Magic

Magic. It can be complicated to describe what it is. An ability possessed by certain individuals. A unique kind of energy in the world. A force of nature. It is all these things, and yet it is none. It may be simpler to just say that it is a power, one which has existed since the dawn of the world, and one which has been developed and used to suit the needs of many. There are numerous different ways in which it is employed, which will be outlined below.

Elemental Magic
The most common kind of magic, Elemental Magic is the harnessing of five natural elements. Fire, Water, Earth, Air, and Lightning. Generally, this type of magic requires spoken words, as well as the channeling of one's mana, in order to use. The more complicated and powerful the spell, the longer and more extensive the phrase.

Pyromancy
The harnessing of Fire Magic is known as Pyromancy. This magic allows the user to create balls of flame, ignite targets, and focus burning energy into devastating beams of destructive power. It is primarily an offensive magic, which lacks the ability to heal, as well as lacking defensive abilities. In this case, the best defense is a strong offense.

Aquamancy
This type of magic harnesses water, in all its form. As a liquid, a solid, and a gas. It is quite versatile, enabling fluid attacks and defense with water, strong solid attacks and defense with ice, and fog that can obscure both attacks and escapes. The soothing power of water can also ease pain, and improve healing.

Geomancy
The use of the earth, this magic allows the user to control stones and soil. This magic works equally as well as an offense, as well as a defense. Great spires of stone can thrust up from the earth, the ground can be ordered to drag foes down, and strong rock walls can be erected as a defense. The main downside of this magic, is that it requires the user to have access to the earth. A mage in freefall who relies on this magic is near helpless.

Aeromancy
Ripping winds and powerful gales are weapons of those who utilize this kind of magic. This magic is high speed in nature, allowing the users to control the winds. They can use them to strike foes, or propel themselves at high speeds. The most powerful individuals can summons storms, and create twisters that tear apart towns. This magic is mostly offensive in nature.

Fulgurmancy
This magic manipulates lightning and electricity. It is almost entirely an offensive magic, in which the user can create bolts of lightning to strike foes. The user can also use this magic to boost their speed, giving them mobility equal to that of Aeromancers. The only real defensive use of this magic, is perhaps in that the user can electrify their own body, causing enemies to be shocked on contact with them.

Transmutation
This form of magic has actually raised some controversies over the years. The less educated see it as a form of creation, akin to what the Creator did. This is entirely false. Transmutation is not the act of creating something, but of breaking something down, and remolding it. Equivalent Exchange is the governing law of this type of magic. Those who use this magic break down matter and reshape it into a form that they can better use. It is with this magic that coal becomes diamonds, straw is spun into gold, and swords are drawn from stone. This type of magic has (with great controversy) been used to create strange, unnatural animal hybrids, though it has been deemed extremely cruel. In addition to this, these horrific hybrids never survive long. They are simply too unstable. This magic cannot be used on creatures with a greater soul, which effectively includes all sentient creatures.

Breakdown
A rather brilliant, and lesser known use of this type of magic, is known simply as Breakdown. It occurs when the user halts the process halfway through, after breaking the object down, but not reforming it. This leaves the matter in an unstable state, and it ruptures in less than a second. It has been used to terrifying effect by African and Indian rebels in the past.

Enchantment
Enchantment is the act of infusing an object with mana, and giving it certain properties, in order to serve a certain purpose. It is most often used in weapons, armor, and gems. Weapons can be made to ignite whenever the holder wishes, or to cause certain ailments on enemies struck. Armor can be enhanced to protect against certain forces, such as fire, cold, blades, etc. It can also be enchanted to cause certain ailments to those who attack the wearer. Lastly, gems tend to be used because they can hold a surprisingly high charge, meaning that they can have quite devastating effects, compared to their small size. Most often, gems are enchanted to act as explosives, which detonate on contact, or emergency battlefield boosts, healing those in the direct proximity of them when they are broken.

Script Magic
Similar to Enchantment, Script magic is nonetheless unique. Where Enchantment focuses on storing an effect in an object, Script Magic focuses on creating a spell in advance, for instant use later. The individual who creates the Script, which can be a book, scroll, or tablet, must infuse the material with the mana needed for the spell. Then, it is a simple matter to invoke the spell later, though this will consume the material that it has been written on. This can be a good way to activate large spells, though in addition, that would force the wielder to carry around quite a hefty amount of paper, and put in alot of effort (spells are not simple, and writing them out taking tremendous amounts of time and effort).

Body Script
A different form of Script, this magic is used to inscribe spells directly onto an individual's skin. It is generally done on one's arm, as this is the easiest part of the body to channel magic through. This form of magic is still not perfected however. In general, only one spell may be inscribed, and it cannot be all that complicated. The runes and lettering of even a simple spell will cover one's arm from wrist to elbow, as one must describe the energy involved, how they want the spell projected, what its intended purpose is, etc. This form of magic allows the caster to skip saying the spell, and channel the magic directly into the inscriptions. Also, it is reusable. Magic may be channeled through their arm and into the spell as long as the inscriptions remain. As this magic is not yet perfected, only one arm is inscribed in general, as the risks of mistakenly channeling the magic in the wrong way, and not focusing it enough, can have disastrous effects.

Blood Magic
Considered to be one of the Dark Magics, or Forbidden Magics, Blood Magic is tricky to use, but at the same time quite potent. In order for it to be used in the first case, the caster requires blood from the target, as the name of this magic suggests. After that, the caster may achieve many different effects, activating these effects through the use of rituals. These rituals, dependent upon what effect is being activated, can take anywhere from two minutes, to two days. The most simple of these effects, is the caster being able to see through the eyes of the target, without the target being aware. In a more complicated ritual, the caster may brand the victim, and use them as a mana battery for other magics. The most complicated effect is the caster gaining control over the target, branding them in a manner similar to before. The target is at the caster's mercy, and if they resist doing the caster's bidding, unimaginable pain is the result. The brands, and thus the caster's connection, can be severed by Mages who specialize in Body Script, however, those that know basic Script Magic may also remove lesser brands.

Summoning
The act of bringing a creature from another realm, and then binding it to the caster's will, is known as Summoning. This magic is one that is almost impossible to quick cast, and requires the caster to create a magic circle. The sorts of creatures that may be summoned depend on a combination of the caster's power, as well as the substance used for the circle. Any substance can actually be used, but not all are equal. Paint, ink, tar, any of these may be used, but they provide almost no assistance, besides creating the circle itself. Chalk is a bit more powerful, but not much. Blood has, however, been found to be the most potent. In general, animal blood is used, as it is relatively easy to acquire, and lends a decent amount of power to the summoning. It has been found that certain blood is more potent in these rituals. Human blood is said to be the most potent of all.

The only case in which this magic can be quick cast, is in the summoning of weaponry. The downside to this, is that while it gives the user access to weapons at a moment's notice, those weapons are a constant drain on their mana reserves, limiting their ability to use other magic, and the amount of time that they can remain effective in the fight.

Necromancy
Necromancy is the ability to bring temporary life back to a corpse. This is considered one of the Dark Magics, or Forbidden Magics. All things that were once alive contain minute traces from when they were alive. One who practices Necromancy, also known as a Necromancer, can strengthen these traces, and with their own power, return life back to a corpse, and bend it to their will. This does not mean that they return the soul to the corpse, merely grant it temporary life. The Necromancer must supply a corpse with a steady supply of mana in order to keep it alive. The larger a corpse, the more mana intensive it will be to give it life, that is the general rule. As long as a Necromancer has enough mana, they can theoretically control a limitless number of corpses. The only constraint is their mana reserves.

Necromancy has also been developed to save users of it from death. Through an intensive ritual, known to take days to complete, an individual may create a Horcrux. A Horcrux is an item that contains a piece of the individual's soul. If they would die, they are instead reconstituted at the location of the Horcrux. Creating such an item is extremely mana intensive, and leaves the individual's soul crippled for a time afterwards. After an individual has been reconstituted, the Horcrux is destroyed. In addition, an individual may only ever have one Horcrux at a time.

Shapeshifting
Magic used to change one's appearance and shape is known as Shapeshifting. This ability has seen many uses since its development. The most common use is simply to allow the caster to take the shape of an animal, whether it be a bird or a beast. This is quite convenient for travel and combat purposes. Among higher class individuals, it has been known to be used to augment one's appearance, removing wrinkles, shading the cheeks, and other cosmetic things. Since the magic is cast solely on the individual themselves, it is actually rather fast acting, and requires little actual casting, though the mana cost can be steep.

Technomancy
A more modern type of magic, Technomancy has been in development for about 45 years. In essence, it allows the caster to speak with machines, take them apart, and reconstruct them to suit their own purposes. They give life to the machines, just long enough to reshape them. The weaker users of this magic can only reconstruct the smallest machines, whereas the more powerful individuals can create massive mechanical monoliths. This magic is extremely dangerous to A.I.

Golemancy
The art of animating unliving matter is known as Golemancy. This magic is actually quite old, but many aspects of it has been lost to time. Users of this magic can create what are known as Utility Golems, creatures without wills of their own, who the user may order to do their bidding. This magic requires the user to create a magic circle, generally drawn with chalk, place the desired material in the center, and then do the incantation, channeling their own magic into the ritual. The larger the specimen to be created, the larger and more elaborate the ritual.

Chronomancy
An advanced form of magic used to manipulate the flow of time. Users of this magic can accelerate, or slow down, time within an area. For the most part, it is a rather small area. This magic is generally not used in combat, as it requires a constant stream of mana in order to stay active. There are, however, a few different uses for it. First, in the case of accelerating time, it can be used to age an individual or object rapidly, allow an individual within the influence of the magic to complete mas amounts of research, study, and learning, while time passes normally outside of the zone. This does have the side effect of aging the individual however. In the case of slowing things down, one can use this magic to preserve things, or in the case of law enforecement, it can be used to hold criminals in place for long periods of time, while they are kept in a sort of Time Lock, unable to do anything to escape, as they are simply denied the time to do so.

Gravity Magic
An interesting kind of magic, that manipulates the flow of gravity around a target or in an area. This magic can be used to throw targets around, by shifting gravity so that it flow horizontally for them, remove it altogether to severely impair their ability to maneuver, increase it dramatically, bringing down crushing forces on their body, and even lessen it on the user, allowing them to jump further, and cover greater distances with relative ease. This kind of magic tends to be activated through spoken words and phrases.