Post by Kenneth New on Jun 12, 2011 4:16:50 GMT -5
Many different routes to magical power exist in the world of Rhiada. Here is a list of the most common.
Sorcery
Sorcerers have an innate talent for magic that manifests as an affinity for specific powers, such as fire magery, storm magery, etc …. Although the power is innate, most sorcerers use an implement of some sort as a focus, be it a wand, a staff, a ring, etc….
The prevalence of sorcerers varies from race to race. Among humans, sorcery usually accompanies a birth of strange and preternatural circumstances. Among the dweir, earth magery is relatively common, but other types are extremely rare. Among the ilfaren, the talent (eluvaya) is fairly common and comes in all varieties.
Among the ilfaren, the eluviel attend schools that teach each student to bring out their full potential; the dweir have slightly more regimented schools, but human sorcerers usually learn to master their powers on their own. In the city of Karthis, sorcerers of all races are trained in the Academy of Magic which also teaches rituals and magical theory.
Wizardry
Wizardry is the art of using ritual, artifacts and other aids to manipulate magical energy. Very few wizards are capable spontaneously casting spells, but rely upon spells crafted ahead of time and on magical talismans and devices. Although a talent is required to learn this art, it is a weaker talent than that required for sorcery. Most scholars believe that the art of wizardry was developed by ilfaren eluviel to provide more variety and utility to their magic, but there is a also a school of thought that traces the art of wizardry to a cabal of pact mages who were taught the art by their patron, an enigmatic being called Zethiquas the Old. Some wizards worship this same being today.
There are some schools of wizardry, such as the Schola of the Arcane Order in Karthis and the Magisterion in Elocia, but many other wizards learn their arts from a mentor through a long apprenticeship.
Mind Magery
Mind Mages have the inborn talent to use mental energy to affect the world and the people around them. Farspeech, Telepathy, Mindlink and Clairsentience are some the most common types of powers found among mind mages. The Therans long ago discovered the creation of psionic crystals that amplify telepathic energy and convert it into other forms such as kinetic energy, electricity, heat, etc….
Mind Mages have existed throughout time, arising occasionally among their more mundane brethren, but every member of the Theran race and most of the Scatha races has the talent. According to Theran legend, in the years before the cataclysm the God Morpheus called the greatest of the Rhiadan Mind Mages to join him on the Isle of Thera where they were protected during the Long Darkness. Centuries later, they emerged to bring enlightenment to the barbaric world they found. Most scholars doubt that the Theran motives were so pure.
The best training available in the mental arts is found in the Theran Towers, but it is open only to Therans. (Anyone else who attempted to enter a tower would be destroyed by the wards.) Other mentalists are trained by mentors or in smaller private schools (more like group tutoring). The Scatha have a training system completely separate from that of the Therans.
Members of any race can be born with the talent for Mind Magery, but it is ubiquitous among the Therans, extremely common among the Scatha. Among most other races, the talent is fairly rare. Mind Magery is a separate talent from Arcane Magery and people can be born with the talent for both.
Oneiromancy
Oneiromancers are extremely rare. The art can be exercised either through mental or arcane arts. It is a difficult art that requires considerable time and must be performed while sleeping. Practitioners can create physical changes in the world by repeatedly dreaming the same change over the course of many days. Most of the known Oneiromancers are also Theran Mind Mages. In Elocia, the largest circle of Dream Mages can be found in the town of Oron, ancestral seat of the Orontid family. Another famous circle is found in the town of Panthesilea in the Niemocrands, the site of the only Theran colony that survived the fall of Thera intact.
Pact Magery
Pact mages invoke powerful entities and swear oaths to them in exchange for power. They must provide services to their master in exchange for the power they borrow. The powers of pact mages vary considerably from mage to mage, but they seem thematically linked by the motif of the entity who grants them. Some of the most common entities that are willing to make such pacts in the World of Rhiada are the Lords of the Nine (especially Beliyol and Abaddon), the Archfey (such as the Pale Huntress, the Queen of Air and Darkness, the Queen of Summer and the King of Winterfrost), the Great Intelligence, the Labyrinth and Zethiquas the Old.
Due to a clause in their original pact, the Atryans can invoke Beliyol without providing acting service in furtherance of an oath.
Binding
Binders summon beings from other planes and bind them to their service. Sometimes, they’re bound into items, and sometimes they are bound to talismans that force them to serve whoever holds them. Binding is extremely dangerous due to the power of the entities summoned and the risks of the process. Many items with demons bound within them still can be found in the world of Rhiada, such as the fabled Nine Demon Blades of Tyrathis, one of which is part of the regalia of the First Tyrant of Midian.
Witchcraft
Witches have an innate connection with the World of Rhiada are able to use that connection (with the help of their athames) to affect the world. The most common powers include animating objects, transforming creatures and objects, affecting natural energies such as fire and lighting, healing, draining life and energy and changing shape. They can also use minor glamors and tricks of levitation. Witches claim to draw upon the three parts of Rhiada, the World, the World Mind and the World Soul.
Channeling
Channelers learn to attune themselves to sources of magical energy and to channel it in order to create magical effects. All of the effects they create are connected in some way to the source of their power. The most common sources for channeling in the World of Rhiada are the Omphalos, the Azure Radiance, the Sidereal Flame, the Maw of Chaos, the Maw of Chaos and the Celestial City of Light.
Fleshcrafting
Fleshcrafters can shape flesh, their own and/or those of their targets. Most often this is done through long ritual. The art of fleshcrafting was introduced to Rhiada by the Scatha during the time of the Scathovar Hegemony. Very few practitioners of this art are known in Rhiada.
Sorcery
Sorcerers have an innate talent for magic that manifests as an affinity for specific powers, such as fire magery, storm magery, etc …. Although the power is innate, most sorcerers use an implement of some sort as a focus, be it a wand, a staff, a ring, etc….
The prevalence of sorcerers varies from race to race. Among humans, sorcery usually accompanies a birth of strange and preternatural circumstances. Among the dweir, earth magery is relatively common, but other types are extremely rare. Among the ilfaren, the talent (eluvaya) is fairly common and comes in all varieties.
Among the ilfaren, the eluviel attend schools that teach each student to bring out their full potential; the dweir have slightly more regimented schools, but human sorcerers usually learn to master their powers on their own. In the city of Karthis, sorcerers of all races are trained in the Academy of Magic which also teaches rituals and magical theory.
Wizardry
Wizardry is the art of using ritual, artifacts and other aids to manipulate magical energy. Very few wizards are capable spontaneously casting spells, but rely upon spells crafted ahead of time and on magical talismans and devices. Although a talent is required to learn this art, it is a weaker talent than that required for sorcery. Most scholars believe that the art of wizardry was developed by ilfaren eluviel to provide more variety and utility to their magic, but there is a also a school of thought that traces the art of wizardry to a cabal of pact mages who were taught the art by their patron, an enigmatic being called Zethiquas the Old. Some wizards worship this same being today.
There are some schools of wizardry, such as the Schola of the Arcane Order in Karthis and the Magisterion in Elocia, but many other wizards learn their arts from a mentor through a long apprenticeship.
Mind Magery
Mind Mages have the inborn talent to use mental energy to affect the world and the people around them. Farspeech, Telepathy, Mindlink and Clairsentience are some the most common types of powers found among mind mages. The Therans long ago discovered the creation of psionic crystals that amplify telepathic energy and convert it into other forms such as kinetic energy, electricity, heat, etc….
Mind Mages have existed throughout time, arising occasionally among their more mundane brethren, but every member of the Theran race and most of the Scatha races has the talent. According to Theran legend, in the years before the cataclysm the God Morpheus called the greatest of the Rhiadan Mind Mages to join him on the Isle of Thera where they were protected during the Long Darkness. Centuries later, they emerged to bring enlightenment to the barbaric world they found. Most scholars doubt that the Theran motives were so pure.
The best training available in the mental arts is found in the Theran Towers, but it is open only to Therans. (Anyone else who attempted to enter a tower would be destroyed by the wards.) Other mentalists are trained by mentors or in smaller private schools (more like group tutoring). The Scatha have a training system completely separate from that of the Therans.
Members of any race can be born with the talent for Mind Magery, but it is ubiquitous among the Therans, extremely common among the Scatha. Among most other races, the talent is fairly rare. Mind Magery is a separate talent from Arcane Magery and people can be born with the talent for both.
Oneiromancy
Oneiromancers are extremely rare. The art can be exercised either through mental or arcane arts. It is a difficult art that requires considerable time and must be performed while sleeping. Practitioners can create physical changes in the world by repeatedly dreaming the same change over the course of many days. Most of the known Oneiromancers are also Theran Mind Mages. In Elocia, the largest circle of Dream Mages can be found in the town of Oron, ancestral seat of the Orontid family. Another famous circle is found in the town of Panthesilea in the Niemocrands, the site of the only Theran colony that survived the fall of Thera intact.
Pact Magery
Pact mages invoke powerful entities and swear oaths to them in exchange for power. They must provide services to their master in exchange for the power they borrow. The powers of pact mages vary considerably from mage to mage, but they seem thematically linked by the motif of the entity who grants them. Some of the most common entities that are willing to make such pacts in the World of Rhiada are the Lords of the Nine (especially Beliyol and Abaddon), the Archfey (such as the Pale Huntress, the Queen of Air and Darkness, the Queen of Summer and the King of Winterfrost), the Great Intelligence, the Labyrinth and Zethiquas the Old.
Due to a clause in their original pact, the Atryans can invoke Beliyol without providing acting service in furtherance of an oath.
Binding
Binders summon beings from other planes and bind them to their service. Sometimes, they’re bound into items, and sometimes they are bound to talismans that force them to serve whoever holds them. Binding is extremely dangerous due to the power of the entities summoned and the risks of the process. Many items with demons bound within them still can be found in the world of Rhiada, such as the fabled Nine Demon Blades of Tyrathis, one of which is part of the regalia of the First Tyrant of Midian.
Witchcraft
Witches have an innate connection with the World of Rhiada are able to use that connection (with the help of their athames) to affect the world. The most common powers include animating objects, transforming creatures and objects, affecting natural energies such as fire and lighting, healing, draining life and energy and changing shape. They can also use minor glamors and tricks of levitation. Witches claim to draw upon the three parts of Rhiada, the World, the World Mind and the World Soul.
Channeling
Channelers learn to attune themselves to sources of magical energy and to channel it in order to create magical effects. All of the effects they create are connected in some way to the source of their power. The most common sources for channeling in the World of Rhiada are the Omphalos, the Azure Radiance, the Sidereal Flame, the Maw of Chaos, the Maw of Chaos and the Celestial City of Light.
Fleshcrafting
Fleshcrafters can shape flesh, their own and/or those of their targets. Most often this is done through long ritual. The art of fleshcrafting was introduced to Rhiada by the Scatha during the time of the Scathovar Hegemony. Very few practitioners of this art are known in Rhiada.