Schools of Magic

Fire Magi are among some of the most powerful magic users on the planet. Capable of harnessing the raw destructive force of the flame to great effect. Magi who follow the teachings of this school tend to be impulsive, and hot tempered when they initially start out, however the ones who have been practicing for a long time are cool, rational, and patient. If you meet a level headed fire magister show great respect, they have survived long enough to learn from their mistakes. A fire magister who knows how to bide his or her time is the last person you ever want to offend.

The elemental school of Earth is known for its crushing physical brutality, and its nearly impenetrable defense. Earth Magi move with purpose, driven and dedicated to their goals. Many earth magi are slow to action and contemplative in thought, preferring to measure each possible decision before committing to a course of action. Once they make their decision one would be wise to exercise extreme caution, as earth magi are relentless and are known to come down upon their enemies with the force of a falling mountain.

The School of Air is focused on maneuverability and control, preferring precise targeted crippling attacks to brute force. This school lends itself to subtlety and cunning. Air magisters are quick thinkers, and are known for adapting their techniques and approaches at a moment’s notice to better take advantage of an opponent’s weaknesses. Many who study this school find employment as battle tacticians or assassins, capable of delivering the ‘coup de grace’ at the perfect moment to devastating effect.

The School of Water is as graceful as it is deadly, capable of transforming a tranquil pond into a mass of writhing crushing pincers and tentacles; or a lake into an enormous monster capable of destroying entire cities. Water magi have abilities that stun and disable, using fog to blind and ice to slow and disable. Water Magi can be unpredictable and often change their mind midway through a decision, as their emotions can completely shift focus at a moment’s notice. Regardless of this, Water Magi are divers and powerful engines of destruction capable of sowing confusion and disorder in their wake.

This is the alteration of matter; the ability to warp and bend the world to succumb to your needs and desires. This is the nature of transmutation. All things can be broken down by a transmutation master or changed to aid him and his allies. Why waste your effort creating new matter, or summoning some far off ally when all you really need is right here, at your fingertips.

All things can be called; all things can be forced into servitude, even oneself. Mastering the complex art of learning the weaknesses, the true names and the contracts to call creatures and objects is a conjurer’s life. In those same respects they seek ways to prevent themselves ever being used the way they use all other things. Conjurers are feared for their abilities to force servitude and many seem to be manipulative, and see most creatures as merely pawns in an altogether vast and terrible game of dominion.

Translocation focuses on the ability to move oneself and other objects through space. Magi who practice translocation often do so to explore hard to reach locales or dark places where mankind is forbidden to enter. Many consider translocation to be one of the more dangerous and treacherous schools of magic to practice. The chance to end up fused to a building or another person is a pretty powerful deterrent. Nevertheless, translocation is immensely powerful due to the incredible maneuverability and positioning advantage it grants the savvy magister, not to mention the ability to teleport your enemy’s still-beating heart from their chest.

This school harnesses the most pure forms of flux to construct anything imaginable, and some things better left unimaginable. From blasts of supercharged flux to terrifying arcane constructs. Arcana magi have the unique knowledge necessary to see magic in its most basic forms, and can even manipulate the incantations and spells of other magi. Those who wield the power of arcana are often hired as mage killers or warlock assassins. They love to display their incredible powers in huge mind-blowing displays, inspiring loyalty and striking fear into the hearts of those that witness it. It’s rare to see an arcana magister without his group of terrified and disposable underlings.

The school of biomancy allows its magi control over the vital energies and matter of living creatures. Biomancy magi pore over tome after thick tome in their constant journey to unlock more of the body’s secrets. Many biomancers will use their considerable knowledge to cure supernatural disease and restore failing limbs and organs to normal. Others will use biomancy to change the living and warp the forms of these creatures to suit their own purposes. Still others will study the chemical makeup of these same creatures and create living bombs from their soon to be corpses.

Phantasm Magi alter the world around their victims, clouding their minds and twisting their perceptions. These magi manipulate the flux in an area to create images, sounds, and in later tiers, corporeal illusions. Many practitioners of this school use their powers as diversions and distractions, misleading and confusing their opponents and often preventing battles from even occurring. Others are employed as interrogators and torturers, reaching deep into their victim’s minds and manifesting their deepest fears and insecurities. The particularly twisted of these magi often toy with their victims for days or years; forcing them to languish in their own mental hell, plagued by their inner demons, sordid desires, and personal terrors.

The School of Necromancy explores the secrets of the dead and strives to manipulate and control the balance that allows the dead to walk the earth once again. Necromancy draws the talents of all kinds of Mechanika’s denizens. Necromancy is used to discover how to prevent death and better the lives of the living just as often as it is used as a way to dominate the dead and bend them to your will. Unfortunately consorting with the dead and damned isn’t the best company to keep for most social circles, and necromancy practitioners are often treated as pariahs - hated and feared even by other Magisters they live solitary lives, surrounded by their cold dead subjects.

The School of Plants is a mysterious school that allows a magister to harness the wild growth and raw power of nature. It is often sought out by Sylvans due to their natural gravitation toward plants. Plant* magic is often taught in secluded glens and forests, far away from civilizations prying eyes. Many people believe the School of Plants - with its incredible vitality and life - is a benevolent school that is strictly used for curing disease and bringing barren wilderness back to life. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The more nefarious plant magi will use their powers to constrain and control, using plants to create powerful hallucinogenic pollen grenades, or using spores to infect the minds of their victims, growing inside their skull and turning them into little more than mindless pawns for the magisters pleasure.

The creatures known as Daemons have long tried to enter our world, and feast on our supple flesh and bright souls. On the few instances in which they have succeeded, they have brought with them vast suffering and horror. Even still their persistent whispers of pleasure, wealth, and unimaginable power often wear down bravery and reason and coerce someone, somewhere, to allow them to enter our reality.

In the darkness of the void, within its soul-sucking emptiness, its cold, emotionless embrace, there are thousands upon thousands of worlds: each one unique; each managing to eke out some kind of an existence among the endless sea of fire and nothingness. If life exists on any world it is a rarity, and a planet that has not been devoured by unspeakable horrors or claimed by foul powers like the Old Ones are practically miracles.