Arcane Path

It’s all fun and games until you forget to carry the two…

— From 'Magic Field Theory, Volume 2'

Mages who study the Arcane Path have a different approach to manipulating the Astral. These mages use powdered or whole wildstones, but they aren’t as critical for the Arcane Path. In this Path, skill in manipulating the Astral is as much ‘science’ as it is ‘art’. This is why mages who study the Arcane Path are often called ‘magical scientists’.

Mages who study the Arcane Path don’t use dance or song, instead they rely on equations, formulas, and their willpower. Their tools to channel the power of the Astral are magical devices, book, pen, and ink. Devices come in all shapes and sizes, from simple symbol-covered staffs, wands, or rings to complex bracers with a winding key. But no matter the device, it’s a mage’s small travel journal that is the foundation of their Arcane Path magic.

Each formula in a mage’s journal represents a way to reach the Astral. As they complete an equation, a mage uses their willpower to draw a portion of the Astral into themselves for a spell. No two equations are the same, as each one represents a different spell or spell effect.

Components, Tools, and Methods

Journals, pen, ink, and the Arcane sign language

A Touch of Ink

Mages of the Arcane Path are, at their core, tinkerers. They all start with an established ‘cookbook’ of formulas for basic spells, but soon move beyond them. Those standard recipes become a starting point for the mage to improvise new ways to twist magic to their own ends.

But while memorized equations, symbols, and intricate hand gestures are how they channel magic, these mages are no stranger to wildstones.

Followers of the Arcane Path use ground wildstones in their ink. Any ink is allowed for their type of magic, but ink that’s enriched with powdered wildstones is twice as potent. This grants the mage a boost every time they review a recipe written with this charged ink. It also causes their resulting spell to last an hour longer, hit harder, and make magical devices twice as durable.

But all ink fades with time, which causes the mage to redraw their equations. Enchanted ink may make spells more lasting, but the ink fades twice as fast. So mages that follow the Arcane Path try to keep a bottle of powdered wildstone with them if they can.

Casting spells of the Arcane Path differ from other Paths. A mage following the Arcane Path has to recite the equation or draw the spell symbols needed to activate a particular spell. Drawing symbols can be done in several ways, from using the Arcane sign language to draw them in the air or trace the symbol in a nearby substance. Many mages carry a pouch or vial of sand or similar material for just this reason.

Each spell that’s cast uses a portion of the Astral the mage has stored and causes the ink in the mage’s journal to fade slightly. Simple spells, like cantrips, require little magic and have almost no effect on the ink. But more complex spells, such as raising the undead, require a greater effort. They can exhaust a mage and fade the formula’s ink to almost nothing with a single casting.

Risk for the Rewards

The Arcane Path, like all Paths, comes with its own risks. Each spell of the Arcane Path is taxing for a mage to cast, eating away at their endurance or mental points. If they cast too many in one day, they risk extreme exhaustion or losing concentration while casting. Either could be lethal.

Once exhausted, the mage risks losing concentration while casting. This could cause the spell to use the mage’s life force as fuel, or worse, going ‘wild’.

A wild spell is the raw, uncontrolled power of the Astral lashing out at anything nearby until the spell exhausts its power or gets dispelled. It will act as if it has a mind of its own, one dominated by pure rage. Archimages and other students of magic have many theories of what these ‘wild’ spells are.

Ideas range from nothing more complex than a violent magical thunderstorm to a rare form of elemental made of pure magic; an Astral Elemental. A creature of the purest magic, filled with a murderous rage and equipped with the spell that the mage failed to cast.

The worst of these Astral Elementals are those bound to the darkest branch of the Arcane Path, the arts of necromancy. Not only would a necromantic Astral Elemental kill the mage and anyone nearby, it would raise the murdered to spread the rampage on a wide scale. At least, while it still could.

For all these reasons, a mage of the Arcane Path must be accurate with their equations, and precise with their Arcane sign language. Even the smallest mistake could cost the mage their life and send a wild spell on a disastrous rampage.