Spellcasting
Spellcasting is any method or technique used by a mage to manipulate magic. The manipulation of magic only requires mental focus and will. However, most people find it easier to attain that focus by performing physical actions that put them in the proper headspace or evoke the desired effect. Spell are actions that, if performed correctly, will reliably produce a consistent effect.
Schools of Magic
The manipulation of arcane energies can produce a nearly infinite variety of effects. However, most magical practitioners find producing some specific kinds of effects to be easier than others. For their own ease of comprehension, mages have given names to the most commonly applicable subcategories of magical practice, or "schools" of magic.
- Counteractive Magic: Counteractive magic interacts directly with magical forces. It can be used to detect active spells, nullify their effects, or prevent magic use entirely.
- Restorative Magic: Restorative magic affects life energy, encompassing both healing and necromancy. The stakes involved make this school especially risky for novices.
- Cognitive Magic: Cognitive magic alters emotions, memories, and perception in ways that others cannot see. It can affect the caster and/or selected targets.
- Illusory Magic: Illusions are intangible sensory effects that are equally perceivable to anyone. These illusions can be seen through using magical techniques or close inspection.
- Elemental Magic: Elemental magic creates, alters, or destroys non-magical materials and forces, such as air, fire, water, metal, electricity, stone, etc.
- Planar Magic: Any magic whose effects reach outside the physical plane is considered planar magic, including portals, teleportation, and summoning.
It must be noted that the ambient arcane energy field itself cannot be subdivided into these categories, only the magical effects produced by manipulating that field.
Arcane Instruments
To assist in the proper execution of a spell, many mages use arcane instruments, tools which direct or refine spellcasting techniques. Almost any object can be used as an arcane instrument, although certain types of objects are more commonly used by certain types of spellcasters:
- Wands are objects specially designed to be used as arcane instruments, typically made out of mythril, used to concentrate magical energy in a particular direction.
- Crystal balls and precious gems are objects of immense monetary value, used by mages who wish to impress others by flaunting their wealth.
- Musical instruments are used by bards, a type of mage who produce magical effects using music, used to elicit a particular emotional response in the caster or their target.
- Medical devices are used by healers, both for their mundane practical applications and to augment the restorative magic being manipulated by their users.
- Weapons of various types are used by combat mages, either to inflict harm directly or as a prop in the performance of ritualized martial arts exercises.
- Family heirlooms are used by mages with elevated social status or any mage who desires to infuse their spellcasting with personal meaning.