from Smiting Champs -The Expedition to the Talj Junction – 3 – Wielders of the Gold 3
The Halfyn Heir is very familiar with a form of hand magic that is eerily similar to the hand magic that became the standard in the Fonlands for users of the technique; there is no grimoire in the Fonlands for hand magic and the formations were largely discovered through intuition and intention. Over time, the Fonlanders using hand magic just realized that certain formations of the hands and the digits of the hand produced certain effects, and some paid more attention than others and became better at it, but there have never been firm rules about hand magic.
Curiously, the magic wielders of universe Prime 5 also have a system of hand magic that almost perfect aligns with the system that originated in the Fonlands, though historians assume that it must have developed from the influence of the Fonlands. This is likely not true, though, because hand magic developed on planets like Rycoia that had no interaction with the Fonlands or Fonlanders but a strong connection to the Arcana of universe Prime 5. The establishment of formations and the proliferation of hand magic through universe Prime 5 can be attributed to the Mystics of Fytor, the most powerful wielders of Arcana on the planet, and the subject of a very popular serialized broadcast developed on Rycoia about the history of the mystics. Beings all around Prime 5 learned something of ancient Arcana as well as hand magic from the broadcast and users of arcane knowledge the universe over used those techniques to refine their knowledge.
It should also be mentioned that the Fonlanders of the planet Earth who made their home in the southeast US, namely the umbatia, developed a system of hand magic completely ignorant of the Rycoian broadcasts, but they share many of the same formations, though there are formations in each of the systems that do not appear in the other.
All that is to say that hand magic is firmly established across many realities and there is uncanny consistency in the formations. The home universe of the Halfyn Heir is very familiar with hand magic. In that reality, hand magic is widely taught and utilized, so much so that normal beings who have no particular proclivity to wielding magic, casually use formations in lieu of things like flashlights or leaf blowers…
– Issue 1 – Formations
Arcana can be expressed with physical movements that create patterns in spacetime to elicit a desired reaction based on knowledge of the arcane patterns of space time. So, if a magic user desires to make something happen using arcana and is not able to speak or chooses not to, they can use any part of their body, though hands are the most effective, to mimic an arcane formation of energy that produces specific physical consequences.
Formations require the magic wielder to possess a source of magic that can be tapped to effectively execute a Formation, meaning that simply replicating a Formation isn’t enough to produce the desired effect. Any kind of magic can be used to fuel a Formation.
Examples of Hand Magic Formations
Torch Formation
Gale Formation
Mind Link Formation
Search Formation
PRL Serials 