Limitations and Uses of Magic

Magic is limited by certain physical rules. Galdori have struggled to overcome these limitations for years, but they appear to be fundamental. Many galdori consider these limitations to be positive things, because in most cases, overcoming them would upset the balance between life and death.

• The mona cannot show anyone the future, due to the linear nature of time.
• Currently, magic is not advanced enough to allow for complete transmutation between organic beings. All experiments regarding this have resulted in subject death. Organic beings are believed to be too complex to transmutate. Aspects of organic beings can be changed, or their growth accelerated, but to change an organic being fundamentally is impossible.
• A galdor cannot summon anything alive from another location.
• Matter and energy cannot be created from nothing. Everything that is summoned is drawing energy from somewhere else.
• No magic is eternal, and often aspects of a spell will wear off the moment the galdor who cast it falls asleep or ceases the mental connection with the spell. Only an Everspell comes close to lasting forever; these spells require the cooperation of hundreds of galdori to cast, and the oldest of these spells has lasted for millenia.
• Life cannot be created where none was previously, although it can be recovered if death was very recent.

Complexity is a factor in the difficulty of magic spells. Single elements are easy to control, as are simple molecules. The more complex the design, the longer the spell takes to cast, and the more difficult it becomes.