Magic,Magitech and Enchantment In The Silver Sky.

Now we have come to the discussion on the Magitech of the Silver Sky the Magic as well. I mentioned "Technology in The Silver Sky"  I largely have the magic and magitech defined. However there is always room for the introduction of new ideas,refinement of current, the revision and reintroduction of old. How magic fit into the world was definitely something that I needed to be revised. Because magic as I had initially conceived it was in conflict with the vision that I had for the world. The world of the Silver Sky Stories was initially envisioned as a high-magitech world, with magitechnical comparable to Star Trek. I hung onto to that idea for a long time,as I thought and rethought the world I knew that it couldn't be allowed to remain so high-tech and still tell the kinds of stories that I wanted. The level of magitechnology would have put more capabilities in the hands of  the people than I wanted.  So The nature and availability of magic had to change and more importantly the ability produce magic items had to be constrained. My options for restricting spellcraft was to either make it weaker or less abundant. I was comfortable with magic's level power, so those who could wield it would have to be less numerous than. I'd originally thought of spell casters at roughly five percent of the total population,with the aptitude for magic being far more common than those who are actually trained. Now they are at most a little over one percent of the total population and this still might be to numerous. I also felt it necessary to change certain aspect of the magic system, so that the limitation and mechanic were more clearly defined;indecently this made enchanting easier.

I took a page from Star Ocean,Iron Kingdoms and a project which I'm afraid will never come to fruition. By introducing Glyphs/Runes to my magic system. There are six Prime-Glyphs,which were in the old system different disciplines. Radiance, Substance,Force,Life,Void,Spirit each and every person weather or not they are a practitioner,has at least one of these Glyphs engraved upon their spiritual essence;the glyphs simply take-shape in accordance with that persons nature. The number of Glyphs naturally present are commonly one,two  or three, the possession of four Glyphs is rare,five is extremely rare and Hexers(the term for those with all six Glyphs) are so rare as to be almost mythical. The Prime Glyphs control how a practitioner, a Glyphigyst is able to wield the aether and without the correct Glyph the facet of reality that the Glyph corresponds to can't be manipulated. Prime-Glyphs are complex with different aspect of a Glyph representing different facets of it's dominion. The possession of a Prime-Glyph complete is a rarity, with certain aspects being more or less common than others; For example the Void Prime-Glyph's aspect of time is rarely manifested. Every Prime-Glyph has seven Core-Glyphs, which represent the fundamental manipulations of a Prime-Glyph's dominion and can be seen as analogues to musical notes. In to the Core-Glyphs there are twenty one Subaltern-Glyphs shared between the Primes. The Subaltern-Glyphs act as modifiers and connecters for the Core Glyphs. The most important thing to understand about Glyphs is that they do no exist the way that Glyph-casters perceives them. The Glyphs are the mortal minds best attempt at interpreting metaphysical phenomenon. When viewed through an Aetherscope the spell-fields woven by Glyphigyst look like waves composed of vibrating strings,instead of a collecting of letters.

The mass production of magic items still held the possibility of flooding the Silver Sky with magic. Before revising the magic system I had already taken an idea that I had seen elsewhere in fantasy, the production of magic items requiring certain rare materials and incorporated it my world. I had called the substance Aetherium and it was to be an unholy cross between Lyrium(Dragon Age) an Tiberium(Command&Conqour). It was to be the most valuable and insidious substance in the Silver Sky a living crystal that grew from the ground like a planet,but very slowly taking decades to reach a size  and level of potency worth harvesting. Aetherium could also be grown parasitically. A germ of the crystal implanted in an animal would consume them like cancer,incorporating all of the host biomass into it's self. I soon realized the problems that this would cause. Not because of the incredible loss of life as rulers fed the undesirables of their societies to Aetherium and waged war to capture people for usage as host. It's the fact that those atrocities would have made magic item all to common.

So the nature of Aetherium and the cosmos would have to change. Fulgurite a material created when a lightning bolt strikes sand would be inspiration for Aetherium's new form.  Aether storms now occurred as a natural part of the cosmos and they rained down aether bolt. Matter struck by aether bolts is usually burned away. However there is a small chance that a minute percentage of struck matter's mass will be transformed into Aetherium. Aether storms occur semi regularly on planets as tension in the energy cycles vent. They are also signs the beginning and ending of  planer conjunctions.

With Aetherium being highly valuable and people being rather ingenuitive it stands to reason that somebody would figure out how to cook Aetherium. There Aetherium plants working round the clock, burning matter away to produce the stuff.  Researchers are always searching for more effective  production methods, increasing the likely hood of Aetherium formation and the percentage of an objects mass  that will be converted into the stuff.  Now the existence of Aetherium plants might lead to the problem of magic items flooding the world. If it were not for the fact that Aetherium is far to fragile in it's raw state to use for anything other than ornamental purposes.To use Aetherium for any practical purposes it must be synthesized with other materials and compatible substances all tend to be rare.

Echanment(called Glyph-Engravment in the Silver Sky) and Artifice are closely related disciplines. Both involve using worked Aetherium to manipulate Aether into producing stable effect-fields.

Enchantment is far simpler and expedient but very limited, Glyph-Engravers can cut spell-fields directly into Aetherium through their spellcraft in a process similar to how vinyl records are created. An enchantment is a record of a spell and will play the spell when aether is channeled into it. As mentioned before enchantments are limited, requiring a medium of a size proportionate to the spell field to be engraved,unless the Engraver has a knowledge of spell-compression and that has a limit. An enchantment can only do one thing recreate it's spell and lacks any of the ability that a spellcaster would have to modify their spells or compensate for interference to avoid a dispelling. When an enchantment's spell is dispelled the physical medium is destroyed.


Artificing is the more complex and versatile of the disciplines but at the cost of expedience.  At it's most basic the craft involves tempering Aetherium to conduct,resit,attract,store or focus aetheric currents. The composition of Aetherium-alloy effects these properties as does the percentage of Aethrium in the alloy. The more advanced levels involve the involves the creation of Aethereal-circuitry;An intricate and pain staking process. The configuration of the circuitry determine the nature of effect produced. One of the most famous artifacts are inhibitor spike, when driven into the chakra points they render spell casting impossible.




               How does Magic,Magitech and Enchantment effect life In The Silver Sky?

Magic is a river flowing through the world shaping it but not flooding it. Magic has always been a part of the world and has influenced every aspect of society. For example battle mages meant that massed armies were rarely used, for the same reasons that advancement in artillery ended the use of  massed armies in the real world. laws,enforcement and the court systems developed around telepathy and psychometry. Life magic and it's ability heal and nurture allowed larger, healthier population at than would have been possible at equivalent time period on earth. Teleportation shrank the world in ways that wouldn't be approximated on earth until the invention of the airplane. Despite magic's presence civilization didn't under a magitechnologic revolution bypassing many developmental stages going directly from the bronze age to the information age. Mages are rare, their services secured by organizations and rarely did the average person have direct access to spellcraft. With the scarcity of Aetherium and the complexity involved in working the substance. Magic-items couldn't be mass produced and have through out history been big ticket items. Many a person in the ancient world went their entire lives without personally witnessing spellcraft or possessing a magic item. Yet the presence of Magic still impacted their lives. Stories of Mages doing things impossible for lesser, unmarked persons.  Enchanted spires that loomed over fields and made the crops grow betters. Black-gates that let citizens move between the major cities and provinces of their nation. Sending spheres that let holders speak to one another over great distance. Iron-veils which protected major cities from extreme weather and invasion. Weapons of terrible power and numerous verity.

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Elementalism?

Elementalism, the drawing power from or manipulation of the elements is a very old idea. There are many several different element schemes across the world,classical Greek,Indian,Chinese,Japaneses etc. In fiction elementalism is one of the most common systems of magic,because  of it's historic weight and simplicity. There is no need for ten page explanation for what it means when a person has power over flame or earth. Elementalism also was the very first magic system that I ever devised,though I was much to young to realize that was what I had done. When I made up worlds with Legos,k'nex or whatever. the powers that I'd assigned them were element in nature.  I find myself revisiting to the idea of elemental magic and If I implement it the cosmotheology would have to be slightly changed and Aethercraft would have to be replaced entirely.

The cosmos was created by the Outergods common called the Titans, they were the children of the Archgods Order and Chaos. The Titans were six in number and they were named Aether,Fire,Air,Water,Wood and Earth. With their combined might they crafted existence from the substance of the abyss and at the heart of their creation the Titans placed the Source. A perpetual engine that sustain reality for all time. Mortals have come to call that place at the true center of the cosmos the Sea of Souls.

It is from the Sea of Souls that the first souls emerged and they carried with them a faint echo of the Titans power. Mortal beings who through training or birth could tap this Prime-energy, that was latent within their souls could wield the power of the Titans.

In elder time before the Sundering they were known as the Miraculous-Ones and treated with an almost worshipful level of deference, called Adepts or Elementalist in the modern cosmos the treatment that they receive is far more humble. While the mortal soul was born of the combined essences of the six Titans rare is the Adept that can adequately manifest all six elements, most can only manifest two. With Adept possessing a primary and secondary element. Rarer than possessing a command of all six elements are those who can command only one. These individuals possesses a Hyper-affinity for their element, it is so strong that interferes with Adepts ability to command other elements. Those with Hyper-affinity are instruments that can produce but a single note however they do so with greater with far grater strength and clarity than those that lack their overpowering affinity.


The Six Elements each have a lower Exoteric form and a higher Esoteric form, accessing the Esoteric form of an element requires a high affinity for that element.

Esoteric Aether: manipulates the mind and soul.

Esoteric Fire: infuses things with energy. a destructive infusion rips thing apart a positive one increases  their potential energy.

Esoteric Air: manipulates inertia and kinetic energy.

Esoteric Water: manipulates entropy and increases metaphysical malleability.

Esoteric Wood: manipulates life force and through it living systems. Growth,consumption,assimilation,parasitism. are all with in this domain.

Esoteric Earth: manipulates the forces that produce mass and weight as well as generate virtual mass. It also reinforces metaphysical integrity.

Alchemy: Is a very specialized discipline within the the art of elementalism. By its very nature elementalism alters the behavior of the element being controlled however those changes are temporary and  touch the elements nature. Alchemy however can create permanent change in form and nature. Three Elements in their Esoteric forms are required to perform transmutations Water to dissolve Aether as a medium Earth to coagulate. With alchemy's complexity simply being able to perform the act transmutation is not enough. One has to know the proper formula and have the skill to execute it in order to transmute something


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Technology in The Silver Sky.

Of all the things in my world the mundane technology remains the most nebulous. I even have the magic and magic tech better defined,see Arcana of the Silver Sky I-II-III. Perhaps I'm pulling from to many different sources, everything inspires me and I want include of it into my own worlds. Simply picking between one of the pre or early twentieth century punk genres, steam or diesel and loading the magic and cosmotheology that I've worked out would be the easiest thing to do.


However it's not what I'm going to do.  There several things that I want for this world, projectile weapons being dominate,some manor of gravity manipulation exist,light-based computing and telecommunication,a crystalline power source, travel between worlds inspired by the age of sail with trips between system taking months if one takes the long way, some form of cybernetics and direct mind machine controls,video games despite most other computer technology being around the level
of early twentieth century earth.  Some manor of three dimensional medium of data storage. There are also some technologies that I don't, A.I, widespread use of directed energy weapons, trasnhumanist technologies beyond the cybernetics, information technology developed to a point comparable with or exceeding that which is available in the real world, atomic weapons.


A logical explanation for how and why the worlds in the cosmos went down these paths of technical development is something that eludes me and I'm more than open to ideas.

What would civilization look like in the modern cosmos? A lot like the world seen in Final Fantasy VII;which brings us back to Dieselpunk. Electrogravitic hovercraft are ubiquities ranging in sizes from one person conveyances to gargantuan fortress-ships. People go to Kinemas and watch motiles, they listen to music on portable media players encoded on data-cylinders,higher end models can display video as well. The more developed worlds can travel to their neighbors or even to other systems by cutting through sub-space also called the near-void.

A single crystal substance fuels the mundane aspects of civilization Thunderstone(unless I can come up with a cooler name), the most potent and efficient fuel source that naturally exist. It comes from the Empyrean generated by their processes. These crystals drift across the comos until they fall onto a world. People mine the veins of the Thunderstone that were formed when the crystal was trapped inside a planet as it formed;And occasionally the sites where it falls to their planets. It's power which at the highest grades is comparable to antimatter is not the only reason why Thunderstone is the Ideal fuel. It's stability is the other Thunderstone is only detonated by four things resonance,percussion,electricity and Thunderstone emissions. If heated past a certain point Thunderstone will evaporate. Higher grades of Thunderstone can be synthesized through a complex process of sublimation and condensation,with each successive cycle  compounding the potency of the product. This process carries considerable risk because the synthesis process can release the energy of Thunderstone. Synthetic stones are often unstable and must store with care. Natural or Synthetic high grade Thunderstone is the mundane WMD of choice in the Silver Sky; Stone the site from orbit it's the only way to be sure.

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Fate-Dynamics?

Fate is an ineffable and all pervasive force in the cosmos, nearly everything is pulled along by it's threads. From the smallest mote of matter to the Empyrean. There are several relationships that one can have to fate. Those who are simply carried along by the flow have what is seen as normal luck, Those who are in tune with flow instinctively moving with it's currents and eddies have good luck, Those who are out of tune with the flow are tossed around and smashed against the metaphoric rock they have bad luck. Then you have the Fate-Dynamics. They alone are not passively carried along by the flow of fate, more than being immovable,which alone would be an amazing metaphysical  state, they can pervasive the flow,the weft and weave of fate and can alter it. A Fate-Dynamics ability to read fate takes the form of an intuitive grasp of the possible outcomes of any situation that they find themselves in. Their fate alteration works in conjunction with fate-reading. Fat-Dynamics can divert the flow if they are fast enough however the more likely the outcome to be diverted and the more unlikely the outcome that the flow is being diverted towards the more difficult and demanding that the diversion will be.

The Power to change change fate is not one that comes cheaply, in addition to being mentally and physically demanding Fate-Dynamics incur a karmic charge/debt with every twisting of fate that they perform. When the charge exceeds a Fate-Dynamics ability to contain it will painful explode from their being. Contaminating themselves and everything around them with chaotic(mostly bad) luck. While the errant luck will eventually dissipate it causes untold levels of havoc for the persons,places and things contaminated. The fates born of this luck cannot be twisted away by the Fate-dynamic that released it.

Fate-Dynamism is an incredibly rare trait to possess rarer still are those that manifest the power and attain conscious control over the ability;they are literally one out of tens of millions. So rare is the ability that most people are not even aware that Fate-Dynamism exist,beyond the stories of usually lucky and the myths of Heroes that could cheat fate. The most recent of such myths is the canon of the Laughing-Rouge who claimed the Supernal Throne at the end of Machine-Gods war,becoming the new High-God.  Some theoretical metaphysicist  hypothesize that Fate-Dynamic individuals exist and it is they who coined the term.


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Arcana Of The Silver Sky Part-III

In the First Two magic of the Silver Sky  we dealt with the forms of magic that were present in the cosmos and what they can do. In the third we will discussing how the peoples of  the cosmos view the magic and those who wield it.


                                                                       The Inner Path.

Of the three forms of magic it enjoys the most positive reception and wide spread use. It is accessible by all people, as long you are willing to put in the effort. The abilities that it grants are already present,the Inner Path merely severs as the key to unlock them. True devotes of the Inner Path are rare, these examples of physical and mental perfection are treated with awe,but awe of a different than practitioners Spritism and Aethercraft receive.  Spirtist are granted their power through a relationship with Spiritual entities. Aethercrafters while their power comes from an internal source the nature of that power is Cosmic. Both Spritist and and Aethercrafters are operating on another"plane" beyond the experiences of the common people. Pathians achieve incredible things without leaving the common plane,their feats are far more"tangible" in the minds of the people.  As stated before Devote's of the Inner Path are rare, however it's lesser  practitioners are ubiquitous. And they effect every facet of life, from preternaturally dexterous surgeons to therapists that can read a patients emotions and state of mind,countless others.


                                                                          Spiritism.

Spiritism was the second most common form of magic in the Before Time and in the modern cosmos it is the rarest. Like the Inner Path it was accessible by anyone under the right set of circumstances. the Spritborn possessed their abilities naturally as a part of their mixed heritage. Others were blessed by a Spirit with a supernatural endowment. The Shaman were either naturally attuned to the power of a Spirit or actively cultivated a connection through meditation and training. Priests were much like the shaman with exception that they accessed the power of the Spirits through the medium of their Gods's numina and as agents of the gods possessed incredible luck;which was most pronounced when the Priest was actively working in line with their Gods's will. The impact of Spiritist on their communities were great and their roles within them varied greatly. Being intercessor for the often fickle Spirits was one of their most important jobs. Aside from that the role played by a Spritist was determined by the nature of their powers. Which were rooted in the abstraction,symbolism and dream-logic, even those that produced immediately tangible effects such as weather workers and healers. Spirtist were also capable of binding their power into objects creating "charms".  As a result of their civic roles Spritist were normally held in high esteem,even higher than the more overtly powerful Aethercrafters.


                                                                          Aethercraft.

Aethercraft was the rarest form of magic in the Before Time however in the modern cosmos it is the most common next to the Inner path. Aethercraft while in theory accessible by anyone who was willing to put in the effort, in practice has always been in the hands of an elite few. Those without the genetic predisposition for harnessing Aether could only access the power by perusing a most arduous training regimen. Even if one of the "ungifted"succeed they would never wield the power with the fluidity of a natural Aetheral. However nothing stopped an "ungifted" from possessing more technical proficiency than a "Gifted" did in the Craft.  Society dealt with inherent elitism of Aethercraft by metaphorically exiling them. Cultures that literally exiled its Aethercrafters never lasted long as they were inevitably overwhelmed by cultures that retained theirs. A social barrier between the heart of society and Aethercrafter always developed  and  was especially pronounced in those societies where the Gifted were the effective or actual rulers. Aethercrafters were treated with deference,viewed with awe, but never acceptance. The roles played by Aethercrafters were determined by their skills. However one role that they all inevitably filled regardless of personal aptitude was advisor. Aether is the energy of life with more access to it than the average person Aethercrafters enjoy a lifespan at least one and half times that of mundane members of their clade. By virtue of their life experience people seek out elder Aethercrafters for their counsel.


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Arcana of the Silver Sky Part-II

As stated In the First Arcana of the Silver Sky  There are three core type of magic...


                                                                   The Inner Path.

                                                          Spiritism.

                                             
                                                                         Aethercraft.

And now we dive deeper into their aspects and permutation.


                                                                     The Canny

Are a rare breed some would call them mutants, these individuals naturally possesses the heightened physical and mental capabilities normally associated with devotes to the Inner Path. The Canny's normally exhibit a single enhancement, however the possession of multiples is not unheard of. A Canny may go their entire lives without ever realizing what they are. Some scholars theorize that innate/born Aethercrafters are simply another one of the myriad Canny strains.


                                                        The Spirit-Touched/Spiritborn

Those with the blood of the Spirits in their veins were rare in the Before Time and are thought of as non existent in the modern cosmos. One or more of a Touched ancestors was exposed to the numinous power of a Spirit in such a way that an imprint was left on their bloodline from that point on. This Imprint may have come about do to the ancestor having received a very potent endowment/boon from a Spirit, A life lived as the Avatar or Agent of a Spirit, direct descent from an incarnate Spirit or Spirit Person fusion.



                                                                          Priestery

As said in the previous Arcana Spritism is essentially a dead art in the modern cosmos, a consequence of the sundering. The devotes of the Gods are the only people who can directly tap the power of the spirits. The Gods dwell in the Supernal Realm a plane of their own design existing "above" the sea of souls,the deepest part of the Aetheral plane. The numina of the Gods flows from their realm and touches all planes. And resonates with compatible Spirits, through the numina those Sprits can touch the touch the physical world.  A priest can tap the power of all the Sprits with whom their god resonates. Priests are also lucky, fate is in part the will of the Gods and as agents of that will they have"smooth sailing" as long as they act in harmony with that will.



                                                                   Daemonology

Every person has two souls the normal soul that houses their consciousness and a sleeping soul,their Daemon. This Daemon is incredibly powerful however it is atavistic in nature, devoid of morality or restraint,wickedly clever and intuitive but irrational. There are Aethercraft techniques that can awaken the Daemon and bring it into physical realm. And they each hold their own dangers and advantages.

Manifestation: Creates a body for the Daemon from ectoplasm, a process not to dissimilar to how Revenants take physical form. The forms that Daemons take are often animalistic in nature,combining elements from different species or being an idealized representation of a single animal. Once summoned into the world a Daemon will begin to grow in power and intelligence and will eventually begin attempting to break free of their host or worse reverse the relationship and control the summoner. Unless the Summoner has cultivated their own strength  and kept pace with their Daemon it will succeed. If the Daemon breaks free the Summoner will soon die of the terrible spiritual that they have suffered and so will the Daemon. The Summoner and Daemon are of the same being, if one dies the other will as well. However a Daemon can stave off it's dissolution by consuming the spiritual energies of other people, or by possessing a victim in the process supplanting or subsuming their native Daemon in the process. The only way to save the Summoner is to bind the escaped and place it back into them. If the Daemon instead takes control of the Summoner, then the situation is in someways more dire. Working through a proxy the Daemon can not only wreck untold havoc it is possible for the Daemon to avoid detection for years.

Incarnation: Is by it's very nature potentially lethal. The Summoner uses their own body as the medium for Summoning the Daemon, a single mistake would prove disastrous. When successfully performed the Summoner is transformed into a monstrous creature,gaining inhuman physical abilities and a host of other benefits that come taking on a more fluid state of existence. Incarnates are far stronger than Manifested Daemons,because during Incarnation the Daemon and Summoner merge into a single entity combining the power of their Souls. Sometimes the merger becomes permanent resulting in a new individual entirely.

                                                                  Fate-Dynamics???





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Arcana of the Silver Sky

In the Silver Sky vers there are three main forms of Magic forms.

                                                                  The Inner Path.

A mental and physical discipline that allows one to gain conscious control of their physical and mental faculties,access normally subconscious capabilities, and push themselves mentally and physically to the very limit of their species natural ability.

The various"techniques" are to numerous to list some of the most famous are: tuning ones self to the"beat" of the world and by doing so gain uncanny speed,precision and timing. Feeling the world, and by doing so gain perfect awareness of ones environment. Withstanding environmental extremes. Going without food/water and or rest for prolonged periods of time. Being able to hone and focus ones senses to pick up on things that would normally go unnoticed and or filter out unnecessary information.  Clearing the mind of all distraction to enter into a state of hyper-focus where thought freely flows into action.


                                                                          Spiritism

Also called Spirit Arts or Shamanism(though that has carries religions connotations) is in it's pure form a dead art in the modern cosmos. In elder days before creation had been sundered the influence of the spirits was strong. Some people either through natural aptitude or training could draw power from certain spirits. Others were blessed by the spirits,sometimes this would leave a visible sign,endowed with a power or boon drawn from the nature of that particular spirit. The abilities granted by the Spirits were often subtle and very abstract nature.

                                                                       Aethercraft.

Aether is the stuff of which souls are made and the base of all energy and matter in the cosmos. Aethercraft is that art by which one learns to tap into and wield the energy. Aethercrafters are the most overtly powerful of all the magic users in the verse. Even without directly employing their power Aethercrafter posses abilities that them apart from the masses. The greater quantity of  Aether flowing through their system grants Aethercrafters longer healthier lives than mundane members of their species,in the cases of the most powerful  ten times greater; they also possess increased vigor and heal quicker and more effectively.

However despite the theoretical infinite power and application of Aether what Aethercrafters can actually do is extremely limited; this fact is one of the few things that keeps Aethercrafter's somewhat humble. The mortal begin is simply a poor instrument for aether.
                                                                       



                                                                         Arithmancy

Reality is vibration,Vibration is Music,Music is Mathmatics, Mathematics is the language of creation. Arithmancy is a form of prognostication that utilizes a nigh incomprehensible form of eldritch mathematics. It's origins are lost to the mist of time, all those that try to understand it go insane, for the mind was simply not meant to work the way that understanding the discipline requires. Fortunately a precious few of those who attempted to study the discipline are functional enough that they could employ the art. When correctly incorporated into a predictive model Arithmancy renders the model supernatrualy effective; tangential forms of Arithmancy are even used in cryptography and pattern analysis.


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