Jan'Tep magic

The Jan'Tep use six of the seven fundamental forms of magic, drawing the power from ethereal planes through the use of bands tattooed into their forearms using banding inks. These magics were originally used by the Mahdek. The Mahdek culture was superstitious, heavily influenced by a fear of demons and the Shadowblack, which led to their refusal to use Shadow magic.

Jan'Tep magic is used through evocational forms, a combination of incantations, esoteric mental geometry, and somatic shapes, or hand gestures.

## Jan'Tep fundamental magics

### Breath

Often considered to be the weakest form of magic, breath magic is used to control the power of wind, air, and movement, and is channelled through the silver band.

#### *Carath*

The first evocational form for breath magic is *Carath*, which has a somatic shape of the index and middle fingers extended in the direction of the spell, and the ring and little fingers curled into the palms in a sign of restraint and control, with the thumbs pointed upwards. (Kellen always claims that this last is a desperate plea to his ancestors and any gods to help him aim.) Used in Kellen's powder spell.

#### *Tuvan-eh-savan-teh-beranth*

Incantation used by Kellen to reconnect the speech spell with Shalla.

### Blood

Blood magic is possibly the most feared of the commonly used six Jan'Tep magics. It is the magic of life and biology, and can be used both to heal and to harm. It also has uses in tracking, as it has spells to bind living things to objects, and can connect to them from long distances with only something as small as a hair from the victim, or even something they have touched. The blood band is dark crimson.

### Iron

Iron magic is described as the least flashy of the branches of magic, creating no light or sound. It is a mostly martial magic, which affects physical objects and matter. Iron magic is channelled through the iron band, which has a silvery grey colour.

#### The 'Gut Sword'

The gut sword is the most basic offensive spell from the iron discipline of magic. It involves the somatic shape of the middle three fingers outstretched together, and the index and little fingers curled into the palm. It compresses the target's internal organs, although is not strong enough to compress the brain through the skull under normal circumstances.

#### *Senhathet*

A shield spell that requires sparking the band for iron magic to be used effectively.

### Ember

Ember magic is described as the flashiest magic, being the magic of energy, and creating fire and lightning. Ember magic is channelled through the copper band, and has a reddish-orange colour.

### Silk

Silk magic is the magic of the mind, and has spells which gives users the ability to read and even control minds. It can also create mind chains when combined with Iron. The silk band is a pale violet.

#### *Mind-Chain*

The most discussed form of silk magic in the books, this complex spell combines iron, silk, and blood magic and is tied to a person's memories and keeps them from speaking of what the caster wishes to hide. It is used on the Dowager Magus by her husband. Kellen unravels the chain by asking the right questions.

### Sand

Sand is the magic of time. it can slow down or speed up time, and predict the future with varying degrees of accuracy. It is channelled through the gold band.

### Shadow

Shadow magic is the most feared form of magic, banned both by the Jan'Tep and their precursors, the Mahdek. Shadow magic was used by the Jan'Tep in order to defeat the Mahdek, although it had the unintended consequence of releasing the Shadowblack. Shadow magic connects to many ethereal plains, leading to users having vastly different powers.

## Specialisations

Mages often specialise in certain disciplines, with different titles depending on the branches chosen.

### Chaincasters

Chaincasters specialise in iron and silk magic. Ra'fan is a chaincaster.

### Tribulators

Tribulators specialize in iron and blood magic, which allows them to paralyze enemies easily.

### War Mages

War mages tend to specialise in iron and ember magic, the two most martial disciplines. Ra'dir and Arc'aeon are both war mages.

### Light Shapers

Lightshapers use unknown bands for their specialisation, although likely have talent in ember magic. Their specialisation allows them to form lightshapes which they can control to interact with the world, such as lifting people and attacking, although these lightshapes can be blown apart with certain spells. Known lightshapers include Panahsi and Shalla.

### Healers

Healers often use alchemical formulae, potentially alongside blood magic, in order to heal injuries. Known healers include Kellen's mother Bene'maat and Ra'meth.

### Sightbinders

Sightbinders are mages that use unknown bands for their specialisation, which allows them to cast misting spells that disguise people and distort their voices, preventing identification. One known sightbinder is Tennat.

## Counterbanding

Counterbanding is a permanent means of preventing access to certain branches of magic. It is often used as a last resort in order to prevent a Shadowblack mage from attacking fellow mages. Due to the importance of magic in Jan'Tep society, counterbanding is the ultimate limitation. Despite this being a significant decision, Ke'heops claims he does not need to ask the Council for permission, though whether this is due to heads of houses having absolute authority over their households, or whether it is due to Ke'heops' importance in the clan is unknown.

Counterbanding takes six nights to complete, one for each discipline, progressing from the strongest discipline (Ember) to the weakest (Breath). It consists of of using the traditional banding inks to apply inverted glyphs to a person's bands to prevent the mage from using them, completely cutting them off from the magical disciplines.