A Brief History of Magic | Part 1 | The Planes

The Tangian Plane

Feel the sun warm your face or the rain wet your brow. Smell flowers in the meadow or a pie in the oven. Hear birds sing or musicians play. All of this and more, everything you experience, the completeness of all existence, resides within the Tangian Plane. We do not know when or how the Tangian Plane came into being but magical and non-magical study suggests its age and scope are vast.

The earliest mention of the Tangian Plane was in a partial Sum Sum treatise believed to be over fifteen hundred years old. The author’s name much like most of the work was lost to time but the surviving pages show the breadth and sophistication of The Lost Kingdom.

The Land

Ours is a fertile world of soil and sea. Cyrrn, the largest continent, stretches nearly halfway around the globe, reaching above and below the equator. Penkal, the second largest continent, and its arc of islands spans the northern hemisphere. The Summalen Isles dominate the great southwestern ocean. Numerous islands of many sizes populate the seas between these coasts, except for one region.

North of where the Jagged Mountains line Cyrrn’s coast is wide open water, devoid of any land for thousands of miles. This is where the continent of Krell once sat before the Magus destroyed it. We do not know much of Krell. Fragmentary accounts describe it as smaller than Penkal, surrounded by steep cliffs with few natural harbors. There are no reliable descriptions of the interior or the Krell people who called it home.

The Sum Sum were the first known seafaring people and created the earliest world maps. Perhaps their traders had dealings with the Krell. Whether they did or not was not documented in surviving texts.

The Sky

the Sum Sum scholars were avid sky watchers. They documented much of what we know about our sky bound neighborhood including naming the great bodies within it. I prepared the below diagram to help visualize them.

• Okenu. “The One Fire.” The bright sun in our sky. Okenu is a ball of flame so huge that all of these worlds would be lost in it like raindrops into the sea.
• Kurami. “Shadow Moth.” Twice the size of our world. Kurami spins so close to Okenu that the sun’s heat has left its surface a scorched and blacken wasteland.
• Gensuto [Cyrrn]. “Our Land.” I prefer the Sum Sum name of our world. The continent’s name, Cyrrn, was applied to the world during End Day reconstruction.
• Togatme. “Trailing Brother.” Our mysterious twin world. According to the Sum Sum, Togatme circles Okenu nearly in our wake but much slower. It is currently on the far side of Okenu but must have been near during the Sum Sum’s time for them to describe it as having sea and land.
• Shandrii. “The Jewel.” Shandrii is a massive world of swirling storms and enormous rings. As of this writing, Shandrii is behind Okenu, but in several months its rings will rise from the horizon to dominate the day and night skies.

The Sum Sum study of the sky was truly remarkable. Magi from all Orders confirm their observations from over a thousand years ago through the use of complex spells. When you gaze into the night sky you see other suns like Okenu, so far away they appear as pinpoints of light. Some of these suns are so massive they could swallow Okenu and Shandrii with ease. Others are not individual suns at all, but clusters of untold thousands grouped together. Some suns fade over ages while others rip apart in unfathomable explosions. There are suns supposedly so powerful that they conceal themselves from sight, shrouded in eternal darkness.

Whether recorded by the ancient Sum Sum or the Orders, these detailed sky views were not possible without magic. The power we call magic appears to be all around us, and it is, and also it is not. Magic derives from a separate plane from the Tangian Plane, called the Magian.

The Magian Plane

I offer special appreciation to Master Mage Petair Talwyn of the Feb’Ron Order, Master Mage Jonathan Wolhege of the Gen’Dom Order, and historian William Casteel of Dukal, for meeting me and answering my many questions. It is only through their guidance and patience that I am able to discuss this subject with any degree of authority or comfort. Instead of delving into complicated concepts and details, I will address magic through several direct questions. If you wish to learn more, I recommend visiting your regional Orders university. Perhaps becoming a magical scholar is in your future.

What is the Magian Plane?

The Magian Plane exists along with but separate from the Tangian Plane. I know this is difficult to understand. Think of the sea and land. They both exist on Cyrrn but are are separate realms with their own rules. We can breathe and walk on land but not in the sea. It is the distinct rules that govern these regions and distinguish the two Planes as well.

When I flip a coin in the Tangian Plane, there is a chance of it landing on one side and a chance of it landing on the other, but one hundred percent chance of it landing. If I flip the same coin in the Magian Plane anything can happen. The coin may never land, or land on both sides at once, or vanish, or turn into a cow. Basically, the rule of the Magian Plane is there are no rules.

This chaotic state where all possibilities being equal means the possibility of its randomizing energy channeling between the two planes is equally possible to it never happening, and so indeed, it happens.

What is magic?

Magic is not so much a thing but a result. It is what happens when the energy of the Magian channels into the Tangian Plane and alters aspects of reality, the rules of our world.

How do spells work?

A spell is a designed outcome of altering reality through magic. When a mage casts a spell, they tap into the Magian energies, directing them through their body and mind. It is in the mind where magic takes shape, guided by intense concentration and mental training. As a musician learns to control their fingers or lips in precise ways to create music, magi learn to control their thoughts in equally precise ways to create magic.

Someone operating with an average intelligence is strong enough to tap the Magian Plane. However, while producing a random spark of lightning from one’s fingertips is an admirable party trick, attempting spells without proper training is extremely dangerous. Consequences vary from nothing at all to an explosive death and worse. A person trapped in a bubble of wild magic can experience untold horrors before they die. If they die.

Does magic have limits?

Yes. While anything can happen in the Magian Plane, when that energy channels into the Tangian, it is somewhat altered and constrained by our reality. The results of which are detailed in the Laws of Magical Dynamics. The first law taught to mage students states that magic cannot alter or create life. The reason is not fully understood but may have to do with the natural energy generated by a living thing. Similar to trying to cast spells without training, trying to grow wings on a dog turns out very bad for the caster.

What about the Magus?

Legends tell of the Magus performing unbelievable feats of magical destruction including transforming animals and people in monsters to fight their wars. If the smallest bit of these tales are true, I am glad they destroyed themselves. I only wish they did not take the Krell people with them. It is staggering to think only eleven magic users battled the world for a generation before being defeated. Who knows what world we would have now if they succeeded in their lust for dominance.

In Conclusion

The world and magic share many qualities. They are both wonderous, mysterious, exciting, and terrifying. It is only by learning about them can we prepare ourselves for the challenges and rewards they offer.

I referenced the Sum Sum several times in this entry for good reason. They were a fascinating people whose achievements influenced the world. Join me next time when we explore them and the rise and tragedy of the Sum Sum Kingdom.

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You have been reading A Brief History of Magic. A companion piece to The Chaos of Magic book series. Book 1 of the series, A Nightmare of Magic and Madness comes out February 9, 2026.