Section I: The Foundation of Magic
Magic in the world of Vowbound is not ambient, inherited, or spontaneous. It is carved, bound, and earned. Known as Arkaneturgy, this system is founded on the principle that the body and soul must serve as conduits through which mana is shaped, sealed, and executed.
At the core of all magic lies the Runemarked Theory, the idea that runes, once etched or embedded upon a physical surface or biological substrate, anchor will into the world. These runes are ancient, synthetic symbols derived from primordial languages no longer spoken. Each rune operates like a mnemonic algorithm, distilling a magical concept (such as "fire," "displacement," or "memory") into a repeatable, bindable format.
Unlike other systems where spells are spoken or willed into existence, Vowbound magic must be etched, worn, or prepared, meaning mages are closer to tattooists, alchemists, and engineers than traditional wizards. Every spell has a preparation cost. It must be:
Scripted – drawn on a medium or self, whether paper, metal, or flesh.
Fused – activated via mana infusion, usually drawn from the body.
Exerted – causing proportional strain on the user's mind, stamina, and sometimes memory.
Section II: Runes and the Body
There are three classifications of runes:
Temporary Runes – inscribed onto objects, scrolls, or the ground. Used once or stored in magical caches.
Etched Runes – carved, inked, or burned into the skin. Semi-permanent, used for personal casting.
Deepbind Runes – integrated into bone or nerve. Permanent. Powerful. Irreversible. Risky.
Runes interact with tissue, blood, and nerve endings. The more runes one bears, the more the body begins to mutate in response to magical strain. Etching too many runes causes chronic bleeding, seizures, and eventually soul-bleed, a condition where one's identity starts to erode. This is why most high-tier mages are unstable, physically deformed, or dead before age 40. There is no free magic.
Each mage develops a Mana Lattice, a metaphysical neural web inside the soul's structure. This lattice determines how efficiently mana flows through their body. Cultivation doesn't increase "mana reserves", it stabilizes the lattice, preventing it from fracturing under stress. Early users often suffer from Arcane Echo, a dangerous resonance effect where spells loop or misfire due to a malformed lattice.
Section III: Spellcasting Styles
Spells aren't categories, they're composite frameworks formed by combining primary rune sets. For example:
Ignis (fire) + Vectus (thrust) + Spira (shape) = a spiraling fire lance
Lux (light) + Vita (life) + Sana (heal) = a regenerative photonic cleanse
There are also spell matrices, pre-assembled rune arrangements created by master enchanters. These are stored in enchanted crystals or scrolls and activated without full knowledge of their components. Commoners and nobles alike rely on these for low-tier magic like heating, lighting, or pain relief.
Spellcasters are divided into three roles based on their rune specialization:
Casters – Direct mages who form and fire spells.
Enchanters – Craftsmen who design rune-inscribed items.
Augmenters – Those who etch into themselves or others to enhance combat.
Section IV: Forbidden Runes and Lost Arts
Throughout the centuries, not all runes remained in public knowledge. Some were outlawed, others lost, and a few were never meant to be deciphered. These are the Nullglyphs, runes that operate not by reinforcing the laws of reality, but by denying or rewriting them. The most infamous example is the Rune of Severance, which doesn't simply damage an object, it removes its concept from existence. Historical accounts describe spellfields where time would skip, bodies would fall apart without cause, or entire words would vanish from common use after exposure.
The cult Kael and Seret escaped from is one of the few remaining groups that actively experiments with forbidden runes. Their monstrous trials often involve incomplete glyphs that tear at the soul-lattice, pushing subjects into temporary godlike states before they burn out, or worse, become Runeblighted, creatures whose flesh and runes have merged into recursive, living spell loops.
In addition, some lost rune schools include:
Chronoglyphs: manipulation of timeflow. Now completely banned.
Vox Runes: used to compel obedience, memory wipes, or artificial emotion.
Nullmancy: the folding of mana into paradoxes that unravel causality.
While most known spells follow a syntactic logic tree, these ancient runes break syntax entirely, causing modern arcane scholars to treat them like magical malware: unstable, unpredictable, and contagious to surrounding spells.
Section V: Magical Items & Binding Contracts
A Magical Item is not simply enchanted, it is anchored to a function, a source, and a trigger. A typical enchanted sword might contain a limited Vectus rune for force projection, fused with a control glyph. However, higher-tier items are cursed by necessity. This isn't poetic, it's systemic. The enchantment is bound to consume something: time, blood, memory, or identity.
This is where Binding Contracts come in. For potent items or spells that affect sentient beings, the user must offer something in return, and magic always collects. There is no safe way to bind a soul without consequences. Ancient mages employed these contracts through:
Flesh-pacts: sacrifices of limbs, senses, or years of life
Echo-seals: bound memories which must be relinquished to activate the item
Oath-etches: self-engraved truths that kill the user if broken
Some magical institutions (including the Academy Kael attends) still teach limited contract crafting, mostly for soul-bonded weapons or familiars. However, a growing number of rogue mages have reawakened Devourer Contracts, black-market deals where sentient magical items grow hungrier with use.
Section VI: The Three Magical Laws
To prevent magical anarchy, the High Treaty of Arkaneturgy codified three absolute laws, enforced by the Grand Cabal of Twelve, an arcane council recognized by all major kingdoms:
The Law of Origin
Every rune must have a traceable origin of study, school, or derivation. Casting with unidentified glyphs is treated as arcane terrorism.
The Law of Anchor
Magic must be attached to either the caster, an item, or an identified medium. Free-floating spellfields (autonomous spells) are banned due to catastrophic historic precedent.
The Law of Equivalence
No spell may be cast without equal cost. Unbalanced spells result in lattice corruption or draw from unintended sources, often nearby people.
Violation of these laws results in a Rune Trial, where the accused mage's soul-lattice is examined. If found guilty, punishments range from rune-burns (permanent spell-branding), mana-purges (forcibly erasing their spellcasting ability), to soul entombment, a sentence worse than death
Section VII: Magic and Society
Magic is more than just a tool in this world, it is a currency of status, a means of survival, and the line that divides classes. In most kingdoms, the mana-capable are given elevated status at birth. Children who demonstrate affinity are taken to academies, guilds, or state-run research towers. Those who don't? Left to toil in the shadows of cities run on lightglyphs and forcebarriers they'll never understand.
Magic influences:
Healthcare: Healers use runes like Yenda (restore), Kure (cleanse), and Thys (knit) to mend wounds. However, the cost of such runes still drains life, just not always from the patient.
Infrastructure: Floating cities, runegates, and ambient-light towns are constructed through collaborative spellweaving, projects so complex that some mages are embedded into the architecture itself.
Entertainment: Illusionists and songglyphers dominate noble courts. Rune-crafting troupes alter the audience's emotions in real-time through affective magic, a practice strictly banned in public performances.
Labor: Rune-golems and enchant-machines replace entire working classes in advanced nations, causing unrest among the non-magical populations, especially in border kingdoms.
This imbalance creates Magocracies, regimes where political power is directly tied to magical ability. Even monarchs are sometimes subordinate to the High Cabal if they cannot wield or command magic.
Section VIII: Runebloods and Aberrants
Runebloods are individuals born with natural rune structures embedded in their soul-lattice. This allows them to cast without incantation, catalyst, or sometimes even conscious intent. Though rare, they're considered invaluable, often drafted into military or noble service before adolescence.
However, this gift comes with risks:
Overcasting Syndrome: The soul fractures from excessive output.
Runelock: Spells begin casting involuntarily, including destructive ones.
Spellsleep: A coma-like state where the brain enters a recursive casting loop.
On the darker end are Aberrants, those mutated by failed rituals, botched enhancements, or demonic corruption. Aberrants might develop eyes that see only mana, limbs that crystallize when overloaded, or blood that ignites upon air contact. Many become Riftborn, living weapons exiled to the frontlines or dissected in underground labs.
Section IX: Warfare, Politics, and the Mage
Traditional armies now deploy magic casters alongside siege engines. Common military formations include:
Shockglyph Squads: Heavily armored mages who cast runes mid-combat, often using rune grenades or spellplates.
Nullblades: Assassins trained in anti-magic and lattice disruption.
Battleweavers: Defensive casters who reshape the battlefield using zone runes.
The greatest military innovation remains the Spellcore, a fusion of multiple casters who weave spells together into enormous meta-incantations, capable of toppling castles or purging cities in minutes.
Politically, magic governs diplomacy. Royal marriages are based as much on magical compatibility as bloodline. Treaties may include oath-runes that burn violators alive. Even votes in high courts can be bound by mana-seals, where a single lie might kill the speaker.
To control magical influence, most kingdoms have created Mage Registries, where every known caster must be identified, categorized, and periodically tested. But black markets thrive, especially in rogue nations where the Cult of the Hollow Flame seeds influence through forbidden teachings and cursed contracts.