Magical Conductivity

Terminology
Magical Conductivity: The property in which a material or substance can be directly affected by magical energy channelled through it, thus allowing it to be enhanced, damaged or moved by magic. Materials which display low conductivity are said to be magically resistant or immune.

Elemental form: Pure, natural state. For example, unprocessed iron.


Overview
All natural materials from the soil and rocks in the ground to organisms have a degree of magic conductivity. The level of this conductivity varies from material to material. Things that are living or were living at one point have some of the greatest magical conductivity of any substance. Of course while something like the human body is extremely magically conductive it displays a certain degree of resistance to magic, like all living things. However once the body or part of the body has died then this resistance dies with it.

Certain industrial processors lessen this magical conductivity of a substance that would naturally display it;the more processes it goes though, the less magically conductive it will be. A material or substance which is totally artificial or created through artificial means would display little to no magical conductivity.
Results
Materials with organic or natural origins such as wood, bone and minerals/cyrstals are magically conductive.
This is often why shamen use wooden staffs with skulls and other pieces of bone attached to help channel their magic. Wood or stone for example is extremely easy to enchant and can be laced with very powerful spells, including ones capable of animating the wood or stone, producing, golems, elementals etc.

The downside of this high magic conductivity is that it can work the other way in that these materials can be very vulnerable to magic unless the enchantment provides a specific defense; in which case it comes down to who has the stronger magic. As stated before something which is alive will have a natural magic defense, of course this defense can be overcome if the opposing magic is strong enough.

Materials such as metals in their elemental form, basic alloys such as steel and fabrics or even primitive paper have fairly reasonable magic conductivity as the processes used to create them are relatively simple. This allows for weapons and armour made from these materials to be enchanted although not to the same extent as an unprocessed material.

Unnatural processed materials, like carbon fiber, kevlar, and advanced alloys or ceramics are highly magic resistant. This resistance means such materials will not be effected by magical enchantments or spells, likewise they cannot be enchanted or enhanced by magic in any way.

There are many cases however where materials with high and very low magical conductivity are in contact with one another; this includes the ground that you are standing on, but given the environment of Felarya its contribution is moot. While spells like a magic bolt of doom or an enchanted blade effect the point of impact other spells, such as opening a portal, will effect an area.

With magic that effects the point of impact the overall effects are determined by what material is struck; if an enchanted blade were to strike a kevlar vest, whatever the enchantment it would not have any effect on the vest. Of course the sword could still physically penetrate the vest; meaning a mage could enchant their own strength in an effort to penetrate the armour. As such an enchantment works on the wielder rather than the sword; the inherent magical resistance of the kevlar means nothing as it is being struck by just a sword, abilt at a higher velocity. If the material behind the vest is magically conductive then the enchantment could work its magic on that material. Likewise one cannot disarm an opponent using magic if their weapons are highly resistant or have no magical conductivity.

For spells which effect the whole of the target or the area around it, such as opening a portal, then the resistance is determined by the mass ratio of all the conductive or resistant materials. An Isolon Fist soldier wearing a natural fiber uniform, carrying a VMS assault rifle and ammunition while wearing a flak jacket would be able to be teleported by a portal opened by a portal mage. While the weapon and armour have very high magical resistance, these materials do not make up the majority of the soldier’s mass, allowing him or her to be teleported. A Vishmital Mechanised Trooper wearing heavy powered armour would not be able to be teleported by the same portal as the vast majority of the mass is composed of materials which are resistant to magic. Rather than be teleported the Trooper would simply walk through the portal as if it wasn’t there.

Due to the above, Vishmital vehicles and equipment are magic resistant. This provides a reason for why the Magiocrats didn't just subdue the Vishmitals with magic as soon as confrontations between the two sides began.

As the dimensional portals of Felarya are mostly magic in nature they need to be sustained on the other side; if the environment is a natural setting such as a pristine forest, the portal will remain open. However it is highly unlikely that a portal originating in Felarya would open in a modern city or even a world with high pollution levels. Thus Felarya does not connect to many advanced or industrialised worlds, unless with the aid of some form of dimensional technology, however these portals aren’t the most reliable.

While mages can't directly effect magic resistant materials, they can still indirectly effect magic resistant things. For example:
If Ramtov Telekline was to go up against Vishmital mechanised trooper. he wouldn't be able to throw him around directly with his telekinesis, but he would still be able to hurl boulders at him.

While magic is limited in direct usefulness against advanced technology one must remember that Felarya has no large scale advanced industrialisation and that most civilisations use a basic form of technology, mainly using unaltered natural resources.