A Summary of Magic (Patreon)
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Below is a short summary of each of the different schools of magic as outlined in the Magic Harmonics Chart, as well as a few extras. Each school of magic exists as a resonance between two other resonances, which exist between two other resonances, which exist between two other resonances. Think of them as a combination of two different elements that combine endlessly in an infinite loop. It makes more sense when you get into it.
Ariolamancy: A resonance between light and time. This magic allows the caster to look forwards and backwards in time. Peering into the future has limitations that can cause predictions to be wrong in highly specific ways.
Chronomancy: A resonance between foresight and gravity. This magic allows the caster to bend time. This has many applications, from accessing multiple timelines simultaneously to stopping time completely. Travel backwards in time is a coveted ability with highly specific limitations that make it impossible for anyone but the caster to benefit from. There is a very prestigious chronomancy academy in Kreet that is hard for foreigners to get into.
Gravimancy: A resonance between time and space. This magic allows the caster to bend gravity to their will. This is most notably one of the few forms of magic capable of flight.
Vocomancy: A resonance between gravity and the astral plane. This magic allows the caster to bend space. This can be used for mundane teleportation or to increase the amount of space inside an object.
Astramancy: A resonance between space and soul. This magic allows the caster to travel the astral plane in soul form.
Necromancy: A resonance between the astral plane and transfiguration. This magic allows the caster to manipulate souls. This includes the binding of souls to corpses among other uses.
Mutamancy: A resonance between soul and flesh. This magic allows the caster to transfigure living creatures into new forms both imagined and real. The lifespan of a transfigured creature is unchanged and any injuries will still remain in the new form.
Visceramancy: A resonance between transfiguration and fungus. This magic allows the caster to manipulate flesh. This is the most advanced form of healing magic available. It can also be used effectively to kill.
Fungomancy: A resonance between flesh and plants. This magic allows the caster to grow and manipulate various mushrooms and other fungus. There is some debate among scholars as to exactly how mushrooms are related to both flesh and plants, but the results cannot be argued with.
Herbomancy: A resonance between fungus and miasma. This magic allows the caster to grow and manipulate various forms of plant life. The Healing Lotus is among the most prized spells and offers one of the only other ways to heal using magic.
Nidomancy: A resonance between plants and air. This magic allows the caster to create and manipulate various miasmas and bad humors. These toxic gases can carry diseases or outright kill when inhaled. Most nations closely monitor and punish the practice of nidomancy due to how dangerous it can be on a large scale. There are some more benevolent uses for the magic though, and even the strictest nations will still allow the use of the humble Clean Object spell.
Aeromancy: A resonance between miasma and fire. This magic allows the caster to manipulate air. This magic may not be the most dangerous, but it still sees plenty of use within the annual tournament due to how easily it can knock an opponent out of the ring. This is one of the few magics capable of flight.
Pyromancy: A resonance between air and weather. This magic allows the caster to create and manipulate fire. Though the magic is highly dangerous and most useful in combat most wizards will at least learn how to create and snuff small flames due to how immensely useful it can be in daily life. This is one of the few magics capable of flight, though it is difficult to master and highly inefficient.
Calomancy: A resonance between fire and ice. This magic allows the caster to manipulate weather. Large scale weather manipulation represents some of the most mana-expensive spells that exist. Every major nation maintains a large cadre of experienced calomancers on hand at all times to keep the Everstorm at bay. This magic can also be used on the small scale to heat and cool objects.
Cryomancy: A resonance between weather and water. This magic allows the caster to create and manipulate ice. This is one of the most stable forms of magic but comes with a distinct limitation; it cannot create the water necessary to form ice directly and must pull it out of the humidity within the air. This makes cryomancy particularly weak in dry climates, but particularly strong in moist climates such as the jungles of Setsya where the tournament is held.
Hydromancy: A resonance between ice and clay. This magic allows the caster to control water. A popular form of magic among sailors and the sea nymphs of Shashena. Hydromancy is unable to create water directly, though it can pull moisture out of the air when none is readily available.
Lutumancy: A resonance between water and earth. This magic allows the caster to manipulate clay. The most popular application of lutumancy is the creation of golems which see a lot of use by the dwarves of Kundreil and, most recently, along the front lines by the elves of Caldenia in the ongoing Trenal conflict. This is the most stable form of magic known, and clay golems have been known to last for centuries with very little maintenance.
Crystalurgy: An unknown resonance kept in secret by the dwarves of Kundreil. This magic allows the caster to grow and manipulate crystals. The dwarves of Kundreil use crystalurgy to create resonance crystals that are capable of absorbing mana to grow. Each resonance crystal is only able to absorb a specific range of magic determined at the time of its creation and responds as a mundane crystal would when exposed to magics outside of that range. Crystalurgy appears to share a resonance with lutumancy, though the connection between the two magics is not understood.
Geomancy: A resonance between clay and metal. This magic allows the caster to manipulate dirt and stone. This magic is known to have the most powerful effect for its cost due to the innate mana within the ground being able to enhance any spells. Within the mana-drained wastes of Eldesia geomancy is particularly weak.
Ferromancy: A resonance between earth and lightning. This magic allows the caster to manipulate metals. Ferromancy is limited to the manipulation of ferromagnetic metals only—such as iron, steel and nickel.
Metallurgy: A resonance between earth and lightning. This magic allows the caster to manipulate metals. Metallurgy is a variation of ferromancy that was once known only to the dwarves of Kundreil. They have since opened a college that teaches ferromancy to all races, though admission is notoriously difficult for non-dwarves. The main difference between ferromancy and this dwarven variant is that it is able to manipulate non-magnetic metals. This is most important when it comes to being able to manipulate adamantium, another dwarven secret, which is an indestructible metal.
Fulgramancy: A resonance between metal and wards. This magic allows the caster to conjure and manipulate lightning. This magic is a popular form of battle magic. Levin Bolt is a famous fulgramancy spell capable of pulling electric potential out of the air on the scale of natural lightning, the chain reaction this creates makes Levin Bolt one of the most powerful spells for its cost but only for the first cast.
Armamancy: A resonance between lightning and force. This magic allows the caster to create walls of solid force called wards. Wards have a myriad of applications beyond simple physical barriers, as they can also contain magics. This can be used to block spell casting. Intentionally faulty wards can disrupt and dismantle active spells by tearing them apart on a fundamental level.
Kinomancy: A resonance between wards and shadow. This magic allows the caster to create blasts of physical force. This can be used to move objects around or attack directly. While this form of magic essentially has none of the limitations of ferromancy through aeromancy, it is one of the least efficient forms of magic for its cost. It is for this reason that kinomancy is almost exclusively practiced by elves who have the large mana pools to support it.
Umbramancy: A resonance between force and darkness. This magic allows the caster to control, manipulate, project and even enter shadows. There are many physical effects that umbramancy can use with shadows due to sharing a resonance with kinomancy. Shadow stalkers are a breed of magical panthers that are able to use innate umbramancy abilities, though they are notoriously hard to train by non-dryads. Even well trained shadow stalkers can become obstinate if they discover their master is edible. Umbramancy is a taboo magic in most cultures due to sharing a resonance with lunamancy.
Lunamancy: A resonance between shadows and dreams. This magic allows [redacted]. This magic is illegal in all developed nations. Those who are discovered to have a natural harmonic with lunamancy are branded with wards to prevent them from ever practicing magic. If you or anyone you know sees a wizard practicing lunamancy report them to the authorities at once. The punishment for harboring lunamancers is death.
Oneiromancy: A resonance between darkness and the mind. This magic allows the caster to control and manipulate dreams. Most oneiromancy spells must be cast in the dream world while the caster is asleep themselves. Since oneiromancy only effects dreams the only spell with any known combat potential is Sleep. Oneiromancy is a taboo magic in most cultures due to sharing a resonance with lunamancy.
Cerebromancy: A resonance between dreams and words. This magic allows the caster to manipulate someone’s thoughts and memories. This is considered to be one of the most difficult magics to learn and master. Cerebromancy spells are further complicated by the fact that targets are able to resist the effects to varying degrees to make casting less reliable. It is easiest to insert false memories into someone’s mind, while removing memories is technically impossible. Memories can be suppressed and hidden behind mental barriers effectively enough to essentially be removed, but it is always possible to recover suppressed memories by a skilled enough cerebromancer. The spell True Sight is the most commonly known cerebromancy spell due to how useful it is. True Sight works by opening the metaphysical third eye to sense magic. Humans are the only race unable to benefit from True Sight by any means as they lack a third eye.
Lithomancy: A resonance between the mind and sound. This magic allows the caster to manipulate words and concepts. Lithomancy can be used for mundane tasks such as engraving or drawing as well as more esoteric tasks such as concept bindings. Lithomancy can also be used with runes to cast other magics, such as with spell scrolls. Lithomancy is considered to be the most complicated and difficult form of magic to learn.
Sonamancy: A resonance between words and illusions. This magic allows the caster to project and manipulate sounds. Sonic blasts can be used as an effective form of battle magic to both attack and debilitate an opponent. The spell Silence is one of the most powerful spells to use in combat against another wizard, as it completely prevents an opponent from using incantations to stabilize their spells; although it has limited uses at the highest tiers of combat where many opponents will have mastered their primary harmonic enough to cast spells without the need for incantations. This is one of the few magics capable of flight, though it is more akin to levitation and far too unstable to be useful in combat.
Sensomancy: A resonance between sound and light. This magic allows the caster to create and manipulate harmless sensory illusions of light and sound. It is possible to bend light enough to cast a version of Invisibility. The spell Illusory Silence does not actually block sounds, it just negates them after the fact, so it cannot prevent incantations. This form of magic is often ridiculed as being useless in combat due to how illusions are unable to harm anything and can be seen right through with True Sight. Sensomancy is the cheapest form of magic both to cast and to maintain.
Luminomancy: A resonance between illusions and foresight. This magic allows the caster to emit and manipulate light. It is also possible to cast a version of invisibility using luminomancy. Beams of light can be weaponized in combat and skilled luminomancers are prized for their skill in long-ranged, instantaneous assassinations.
Sanguimancy: Known more commonly as blood magic. The term sanguimancy is technically an inaccurate one as blood magic is not a form of mana manipulation, and was only assigned by scholars for consistency. Blood magic rites are long complicated rituals that require living sacrifices and blood as a fuel source instead of mana. There are workarounds to greatly speed up and simplify rituals using mana, but mana is not actually a requirement. The most common use for blood magic rites is the opening of rifts to Hell and the summoning of demons, though there are many more uses that have been lost to time. The denizens of Hell, known as demons, are well versed in blood magic rites and sometimes possess innate abilities powered by blood similar to the innate abilities of creatures such as shadow stalkers and dragons. Werebeasts possess one such innate ability, called Blood Burning. The fact that sanguimancy has thus far escaped the ban imposed on lunamancy has more to do with the cultural impact it had in overthrowing God-King Belorian than how much safer it is than lunamancy. Though it helps that evil sanguimancers are quite a bit easier to take down than evil lunamancers.