Staring at the Sea

Perhaps I've read too much Lovecraft, but I recently toyed with the notion that the sea within the world in which Hrulvir is situated is in fact a living entity - a god, perhaps, or a being from another time, place, or dimension that evades human conception.  This, of course, will present all sorts of complications - especially for mariners.   Or, perhaps the sea is simply imbued with a disembodied consciousness that came from another place and chose the sea as a worthy, but uncommon, vessel.  I don't know how this will play out in-game, but I sort of like this idea, despite its vagueness.

One of the few things that I'm still working on establishing is how magic works in my game.   BRP presents some options, but none of their systems really convey what I'm looking for.  In  most sword & sorcery tales, magic is the province of nefarious mummers and vile necromancers.  I know that Kane was an adept sorcerer, as was Elric and the Grey Mouser, but they are the exception.

Magic, in these tales, is not the Vancian type.  That is to say, there are no fireballs or lightning spells.  I have no problem with the systems that have adopted this traditional approach to magic, but I am looking for something that is more arduous.  That is why I gravitated towards summoning.  The rituals requite time, endurance, and, expectedly, the forfeiture of sanity and health to complete.

Getting back to my original idea, perhaps magic is more psychic in nature.  Perhaps there are certain people who are attuned to a certain dream frequency that is used by the sea, and, through conversing with this being, they have discovered latent powers with themselves