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.

Wizards themselves sometimes use a true relic — or even a well-made replica — as a conduit when working a spell as the object carries a form the world already recognizes from the standing agreement, and channelling a spell through that form meets less resistance than forcing an effect from nothing. — offering the world a familiar shape so it yields more readily. Not all wizards bother. Those with deep stockpiles can afford to impose their will directly, and some consider reliance on a conduit a crutch. But for demanding or delicate workings, a relic in hand can ease the opening moment of a spell considerably.

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.

Hundreds of distinct replica lines are in circulation, though their spread is far from even. A handful dominate — widely produced, widely known — while many others see only limited regional use.

Craftsmanship and condition matter. The world pattern-matches the replica against the original true relic’s form, and a dirty or poorly-made replica is harder to cast with — not because of the sorcerer’s confidence, but because the object itself is less convincing to the pattern the world maintains.

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.