Divine Magic
Wonders as diverse as resurrection, clairvoyance, and holy fire raining from above mark the presence of divine magic in Aotra. Only a rare few are lucky enough to wield divine power; these individuals, clerics and paladins, share an inborn gift that many revere and covet. The vast majority of faithful people are fundamentally incapable of performing significant divine magic, no matter how strong their belief and willpower. A typical Aotran priest is just that: a priest, a teacher and leader of a community of other faithful people, a role model and a spiritual guide. In moments of brilliance, an exceptional priest might be able to call forth divine light in the form of a sacred flame, a pastor may be ensconced in a shield of faith while rushing to administer to the wounded in the midst of a raging battle, and a group of shamans may be able to grant gentle repose to a corpse for whom they can't yet perform death rites. But these instances are the exception, not the norm.
What is it, then, that enables this rare few to perform miracles others could only dream of? This is a question that has sparked countless debates among religious leaders of Aotra. In particular, the Dichotomist faith has a history of exploration around this question; committees of pastors have researched this same topic for centuries.
Ultimately, what most believe to be the empowering force is a characteristic that has come to be known as inherent potential. Inherent potential is a fundamental, innate ability to channel magic that is present in some individuals from birth; it does not lock an individual into a specific sort of magic, divine, arcane, or otherwise, but rather indicates an intuitive connection to the Myth, the source of all magic. Inherent potential differentiates a mage by trade, able to produce minor magical effects through consistency and ritual, from a prodigy wizard, able to commit spells to their mind through mere hours of study. In the same way, inherent potential differentiates a priest from a cleric or paladin.
What turns a person with inherent potential from an undifferentiated mass of dormant power into a cleric, wizard, druid, or other spellcaster is exposure to a specific form of power. For divine casters, it is faith that turns a person with inherent potential into a cleric or a paladin. Because of this, religious organizations have a vested stake in identifying and converting individuals with inherent potential in order to build their corps of clerics and paladins; specialized branches of the church of Dichotomism are devoted to doing just that. Identifying those with inherent potential is far from an exact science, though groups dedicated to it--particularly those in the Federation of Vay--are increasingly able to track down those with it.
Once an individual with inherent potential becomes a cleric or paladin, they are capable of a unique form of magic, due to their status as divine casters. As divine casters use their faith to channel magic from the Myth, their approach to casting is less scientific than arcane casters like wizards and artificers. A cleric calls down a fire storm with their will to devastate their enemies and intuition, whereas a wizard uses precise gestures, components, and words to summon a fireball. Along the same lines, a cleric's cure wounds represents their passion imparting divine healing upon their allies, while an artificer's cure wounds represents a concoction of components mixed applied with precision. Of course, not every cleric casts in the same way; nevertheless, threads of faith, intuition, passion, and belief run through the magic of all clerics.
What is it, then, that enables this rare few to perform miracles others could only dream of? This is a question that has sparked countless debates among religious leaders of Aotra. In particular, the Dichotomist faith has a history of exploration around this question; committees of pastors have researched this same topic for centuries.
Ultimately, what most believe to be the empowering force is a characteristic that has come to be known as inherent potential. Inherent potential is a fundamental, innate ability to channel magic that is present in some individuals from birth; it does not lock an individual into a specific sort of magic, divine, arcane, or otherwise, but rather indicates an intuitive connection to the Myth, the source of all magic. Inherent potential differentiates a mage by trade, able to produce minor magical effects through consistency and ritual, from a prodigy wizard, able to commit spells to their mind through mere hours of study. In the same way, inherent potential differentiates a priest from a cleric or paladin.
What turns a person with inherent potential from an undifferentiated mass of dormant power into a cleric, wizard, druid, or other spellcaster is exposure to a specific form of power. For divine casters, it is faith that turns a person with inherent potential into a cleric or a paladin. Because of this, religious organizations have a vested stake in identifying and converting individuals with inherent potential in order to build their corps of clerics and paladins; specialized branches of the church of Dichotomism are devoted to doing just that. Identifying those with inherent potential is far from an exact science, though groups dedicated to it--particularly those in the Federation of Vay--are increasingly able to track down those with it.
Once an individual with inherent potential becomes a cleric or paladin, they are capable of a unique form of magic, due to their status as divine casters. As divine casters use their faith to channel magic from the Myth, their approach to casting is less scientific than arcane casters like wizards and artificers. A cleric calls down a fire storm with their will to devastate their enemies and intuition, whereas a wizard uses precise gestures, components, and words to summon a fireball. Along the same lines, a cleric's cure wounds represents their passion imparting divine healing upon their allies, while an artificer's cure wounds represents a concoction of components mixed applied with precision. Of course, not every cleric casts in the same way; nevertheless, threads of faith, intuition, passion, and belief run through the magic of all clerics.
Type
Metaphysical, Divine
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