From An introduction to Discrete Arcanology, by Tel Kaizer:
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The most important breakthrough to modern sorcerous traditions was thanks to the efforts of Halar Kasvortan, whose life-jolt experiments proved that Mana is not a singular type of energy, but instead two different forms of it (which have since been determined to be Qi and Mana).
While laypeople may think that there exists but a single form of energy which all mages manipulate (most commonly referred to as Mana), as any properly trained mage could tell you, this is simply not true. Magic is a complex interweaving of countless forces and energies in ever-changing ways, but there do exist four primary pillars upon which magic rests: Mana, Qi, Lyn, and Shai.
Each of these is radically different from the others, yet similar in a few key ways. Most notably, all four possess a limit. This limit is intrinsic to the phenomenon in question and cannot be overcome in any way, as reality itself bends to ensure it remains absolute.
This model is naturally not complete, as it does not adequately explain the magical properties of multiple realms and planes, or even some areas of the Mortal Realms, but is sufficient for most local analyses.
Mana:
The Manic field is the most important of the four fields of magic for the average mage. It is something of a connective fiber between the other three forms of magic, even all of reality. The Manic field functions as a sort of ‘continuity effect,’ wherein it pushes the behavior of natural phenomenon to occur in specific ways, based not only on how they have acted previously, but also how it is expected to act, and in some situations, even how it would act in most situations.
Furthermore, Mana serves as an excellent converter of energy as it attempts to enforce its view of how reality ought to act, causing wood to burn more cleanly as it is converted to heat and light, and so forth.
Mana, to be clear, is not sentient, but it decidedly has preferences based upon rules too complex to examine at this moment, and remain murky even to this day.
Within a spell, Mana serves the role of the actual spell-frame, translating a set of instructions into a series of actions and behaviors.
Limit: Any single portion of the Manic Field is incapable of having fewer than three distinct interactions/sources at all times. Attempting to push past this limit makes itself one of the interactions, drawing from the past and future in an incredible feedback loop that draws enough power to end any spell.
Qi:
Qi is the key form of energy utilized as the foundation for not only all spells, but all reality as well. It is attracted to itself and forms exceptionally powerful bonds as it attempts to coalesce into a single object. In this way, Qi serves as the energy at the base of all material and material existence. From souls to elements, everything is merely different expressions of Qi.
Within a spell, Qi functions as the power source, being converted by mana into the energy required to enact the mage’s will upon the world. It is also the base of all enchantments, as it locks itself into a certain configuration capable of sustaining a Manic field expression. It obviously also plays a key role in any spell which conjures something material, as spell-conjured matter can be just as real as preexisting matter.
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Limit: It is impossible for anything to become more energy-dense than Qi is. As the density of energy increases within a certain volume, so too does the volume of that space leaving the energy per cubic inch constant. This may be seen when additional energy is added to a single ‘particle’ of Qi- its volume increases, though not its size. In this way, the interior volume of an exceptionally energy-dense object may be larger than its exterior. Should this process continue long enough, the manner of expansion is theorized to rupture and form a Slip, the extra energy within the mote of Qi becoming a connection between two planes.
Lyn
Lyn is in many ways the opposite to Qi, and is found in two or three forms, depending on classification.
While Qi attempts to concentrate all energy within the cosmos in a single point, the first form (or two) of Lyn is known as Jolt, and constantly attempts to be everywhere in the cosmos, and in an amount proportional to the amount of matter present.
Should matter exist with no Lyn infused within it, Lyn will seek to neutralize itself with the matter. Curiously, this property of Lyn is not neutralized by the Qi it is absorbed by, and once sufficient Lyn is present in some matter, it reaches equilibrium and proceeds to ignore the matter in all future interactions, though a disturbance of the equilibrium, whether through natural phenomena or spells can still cause Lyn to shift.
Not all Lyn actively merges with the Qi which makes up matter, and indeed the majority of Lyn does not do so. Instead, it falls into a strange equilibrium with other motes of Lyn wherein through both surrounding and being absorbed into an atom of Qi, it fully permeates the Qi. However, this is done unevenly (as it is based upon the Qi structure) and can thus result in different atoms being bound together by their Lyn and its desire to be perfectly spread out.
This interpretation of how Lyn acts is in some contention, and some models instead claim that Jolt Lyn is instead two distinct forms of Lyn, often called Light and Dark Jolt, and in truth Dark Jolt is found inherently in nearly all of reality, and Light Jolt merely seeks to neutralize all Dark Jolt, reaching a stable state once each amount of Dark Jolt possesses an equal measure of Light Jolt.
The second (or third) form of Lyn is known as Lode, and is the result of a stable loop of power being created within an object. This stable loop of power attempts to align itself with and connect to other loops of Lode to spread its own existence. This form of Lyn is less utilized than Jolt, but still has its uses in kinetic spells and in creating passive auras.
In spells, Jolt is often utilized to move energy from one portion of a spell-frame into another, to counter Qi’s tendency to clump together. Lode, meanwhile, is utilized to create fields of effect which may affect a subject without direct contact.
Limit: Lyn always travels at a fixed rate, and that speed is the fastest speed allowed within the cosmos. Should anything other than Lyn attempt to travel faster than it, the time experienced by the other thing slows down in time, such that Lyn always travels at that exact rate.
Shai:
Perhaps the oddest of the four pillars, Shai is unusual in that it does not possess continuity of existence. That is, there is no single ‘Shai’ field of energy permeating all of existence. Instead, Shai is the metaphysical force which pushes for things which did not exist to continue to not exist.
When matter or energy is pulled from nothing, it does not come alone: instead, it is accompanied by an anathema, which, if ever the two do meet, they utterly annihilate one another in a whisper, leaving nothing behind once again.
In spells, Shai is utilized in countless intermediary steps, creating cause and effect and in so doing, doubling or greater the amount of impact a given spell-frame can have upon reality. At its most basic, spells utilize Shai to pull more energy into reality than they otherwise would, but more advanced spells utilize this complex web of anathema and creation to summon in presences and concepts which would otherwise be completely absent from the working, the way in which Associations function within magical elements.
Limit: Fundamentally, Shai cannot last forever. While a sufficiently skilled mage is capable of pushing off the destruction of their Shai-conjured substance for a very long time, it must have some ending. However, the more relatively unlikely the anathema is likely to come into contact with and restore its own balance, the more that Shai will push to ensure it does happen. The greater the energy which Shai is attempting to restore, the stronger the push.