Magic of Issoss [Taming The Flame]

[Ayl]

~The Magic Of Issoss~

When the world of Issoss first came to be, the first entity that was created was the famous Emberwell, also known as the Fountain of Flame. In this Fountain, all the mystical and magical energy of Issoss, known as the Essence, was stored into. The Emberwell is known to reside atop the Sky High Mount, inside an enormous tower, on the last level. Noone has ever entered the tower before and such it is impossible to determine what lies within.

When any other sentient being was born, the Emberwell would empower the newborn with Essence, granting him life. Whenever a person died, the Essence that gave him life would return to the Flame Fountain, bringing with it all the memories and feelings the deceased person experienced throughout his life. Without this Essence, a being cannot live, being as essential as water and food.
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Over the time, some persons realised they were blessed by the Emberwell with a stronger connection to it, being able to manipulate to a certain level the Essence it bestowed upon them. Such were born the magicians of the realm, who used their strong links and knowledge to use the Essence to control elements, casting powerful spells. Even the most meager of spells required, in exchange, a great amount of the user's own Essence, which led to serious exhaustion and sometimes, death itself, for once the Essence was used as catalyst, it would return to the Emberwell. Thus, the Wizards of Issoss have gone and sought out ways to ease the usage of magic.

To use magic, however, one must use one of the 5 distinct runes, each designated to one school. Without using a specific, correctly drawn rune, the spell will almost certainly either fail, or backfire with a random effect, affecting the caster. Thus, most wizards are very dextrous in drawing such symbols, due to the many years of practice. Those most clever carry around the runes engraved on a piece of armor, making it more accesible, saving them the time to draw the rune and only taking the time to use a reagent or a catalyst to spellcast.
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~Magic Schools~

• Flesh Melding
• Necromancy
• Plane Shifting
• Primal Evocation
• Psyonicism
• Invocation

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  Flesh Mending is the school of magic that contains healing and rejuvenation magic. Using very hard to find ingredients as reagents, most of them herbs and plants,it allows those who study it to heal even missing chunks of flesh or place back together broken bones like nothing happened. It is, however, an understudied school, since the materials are hard to find and most of the people do not survive long enough to get to a healer and even if they do, there is no guarantee the said healer has what he needs to cure the wound. Flesh Mending can also be used to cure diseases, as well as purify poisons inside the organism. Although, as the name suggests there is more to that than just healing. A practitioner of Flesh Mending can also use the spells to damage his foes, making their tissues come apart or shut down their lesser organs. They cannot inflict as much damage as other spells, but they can be deadly nevertheless. It takes a lot of Essence to channel the stronger spells of this school, but the spells consume much lesser Essence if casted using a topaz as a main catalyst.
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  The forgotten art of the first Necromancers, this school was used by the current exiles and Outworld dwellers long before Mektor granted them his Book of the Dead to learn from. Although not as potent as the ones the Necromancers use, the spells from the Necromancy school are still being used to this day by lesser necromants who did not want to sell their souls to the Aeon of Death, remaining in seclusion, practicing their dark arts. This magic school includes spells such as Essence stealing, which can be used to rejuvenate the caster to a certain limit although nowhere near as much as a Flesh Mending spell would, raising a corpse to fight at the caster's side which would require a very great amount of Essence, usually as much as it would take a sentient being to live, blood boilling and so on. People will likely be hostile against those who use such spells in public. Using an amethyst will greatly reduce the Essence cost. The
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  A most powerful weapon, the Plane Shifting magic school allows the user to bend the will of the very environment, transforming objects into other objects, re-scaling them or changing their color. Also, the caster can also change the properties of the target, enabling him to breathe underwater or suck out the oxygen from a certain zone, leaving his foes to choke to death. The followers of this school are immensely powerful, but very few people are born with the affinity to be able to cast such spells. Those who are capable however, are held in high regard by society and are usually granted high ranks. The most impressive feat one can attain while practicing this school is to change his very shape into another, such as a wolf's or bear's. The form chosen retains the caster's height and weight however, and anyone can tell the difference between a real wolf and a shapshifter. Using an emerald reduces the amount of Essence required to perform the spells of this school.
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  Combat wise, it is the most powerful magic school of all, granting the caster the power to summon mighty ice blizzards, thunderstorms and fire waves. Entire platoons of soldiers have been turned to ash by a few magicians who pool together their Essence to be able to cast these devastating spells. It is the school in which the amound of Essence used to power up spells is the highest of all. No doubtly the school with the most adepts, mages spend years trying to master its secrets, dying of old age before they could find even one. While able to cast any spell of this school, some wizards have discovered over the years that they possess an affinity towards one of the elements, causing their spells using that element to be much powerful, at the cost of no additional Essence. Using rubies as catalysts prevent wizards from crossing the threshold where their Essence is depleted, leading to their untimely deaths.
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  The school for those mentally gifted, the magic spells contained by this school are not very used since their capability of inflicting actual damage is very low, next to not doing any damage at all. What this school does do however, is control one's mind for a brief period of time, forcing it to do actions that the caster wishes them to do or say. However, no magician can ever force a person something he doesn't wish to do in the slightest, like convincing a priest to commit murder or persuading a king to hand over his crown and command over his kingdom. The most powerful spells of this school can destroy a person's brain entirely, erase one's memory or stun them, "pausing" their thoughts for as long as the caster can maintain the spell. It is a school studied by those who wish no harm to anybody, but to avoid delicate situations. Also, with this school, magic users can also use the power of their minds to actually move objects from place to place, as per their will. The bigger the object, the harder and more Essence required, though. This school synergies the best with sapphires, letting the caster be less drained of Essence after casting.
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  The most abstract of schools, Invocation requires nothing but one's Essence, being an exception to the "Rune Channel" rule the other schools depend on and is capable of performing magical feats on a moment's notice for literally any task. While it requires no catalyst, Invocation is the most dangerous and employs the weakest spells of magical schools, and can easily draw too much Essence from the caster, causing immediate death. On the other hand, it is the most easiest to learn and the most flexible magick school, typically regarded as the most powerful because of this fact. An example of spells would be timed telekinesis, force pushes and the like
  
  

~Reagents~

• Essence
• Gemstones
• Plants and Herbs
• Life and Blood

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  Obviously an element required in any spell, the source of Essence is irrelevant, but it is the spark that ignites a spell into the raging inferno it must become. Other catalysts reduce the quantity of Essence required for a given spell, but can never completely erase the requirement. Essence can only be found in living, organic beings. Inanimate objects have no Essence to begin with and cannot auto replenish their Essence, should they be imbued with it. Also, living beings can be killed and their Essence transferred to the object. Once that Essence is used, however, it cannot be transferred again and must return to the Emberwell. While hunting animals and killing them for their Essence is permitted, killing humans to use their Essence is strictly forbidden, and practiced only by the Necromancers.
  
  
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  Gemstones synergize with every magic school, though they seem to function best when a certain gemstone is used as a reagent for a specific school, and can be used multiple castings before they crumble to dust. Often found in mountains by the dozens. The better the quality, the more it lasts when used to channel spells, and the more expensive as well.
  
  
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  While not usable in any manner besides alchemy, or for Flesh Mending magicks, plant-life is quite efficient in any spell it is used for, with some being better than others. If properly attuned to the spell being cast, some plants can virtually erase the requirement of Essence in a spell, although they sacrifice all the Essence they have, withering immediatly after the casting, thus becoming useless.
  
  
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  The slipperiest slope in catalysts, blood is the most potent gram-for-gram catalyst, though it's proven to be extremely addictive for the caster, driving them to use it more and more often. Life is the most powerful catalyst of all, every trace of Essence in a living thing drawn out with its blood, meaning that for even the most powerful of spells, the caster rarely needs to imbue any of their own essence into the spell. Using blood to power spells is also known as Blood Magic and is forbidden in all Issoss. Only secluded wizards use this method, fearing not the laws of the realm. Also, it is the favourite regeant of the Necromancers, who use it all the time, sometimes using the blood of their hostages to further their spells.

~Alternative Magic~

• Inscription
• Artifice
• Alchemy

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  Not to be confused with Artifice, Inscription is the art of creating a scroll imbued with magicks to be used at a later time. To inscribe a scroll, one requires the knowledge of runes representing the intended function of a scroll. In addition to the magical glyphs, a physical catalyst is required, either related to the casting, a precious metal, or a gemstone, which crumble into dust after infusion. Said scroll can later be used on a moment's notice, providing the full effect of a prepared spell, though only once as the scroll loses any magical property afterward, exploding into tiny scraps of the original material.
  
  
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  Similar to Inscription, Artifice is the art of inscribing potent runes on physical objects in order to grant them a long-lasting effect, and while commonly used on arms and armour, can be applied to any physical object with surface area sufficient for the spell's glyphs. Requiring similar materials to its sister school's magicks, Artifice eventually wears off, at which point the inscribed object often falls to pieces, drained of its energy. To prevent a precious item from turning to dust, one must recharge it with Essence on a regular basis, using either his own knowledge, or resorting to the service of a wizard. If the magic effect bestowed upon the item is not used by the possessor, the Essence dissipates at a slower rate, becoming more of a storage that the user can access.
  
  
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  Confusing, and roundabout when compared to the other magical schools, Alchemy imbues tinctures with magical properties, allowing a liquid one or more of a virtually limitless number of uses. Alchemy requires many things, including extensive knowledge of which plants or herbs are most resonant to magical purposes, as well as varying strengths of alcohol to bind the magic into the fluid. The final result can lead to many side-effects as alchemical mixtures are often toxic when imbibed, but can also complement other schools of magic by performing such incredible feats as restoring one's essence in but a moment, or exploding in a ball of flame when exposed to the air.