Magic is a dead cat in an oil-stained burlap bag. Magic is a smelly old man, despised but feared by his neighbors. Magic is what the king turns to, when his soldiers fail. --- a long-dead wise man of Areth Pirn
Magic is the dark art by which events are influenced outside of the normal boundaries of cause-and-effect. Rather than the glamorous ideal of shining wizards casting powerful fireballs at wicked foes, the reality of magic instead tends to be base, tedious work which earns few friends.
Hated and feared, the magician pursues his craft out of the sight of men. Like wisps of smoke rising from an ember cast into dry straw, so the mage's spells slowly take hold, woven with secret knowledge and foul ingredients.
The casting of a magical spell is accomplished with three ingredients:
Knowledge of the spell, possession of any items necessary to fuel the
spell, and a sufficient level of magical aura to perform the ritual or
ceremony.
Aura is a mystical force necessary to cast spells. Powerful mages will
have a high aura rating, while apprentice sorcerers may only command a
few points worth of aura.
Characters are rated for their current aura level and their maximum aura
level. With each magical spell learned, a character will gain one point
of maximum and current aura. Current aura is depleted by casting
spells, and is naturally replenished at a rate of two points per turn.
Current aura will increase until it reaches the maximum aura level.
Other ways of gaining current aura may be found as the mage researches
his craft.
Spells are rated on the amount of aura which the casting mage must
possess. Minor spells may demand only one point of aura to cast.
Powerful spells may require a current aura level of ten or higher.
Characters receive a rating in the turn reports based on their magical
abiliity:
For example:
The Basic magic [800] spell Appear common [803] allows magicians to
prevent this label from displaying.
Many spells will require the magician to possess a rare or obscure item
in order for the cast to succeed. Many of these items exist, of
interest chiefly to sorcerers. Roots from plants found only in dense
forests, bat's wings, and a dark blue powder which produces a brilliant
cobalt flame when burned are only a few. Usually the required item is
consumed by the attempt to cast the spell.
Magic is divided into six schools of study:
Magical spells are simply sub-skills of one of the magical skill
categories.
An aspiring mage will issue the
Once the category skill has been learned, the mage will receive a lore
sheet listing some of the known spells of that school. The magician may
then attempt to learn these spells through study.
A character must know the category skill for a school of magic before a
spell in that school can be known.
Only some of the spells in the each school are commonly known. The more
rare, obscure or powerful spells will need to be discovered via
Aura
Magician status
maximum aura label
------------ -----
6-10 conjurer
11-15 mage
16-20 wizard
21-30 sorcerer
30+ ??
Osswid the Brave [5639], wizard, with three workers
Required Items
Study of Spells
num name time to learn
--- ---- -------------
800 Magic four weeks, 1 NP req'd
820 Weather magic five weeks, 1 NP req'd
840 Scrying five weeks, 1 NP req'd
860 Gatecraft five weeks, 1 NP req'd
880 Artifact construction six weeks, 1 NP req'd
900 Necromancy six weeks, 2 NP req'd
study order to learn the basics
of a particular school of magic, known as the category skill. For
example, one wishing to pursue knowledge of Magic [800] would order:
study 800
research or by finding magic scrolls describing them.