Categories of Magic

## A Discourse upon Magic as written by the Summi Discipli Larronwyn Magicor, the current Head of the Mages University in Heliene

### In Kingdom Magic

Much like it's policies on religion, Verissamore holds that there is no one true way to perform feats of "magic". From hedge witches to university alchemy students to divinely gifted clerics, there are many forms of power beyond what the normal being in the Kingdom can control or learn. These various forms can be broken down into roughly three categories, though. Innate magics, divine magics, university or scientific magics, and greater magics. There are many breakdowns within these realms but, with very few exceptions, any and all magics performed within the kingdom can be broken down into one of these areas.

#### Innate Magics

These magics include all of those that one might be born with. Some examples of this would be the powers of all of the magical creatures within the kingdom like those the elusive fairies of the Southern Forest display and the magics of many hedge witches and wizards that serve as village healers across the kingdom. Where these powers come from is a mystery. There are some that argue that the powers of magical creatures should be defined and categorized as divine powers as there is a case to be made that the Goddesses Satyria and Phalidoptera could bequeath powers upon these races, but most scholars believe that these races far from being modified and made magical by these goddesses are simply protected by them due to their inborn magical nature making them more desirable as prey and prize for hunters.

Innate magical powers are often less strong that other powers, and there is no discernible reason why as of yet, but many have devoted their entire lives to discovering why this might be so.

#### Divine Magics

As might be evident by the name, those magical powers that are classified as Divine stem, in some way, from a Divinity. Examples of these powers would be the powers of creatures of the night such as the fabled Vampyres, magical skills of half-deities (rare as they are), all magics that the elves and dwarves posses, those mysterious powers shown by the tribes that dwell in the Northern Wastes, and the powers of those clergy who do such things as heal and purify with the blessings of their chosen deities.

Not all deities grant their followers powers, but those that do often grant powers that are only specific to their realm, or limited in some way. For example, the elves powers from their Great Hare live purely within the scope of growing plants or healing the natural world in some way- perhaps clarifying a natural water source or healing damage done to a tree by natural or unnatural means. A truly devoted follower of Lustris might be able to summon a reflection of the light of the stars even without one of His consecrated medallions.

Those that live within the Northen Wastes are not always welcome to outsiders, but some few researchers were allowed to observe a few of the tribes, and their powers could be described almost as shamanistic in nature. In some way, each member of the tribe is connected to their chosen deity or totem spirit and share all of the granted abilities and skills of each totem animal. Researchers within the Wolf tribe were shocked to watch a ritual in which a majority of the tribes members came together and sang a sacred healing chant. This chant produced a warm red mist that healed anything it touched in such a way that it might have been first injured weeks or even months ago. This might sound fantastical to many readers, but the process was witnessed by steady and reliable researchers employed by the university specifically for their partiality and ability to hold fast in the face of anything strange.

#### University or Scientific Magics

A philosopher once said upon the subject of the steam engine that "**Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic**” (real life credit to Arthur C. Clarke). This describes perfectly those magics that fall under the realm of university or scientific magics. Subjects such as alchemy and some types of divination fall within this realm. Essentially these magics could be summed up as those magics that involve outside components and could be recreated by anyone with the proper training and tools but why or how they work is entirely not understand and may or may not possess the energy that most would consider pure magic.

While this category is often called University Magics by the layman, it would be inaccurate to state that this is the only form of magic studied at the various magical universities and establishments of practice and learning within the Kingdom. Those that are connected to the various magical education centers refer to these as the Scientific Magics as they can be quanitifed, recorded, and repeated much like any experiment with components that we can actually explain beyond the umbrella term of "magic".

#### Greater Magics

This subject is perhaps the most controversial of all of the magic categories, purely due to it's rarity. The magics that fall into this area might also be considered "thaumaturgy" in some ways. Great feats of impossible magic that cannot be replicated by any means, levels of power that can only be competed with on the divine level, freak accidents or miracles of a magical nature, all fall under the umbrella of Greater Magics. Rumours of a thaumaturgical event at Ismir have spread for many years, and while nothing can be verified this would be the level of magical event to qualify as a Greater Magic. Other examples would be the magics of the extinct dragons- not purely innate or divine in nature and on such a scale higher than any magic we can now produce that it is like comparing a blade of grass to a mighty oak.

### Magic

At it's essence, magic is energy. Perhaps one day we will understand this energy as a science as other nations understand such things as "combustion" and "fulgar energy", but until then I believe that I am well pleased to hold onto the wonder of beholding incredible results that cannot be explained by the everyday explanations of man.