Magic in Vilag



Description::The lure of the arcane is ancient and seductive. To ride on the zephyrs, engulf your enemies in torrents of flame, relieve droughts, transmute lead into gold - any of these things are the stuff of dreams and yet all of these are within the grasp of those who have the Gift.  Eldritch power has changed continents and been the making and ruination of civilizations for countless generations.

Even so, mystic power has its limits. Balls of fire and daggers of ice cannot heal a man and walls of stone are no match for disease or old age. Death, that irrevocable and eternal sleep, comes for all equally. The path of a mage is no less difficult than that of a scholar or artisan. Indeed, one may say that it is both, for a mage to manipulate the forces of the Cosmos is to use his mind and body pluck the strings of &AElig;ther, gather them together and reweave the tapestry of the Universe - all while dodging arrows and swords.

Magical Theory
There are various theories as to what magic is and how it comes about. What is certain is that magic grants the user that capability to temporarily generate, manipulate or banish one of the elemental forces in one of a number of prescribed manners. These things are done by the drawing of the energy and manipulation of same by use of some artistic endeavour, which is linked inimitably to the branch of elemental forces involved.

What does it do
Magic in Világ can generate, manipulate and control the prime forces of nature. Further, it can embue an individual with certain capabilities which are related to the prime forces involved.

How is magic limited
Magic is a tool which allows for the manipulation of base forces. It does not affect living things. Sure, a fireball will burn someone, but a Fire Dancer cannot compel a person to catch aflame, nor can she convince her victim that being burned alive is a pleasurable experience.

Further, magic is a temporary alteration of the rules of nature and when the spell is over, the normal rules of the universe tend to come back into play. The Fire Dancer throws a fireball, but unless there is a suitable fuel source (clothing, wheat fields, thatched roofs, flesh, etc.) and oxygen, the flames will quickly peter out. An Earth Drummer can shape stone as he sees fit, but after the spell, the stone remains in that position and can be shaped by a mason as any other stone.

How has magic shaped Világ
Magic has deeply affected some parts of the world, with philosophies founded on the principals of the balance between the elements, religions based upon the 'miracles' of magic which are given by the divine to the worthy and entire empires built upon the use of magic to assist the people in power and spread their influence.

Attunement
Attunement is the method by which sorcerers can become one with their element. The primary advantage of attunement is that it permits the wizard to access the more subtle and arcane powers needed to cast particularly potent and/or difficult spells. The most common method of attunement is temporary in nature, where the spirit of the mage becomes perfectly aligned with the relevant force of nature. Much more difficult and rare is permanent attunement. By completing the lengthy and dangerous ritual, a practitioner will bind his soul to the element in question, imbuing the very essence of the element into their body. The detriment to this, of course, is that the sorcerer is unable to interact with other schools or cast spells involving other elements. Permanent attunement is rare at best and, in many cultures, the knowledge of the rituals and observances have been lost to the ages.

Synthesis
Synthesis is a particularly unusual process by which two or more mages may work together. When the sorcerers are all from the same school, the synthesis can be used to increase the power of a certain spell or cast a spell they may not be able to do alone. If the arcanists are from differing schools, then the individual spells mingle and transform into unpredictable and potent wizardry.

Schools of magic
As stated previously, there are four schools of magic, each for the four fundamental forces of nature - Air, Fire, Water and Earth. Assuming that the person in question has the capability to discern the mystic forces which flow throughout the universe and, further, assuming that they have the relevant skills to manipulate those forces, the adept in question may learn the rituals and movements to do so. In short, any tyro of the arcane can learn the spells of any school as long as they are unattuned, have The Gift and are skilled in the relevant artistic fields.



Air painters
It is by air that all things live. Never seen and yet ever-present, its gentle caress can be a stinging rebuke. By a wave of the hand and the flick of a brush, an Air Painter may alter the universe. Through the use of arcane brushstrokes, he may call forth mighty winds, bend the breeze to his will and calm the zephyrs of a hurricane. It is known that some of these wizards have taken flight, summoned blinding fogs and stinging sandstorms, evoked dust devils, thrown people and objects about like they are ragdolls and, on at least one occasion, turned their very bodies into mist.



Fire dancers
Fire is both destructive and cleansing, a benefice and a bane. The secret of fire is to move with the flames, so not to get burned. The Fire Dancers have deciphered this conundrum to gain control of the most unpredictable of elements. By moving with the unseen rhythm of the flames, they may bring forth a blaze from thin air, cause a raging torrent of flame to come from a single spark or quench a conflagration in an instant. Legend tells of those who wield this power mightily, causing weapons to become ablaze, summon lava showers to cover the earth, kindle waves of intense heat to radiate from their bodies and even, on one occassion, undo the very destruction of pyromancy.

Earth drummers
The earth is the foundation of the world and of civilization. It protects, it provides and it nourishes. When ignored or abused, it can writhe and shudder, destroying towns and turning mines into tombs. More than just cold stone, the earth is a living thing which has a heart and a soul. Earth drummers can hear the beating of that heart and follow its rhythm. In doing so, they are known to craft walls, transmute stone into steel, and remove rubble (and other rocky obstacles). Legend states that there is much more which can be done by listening closely to the thunder below, including creating roads, cleaving the earth in twain, causing a man’s skin to turn to granite and even bring forth gouts of molten rock from the ground.



Water singers
The source of all that is good is water. Without it, plants wither, animals die and civilizations crumble. But too much of a good thing is as deadly, for plants will suffocate, animals drown and with too much, cities are washed away. Only by resonating with the sound of the waves, the rush of the stream, the dripping of a raindrop can one affect that which affects us all. The Water Singers hear the song of the waters and reply in descant to create springs, freeze water and dry up flooded plains. It is said that they can do much more, bringing forth geysers of steam, surviving in the great deserts without need of drink, summoning great sheets of ice, propelling ships against the wind.