How Magic Interacts with the Environment
I won’t lie—nature-based magic is some of my favorite, both to read and create. In my Undoing Chronicles ‘verse*, one race manipulates the elements in conjunction with nature. In Blood of Trees, my main character was half-dryad**. In my most recent NaNoWriMo project, Of Sage & Shadows, my main character’s magic first manifested through her ability to sense and manipulate plant life, and eventually well… more than just plants!
Nature magic has the wonderful ability to be beautifully simplistic in its execution while being stunningly vast and complex in its scope. The magic might be tied to plant life, to the seasons and changes of season, to the weather, or to all of these things together. When one part of nature becomes unbalanced, it may well be reflected in the magic itself.
There’s also the potential that if magic became unbalanced, nature might follow. What if no one thought about dumping all those leftover potions in the local river until a child ate a contaminated fish and had some weird magical side effect?
This is the magic of worldbuilding itself—anything is possible.
*story universe
**a nymph that lives in a tree. Nymphs are usually portrayed as female.
Worldbuilding Exercises:
- In your world, do magic and nature interact with each other at all? To what extent?
- In D is for Dragon, the harvest and sale of animal parts (or perhaps even whole animals) for magical usage was discussed. Is there anything equivalent going on for natural resources that might be imbued with magic? This might be things like water from a certain spring, special kinds of rocks, plants with increased healing properties, etc.
- How might magic and nature positively or negatively influence each other?
View 2019 A-Z Participant list here.
Rebekah Loper began creating epic worlds and stories as a child and never stopped. She is the author of The A-Zs of Worldbuilding series, and has a fantasy novella published in Beatitudes and Woes: A Speculative Fiction Anthology.
She lives in Tulsa, OK with her husband, dog, two formerly feral cats, a small flock of feathered dragons (…ok, ok, they’re chickens), and an extensive tea collection. When she is not writing, she can be found battling the elements in an effort to create a productive, permaculture urban homestead.
Nature magic is some of my favorite to read about, too. Maybe because I sort of believe in it in real life, too. I definitely feel healed and restored every time I spend time among trees 🙂 @mirymom1 from
Balancing Act
For sure! I have a lot of medication sensitivities and allergies, so I rely on a lot of natural/herbal alternatives. Nature certainly is powerful! Also, I don’t find anything quite as emotionally restoring as spending time out in my garden.