Editing Magic

'''Magic''' is a supernatural force which exists in multiple [[realm]]s in the Cosmos. When channeled, it grants its wielders access to power that can affect beings and environment in positive or negative ways. All beings have a natural ability to access and use magic although not everyone masters the art of casting spells to affect the world around them.

There are different subtypes of magic which have different functions. Some are used mainly for attack whereas others are mainly protective. They range from relatively minor things like projecting purple spots on walls to immensely powerful spells that can rearrange continents, change planets' alignments and switch the places where species live. Using any type of magic from small to major spells will drain the mage's mana, a personal reserve of pure magic, which can result in the caster's death or worse depending on the complexity of the spell.

==Source(s) of Magic==

{{Q|Magic mostly draws upon the four elements, in some degree. Mages can also channel a 'pure' magic, without element, in some of their spells. 'Mana', if you wish. This is sort of a controlling 'element', one that a mage can use to, say, direct fire into a ball and throw it. The Light and the Shadow, however, these come from the [[god]]s, or so we believe. [[Magicracy of Alent|Alent]] is primarily an atheistic society, you see. They do not acknowledge the authority of the gods. The presence of shadow magic is therefore quite disturbing. Anyway, I would love to do some research on whether the [[Clergy of Cardia|Cardian]] [[Church of the Memory of Cardia|clerics]] are drawing upon the memory of [[Cardia (god)|Cardia]] somehow, or if [[Hephaestus]] is simply granting them access to the Light.|[[Josiah Amdusias]] to the [[Fellowship of Maar Sul]]}}
The actual source(s) of magic remain a hotly debated topic in [[Horseshit|academic circles]] despite extensive research which has been made on the subject over the millennia and past [[Timeline|ages]]. Mages have put forth many speculations on the exact nature of magic and where it comes from, and over the years they have drawn some conclusions from experiments and historical records and use their theories to fill in the rest although they still continue studying the subject in the field of Maginamics.

Theories:
* Magic mostly draws upon the four primary elements which are Air, Earth, Fire and Water. This is presumably the case even in the shunned or rare schools of magic like among necromancers and time mages whose spells differ from those used by white and black mages.
* Mages can also channel mana, magic ''without'' element, in some spells, and it is seen as a controlling element in various spells. Some scholars argue that mana is in fact the primordial form of all magic from which the 'common' elemental magic actually originates.
* Unlike elemental magic, the specific Light and Shadow based spells presumably come from the [[god]]s although some claim that this magic comes from the realms of the [[Land of the Living]] (Light) and the [[Land of the Dead]] (Shadow) or that they actually originate in the [[Void]] based on the fact that magic also exists in the [[Demon Realm]] and the [[High Plane]] which are separate from the Lands of the Living and the Dead. Some scholars argue that all magic in general and not just Light and Shadow comes from the gods, whereas others claim that magic exists independently from the gods and that gods just want mortals to think that mortals can access such powers only through them.
* Gods presumably grant access to higher magic based on their own alignment, so gods of Light like [[Cardia (god)|Cardia]] and [[Hephaestus]] would allow their worshippers to use Light based magic whereas gods of Darkness like [[Mardük]] and [[Nergal]] would allow their worshippers to use Shadow based magic.
* The gods grant their followers unique magical abilities and access to special spells depending on the follower's experience, skill in magic and status in the clergy. A high cleric would thus cast more powerful spells not only because of experience but because of his or her faith in the god in question being the strongest if this theory is to be believed.

==Laws of Magic==

{{Q|I've found that there is nothing quick and easy about controlling magic, young one. Unleashing it, perhaps, but that way lies ruin, I assure you. Many have made that mistake before, and many more have died for that sin. If I can impart only one thing to you, it is that the key to magic is discipline. You must truly understand the flows of magic, it's not just silly incantations.|[[Josiah Amdusias]] to [[Briss Phoenixheart]]}}
All spells can be protected against if one knows a spell which can counter the specific spell's effects. There is no general "dispel magic" spell so each counter has to be discovered, learned and mastered on an individual basis. The only known exception to this common protection rule appears to be the shamanic ''[[shiropyr]]'' spell which will always succeed in killing its target and can't be countered but which will also always take its ''mortal'' caster's life as compensation to uphold magical balance.

All mortal casters will eventually wear themselves out after casting many spells in succession, and they have to rest for a while before they can cast more spells. Depending on how advanced the spells are and how experienced the mages casting them are, the mages can wear themselves out faster or slower. The only casters who are known to be capable of constantly spamming high-level spells without draining themselves over time are the [[god]]s and the [[Andain]].

There is also an old saying among mages which states that "all magic comes with a price". It often means that the life of the person who begins using magic will never be the same and how they can end up relying on their own school of magic to such an extent that they become addicted to it and end up becoming "slaves" to magic in the process if they are not careful.

==Personal Magic==

{{Q|The bubbles never happened to him, it was magic that was different from person to person. The bubbles were pretty, cute and innocent. Like her.|[[Nesa Mikoto]] reflecting on an advanced spell cast by [[Unithien Greyrain]]}}
While with basic spells this effect is barely noticeable, with more advanced and powerful spells a bit of the caster's personality will be embedded into the spell. This can range from mere decorative effects, due to fluctuating spell implication differences from person to person, to the vast difference in both materialization and strength.

Take for example a strong pin-point attack spell. While a calm, calculating mage will throw a piercing and efficient arrow of magic at great accuracy but debatable effectiveness, a strong, determined, perhaps even angry person will throw a thick spear of gashing energy, completely disintegrating its target and the dozens of others beside it.

An [[Alent (city)|Alentian]] scroll suggests that decorative effects are due to the differences in personalities, and as no two souls are the same, nor will two advanced spells be.

==Will of Magic?==

There has been speculation among mages whether magic actually has a will of its own and simply grants people access to it for its own reasons or if it is a mere passive force which various gods, [[races]] and [[creatures]] simply use however they please.

11 years after the [[Cataclysm]] in late [[Third Age]], there was a recorded instance of a change in magic. The pillar of pure mana created by the [[Beacon of Alent]] was tampered and infected with through the complex mix of [[demon]]ic and necromantic magic, which led to a metamorphosis of sorts in the very magic of the Beacon. The affected mana in the Beacon hit [[Unithien Greyrain]] and temporarily turned her into a living conduit of the Beacon's magic which nearly resulted in the destruction of [[Alent (city)|Alent]] as well as creation of various golems of pure energy. Even after the incident was over, some traces of the Beacon's power remained in Unithien, indicating a possibility that higher magic will leave its mark on the person who has used it. It remains to be seen what effects this change in the Beacon will have in the long run.

Similarly, the [[Fourth Age]] existence of the [[Anomaly]] and the [[Beaconborn]], children whose mothers' pregnancies were accelerated by the Beacon, indicates that magic may have lashed out against mages attempting to tamper with it, which indicates some sort of self-awareness if the theory on the will of magic is to be believed.

==Threats to Magic==

{{Q|Your [[Rite of the Revenant|link]] to the [[Land of the Dead|underworld]] made this possible, but the power you draw is too great for the conduit to sustain. Your [[Laws of the Andain|claim]] on your [[Andain|power]] has caused magic to fail, everywhere. This is why the dead seek you. Your existence is too dangerous to tolerate.|The spirit of [[Hiroshi Hayabusa]] to [[Leon Alcibiates]]}}
In general magic is seen as an inseparable part of the world so few if any question its existence. However, during the [[First Battle of Remonton]], the then-[[Undead#Revenant|revenant]] bard [[Leon Alcibiates]] used the [[Laws of the Andain|First Law of the Andain]], to draw power from paradox, when he managed to access his past [[Andain]] powers briefly even though he was not supposed to have them anymore in his current non-Andain revenant body. When he used the paradox of accessing powers which were not supposed to exist in the world anymore in an age when all Andain were already extinct, he managed to access those powers after all. That act allowed him to use his temporarily accessible Andain powers to utterly shatter [[Hideyoshi Ofuchi]]'s shard of [[Krystallopyr]] and thus eliminate a dangerous artifact so that it could no longer be used by power-hungry people.

There were consequences to Leon's actions, however, because he used power which was not meant to exist, and he resided in a revenant body in the [[Land of the Living]] and thus was an unstable existence. His unnatural existence as well as briefly accessing his past powers affected everyone's [[Innate Ability]] and every magic user in general in the Land of the Living, cancelling everyone's innate ability and spells simultaneously worldwide for a while. Had Leon been drawing on his latent powers longer while Innate Abilities existed, he speculated it would have resulted in him destroying all magic in the Land of the Living and thus turning all mages powerless. The point later became moot when Leon was granted full mortality for his services to the world in the [[Isle of Yggdrasil]] instead of remaining in a revenant body. His new, mortal body also allowed him to shatter his few remaining links to his former Andain powers and thus become an "ordinary", living and non-Andain being whose presence no longer threatened the balance of Life and Death.

Leon's example proves that the unnatural existence of an undead in a world of the living, combined with the then-active Innate Abilities which were drawn from the deaths of all Andain in the [[Explosion]], can shake the balance of existence and thus magic itself. Likewise, the actions of the [[Godslayer]], who ate the gods of Order and Chaos, resulted in the catastrophic Cataclysm which erased Innate Abilities, and the tampering with the Beacon of Alent led to the destructive explosion known as the [[Catastrophe]].

The examples of the Godslayer and Leon's actions seem to indicate that ''paradoxes'' (Godslayer forcing the opposing Order and Chaos to coexist in its stomach and Leon being dead and using Andain powers in an age where no Andain should be able to exist) can in fact threaten magic and possibly even erase it from existence altogether.

Why paradoxes have this much power over magic remains unknown to this day. Very little research has been made on the subject mainly because no one really dares to carry out such experiments in fear of accidentally destroying all magic in existence, or worse.

==Uses of Magic==

===Enchantments===

====Curse====

A curse is a spell which threatens the targeted person to have bad luck which can range from minor annoyances like burping involuntarily to agonizing deaths. Witches in particular are specialized in casting curses on people they deem "worthy" of them such as people who insult their looks as was the case with [[Fabian Mullet]] who was cursed by a shitton of witches, everyone casting an individual curse on him, after he had called them butt-ugly.

Curses can be broken, the simplest (to an extent) way being to force the caster to dispel it. Usually the caster is unwilling to do so, which means another alternative is killing the caster which will then nullify the curse as it is no longer bound to the caster's lifeforce.

====Geas====

{{Q|Nobody could seem to remember the old King's name, nor think it odd that the name eluded their memory. Arnaud wasn't sure why he alone realized it, but it was indicative to him. It smacked of a geas, and if the geas was still in force, that meant the geas-caster was still alive. No mage in history, including Losstarot, had the power to enforce a geas that persisted after his own death.|[[Arnaud Lain]] about a geas cast by [[Raistlin I]]}}
A geas is a specific kind of curse which forces the targeted person to obey the caster's commands or they will suffer. Unlike a curse, a geas can be rebelled against and the victim has free will but usually doesn't try to act against the geas due to fear of what will happen if the geas is broken. A geas can be cast via a multitude of ways such as touching magical objects like when [[Malphas d'Xuvadon]] was tricked into kissing an enchanted ring worn by [[Nina Heeate L'andariel]] which made him fall under the "fealty or death" geas, forcing him to either follow Nina's every whim or perish if he attempted to not follow her orders.

Breaking a geas is more difficult than breaking a curse as it's a somewhat more complicated spell. However, a geas can only exist as long as the caster is alive; after the caster has passed away, the geas will no longer be in effect.

====Illusion====

An illusion is a specific type of spell which is meant to distract, confuse or otherwise divert the target's attention to itself. Illusions manipulate the target's senses, whether visual, aural or physical, and make it seem like reality itself is being bended. For example, a caster can make the target see a terrifying monster or mess up with their sense of direction, or make them believe they're falling off a roof. These kinds of spells are generally limited both in the area and people they can affect. However, a large number of illusionists can affect a larger area and a bigger number of people, although casters will wear out faster unless they all focus on affecting the same target, in which case they can keep on casting slightly longer.

Realms outside the Land of the Living have different rules for illusions, however. In the Land of the Dead, the dead can make any living being traversing through it experience horrible, disorienting visions which are known to drive people insane and which is why even necromancers are wary of entering realms outside Land of the Living.

[[Kitsune]] and even many [[demon]]s are natural illusionists due to their link to Chaos.

===Magical Beings and Constructs===

====Artifact====

An artifact is an object made or shaped by a being of some intelligence. It often possesses magic of some sort which can be wielded for specific purposes depending on the nature of the artifact in question.

Known artifacts are:
* The [[Mirror of Truth]] which [[Khasra III]] used to step into the shadow of the celestial city of [[Xar Daeon]] to purge it from its taint in the Third Age.

====Binding Seal====

A binding seal is often an item (whether a weapon or an artifact or a gem) in which a mage binds someone's spirit or mana. Depending on what kind of person or creature is being bound, the effects can vary and the cost might be greater for the mage who does the binding.

Known binding seals are:
* The [[Dagger of Renu]] which was used by [[Arawn Losstarot]] to leech [[Leon Alcibiates]]'s [[Andain]] powers in the Second Age.
* The [[Dragon Diamond]] which was created by sacrificing the lives of an entire population of the city-state of [[Dar'Cenrath]] in the First Age to bind the soul of the dark dragon [[Frazzn'korth]] into it and which was later used by [[Omaroch d'Zarnagon]] to bind the spirit of the archdemon [[Malakhia d'Zarnagon]] into it in the Third Age.
* A shard of [[Krystallopyr]] which, when used in conjunction with [[Plushiebunny (monster)|Plushiebunny]]'s magical eyes, was used by [[Awar]] to create a binding seal with which he trapped the god [[Shakkan]] into the shard.
* A sickle used by [[Razravkar Dominus]] with which he bound the spirits of the people he had slain within it, most notably the spirit of [[Andronus Callente]].
* One of the [[Scepters of the Stormborn]] used by [[Deidra Finian]] to bind three demon spirits into it.

====Elemental====

:''See: [[Elemental]]''
Elementals are beings from the [[High Plane]] who are tied to one of the four main elements (Air, Earth, Fire, Water) or some variants thereof (e.g. Ice, Sand) and who possess abilities granted by the element they represent. It is speculated they are creatures formed by or from magic, but some say they are simply a race who happen to possess powers of certain elements. Whatever the truth behind them is, they are capable of casting extremely destructive magic, and it can literally take an army to banish them back to the High Plane.

====Familiar====

:''See: [[Familiar]]''
Familiars are magical companions and servants of mages and take the form of the mage's preferred animal such as a cat or a raven. The familiar and its master are connected, so if either the familiar or the mage suffer or die, the other will receive a psychic backlash which may lead to death if the pain is severe enough.

====Golem====

:''See: [[Aleph]]''
Magical constructs are rather rare at least as far as the public is concerned. The [[Magicracy of Alent]] had in fact tried and somewhat succeeded in building golems, metal automatons which are fueled by magic, although they were not common and were often kept secret from the rest of the Alentian populace.

====Magic Incarnate====

:''See: [[Keepers]], [[Zeranafska]]''
{{Q|If ever I had been so eerily startled, it was when the one they called 'Elder' told me that they desired to create a magic incarnate, more than just an elemental, but an incarnate being born of a mother of flesh and fathered by magic itself...They were to combine their arts into the womb of one, and they would seal her there to wait. She was to be their perfection, or the closest they could come to it...I pitied her, the Cursed One. They approached her creation with cruelty, because what she represented was opposition. They poured themselves into her as the collective became one with the magic stream, and she was born in its image.|[[Mairn Villabo]] about [[Zeranafska]]}}
The [[Syndicate]], a secretive elven faction of mages, studied magic intensely and eventually wanted to create what they called 'magic incarnate', a being born of a mother of flesh and fathered by magic itself and who could act as mana's conduit in the [[Land of the Living]]. It was a complex ritual which ultimately succeeded, resulting in the birth of the elf [[Zeranafska]].

There was another such instance, a half-elf boy created in a similar way by infecting a pregnant elf with the [[Blood Fever]] by a mysterious Dark Sage who was a treacherous member of the Syndicate. How the Dark Sage achieved this is not known but the Syndicate saw Zeranafska, the Cursed One, as a counter to the threat the Sage's half-elf apprentice posed.

Details of the Syndicate's and the Dark Sage's experiments with these incarnate beings were lost in the mists of time, but the [[Keepers]], a secretive group of selected individuals who opposed the Dark Sage's ambitions, recorded the events in a tome which later ended up in the hands of [[Nymgrock Sigiln]]. Knowledge of the incarnate beings is thus extremely rare and only a select few individuals, primarily the current age's Keepers, know of the success of such an experiment.

====Muse====

:''See: [[Muse]]''
{{Q|My father created him. I'm not sure how he did it, but it required a powerful magic although Julian himself isn't powerful. His power is to give me an inspiration...Muses often have knowledge which seems to be lost from the world.|[[Bella Sirius]] about [[Julian]]}}
Muses are magical creatures of artistic inspiration. They tend to only manifest to bards and painters and help them express themselves via art. They're different from a mage's familiar in that they, albeit still bound to their patrons, have more free will than familiars do, and they can become visible or disappear seemingly into thin air in the blink of an eye unlike familiars who are always material.

====Phylactery====

[[Undead#Lich|Liches]], spirits who summon themselves back from the dead and take over living host bodies, require an object where to store part of their spirits in order to remain in the Land of the Living is generally an amulet, ring or other such object and is known as a phylactery. As long as the phylactery remains untouched, a lich, no matter how many times it is defeated, can never truly be banished to the Land of the Dead.

===Shapeshifting===

{{Q|Beware of becoming the wolf, for the wolf is not merely you in the form of a wolf, but a wolf true and wild. There may come a time when the wolf does not wish to turn back into a man, and then you shall be lost forever.|[[Babushka Pronin]] to [[Andrei Pronin]]}}
Shapeshifting, i.e. taking another shape than your own such as turning into an animal, is an art that not many mortal mages have mastered. The reason is that taking an animal's shape has a drawback: the longer you stay in the chosen animal form, the harder it will be to fight the animal instincts and turn back into your original self. Many mages who have tried the spells have remained as animals for the rest of their days, losing all reasoning and becoming true creatures of the wild.

There are some families who possess a natural talent for shapeshifting. The most notable of these are members of the [[House of Aurelac]] and people related to them by blood due to the magical connection to the Andain lord [[Kagetsu I]], the founder of the Aurelac dynasty and forefather of all the Aurelacs born since.

Many [[demon]]s seem to possess an ability to shapeshift into other forms to masquerade themselves in human, elven and dwarven societies. It is believed this is an innate talent of theirs which is why so many of them, even lesser demons, are capable of such a feat. Demons generally like to mask themselves as various mortal [[races]] of the [[Land of the Living]]. This means they can pass themselves off as e.g. [[human]]s, [[elves]] or [[dwarves]] and thus infiltrate societies. Depending on the demon's skill in shapeshifting, its powers and how well it can mask its aura, an experienced mage or someone who can otherwise sense and track demonic auras (such as someone who has demonic lineage and thus shares demonic blood to some extent) will be able to at least sense that something is "off" about the disguised demon if said demon is nearby. Higher demons with greater powers like archdemons are generally more adept at hiding their demonic auras even from most high-level mages and even from lesser demons to an extent. However, if the roles are reversed, a higher demon is often capable of sensing a lesser demon's aura and notice it is in disguise even if said lesser demon is good at masking itself.

Shapeshifting usually requires that the mass one is changing into is relatively equal to one's original mass as that makes changing between forms easier. However, there are times when it's possible for a person to shapeshift into gigantic and tiny forms such as with [[Fabian Mullet]] who, due to bein cursed by a multitude of witches, could one day end up turning into a cockroach and in the next day turn into a cow thanks to the effects of the curses. Fabian didn't shapeshift voluntarily into these forms, though, so it's possible that curses which are forced on people will be able to perform feats which a conscious mage wouldn't be able to do otherwise such as changing mass in such a drastic manner.

===Summoning===

There are many types of summonings which a mage can perform. The most common ones are contacting spirits of the dead or other otherworldly beings and making them appear in the world temporarily for the benefit of the caster. However, there are other types of summonings as well such as ways to resurrect the dead like in the [[Rite of the Revenant]] although such practices are extremely dangerous and not to be taken lightly.

==Types of Magic==

Currently known types of magic are listed below. Information on many of them is scarce at the moment but academics in various mage schools continue to study the different schools of magic and add their findings whenever they discover something useful or interesting.

Most mages specialize in one school of magic but there have been mages who have tried to master more than one school, which often results in said mages being called red mages.

===Bardic Magic===

{{Q|Songs of Power are slightly different from spells...A bard draws the song's power from the mana around them, and because they draw it from around them it can cause mana to build up. Not much, but it lingers in the body after they sing. Normally, it's fine and doesn't cause any problems. But, if a bard sings too many songs without letting his body rest and let the mana leave, it can build up and start having some adverse effects.|[[Bella Sirius]] about Songs of Power}}
Bardic magic is essentially magic music, or Songs of Power, used by bards. They can be sung to calm down, confuse or even hurt the target depending on the bard's song knowledge and skill level.

===Black Magic===

Black magic is highly destructive magic that uses powers opposite to white magic for offensive purposes. It can manifest in all the four elements (air, earth, fire, water) and with various levels of power depending on the skill of its caster. Besides the basic school, black magic also has several more specific branches which are Blood, Geomancy, Illusion, and Summoning.

====Blood Magic====

A very rare school of magic, blood mages use blood, whether theirs or someone else's, as a conduit for their spells. Because of the gruesome way this is done, blood magic is often shunned and is one of the taboo schools of magic among mages.

====Geomantic Magic====

Geomantic magic focuses on spells which affect the environment to some extent. They're usually specialized black or white mages who use the terrain to their advantage and can cause earthquakes, form rock shields around themselves and the like.

====Illusion Magic====

Illusion magic focuses on spells which are meant to disorient or deceive the target. Illusions come in forms of weak copies of the caster which can cause minimal damage, or, depending on the caster's level, can even make the target or a limited number of targets, end up perceiving a false image of the world for a period of time.

====Summoning Magic====

Summoning is a school of magic which focuses more on calling spirits or creatures and using them to do the caster's bidding. In this way it is somewhat similar to some of the necromantic and shamanic casters albeit with more focus on the summoning part. It is often extremely dangerous because controlling many creatures and spirits can be dangerous to even an experienced caster's psyche.

===Druidic Magic===

Druidic magic is based on nature and is derived from the fey magick of the [[Faerfolc]]. Like most shamans, druids also want to keep things in balance and harmony although they also accept the seemingly cruel side of nature as part of a bigger whole. Druids can communicate with various animals and even plants, trees and the rocks themselves to an extent although depending on the druid's specialization they usually only learn a few bits here and there depending on which animal's "speech" they wish to learn.

===Spiritual Magic===

Spiritual magic is a collective term used for rarer schools of magic which involve communing with other [[realm]]s. Unlike summoning, it's not tied to elements but more on life auras. Because of its complexity and spiritual way of looking at things, most mages never bother to study it when more easier schools of magic are available.

====Necromantic Magic====

Necromantic magic is an unholy school of magic. It, like shamanic magic, is invoked by calling power from the spirits of the dead. However, unlike shamanism, in the case of necromancy the goal is to summon the dead back to "unlife", whether by reanimating corpses or just making a spirit materialize as an advisor or as a minion who can, under the right circumstances, be bound into a weapon.

====Shadow Magic====

Some theories suggest that shadow magic draws its power from the [[Void]] which is a realm between the [[Land of the Living]] and the [[Land of the Dead]]. Whatever the true source of this magic is, it is nevertheless dangerous and destructive and highly adaptable. Some even consider it a subtype of shamanic magic, but such claims are yet to be verified. Shadow magic is often used by black shamans, however, who can draw powers from the Void and the Land of the Dead.

====Shamanic Magic====

Shamanic magic is an unholy school of magic. It, like necromantic magic, is invoked by calling power from the spirits of the dead. The shaman usually tries to live in harmony with the spirit world, but there also exist black shamans who deliberately subvert the harmony by combining the worst aspects of shamanism and necromancy to dominate the dead and use their powers for foul purposes. The usual spells in shamanism involve the various "pyr" spells which are always written as ''pýr''. The known spells so far are ''[[averte]]'', ''[[pyr]]'', ''[[kuropyr]]'' and ''[[shiropyr]]''.

===Time Magic===

Time magic is a rarer type of magic which is used to manipulate time itself. Although it can give great advantages such as haste to its users and disadvantages such as slowing down to the mage's enemies, it is also very unpredictable and less steady as opposed to other types of magic.

===White Magic===

White magic is often used for protection and especially healing, although it can occasionally be used effectively against creatures of darkness due to its light-based properties.

==Spells==

Different schools of magic use different kinds of spells. Old spells are sometimes forgotten, and new spells are invented every now and then. Because of this, there are literally hundreds if not thousands of spells in use in the world, limited only by the mages' imagination, knowledge, powers and skills as casters.

===General Theory===

====Levels====

[[Horseshit|Academic circles]] generally divide spells into three levels or tiers based on how effective they are.

''Low-level'' spells are the weakest but also the easiest to cast and require the least amount of mana and resting time from the three levels. These spells tend to include the likes of weak fireballs and weak healing among others.

''Mid-level'' spells are more advanced than the first tier but not the strongest. They tend to include the likes of illusions and more complex attack and defense spells among others.

''High-level'' spells are the most advanced and thus most powerful of the three tiers. They can potentially alter their target or even the world itself in various ways if cast by a capable and powerful enough mage but as a downside drains the mage from mana rather quickly, thus leaving them vulnerable and in need of rest.

====Casting and Limitations====

Some spells need to be uttered out loud with incantations, especially if they're powerful spells, when a mage wishes to cast them. However, an experienced caster may just move their fingers and hands to produce the same effect without uttering anything out loud. More difficult spells often do require incantations, so moving fingers tends to be reserved only to simpler spells.

Mages can only cast a select number of spells in succession before they need to rest and recover their lost mana. Depending on how gifted the mage in question is and how advanced they are as magic users, they may cast more powerful spells more often before needing to rest. Resting time tends to vary, but generally the rule is that casting more powerful spells requires more rest, ranging from hours to days or even weeks.

However, limitations are only in effect if a ''mortal'' is casting the spell. If gods cast them, they can spam the spells as long as they want without getting tired. Powerful but not divine beings--such as [[demon]]s, [[dragon]]s, [[faerfolc]] and [[pixie]]s--are stronger at casting spells than most mortals but they too get tired despite their greater mana unlike gods whose lifeforce from which they draw their magic is more or less limitless.

====Countering====

Any spell which is being cast can be interrupted by distracting the casting mage. If the interruption is successful, the spell will not come to being, and the caster has to start all over again.

All spells (the only notable exception being the rare and hard to master [[Shiropyr]] spell) can be protected against with a proper counter spell. No general Dispel spell exists despite mages' efforts to figure out how to create one, so each counter has to be learned separately (e.g. using a fireball to melt ice).

===List of Spells===

Below is a list of spells although because of the sheer amount of spells in the world, the list is only a hand-picked selection of a few notable ones. However, there's some debate in academic circles about proper names for each individual spell, especially because not all of them are activated by uttering a specific phrase in the language of the [[Languages#Arcane|Arcane]].

====Common====

Any mage can cast these spells with little or a bit more practice depending on the spell in question and how long they've practiced it.

'''Note''': The headings below this heading include abilities unique to the specific school of magic in question ''in addition to'' the spells listed here.

*Teleport
**Instant transportation from one place to another. The range of the spell tends to be limited, the farthest being a few thousand kilometres between locations. Tends to be somewhat inaccurate unless lives of people are sacrificed to boost the spell, and even then there's a high risk of teleporting inside a rock or into the ocean if the caster has bad luck and doesn't know the exact coordinates of the exit point, which is why mages never use the spell lightly. Medium tier.

====Bardic====

*Bardic Knock
**To enter a building, the caster knocks on the door and whacks the person who opens the door before the person can defend themselves. Low tier.
*Song of Awakening
**Makes an unresponsive target wake up from slumber. It's unsure whether the spell works on comatose people or creatures. Rate of success also depends on the skill level of the caster. Medium tier.
*Song of Calming
**Makes a panicking or aggressive target calm down. Medium tier.
*Song of Confusion
**Disorients the target such as making them see illusions like copies of the caster simila to actual illusion magic except this spell is powered by song. Medium tier.
*Song of Empowerment
**A debated spell among academic circles, it's said to boosts allies' self-esteem if cast successfully. Medium tier.

====Black Magic====

*Air
**Casts various air spells such as blasting people with wind. Occupies all tiers.
*Earth
**Casts various earth spells such as hitting people with rocks. Includes sand spells. Occupies all tiers.
*Fire
**Casts various fire spells such as fireballs. Includes lightning spells. Occupies all tiers.
**[[Ejactulatinoamanum]]
***Informally known as "Balls of Fire." Makes an ejaculating mage cast a fireball spell which injures or even incinerates the person they're with depending on where the penis is at the time of "casting". Tends to happen only to mages with great magic reserves and who haven't learned to control their magic properly yet. There's no known instance of a ''woman'' ever casting this spell as all reported instances of the phenomenon so far have included ejaculating men. Research into the subject has been limited despite continuous efforts from [[Crowe Lley]] to prove that a female variant of the spell exists. Medium tier.
*Water
**Casts various water spells such as manipulating water masses to drown or sweep the opponent away. Includes ice spells. Occupies all tiers.

====Blood====

*Blood Pressure
**Manipulates target's blood flow and can cause blood vessels to rupture if cast successfully. Spell effectiveness depends on the strength of the target and the skill level of the caster. High tier.
*Crimson Marionette
**Manipulates the blood in target's body to make them stop or move involuntarily, thus turning them into a living puppet for a limited amount of time. Spell effectiveness depends on the strength of the target and the skill level of the caster. High tier.

====Druidic====

*All-Talk
**Lets the caster communicate with animals and plants to an extent. Low tier.
*Verdant Growth
**Can manipulate vegetation to an extent such as making vines move or minor plants grow at an accelerated pace on the caster's command.
*Grow Vineborn
**Caster can make vines invade a target body, slowly transforming the target into a sort of plant hybrid. Developed by [[Virgil Chelms]] after the outbreak of the [[Plague of Undeath]] in [[Timeline#1017 AE|1017 AE]] when he accidentally discovered a way for druidic magic to combat the rapidly spreading [[undead]] by turning their corpses into vessels for nature. High tier.

====Illusion====

*Cast Illusion
**Alters appearance for extended periods of time, turns invisible (though not inaudible), and projects sounds and images (aka minor image). Can also be used as a Mind Trick on the weak-minded to make them believe the caster looks like someone else. These abilities are far less likely to work on other mages than non-mages, though, and even the latter may resist the spell's effects the longer the spell is being cast. Occupies all tiers.
*Create Mesmer
**Creates one or several magical copies of the caster which can distract an enemy by casting spells that deal little damage. The more copies are cast, the faster they drain the caster's mana. Medium tier.

====Necromantic====

*Bone Shattering Curse
**Shatters target's bones, causing them to richochet through body. Extremely painful. High tier. 
*Command Undead
**Commands a limited number of undead (ghosts, skeletons, zombies) depending on the caster's skill level. Powerful undead may resist this effect. Occupies all tiers.
*Dance of Undeath
**Raises nearby corpses in the area to fight for the caster. A perversion of the Dance of Death which [[Razravkar Dominus]] developed during the [[Day of the Damned]] festival in [[Timeline#1017 AE|1017 AE]] by studying the ''[[Totentanz]]'', so it's a recent addition to necromancy not known by most casters at the moment. The zombies raised by this spell are not very powerful, slow, and incapable of taking initiative. They are, however, expendable. Medium tier.
*Deathwalk
**Also known as Travel, it tears open a gate to the [[Land of the Dead]] to use to travel through. Entering and exiting the underworld broadcasts a signal to nearby dark magic users. Caster is also not protected from the dangers of the underworld unless they convince a shade to help them willingly--and even this does not protect them from direct assault. Caster may bring along others if needed although this tends to drain them faster, so chances of successful group travel are directly proportionate to number of casters. Similar to [[Libaterran Tribes#Sinlarine|Sinlarine]] shamans' Voidwalk ability except used in the Land of the Dead instead of the [[Void]]. Medium tier.
*Divination
**Calls up the spirits of the dead to give advice/use prophetic abilities/see their loved ones, etc. Caster can summon specific spirits with this ability. Can also be used to divine the future to an extent from entrails of a freshly killed person or animal. People are more accurate although as the future is always set in motion, prediction can lead to false assumptions which may no longer be valid once time passes. Medium tier.
*Shadow Manipulation
**Used to kill people with cold shadows, deflect attacks, minor telekinesis-like abilities. Dispellable by competent white mages. Medium tier. 
*Spell of Decay
**Makes target's flesh decay rapidly, causing excruciating pain and loss of body functions. High tier.
*Summon Shade
**Summons an undead shade on a moment's notice. Shades may be summoned out of combat with a longer ritual which takes time to cast, costing less energy. They may be bound to corpses to raise them as undead or ordered to try to possess the living. Drain is inversely proportional to time. Easier to summon into corpses. Medium tier.

====Shamanic====

*Averte
**Makes projectiles (arrows, daggers, shuriken etc.) alter their flight path so that they can't hit the caster or the target. Activated by uttering ''averté''. Occupies all tiers.
*Exinanio
**Drains target's lifeforce and mana into the caster. Heavily dependent on caster's skill level. Activated by uttering ''exinanió''. Occupies all tiers.
*[[Pyr]]
**A more powerful variant of the weaker fireball spell and used exclusively by shamans. Incinerates the target if cast successfully but it can be defended against. Has two stronger subtypes known as Kuropyr and Shiropyr. Activated by uttering ''pýr''. Low tier.
**[[Kuropyr]]
***A dark spell of immense power, it kills any mortal casting it as well as the target although it ''can'' be defended against unlike its stronger variant Shiropyr. Activated by uttering ''kuropýr''. High tier.
**[[Shiropyr]]
***A white spell of immense power, it kills any mortal casting it as well as the target. It can't be defended against unlike Kuropyr but requires greater knowledge and a deeper connection to mana than Kuropyr. Activated by uttering ''shiropýr''. High tier.
*Voidwalk
**Only usable by the [[Libaterran Tribes#Sinlarine|Sinlarine]] shamans who slash through the spiritual barrier with their daggers to access the [[Void]] through which they can travel. Similar to necromancers' Deathwalk spell except used in the Void instead of the Land of the Dead. Medium tier.

====Shapeshifting====

*Metamorphosis
**Turn Humanoid
***Turns the caster or the target physically into a humanoid shape other than their own. All [[demon]]s and [[kitsune]] have an innate ability to assume other forms quickly once they've learned the process, mainly between demonic/kitsune and human/elf/dwarf looks as far as reports indicate. Occupies all tiers.
**Turn Animal
***Turns the caster or the target physically into an animal of their choice. Most casters choose a totem animal they keep turning into to make the process easier to use and shun attempts at adopting several animal forms. Whenever the caster turns into an animal, however, there comes a risk of 'mode-locking': the shapeshifter, while in animal form, begins to think and act more and more like the animal they represent the longer they remain in that form. There's a very high chance that they may end up losing their personality completely and begin seeing themselves as a ''true'' animal and thus are no longer willing or capable to change back into their original humanoid form. Occupies all tiers.
*Youko Form
**A spell which seems to be exclusively an innate kitsune ability, it makes kitsune who have earned at least a ''second'' tail transform into a form between their native fox-like kitsune and shapeshifted humanoid form. This in-between form resembles a bipedal fox beast which has attributes of both ends and is much more powerful, turning magical agility into raw strength in the process. The more tails the kitsune has, the more powerful their Youko Form is. Occupies all tiers.

====White Magic====

*Heal
**Heals injuries and cures poisoning (including alcohol). Strength of healing depends on caster's talent and knowledge of the problem. Occupies all tiers.
*Holy Bolt
**Shoots bolt of divine lightning in the direction the caster points. Mid tier.
*Holy Fire
**Conjures fire stream in the direction the caster gestures. Mid tier.
*Judgement: Guilty
**Calls down a rain of holy meteors upon target. Powerful area-of-effect spell that drains the caster. Can typically be used only once per day. Cannot be cast if ''Judgement: Innocent'' has been cast already. High tier.
*Judgement: Innocent
**Calls down a healing rain upon caster and allies. Powerful area-of-effect spell that drains the caster. Typically cannot be cast more than once a day. Cannot be cast if ''Judgement: Guilty'' has been cast already. High tier.
*Light
**Illuminates the area around the caster, lights dark corners and temporarily blinds a target if directed at the eyes although its effects can be shielded against. Low tier.
*Shield
**Protects the caster or the targeted person from projectiles and physical attacks for a limited amount of time. Size and strength of shield depends on strength and talent of caster. Occupies all tiers.
*Sword of Angels/Angel Blade
**Calls down a holy sword construct from above onto the target. Small area of effect. High tier.

====Special====

Usable only by high-level mages or people who have made pacts with unnatural forces. These spells are all high tier and not widely used or known among mages.

*Anathemic Sundering
**Severs the target's links between mind, body, and soul causing instant death if it succeeeds, although there are ways to dispel it. This spell is not to be used lightly, as anyone who knows anything about magic abhors it, and it requires part of the caster's soul as payment. While the soul seems to grow back over time, it is still extremely painful for the caster and has maddening effects on the caster if used too many times. This ability calls on the power of the [[Watcher in Darkness]]. If used too often it may weaken the creature's prison, which could result in releasing the eldritch abomination upon the land.
*[[Plague of Nightmares]]
**Casts nightmares throughout the world, either affecting the whole world in general or specific nations or areas in it at a time.
*[[Rite of the Revenant]]
**Resurrects a dead person as a revenant although a body of some sort is required so that the spirit can transfer into it. Highly dangerous and not to be taken lightly. It differs from a necromancer's temporary summoning of the undead in that the spirits possess the targeted body more or less permanently. Often cast to create revenants or liches.
*[[Spell of Banishment]]
**Banishes the target into another plane of existence and traps them there for an extended period of time. May lead to destruction of the world and rearranging of continents if not performed in a precise manner.
* Spell of Immortality
**Turns the target of the spell immortal, i.e. making them not die of old age although they can still be slain by any physical damage such as falling, drowning, poisoning or in combat. Can only be cast by a being of high magical power such as a god or a powerful Andain.
*Time Warm Dance
**A non-controllable magical phenomenon which is triggered randomly for random people in random locations. Some academic research suggests it might be tied to the boredom level of the targeted individual although this hypothesis has yet to be proven true. What can be ascertained, however, is that whenever a time warm dance occurs, days, weeks, months or even ''years'' can literally pass by in what feels like a mere blink of an eye, allowing for random fast travel from location to location. Some believe time warm dances are a manifestation of the will of magic itself, others believe it to be just a random outburst of magic with no specific goal (except perhaps the controversial claim that it alleviates boredom from long travels such as long, monotonous carriage rides).

==See also==
*[[Classes]]
*[[Innate Ability]]
*[[Races]]
*[[Soap]]
[[Category:Content]]
[[Category:Magic|*]]