Shirak & Dumak

System of magic in the Mechavax universe

In the Mechavax Universe, magic works according to two core principles.

1. Non-coercion: If individuals voluntarily devote themselves to follow a pantheon and their principals, they will be empowered with imbued magic from that faction. Humans, for example, were given free will and willingly chose to follow the Lumi. Their access to hopium gives them access to more powerful magic than the Illithids and dumak. The Illithids lack free will unless they are of a higher rank, but at that point, the brainwashing of their society has already been successful

2. Equivalent exchange: Non-deities can’t create magic from nothing and something of equal value must be lost or sacrificed to use more than what is readily available. By harnessing hopium, early civilizations on Earth were created, but a sacrifice was made to keep up with the demand. The purity of light was tarnished, and humans began committing the deadly sin of Pride. Because of this, light inherently dims whenever humanity suffers, which ultimately affects the Lumi. There is a good chance that extinction of the human race would destroy the pantheon of light.

Both hopium and dumak have access to the elements as well as the core defining properties of their respective magics.