Magical Traditions

## General

The title of Mage has been a matter of debate since the days of the first seers, in common vernacular however it is used to identify individuals with sufficient understanding and control of the arcane arts as to manifest their will into reality in the form of spells. Depending on how they came upon the necessary knowledge and skill to weave spells they are split into the five traditions that form the conclave of mages.

## Hermetic Magic

The Hermetic tradition teaches the ways of weaving and transmutation of matter, energy and space. Its adepts are scholarly spellcasters who study magic not as an art but as a science with rigid and time-tested methods that have proven themselves. They rely heavily on magical theory for their practices, using geometric shapes and inscriptions as tools. The effects they can conjure vary greatly, but usually deal with the fundamental forces of the world in their more pure forms. It is the study of structure and change, the application of willpower to shape the world in one’s vision. Sciences like astronomy, alchemy and mathematics play a vital role in the tradition, unveiling the underlying order and powers of the universe. Common sources of energy they tap are ley-lines, celestial alignments and personal mental reserves.

##### Scholars

The primary and most numerous path of the Hermetic tradition, with members of the nobility and academia among its ranks. Hermetic scholars are masters of ritual magic, able to use the ambient magical potential to supplement their own power instead of relying on alchemical reagents to fuel their magical creations.

##### WarMages (Mage-Knights of the Silverfire Order)

A variant of the hermetic tradition was conceived by Draquelien during the first scourge invasion to provide the mortal races with a weapon capable of defeating the scourge. Today these teachings survive in the Silverfire Order among the Mage-Knigths that have dedicated their lives to protecting the realm from the ancient threat entrenched beneath the soil of Aeonia.

## Dark Thaumaturgy

The body of apocryphal and sometimes deemed unsavory knowledge of magic. The study of the dark arts and their implications. Dark Thaumaturgy is the passion and obsession of the inquisitive minds that are ready to trade limb and soul for power and knowledge. Its practitioners exercise caution and a healthy dose of paranoia when talking about the subject, immersed in a web of ancient forces and delicate balance, they witness atrocities and delights beyond the scope of mortals and shape just as much as they are shaped by the perverse reality of the dark corners of the Veil. For all this they have faced persecution across the ages, not entirely unjustified but most times driven by fear and hatred.

##### Goetics

Demon summoners, worshipers, binders and consorts, each Goetic has made a deal with a demon, promising their soul in exchange for the opportunity to ascend the chaos ladder, wield otherworldly magic and peer into the depraved soul of humanity. Tricked, seduced or searching for it the goetic is reborn into a new state of being when the blood they signed their dark contract with dries.

##### Necromancers

Away from prying eyes in crypts and towers hidden and forgotten by the living, the scholars of life and death toil away, searching and experimenting, perfecting the union of flesh and spirit. Madness and obsession, companions of such arcanists that have unlocked the secrets of the boundary between the two fundamental states of existence.

## Sorcery

To wield magic is not the same as being magic incarnate. That is the clearest distinction of Sorcerers to the rest of the traditions. To these spellcasters, magic is an extension of their life, an ever present force behind their every action, its manipulation comes as naturally as breathing. This harmony and connection to the underlying forces of magic lead its practitioners to contemplate magical theory on different terms, and their spellweaving is cleaner, purer and more elegant than even masters of other paths can match. Sorcerers often boast of practicing magic the same way seers did, with a poise matching the Hubris necessary.

##### Elven Arcana

The striding city of Kyrthomir and its elven jade crystal heart had been a beacon of civilization and magic since the first days of the seers. It is no wonder that High Elven Sorcerers would be exceptional among those imparted with the gift of Wild magic. Their use of Elven Crowns and ability to blend magic with all other arts, from music to warfare, makes them quite adept with whatever they try their hands at.

##### Wild Magicians

By blessing or curse, bloodline or deed, some mortals touch the essence of magic and are forever changed by it, weaving themselves into the grand tapestry. Those innate users of magic learn to use magic intuitively using a technique called the seer's eyes that allows them to see and replicate the ripples of mana another mage causes when casting spells.

## The Enligthened

The art of spell weaving is an exercise of will that requires a guiding conviction. Seekers of the enlightened paths hold this, exaltation of the soul, to be the origin of thaumaturgy and the conduit to a great power from above (Path of Light) or Within (Emerald Path). The enlightened, aspire to a purity of though and spirit to do what is required of them in order to shape the world in pursuit of its ideal form. Spiritual leadership has often fallen to the shoulders of these mages throughout the centuries, especially in times of darkness and uncertainty and many religious movements, cults and covens have counted among their members enlightened leaders, scholars, priests and champions.

##### Path of Light

Nothing is more sacred for a follower of the Path of Light than the Soul, the greatest of creations and a fragment of the Creator in its purest form. It is the link between the material and the immaterial, the earth and the heavens, a gift and a burden. It is what separates and elevates us from creations into beings and ultimately what allows us to rise into spiritual heights that can reach the Creator and also fall into the pit of oblivion.

## Nature Magic

Nature magic is the magic that absorbs its power from all living beings and their natural environment. It can be found everywhere in the physical world, from animals and plants, to the soil and water that gives them the base to blossom. Contrariwise with most magic forms, nature magic does not give one power from nothing but gives the opportunity, to the few that understand it, to be one with the natural environment, take its forces and transmutate it to something new that is always in tune with nature itself.

##### Druids

Druids are caretakers and guardians of nature. They listen to her voice and use the power that runs through everything around us and shape it in order to mend her.

##### Shamans

Shamans conquer the energy of the earth by channelling the spirits around us. They are the bridge between the two worlds, the material and the ethereal. They devote their life to commune with the spirits around us either dead or living. Their main purpose is to advise upon spiritual matters, therefore preserving the distortion between those two parallel worlds.