Fundamentals

• Pure energy can decay into any form
  • First form: pure energy, aether, chaos, arcane energy, etc
  • Second form: pure elements (animated)
  • Third form: life, death, organic molecules
  • Fourth form: earth, water, gases, inorganic molecules
  • Fifth and final form: neutrinos, photons, waste matter/energy
• It is the nature of high energy to devolve into low energy, seeking equilibrium
• The sun invigorates third-form life, allowing it to stay in that state
• Magical forces invigorate second-form matter, allowing it to stay in that state
• No known natural phenomenon can prevent decay of first-form energy into second, although that is the holy grail of Artifice

Second-form Energy

The most important difference between our world and this one.

There are naturally occuring energies that invigorate second-form matter. They have various "flavors", including elemental, life and death, and a number of others.

They pool in "nodes" which are geographically static, and flow between nodes through "ley lines", sometimes from one node to another of the same type, sometimes changing type.

The interactions of various types of second-form energy form the basis of both Arcana and Artifice, the latter exploiting the knowledge via natural resources and the former via mental control.

It is not known from what spring this energy comes forth. Traditionalists ascribe it to life, or divinity, but modern science suspects a more cosmic origin--both superior to the sun, and far more scarce than its light.