Ethereal-Space & Real-Space
The setting of Edda is built upon two conflicting, yet conjoined realities. Ethereal-Space, and Real-Space. It is easiest to think of each as realities consisting of their own laws of physics which govern matter, motion, and energy.
Real-Space (Primordial Magic)
Real-Space is reality as we know it here on earth. It is physical existence in its entirety. Heat rises, gravity pulls, etc.
In the Edda setting, the reality of Real-Space can be directly manifested, and harnessed. The effects that can be produced through this harnessing is what we will call Primordial Magic. This magic obeys the laws of physics as we know them.
Fires summoned will burn out. Matter can only be transformed, not created or destroyed.
Ethereal-Space (Divine Magic)
Ethereal-Space is a reality analogous to a higher dimension. With some exceptions, it cannot be seen, heard, touched, etc. and the effects that can be produced through harnessing is what we will call Divine Magic.
The laws that govern it are its own, and by the very nature of creatures living in Real-Space, it cannot be wholly understood. The Ethereal does not contain matter, motion, or energy as we might understand.
The Exceptions (World Trees & Bifrost)
There are locations throughout Real-Space, in the solar system and theoretically beyond, where these Spaces have manifested themselves to a tangible degree. How or why this occurs is unknown, but it can happen in a place as small as a room, or as large as a solar storm.
When Real-Space manifests on its own, it creates what is known as a World Tree. A point a which anybody can tap into the foundations of reality as we know it. Passively, World Trees enhance the natural world around them, creating mutations in living organisms, and increasing geological activity.
The potency of this power almost always results in the destruction of those who try to tamper with it. Even someone practiced in the harnessing of Real-Space, by way of Primordial Magic, can succumb to the sheer amount of energy.
These manifestations will persist, but can be shut down by practitioners of exceptional quality or sufficient quantity.
On the other hand, when Ethereal-Space manifests on its own, that location becomes saturated in the foreign energies of that reality, twisting and warping in accordance with its unknowable laws. However, as opposed to World Trees, Ethereal-Space flickers, and dies out as Real-Space returns to assert itself as the dominant reality.
Only one stable manifestation exists in the solar system. It is known as the Bifrost. This manifestation of Ethereal-Space is a festering wound on Real-Space, opened long ago by a malevolent force for an unknown purpose.
Those who tapped into it, consider themselves rewarded by the alien reality. Hence the name of Divine Magic. Temporary manifestations of Ethereal-Space are linked spatially, allowing for impossible travel.
