Lore question: where does magic come from?

[grod_the_giant]

We know how essence is made, and we hear a lot about how crystals store magic, but... where does the energy come from originally?  The Shapers have a whole industrialized-magic motif going on; how do they charge their power crystals in the first place?

[alhoon]

Shaper bodies create essence slowly from what I recall. How magic came to be, I don't know. How it is stored or charged in the crystals... they bathe them in energized essence and this is a lowly job that they have either mages or even Outsiders do. There is a guy that is not a mage nor a shaper in GF5 that has a pool of essence to charge items. I think there's one in GF2 or GF3 but I am not sure. 

 

The narration describes it as a peculiar job for an Outsider because that is a person  that is handling essence. Some Shapers are not OK with Outsiders handling essence at all, even if they cannot manipulate it. 

 

 

Which makes me think that perhaps everyone can learn to manipulate essence and these Shapers are concerned about that. Or, it could be the well-known Shaper paranoia.

Edited March 19, 2023 by alhoon

[TheKian]

If I recall correctly, the Sholai have magic (but not Shaping). Essence is just a slurry of organic bits, basically, that serve as the basis for producing living creatures, but not the foundation of magic. There are spells in the game that cost essence, but I'm not sure it exactly has a meaning lore-wise separate from the gameplay mechanic (any more than your ability to run past people in combat mode means you're invisible, say).

[alhoon]

On 4/4/2023 at 9:32 PM, TheKian said:

If I recall correctly, the Sholai have magic (but not Shaping). Essence is just a slurry of organic bits, basically, that serve as the basis for producing living creatures, but not the foundation of magic. There are spells in the game that cost essence, but I'm not sure it exactly has a meaning lore-wise separate from the gameplay mechanic (any more than your ability to run past people in combat mode means you're invisible, say).

 

No, essence in magic is in the lore too. In many descriptions of battle we get that essence is necessary for some healing and protection spells, with things like "Eventually you run out of essence and you die" or "The shapers are fighting the Drakons and the losing side is running low on essence". You also find in GF4 an infiltrator hidding in a cave that is trying to replenish his essence to sustain himself without food or something. I don't remember exactly, but his issue is that he doesn't have enough essence to either heal or sustain his body. And I am not talking monstrosities like Moseh. I am talking a legit Shaper (Which is why I think he needs it to heal). 

[Drayk Armitage]

Shaper magic does tend to use essence but I don't think it's ever stated (or suggested) that all magic does.  Essence is pretty clearly its own thing.

[ultra112]

perhaps essence can be used to enhance the strength of the spells you cast

[Randomizer]

It's not so much that some spells need essence, but Shapers restrict what spells non-Shapers can learn. With training a human and later serviles can learn magic. Shola mages were from outside and therefore had independently learned more spells than Shapaers would allow within their lands.

[Drayk Armitage]

Some spells literally do require essence, though.

[grod_the_giant]

6 hours ago, questionmarket superscrip said:

Some spells literally do require essence, though.

As a game mechanic, at least--it doesn't necessarily mean much when it comes to in-universe lore. 

[Drayk Armitage]

I mean, see alhoon's post above, this is explicitly spelled out in said lore.

 

Anyway, non-shapers do "have" essence, they just aren't typically trained in how to tap into it (and/or have inherent obstacles to doing so, in the case of most creation types).

[alhoon]

2 hours ago, questionmarket superscrip said:

I mean, see alhoon's post above, this is explicitly spelled out in said lore.

 

Anyway, non-shapers do "have" essence, they just aren't typically trained in how to tap into it (and/or have inherent obstacles to doing so, in the case of most creation types).

My poor servile...  

Moseh grabbed him and drained the essence out of him. 

 

Also, I found a drayk in early geneforge mutagen areas, a big one, that could ... do things and teach me things. I don't remember exactly what, but I think the "in world" explanation was that it feed on my essence. Do you guys remember the Drayk I am talking about? The one that can give you access to weapons or canisters or secrets if you let him "bite" you or something. 

 

 

  

10 hours ago, Randomizer said:

With training a human and later serviles can learn magic. 

 

Serviles need to either be Tuldaric-ed or go through some weird cult and self-flagelation to learn magic. They were shaped to be unable to use magic, I think. There are some innutiles next to the Takers that train themselves in magic. And there are weird cultist serviles in all GF games I remember. 

Edited April 7, 2023 by alhoon

[Amira The Hot Potato]

8 hours ago, alhoon said:

My poor servile...  

Moseh grabbed him and drained the essence out of him. 

 

Also, I found a drayk in early geneforge mutagen areas, a big one, that could ... do things and teach me things. I don't remember exactly what, but I think the "in world" explanation was that it feed on my essence. Do you guys remember the Drayk I am talking about? The one that can give you access to weapons or canisters or secrets if you let him "bite" you or something. 

 

 

  

 

Serviles need to either be Tuldaric-ed or go through some weird cult and self-flagelation to learn magic. They were shaped to be unable to use magic, I think. There are some innutiles next to the Takers that train themselves in magic. And there are weird cultist serviles in all GF games I remember. 

Syros was the name of the drayk  fun fact: in the original GF1 when I first saw him I keep giving him all the meat I found because he said something about hunger. my mini brain couldn't comprehend at the time

[Mechalibur]

Here's my "headcanon" so to speak.

 

Non-shapers who can cast magic are capable of using essence in their spells. Essence itself isn't what separates shaping from magic, it's the complications that arise when creating life out of only essence. The creations able to be shaped are the culmination of hundreds of years of Shaper collaboration and expertise. The Shapers have spent countless years determining the exact parts of each creature to incorporate into a creation's DNA and constantly iterate on existing creations. It's not something that can be replicated at random or by chance from someone unfamiliar with shaping arts, which is why non-Shapers don't develop shaping abilities outside of extraordinary circumstances (i.e. canisters or the Geneforge). Charging a spell with essence, on the other hand, isn't necessarily something that requires training - someone already familiar with magic might be able to master a spell using essence through dedicated training - raw blasts of magic require less precision than creating a living, functioning creation.

 

This isn't really supported by anything in game, though.

[alhoon]

To be honest, we don't know whether other groups of magi stumbled upon shaping techniques on their own before the Shapers took over the continent and were absorbed by the proto-Shapers or defeated. 

 

What we do know is that healing is game-wise in the Shaping arts even if it is not considered shaping and it does require essence, even in the lore. Mages that heal or that make pods that heal are not considered Shapers but they do use essence. Same with mages that stuff charged essense in crystals to make those magic crystals we throw around. I think these crystals have essence too. 

Edited April 8, 2023 by alhoon