The Inkthistle Hollow guide to magic.

I have a bit of a longer post for you today, so sit down, make yourself a cup of tea, coffee, or something colder if you’re in the southern hemisphere right now haha.

(also there are cat pics at the end…)

Every magical realm needs at least SOME rules on how magic works, or it’s just a big mess. I’ve been pulling together some overviews for us to reference when developing our story for the fractured library further, and while I don’t want to spoil any of it, I CAN share this guide to magic!

Magic explanation overview

The magic in Inkthistle Hollow is intrinsic in everything living that originated in this realm, but only some creatures can wield it. For example, the grass has small amounts of magic, but can’t use that for anything because it’s grass. It does mean that when used for spells or other purposes, it will be more useful than grass from the human realm. It also means that fruit and vegetables are tastier and have more nutrients than its human counterparts. 

A larger creature, like a deer, has magic, but lacks the ability to use it to manipulate the environment. Many animals can understand spoken human language, but it’s up for debate whether they all do and most choose not to engage, or if only some of them can use this gift.

Human-like creatures such as the gnome (from Inkthistle forest) and Hazel (the witch librarian), both have magic and can wield it. This is because they have had appropriate training, and they were fortunate to be born into a lineage with strong magic.

Hazel was born into a witch family and instilled with the values of the witch code, when her training ended, she swore an oath to only use her magic for good, and she takes it very seriously.

Gnome, on the other hand, has not divulged any of his background to us, and we’re unsure of what he is capable of or where his loyalty lies.

Elliot (you may know him from the demo) does not have magic because he is not originally from Inkthistle Hollow; he merely discovered a weakness in the barrier between realms when he and Mariella were children and has been crossing there without realizing it to reach the library ever since. 

Hazel could have patched up the weakness, but seeing the joy the Library brought Elliot and Mariella, she left it open. 

How does the library protection crystal work?

At the heart of the Inkthistle hollow community library sits a crystal that was filled with magic from three of the most powerful witches and wizards in history. Because of the type of crystal it is, it’s able to be used as a vessel that, unless broken, will hold magic that will retain the same potency. 

The crystal is enchanted to be permanently powering the barriers between worlds so that each world can exist in peace. 

This means that the humans (aside from a couple of lucky wanderers in earlier years) have no idea Inkthistle Hollow exists. Hence why it’s so nice. 

The crystal also keeps the stories inside the books. 

Because books are such powerful portals to other worlds, when the barriers weaken, they are some of the first to become restless, and elements from their stories can begin to seep out into the library. This also means they’re at risk of foreign contaminants corrupting their stories.

Because the barriers came down when the crystal broke, an evil world housing the chaos magic was able to get its tendrils out and into many of the other universes, starting with the library. 

What happens when the chaos magic corrupts things? 

Since the chaos magic has come into the Inkthistle realm, it’s begun to spread like a disease or some sort of mold, growing stronger at the source (which, unfortunately, is the Library) and is spreading out throughout the whole realm with the goal of spreading to all realms and turning them into one mega chaos realm. 

It’s unknown if the magic has thoughts or goals, or if it’s just behaving like a virus in the way that its sole purpose is to spread and therefore survive. 

When the chaos magic corrupts things, there are three possible results. 

1. They die. Grass, plants, and some bugs may simply pass away. 
2. They turn evil. A friendly old tree that is too weak to fight the chaos might start to grab at passersby and become a host to spread the chaos further.
3. They start decaying. E.g, the library begins to fall apart because of the energy the chaos magic is throwing around everywhere.  

I can’t wait for you to see this working for yourself when you play the game. Until then, please let me know if there’s any specific lore you’re interested in!