Divine magic

Divine magic is the spiritual aspect to magic. It is mainly used by mortal worshippers and is widely known. It is both ritualistic and instinctive since it is connected to religion.

Origine

This aspect can be seen as a consequence of Faith. It only exists because of its inner workings. Since it mirrors Faith, it also needs to be used to exist. It means always keeping the magic moving so that it doesn't disappear, like when someone stir a pond to bring up the mud. As soon as they stop stirring, the mud falls back down. This can be reflected by the power of a worshipper being dependent on the intensity of their faith towards a deity. It means divine magic is, just like Faith, an active force.

Source

When connecting to a deity, the latter can choose to lend a fraction of their own power and energy to their follower, who can then use it as divine magic. It is often seen as a contract by the deity since they receive soul energy from the worshipper but the follower will often see it as a miracle, a gift, a blessing, a proof of love and trust, a mission, etc... Most of them don't know it is, in reality, an exchange and can sometimes unknowingly sell their soul.

It means deities are an external and dynamic source of divine magic. This source is infinite from a mortal's point of view but the power given is variable according to the followers devotion, the deity's own power and the deity's willingness to lend that power. It can lead to unpredictableness and a narrow range of spells.

Connections

Divine magic users are connected to their deity thanks to their devotion, which creates a spiritual contact between them. They can then use this connection to make sympathetic links between other beings, locations and/or objects. These connections can be used as analogical symbols during rituals or spell casting to symbolize the deity or their attributes. For example, a ritual to kill someone could be performed in a temple dedicated to the goddess of death.

Planes of existence

This kind of magic is mainly used on Earth but, if a divine magic user became an elevated deity, he would still be able to use it on his new plane. The energy would still be given by the deity he is currently worshipping while keeping in mind that, since his new plane of existence can bear way more magic than Earth, the user will be way more powerful. Thus, the energy he would take from his deity woud be huge too, yet few deities would tolerate this; they would rather kill the worshipper and harvest his soul. Even if there are a few cases of immortals worshipping other immortals, it is still quite rare.

Talent

The talent to use divine magic is acquired and it requires the user's faith towards a deity; the latter is the one giving to the user their talent. However, each deity has their own prerequisites for followers: some immortals want them to study and practice a lot, others want them to have an innate connection to the domain they have mastership over, some others want them to have a specific personality trait, or even all these prerequisites at once.

In the same way, this talent can be lost if the deity doesn't acknowledge them anymore as a follower and thus gets back the power offered. In that case, the backlash to the user can range from the incapacity to use magic to madness, or even death, according to how ruthless the deity was in getting back the talent. The injury is mainly spiritual; the user got his soul injured which can also be translated to being unable to follow the natural order after death. It is often used as a way to automatically harvest mortal souls.

User types

They use an external source and have an acquired talent given to them by their deity. Their magic depends entirely on the fervor of their faith and attachment to said immortal, which means they are categorized as devotees. Their magic can be very powerful but its range will always be limited to the domain of the deity they serve. The practice of devotees is based solely on devotion to their god. If they stray even slightly from their domain, they can lose all their powers. Their training is based on prayers and the study of sacred texts relating to their deity. Devotees will always tend to group together unless their mission is to travel to fulfill the will of their deity (converting the people, helping the poor, destroying everything, etc.).

Awakening

The awakening of divine magic users is progressive. During the pre-awakening phase, the user prays, studies and practices without being able to cast a spell, not without help. It's a conscious, painless process apart from the hard work provided to get results. The awakening itself happens during a ritual presided over by the new follower's mentors and/or teachers. The ritual's goal is to build a connection between follower and deity, the very first true contact. The user then usually notices he can make better use of his skills and he feels the changes taking place in him through physical perceptions (tingling body parts, current-like feelings, impression something awakens within him, etc...), mental perceptions (strange sensations when in contact with another user, perception of magic flow, impression something awakens within him, etc...) and emotional ones (joy, fear, drunk on the new power, etc...).

Apprenticeship

There are multiple ways to learn and master divine magic, each of them is linked to religion. A lot of apprentices learn in a monastery or a convent but, according to the type of deity they serve, they can also master their craft through teacher-student pairs, entering a coven or even thanks to compagnonnage. However, in most cases, it is very important for the student to remain in general isolated. It can be to protect themselves against society or to protect others against them but it can also be because of complementary or contradictory kinds of magic influencing each other. Indeed, the apprentices who don't control their power yet have to stay away from others as their powers may conflict with each other (ex: light magic/dark magic).

However, monasteries and convents are the main places of learning for divine magic. They are taught the worship of a specific deity, rarely a complete or partial pantheon, and an apprentice enters either out of vocation or if they have no other option (orphans, too many heirs, debt to the religious order, politics, etc). Only a small part of them will become magic users though, in general thanks to their inner talent, their pure devotion or their connection with the deity's domain. Their isolation has for sole purpose devoting oneself to the cult's study, the magic the deity gives their followers and their way of life. This solitude keeps the apprentices away from any thoughts considered impious or heretical and things they might hear outside. In some places, the learning process is akin to brainwashing. In short, they must learn to think according to a dogma and to contact their deity in order to receive their power. They will therefore study prayers and rituals while following the strict rules imposed by the religion.

Teacher-student pairs and covens teaching divine magic are very similar to this but compagnonnage works differently. It comes down to learning the craft through travels. After completing basic training with a fist Companion, the apprentice travels from town to town to learn from several masters, each with his own specialty. This learning journey is strewn with challenges to overcome in order to pass the learning levels, just like exams. Since compagnonnage is based on a network across an entire country, or even continent for the biggest ones, it is common to find Companion houses to accommodate traveling Companions and apprentices, just like a guild. This way, the Companion always find a place to stay and eat. During the different stages of his journey, the apprentice can also be hired temporarily, and earn money, in their master's company.

To become a full-fledged Companion, the student must create a masterpiece that demonstrates mastery of the craft. They are also judged on their moral qualities since compagnonnage is also a state of mind and way of living. It means adhering to essential values such as:

• the craft is learned and practiced with passion and awareness,
• travel is a way to train as a professional, but also as a person,
• the teachings are mutual through contact with elders, exchange between apprentices and transmission to younger people,
• solidarity unties the Companions, together they are stronger and help each other,
• work is not an end in itself but a means to flourish and open up to others,
• loyalty to one's commitments makes the Companion someone upright and reliable, someone honorable,
• they should know how to question and challenge themselves in order to move forward better and help others,
• they should think for themselves,
• searching for excellence.

The main difference between a compagnonnage and a coven is the network: a coven is isolated and only has one headquarters while a corporation can have several headquarters in several cities and belongs to a network of several corporations. In addition, members of different covens do not mix, while those of corporations do.

Families and disciplines

All families and all disciplines are available to divine magic users but they're experts at blessings and curses.

Components

Components are the elements that magic users need to practice it. To use divine magic, the mental component is the most important. It gathers all the psychological, cognitive and emotional skills necessary to successfully use magic. Here, the belief of the user takes on added importance. The material, gestural, vocal and linguistic components can also be used in rituals, however it not only depends on the spell used but also the deity followed.

Products

Divine magic can in theory be used to create amulets, artifacts, elixirs, ointments, philters, potions, sigils, spells, magic circles, talismans, etc... However, users have to respect their religion's rules: some religions forbid to profit from magic, others see it as a miracle that can only be used to help the religious order, some forbid to encroach on gods territory or even don't care about helping others and only want to brind death and chaos to the world. Each religion also have their own rules and channels to distribute these products.

Limits

Divine magic users can be rare or not according to the location considered, the rules of the religious order the user is from and the difficulty, sometimes with a risk of backlash, to get along with the deity, to please them or keep them pleased. It can be very powerful but is limited in the kind of spells used, which is entirely dependant on the deity's domain. Divine magic users are also very vulnerable to their own religion and how society see them: their number is sometimes limited because the religion wants to keep them as rare elites, they can be subjected to brainwashing, hunted down by others because of their faith, used by the head of their order in political matters and conflicts, etc... Thus, the price to pay for using divine magic is almost to be a slave to the religion and the deity attached, to the point where users are literally selling their soul, often without knowing.

Type

Metaphysical, Divine

Magic aspect

Spiritual

Origine

Natural

Source

Divine

Planes

Earth

Users

Antesilva Human
Elf
Fae
Human
Smallfolk