Origins of the Haan Magic System

The Haan magic system is the core of the Eferian world and became the foundation for most of The Eferian Day’s ideas and concepts including Catchers, Soul Slingers, Chronic Healers, the Hath, Haan-related weather, the Haan talisman and the entirety of Haan spell’s movements and behaviours just to name a few. The Haan system have not only become the primary reason for many of the Sagen world’s ideas’ existence. But also, The Haan system too took over the primary focus of the ongoing development of the stories being told within the texts.

In 2015, during the early stages of this project, the books planned within that time was mainly focused on traditional Fantasy storytelling like one have seen many times before. And then in 2018 did the first concepts of what later became Dast Casting begin to form.

Of course, back in 2015, the books planned to be made would have looked nothing like how The Eferian Day is today. Throughout the eight years The Eferian Day have been in development have there been tremendous change for both the Sagen world and for my own personal development. Though I would not classify the texts I made back then to be ‘’bad’’, the focus of those texts was written with a ‘’to me, by me’’ mindset. And because of it did the text suffer for its ability to be enjoyed by others.

Major change began to happen as well due to my formal educations and the experiences and understanding of human history I gained from them. Many of these aspects affected The Eferian Day’s storytelling and overarching worldbuilding alongside the Haan system. Because of the privilege of being able to get the type of educations which centres around the historical periods The Eferian Day is loosely based within were I able to form the worldbuilding to a much greater depth of detail.

Related: my educations (About the Author)

It is because of the importance the Haan system holds for the continued development of the Eferian world that I want to dedicate this post to give an in-depth view into the making of the Haan magic system.

The Early Stages of the Haan Systems’ Creation

The creation of the Haan system begun with Dast Casting and the symbolism which later became the mark for the Minbry-Point. These were the two concepts that became the building blocks for Haan spell characters, Dhemsen, Vexing, Trimél’s Uphold and Cambriny. All of which being created a few weeks later.

For Dast Casting, the original stretches of Haan spell’s movements was drawn in chalk on top of my forge during my Blacksmithing education. At that point I did not have a full explanation for the Minbry-Point. Nor did I have the term Haan to describe these ideas to detail.

All the drawings consisted of was a dot with a horizontal eight-figure surrounding it. Beside it were multiple arrows pointing towards the eight-figure. I knew there was going to be a method for ‘’dragging’’ magic powers into a singular location. Yet I did not have a clear way of explaining how or why this was possible. Nor did I have any of the Haan elements’ reactions to showcase how Haan spells gained their powers. A few days after I had made that sketch, I drew the concept piece which later became the primary idea behind Climb Theory for Dast Casting spell’s behaviour in the air. This drawing looked like a volcano with a chain of rising circles and arrows going in from the top and out through the bottom.

Much of the time off I had from the courses, I worked on the ideas behind spell compositions and how Haan spells’ function and interact with their surroundings. Many concepts were made during these times. Many of the concepts I created laid focus on the Haan spells themselves opposed from the surrounding environment and Haan’s interactions with objects and life within the Sagen world.

Shortly thereafter was the concept of Dhemsen created. This was the first time I integrated reactions into the spell compositions as the thoughts before it did not have those types of ideas for the formation of Haan spells. Though the reactions being added were mainly focused on the movements and behaviours of the spells themselves and not the combinations of Haan elements to cause destructive powers. The Haan spells being held around the Minbry-Point did not change due to Dhemsen’s interference. This did not come into play until way later.

Haan Spell Characters’ Creation

During the time I was making the concepts for spell composition, the way in which those formations were written down consisted primarily of letters and numbers. This was also during the time I was beginning to make the symbols for the Haan elements.

The first Haan symbol I made was the Minbry-Point.

I began drawing the concepts for the Haan symbols on a small, black notebook each person was given during the first week of the Blacksmithing course. The Minbry-Point was not only the first symbol I made. But also, the Minbry-Point symbol was the first thing I drew on the top-left corner of the first page. This notebook was the main drawing book I ended up using throughout the duration of two years’ time. From the start of my Blacksmithing education to the end of the first year of the practical archaeology education, this notebook became the primary source of written-down ideas surrounding the Sagen world. This also included the Eferian species’ languages and the early stages of the book cover titles.

The Haan spell characters have been heavily inspirated by the writing techniques of Mandrin. The Chinese writings using brushes with elongated handles for their characters ended up being very close to the style for the Haan characters. During the time I was making the first characters, one of the people who were in my course pointed out that some of the styling of examples for older Haan character writings within Sagen’s lore looked extremely like the Seal Script of older Chinese writing techniques.

Sagen’s Magic: Old v. New

The Haan system became one of the largest influences for the new appearance of the Sagen world.

When I first began making the concepts for The Eferian Day, the project was not much different from a generic Fantasy world. I did have the idea of expanding the mythical world and ideas of traditional folktales behind the series. Yet the Sagen world only saw an overview of what the Eferian world could be. ROUE, The Sunset River alongside the Eferian species and empires were all a part in the old version of Sagen.

But the world itself was not explained enough to warrant its uniqueness the Haan system gave it. As well as my formal educations which also gave great contribution to the project. Seeing the progression of the Sagen world have shown a tremendous deal of change. Both for the Eferian world and myself.

With further development to The Eferian Day and the world within it will great change continue to happen. And it is through the curiosity and explanations of Fantasy worlds where these concepts begin to form from the start. Without the question of why, the Sagen world would look like any other generic Fantasy realm and be forever remembered in my mind as such.

It is both my own will as well as the will of others that invoke change to old, tired thoughts. And then shall see the progression to concepts which have been swept under the ‘’it’s magic’’ rug. Challenging and questioning creates viewpoints where new thoughts are capable of flourishing. Whether in Fantasy realms or Real Life, curiosity is what keeps the mind young and is the cause for the continuing progression to our civilisation. People’s constant curiosity is the reason we today can live the lives we have.

And this is the same mentality I bring into The Eferian Day. The old version of Sagen will always be remember. But without the progression these eight years have brought, this project would not have seen the light of day. And I welcome others to bring their thoughts and points of view to challenge the ideas and concepts which I have brought forth.

In the same way I have done to others.