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+ ZeldaMUSH: Info Page

This Wiki page hopes to explain the details of the theme. It will get very spammy, because there is a lot to go over here. BEWARE, MANY SPOILERS FOR THE UNINITIATED.

++ Themelist Entry

++ The Intent of the Theme

This Zelda theme is a permutation of what was used for a MUSH on its own. The hope is to expand on the Zelda theme in all directions, from the nature of the conflict of good vs evil/Light vs Dark, the cultures, races, histories of the world, the physics and all other things into one cohesive whole. It is not the standard Zelda tale of a scant handful of people being the only forces capable of shaping the world, and it is not the standard Zelda story of absolute forces of light and good against absolute forces of darkness and evil. While in general, the good guys are still recognizably the good guys and the bad guys are still recognizably the bad guys, shades of grey are everywhere. Many changes have been made to the stories, extrapolations added, and other things that unify the many themes into a cohesive whole as well as possible.

Familiarity with many Zelda games is ideal, but not necessary.

++ Info Files: Setting Overview

Welcome to a land created by a trinity of Golden Goddesses  and left to mostly fend for itself after that with only a handful of powerful spirits and a plethora of vibrant and varied races to inhabit it. The world is, in fact, round, and mostly covered by water. The land of Hyrule is but one of many island-continents on it. It is bordered by many others, such as Holodrum, Labyrnna, and Gamelon. Some are seperated by vast expanses of ocean, others by just political boundaries or deep ravines.

The world is a fantastical one where the power of magic and the spirits reigns supreme by divine design. Time, weather, seasons, fire, forest, and ocean are all maintained by the power of the Great Spirits and assorted other figures, some with overlap and others without. This is not to say that science does not exist, but rather that it is synonmous with magic. The power of a steam engine (what few exist) is useful, but all know that this works because water was made to boil when it was heated. On the lowest level, Force makes up all things, and is especially prevalent in living beings - for it is the source of life itself.

Much of the details of the world's history are lost to the ages. Long ago, it is said, the lands were prosperous, and the face of the world was quite different. So different, some say, that lands now seperated by vast oceans were once neighbors, places now deep beneath the sea were once high mountains, places now trapped in snow were once lush paradises. Ruins of these ancient times dot the lands, full of magical enchantments and devices that no modern skills can quite match. Some are temples, some are tombs, some are the headquarters of old, long-forgotten organizations, and some are odder things still.

This state of ruin can be traced back to an event in history known by as 'The Imprisoning War' and 'The Great Cataclysm.' Tales tell of the rise of a dark man from the deep desert who waged a war of unfathomable scale upon Hyrule, to seize the power of the gods that the Royal Family guarded and use it for terrible purposes. Not even the Great Spirits quite remember all of what happened in those times.

The world of today is a civilization in recovery from this cataclysm, but stymied by the scars of those ancient times for a great many centuries. Monsters and the restless dead plague the lands that were once clear and fertile. Safety in numbers has caused people to cluster into numerous villages and towns, with scant few making way on their own.

+++ The Hylian Mythos

These articles cover the creation of Hyrule and the grander and more pervasive forces at work through its origins and history.

++++ The Goddesses

While not all the world's people believe this (particularly prevalent in some monster race tribes, who have their own stories, customs and legends), Hyrule was made by the great Golden Goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore. While they're said to have departed the world, there's been enough odd incidents where they have returned to interfere that few in Hyrule believe they are ENTIRELY distant. Still, if they do have any consistent influences over the world, none have found what it might be for they hide it well.

"Din, with her strong flaming arms, cultivated the land and created the red earth."
Din, Goddess of Power, laid the foundations of the world. Earth, stone, metal. Her craftwork is the land itself that all things are bound to and live upon. Her affiliations include the earth and the fires that burn deep within it. As her power is to beat and mold the world into new shapes, she is commonly called upon by warriors and smiths for insight.

"Nayru poured her wisdom onto the earth and gave the spirit of law to the world."
Nayru, Goddess of Wisdom, created the laws of physics, time, and causality. The intricate motions of the sun, moon, and stars, the cycles the world shifts through to stir the elements, the spirits that manage the world, these are all handiwork. Legends hold that she brought order to the world through beauteous singing, and that echoes of it still ring through her work for those keen enough to detect it. She is commonly associated with serene waters and starlight, and is called upon by mages, savants, and rulers for insight.

"Farore, with her rich soul, produced all life forms who would uphold the law."
Farore, Goddess of Courage, is the source of all living things, big and small alike, from the simplest blade of grass to the grandest tree, the lowliest ant to the grandest Goron. It is said that when Farore exhales, new lives fill the world, and when she inhales it is to welcome those whose time is over, making her the cornerstone of every birth and death. She is commonly associated with the winds that carry seeds to faraway places, and is commonly invoked by adventurers and those desiring children.

Each of the Goddesses contributed more than this, however. For instance, Din is said to have been behind the overall design of the Gerudo and Goron races, even though it was Farore who ultimately made those designs a reality. Many theologians debate the exact natures of which Goddess is responsible for which part of the world. The wise know that none was truly responsible by themselves for anything, for the three Goddessesses acted as one.

++++ The Triforce

When the Goddesses departed Hyrule, they left behind three golden triangles of incredible might - the Triforce. Said to contain the power of the Goddesses in all their glory, it is the cornerstone of the world, its foundation and the source of all its wonders. Without the Triforce, the world the Goddesses made would slowly fall apart into the chaos and ruin that it once was.

At one time, when the world knew of the Triforce and that it could grant the wishes of whoever laid hands on it, wars were fought to try and locate and claim it. The last of these was the Imprisoning War, which brought on the Great Cataclysm that tore the world asunder. Since then, while the Triforce emblem that's pervasive through much of the Kingdom of Hyrule's architecture and heraldry is known as the symbol of the Goddesses, all knowledge of what the Triforce actually is has been kept closely guarded by the Royal Family.

++++ The Great Spirits

When the Goddesses made Hyrule, Nayru knew that the world needed caretakers to oversee the divine order that had been set down. To this end she created the Great Spirits, each an expression of primal forces within the world - some far more obvious than others. These mighty beings are administrators of the world's harmony, overseeing the flow of rivers, the growth of forests, the weather, and other aspects. Some of them include the Deku Tree, Valoo, Jabun, the Wind Fish, the Dragons Lanayru, Faron, and Eldin, Levias, and Cyclos and Zephos.

As they are tasked by Hylia to oversee and protect the World of Light's integrity, the Great Spirits are often seen as too distant to day to day happenings to meddle much in mortal affairs. Yet, the Great Spirits are public figures who appear from time to time, interceding in dire or what they call fateful matters as they will, answering calls by their priests and attendants to give guidance and judgements on controversial issues (such as the punishment of those whose crimes are too great for the laws of mortals to deal with), and are often honored at festivals. Most cultures that include reverence towards a Great Spirit believe strongly in a mutual bond of respect and duty between the Great Spirits and mortals... yet some of the Great Spirits remain too distant and disconnected from mortal folk, hardly seen once a century if that.

In ancient times, their influence was far greater, as was their organization and cooperation. Nowadays, their powers have dwindled with the loss of the Sacred Realm, and it is all they can do to ensure that no calamities strike what they watch over directly. Worst, some were lost or... CHANGED in the Great Cataclysm, a traumatic time for all of them, and others have gone rogue and been guilty of ignoring their duties for centuries now.

++++ The Dark World

The Sacred Realm was once the world of spirits, pristine and off-limits to all but them and fairies. The Great Spirits claim it was a land closer to the Goddesses, where their powers flowed more freely and they could tend to their duties with greater ease and scale.

Sadly, the Sacred Realm was tainted during the Imprisoning War, and abandoned by all spirits fast enough to escape the corruption that flooded it. A mighty seal erected in those times of old by the Sages keeps the demonic power it exudes at bay. Tales are told far and wide though of... ENCOUNTERS that can only be traced back to what is now called the Dark World, though. Strange monsters that walk the land, and journeys that took very odd turns... people disappearing on nights of the new moon or the change of seasons, without leaving a trace.

The Dark World's seal is not quite as perfect as the Sages would have liked. Try as they might, the Sacred Realm is -meant- to be like the other side of a coin to the World of Light, and it is impossible to completely cut it off. The Dark World's influence bleeds into the Light World not only at the Temples that once lead to it, but in bleak and forgotten corners of the world, and on rare occasion places of no immediately apparent importance without rhyme or reason. Travel to it is possible... but once in the Dark World, few things will ever return to the Light World ever again.

Though originally it was a land where the sun shone a majestic red over a paradise landscape, the rareified ideal of what Hyrule meant to the Great Spirits and the Goddesses, things have changed under its new management. It has been twisted by greed, indignation, and a twisted sense of justice at the very least. Ganondorf, who wished to plant his boots on the face of the world and grind until it fit a shape more fitting to his ideals, has become its sole ruler, and his mark stands proudly, imbued upon every blade of grass.

The Dark World is a bleak, horror-inducing, and dsyfunctional mirror of the mortal world where the forces of chaos and entropy run rampant. The water is a nausea-inducing green, the grass always seems just slightly withered, cliff faces of granite in the Light World are mirrored as walls of fused bones in some places and volcanic rocks in others. Villages are places of physical and spiritual desolation where few can eke out a living on the bare handful of salvageable plant and animal life that exists in what was once paradise. There's little refuge to be found in these places, for there rule of the strong and ruthless is the only law, and the weak suffer without hope of salvation.

While it is a world that is decisively hostile to the World of Light, it is not particularly loyal to Ganondorf. Most inhabitants are unfortunates from Hyrule who stumbled upon a Moon Gate at a bad time and never came home. Upon entering, they fell prey to the same curse that twists the land. The Dark World's curse transforms everything within it into all manner of shapes and forms, amplifying the traits and emotions that resonate most strongly with the forces of darkness and chaos (demons) where they can be found and ensuring that all who stay there for long will be scarred in their own way failing that. Some rare handful of people are lucky, and become anthropomorphic animals or even more benign or appealing things than the usual - monsters of many varieties, or stranger things that defy categorization (and some odd folk have even become trees.) Still, it's rarely a pleasant or useful transformation, and few forces can offer true and perfect protection.

Then there's the matter of finding one's way home...

++++ The Goddess Hylia

Before the Golden Goddesses departed Hyrule, they created Hylia, a Goddess in her own, if lesser right, to guard the Triforce and guide the primal world while it was still in its infancy, and watch over the Great Spirits should any problems arise with them.

While depictions of her remain to this day, she is barely remembered to any degree of detail, having apparently disappeared from the world long ago. What is known about her is that the Hylians are of her blood (there is dispute whether they are actually her descendants or were simply blessed by her power - most believe the latter) and she was the one who gave the Royal Family its divine right to rule.

++++ Demons

Before the Goddesses reached Hyrule, there was only chaos... chaos that multiplied and preyed upon itself endlessly. When the Goddesses arrived, they witnessed a nearly endless cycle of domination and consumption that beings spawned of the chaos before there was even light to see by, would carry out. The greatest of these, who eventually subjugated his kin (or at least, appeared to have) named himself Demise - and declared his people to be the Demons, for they were of himself. At first, the Goddesses decided to ignore the beings of chaos, and carry out their work apart from it. As time went on, however, the Goddesses were drawn into conflicts. While the forces of this teeming chaos squabbled, however, the Goddesses acted as one, and sealed the Demon King and his ilk away in the depths of the primal earth.

This seal could not remain forever. In times long since past, Demise and every terrible thing imprisoned with him broke free. Few tales remain of that time, but it is said that the world was demolished and rendered uninhabitable save for that protected by the Goddess Hylia - who is now noticeably missing from the world. What happened to them? None remain who know the truth.

The tale of Demise - and many other terrible beings that existed alongside him - would be mostly forgotten in modern times were it not for the theological proof of demonic powers existing in the form of dark magics. Still, the tale of the Demon King has been mostly relegated to a figure of myth to frighten children into good behavior...

+++ Magic in Hyrule

In simplest terms, Magic is the act of manipulating Force energy. Those who would command magic are masters of this power within themselves and in the world itself.

++++ Force

Scholars know that 'Force,' often depicted or thought of as the breath of the Golden Goddesses - usually Farore's, but sometimes that of all three - is the source of all life. Beyond the life that Farore grants to all living things however, the world is teeming with the power of Force, from the laws of physics to the roaring seas and blazing volcanos.

If one were to imagine the world as a tapestry, Force power is the weft and the warp the Goddesses wove. It flows through the world, and is often considered to be the world's Light and order.

Hyrule seems to be supplied infinitely with Force energy, though areas can be twisted, tainted, and damaged, as evidenced by the Places of Power (see below) in modern day.

++++ Places of Power

Places of Power are areas where Force energy exists in great abundance, often producing or resonating with some powerful local theme or element. A clearing in a grand forest, the bottom of a deep lake, and even some cloud formations have been known to be such places. These places all have some level of connection to what was once the Sacred Realm (now the Dark World), and the grandest were the building sites of ancient temples and monuments designed to harness the land's power for Hyrule's prosperity. Most with any sense for the mystical can detect them when they are near, though the uninitiated may not know what the sensations - often described as a tingling or a pull on their senses - actually means.

Most mages know of several minor Places of Power, and use them in many ways. Some erect their homes on them and use them as workshops, for instance. Nearly all lament that the construction techniques used to make the Temples, gateways into the Sacred Realm, have been lost. Even if they did not however, most people still tend to avoid the largest and strongest ones (which are almost always Moon Gates - see below) because dark power's begun leaking from them more and more recently. Such places are often considered cursed - for they often sprout odd and dangerous phenomena.

++++ Moon Gates

Originally, Moon Gates were particularly special Places of Power that spirits, fairies, the Sages, and a few lucky individuals used to travel between Hyrule and the Sacred Realm. With the Sacred Realm tainted, however, and the Dark World it became sealed, most Moon Gates became impassable. This is no longer the case, as the seal has weakened enough that they occasionally open at unpredictable periods, luring unsuspecting travelers into the Dark World where few will find escape.

All true Temples house Moon Gates.

Scholars speculate that they are named Moon Gates because the moon's light reveals their presence to the naked eye, by causing the portal area to glimmer and glow. They're technically known by several names, but 'Moon Gates' is the common term.

The Great Spirits, Sages, and Fairies are instinctively aware of nearby Moon Gates regardless of the Gate's status.

++++ Force Gems

Where Force gathers, it slowly crystallizes to become a triangle-shaped gem that glows in one of a variety of colors based on the intensity and nature of the Force energy it contains. These can be found everywhere, albeit rarely. Under rocks, sometimes growing in tiny amounts in place of a plant's normal harvest, within the ground, and so on. They are particularly prominent in Places of Power.

Most Force Gems are trash and trinkets, often used to make charms or jewelry. Larger ones, however, are highly prized by magic users, for they play key roles in greater rituals, enchantment, and even refreshing one's own Force reserves.

When drained, a Force Gem becomes an ordinary gemstone, losing its glowing luster - and only scraps of the power it held remain. These, properly cut and marked with enchantments to inhibit forgery, Hyrule mints as Rupees, after ostensibly using the Gem's wonders to improve the nation. Suffice to say, people who bring in worthy Gems are rewarded handsomely.

++++ Spellcasting

Philosophically, magic is thought of as re-enacting - in much tinier scale - the Goddesses' feat of creating Hyrule, and mages walk the same path. It is certainly true that spellcasting requires intimate knowledge and delicate control of Force energy's intricacies. Most importantly of all, only those with a strong inner spirit can be very good with it.

Actually manipulating one's own Force energy is an act of inner spirit and will more than it is anything else. The first thing prospective mages must do is learn how to channel the power of their soul - something that most mages describe as 'an inner light' or 'sense of inner balance,' and something that most folk have great trouble with. It requires great concentration and discipline to maintain this focus, particularly under pressure. From there, a mage must project their power out into the world.

Simply being able to channel magic power is not enough. Wildly releasing Force often backfires, because it takes up forms of its own without direction and can, quite literally, do just about anything - including blow up in one's face. These eruptions are rarely useful for more than determining the innate nature of a person's Force energy - and thus soul, revealing affinities and talents if they're lucky, assuming any stand out.

Thus do spells exist - codification of Force energy manipulation to trigger effects by rote forms of concentration. Spells grant reliability and repeatability to an otherwise dangerous skill. Thus, spells can be taught much like any other skill, though methods of writing them down grandly differ through several philosophies - an unfortunate necessity of the act of magic being so deeply internal to each user.

This troublesome aspect is what lead to the iconic 'master and apprentice' nature of mage education (and indeed, any sort of profession which includes elements of mysticism, such as priests and priestesses of the spirits,) since direct guidance is often the only way to really grasp an unfamiliar spell or mystical concept. Many different practices and philosophies guide the development and usage of such 'spells' - most involve complicated chants or gestures to help focus the inner spirit.

A mage who understands how to manipulate a conceptual feat that Force can channel at its fundamental levels - for example, fire - need not rely on rigid, codified methods of manipulating Force, however. The mark of a truly great sorcerer (or any innate magic user, such as Fairies) is the ability to channel Force energy on the fly with great finesse. For fire, that would be invoking flames of varying temperature and volume with a mere gesture.

Only the cream of the crop ever reach that pinnacle of skill, and it is at this tier of spellwork that the very nature of one's soul is typically laid bare. (See below.) It is very rare for an individual to master a form of magic that their natures don't resonate with - and almost unheard of for them to master one that conflicts directly (such as a person who resonates with destruction mastering healing) or to learn several this way.

Magic follows the basic principle of equivalent exchange: weave Force energy, achieve an effect proportional to that energy expenditure. As Force is the source of life, mages who cast many spells quite literally exhaust their physical, mental, and spiritual stamina. Wasteful spellcasting leaves a sorcerer drained, and need rest and relaxation to recover.

++++ Magical Natures
Though not every being in the world is such, some individuals are particularly gifted in one form of magic or another. Such folk are prodigies in one or on rare occasions several fields, able to channel magics involving them with incredible finesse. The more gifted this way however, the harder it is for such individuals to learn magic of conflicting or even altogether seperate natures. Beyond that, these natures are almost always tied 1:1 with one's deepest personality traits.

This most commonly manifests as extreme control over some element or concept or another. Examples include fire, ice, wind, healing, shadow, light, or the more abstract defense or destruction.

++++ Magical Limits

All manner of phenomena can be achieved with magic. Common, though, is the use of elemental forces for destruction, spells to ward away evil spirits and intruders, to cure disease, to perform divinations, to weave illusions, to preserve food, and similar convenient miracles. The things that Force energy can be manipulated into doing is limited only by the intent of the Goddesses' design and intents for the power's role in the world, the user's skill at wielding it, and their available supply of Force energy.

The first of those limitations is the most restrictive. Above all other things, the Goddesses value harmony and order, and Force energy rails against taking patterns that damage the world's rules or laws as set down during its making. Amongst these:

A) Most magical effects are transitory, requiring some form of energy to sustain (although methods exist to ensure an effect does not drain more than its energy source can replenish, as a way around this.)
B) The closer the effect is to every day happenings and simple concepts, the simpler it will be to work with. Few mages can touch the grand flow of time for instance, beyond tiny modifications to its speed and currents around themselves. True resurrection, while thought to be possible provided the soul remains in the world is so complicated as to be effectively impossible, as well. In the end, personal magic can only accomplish feats that are barely a sliver of what the Goddesses did.
C) Magic cannot be used for curses and hexes, to dominate or possess (confuse, befuddle, perhaps, but not dominate) unwilling minds, or otherwise break the laws Nayru dictated the world should embrace to keep order. Dark Magic, on the other hand... (see below.)

Expert mages can change the fate of a battlefield or a society, stopping monsters and plagues alike in their tracks. Most usually focus in one or two specialties, such as healing and wards, or conjuration and enchantment. It is possible, in a mortal lifetime, to become a grand master of many magics, but such individuals are incredibly rare. Most die of old age before reaching that plateau.

++++ Physical Enhancement

Those without any aptitude for actual spellcasting still may make use of Force energy. A side effect of the enlightenment and grasp of Force energy needed to cast spells is much better control and regulation of its flow through the body. Many mages use this control to enhance their bodies. This serves as a last line of defense against invasive spells, and careful regulation and cultivation of Force energy within ensures longer, healthier lives... which is why most mages worth their salt are ancient, wrinkly, wizened folk only barely bothered by their old age.

Warriors and anyone else who deem physical performance crucial often learn the secrets of enhancing themselves by controlling their own Force energy from a mage, ancient manuals, their peers, or raw intuition. Those who come across it by chance rarely realize what they have accomplished, because it becomes like second nature.

This comes with its own downsides, of course. Exerting oneself at such levels is much more exhausting, in theory. However, anyone who relies on their body tends to physically condition themselves to resist simple exhaustion over time, and just the act of better regulation of Force energy leads to much greater physical health and fitness overall, lessening the impact of exhaustion at the same time. The other downside is that what you see is still what you get. A scrawny beanpole of a person will find that lacking significant muscles is not surmountable through physical enhancement. While physical enhancement can give a man the strength to tear down a stone with his bare hands, bodies can only take so much strain. Without a body tough enough to handle the strain, it's possible to end up seriously injuring oneself. Many aspects of physical performance can be so enhanced, such as raw strength, speed and reflexes, and physical resilience.

Rather than being seen as magic (though it TECHNICALLY is,) this is instead typically considered to be training one's body to an extreme degree, or 'the hardcore approach to being a warrior' instead of a mere soldier. Those who have reached higher degrees of control over their Force energy this way often innovate amazing powerful physical techniques - often for combat. Launching Force energy from a weapon crudely, enchanting arrows with elemental might, and the like. These are, technically, as legitimately acts of skillful magic (if rarely acknowledged as such, given the public image mages have cultivated) as any spellwork. It is even rumored that the Sheikah have perfected this property of Force energy into exotic martial arts styles.

++++ Enchanting

While spellcasting is grand and enhancement amazing, the ancient arts of enchanting and artificing - arts mostly lost in the Great Cataclysm - is what Hyrule once prided itself on. Not every individual will become a masterful mage, yet many wanted to do amazing things in a time when such was needed to maintain the status quo. Enchanted items of every shape and size were once fairly popular, held by the wealthy and their most useful vassals, particularly lucky or skilled individuals, and the sort, with numerous minor trinkets spread through the land to increase quality of life.

The creation of a magical item binds patterns of Force energy akin to a spell into a material form, combining the utility of a tool with the miracle of magic. They run the entire range of uses and intents, including combat, engineering, espionage, mobility, and medicine. Staves that can unleash a single spell and a single spell alone (but do it very well), a tent that maintains perfect temperature for sleeping and wards off nightmares, capes that bestow invisibility, boots that bestow swift speed on the wearer, and the like. Also common are arms and armor of various sorts - swords, spears, bows, shields, plate mail, and stranger things beside.

While Hyrule is no longer capable of producing such wonders as it used to, having lost much of the old techniques and blueprints (not to mention the greatest of them depended on the blessings of the Great Spirits and Sages to see the light of day), there still remain many artificers of fair repute (and vast collections of enchanted equipment in royal vaults and dangerous ruins), though they charge hefty prices. To work this art, one must have some degree of magical excellence and be intimately familiar with an appropriate craft (only an amazing cobbler can fashion enchanted footwear, for instance.) Sometimes, a powerful mage and a skilled craftsman can work together and come up with their own methods, too.

The most difficult and dangerous aspect of Enchanting is definitely acquiring the raw materials. All manner of strange and wondrous creatures, plants, and places exist out there, and the world does not yield its wonders easily. The Roc's Feather, a charm known to aid acrobatics, is an example of an ingredient that is functional by itself, but take enough of them to an artificer who knows what he's doing, and the Roc's Cape (or cloak, or other permutations) will truly amaze. Artificers may require ingredients as simple as dodongo hide to the truly great, rare, and wondrous - like Great Fairy's tears. Force Gems are also almost always called for.

Actually using magical items can be an interesting experience. Most simple ones fill the holder with intuitive feelings about how to use it, and the intent to do so is enough to activate or deactivate them - a literal no-brainer (though exactly what they do doesn't become so obvious on intuition alone, and the techniques to control them and use them wisely and skillfully is also another matter.) More complicated magical items might be activated by infusions of Force energy, or work in synergy with even more magical items - such a staff that channels energy JUST so to serve as the 'key' to a door by slotting it into a pedestal.

In fact, ancient Hylians were particularly fond of enchanting their security systems in what are now dangerous ruins very intricately and elaborately with magical architecture, locks, and defense systems, to keep intruders out.

On the other hand, magical items are often capable of amazing things that personal skill with magic of any sort simply cannot match. Magical items are optimized for a purpose, and like any good tools they often outperform personal feats of magic in both efficiency and results. While a mage might be able to conjure a fireball, a staff designed to invoke flames the user can exert control of is easier to use and usually more powerful. A warrior might learn how to increase his speed and agility with Force energy, but it will never match the sheer velocities the Pegasus Boots can attain, or the easy airtime achieved by the Roc's Cape.

For the user, magical items are generally a no-brainer. The intent to use them is often sufficient, and the user needs no particular training in magic or other things to utilize the equipment as intended - though it is no substitute for the skill of actually using the equipment with finesse and intelligence. (The Fire Arrows, in the hands of an inexperienced archer, are a good example of what can go wrong.) Most magical equipment has its own inner store of Force energy and uses so little as to be insignificant, though certain pieces may require great expenditures by the user.

Though few tend to think of it as such, the art of brewing potions and other powerful elixirs is a form of enchantments.

++++ Song Magic

It is said that magic is re-enactment of the Goddeses' feats of creating the world that became Hyrule. Song Magic, if anything, is an even purer expression of the world's origins, for it is said that Nayru sang the world's grander laws into place.

Song Magic calls up echoes of that song, the woven melodies themselves calling upon the world's power to respond in kind. Each note resonates deep into the heart of every spirit that hears it, for a magical song, well-played, reflects the will and wonders of the Goddesses - it is one of the most sincere forms of honoring the Goddesses and the Great Spirits. For this reason, most religiouos efforts include song, and festivals honoring the Goddesses and Great Spirits are lead by priests and priestesses who are masters at Song Magic.

What can Song Magic do? Its effects are even more transitory than normal Spellcasting. Songs affect the world on a grander, but slower and less focused scale - magical songs can invoke the power of the world to change the weather, commune with spirits, and trigger similar miracles. One prime example is the Sun's Song, which fills several square miles with the light of the midday sun that lasts for several minutes even after the performer ceases playing it.

Performing mystic songs requires the same grasp of one's inner self and harmony as any other magic, but also specific talents above and beyond this. While the specific traits that it requires is hard to pin down, deep grasp and appreciation of the world's harmony seems to be key. The most talented magical musicians often claim that they can listen to the world singing to them - in the bubbling brook, the winds through leaves, and sunlight streaming over the horizon. Any musician can ATTEMPT to play these songs, but without that talent and skill, it will simply be notes and accomplish nothing. Song mages must not only play the notes, but what it represents with every note.

Most magical musicians use enchanted instruments for best effect, though some less-talented song mages cannot manage at all without them. These come in all shapes and sizes, though very few of them are particularly POWERFUL or have any specific powers on their own. Still, some do exist. In fact, some of the most unusual enchanted items happen to be instruments geared towards a purpose. (Such as the 'Bagpipes of Severing.')

It is technically possible to manage song magic using nothing but voice, but only for the extremely gifted. Most can barely make a song resonate without an instrument, and those who can go entirely without any and compete with those who do are exceedingly rare individuals thought especially blessed by the Goddesses.

Song Magic is explicitly incompatible with Dark Magic. Though many who practice the forbidden arts have tried, no feat of Dark Magic can be accomplished through song, and instruments infused with dark magics never cooperate with the songs of the world the Goddesses made. In fact, it is very difficult for Dark Magic users who have gone deeply down the path to even invoke Song Magic at all. If songs from before the world was made exist, however, none have been discovered, and scholars can only shiver at the thought of what they might do.

++++ The Sages

(To be written)

++++ Dark Magic

In the beginning, it was Din who shaped the Earth, Nayru who forged the patterns of Order through song, Farore who breathed life.... but before them was Darkness and Chaos. Though the Goddesses sealed it away deep in the earth, it cannot be denied, seething through the cracks and crevices throughout Hyrule and waiting to be unleashed. The Anti-thesis of all that the Goddesses created, it can be tapped by those seeking to reshape the Earth wrought by Din's arms, to defile the patterns Nayru sang, and return life to those who exhaled the spirit Farore gave them. That is Dark Magic, arts forbidden by the Goddesses. Any mystical feat that seeks to warp and usurp the natural flows of the world against the their grand design falls under this category.

Dark Magic is invoked in much the same way that normal magic is. However, it requires the caster to essentially denounce, in his or her heart, the ways of balance. It may begin as a quest for power unrivaled, which Dark Magic can certainly provide. Perhaps contempt, indignation, or a desire for revenge sparked it instead. Ancient tales in Hyrule often describe that those who 'fall' to the allure of Dark Magic do so from deep-rooted hatred, unbridled spite, lust for power, and other 'dangerous' thoughts and feelings. Casting their respect for the world and the natural order aside, these individuals open themselves to the Chaos that was the world before the Goddesses came, and in so doing declare themselves outsiders to the world that gave them life.

Regardless of how one becomes adept at the Dark Arts, nothing comes for free, and those who seek to master the Dark Arts, bit by bit, give up something of themselves in turn. Twisting and warping the work of the Goddesses does the same to oneself. Dark enlightenment brought by Chaos' touch attacks the user, body, mind, and spirit. No user of Dark Magic can escape the changes it brings. Physical changes are usually mutations and abberations that begin at skin color changes and end with monstrous transformations into demonic forms for those who've wholly embraced the forbidden arts. Mental changes occur too, as emotions become unpredictable and volatile, seething deeply like a volcano. Emotions once kept in balance shift wildly, with urges often becoming irresistible, firm beliefs becoming mad zealotry and a spiral into insane obsessions, and sometimes much worse.

How well one handles these changes depends entirely on a person's strength of spirit. The stronger one's will, focus, emotional discipline, and vision, the better one can remain mostly themselves. It is these individuals who are feared the most by all who dwell in Hyrule. It is important to note, however, that while users of Dark Magic are always twisted in some fashion from the perspective of Hyrule's inhabitants, expected to fall into madness and become a menace to the world, not every practitioner of the Forbidden Arts fits the traditional 'dark lord' or 'crazed necromancer' image that most often comes to mind - some are simply 'misguided' souls, others take much longer to fall so far. Similarly, nor is it entirely impossible for a person who has started down the path to turn away from it... or so some theorize. Most however, believe that absolute power corrupts absolutely.

To date, the only known cases of anyone turning away from Dark Magic happened the first time they touched it, recoiling away from that enlightenment for one reason or another.

Once a mage has properly initialized themselves in the forbidden arts and gained an understanding of them, they have quite an array of magic available to them that would otherwise be impossible to use. The well-known art of necromancy falls under this art, the antithesis to Farore in binding souls that should be departing to corpses, animating bodies with a false life as a near-mindless puppet, and conjuring specters of the dead's malice. Other black sorcerers pervert and twist the elements, learn to warp the physical world and lay deep-rooted curses on others that take away their form, will, or poison them to the core. Still more seek communion with their predecessors, those spirits of animate Chaos that became known as 'Demons,' to serve the stronger ones and summon the weaker creatures as slaves. More achieve otherwise impossible goals against the natural order - such as transcending their mortal flesh and spirit to become something much more. Unlike regular magic (or Light Magic, as some sages call it), Song has no power with Chaos - in fact, it absolutely abhors it. It is impossible for even a very talented singer mage to use Dark Magic in conjuction with his or her other skill.

It is quite possible, however, to enchant objects with Dark Magic. Some well-known artifacts that come to mind would be Ganon's Trident or the Fused Shadows. These objects often must be crafted over the course of many years in areas more aligned with Chaos (corrupted temples, etc.) and then constructed very carefully. However, once finished, they often wield terrible and awful powers.

Ordinary magic is ill-suited to combat the heights of what Dark Magic can accomplish in the hands of a truly adept wielder of it. All but the best defenses are easily torn asunder or bypassed, and few counterspells and other means have much effect. Dark Magic has even been proven capable of crippling the Great Spirits themselves, who are thought to be above any serious physical or mystical harm by beings of Hyrule. There do exist rituals and spells designed to purge it, but only the most potent mages - often specialists in the arts - stand a chance to directly counter it.

+++ Society and Culture



++++ Law in Hyrule

In Hyrule, the Royal Family of Hyrule Castle Town decides the overarching laws of the land. Prior to the Great Cataclysm, the Royal Family and the Council installed a system of Laws. Many of these Laws were edicts by the Goddess Hylia before her mysterious disappearance, and others have been policies adopted by the Royal Family over time. After the Great Cataclysm, a new, stricter series of laws have been adopted.

On the surface, many of Castle Town's laws are common sense. Some prime examples:

* Citizens shall cooperate with the Royal Guard as the enforcers of law.
* Citizens shall accept the Council and ruling monarchs of Hyrule as supreme arbitrators of justice.
* The practice of Dark Magic is forbidden and punishable by death.
* Stealing is forbidden and punishable by time in prison or undertaking hard labor as determined by the ruling monarchs or their appointed representative.
* Deliberate murder is punishable by death.

While these laws apply to a few of the closest cities to Hyrule Castle Town, they apply more directly to the central town itself. With a tighter guard force, Castle Town has an easier time enforcing the laws, but the outlying areas, cities, and tributaries do not have such a strict style of rule. In fact, places like Kakariko Village are far more lax, considering their lower rate of crime compared to the Castle Town proper.

In practice, the enforcement of laws and punitive measures taken can vary greatly based on everything from the disposition of the guards or appointed judges, the personality, reputation, and reasons of the criminal, the mood and opinion of the infringed (if applicable) and any number of more things. Children often get off easy for most mischief, but the reputation of their parents suffers instead. Mages who've once tasted Dark Powers but turned their back on it just as quickly are often watched, but only accused of crimes if suspicions or evidence that they've embraced it turns up. Sometimes a death sentence on a once-loved member of the community becomes exile to appease the populace.

Naturally, laws differ in other areas entirely. While the more severe laws in towns and regions fall under the judgment of Elders, Patriarchs, and Matriarchs, the majority of "laws" of Hyrule revolve around preserving customs, traditions, and everyday life. For example, it is forbidden for men who haven't proven their worth to enter the Gerudo Fortress. In the Zora Domain, it is forbidden for anyone not of Priest or Priestess status to touch Jabun without his permission. Respect and reverence for the Great Spirits and the faith to the Golden Goddesses are the supreme law of the land, no matter where one might go. Indeed, for offenses that potentially ruin or warp the world, it is the Great Spirits who mete out their own righteous form of justice. To put it simply, spirituality, belief, and culture hold deep meaning and value for those native to Hyrule. Thus, while in the land of Hyrule, one must understand carefully the laws and beliefs of the peoples in order to not offend the citizens, or worse, their spiritual leaders.