Magic

Magic can be loosely defined as the ability of the soul to act upon the world; but because of the many different systems of magic available, what this means is often poorly (or even mis) understood. 
== Magic on non-hardcore servers == 
*
Magic is a list of skills that require mana to perform, but beyond that it becomes difficult to categorize due to there being multiple competing systems of magic.
===== Wizardry: =====
based on study and thus the Intellect score, wizards manipulate the power of the world to do their bidding, placing themselves as a transistor within the flow of local mana using their limited personal power to alter the course of much larger pools. Wizardry is most similar to the above description of mana based skills. Spells are gated on achieving mana based skills, or several previous spells which the new spell shares similarities with. 
===== Augury: =====
based on your relationship with an in game entity, and thus your charisma score, augurs are most similar to old school RPG casters. Spells are gated behind your reputation with the granting entity, be it a god (priest), an elemental spirit(shaman) or a demon(warlock). 
===== Cultivator: =====
based on the principles of enchantment, cultivators use their body as a conduit for storing and channeling magic. Their primary stats are Vitality, Strength and Agility, though this by no means stops them from slinging spells. Common classes cover most magic fighter variants, but also include those with a transformation element from other paths, and sorcerers, wizards who use their body as their focus item as opposed to their aura, gear or rituals. 
===== Spiritualist: =====
based on the soul, and thus your wisdom score, spiritualists use their Aura or their souls reach in order to perform magic. This is a powerful magical ability as those without similar training are nigh helpless against it, but it comes at the cost of exposing ones very soul to those with similar skills. For this reason, the most popular class for aura users are the Paladin, who build a temple around their soul, and treat all withing their range to the buildings services and protections. 
===== Artificer: =====
based on the use, and in some cases crafting, of magical items. 
* Not all item users are item crafters; not all magic users cast spells. Some, for a variety of reasons ranging from lack of skill with craft or casting to lack of interest or even curses, focus on their souls ability to bear the weight of magic items. In such cases, artificers are typically an outgrowth of other non-magical classes working to keep up with their spell casting brethren in the power curve.
* In other cases, the path of the artificer is a side job to another magical path. Every path, class and specialization has nuances to their abilities that can be enhanced by just the right finely tuned armor, weapons, potions, vehicle or base of operations, and often it has been found that even dedicated masters of artifice just don't understand the requirements of their customers.
== Magic on Hardcore servers ==
=== Terms: ===
*Aether, also known as mana, chi, chakra, prana, mojo, ect... is the amount of effort the spiritual body of the soul can exert, similar to how stamina is a measure of how much effort the physical body can exert.
*Anima, also known as Nammu, essence, spirit, pneuma, quintessence, ect... is the meta/physical matter/structure of the spiritual body. Typically analogous to your limbs and organs, anima also embodies the spiritual organs of various magical systems, the level of organization in one's anima is directly related to spiritual power. Spiritual structures such as mimic'd organs or tools, offer consistent spiritual, magical and physical abilities between various lives. This is commonly where players engrave their character sheets.
*Aura, also known as Mana Pool, Qi Sea, Domain, ect... is the reach a soul is capable of without throwing the magic without a spell. The space your aura inhabits is how magic users recognize each others presence without sight, and learning to pull it in is a common method of stealth. It is also in this spiritual space is where things like soulbound items, creatures and architecture are stored; though doing so prevents the mage from contracting their aura while something is stored.
* Attunement, also known as cleansing, body cultivation, elemental tempering, magical constitution, ect... is the process of acclimating the physical body to more potent spiritual forces. While no amount of attunement will make a soulless thing magical, it does make magic easier to use through the attuned medium; be this the body of the caster or an item they intend to use as a focus for their powers.
== Lore: ==
==== The First Law of Magic, is that "All Magic comes from the Soul". ====
# Environmental magic is the shed Aether, and occasionally Anima, of those with souls.
# Priests, Warlocks, Shaman, ect... may draw their power from a patron, but each of these patrons has, or IS, a soul themselves.
# Enchanted items, Named Beasts, Magical Herbs and Places Of Power nearly all souls. Usually. These souls are pieced together bit by bit from shed or discarded bits of Anima from untrained souls.
#* Some herbs thought to be magical... aren't, but they have an effect on the magic users who eat them, which extends to their ability to perform magic. This is because of how their effects on the mind or body of the user influence belief though, not because of inherent magical properties.
#* Many miss the difference between Items made from magical materials (IE rocks that used to host an elemental, skin and bones from a Named Beast, or a harvested Magical Herb) and enchanted items. For Items made with magic materials, the user is the source of the magic and the material simply processes magic better than non-magical materials, whereas an enchanted item (due to its soul) has it's own magic and magical abilities.
==== The Second Law of Magic, is that "Magic acts on Belief". ====
# Belief that you can perform a spell is utterly necessary to casting.
# Belief that you should or are right to perform a spell affects spell stability.
# The belief of those nearby that you can perform a spell affects spell potency.
# The belief of people across the region or even the world comes together to shape or even suppress systems of magic in their influence.
Many people believe that magic is simply an act of will on the part of the mage, pitting the wizards will against the universe itself; but while this is true, it misses the implication of the statement. While no one else is around or has a belief one way or another about the performance of a spell, the belief of the mage invested is all that truly matters. But when others are around, while their belief in your ability can support your prowess, their non-belief can act as mud through which the caster must push through and their disbelief can become another thing to fight against. And the more dedicated and widespread a belief, the more potent that aid or suppression becomes. 
This is why Wizards tend to live alone on the periphery of civilization. Less interference. 
This public lack of understanding of this is often highly deliberate on the part of many archmagi, because while belief is a hard thing to craft on demand, it's the common trade of priests and politicians, and if a nation can be turned against magic, or to believe in a different magic system, that can have a harsh effect on the local spell-mongers. 
Unfortunately, it also has the effect of making magic difficult to change. The laws of magic systems are easily broken when there's no one or no one with knowledge or preconceptions on how magic works in dozens or hundreds miles of you, but the more knowledgeable folk there are in an area, the harder and stronger these laws become. Ironic, because changing the laws requires convincing such masses that you're correct. It also makes the spread of magic systems outside of their prime populations highly difficult, while also suppressing magic users from other systems within their domain. 
==== The Third law of magic, is that any effect which goes against nature requires more mana to maintain or enact. ====
Physics matters. Psychology too. Magic can bend and even break the laws of nature, molding reality to the whim of the caster... but the further from local reality you wish to bend things, the more effort -in mana and belief- are required to accomplish it. This is why most magic users are also scholars. A stupid spell chucker can never become a god; they simply don't have the stamina; but a brilliant scholar can, even with a mediocre spiritual foundation. 
== Anatomy: ==
Not all souls are vaguely humanoid clouds of Anima held together by an ego, and when this is the case, form typically follows function.
Organs - are spiritual mimicry's of the physical body. If you want to see power, you make a spiritual eye. If you want to draw in power, a mouth or perhaps leaf will be needed. Turning that power from something gained to something you can use would need a stomach, reaction chamber, centrifuge or something conceptually equivalent. The list goes on and is similarly simple and conceptual. In earlier, less civilized times, this would often leave a soul looking monstrous; even lovecraftian. More recently though, spiritual clothing and tools have begun to replace things like carapaces, tentacles and too many eyes. 
Limbs - following on from the previous concept, the spiritual need for action requires a means by which to act; and so when will is too much of a burden, limbs allow for more instinctual motion. Legs by which to run. Wings to fly. Arms and tentacles by which to reach out and manipulate. Tentacles were a favorite in ancient times for their flexibility, suction cups and spines by which the range of ones aura could be most easily extended, controlled with great precision and be used equally in manipulation, defense and attack. More recently though, tool use has cemented the popularity of simple limbs with hands as they offer an even greater range of ability with a lower chance of physical mutation or spirit-body rejection.
Veins - as power moves through the soul or the body, it tends to follow certain paths. These can be predefined in the case of Meridians, be created by the user to ingrain certain magical skills as with Magic Circuits or occur as a natural result of channeling power toward various purposes in the case of Ley lines.
Nodes - are points in the body or soul where the flows of power intersect and act as an intuitive method for controlling power beyond raw willpower. These nodes have a number of functions based on where they appear in the spiritual or/and physical bodies. 
Chakras - are large primary nodes typically found along the spine. While there are multiple methods of using, placing and manifesting chakras, a fully realized chakra system always acts to cycle and ease the transfer of mana between the environment and the user. 
Pools - are storage spaces for power within the spiritual or physical body. Sometimes these are independent systems such as the Dantien, mana heart, core or psi organ; but often the pool is an interrelated system with the Chakras, nodes, veins and Aura. 
== Soul-storage: ==
There are three basic types of magical storage.
# Soul-space, wherein you create a meta-physical hole in the body of your soul and store things inside. The limit of this type of storage is not volume, either of the hole or the item, but spiritual weight and compatibility. If the item's spiritual mass is greater than the soul attempting to contain it, storing it will crush your soul. If the item's spiritual structure is incompatible with your soul, holding it will have effects similar to a spiritual attack. The reward for doing this however, is twofold 
## Anything and everything you store in this manner will follow you through death.
## if your choice of items is mundane, or you have a strong soul, you can store an immense inventory with which to start your next life.
# Auric-inventory, is where you store items and creatures in your aura. The limit of this type of storage, is that while holding an item or creature, your aura will be permanently extended a similar volume to what was stored, up until your maximum auric range; and also that those studied in auric combat will have the chance to interact your inventory. For good, or more typically, ill. That said, auric storage has numerous benefits, in that it allows the user to carry potent spiritual items to fuel their magic or provide a variety of passive and active benefits in battle without impeding the wielder or taking damage from most types of physical or magical attack.
##
# Storage Items, are enchanted bags, containers, rooms or jewelry which can mimic various features of soul-storage. Like auric storage, storage items have a defined volume of things they can store, which is usually related to the strength of the item-soul. Like soul-space, storage items cannot store enchanted items of a higher caliber than themselves but like auric storage combined spiritual weight doesn't matter, only individual spiritual weight, so a single storage item can hold an entire armory of items close to it in tier. The major drawbacks of item storage are that items in item-storage do not provide benefits to the wielder, the storage item can be stolen or destroyed, and gaining access is typically much easier than breaking into soul or auric storage. 
## special note, while storage items can be stored in the soul, this only allows the soul to cheat slightly on spiritual weight as the burden of the items within are placed on the storage item; however, anything within the item on death will be gone on rebirth, and only the storage item will remain.