Magic

Magic is a manifestation of energy brought about through the manipulation of the Weave, a force created by the God Arcti which acts as a medium between the world and the power of magic, transforming it and the world to produce changes and effects according to its application.

The most common manifestation of magic is brought about using spells - the use of incantatory words, gestures, and materials - to manipulate the Weave and bring about a magical effect. Magic also serves as the source of power for “magic items”, objects which can grant effects not dissimilar to spells, but can vary in power depending on how they were crafted and what materials were used in the process, possible resulting in artifacts that can mimic or surpass the power of even the most powerful of spellcasters.

Magic is divided into two distinct categories known as arcane magic and divine magic. Those who study magic also often define spells by distinct schools of magic, organising them by function. Though, the layman often only sees any supernatural phenomenon as “magic” without specificity.

History
"Main Article: Weave"

Creation of the Weave
When the world of Lorone came into existence, the world was utterly devoid of magic, but only for a time. Arcti, the God of storms, channelled the energy of their divine power and that of the elements, dispersing their power amongst all the multiverse, imbuing mortalkind with the gift of magic in the form of a metaphysical force known as the Weave. In turn, Arcti became known more commonly as the God of magic, gaining the divine domain of magic and knowledge in the process.

Arcti’s intention in doing so was to gift mortals a tool they could use not just to help them survive the early stages of their existence, but also as a means of forming unity and goodwill among all living creatures. All of creation would share in this diverse and unifying power.

The Weave War
For reasons that vary in account, Gali went to war with Arcti over the Weave, with their followers clashing for many years over whose deity would be the God of all magic.

At the war’s end, the nature of magic was changed forever as Arcti declared that mortals were not truly prepared to wield magic and see His vision to the very end. As such, the rate at which creatures could wield and learn magic varied dramatically between individuals, and their connection to the Weave would become determined randomly at birth. Where some would be born monumentally talented, others would only be able to learn basic spells after years of study. This would be known as Arcti’s Trial, as many Arctists saw this event as a test from their God upon mortals, seeing it as ignorant mortal creatures needing to learn to respect magic and wield it responsibly, eventually seeing Arcti’s vision for a unified community of peoples drawn together by magic.

The Unification Age
In -50 PGW (-2050 CA/-2074 CA), With the unification of central Lorone into the Vikyran empire and the liberation of the lands of Skeles into the hands of the dwarves, magic was thrust into a great age of progress thanks to the unity of Lorone’s countries and the spread of elven magic in Vikyra, alongside dwarven smithing and gnomish artifice in Skeles.

Many countries began to form political alliances with one another as the ideals of unity and education of the masses spread from Vikyra outward as its empire began to expand and form relationships with other nations. It is said that the empire’s first archwizard was the one to form the famous Arcane Academy of Vikyron, preaching the concept of curating magical knowledge for the betterment of others.

The Great War
At the conclusion of the Great War (0 PGW or -2000 CA/-2024 CA) against Dartha the Lich King, many powerful spellcasters and millions of magical creatures were slain. Many magical items were created, lost, and destroyed over the course of the war as well. Magic became feared for the horrors it could commit, as the Lich King had done throughout the horrible war. In addition, the deaths of so many magical creatures and objects had caused magic to become more unstable throughout Lorone’s Material Plane, resulting in the sporadic presence of Wild Magic Zones and Dead Magic Zones throughout the plane for milenia.

After the war, the nature of magic was sent into a dark age as many blueprints and practices were lost. Elven High Magic fell into all but obscurity as many elven archmages were either slain or became liches under Dartha, leaving only scant history on the subject with no individuals skilled enough to execute it. The secrets of artifice and magical smithing was splintered as tensions between Vikyra, Skeles, and Jaspadi rose after Dartha’s defeat.

For many centuries during this time, it was believed that spells of the highest levels would never be cast again. Many archives containing priceless magic item formulas and spells of the 7th, 8th, and 9th level were lost due to a lack of scholars who could transcribe their contents into new mediums, losing them to natural causes such as rot or unnatural causes such as destruction and theft.

The Age of Heroes
By the time of Dartha’s return to Lorone (1995 PGW/2019 PGW or -5 CA), magic and artifice had successfully remerged into a better state prior to the Great War, but many of the marvels of the old era still eclipsed anything emerging from this era.

But, upon Dartha’s final defeat, the individuals who slew him had grown to such strength that they had successfully cultivated four powerful spellcasters, three of whom were capable of casting 9th level spells, with the archwizard Joeri Celeste being knowledgeable of many incredibly powerful spells, including wish which had been presumed lost to time at this point.

However, the scars of war once again opened upon across the Weave, causing unstable planar portals to inexplicably appear throughout Lorone. These unstable portals all lead to random locations in the now disrupted demiplane of Dartha, known as Nekron, named after a fortress of evil, that housed him and his vile forces within the demiplane. As such, the portals were referred to as Nekron Rifts, becoming notorious among adventuring circles for their Great War era riches, as well as the risks of interacting with the portals as they often caused mental and physical anguish to all who attempt to enter them.

Ascension of Joeri
When Joeri Celeste ascended to Godhood after the defeat of the tyrannical law God, Brohn Silverwile, the presence of Nekron Rifts began to diminish throughout Lorone. In addition, the presence of other unstable magical effects that came about with the end of the Great War also began to disappear; this phenomenon was believed to be due to Arcti collaborating with Joeri, as both Gods had a great care for the health of magic throughout the planes.

Death of Joeri, Ascension of Nym
Unknown to all of Lorone on the 32nd Eni, 23 CA, Joeri Celeste was assassinated and replaced by the mortals Azrael Celeste, Desdemona Diswun, Tia Matthews, Silass Salazar, and Jebediah Blackwood. The world at large was unaware of this event due to Tia Matthews taking Joeri’s shape and name to replace him.

On the 32nd Gali, 23 CA, an alliance of heroes successfully completed a conspiracy and battle against the false Gods, slaying and imprisoning most of them. However, at the tail end of this battle, Azrael Celeste cast the light of judgement spell made by Brohn Silverwile with all his divine might, slaying millions of evil aligned creatures on the Material Plane in an instant while irreparably damaging the Weave once again. Therefore, the church of Arcti began to openly denounce the use of high-level magic for the sake of keeping the Weave stable so that their God may heal it, or at least to prevent an apocalypse.

It is unknown what the effects of this damage and stress on the essence of magic itself would be, but many sages feared for the future of magic as a result.

The Age of Storms
Over a century on from the Age of Heroes, magic had become so overused that the Weave was believed to have “torn” and become undone. This resulted in a catastrophic unravelling of the barriers between planes.

Most notably, the Material Plane had begun to erupt with large storms of planar portals leading to the Astral Sea, resulting in the physical landmass of Lorone becoming uprooted and sundered in many locations. This ended in the continent of Lorone becoming separated into individual masses of land, each quickly claimed or eventually conquered by various countries because of this geographical separation.

The Gift of Magic
As a result of the Weave War, Arcti declared that not all creatures would be capable of utilising the gift of magic. As a result, only some creatures would be capable of developing a connection to the Weave, and their connection to the Weave – colloquially known as a “talent for magic” – would also vary between peoples, with some having the capacity for great magical powers and some being born with abilities that only allow for the use of meagre cantrips.

All creatures in Lorone have a random disposition towards magic, varying from creature to creature. These dispositions are often carried through bloodline, making it favourable for those with families that pride themselves on magical talent to have children with other people with magical talent. But it is possible for unions like these to bear no magical affinity in their offspring, seemingly by random chance though external factors can also be the cause. Likewise, a family with no history in magical talent may possibly birth a child capable of magic by random chance, or perhaps by some event that caused the child or bloodline to become infused with magic, greatly boosting the probability of a magically talented child.

Many creatures also have an innate disposition to magic, but these innate abilities brought about by genetics do not always have a bearing on magical talent. For example, a Tiefling born with the ability to intuitively cast a spell to erupt fire from their hands may have no talent at all as a sorcerer or wizard and will only have spells bestowed by birth right. However, a creature’s genetic disposition towards magic does raise the likelihood that they are proficient magic (for example, an elf is substantially more likely to develop a greater talent for magic than a human).

Magical Talent
There are three typically noted types of individuals with magical affinity. However, magical talent only has a baring on one’s capacity to cast arcane magic while divine magic requires no such talent; though it is required to have a talent to become a powerful spellcaster regardless.

The most common of these are those who do not know they have an affinity for magic at all, as they have no training, history, or resources to recognise their magical talent. These people tend to go their whole lives without any knowledge of their talent but may perhaps awaken an understanding of magic by encountering magic or magical knowledge.

Those with little innate talent may be capable of producing minor magical effects such as conjuring sparks from their hands or develop a shallow innate understanding of simple spells and cantrips, but often nothing more. These individuals can be recognised and trained but may also have difficulties because affinities for magic can vary wildly at this level of innate talent, not unlike training an athlete with a perceived natural athleticism.

Finally, there are those with a great talent for magic, those who have an innate understanding for magic and the nature of the Weave as if it were natural to them, casting cantrips and possibly even spells by intuition rather than any studied or bestowed understanding. These are often called “sorcerers”, but whether they remain on such a path is often very unpredictable. They are the most likely to pursue or become inducted for magical education or perhaps pursue power on their own and join a clergy or cult, some even forming pacts with otherworldly beings for greater magical power and understanding.

Divine Magic
Divine magic is a form of magic that originates from a deity who grants the gift of spells and miraculous abilities through this magic. Very often, wielders of divine magic have little understanding of magic like an arcane spellcaster would be due to their spells and powers being implanted into their minds by their deity rather than through study. The nature of devotion is often spiritual and philosophical in nature and can require decades of study to earn the understanding necessary to align one’s understanding with that of the Gods or the forces they embody.

Unlike arcane spellcasters, a natural aptitude for magic is often not required to gain powers from a deity or holy spirit. Only a deep devotion and set of parameters must be met in ordinance with the power source is required to use holy magic from an external force.

Casting Divine Spells
The casting of divine magic is often an exclamation of faith in the divine, belief in something, or devotion to a cause, creating magical effects appropriate to the proclamation. Scrolls and scriptures that hold the power of a divine spell often come in the form of a prayer for specific aid or effect, rather than as arcane symbols and words that can be studied to infer their effect.

Religious Source of Power: Clerics and Paladins
Clerics often receive their powers through prayer and devotion to their deity, while paladins make sacred oaths to specify their mission and pledge to their deity (or some other holy icon related to their God, such as a powerful Celestial). These holy powers stem from that of their God, not unlike an arcane caster gaining magical knowledge as a warlock from a patron.

Though they are exceedingly rare cases, it is possible for archfiends and other exceedingly powerful entities to grant divine magic. The most common of these are Death Paladins, otherwise known as Blackguards, who often draw their divine magic either from undead servants of Pali or from powerful fiends of the Nine Hells, the latter often being promising patrons for Oathbreakers.

Spiritual Source of Power: Druids and Rangers
Druids and rangers are not always beholden to a strict devotion to the Gods Eni and Bonti, who are the two Gods most associated with the natural world and living things, but their power is certainly derived from them as it is their divine beings that embody nature. Many druids and rangers draw their power from devotion from the concept of nature itself but receive magical power from Eni or Bonti due to them embodying nature.

Druids are more like clerics in their devotion, receiving the power of their spells from the spirits and forces they worship. Rangers on the other hand are far more intuitive in their powers like a bard or sorcerer, using their spiritual connection to the world around them to produce magical effects, rather than attempting to understand nature.

But as stated previously, powerful entities such as fey or celestials can also be the source of a druid or ranger’s power should the Gods not act as patron the druid or ranger.

Divine Domains
Not to be confused with a deity’s divine plane, divine domains are the aspects of reality that deities have control over and are derived from the divine portfolio of a God.

Divine portfolios are assigned to Gods by ownership of a divine spark (Godly essence) that embodies that aspect of reality. Divine domains are derived from the portfolios of that God, with domains being abstractions of portfolios, specifying the magical abilities and spells granted the followers of that deity.

All divine casters draw specific spells and abilities from deities because of the domains they lord over, and as a result many Gods can grant magic belonging to the same domain despite not sharing the same portfolio.

Arcane Magic
Magic that does not originate from a deity is often classified as arcane magic and is the most well-known type of magic by the people of Lorone. Though the way in which people were able to access the Weave varied between individuals. Arcane magic is brought about typically using spells, incantations that bring about magical effects through speech, gestures, and specific materials significant to the spell. The latter are often replaced by spellcasting focuses, objects that can channel a spellcaster’s connection to the Weave to replace a mundane component.

Wizards access the Weave by way of study, using incantations based on magical formulae, instructing the Weave to produce magical effects based on the components provided. Wizards document their spells into personal spellbooks, tomes that are specifically made to document arcane words and preserve them for use in magic. But the capacity to recite magical formulae is often useless when read out from a tome or scroll without understanding, therefore wizards must memorise their spells with practice to cast their spells in a quick and practical fashion.

Sorcerers access the Weave through innate knowledge and intuitive understanding of magic. Their affinity for magic and the manifestation of their magic varies wildly the most among all arcane spellcasters. Unlike wizards, sorcerers often do not study magic and instead know a selection of spells they can reliably cast, with some even gaining such a deep connection to the Weave that they are able to shape and bend the nature of their spells to suit their intentions.

Warlocks are those with some measure of talent in magic who have acquired a means to increase their magical power through knowledge of some kind. This knowledge is often acquired through a pact with a powerful magical being, such as an archfiend of the Nine Hells or an archfey of the Feywild, who bestows this knowledge onto the warlock. The acquired knowledge can vary from an innate or learned knowledge of the Weave that gives the warlock great magical power, or perhaps it grants them a sliver of power directly from the being to cultivate through time and understanding.

Bards are like both wizards and sorcerers in their study of magic, but often they use intuition and intention to produce the effects of their spells. A bard often studies in a college or from a master, gaining a knowledge of history or magical lore to elicit emotions that they may use in conjunction with their understanding of magic to produce spells that may not necessarily be unique to them. The most talented bards have even copied the spells of others through imitation of great magical feats, whether it be arcane or holy in nature.

Artifice
Artificers are arcane spellcasters who do not cast spells in a conventional sense, and instead often imbue substances and items with magic to produce magical effects. Like wizards, they study and practice magic as a science but do so to perfect and broaden their capacity to produce magical effects from the objects they magically infuse. Artificers require little magical talent and study the craft of making magical items like a smith would but would still need to hone their understanding of magic to a degree to power their creations more effectively.

As of 0 CA, an individual who created magic items regularly would be commonly referred to as an artificer. This lifepath became especially popular and lucrative in the Era of Storms, and finally eclipsed the popularity of traditional arcane study by the mid-300th century CA.

Schools of Magic
Magic has been studied and developed into a science, such that all spells and many magical effects can be categorised into schools of study based on their function and effects. Spells (both arcane and divine) are often created and studied with these schools in mind, though it is unknown when and how the practice of categorising spells into schools came about.

Wizards often dedicate themselves to specialised schools of magic, focusing their understanding or affinity for a school to grant them a deeper understanding and application of magic within these schools.

The schools of magic are as follows:


 * Abjuration: Spells that are protective in nature.
 * Conjuration: Spells that transport objects or creatures from one location to another, perhaps even creating an object or effect out of nothing.
 * Divination: Spells that reveal information, whether through sight or mental information directly fed to the caster.
 * Enchantment: Spells that affect the minds and behaviours of others.
 * Evocation: Spells that utilise magic to produce or convert energy to produce an effect, including positive energy to heal wounds.
 * Illusion: Spells that deceive the senses and/or minds of others.
 * Necromancy: Spells that manipulate the positive and negative energies of life and death respectively, whether to heal, revive, or reanimate creatures. Often, it is perceived as an evil school of magic due to the reputation brought by Dartha the Lich King and is therefore highly regulated in civilised societies, especially so regarding those who may legally cast necromancy spells that confer effects involving the resuscitation and reanimation of corpses.
 * Transmutation: Spells that change the properties of a creature, object, or environment.

Elven High Magic
Known in elven history simply as “High Magic”, this ancient but powerful magical tradition produced powerful magical effects that could go beyond ordinary spellcasting in the form of long and costly rituals. These rituals could affect vast areas – usually elven kingdoms and settlements – with long lasting or permanent effects with specific effects created by the instructions and intentions of the casters involved in the ritual.

These rituals required decades of study and research. Their effects were so revered that they were only taught to specific mages within the elven societies that practiced High Magic, often orally to the students of the very mages who would perform these rituals to keep their knowledge safe.

Elven High Magic typically requires the cooperation of many powerful elven archmages, along with the consumption of many powerful and valuable materials. Though the most potent effects often require the sacrifice of these archmages to confer the effect, something that used to be considered one of the most honourable ways to die in ancient elven society. But this would also be cited as the reason for the practice falling into obscurity after the events of the Great War, with elven tribes and societies integrating themselves into the unified kingdom of Vikyra and the elves knowledgeable of the practice all perishing or hiding after joining the cult of Dartha.

Ki
"Main article: Ki"Like the existential devotion required to master divine magic, ki can bring about magical effects using an individual’s body and spirit as a medium in tandem with the Weave. Instead of tapping into the Weave and drawing upon it directly to manifest magical effects, an individual who can manipulate ki instead uses their own inner life force and spiritual energies to grant themselves supernatural abilities, create magical effects, and even cast spells through taught techniques. It is through this spiritual discipline using force of will and physical discipline that a ki user can reshape the Weave, using the ki user’s spirit to cause most of the effect while only using a fraction of the Weave’s power to complete the effect.

However, the practice of ki is not very widespread, especially due to how arduous the physical and spiritual training process is to even begin to utilise ki in a rudimentary way. As a result, education in how to utilise and manipulate ki is almost exclusive to the kingdoms of Pandamonia because of how most Pandamonian cultures integrate the spiritual principles of ki into their society.

The most common term throughout Lorone for an individual who uses ki to produce magical or extraordinary feats by using ki is a “monk”. However, in Pandamonia, the disciplines and philosophies the practitioner follows defines them far more than any mundane title, for example a master of the element of fire from the Fire Kingdom would be labelled more specifically as an “elementalist” or a “Fire Kingdom martial artist” instead.

A hidden faction in Pandamonia known among hushed tongues as the “Mind Kingdom” are also known in folklore to meld the mental discipline of psionics with the spiritual discipline of ki, producing a fusion of spirituality and mentalism to fuse the two into their own unique magical artform.

Like arcane magic, it is possible for creatures to be born with an innate aptitude for ki, but unlike magic this aptitude is exceedingly rare and even more difficult to spot because this talent often surfaces as spiritual enlightenment or a unique perspective on the nature of the self and the multiverse. Aptitude for magic has absolutely no bearing on aptitude for ki, as the physical and spiritual discipline required for ki often requires absolute dedication – which magic, requiring its own dedications, often has no room for.

Psionics
"Main article: Psionics"Unlike arcane spellcasting that requires components to instruct the Weave, or the assistance of a deity for divine spellcasting, psionics can manifest magical effects by using the individual’s mind and willpower as a medium to distort reality in conjunction with the Weave. These magical effects are even known to replicate the effects of spells, though as a result psionic powers are often confused for arcane spellcasting by the common folk.

Terms for those posessing psionic abilities range between cultures, but are only ever used among other wielders of psionic power:


 * In Jaspadi they may be called psions or psionicists. These terms are the most common among others with psionic powers because of Jaspadi's deep history with psionic creatures.
 * in Pandamonia they may be called mystics, nomads (after their nomadic nature), or residents of the "Mind Kingdom".
 * While in the rest of the world they may simply be referred to as "mind mages" due to magic being a common point of reference for the uninitiated. The referral of a psion as a mind mage is uncommonly used among wizarding schools, but is often used for those who specialise in divination and enchantment spells, along with magic that affects the mind.
 * Those low initiates in the Cult of Dartha have also been known to refer to them as "mutants" and who posess "aberrant powers", using such terms to dehumanise wielders of psionic powers for the cult's lesser known desire to eradicate psionics from Lorone.

Psionic powers are most notoriously held by many aberrations, originating from far beyond Lorone’s multiverse and are feared by those aware of the existence of other worlds for their connection to this unknowable existential threat.

It is believed by few occult scholars that psionics themselves are the basis for many spells and are the progenitor of many (if not all) enchantment and divination spells, as they were written and transcribed rather than manifested through the imagination of individuals.

Talent for Psionics
An aptitude for psionics is in no way affiliated for an affinity for magic, one does not require an aptitude for either to use the magical effects associated with magic or psionics. Natural aptitude for psionics is substantially rarer in humanoids than that of natural magical affinity, even in species that have a higher aptitude or psionics. These psionically partial humanoid species include yuan-ti, grey dwarves, deep gnomes, changelings, and dark elves. Though the reason these species have a talent for psionics is that often their origins lay with connection to aberrations beneath Lorone’s surface, as with grey dwarves and deep gnomes in subterranean Skeles, and changelings and drow whose origins can be traced to a civilisation beneath the Shadow Kingdom of Pandamonia.

The most common way for a creature to gain a natural aptitude for psionics is almost always through inheritence, specifically of genetic mutations that causes an individual to have an aptitude for psionic abilities. The exact mutation that causes a creature to develop psionic power is totally unknown, and may vary wildly between species. It is for this reason that children birthed to psionic parents have a high chance for their child to develop some measure of psionic power, similar to magic.

However, the development of psionic powers are sometimes also a result of interaction with aberrations and other psychic creatures, psychically charged objects, or psychic energies - especially the psychic winds of the Astral Sea. A creature bombarded with psionic energies or one experimented on by an aberration (especially if it is aware of its history and relation to the Old Gods) could result in the development of psionic powers.

Most of all, regardless of inheritence or event causing an individual's biology to be capable of wielding psionics, a psion often develops their powers after experiencing a traumatic event.

Psionic Mutations
It is often believed by occultists and worshippers of the Old Gods that the mutations to access psionic powers can not only be isolated, but also induced through selective breeding or biological reconstitution, such as performing brain surgury or genetic engineering by forcibly merging creatures together.

Prior to Lorone's separation from the greater multiverse, the churches of Nh'thielus and Khol had created the yuan-ti through inhumane experiments performed to breed a superior humanoid race with innate psionic abilities, a result that both faiths highly revered and desired.

The church of Nh'thielus believes that the suffering of one's body, mind, and soul (their core tenants) will lead to the awakening of psionic abilities if the potential to develop them is there, as it theoretically triggers the individual's mutations to react and develop abilities, with failure to do so being death or insanity from the suffering one must indure. This is the basis of some aberrations (such as mind flayers and aboleths) in Lorone forcibly causing creatures to develop psychic abilities through horrific physical or mental tortures, performing body modifications, and blasting them with psychic energies.

The church of Khol on the otherhand takes a more biological approach, believing the structure of the brain and its interaction with the rest of the body is the root cause, and often attempt to forcibly mutate test subjects, or implant objects with psychic energies into select locations of a creature's biology to induce psionic powers. This approach is the basis of ceremorphosis, the reproductive process of mind flayers which involves the implantation of a mind flayer tadpole into the brain stem of a living creature that results in the brain of the subject being consumed before being fortibly mutated into a new mind flayer.

Psionic Disciplines
The psionic disciplines are as follows:


 * Clairsentience: Also known as a seer. They have precognitive powers and may use their abilities to gather information through sight or directly receiving information mentally.
 * Metacreativity: Also known as a shaper. They can create objects and creatures using nothing but their mind, often using ectoplasm drawn from the Astral Plane or the Weave to give mass to their creations.
 * Psychokinesis: Also known as a kineticist. They can manipulate and transform energy and matter to their whims, attacking with blasts of force. They are especially known for the power of telekinesis.
 * Psychometabolism: Also known as an egoist. They can alter their psychobiology and that of creatures near them, using their powers to heal and transform the physical capabilities and bodies of their targets.
 * Psychoportation: Also known as nomads. They can use their powers to propel or displace objects and creatures through space and even time.
 * Telepathy: Also known as telepaths. They can use their powers to establish mental contact with other sentient creatures, using their powers to communicate with, control, or decimate the minds of other creatures.

Psionic Artifice
Like artificers, psions are also capable of creating magical items charged with psionic power through the manipulation of force of will and mental energies. These items and their function usually reflect the emotions and intentions of their creator, especially if the time of creation was one of deep trauma or emotional stress. Items created with particularly potent emotional value often function with greater levels of power.

Items created using psionic power typically grants a level of intelligence or emotional capacity to it and can create varyingly lifelike personalities within the item that is created. These items are also often capable of telepathy and communication with their wielders, and in the worst cases can warp the personality of their wielder to imitate that of the item or its creator in an almost parasitic manner.

Unfortunately, due to how psionics are unsystematic in nature, the secrets to creating psionic artifacts are unknown even to the most powerful of psychics. Ancient and powerful aberrant races such as Mind Flayers and Aboleths are by far the most knowledgeable on the subject, but due to their secretive and often malicious nature they do not share such esoteric constructions without a heavy price, and those who learn often suffer a fate worse than death.

Preparation
Depending on the nature of their ability to cast magic, some spellcasters can change the spells they know after a period.

Arcane casters who have a deep knowledge and understanding of their spells and the sciences behind magic often prepare their spells before beginning their days, making them far more versatile than spellcasters that have no scientific understanding of their magic. Wizards are best known for their preparation processes, by reading and practicing the spells they inscribe into their spellbooks, using their shorthand and notations to help them recite and memorise spells during a morning and nightly routine for the coming day. Artificers are similar in that they often prepare their magically infused items before they begin their day, taking time out of their daily routines to construct magical items they think they will need.

Divine casters are similar, with those most devout to their causes, philosophies, or deities receiving knowledge of their spells through divine blessing. A cleric of Gali may pray for an hour or two after they wake up, receiving knowledge of their spells from their God with the rise of the sun. A druid of Eni may also receive the necessary spiritual enlightenment to cast their desired spells by meditating and communing with nature in the early hours of the morning or the last light of the evening.

Components
Both arcane and divine spells require certain components to produce their effects. Spellcasting is at its core a manipulation of the Weave using instructions, given in the form of components that a spellcaster must master to cast the spells they want.

Components are important, and a spell missing any that it requires will cause it to fail without error.

These components are made of the following:


 * Verbal Component: Through a combination of sequential sounds, using specific pitches and resonances, the Weave may attempt to rearrange itself to form a magical effect. Wizards, through millennia of systemic education, form languages of magical words throughout their schools to simplify these sounds into a more comprehensible form. Bards often make songs that implement specific pitches and vocal intensities to form their spells through music.
 * Somatic Component: Intricate gestures and motions may be required to form a spell’s effects. Often these are performed with a single hand, but they can be integrated into grander displays such as dance or weaved into the use of a material component. Some mages can perform these specific movements even in armour or while wielding encumbering weapons, but this can often be detrimental to the untrained.
 * Material Components: Certain spells require materials to instruct the weave to produce certain effects, especially for more powerful or specific magical effects.  Most spells that require materials utilise mundane items of little value, but some spells, especially those of great power, require materials that can cost upwards of thousands of gold pieces. Some spells even consume the material component of the spell, destroying them in their entirety as part of the spell.   Mundane materials are often replaced by a spellcasting focus. Arcane spells often use arcane focuses, objects that are specifically made to channel the power of the Weave like a conductor or acquired as a material of magical significance (e.g., a shard of a magically significant gemstone). Bards use musical instruments to channel the weave through emphasis on sound and intricate motions created through artistic performance. Divine spells often use holy symbols or druidic focuses, using the power of their spiritual connection to their faith, creed, or devotion to empower their connection to channel the Weave (with the help of their God or divine spirits) as an arcane focus would.   Some creatures with a powerful innate magical ability or magical nature, such as dragons, can forgo the need for material components and foci entirely, having a connection to the Weave that is strong enough to instruct the Weave on their own.

Magic Items
Magical effects, and the capacity to cast spells or mimic the effects of spells, can also be imbued into objects by those with the appropriate knowledge, skillset, materials, and magical ability.

The most common magical effect to imbue an item with is what is known as “magical enhancement”, which is a catch-all term referring to a magic item enhanced to boost the effectiveness of a weapon (like the magic weapon spell) or the magical abilities of a magic caster when wielded.

Like spells, magic items can be created to suit the needs of individuals, but the knowledge and quantity of individuals capable of designing and building functional magic items that are unique from any other item to already exist is very small.

Prior to the Age of Heroes, most magic items made and sold were based on formulas and concepts that had existed for centuries (e.g., bags of holding and cloaks of elven kind), though naturally these formulas were adapted for objects that fit the time. Designing a unique magic item often required centuries of expertise and fortunes in funds. Famously, the Cayнa League of Vikyra acquired both after its founding, employing artificers and experts of magic item lore across Lorone.

Creation
With the guidance of a proper formula for a magical item, the crafting process included many things, including:


 * Acquisition of Exotic Materials: Many magical items use valuable ingredients and magically significant materials relative to the power of the item being constructed. A pound of a divine material, such as Cinderite, might be necessary to create a flame tongue weapon for example. But many of the most powerful magical items require materials that are often perilous to acquire and priceless in value, such as the hair of a God or the blood of a pit fiend, contributing to the scarcity of powerful magical items and the decline of their manufacture.
 * Acquisition of Tools and Mundane Materials: Magical items also require bespoke tools and mundane materials, though these can include materials of exquisite value for powerful magic items, such as a masterfully crafted ring set with intricate arcane runes and gemstones.
 * Working and Time: The creation of magical items takes substantial time. The more powerful the item is the more work and delicate craftsmanship is required, potentially extending a crafting process to months. Perhaps a spell or injection of magical power must be cast on the item multiple times over the course of weeks to imbue a permanent magical effect or spellcasting capacity into the resulting item.

Many taught artificers and wizards are warned of the dangers of innovation without the use of properly thought-out plans and formulae, as it can often lead to magical backlash – including harm, damage to the Weave, or death. But, given how much such a mentality impedes progress, radical inventors tend to ignore this advice and plan with failure in mind.

Magic Runes
The art of using magic runes to confer magical effects to an object varies between cultures but is almost universally treated as two things: a form of magical script and an artform that uses and empowers the magic of an individual through study and understanding of the rune’s powers, often described as a blend between spellcasting and artifice. A rune’s power is not gained or bestowed simply by rote learning and accurate inscription, but by understanding the arcane significance of the rune, its meaning, and what power it can bestow much like how a wizard masters a spell. Often, objects empowered by runes are worthless to all but the one who made them or for whom they were made for.

Most notably, masterful craftsman of giant culture use runes to confer magical effects onto objects and locations by scribing appropriate runes with powerful magic, conferring boons or banes to individuals or general types of people under set conditions. Giant runes are also known for their capacity in conferring magical offensive and defensive measures to weapons and armour. Most elusive of all are the Storm Giants’ use of runes in divinations, granting them arcane insight and information of the world and potentially the future.

It has been known that since the liberation of dwarven slaves throughout Skeles from the tyranny of their giant masters, dwarves have implemented the use of runes in their own constructions, making heavy use of rune magic in the creation of magic items. The principles of rune magic came easily to the dwarves as they often had to work with their giant masters as they were forced to forge for them. Though many will not admit it, the similarity between the Giant and Dwarvish scripts made its implementations substantially easier.

Studious dwarven craftsmen are often believed to be the most adept at manipulating, enhancing, and adapting the works of other equally skilled dwarven craftsmen through their understanding of these runes, such as moving or enhancing the magical power of an older relic to a refurbished one. However, this becomes harder as older relics that survive to the modern era were often made through more archaic methods or by substantially more skilled craftsmen.

The spell glyph of warding is the most known application of runes throughout Lorone, but it is often seen as a corrupted offshoot by true rune scribes, as a true magic rune would confer many other benefits and would not be created simply through spellcasting.

Magic Locations
Some locations in Lorone are places with distinct magical powers and effects, with the most powerful becoming famous for their magical might and history.


 * As of 0 CA, Brohn Silverwile erected a magically constructed tower known as the Tower of the Law God as a symbol of his apotheosis as the God of law and order. This tower of alabaster white bricks was suspended on a lush island that floated above the ocean on the border between Vikyra and Drania, connected to a cliff face by a magically suspended bridge. The tower was enchanted such that it could be seen from any place in Lorone so long as the viewer could see the horizon, making it a looming presence of the deity’s presence. After its creator’s death, Joeri Celeste would become master of the tower until 23 CA, when he was murdered. Moments prior to the ascension of Nym as the new Goddess of law, the tower was decimated by a powerful magical force, rendering it almost totally magically inert. Unbeknownst to the people of Lorone, its fall was caused by Azrael Celeste who used the light of judgement to slay millions of evil creatures throughout the Material Plane.
 * As of 378 CA, many mages left their home nations after anti-magical tensions rose to a breaking point, resulting in the formation of the Lorian Enclave, whose members would settle in the Dragon Lands. After forming an alliance with the many dragons and dragon lords who ruled the lands, the enclave used their powerful combined magics to raise cities suspended in the air on the back of chunks of land ripped from the ground. These floating cities were maintained through powerful magical measures aided by the dragon lords.