Arcane Schools of Magic

From HollowWiki

OOC PREFACE: Below is a guide on arcane magic's scope and categories. As always, the degree of power one has must be earned through RP, and what is written here does not supersede anything that is written in Hollow’s RP Rules.


CONJURATION

Conjuration (also called "manifestation") is the creation of more-or-less tangible, discreet things. Conjured stuff is temporary; it did not exist before being invoked, and it ceases to exist once it has been dispelled or expended or somesuch.
Note: Conjuration is not to be confused with “summoning” under the Materia school of magic.

  • Magic shields, fields, barriers, and similar protection
  • Magic missiles, rays, beams, and similar attacks
  • Conjured tools, weapons, ammunition, and similar gear
  • Conjured pets, spirits, guardians, and similar allies
  • etc…


ILLUSION

Illusion is the manipulation of perception and, to a related extent, emotion and cognition. Since these three things encompass the whole of one’s phemeron, this is a school of genuinely infinite depth; it is, therefore, no wonder that there is an entire illusionist class dedicated to its mastery.

  • Figments - those illusions which are purely deceptive
  • Phantasms - those illusions which become partially or wholly real if believed


MANCY

Mancy involves raw, emissive powers of arcane control. These powers are thematic and may be elemental or abstract. Most mages try to understand mancy as part of a well-rounded magical education, but some known as mancers are narrowly limited to a single form of mancy. Whether by birth or by choice, this limitation can lead mancers to develop unequivocally formidable mastery in their narrow field.

Elemental Mancy

Abstract Mancy


MATERIA

Materia is the subtle or gross manipulation of matter and objects or that which physically exists.

  • Transmutation and the physical transformation of things both living and nonliving, be they items, yourself, or others
  • Alchemy, being the making of potions and the handling/mixing of magical substances
  • Enchanting, being the making of magical items, usually via the intentional application of magic to mundane items
  • Summoning, whereby physical things/beings are magically brought to the caster from elsewhere.
  • Telekinesis, levitation, and similar
  • etc...


TRUE ARCANA

True arcana (also called "pure arcana") is the acquisition, preservation, or transfer of knowledge and raw arcane power. Advocates of the true arcane school argue that it is the fundamental root of all magic, in fact claiming that the other schools of magic could be thought of as elaborate permutations of true arcana.
Note: Arcane writing is not to be confused with "enchantment" under the Materia school of magic.

  • Divination, magical detection, scrying, telepathy, and astral projection
  • Writing of sigils, runes, magical pacts, scrolls, and spellbooks
  • etc...


OF FURTHER NOTE

Despite the best attempts of mages and scholars to separate arcana into self-contained schools of study, some inevitable blurring exists. Please consider the following example.

  • Here is a simple sorceress and her magic staff. She was born with her powers and has never once studied magic. When she snaps her fingers, the staff magically appears in her hands. If you ask her where it came from, she tells you, “it comes from my special place, where I keep all my special things.” From whence then did it come?
  • Though textbooks may list the MATERIA art of summoning as separate from the school of CONJURATION, the two are often blurred in practice, and the introduction of ILLUSION and phantasmal objects blurs it farther still. Is her “special place” a literal place, some private trove somewhere? Is the special place a sort of intuitive catalog, a menagerie of forms she has memorized to later conjure and manifest? Or is the special place some mad dreamscape, a collection of lurking phantasms waiting to be made real? Or is it something else entirely? It is difficult or impossible to know.
  • Then suppose she gives the staff a twirl and hurls out a roaring fireball. You ask her how she did it, but her answer is a giggle and a shrug. Does she have a knack for pyromancy? Has she conjured a ball of fire into being? Did she trace a fire sigil in the air? Or was it something else entirely? Again, difficult or impossible to know, and the blurring goes on forever.