Magic of Fellen

Divine Magic
The gods of Fellen grant their faithful powers related to their divine provenance. Priests are the most powerful of the divine magic users, able to directly channel their deity's divine power, call upon the deity's celestial servants, and invoke prayers to perform divine miracles. Many deities also grant powers to holy orders dedicated to a specific cause, such as the Order of Paladins, the Spirit Hunters, and the Dread Knights.

The gods also hear the prayers of the common folk. Should a lay-person be a faithful follower, there is a chance that their god will grant them blessings in times of need. Because of this, divine magic is the most well known and widely accepted form of magic on Fellen.

Sorcery
Sorcery is the natural magic of the creatures of Fellen. Most of the races of Fellen are born with a potential connection to one of the forces of creation. By forming this connection and expending some of their own life-force, a sorcerer is able to affect changes in reality.

Sorcery, though considered to be very powerful, has strict limitations. First, a sorcerer may only ever for a connection to one of the forces of creation. The sorcerer may not change this connection, nor may they create any magic not directly related to it. Second, spending their own life-force weakens a sorcerer. Although sorcerers find it easier to accomplish powerful feats than other magic users, they must rest and recover after doing so. Third, sorcerous creations are bound to their creator: rendering a sorcerer unconscious or dead will cause their magical creations to end.

Sorcery is not limited to the mortal races of Fellen. Fey creatures, dragons, elementals, and even the undead can (and often do) have sorcerous abilities at their disposal.

Wizardry
Wizardry is the science of creating reliable and predictable magical effects. Through long years of study and experimentation, wizards learn to create spells and magic items using the ambient magical energies of the world around them. Wizardry is the most complicated and time consuming of the magical disciplines. Practitioners of wizardry can often be identified by the books they refer to while casting spells.

Most practitioners of wizardry learn a variety of magics, often becoming powerful spell casters or master artificers late in life. Some choose to specialize in a particular branch of magic, such as necromancy, illusion, or divination. These specialists trade the versatility of their brethren for unique or obscure powers known only to a few.

Least among the wizards are the bards. Bardic wizardry harnesses patterns of sound and rhythm to create magical effects. Though bards are among the weakest of wizards, their strange form of wizardry is extremely effective at creating enchantments that affect the minds of others.

Rune-Casting
Rune-casting is the ancient art of drawing magical runes to create specific effects. Each rune is related to a fundamental force of creation, and a rune-caster's abilities are limited by which runes they have learned. Each rune has a variety of uses, and master rune-casters are known to have many and varied magics at their disposal.

While there is some debate as to the origins of rune-casting, the art is known only to dwarvenkind and the green elves. Each race claims that rune-casting was a gift from one of their gods, and they variously claim that the other race was gifted the art or stole it.

Blood Magery
The mages of the orcish peoples have learned to draw power from the spilling of fresh blood. Though not inherently evil, blood magic often attracts practitioners willing to spill the blood of others to gain power.

Orcish tales say that the dying god Flam gifted the orcs this form of magic when they attempted to return the burning drops of Flam's blood to his dying body. No other race is known to possess blood magic.

Spiritualism
Many of the less civilized races depend upon shamans to protect them from the unseen forces of the magical world. Shamans learn to bind spirits to their will so that they might use their powers or prevent them from causing harm.

Spiritualism is especially important in societies which in the wild places of the world. The spirits of nature, the elements, and the dead are common in such places and may be encountered at any time.

Witchcraft
Witches and warlocks seek power from sources outside of the natural order of creation. By bargaining with their patrons, witches and warlocks can gain access to strange and exotic abilities that defy many of the known laws of magic. However, such power does not come without a price: careless actions can lead to a patron gaining power over the witch or warlock. This can become a downward spiral, and it will eventually lead to the witch or warlock's downfall.

Though most commonly practiced by the moon elves of the far north, witchcraft can (rarely) be found in every society.

Soul-Eating
Soul-eating is a form of magic only known to the spawn of the dark gods of chaos. These creatures must consume souls to continue their existence, and they may use the energies gained by this practice to alter their forms, dominate the minds of others, or perform terrible acts of destruction.

Pillar Magic
Pillar magic is a dangerous form of sorcery which draws upon the limitless powers of the Chaos of Creation. A pillar mage at the height of their power is a force like unto a god, though most end in catastrophe long before they master their abilities.