RAFO – Read and Find Out.
If I don’t rein myself in, I would very eagerly ramble on about all the worlds of Mirrortide, the quirks of its magic, its creatures, its cultures, and its histories, until I had divulged everything about the cosmos. But my goal is to write stories in these worlds and balance these ideas alongside character journey and conflict. So I’m going to refrain from writing in-depth wikis or explaining concepts that will come out in later stories.
But, as concepts are introduced through story, I might add snippets to this wiki to give more context, while avoiding ideas that might spoil future stories.
Magic System
I have always loved physics (well, except university finals), and this love feeds the magic system of Mirrortide. All its magic and quirks come from a few fundamental axioms (with some generous tweaks to physics, biology, and other sciences) surrounding a fantastical particle-field, Aether. These particles and the rules that govern them fundamentally change the cosmos, and all the fun magic and gods and creatures arrive as natural extrapolations.
What are those axioms, you ask? I won’t say, at least not yet, since I feel that it could spoil future stories. But you may be able to figure it out as you read and piece it all together.
Don’t worry though – I strongly believe that you shouldn’t need to understand all of the why to enjoy any part of Mirrortide. Each story should be able to exist in isolation, with concepts explained only when and if they’re needed. Mostly because the stories aren’t (or aren’t usually) about scientists or academics who know the truth. They’re about ‘normal’ people who are just trying to live in a complex world, making assumptions and getting things wrong, just as we have done for thousands of years.
Worldsouls
One consequence of the magic system is that each world contains a great soul, a Worldsoul, at its center. The reactions, or songs, within each Worldsoul lead to seemingly-magical effects – such as emission of light, heat, or conversion of matter – which then shapes its climate, geography, and people.
The animals and people of each planet are born from these Worldsouls, and therefore might also be burdened with those same reactions within themselves. You will see these people pop-up in a lot of stories – folk with strange magical afflictions.
We have seen this once so far, in the Mist & the Moon Ep. 2, in the form of Pyrocardia. The soul of someone with Pyrocardia is constantly releasing heat, as if the body were burning from within. At manageable levels, this only leads to over-sweating or dizziness, but during flareups the soul itself might combust.
This is just one soul-affliction that can affect the people of Mirrortide and we’ll be seeing many more in the future.
Mirrortide 