Magic and You!
Magic is a naturally supernatural phenomenon, that appeared in the world shortly after the Godswar in time of Myth. It is the art of utilizing internal soul energy, henceforth referred to as Mana, into external reactions. Magic is not a fair science; not everyone can access their internal mana pool - indeed, most can only dream of the ability to do so.
Even amongst those who can access their mana core, fewer still can memorize the difficult paths that make up the creation of spells. If only ten percent of the population can use magic, only ten percent of those magic users can truly be called Mages, with both the physical ability to touch on Mana, and the mental fortitude to understand Magic.
For many, Magic is a thankless art. A fire Mage might spend years learning to create a fire no stronger than a torch lit with flint and tinder. Unable to create a warmth more advance than a mundane campfire. At their most basic levels, magic does nothing that a person cannot do with slightly more effort in the moment. Some refer to the art of trading effort Now to save effort Later. Others simply call it a scam.
But Mages who qualify as Heroes are seen as a cut above the rest. Able to manifest powers that otherwise require a God's intercession, or ancient artifacts crafted by sages. Mages, however, cannot do everything. While magic is endlessly versatile, eight scholarly Schools exist. These schools are seen by mages all throughout the world as the only True magics; all other forms of magic are simply parlor tricks - at most, oddities.
The most basic of the scholarly schools are the Elemental schools. Fire, earth, water, and Air make up the four popularly accepted basic elements, with Light and Darkness making up the two advanced elemental schools.
Fire is a school renowned for its destructive power, and studied mostly by those who seek to become battlemages. A majority of Heroic Mages utilize at least some level of Fire Magic, for there exists no magic more efficient at simply killing an enemy. Underestimating a Fire Mage is a good way to get killed, due to their magics natural ability to propagate and spread. Even a novice can burn down a forest - on purpose, or accidentally. Fire magic is thus seen with both respect and fear - few wish to get close to an avowed Fire mage.
Earth is often seen as the Thinking Man's element. It is the element of terrain control and alteration at its core. Earth mages are often employed by the rich and powerful to make changes to landscapes; the most powerful earth mages can level acres in minutes, and it is said a true Archmage could flatten a mountain into a plateau. Among Heroic Mages, Earth is seen as a defensive element - tactically and literally. An Earth Mage will never allow their opponent to have a stable footing, and never allow an attack to go unblockaded. Earth mages are rarely on the battlefields, however, for their use outside of it is simply too valuable. They are thus seen as something close to Nobility.
Water magic, despite calling upon an accepted elemental force, is often viewed with the least respect of the Elemental branches. Disdainfully known as Farm Mages, the most common job for Water Magic around the world is in providing water during droughts or in places of low water viability, allowing a stability even in the face of inclement weather. However, this use is rarely treated with respect by any outside the common folk they work with. Water magic is natively one of the weaker forms of attacking magic, without the defensive properties of Earth - though Mages of the Ice subschool refute such a statement. This means it is one of the rarer schools amongst Heroes. It does, however, cause a lot less permanent property and terrain damage than most forms of magic.
Air magic is the most subtle form of elemental magic. While it lacks the raw power of Fire, the sheer control of Earth, and the consideration of Water, it is incredibly hard to see and thus avoid. Its reputation as the art of thieves, assassin's, and those who hide their power leads to those who practice it being distrusted often. After all, how would you ever know if they intended to turn their magic on you as well? In battle, their spells are quick, quiet, and nearly invisible - but not particularly strong. Good armor is the greatest defense against an Air Mage.
Despite being referred to as the advanced Elements, Light and Darkness are the two rarest types of magic in the world. Even archmages who have mastered every other elemental magic have failed in attempts to learn even the basics of either - they are simply a matter of birth talent, more than any other magic.
Light Magic is the rarest kind of magic; and is often referred to as 'The Mage's Divinity' due to its nature so closely resembling divine Magic gifted to Priests. Light magic is completely incapable of permanently harming any Man, the worst it is capable of being temporary blinding - but it is extremely deadly to Demon's of all types, especially Vampires. Every Light Mage is a Hero, there exist no dabblers, no hedge witches. It is a talent beyond talent, and to even be able to use the basics is to be hailed as descendant of the True Hero. And yet it can do nothing against Man.
Darkness Magic, the opposing element of Light, would be classified as the rarest kind of magic, were it not so common in Demons. Men born with an understanding of Dark magic are one in a million - and nearly every kingdom agrees it should be kept that way, dark magic condemned and pushed down with no effort spared. Dark magic combines the strongest elements of every basic elemental power: it is as deadly as fire, as defensive as earth, as subtle as air, and with a fine tuned control to never damage anything except what is meant. No Man has ever become an Archmage of Darkness.
Sometimes referred to as the seventh element, Nature magic concerns itself with the natural world - it manipulates plant life, it grows trees from seeds, it turns deadly poisons into delicious medicines. Unlike most forms of magic Nature magic does not create something from nothing: a nature mage cannot spawn a tree from nowhere, they can simply make one grow from a saplong. Nature mages are an eclectic and confusing bunch - most of them spending more time studying nature on their own than ever socializing. They tend to be outsiders, living on the outside edges of societies, and even compared to other Mages, they rarely commune with the lower classes. In battle they rarely fight consistently; instead using the local environment to flavor their spells to the moment.
Life magic is an evolution of Nature magic, rare in any creature other than Fairies and some rare Weald Elves. By twisting their view of nature to equalize nature's animals, plants, and people entirely, they become able to use their mana to twist and alter living beings beyond just plants. Most use this to act as healers, able to restore wounds as quickly - or quicker - than even Divine healers can. These few Life mages amongst Men are respected, but feared - for few if any understand how Nature can twist to Life.
Necromancy, undeath magic informally, is most often seen as the 'opposing' magic of Nature magic. This is because this magic acts as a twisting perversion of life and death, manipulating the dead, dead matter, or bones that have been left behind to act in their will. Amongst the races of Man, only Gnomes allow necromancers to prosper without special allowance. As undead assistants are perfect for doing dangerous tasks without needing to worry about things like 'pay'. Only Half-Folk have entirely banned the practice, however, no amount of 'valuable use' worth disgracing the dead. In most societies, necromancers are tightly limited, but their abilities simply too useful to exterminate entirely. Most do not live particularly happy lives under these regimes, however, and illegal necromancers are next to Demon's in how often Heroes hunt them down.
Outside of the scholarly schools are, of course, dozens of other schools of magic. Some of them considered as - or more - illegal than Darkness and Necromancy. Some of them simply hedge traditions, or so limited in scope to be ridiculed.
Blood Magic, easy to learn and horribly illegal everywhere, exists as a sort of twist on Life magic, though with none of the other benefits of the magic. It turns blood and the life-force within it into power, healing, or other effects - but it is an innately selfish art. A blood mage can never utilize their powers to help another, only themselves - all attempts to utilize blood magic on another being harms them regardless of the intent. Its uses are, however, endless. Not only can it heal a practitioner's wounds, enhance their strength to that of a professional warrior - it can also enhance their other magic abilities. By utilizing blood as a catalyst for mana, a blood mage can create a stronger magic than they could manage with their mana alone.
Wool Magic is considered almost purely the domain of Sheepfolk - and it is far from a noble art. Considered a hedge witchery at best, a mark of their naturally servile nature at worst. Wool magic allows the Sheepfolk, at least those few capable of touching on Mana, to directly manipulate their own body's wool - encouraging its growth, changing how it grows, or even controlling it as if it were an appendage. More than that, by imbuing their mana into their wool, they are capable of hardening it almost into armor. Most Wool Mages, however, live simple lives of growing their wool and selling it, content with their lives being decided by their birth. Indeed, much of the clothing in the Sacred Forest is grown from Sheepfolk magic - a single Wool Mage capable of providing more wool in a week than dozens of sheep can in a year.
Enchantment Magic is another banned form of magic, that manipulates targets emotions. While popularly considered as 'mind control', an Enchanter is no more capable of making a man think a new thought than any other - they simply can tweak their reactions. A small anger over a minor inconvenience might become a raging flame at their hands - what should be a tragic moment of sadness might inspire no feeling at all with only a spell. Enchantment is an art of manipulation, and is far more subtle than many would give it credit. Still, the fear of what it might do is enough to make it illegal in all parts of the world of Men - even Gnomes not willing to toy with such. Openly, at least.
Body Magic is a relatively new school of magic, looked at with disdain but not legal disdain by other Mages. Its spells focus on strengthening the body and its senses - the Archmage of the new school claiming that she can 'turn a mage into a warrior with a single spell'. Strengthening spells have always existed, and are one of the most basic forms of magic - but the organization of these spells into a proper School is new, and has lead to many new developments, and a deepening of what was once considered the most basic form of mana manipulation. Many would be 'magic knights' now pursue the art of Body Magic, disdaining the title of Mage.
Space magic is a highly experimental and dangerous field of magical study - mostly focused around transporation, in particular teleportation. Space mages are the single most highly valued mages, even more so than Light mages - because killing monsters is something any Mage can do with some effort. Transporting thousands of miles in an instant is the domain solely of a space mage. And doing so safely, consistently? The value is uncountable. Space mages are not rare because of any requirement by birth, like Light or Darkness. They are rare because most die before they can even call themselves novices.
Mana Cores are the innate, natural mana capacity of a person. It is the reservoir of soul energy inside of a person, and the size of it determines their magical capacity. While a larger mana core provides no innate benefits to spell quality, despite elven claims, it allows the use of magic more freely. But no person can use magic infinitely.
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In general, a level 1 magic trait marks you as a Novice - it allows you to substitute mana for preparation or supply; a fire mage might make a torch flame with mana, an earth mage might dig a hole through extended casting, a water mage might provide buckets of water, etc. These can be useful powers, but they are nothing that time and effort cannot replace. Your wool magic, for instance, allows you to create armor akin to prepared leather armor in an instant - but you could gain the same defense from simply wearing leather armor. They can be a serious threat to a mortal.
A level 2 magic trait generally marks you as a Journeyman. These level of mages can make a living entirely off of their singular magic trait with ease, and is where most Mages stop growing at. They can be a serious threat to a village.
A level 3 magic trait marks you as a Master of a school. This level of mage can easily attract dozens of novice apprentices to follow their path, and is capable of meeting with almost all Nobles as an equal. They can be a serious threat to a city.
A level 4 magic trait marks you as an Archmage - the rarest, and popularly considered the highest level of mastery. Archmages are capable of meeting with even royalty as equals, and only a dozen exist in the entirety of the world. They can be a serious threat to a nation.
A level 5 magic trait is unheard of - the only being alive who might possibly claim such ability being Agatha herself, but only when restored to her prime. These are beings on the level of the Demon King and the True Hero. They are a serious threat to the world.
