Magecraft

Time has changed the forces of magic on Ashirion, time has shifted the sands of reality and as the sands shift, so does the weave of the very Broken Sphere itself. The eddies and waves of chaos that came with the coming of the Shadoen have forced drastic action from those who govern magic. No longer is it tied to the very nature of the Seasons, for they are now almost all dead - only Summer remains strong.

Their magical rings stolen and in the hands of darkness.

Their powers kept in trust by the Great Wolf.

What this means is that magic now falls squarely in 2 camps.

That of the Mage and that of the Priest.

The Mage draws his/her power from the source, the force of magic itself, the allfather of magic - Rhy'a'don. Spells of this kind are granted by Rhy'a'don to any who weave magic, there is no prayer and Mages do not keep spellbooks - their only spellbook is their mind. Magic is cast by the use of gestures and visualisations - but the actual spell itself is the result of learned symbols and movements. Those are always kept in tomes or on spellcrystals, the user simply concentrates for a number of days to imprint the pattern.

The Priest draws their power from any number of Incarnations that they serve. Be it the power of Summer or through the Great Wolf who holds the other Seasons' powers for safe keeping. There are many minor Incarnations and of course the listed Incarnations in news gods. Void, Darkness, Shadow, Light, Death pretty much anything that has a force to it, element or incarnation attached can be woven into a spell. It is usually down to the Magic Special Wizard (Hellion) or Wolf to finalise what you can and can't have access to.

Through prayer to the Incarnations the Priest calls his/her magical powers into being, small prayers known as chants are often used to instigate minor magic effects, where as long prayers known as Arias can be used for much more dramatic effects. Please remember to roleplay the duration of such magics if one has been set.

Roleplaying Magic and the elements of making an Ashirion Spell Weaver.

So how does magic work here, as in combat it's all consent based which means you have to be very careful on how you pose the very magic itself, we're not fond of seeing either a six page essay on the real kind of magic, with athame's or candles being placed, specially in combat since you'd probably get killed real easy while trying to do it. Give some thought onto the spell, the way it's cast and the possible effects. The spell could be resisted or dodged, this means that the character you cast it on would rather that the death spell you aimed at them to burst their heart, didn't.

It's a lot like a play, or a story, you get together with the other characters and you work out the scene ahead of time, or you accept the consequences of your actions, which means that if you hurl a fireball at Lord Blackmoor, expect him to get pissed very quickly and very fast. Always keep in mind that there are other people playing and no one should be totally immune or invincible unless they happen to be a listed feature who could defeat or deflect the spell, or a part of a tiny-plot who isn't slated to die yet. Always feel free to page the other players, or the GM/Admin of a scene and get the heads up or the approval to do the magic on their character, and any possible repercussions to yours.

Now follows some examples of what I consider to be good magical poses, both in style, length and content.

Good Example

Serbannen raises his hands and begins to pull the very threads of the weave towards each other, wrapping the elements of earth and fire together a ball begins to form in his hands, growing to fill a foot space, before he chants another arcane phrase, he thrusts his hands, palm forwards towards Jinglenook and the ball of fire roars towards the thief, unless Jingle manages to get out of the way, or take cover, things are going to be getting very hot, very soon.

Bad Example

Nothrarger the Wicked puts his hands out and you die!

This is a really bad example, but trust me, I have seen worse. The rules to remember when posing magic or combat are very simple, never make actions for another player. Never make them do something in an emoted combat or spell.

Good Example

Serbannen attempts to use his power of emotion control to dissuade Nibble the Mouse from getting more irate at the shopkeeper who will not give her, her stilton back!

Bad Example

Argh the Deadly uses his wicked mind powers of total control on Gentle the Bard, Gentle pulls her shortsword and runs herself through the heart.

It really is a case of common sense and courtesy, respecting the other players and working with them to provide a good flowing scene. You can't go far wrong if you follow this ideal