Relic Types

Brief categories of magical objects.

True Relics

Created by wizards, often using artifacts as a base. Expensive process to make. True relics have inherent magic. Most of them are treasured.

Replica Relics

Copies of true relics, crafted by ordinary skilled artisans for sorcerer use. A replica has no inherent magic — it replicates the form of a specific true relic whose wizard established a standing agreement with the world for that relic. The replica channels the effect through the agreement, not through power of its own. Each line of replicas traces back to one true relic and one contract; no category-wide agreements exist.

Artifacts

Objects that have managed to get filled with magic by various means — most often during the Olden World. Not crafted for it; more of an accident that they formed this way. Valuable source of magic. Wizards often destroy them to harness it. Used by spiritual practitioners. Power comes from the magic within; no tradition or institution required. Can be really powerful.

Materials

The magic system favours continuity, and this extends to the physical makeup of relics. Saturating an object with magic is easier when the material already lends itself to holding it. Gold, silver, lead, gemstones, and crystals are the most common bases for true relics — not because they are inherently magical, but because a wizard attempting to force magic into an object meets less resistance from the world when working with them.

Artifacts carry no such restriction. They were never designed to hold magic; the magic settled into them on its own, most often during the Olden World. Their forms reflect this — horns, teeth, spikes, stones, clays, silks, branches, and other natural materials are common. The material did not need to be receptive; the magic simply ended up there.

Replica relics inherit their material requirements from the standing agreement, not from any intrinsic property. Whatever form the original true relic took, the replica must correspond to it closely enough for the world to recognize it as part of the same pattern. If the agreement was established for a gold staff, the replicas are gold staffs.