"Mages think so that you don't have to."
Gla-Blek Gokk
Aether
Aether is like the lifeforce of the worlds, permeating it and sustaining it. It's a colourless, odourless substance that manifests itself on the physical plane as somewhere between a liquid and a gas, sort of like the old-style ectoplasm that the mediums used back in the 19th century. However, it does not actually exist on the physical plane often, but its presence can still be felt in many parts of the worlds. Mages utilise this substance as a catalyst as well as fuel for their magic, willing it to do a specific action. However, due to the inherent nature of Aether, the action has to be very specific, or it might have unintended side-effects.
The properties of Aether include its incredible ability to emulate any physical substance, property, or energy. However, it is driven by the imagination of the channeller, and even then, in the case of mages, it will only vaguely follow what the mage intended, unless if the mage constrained it within a very specific set of rules.
Reagents are items that have a high Aether content. Magically-infused substances, items associated with life, all that. The often-used reagent that many carry are, surprisingly, acorns. Acorns have unnaturally high Aether content, therefore the Mages often use them the most. Another reagent that I've established so far is Crystalsand, from a place called the Crystalsands.
The Crystalsands a highly-Aether-rich location where Aether was literally ripped from its plane and pulled to the site, causing a large area around it to basically have its reality warped. I liken it to a Chernobyl effect; inside the Crystalsands, there are pockets of concentrated Aether. Anyone who even walks in the general vicinity of one will either go insane, gain tremendous power, or be mutated irrevocably by the chaotic effects of pure Aether. Naturally, even the sand is powerful; a grain of crystalsand is about as powerful as a single acorn in terms of Aether content.
Alchemy
Aether also is very soluble in water or any liquid substance. This means that, yes, potions do exist in some form, and thus alchemists exist as well. Unlike real-world alchemy, it is a refined art, and its range from medicine, war, scrying, and enchantments. Unlike conventional fantasy alchemy, though, it isn't only the water that is important; it's the potion bottle. It's often covered in Aetheric formulae, designed to change the properties of the Aetheric solution within it.
The Solution itself also changes the Aether's properties; water, for example, is often the baseline, and often used when the potion is to be drunk, while quicksilver is used for scrying, and oil for (you guessed it) making things go boom spectacularly. In the latter case, the bottles come very cheap, as making Aether explode is much, much easier than making it -not- explode.
The bottle would be inscribed instead with a command to 'explode', with a condition being 'upon breaking', then they'd pour some lightly-aetheric solution in (Oil is usually used, but anything can be, really) and then throw. Boom, instant exploding potion. If one wanted to, for example, grant the user the ability to breathe fireballs, it'll take a little more work and a more concentrated solution of Aether, and, depending on the solution itself, the more concentrated it is, the longer the duration of the firebreathing. Of course, one has to worry about ingesting too much Aether, but Aetheric solutions often are much, much less dangerous than pure Aether.
Nether
Netheric energy is the complete opposite of Aetheric energy. Aetheric energy only changed or mutated the world around it, and Netheric energy stunts the mutation, effectively nulling the Aetheric energy's effects. And instead of something that is manipulated by the imagination and the strength of will of the person, Netheric energy can be manipulated by only the emotions of an individual. Netheric energy also deals in intangible things, like thoughts, emotions, ideals, psychology, as well as being able to create something, anything, out of only Netheric energy, a rare feat which earned it the name 'the Energy of Creation'. Netheric energy, therefore, is inherently impossible to control consciously by the mortal races, and its control is thought by contemporary scholars to only be of the realm of the Gods. However, it does come into play in other ways.
This leads back to my theme of 'belief'. If one believes strongly enough in something, it will somehow manifest itself. If many believe in something, it will eventually somehow pop into existence, and it will change as the people do. The true Gods themselves used this to create avatars whom they control to govern a particular world - these avatars often being the 'Gods' that the mortal races see. The power of belief is limitless in my universe, although the denizens themselves do not know it.
Netheric energy also plays into the resistance of Aetheric manipulation; If an individual strongly believes that 'Magic' does not exist, Aether ceases to have a significant effect on him, due to a build-up of Nether on his person, which nulls any attempt to 'change' him via Aetheric manipulation. For example, a fireball conjured via a mage will harmlessly engulf him, causing no damage at all. Several groups have made use of this, though the willpower and belief needed prevented many individuals from fully resisting a spell. The Mage City/University of my world actually employs a tribe of desert-dwellers that have this resistance to magic, as arbiters, police, and renegade-hunters.
For the same reason, if someone believes that 'Magic' flows through him like water, Netheric energy avoids him, causing much less resistance against the flow of natural Aether through his body and easing his spellcasting, while actually increasing his vulnerability to change via Aether. Often, one believes so much in this that Aether often runs unchecked through their systems, altering the body and the reality around the mage, resulting in the phenomenon known as 'Wild Magic'.
The thing about the mortal beings is that, to attain the high level of control needed, they'd have to be Godlike, since Nether is, inherently, as chaotic as Aether, if not more. Someone like that might have an ironclad resistance to Aether, but his or her grasp on the control of Nether will be little to none - of course, this could still be quite a bit, since mastery of Nether would mean that one can actually make a physical object out of only Netheric energy, which, as far as scholars can theorize, exists everywhere. The manipulation of Netheric energy is much, much more delicate than the manipulation of Aetheric energy.
Of course, there are some who actually have attained Godlike powers through mastery of the Nether. The Titans in my world's mythos, in fact, were one of them, and a few Dragons have 'ascended' as well. The more normal humanoid races, however, have rarely, if ever, touched the surface of it. I've been trying to keep an emphasis on how properly hard it is to even scratch the surface of Netheric control.
Religious Context
Religious figures are often created by the amount of belief of the mortals- without the knowledge of the mortals themselves. Somewhat like Terry Pratchett's system of belief, really. These figures or 'Avatars' then are often controlled by the 'True Gods' of the universe, each having their own domains. In some cases, these figures are actual people who have ascended.
Priests strive for Godliness, sort of. The thing about the 'Gods' in my world is that it doesn't matter what the Gods represent; it's just how much faith the people put in them. Morals, customs, etc are just that - Morals and Customs, which are determined by whatever prophet or priest or leader or focus or ideal or whathaveyou. The very godly nature of Nether is much unknown to many; only a select few, including the most learned scholars in the realm of Theological Speculation, even know of its ability to create. Heck, most dismiss it as just a resistor of Aetheric energy.
An older version of Aetheric Manipulation is what they call Natural Magic, which druidic and shamanistic magic fall under. Back before Controlled Aetheric Manipulation, these two were thought to have no connection at all. Shamans and Druids, however, are about the same as priests - they only believe in different things: nature itself, natural spirits or ancestral spirits. Their belief system revolves around having a symbiotic relationship with nature. Take what you need, give back what you can, protect the environment, and, whenever possible, never kill without reason.
All of these belief systems involve drawing Aether from a direct source, be it a Religious figure, an ideal, nature, spirits of nature, or ancestral spirits. The Aether actually is drawn from these sources, but the Aether that is taken is actually from the True Gods themselves.
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