Magic

Entropaean magic exists across three spectra: hot to cold, chaotic to ordered, and dark to light. With rare exceptions, persons born with magical ability have some amount of all six essences within them, as well as a primary essence that tends to dominate their aptitude.

In general, people specialize in a combination of one portion of each spectrum - for example, chaotic hot dark or ordered cold light. Sub-specialties of conventional magic hence arise from different combinations of these ends:

A person's primary dimension is by no means limiting of their magical potential, provided they have at least some of each essence. In rare cases, being born without certain essences can make their contained magics harmful or downright impossible to perform.

Sandoval, for example, has no dark or hot essence and hence cannot produce fire, nor perform many of the spells his warlock relatives take for granted. On the other hand, he has twice the normal amounts of light and cold and, likewise, twice the usual power along those lines.

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Trivia

 * In the western world, families are often dominated by either dark or light magic.
 * Entropaean light councils often use the title "Magus" for members (followed by Archmage and High Archmage), while dark councils traditionally use "Lord" and "Lady."
 * Alliterative first and surnames are extremely common in the magical community, and many joke that you aren't truly magical unless you have one (which is obviously not the case, given names like Vivian Gray and Lucian Sherwin-Vectorvale).
 * Outside of the six essences, different spellcasters have different amounts of raw power and, hence, different degrees of natural talent. Lucian is thought to have the highest level of innate power in known history, though he lacks refinement of skill.
 * The Entropaean founding families (and renowned families in general, such as Sherwin or Gray) maintain their position due to inherently high raw power levels among members on average. Council members tend to be high-powered as well.
 * Power is neither guaranteed nor precluded by genetics. Winston boasts not only spontaneous magic in general, but also spontaneous high power equaling the founding families.
 * Some people have miscellaneous inborn abilities, such as effortless vocal or appearance alternation. Most such skills can also be learned, however.
 * A number of slang terms have developed for persons of each primary dimension, including:
 * Pyros (hot - the most common primary dimension)
 * Snowflakes (cold)
 * Crazies (chaotic)
 * Snoots (ordered)
 * Demons (dark)
 * Lovelies (light - also the rarest primary dimension)
 * The cold dimension is considered the most difficult to master. Sandoval's quirk of essences is of extreme value in this regard.
 * Natural shapeshifters can have fluid primary essences. For example, Nora's primary dimension is hot, but Norm's is chaotic.
 * The origin of magic is unknown, and its appearance in individuals with no family history is even more of a mystery.
 * Until the Convergence Enchantment, mind or identity-altering magics outside of temporary control by another person were thought to be impossible. This is part of why convergence is considered to be so dangerous by many.
 * The official council (and Handeivlan essence bearing) garb colors for each dimension are:
 * Red - hot
 * White - cold
 * Purple - chaotic
 * Gray - ordered
 * Black - dark
 * Yellow - light