Athania

It should be noted here that this topic is the one upon which I know the least. Practicioners of the the art tend to be jealous of their secrets by nature, and unless one devotes himself wholly to one art or the other, it can be extremely difficult to come by knowledge of that art. Nevertheless, I will divulge what I know, and hope that I am not offending anyone with my ignorance. -- Tholaris.

Magic has been a part of Athanian life since the Barren Age. It is not known exactly when or how the use of magic came into being, for the knowledge of magic's origins were lost during the chaos of those dark years. What is known is that today three schools of magic are commonly practiced. These are Sorcery, Wizardry, and Conjury. I will talk first on the commonalities between all forms of magic, and its use. I will then go into what little I know about the nature of each form of magic, and more importantly -- the nature of those that practice it.

Any person who practices magic of any form is referred to as a mage, or magi. This term is acceptable for both men and women.

Incidentally, 'mage' is the only term that can be used safely to address a person who practices any of the forms of magic. Never make the mistake of referring to a person by the wrong school -- calling a person who practices sorcery a wizard, for example. Not only will you invoke the wrath of that person upon you, but quite likely you will anger anyone of either school whom happens to be nearby as well. And it is never a wise thing to invoke the rage of a mage. -- Tholaris.

Some particularly gifted individuals master not only one school of magic, but two. These special men and women are known as demi-mages. And an extremely rare individual may actually come to master all three schools of magic. These individuals are referred to as archmages, or archmagi. It is worthy to note that currently there are only two known archmagi within all the land -- Necridon of Amber, and the Atharian king's counselor Ephelias, whom makes his home in the royal palace at Tanilon. Throughout the history of Athania, there have been less than a dozen archmagi.

For all schools of magic, the actual rituals of casting spells are similar. All spells require three components to be successfully cast. There is a spoken component -- the words of power that call forth the magical energies around the caster. There is a gestering component. Intricate and subtle hand and finger gestures that weave the magical energy into a tangible form. And finally there is a material component -- some item or object particular to that spell that serves as the catalyst for the release of the spell. With only a very rare exception, the material component is almost always consumed by the casting energy of the spell.

But if it were simply a matter of memorizing a few words and hand gestures, and finding the right components -- then everyone would be a mage. But it is not. For the casting of a spells requires the expenditure of a special kind of energy within the mage. This capacity within the mage is known as mana. And just as a warrior must spend hours every day studying with the sword to become a master of it -- or the leatherworker must apprentice for years before he can build a suit of armor -- so must the mage study and practice to build their mana capacity. Only mana is ten times harder to build than either of these pursuits. It is said that all people possess some small portion of mana innately. But it is only through discipline, persistance, and dedication to the studies of their art can mages build mana to the point where it can be used to cast spells. When a mage first leaves their tutor or the school of their apprenticeship, their mana capacity is still small. Thus, the can cast only the simplest of spells. One such as causing a single person to fall to sleep, or to float a small object in the air for a few brief moments. But as the mage continues to practice, to learn, and to study, their capacity for mana grows -- as does their ability to cast more powerful spells. Furthermore, the mana capacity required for the spells of each school is completely different. A person can spend their entire life building their mana capacity in the school of wizardry -- and become a Master Wizard. But all that work, all the knowledge, and all that mana capacity is worthless in the casting of sorceror spells. If that person wishes to cast sorceror spells, she must start all over, and build an entirely different form of mana. At the same time, though, she must continue her studies of wizardry, for like physical endurance -- if mana capacity is not used and constantly tended to -- it will fade over time. Hence you can see why it is so difficult to master two schools of magic -- and almost impossible to master three.

When a mage casts a spell, it is said that the casting of the spell itself rips the very knowledge of that spell from the caster's mind. For this reason, a mage must rememorize their spells after each cast. To facilitate this, all mages build large libraries of spell books. These spell books contain information on the nature and the form of the spells that mage knows. When a mage first starts out, this library will consist of a single book -- with but a few spells. But as the mage grows in power, so does their collection of spells -- and hence their library. The spell books of a mage are jealously guarded and well protected, for they are the source of the mage's power. All the mana capacity in the world goes for naught if the mage does not have their spell books.

Unlike priests and clergy, mages cannot wear any sort of metal armor while casting spells. For reasons not entirely understood, the metal interferes with the mana the caster uses while casting the spell, and will cause the spell to fizzle, or worse -- to behave in some strange or unexpected way. More than a few young would-be mages have destroyed themselves and their comrades by attempting to cast a spell from behind the safety of a suit of armor. Because of this, mages tend to shun any kind of armor at all -- even non-metal. The wearing of armor is looked upon with disdain -- the mage's magic should be enough to protect them.

Finally, it should be noted that the casting of a magical spell takes a physical toll on the mage as well. Each time the mage casts a spell, it is believed that a tiny portion of that person's mind is destroyed forever -- hence the loss of the knowledge of that spell. Over the course of many years, some say this will eventually drive the mage insane. While if this is true or not is a matter subject to debate -- but this belief is backed up by the fact that almost all powerful mages are at least eccentric in nature -- and some are indeed, quite mad.

Sorcery

The first individual school of magic I will discuss is sorcery. Masters of guile and illusion -- of deceit and trickery -- these are the hallmarks of a sorcerer. The magic of sorcery deals with illusions, charms, and enchantments. Sorcerers are the most secretive mages within Athania -- and probably the most feared. They can create powerful images in a person's mind -- making them see, hear, and feel things that don't exist. Furthermore, they can enchant other people and creatures to do their bidding in a variety of ways. Even a relatively young sorcerer can command a person to leap from a high cliff with but a single word. The sorcerer's robes are usually some shade of gray. The lowest ranked, first year students in the Tenethel School of Sorcery in Lands' End wear white robes, while the Grand Sorcerer wears robes of darkest black. All other sorcerers fall in between with some shade of gray -- the darker the shade, the more powerful the sorcerer. It is testimony to the secretive nature of sorcerers that no one who has not completed the seven year apprenticeship knows exactly how many shades of gray are used to indicate rank.

Wizardry

The next school of magic is that of Wizardry. Wizards are the most common form of mage within Athania, and certainly the most respected. Almost every king or queen since the Barren Age has had a wizard counselor by their side. The magic of wizardry deals with the elements. Wizardry spells can call forth huge balls of flame, shoot deadly spears of ice, or cause walls of wind to literally fall upon an entire army. There are eight elements represented in the spells of wizardry, each element representing a different rank. The elements are earth, stone, water, ice, lightning, fire, air, and finally wind,. Earth wizards are the lowest rank, and wizards of wind are the highest. A wizard's rank is indicated by the color of bracers he or she wears -- and wizards must always wear these bracers. Other than the bracers, wizards are free to wear any type of clothing they wish -- though like all mages they tend to shun armor.

Conjury

Finally, there are the conjurors. It is said that conjury is the hardest of the three schools of magic to learn -- for the magic of conjury deals with the actual creation and alteration of matter. A conjuror can literally polymorph himself or another being into another creature -- changing a man into a raven, for instance, or a powerful drake into a harmless fly. Furthermore, conjurors can summon forth beings and creatures seemingly out of thin air, and then dismiss them at will. I have seen a conjuror summon a swarm of insects that set upon a man and devoured him down to the bare bone within a manner of minutes. Conjurors wear little clothing -- usually little more than a loin cloth and sandles. They also cover their body with tattoos -- the patterns and symbols within the tattoos indicate their rank and status. There are no schools dedicated to conjurors. A person wishing to learn the craft must seek out a master, and then spend years in his service in return for his teaching them of the art.