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Spoiler
The Art and History of Inscription
In the world of Destain, magic runs through everything, and is almost synonymous with life itself. In the modern era of Destain, magic is mostly an afterthought for the vast majority of humanity. While it is something that is taught to everyone, it is not something many use beyond extremely basic usage. It is more of a staple for people to live and have stronger and healthier lives.
However, this was not always the case for humanity. Like many things, the usage and concept of magic for civilization changed after the Prism Wars. After it was quickly figured out that Voidborn absorb magic in ways that strengthened them and emboldened them, humanity thus too had to evolve their way of combat and of living. In order to not only win the wars but to survive, humanity had to distance their reliance and relationship with magic. After all, their enemies had far better use of magic than they did. In most ways possible, humanity cut ties with magic. Mostly.
Out of all civilization, the Darksbane uses magic the most, as their body demands the most from their aura. However, there is one aspect, one tool in the Darksbane's arsenal that persisted through the generations and beyond the Voidborn and the Prism Wars, due to its usefulness. This is Inscription.
At its core, Inscription is the manipulation of magic using a written language or code. Inscription requires magic to be used; if a person writes inscription out without magic it is useless.
Inscription's language is not understood nowadays by more than a select few who have dedicated their lives to preserving the art of understanding Inscription. New inscriptions are not made anymore; there is not innovation or renditions of what is currently known. While Inscription used to be a language, it is now more of an equation or programming built on a limited foundation of knowledge. Nowadays, any transaction of magic are done either by brute forcing it with an aura or using Inscription.
All Darksbane are taught a basic foundation of Inscription symbols and phrases (connected symbols designated to create more complex outputs) for a variety of uses: Inscribing, Attunement, and creating an Opus. All of these come from the foundation of Inscription.
Inscribing an object is to write Inscription onto the object and apply a bit of magic/aura to the object. Inscription stores the magic until the phrase is activated. The most common uses of Inscribing are to Attune an object or use an object to store aura for later usage (that can be later used either by tapping into the stored magic with an aura or another Inscribed object).
Attunement is a natural subsection of Inscription that was created during and shortly after the Prism Wars. An Attunement's primary purpose is to provide additional offensive, defensive, and utility mechanisms to a Darksbane's arsenal that does not require a massive amount of magic and aura and does not require a massive amount of time to use in the battlefield.
Attunements were created as a compromise and an answer to the difficult question of magic. Warriors of the time, the ancestors to the current day Darksbane, relied heavily on large uses of magic in the battlefield. So, when the opponents of the battlefield suddenly became not only highly resistant to magic but also attracted to, dependent on, and emboldened by magic, the warriors needed to adapt. However, they could not just stop using magic altogether. Thus, researchers and warriors crafted Attunements to focus mostly on battle enhancement and less a direct offensive measure. Through the years, Attunements were refined to require less aura and provide more and more benefits in relation to the amount of magic used as fuel. There were several more types of Attunements that faded over the years, leading to the five ones that are used now.
Over time, Attunements expanded to be able to be inscribed not just on auras but on objects as well. This expanded the amount of utility and capability for Darksbane, as they could Attune weapons and armor to use stored magic instead of their aura directly. This also commidified magic to much of the world, and transitioned the world to viewing magic as transactional and a commodity to use, spend, earn, and eventually exploit.
The Darksbane kept one more aspect of old magic in the form of creating an Opus. Pushing Inscription to its limits, Darksbane create Opuses to act as a limited usage ability that defines the battle they are in. Opuses are Inscribed directly onto one's aura and are costly forms of magic, so it's often only used in dire situations or as a last-ditch effort. Opuses were allowed as Darksbane continued push against the limitations and boundaries of the Inscription system. It is not recommended to try and create an opus without the assistance of a veteran Darksbane or an Inscription scholar, as trying to manipulate the Inscription language without knowledge of the full repercussions can lead to disastrous consequences.
