it, whereas Jin learned its foundations under Thalena despite finding it less natural than his elemental magic. Thalena herself learned from Zayren, known as Zero during her early life, and later developed much of her magic independently. Zayren's aether magic also helped shape runic magic in early Skarnheim.
Zayren initially could not approach the huge meteor in the void safely, and Thalena could not reach Deylin after he was carried too far away. Extreme heat and cold interfered with her aether spells during her fight with Pyrathalor. Forming a singularity takes preparation: an attack that stopped Thalena's inward arm spirals halted her casting before the spell formed.
Singularities
A singularity, also called a black hole spell, draws everything around it into a single point. Matter, light, and magic can all be pulled in. The spell explodes when the mage lets go.
Zayren formed one by drawing his hands and legs together, then continued pulling motions to sustain it. He shaped the pull while aligning gravity around himself and Lythariel. As the growing mass strained his strength, he began moving them away while maintaining the spell with one hand. He released it and fled into a fissure beneath the blast.
Thalena used a singularity to hold Pyrathalor within a divine barrier near Chronasis. She later consumed an immense falling asteroid with another black hole during the Thalassai Invasion, preventing it from striking the city while its detonation still unleashed a vast shockwave.
During the ancient attack on Morindel, Zayren trapped Eremion in a singularity while Kaelion summoned a falling sun. The spell consumed the surrounding city and drew in part of the sun before exploding. Their combined devastation created the Morindel Sea.
Crossing the veil
Ozaith used an exceptional concentration of gravity to leave his birthworld: he collapsed gravity at one point until the veil broke. The crossing exhausted his power and left him weakened for centuries. He later identified the tear beneath Zarephon as his work and suspected that it became the source. This is a divine feat, far beyond the ordinary movement of aether mages.
Thalena's account
In Thalena's Shores of Eternity, her developing control of gravity and space extended far beyond ordinary flight. Her first local rift experiment separated and reconstructed her, leaving her unable to interact normally with other people for a time. She later learned to compress the distance between star systems.
After becoming a being of energy, she created a black hole outside the Valrindor she had sheltered within the void, intending it eventually to consume the surrounding system. She also placed herself within a singularity to wait through immense spans of time.