Northern magic, also called polar magic, found in the area over the pole. (So, Sønheim, mostly.)
Northern magic saturates the environment bordered by the Mountains. Crystal spelltech can change it, focus it, direct what it does – similar to a prism or a tinted filter altering visible light.
Because there's ambient magic everywhere, these gems don't need to carry a charge or generate their own power; they just act on the supply that already exists. They can work indefinitely if their crystalline structure is high-quality enough.
Magical toolmakers in various roles are called engineers, programmers, and coders.
The original discovery of spelltech coding is lost to prehistory. Most local cultures have myths about it, the biggest being that Gørsimi, the patron of treasure, taught it to humans.
Unlike with Southern magic, anyone can learn these skills, no special magical aptitude necessary. (That said, mass-market tech is built with user-friendly interfaces, so the general population doesn't need any special programming skill to use them.)
Humans working by hand can only make spelltech with crude, low-power programs; early coders used to need a whole room’s worth of crystal to get anything done. However, a crude, slow program can be used to make make spelltech that writes finer, faster programs.
In the modern day, programmers don't cut their own spelltech gems by hand. They just upload their designs into gem-cutting spelltech – itself produced by earlier generations of gem-cutting spelltech.
Coding and editing is usually done with the spell gem inside a metal enclosure, which functions like insulation against random interference from other ambient magic.
Luckily for people with microchips implanted under their skin (such as Leif), these enclosures don't need to be airtight to be effective.
Worldbuilding | |
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Countries | Ceannis • Sønheim • Beal, Doyon, Ei Missään, Getsun, Homu, Isle of Marta, Kinyon, Tamapoa, United Islands |
Languages | Ceannic, Sønska, Iudish, Proto-Gulf, Sønheim Sign, Tamaputian |
Magic | Heartswords • Northern Magic • Southern Magic • Spelltech • Wings |
History | Myths and Legends • Timeline |
Entertainment | Fiction • Kolpovision |
Other Worldbuilding | Animals • Medicine • Planets • Reincarnation ••• Alternate Universes |