Arcane Magic (overview)

Arcane Magic

Those with a mind for arcane magic know that once there were beings called the Gods of the Underworld. Long ago, they met their end at the hands of the Tribe of Heaven, but their legacy remains in the form of the God Lands. These abandoned planes of existence, once fashioned into the mance by the wills of immortal deities still have within them the spark of their creation, allowing them to be shaped by the aspiring sorcerer. Magic users use ancient rites to open a path between our world and the God Lands via the realm of the unworthy dead, the so called Gauntlet, with their own bodies serving as the gateway. A sorcerer must be ever cautious, least the souls of the dead or the bizarre creatures of the god lands find their way into their body.

Some arcane casters carry with them a “Spell Bag”, full of odd objects and stones marked with glyphs marking the “paths to the god lands”, wizards start with one of these rather then a spell book and gain their spells for the day by consulting the Stones.

Necromancy: Necromantic magic is tied to the closest yet most mysterious of the godlands, the Gauntlet. This "god land" is by far the most vast and most desolate, a wasteland populated by souls slowly trudging their way towards what they hope is an afterlife home. Those that collapse on the way become subsumed into very substance of the plane, an eternity of emptiness and stillness. Some believe that grave goods can give these migrant souls the edge they need to make it to the afterlife. Necromantic magic can call the wandering souls back home, send the fortunate few quickly to the afterlife and drain the very essence from your foes, but more than any other school of magic, Necromancy risks destroying the mind of the caster as a million souls attempt to take his body to escape the brutal death march.

Transmutation: The archipelago of blood is the source of the ever shifting power of transmutation. This plane appears to mortal eyes as an infinite ocean of blood, churning with maggots and grubs. Dotting this sea are jungle islands full of strange and savage beasts and unearthly beautiful flowers and dense dangerous flora. The life on this island is trapped in a state of hyper evolution, adapting minute to minute to changes in the environment and more than occasionally collapsing under the weight of their own grotesque mutations.

Conjuration: The Fallen Manor is the source of all conjuration magic, those few who have glimpsed this place describe an unreally massive house gilt in gold and decorated with faded paintings, rotting opulent furniture and  glittering half shattered chandeliers of of crystal. Here is the magic of sovereignty heavy,  servants both man and beast cater to the souls who have arrived here.

Evocation: Evocation finds its source of power in the great Foundry of Promises. A land of turning gears, heaving bellows and rivers of molten metal. Here the chains of promise are forged link by link. Brilliant golden vows of love, heavy iron military alliances, cruel spiked steel oaths of vengeance.  The dead who have kept their vows under duress find themselves loyal craftsmen, but woe to the oath breaker who finds themselves here, for they are bound to the great forge and burn for eternity, fueling the great edifice.

Divination: Divination finds it's power in the great Halls of Silver and White. This god land is almost impossible to navigate, a maze of glistening pure white chambers whose every contents are the same shade of white, interrupted only by great isosceles triangles of smoothly polished mirrors. Somewhere within this great glittering expanse lies the great palace of the fates, but be warned, the fates guard their secrets jealously, and those foolhardy enough to learn the future without paying their respect must answer to The Darkness made Flesh.

Abjuration: The Mill House of Torment provides the abjurer with all they need. This expanse of catwalks, cages and horrible engines of pain exists to give it's wardens the tools it needs to feed on the souls of the misfortunate, and especially those whose lives were lost to despair, needless sacrifice or betrayal. Escape is impossible, any who travel here have forfeited their very souls.