The Essence of Magic

In the beginning, magic was the manipulation of energy across time and space. In its most simple form, it was divination. Knowing what will be or what has occurred. It was visions. It was thought. It was tapping into the Astral Threads within the Ether and willing that thread into existence upon the Material Plane.

Over time and through practice, the visions granted by divination gave way to other orders of magic. The Ealintaine and their offspring were began to project false images before the mortals and began to evoke the elements drawing them from Ether into the Material Plane. They began to summon creatures from the planes and transform the elements from one to another or enhance an element beyond imagination. At times their magic protected themselves and the mortals, and other times, their magic was vengeance. The Ealintaine began to manipulate the minds of the mortals, and they cheated death. The Ether could produce anything their minds were capable of perceiving, and chaos reigned in the universe as the Godling Wars began.

Their priests and priestesses gain their magical powers by praying to their deity who grants their invocations. This is type of magic is theurgy. The Godlings, however, could not directly connect with the Ether from the Material Plane. Those lesser spirits relied upon the leylines created by the Ealintaine to view the Temporal Threads and draw energy from the ethereal world. The Godlings taught these techniques to the mortals who mastered what they call primal casting, the tapping of leylines. This type of magic is called wizardry. As knowledge of the cosmos grew, some studied mortals discovered to use their own free will can tap the Ether through the extra-dimensional spaces of demi-planes. This is called conjury. Finally, there are sorcerers who make pacts with powerful, immortal beings in order to gain the power to access and control the Ether. This type of magic is called sorcery.

During the Reign of the Ealintaine, when the the greater spirits ruled their subjects, the priests of the Ealintaine convened, and together they issued the Proclamation Prohibitae, outlawing the practice of magic. In the end, the seven Magi, took the knowledge of the Ealintaine and bound them to Ether. While bound, the Ealintaine cannot cross the barrier between the Ether and the Void. Four of the Magi, those of air, earth, fire and water, guided the mortals into the Reign of Tranquility. The three other Magi faded from memory and history.

The essence of the Ether when brought into the Material World forms crystalline-like structures of the pure ethereal energy. These crystals, called “Essences”, are created when a living Being dies and, once identified, can be extracted from its corpse. The Essences can then be imbued into a Mortal Being or a Legendary Item, granting them magical abilities.

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Theurgy

While divine casters acknowledged the existence of arcane magic as defined by the wizards, they do not see the orders as an authority but rather an blasphemy. Divine casters receive their power from their dedication as a disciple of a deity. They use divine casting bonds to bypass the Binding of the Ether and allow the will of their god to affect the Ether and the Material Plane. Often the dedication or an act of reverence to a deity will grant the mortal a boon from their deity. Such boon forms an inherent divine essence within the Being.

At two different times in the history of Æustëra, the use of arcane magic was forbidden to be practiced by disciples of the gods. The first was during the Reign of Ealintaine. The time second time was known as the Rift of Magic, This ended when the Hazards regulated the free use of arcane magic and made peace with many of the religions, although some still feud over the use of the Ether.

Casting invocations by imploring a deity or other immortal to use your mortal body as a conduit for their power.

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Wizardry

In Æustëra, arcane magic is powerful and all encompassing, but it is also closely guarded by the Hazards of the The Arcana Dominum. This worldwide guild of wizards governs the knowledge and use of arcane magic. The wizards divide themselves in several different orders known as Sodalities, as each uses the ether in its own way to achieve its own result.

During the Godling Wars, many of the mortals studied the mysteries of the cosmos and were able to draw raw energy from the Ether. This proved too powerful for most mortal beings, and many were destroyed by their discoveries. In time, they learned to focus and open just a small portal to the Ether from which to draw energy or reflect upon the infinite temporal threads. To focus their access the Ether, these mortals, known as wizards, require the use of an arcane bond to focus their thought and make a connection to the ether. Through that bond, they are able to manipulate the energy of the Ether to affect thought or matter upon the Material Plane.

Following the Binding of the Ether, Bærwynnd, the Diviner, built the Bright Tower in the Vale of Talanor and began to instruct mortals in the arcane arts. He took apprentices and formed the first order, the Visum Sodalitate. In time, mortals who gained a deep understanding of the Ether, formed the other arcane orders and took the title of Hazard along with Bærwynnd. As the ages wore on, the various sodalties and hazards consolidated the orders into The Arcana Dominum.

Casting spells by tapping into the planes via arcane bonds and elements.

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Sorcery

Casting with a patron.

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