Magic and Spellforging

in Arclands

Introduction

  The Carathene scholar Fra Daramus wrote:

An ordinary Arclander knows very little of magic, believes in it even less and absolutely does not wish to hear of it.

  Daramus, a wandering sage of the Southern Arc Coast was correct in his view of the insular Arclanders, but what is true of the inhabitants of the great cities along the Greater Arc Sea is also generally true of the peoples of the Outer Kingdoms and the Wild Lands. Most humans never encounter magic and the handful who do either seek to avoid it at all costs or try to bury the experience and continue with their lives as best they can. However, few can deny that the world around them is changing in profound and troubling ways. This section is devoted to how different peoples across the world encounter magic and seek to engage with it or not. A small number of humans and non humans react in entirely different ways and are drawn to the power of the weave, even though they understand very little about it. There is almost universal ignorance about what magic is and where it comes from, because it has only returned to the world in the past three centuries.  

Spell Casters

  There are no schools of magic, no great libraries of spellbooks, no masters teaching the arcane arts to pupils. Scholars of magic, such as there are, are not able to write to one another and share their discoveries, instead spell casters exist as loners, outsiders and sometimes even fugitives, keeping their powers as secretive as possible. They are the experimental visionaries, the pioneers and the hidden geniuses who travel in search of Spell Forges and any fragments of ancient Vannic lore that would explain magic and its workings. Very few fully understand that the energies they can wield were once part of the Keeper himself. If commoners reject and shun magic in all its forms, the same cannot be said of the powerful lords of the Arclands and the Outer Kingdoms, who, along with their servants race to find spellcasters and to understand magic in order to harness it. Some, such as Skaris, have made significant discoveries and are able to weaponise what they have learned. Other states, like [Arc are still unclear about how to respond to magic's existence and whether to supress or embrace it.