The Light Arts
These are the light arts, the arts that are often – misunderstood – considered the magic of good people. Despite this being an appealing specialty to witches and wizards who like their image with shiny wings and a halo on top, these kinds of magics are getting more of a goody-two-shoe-prick kind of image. In actuality, it is said by some that this trait of magic is dominated by people who want to look good, rather than be good. Still, the saints row up for the magic that is still connected to most things good.
+ White Magic: by outsiders usually ignorantly considered ‘good magic’. This is a bit of an overstatement, as all kinds of magic have both good and bad uses. White magic is one of the most poorly understood kinds of magic – it is often thought though that it is the kind of magic that deals with matters of ‘purity’. This is still quite vague, you’ll note, as even purity is quite an abstract concept. This is another reflection of how little is known about white magic exactly. White magic comprises all kinds of magic that deal with beauty, truth, justice, protection and defense. Examples of uses are truth potions and protective shields. Very little people have a natural talent for this kind of magic and henceforth there are no stereotypical characteristics associated with this kind of magic use.
+ Life Magic: not to be confused with white magic. This kind of magic concerns itself with healing living beings. Uses contain healing injuries, repairing damage to plants and curing diseases. As one gets stronger, one can restore more serious kinds of damage (think for example that healing a bruise would be easier than healing a broken femur). Depending on the complexity of the living being in question, the healing becomes harder too. Animals are (nearly always) more difficult than plants, and new magic users are strongly discouraged to try and heal human beings or other animals. A different use than healing that life magic concerns is communication with living beings, like talking to animals or even plants. People who have talent for this kind of magic tend to be gentle people who like to take care of others.
+ Vortex Magic: also known as ‘motion magic’, ‘transference’ or simply ‘energy’. This kind of magic deals with the movement of energy (for example; kinetic energy or warmth) or particles (mass). Examples of uses of this kind of magic are absorbing or dispensing energy, flight, magic portals or the movement of inanimate objects. People who have a gift for this kind of magic usually enjoy a flexible mind.
The Nature Arts
((add pointless intro))
+ Plant magic: one of the oldest kinds of magic, and also known as the older sister of life magic. It consists of everything to do with plants (this meaning weeds, plants, trees, moss, mushrooms etc. etc.). Plant magic involves healing plants (in this you can see the overlap with life magic), growing them (or oppositely withering them) or steering them around. This control over plants doesn’t limit itself to living plants; one who controls plant magic can also bend and steer wooden utensils, like a table for example. Controlling living plants requires different training than controlling dead plants though, mind you. Plant magic shares some overlap with life magic, as another use of it is communication with plant life. These kind of overlap happen more often between the different magic disciplines, and they can actually be a nice bridge between learning one sort of magic and another. People who usually have a gift for plant magic are those who like the outdoors, and who enjoy nature.
+ Water magic: another very old kind of magic, riddled to be older than even earth magic. Similar to other kinds, water magic also has overlap with other kinds of magic, though water magic probably has the most overlap of all. Examples of these overlapping uses are the transference of energy (though it has to happen through water), healing (again, with water as a necessary medium of course), and moving things around (through… well, you get the drill right?). Another use of water magic is the control of water, which is very similar to water bending (though it doesn’t include blood bending). Water magic is probably the easiest kinds of magic to master, and almost everyone seems to have an innate talent for controlling it. Because of this, and because it has so much overlap with other magics, water magic is the most often and easily combined magic. That is, different kinds of magic can be combined together to create more powerful or new sorts of magic (for more information see the subchapter “mixing and maximising”). Out of all the different sorts of magic, water magic is the most easily combined with other kinds. It is said that there’s never been a witch or wizard that can’t control water magic. This leads some to underestimate water magic, as if it’s weaker or as if it’s a piece of cake to completely master water magic, which just isn’t true. Complete mastery of water magic is not to be underestimated, and one who does master it is a force to be reckoned with the same way a fully learned and highly experienced water bender would be.
+ Fire magic: again, several uses of this kind of magic are very similar to its bending brother, aka fire bending (though it doesn’t include the power of lightening). It also has overlap with vortex magic in that one use of fire magic is controlling temperature – limited to only being able to make temperature rise, not drop. Those who master fire magic can also control the fire of human spirit. This is an old-fashioned way of explaining an ability of fire magic users later referred to as “affective magic”. Affective magic concerns the control of emotions, in the self or in others. Basic emotions (fear, anger, sadness and happiness) are more difficult to control than second order emotions (like jealousy, irritation or shame) and it’s far more difficult to control the emotions in others than in yourself. It’s also easier to control the emotions of people you know well, and understand how they work, than to control those of strangers. Naturally, the stronger the emotion you want to inflict, the stronger you have to be. Though it’s not forbidden by law to influence other people’s emotions, it is considered an unwritten rule that you don’t inappropriately meddle with other people’s emotions. People who have a natural talent for fire magic are usually passionate individuals.
+ Earth magic: not to be confused with plant magic. This kind of magic concerns itself with everything to do with earth, rock and stone. A part of this magic’s uses may be easily confused with earth bending, as it partially consists of moving around earth and rocks (it doesn’t do metal bending by the way). Something that is quite specifically tied to earth magic, and not to earth bending, is the usage of magical stones and crystals. All magic users can use the power of magical stones or crystals, but then only if the power of the stone matches the magic they master (for instance a water stone used by someone who wields water magic). People who master earth magic can use all kinds of stones, and they can also use the magic of crystals in a much more efficient and powerful way than other magic users. To put it more specifically, earth magic users can actually wield the entire power of a crystal, while other magic users are limited to augmenting their own magic with a little bit of its power. This gives earth magic users a great advantage, because they could use any kind of magic they wanted as long as they have the matching stones or crystals for it. A drawback is that most crystals aren’t very powerful – the power of an average crystal doesn’t come close to weighing up to the power of a reasonably experienced magic user – and their uses are quite limited – like a healing stone that’s able to restore injuries like broken bones but cannot cure diseases. There are really powerful stones though that are actually good for more than augmenting, but of course they are quite rare and hard to find. A comfort about this is that people who have a natural talent for earth magic have an automatic, instinctive attraction towards these stones. People who inheritably possess the gift of earth magic usually are committed and strong-willed.
The Dark Arts
This is where we arrive at the dark arts, the magic disciplines that have less than a clean record. Then it’s not to say that other magic disciplines that don’t have some black sheep, some bad happenings, some real baddies, but the dark arts certainly carry the torch on the subject. This sortoff makes sense if you learn more about these kinds of magic.
As a side note, it needs be said that within the dark arts the term ‘curse’ is being thrown around a lot, especially by beginners and outsiders. By magic users the term ‘curse’ is actually considered slang for any kind of spell with a negative effect. Actually even spells that do harm to others, even long-lasting, still are just spells. Curse is just a popular term for those that are meant to do harm.
+ Dark magic: this kind of magic consists of everything to do with darkness, night, mystery and deceit.
+ Death magic: not to be confused with black magic though as you may have guessed, this kind of magic doesn’t have the best reputation either. Death magic deals with all the magic who’s direct goal is to kill, disease or damage living beings. Upon hearing that one could pose that other kinds of magic could also be used for the purpose of hurting or killing living beings (for example, fire can be used to kill plants or animals), but the distinction in death magic and other kinds of magic lies within the words ‘direct goal’. Death magic deals in every magic that has the direct point and purpose of killing, diseasing and damaging. Examples of its use are poisonous potions, withering curses and plain old death spells. A nice perk to death magic deals with the undead and resurrecting people((somehow that made me think of Valdez)) though that is kept fairly quiet and mysterious. It is also said that those who posses death magic have an automatic bond with the creatures of the night, like werewolves and vampires. It is even riddled that death magic was what created the first vampires ever, though this is only a rumor. People who tend to have a natural gift for this kind of magic tend to be open-minded, and oddly enough almost always have experienced a close personal death at a young age.
+ Black magic: People who have a gift for this kind of magic usually have an overruling dark character trait. This is quite ironic, as these are exactly the people who others do not trust to come anywhere near black magic.
Dictionary – all the confusing terms from the world of magic
+ Apprentice: another name for a beginning magic user who’s just started training with someone more experienced. It’s also somewhat of a status title, as most apprentices haven’t yet accomplished much in the world of magic, and usually aren’t very strong.
+ Elementalist: an elementalist is someone who has mastered all the different kinds of magic. Later this also became the title of someone who masters one complete set of magic disciplines (for example, someone who masters all the light arts). Both titles were used back and forth throughout each other so often it became wildly confusing, so finally a distinction was made. Someone who only masters one set of magic kinds, and not all known kinds of magic, usually gets the name of that kind of magic added to the title of elementalist. So, someone who masters all the darks arts would be called a “dark elementalist”, and someone who masters all the nature arts would be called a “nature elementalist”, while someone who masters all kinds of magic is simply referred to as an “elementalist”.
+ High witch/wizard:
+ Master: a term usually preceded by a kind of magic (for example: “fire magic master”, or “fire master” for short). A master is someone who completely controls one discipline of magic.
+ Mastery: a term usually preceded by a kind of magic (for example: “fire magic mastery”, or “fire mastery” for short) meaning that someone has reached the ultimate amount of control over the concerning kind of magic.
+ Witch/Wizard: the most renown name for magic users. Within witching and wizarding circles, it is also the title for a magic user who’s passed beyond the level of apprentice. This requires having acquired a reasonable amount of control over at least one magic discipline.
These are the light arts, the arts that are often – misunderstood – considered the magic of good people. Despite this being an appealing specialty to witches and wizards who like their image with shiny wings and a halo on top, these kinds of magics are getting more of a goody-two-shoe-prick kind of image. In actuality, it is said by some that this trait of magic is dominated by people who want to look good, rather than be good. Still, the saints row up for the magic that is still connected to most things good.
+ White Magic: by outsiders usually ignorantly considered ‘good magic’. This is a bit of an overstatement, as all kinds of magic have both good and bad uses. White magic is one of the most poorly understood kinds of magic – it is often thought though that it is the kind of magic that deals with matters of ‘purity’. This is still quite vague, you’ll note, as even purity is quite an abstract concept. This is another reflection of how little is known about white magic exactly. White magic comprises all kinds of magic that deal with beauty, truth, justice, protection and defense. Examples of uses are truth potions and protective shields. Very little people have a natural talent for this kind of magic and henceforth there are no stereotypical characteristics associated with this kind of magic use.
+ Life Magic: not to be confused with white magic. This kind of magic concerns itself with healing living beings. Uses contain healing injuries, repairing damage to plants and curing diseases. As one gets stronger, one can restore more serious kinds of damage (think for example that healing a bruise would be easier than healing a broken femur). Depending on the complexity of the living being in question, the healing becomes harder too. Animals are (nearly always) more difficult than plants, and new magic users are strongly discouraged to try and heal human beings or other animals. A different use than healing that life magic concerns is communication with living beings, like talking to animals or even plants. People who have talent for this kind of magic tend to be gentle people who like to take care of others.
+ Vortex Magic: also known as ‘motion magic’, ‘transference’ or simply ‘energy’. This kind of magic deals with the movement of energy (for example; kinetic energy or warmth) or particles (mass). Examples of uses of this kind of magic are absorbing or dispensing energy, flight, magic portals or the movement of inanimate objects. People who have a gift for this kind of magic usually enjoy a flexible mind.
The Nature Arts
((add pointless intro))
+ Plant magic: one of the oldest kinds of magic, and also known as the older sister of life magic. It consists of everything to do with plants (this meaning weeds, plants, trees, moss, mushrooms etc. etc.). Plant magic involves healing plants (in this you can see the overlap with life magic), growing them (or oppositely withering them) or steering them around. This control over plants doesn’t limit itself to living plants; one who controls plant magic can also bend and steer wooden utensils, like a table for example. Controlling living plants requires different training than controlling dead plants though, mind you. Plant magic shares some overlap with life magic, as another use of it is communication with plant life. These kind of overlap happen more often between the different magic disciplines, and they can actually be a nice bridge between learning one sort of magic and another. People who usually have a gift for plant magic are those who like the outdoors, and who enjoy nature.
+ Water magic: another very old kind of magic, riddled to be older than even earth magic. Similar to other kinds, water magic also has overlap with other kinds of magic, though water magic probably has the most overlap of all. Examples of these overlapping uses are the transference of energy (though it has to happen through water), healing (again, with water as a necessary medium of course), and moving things around (through… well, you get the drill right?). Another use of water magic is the control of water, which is very similar to water bending (though it doesn’t include blood bending). Water magic is probably the easiest kinds of magic to master, and almost everyone seems to have an innate talent for controlling it. Because of this, and because it has so much overlap with other magics, water magic is the most often and easily combined magic. That is, different kinds of magic can be combined together to create more powerful or new sorts of magic (for more information see the subchapter “mixing and maximising”). Out of all the different sorts of magic, water magic is the most easily combined with other kinds. It is said that there’s never been a witch or wizard that can’t control water magic. This leads some to underestimate water magic, as if it’s weaker or as if it’s a piece of cake to completely master water magic, which just isn’t true. Complete mastery of water magic is not to be underestimated, and one who does master it is a force to be reckoned with the same way a fully learned and highly experienced water bender would be.
+ Fire magic: again, several uses of this kind of magic are very similar to its bending brother, aka fire bending (though it doesn’t include the power of lightening). It also has overlap with vortex magic in that one use of fire magic is controlling temperature – limited to only being able to make temperature rise, not drop. Those who master fire magic can also control the fire of human spirit. This is an old-fashioned way of explaining an ability of fire magic users later referred to as “affective magic”. Affective magic concerns the control of emotions, in the self or in others. Basic emotions (fear, anger, sadness and happiness) are more difficult to control than second order emotions (like jealousy, irritation or shame) and it’s far more difficult to control the emotions in others than in yourself. It’s also easier to control the emotions of people you know well, and understand how they work, than to control those of strangers. Naturally, the stronger the emotion you want to inflict, the stronger you have to be. Though it’s not forbidden by law to influence other people’s emotions, it is considered an unwritten rule that you don’t inappropriately meddle with other people’s emotions. People who have a natural talent for fire magic are usually passionate individuals.
+ Earth magic: not to be confused with plant magic. This kind of magic concerns itself with everything to do with earth, rock and stone. A part of this magic’s uses may be easily confused with earth bending, as it partially consists of moving around earth and rocks (it doesn’t do metal bending by the way). Something that is quite specifically tied to earth magic, and not to earth bending, is the usage of magical stones and crystals. All magic users can use the power of magical stones or crystals, but then only if the power of the stone matches the magic they master (for instance a water stone used by someone who wields water magic). People who master earth magic can use all kinds of stones, and they can also use the magic of crystals in a much more efficient and powerful way than other magic users. To put it more specifically, earth magic users can actually wield the entire power of a crystal, while other magic users are limited to augmenting their own magic with a little bit of its power. This gives earth magic users a great advantage, because they could use any kind of magic they wanted as long as they have the matching stones or crystals for it. A drawback is that most crystals aren’t very powerful – the power of an average crystal doesn’t come close to weighing up to the power of a reasonably experienced magic user – and their uses are quite limited – like a healing stone that’s able to restore injuries like broken bones but cannot cure diseases. There are really powerful stones though that are actually good for more than augmenting, but of course they are quite rare and hard to find. A comfort about this is that people who have a natural talent for earth magic have an automatic, instinctive attraction towards these stones. People who inheritably possess the gift of earth magic usually are committed and strong-willed.
The Dark Arts
This is where we arrive at the dark arts, the magic disciplines that have less than a clean record. Then it’s not to say that other magic disciplines that don’t have some black sheep, some bad happenings, some real baddies, but the dark arts certainly carry the torch on the subject. This sortoff makes sense if you learn more about these kinds of magic.
As a side note, it needs be said that within the dark arts the term ‘curse’ is being thrown around a lot, especially by beginners and outsiders. By magic users the term ‘curse’ is actually considered slang for any kind of spell with a negative effect. Actually even spells that do harm to others, even long-lasting, still are just spells. Curse is just a popular term for those that are meant to do harm.
+ Dark magic: this kind of magic consists of everything to do with darkness, night, mystery and deceit.
+ Death magic: not to be confused with black magic though as you may have guessed, this kind of magic doesn’t have the best reputation either. Death magic deals with all the magic who’s direct goal is to kill, disease or damage living beings. Upon hearing that one could pose that other kinds of magic could also be used for the purpose of hurting or killing living beings (for example, fire can be used to kill plants or animals), but the distinction in death magic and other kinds of magic lies within the words ‘direct goal’. Death magic deals in every magic that has the direct point and purpose of killing, diseasing and damaging. Examples of its use are poisonous potions, withering curses and plain old death spells. A nice perk to death magic deals with the undead and resurrecting people((somehow that made me think of Valdez)) though that is kept fairly quiet and mysterious. It is also said that those who posses death magic have an automatic bond with the creatures of the night, like werewolves and vampires. It is even riddled that death magic was what created the first vampires ever, though this is only a rumor. People who tend to have a natural gift for this kind of magic tend to be open-minded, and oddly enough almost always have experienced a close personal death at a young age.
+ Black magic: People who have a gift for this kind of magic usually have an overruling dark character trait. This is quite ironic, as these are exactly the people who others do not trust to come anywhere near black magic.
Dictionary – all the confusing terms from the world of magic
+ Apprentice: another name for a beginning magic user who’s just started training with someone more experienced. It’s also somewhat of a status title, as most apprentices haven’t yet accomplished much in the world of magic, and usually aren’t very strong.
+ Elementalist: an elementalist is someone who has mastered all the different kinds of magic. Later this also became the title of someone who masters one complete set of magic disciplines (for example, someone who masters all the light arts). Both titles were used back and forth throughout each other so often it became wildly confusing, so finally a distinction was made. Someone who only masters one set of magic kinds, and not all known kinds of magic, usually gets the name of that kind of magic added to the title of elementalist. So, someone who masters all the darks arts would be called a “dark elementalist”, and someone who masters all the nature arts would be called a “nature elementalist”, while someone who masters all kinds of magic is simply referred to as an “elementalist”.
+ High witch/wizard:
+ Master: a term usually preceded by a kind of magic (for example: “fire magic master”, or “fire master” for short). A master is someone who completely controls one discipline of magic.
+ Mastery: a term usually preceded by a kind of magic (for example: “fire magic mastery”, or “fire mastery” for short) meaning that someone has reached the ultimate amount of control over the concerning kind of magic.
+ Witch/Wizard: the most renown name for magic users. Within witching and wizarding circles, it is also the title for a magic user who’s passed beyond the level of apprentice. This requires having acquired a reasonable amount of control over at least one magic discipline.