Magic

Magic is an important part of Eiroth, and is one of the conerstones of civilization in the continent of Laerdon. Even though it is pretty rare to find someone with considerable magical abilities, the ones who wield them tend to greatly influence the lives of everyone around them. There are many uses for magic, varying greatly with both the kind of magic used and the inviduals who choose to use it.

All major races are capable of using some kind of magic, although each race has favored types, and that clearly relfects on their society. Overall, these disciplines define magic in the continent of Laerdon, as studied by the Foras Cult.

Raw magicks
Raw magicks are power in its purest form. These allow the user to invoke and manipulate energies from other planes and conjure powers out of thin air. Although these magicks usually give the users great powers they often come with a cost.

Arcane
Arcane is one of the rarest types of magic in Eiroth, and very few know it. Arcane magic requires a very powerful trained mind and unwavering will power. Talented novices will find casting single cantrips to be a tiring effort, and lesser individuals may collapse when trying this feat. With enough practice, one will slowly get less tired, but even masters of the arcane arts will get fatigued with relative ease. There are three main types of Arcane magic: Fire, Frost, and innate Arcane.

Arcane magics were discovered by the Dark Elves and later studied by the Foras Cult. Eligos' and Garder'el's research, and later the strange arcana brought by Xingdao Fan caused a fast evolution and popularization of these arts during the First Age. However, the Un'oorg advance caused by the corruption and fall of the Foras Cult made these powerful magicks feared and eventually forgotten.

Not many practice these arts anymore besides Dark Elves and Necromancers, as Necromancy can be considered sub-arcane. It is possible that this type of magic will cease to exist someday, as there aren't many users left and even less who are willing to share their secrets. It is also believed that people who practise Arcane magic for extended periods of time will eventually become corrupted in body and soul which has caused many to fear and even loathe those that practice it.

Necromancy
Necromancy is a subtype of Arcane magic. The nature of necromancy as well as common misconceptions and rumors spread by the average townsfolk has made most people ignorant of its full potential and alternative uses. Commonly, necromancy is used to manipulate dark energies and to create and bind minions(commonly undead) to the users' service, however this is but a fraction of the magicks possible by Necromancy.

The Dark Elves were the first ones that used Necromancy and are also the most skilled in it. Necromancy was created as an important subclass of arcane magic in order to research an elemental-less form of energy. This would create many possibilites since each element has inherent weaknesses and this would create a new form of universal energy. The first try at such an attempt was dark energy. This energy, although very similar to fel, is provenient from the netherworld instead of demôins themselves. {C {C}{C Despite being tainted it is still a reliable source of magic that doesn’t corrupt the user as long as he is willing to restrain the flow of magic. However, most succumb to their hunger for power and stop at this stage in their study of Necromancy, making corpse raising and dark energy manipulation the most common use of this kind of magic. Dark energy manipulation is also quite popular since to control minions it is not strictly necessary to use one's energy as corpses have their own and work like containers.

The second wave-form created was positive energy. Although the name might suggest it has the same source as holy light it is nothing more than the negation of the dark energy. However, this is a very advanced technique since the negation of one magic’s nature proves truly exhausting for the user. There isn't a known defence for this kind of magic, but since it the negation of the dark waves it is possible that it is flawed by fel magic like dark is flawed by holy. Only a handfull of mages were capable of using it not only because of the skill required, but also because many would had already let the dark energies corrupt both their body and their mind. According to the Dark Elven theory the truth non-elemental magic would be a combination of both this energies. However there is no mage that ever survived such an attempt.

//TODO related articles: minion controling and tomes of necromancy

Fel
The term Fel refers to the magics used by Demôins, more specifically, Demons. The form of magic used by warlocks is best described as a form of fel energy, since it relies heavily on demonology. Black Orcs (or Darraths) relied heavily on the Fel magic given to them by Borguz, a Demon of high power who Geimos Darkeye met before leaving to Zhom'Thal. Fel is much like Arcane, but it's considered Demonology. It is unknown if it is used by any other race, but it's impossible to use it without having any connection with beings of the lesser planes or the nether.

Natural magicks
The natural magicks are drawn from the environment around the user. A user of the natural arts will rederict rather than create, call instead of conjure and draw energy from its surroundings instead of other sources. Altought Natural Magicks don't usually have as much power as Raw ones, they can make up for it with their low cost and power in certain situations.

Shamanism
A shaman's power is drawn from nature and its elements. Shamans use magical devices to focus the elemental energy that they channel for use in their spells. Thunder, Wind, Water and Earth are the four main elements of Shamanism and their power varies greatly according with the location and situation in which they are used. For instance if the user is in a storm, it's obvious that Thunder spells will not only be more effective but also easier to cast. If you are near Water, you will find it easier to manipulate and invoke Water powers, and so on. Likewise, if you find yourself in the opposite end of the spectrum, you will require much more power and effort to achieve the same result.

One cannot just summon something out of nothing with Shamanism. You have to rely fully on nature and it's resources. Also it is exceedingly dificult to summon a creature using one single element, and so expert summoners will find themselves trying out a multitude of elemental combinations to improve their expertise.

This type of magic is commonly used by Orcs and Trolls, although it's believed that the High Men have always used it, and some of the Lesser Men also learned its arts. It is also very common among Earth Elves, who use the Earth powers very often.

Druidism
Druidism is a subtype of the shamanistic magicks. Druids receive their power from the nature itself, and unlike shamans they do not need ro rely in any kind of device to draw their power. They become agents of nature itself, forming a bond with all beings and pulling their strength directly from that bond. If one's connection with Nature is strong, you can manipulate Druidism quite easily, however this is very hard for novices whose connection is very weak. The primal link with other beings and the elements of Wind and Water are the pillars Druidism.

Unlike other magicks druidism requires a daily training of mind and body, as one's connection to nature is attuned to one inner balance. Also when the connection to nature is broken one must earn it from the very basics.

There aren't many known users of this kind of magic besides Wood Elves. It's commonly believed that these have a special connection with nature and some even suggest that they were the very spawn of it despite the lack of proof. Dark Elves also used it but since no dark elf could ever establish a good connection with nature it was forgotten over the years. Druidism was also practicioned in the Foras Cult of Magic, but the secrets of it escaped men with the fall of the Cult near the end of the First Age.

Voodoo
Voodoo is an exotic tribal mix which uses shamanism and alchemy and is practiced exclusively by Troll Witch Doctors. Despite being looked down by many of the other schools of magic, voodoo is in fact very complex and requires a carefull study of many different reagents, a precise use of shamanism and an uncanny eye for keeping the balance between the use of these two qualites. As such becoming a Witch Doctor is a task of a lifetime and is started from a very early age.

There aren't many records of Voodoo magic, but it is widely known for placing hexes to morph victims into other shapes. It is also used to make different concotions and artifacts with a large variety of effects.

Holy/Light Magic
Holy magic is practiced solely by Men. The monks, priests and paladins who practise it invoke the energies of The Holy Light, a magical entity thought to embody the power of the spirit of Men. Its main purpose is to protect and heal but it can be sometimes used to smite certain entities. There are two known subtypes of holy magic: Ancient and Sacred. Ancient Holy magic was only practiced by High Men and was much more powerful and effective, while the Sacred Holy magic theory says that it was "God" who allowed them to use the power of the Light to honor His name.

In the begining of the Second Age the Church declared that any use of Holy magic without the wish to promote the Church and God's name would be punished with death.This event caused the deaths of many practitioners and Holy Magic slowly decreased in popularity and became a lesser magic type. Many were executed for using Holy Magic for their own and private use.

Shortly after, in response to the Church's policy the Order of the White Towers was founded and the rank of Clerics formed. Clerics wished to promote the use of Holy Magic for the good of the people and the use of it against evil. Many of the Paladins, after witnessing the suffering caused by the Church, promoted and joined this Order. Currently the Church is now hunting down the Order of the WT to promote themselves and the name of their "God".

Celest Magic
Celest magic uses the power of the moon to control, bind or confuse enemies. The Celest magic lies on the Moon's gravitational power and on the night's shadow thus the elements of celest magic are Gravity and Shadow. The name "Celest" was chosen because of the name the Moonfolk gave to the Moon (Celestia). The Moonfolk were the first to use this type of magic and they taught the Aidothi of he North on its arts.

Celest is more powerful during the night, and costly during the day. In order to cast a spell a Celest Mage needs a Mooncrystal to absorb the moonlight, and then use its energy. These crystals do not break or dissipate after being used, but require a recharge after being spent.