Central character, the ‘leader’.
In general, region and society has their own legal system. Things get complicated however when multiple societies share an area — whether they interact directly or not. As there are multiple sentient races, each tends to have originally had it’s own legal system. However, as humans became the dominant force in an area, they tended to impose their own legal system, ignoring those of the other races. (Take a good look at gypsy/jewish legal systems at the end of the middle ages, and how they were subsumed for similar effects.) In the most part, this has been accepted, if not always liked.
Most beings speak English, as it’s the main language of the human world. So, if they want to deal with humans, they will speak in it. There are also translation spells, either temporary or permanent to an item or place. (Which may be limited in what they can translate, or not, depending largely on the amount of power someone is willing to spend on it.)
However, at the same time many races or peoples have their own languages as well. Some of these are defined, some not. Details on selected are below.
In general, any and every fantasy race may have presence. Races like Dryads which are tied to a specific natural item or place are generally considered ‘spirits’ instead of independent individuals/races. (And are therefore considered non-sentient, at least by most humans.)
Magic use in the MagicU universe is governed by two things: Access and style. Once you have access to a type of magic, you can use it in any style you choose, with results depending on the level of access you have, and your skill in that style of magic. (Or at least that spell.) Access is (generally…) controlled by accident of birth: You are born with access to certain types, in certain amounts, and that is all you will ever have.
Darius was still worrying an hour later when they’d rounded up Esti and gone over to Professor Conway’s lab. The Dean and the Chair of Nature Studies were just outside: The Chair looked exhausted.
“Ah. Mr. Kimball… You have an idea?” The Dean said, putting back down a wand as he saw them approach.
Darius flopped back on his bed. “One more exam, and it’s not for two days. Ahh.”
“You are looking forward to your ‘vacation’ then, milord?”
Darius looked down at his ‘cat’. Siofra wasn’t often joking, but it did happen… “Yes, I am. And I’m looking forward to getting out of school for a few days as well, if nothing else. Plus, I have enough time to actually get home. Which will be nice.”
“Indeed. Home is… something we all cherish.”
“I have told you that you are welcome to visit Underhill anytime you wish, you know. I know you can.”
The breeze rustled the leaves near where Darius and Esti were studying. Darius turned his head carefully, checking the sound. “That’s just the wind. Remember, a sentence always starts with a slight whistle, before the rustle.”
“Right, sorry. Just trying to make sure I can identify the different sounds correctly.”
“You are doing well, and I thought you wanted to come out here to study. Classwork, I mean. Not…”
“I did. I…”
“Darius Kimball?”
Darius turned from the table, and Esti, to the new voice. “Yes?”
“I’m not sure what’s going on milord: the binding you created doesn’t behave in the manner I was expecting. I can think of a couple of unbinding spells I would try, given how this one is supposed to be reacting, but each of them depends on the enchantment to be unbound working in a predictable way. I would hesitate to try them in this case.”
Saturday morning, Esti woke Darius up. Siofra pretended she’d been awake all along. “Darius? I have a favor to ask.”
Darius opened the door the rest of the way and let her in. “Can it wait until later? Like when the sun’s up and I’m awake?”
“It’d really be best not to. We don’t want to draw too much attention, and sunrise is best anyway.”
“Ok, get out and let me get dressed.”
That took longer than normal, but eventually Darius was dressed, and becoming more awake. “Ok, Esti. What do you want.”
“Come. I need you to meet some people.”