What is Magicka?

Magicka is the most subtle of all energies. It is both the essence of thought and the essence of creation, for all creation comes from imagination. Magicka originates in the divine plane of Aetherius, and bleeds into Nirn through the light of the sun and stars. The soul acts as a trap that catches Magicka from light and integrates itself into the body's Magicka field.

What is Magic?

Magic, in its most basic form, is any act of will. Merely moving your body requires the use of a tiny proportion of your Magicka, as your mind commands your muscles to shift.  What laymen refer to when they talk of magic is the use of one's will to alter the universe, at the cost of great amounts of Magicka. Typically, this is done by channeling Magicka through the hands, either releasing it as a projectile or directly infusing it into the target through touch. It is possible to cast a spell using the other parts of the body, but doing it through the hands is almost universally favoured due to the ease one can aim with them.

What is Alchemy?

Alchemy is the art of extracting and refining magical compounds from dead matter. This refers not only to deceased plants and animals, but also minerals, for the land itself was born from the sacrifice of the Ehlnofey.  Through grinding, distillation and calcination, the mundane and sublime parts of matter are separated. The mundane matter is discarded as waste, and the sublime matter is mixed together with water in order to form liquids with various magical effects. Alchemy originated as a mystic practice seeking to refine divinity from the profane, but in the modern era most practitioners think of it as a science.