Chaos Magic

Main Idea

Chaos magic is the manipulation of fate itself. It is comparable to the power that Nu-Nu's faithful have over luck, but is much more complex and deep than that. Chaos magic is about breaking bonds and tapping into the imagination of the user. The actual usage of the power needs and incredible amount of willpower, and either a wild imagination or a slightly insane individual to use it. Neurosis is common among those few who are able to practice chaos magic. It's not known whether this is a factor that makes chaos magic easier to obtain, or a result of overuse of the magic. Chaos magic itself though, does encourage and push users towards being more unstable and unpredictable. Chaos magic can very easily lead to corruption because of this, but because of the unique position that those who practise chaos magic are in, this isn't guaranteed.

It is argued by some that chaos arcanists are not fully in control of the effects they can conjure. Some theorise that the users simply tap into their imagination and let their thoughts go free. Chaos arcanists are generally unwilling to talk to people about their powers and very few have the patience to actually record how it works. It's been said that normal people wouldn't understand the strain that chaos magic puts on the mind and soul.

Manifestation

Chaos arcanists are typically people who have wild imaginations, or have some touch of insanity about them. The magic itself is tailored more towards those with a certain level of instability and urge to claim their own freedom and act as they wish. It is strenuous to call upon this magic and takes a great amount of willpower to actually use.

Not all of those that suit the magic end up using it. The position of those that can use the magic safely is a very unique one indeed. One has to have immense levels of concentration or force of will, while also being at the same time spontaneous and often unwilling to learn the other magics. Having high magical potential is another requisite, those who are not innately powerful cannot call upon some of the greater powers available to the chaos arcanist.

Those who are fully insane cannot use this magic at all. Those who become insane as a result of this magic often end up becoming far stronger, but less in control of themselves, to the point that their use of the magic becomes suicidal, and the users end up mulching their souls and minds. Those who use chaos magic change physically and mentally.

It is not uncommon for the eyes of a chaos user to change colour when they use magic, and remain the changed colour. This can lead to heterochromia. Hair colour can also change over time too, and easily develops streaks of different shades.

The mind changes in less visible ways. Those who practice chaos magic become more and more impatient over time. As their power grows, their need to use the power more and more grows too. They become dependant on the magic and love using it non-stop for minor things, often at the expense of their own health.

Capabilities

Chaos magic is chaotic. One of the main applications of this magic is to break bonds and unravel physical things. This is useful, as chaos arcanists typically find themselves on the wrong side of the law. Chaos magic is great at inverting things, changing them. This applies to people too sometimes. Extended exposure to chaos magic can cause people to begin exhibiting the signs of being a chaos mage. Being in close contact with more powerful chaos magic will almost always change something about a person, being the target of this magic is to be at the mercy of the caster's twisted mind. Those who practise order magic are far better at resisting these effects, and are great at remaining stoic when fighting chaos arcanists, which makes them effective at fighting chaos magic users.

Chaos magic is useful in many ways. In it's most basic form, chaos magic can inflict bad luck or bring good luck to someone. This can be done in a few ways, and the impacts hit those other than the target. Beginner chaos magic cannot retroactively change things, but it's effects are far reaching, and asking for simple things can bring those things in random and unexpected ways. It can though, place obstacles in someone's way or either make those obstacles easier to pass or completely remove them. For example, bringing good luck upon a commoner may mean that a nobleman drops a coinpurse for the commoner to find for one reason or another. The user does not get to decide these circumstances, and this can lead to terrible things as one gets better at the magic. Wishing for one person's death or injury could lead to the death or injury of many others (If your magic releases a wild animal which mauls commoners), and is not effective as a sure-fire way of killing someone. Other magics would be much more effective at doing so, a blast of fire or throwing a very large rock at someone would take less effort and would have fewer indirect consequences.

More experienced users of chaos magic learn to warp things around them in different random ways. This is when combat with chaos magic becomes far more viable. There are no bolts of chaos magic, instead, the chaos magic will typically seek to change itself into something else, forming into a fireball or a bolt of electricity. The less control a chaos mage places on this, the more powerful and the more random the effect of the spell. Chaos magic is not meant to be controlled in such ways.

At its very worst, chaos magic is capable of unwinding reality itself, and bringing down the madness of the user upon others. They can retroactively affect events at their most powerful, changing how things really are. It's rumoured that chaos arcanists eventually learn how to unwind the soul inside a body, or invert living bodies themselves, making their insides their outsides, efficiently dispatching their enemies in an extremely gory and bloody way.

The effectiveness of chaos magic for gambling is arguable, as the magic itself promotes randomness rather than being able to choose a particular outcome.