Magic In All Its Forms: Rune Magic

Rune Magic

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Those who seek to understand and master runic power understand that the convergences of the ley lines are not the only important part of this power — the patterns formed by the lines themselves are important as well. These patterns, which resemble letters in a strange alphabet, are called runes. Each rune is a reflection of a pattern of energy lines somewhere in the world. Each such pattern creates a certain magical effect when energy flows in that specific formation, though in its natural occurrence, this effect is much too broad and scattered to have a meaningful impact.

Those who master runes, then, seek to duplicate those patterns in smaller forms; their runes manifest magical power that is arcane in nature, but purely benign and non-corrupting. They are manifestations of Azeroth's own unique flows of power, nothing more.

These secrets represent recent understandings of rune magic — until recently, it was believed that runes were simply symbols of power from ancient days. With the discovery of the ties between the form of runes and the patterns of natural power in the world, it is only a matter of time before more rune families are uncovered, extrapolated from other natural power sites.

[1]Runes are organized into rune patterns, which are not actually separate runes. Instead, each rune pattern is a grand, complex rune that encompasses the individual designs of each rune within that pattern. Thus, the rune for a more complex spell actually includes the pattern of the less complex spell that precedes it in the rune pattern, which itself includes the pattern of the cantrip that begins that pattern. Essentially, each rune pattern is a larger and larger pattern, the center of which is the rune for the simplest rune, which is added to in greater degrees of complexity the higher up the tree one goes.

Empowering a rune means flooding it with arcane power, and the process is nearly identical to casting a spell. Runes are inert before their creator empowers them. Thus, rune magic is a two-part process: first the caster creates the rune, and then, immediately or some time later, he empowers it. All characters with this ability are called rune-casters (just as all characters able to cast spells are spellcasters). Note that the character empowering a rune does not have to be the same character who created the rune, but he does have to be aware of the rune’s existence and know the rune pattern.

While empowering a rune is akin to casting a spell, the two actions are very different. Where the normal arcane caster channels arcane power and shapes it through the use of gesture, word and material components, the runecaster simply shunts the energy into the pattern formed by the rune, serving as the channel between the energy and the rune.

This process defines the difference between runecasting and arcane spellcasting, and is the reason that the use of runes does not cause arcane corruption. The patterns of traditional arcane spellcasting are not natural — the energy of the world, which emanates from the Well of Eternity, does not flow into those patterns without the dominating will of the arcane caster to bend and spindle it into those shapes. This is an act of supreme hubris; the forcing of the world’s essential power to submit to the desires of the caster is the reason that other kinds of arcane casting cause corruption.

Rune-casting uses patterns that already exist in the world. Since these are naturally occurring patterns created by manifestations of the Well of Eternity’s power in the world, the rune-caster need not force the energy to obey him. It flows willingly into the patterns — these are the patterns that the energy itself created, duplicated on a smaller scale.