How's this for a plot?
So there's this other world where magic works. The details aren't important, it just works the way we wish it would. Now, this other world somehow "collides" with ours. Not physically, but lets say their "strings" get a bit to close to each other and these massive portal appear all over the world. Two-way portals.
From their world, a myriad of fantasy creatures, magic users, and other odds and ends come through, invading our world. In some places, this goes well - the locals of world intertwine with the immigrants without much trouble. In other place, the immigrants sorta force their way into power and take over. Creating nations and whatnot. So, essentially over night our modern, urban world becomes something rife with fantastic and magical creatures. In the blink of an eye, our reality is changed irreversibly.
At first, things go as you might think they would. The magic of the newcomers isn't as strong here, at first. But as mana leaks through the portals and fills our world, they get stronger. Elves can begin casting their nature magic to grow epic rain forests, dwarves are able to sniff out ores and smelt them as easily as playdoh. Elemental spirits that hitched a ride begin to get enough power to form their elemental bodies.
So we have this massive conflict in the background - the USA fighting orc-infested Mexico with guns and bombs while their mages sling massive fireballs and call down meteors, while at the same time struggling to figure out the correct way to deal with their new citizens. In some places they find a tolerant, if begrudgingly so, home. But in others out-right racism and hatred. There's other stuff going on like this all over the world.
But as more and more mana flows into the world, it awakens something. Something massive and immense, and the magic users from the other world can feel it. As this continues on, some get scared and high-tail it back to their home world. Eventually, this massive, immense being of mana fully awakens. And then splits in two. Turns out it's God and Satan. Or that's what Clergymen begin to call them as they begin receiving odd powers seemingly powered by faith. And the wannabe witches of our world stop being hoaxes and make-believers and can actually do some neat stuff.
That's about as far as I got into the idea. I was reading a time travel book. Then that gave me the idea of some guy somehow inventing an infinite-reality generator with the intent of generating a reality that mirrors our own but a thousand or so years in the past (a way to time travel without actually time traveling, essentially), however what was supposed to be an exact replica of our world circa 1020 or so turns out to be that, but with magic added in.
Then I thought, "Well, what if instead of that, we have two worlds collide. One mundane and one magical?" And then I thought, "It'd be cool if the mana from their world would leak to ours, turning our myths, magic, and lore into something real and something can be done."
And then I got a big grin and figured, "Lets throw in some religion to stir the pot a bit." The idea would also include those "religious" icons splitting into other pantheons. Our collective consciousness directs the new mana-being to continuously split into beings as long as the splits can receive enough "conscious-fuel." But because God/Satan are the "big players" right now, they're the only ones that are immediately noticed.
So while their world has magic completely directed by the individual, done by collecting mana and directing it. Our world has magic derived from religion and faith in "mana-being" of mass power. These beings collect the power (mana) and then distribute it to those that have faith in them.
Originally Posted by Ronin
