Magic

At the beginning of the universe, Ramos, the first and greatest of the Divines, spoke the words of the Song of Creation and brought time and space into existence. In a mighy burst of creative energy, the Allfather brought forth the planes of existence, plants and animals, and the races of mortals by the power of his word.
Tens of thousands of years later, the notes of the Song of Creation and its words of power still echo throughout the universe. It is possible by various means for mortals to learn fragments of the Song of Creation, often only a single note or a few words of power. By speaking these words aloud, those mortals can unleash a tiny fraction of that ancient power, allowing them to achieve the impossible. This practice is known as magic.
The simplest way to obtain magical power is to study the workings of the natrual world and decipher the words of the Song of Creation hidden therin. Spellcasters who obtain their power through this sort of intellectual, academic study are known as mages. The Divines and other powerful outsiders also possess the power to grant knowledge of the Song of Creation to mortals. These beings often bestow spells and other supernatural boons on their most devoted followers to help them carry out their will. Spellcasters who obtain their magic in this fashion are known as clerics.
There is a long standing rivalry between these two great magical traditions. The Octarchy has long viewed the mages as agents of cosmic disorder who usurp the powers of the divine for their own ends. The mages by contrast have often resented the faith’s superstitious attitudes toward their art. Arcane magic users who wish to be accepted into the community of the faithful are required to swear an oath not to utilize their powers for evil, known as the Oath of Sanction. Unsanctioned magi are typically looked on with suspicion and mistrust by the Octarchist clergy.
The oddball in the family of spellcasting is psionics, the art of manipulating the forces of creation entirely with one's mind. Psions ignore the words of power altogether, focusing instead on the raw creative energy itself and twisting it to their ends through force of will alone. Psionics was practiced extensively by the ancient Lizards before the collapse. It nearly went extinct after the Age of Darkness and was a fringe discipline for many centuries. The recent rediscovery of many lost ancient lizard texts has revitalized the discipline, and it is slowly making a recovery. The ancient city of Oxacalla has become an international hub for the study of this most elusive magical discipline.