Evocation

Fast, flashy, fun, and full of hotshots.

The evocation school of magic includes the '-mancer' disciplines that manipulate and enhance primal energies of air, earth, fire, and water. These are mapped to aeromancy, geomancy, pyromancy, and cryomancy, respectively. These magics manifest as mana-intensive, powerful, and immediate effects rather than as efficient, subtle, or long-lasting results. Wizards specializing in evocation comprise the largest proportion of Aemark military magical power and account for approximately 45% of all known wizards in the Kingdom.

Evocation Mana Structure

Evocation by SK Kage (via Firefly)

While the uninitiated cannot easily fathom mana structures in the same context as a wizard (nor see them using aether sight), attempts have been made to communicate the concepts and have been most successful in describing magic through physical laws. For evocation, the chief principles are momentum and rotation. Spells from these four disciplines are brought into being by manipulating the spin and speed of mana flowing out of the wizard's mana vectors and the structure of a spell. This is a mischaracterization of the complexity of spellcasting, but suitable for basic understanding.
Within evocation, aeromancy and geomancy are paired as antipodes and likewise cryomancy and pyromancy. Each is associated with a direction of spin, a structure for the mana, and the speed with which it flows. The verbal component assigns the appropriate external form and function to the spell and dictates how its configuration will manifest. Without the chant, casting simply exudes energy haphazardly with minimal organization. For example, aeromancy would release a static burst from the wizard's evoked arrangement and a geomancy spell would similarly coalesce the mana into a dense fluid surrounding the mana 'plate.' (Geomancy builds upon a plate-like form.)
Classic characteristics, while not always followed, are correlated with the four disciplines as follows:

• Aeromancy: Clockwise rotations that would revolve around the caster (typically at chest-level) with mana flowing at high speeds.

• Geomancy: Counter-clockwise rotations that would revolve around the caster (at shin- or foot-level) with mana flowing at low speeds.

• Cryomancy: Counter-clockwise rotations in the opposite direction of the target ('backward') launched at low speed.

• Pyromancy: Clockwise rotations in the direction of the target ('forward') launched at high speed.

These are approximations and are not true in all cases. Complex spells require finely-tuned control of these variables with detailed framing from the verbal component. Interestingly, wizards with higher innate power (that is, larger mana pools and faster flow) find it more difficult to cast outside of their attuned evocation discipline due to the greater 'inertia' their spellcasting carries (in addition to usual attunement side effects).

Evocation Verbal Component

All spells require a verbal component and, as many professors state: 'elocution counts.' Contrary to popular belief among the non-magical community, the utterances do not need to be perfect to cast a spell and, as such, gagging or drowning wizards will result in 'exuberant defensive spellcasting' (often at the cost of the offender's life). Even so, a precisely spoken chant creates a 'tighter frame' and is a key component in efficiency. The tighter the frame, the less mana 'leaks' from it. This is a loose characterization of the actual magical implementation.
Most evocation spells have simple verbal components because the intention is to direct energy en masse rather than deftly in composition or through specific pathing. Chants affect three core aspects (among others) of an evocation spell, as indicated below:

• Physics Manipulation: Whether or not the spell is subject to certain physical laws, such as gravity.

• Concentration: How small the volume of the spell should be (with additional verbiage used to differentiate between starting, travelling, and ending volume).

• Direction and Guidance: Where the spell should land or what path the spell should follow on the way to its target and/or what shape the spell should take if affecting an area.

An excellent example of all three at work is a pyromantic fireworks display. These fireworks are cast to ignore physics and attain pinpoint accuracy, but may be lobbed over obstacles or leverage natural laws to enhance parts of the show. The concentration can be manipulated to reduce the visibility of the arc and size the burst appropriately. The direction and guidance portion separates standard fireworks from more intricate ones. Creating a basic dahlia shape requires fine control over more than a dozen different streams with unique traveling concentrations and effect volumes. (This is, in fact, the primary reason that pyromantic fireworks are so rare and non-magical versions are considerably more common.)

Flashfire: Vengeance

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I never understood this series. 'Look at me! I can blow stuff up and showcase one grizzled expression per year!'

Evocation Disciplines

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