Utility Magic

Utility Magic is the unsung hero of spellcasters the world over; we love the flashy explosions of Fire Magic or the chilling power of Water Magic, but few stop to consider the myriad of minor tasks - cleaning up, washing clothes and such - that utility magic allows us to simply... trivialize.

— Archmage Klemm, of the Nezrin Magical Academy

Utility Magic is a form of magic that is seldom talked about, but has plentiful use across all of the world, covering all kinds of plentiful, yet trivial chores, odds and ends, and other tasks that would inconvenience someone, from washing clothes and cleaning up to maintaining engineering and technology.

History of Utility Magic

The Hysilens

Utility Magic's history is a long one, and nowhere is that more apparent than its use under the Hysilens' era, where it saw such extensive use that its magic category was first created and separated to be taught to Hysilens children independently of the magical schools they otherwise studied, granting all of the race a strong degree of mastery in this form of magic. Even following the believed ascension of the Hysilens, these traditions never faded, with the Raqise picking up the mantle and continuing the teaching.

Early History

The rule of the Raqise saw much advancement in the study of utility magic, and even after their empire fell, its study continued unabated by communities the world over, with one of the undisputed goods of the Raqise Confederacy being that it spread most forms of magic to all of the continents through it's incredible reach. The main races to champion utility magic in this time were the Vulpinari and the Jaiiri, though the Elf races were a big factor too.

Modern History

Nowadays, utility magic has seen such acceptance that, generally speaking, almost all citizens of nations are taught basic utility magic spells while growing up, and all magical learning institutions teach it as part of their initial study curriculums. Generally, many people believe that there are myriad of extra secrets to learn from utility magic, and - as such - constantly invest in its research and exploration. Many hope that the ongoing voyages from Nezrin through the Primeval Mists may uncover yet more advances.

Universal Magic

Utility Magic is exceptionally unique amongst the magic schools of the cluster and Aldrin for being compatible with all kinds of spellcaster; a spellcaster can learn magic from any spell school already, but they have exceptional difficulty with those schools they lack a natural bloodline or a Shard Ritual investment in, yet utility magic can be freely learned by any caster regardless of their persuasion, and even non-casters can learn basic utility magic spells with enough investment.
This leads to a few curious things as a result; a big one is that the school is seen as a pseudo-magic at best, as it's viewed as too easily learned and mastered to be regarded as a regular school of magic, but another is that everyone of magical persuasions is expected to learn, if not master, utility magic; for their professions but also for the utility it provides in general, and despite its reputation many prestigious magical institutions pride themselves in their excellent tutelage in utility magic.

Types of Utility Magic

Spellcaster by left hand

Utility Magic is something of a special case; while all magical schools are formatted to display four or five famous uses - but not their exhaustive list of functions - utility magic is uniquely varied, containing spells that can do everything from mending technology to aiding in maid work and folding clothes. As such, instead of traditional uses, these will look at the four distinct types of utility magic, which act to sub-group the spells in the most expansive magical school for easier organisation.

Maintenance Magic

Ranging from simple clothes fixing and sewing spells all the way up to advanced engineering spells for maintaining clockwork engines, arcane powerplants and much more, this is generally the most broad and attractive branch of utility magic, containing the spells required for daily maintenance on all sorts of items, be they simple items - such as clothes or fabrics - or complex ones, such as artifice and clockwork components.
It's no surprise that these spells are generally taught first to any spellcaster when going through the utility magic lessons.

Domestic Magic

Generally favoured by house servants and maids, these spells concern all things cleaning, from cleaning rooms to washing clothes magically and much more, these spells are generally a bit more focused, but their utility goes without saying for those that need access to these capabilities on the regular, especially with their Aether-efficiency and their general tendency to not cause Aether Corruption to an area.

Recollection Magic

Generally regarded as the most useful form of utility magic in combat, these spells aid in the recollection of information, and they are very potent indeed. Recollection spells pull information from the caster's mind, even from recesses of it that they cannot recall themselves naturally, with the best spells being only accessible to a precious few mages that allows them to pull from what are believed to be the divine libraries of the ancient Hysilens.

Communication Magic

Communication with other beings is a core form of utility magic, with the most basic facets of these spells revolving around communication with other language dialects of the same species, before branching into further sapient species language communication, automatic translations and much more. The very best of these spells allow for communication with animals and other non-sapient beings.

Other Types of Magic

While these three categories break down the most important forms of utility magic, many others exist too, with further divisions depending more upon individuals and their interests; a Bard or Druid may seek to learn communion and more specific animal communication spells for example. Some other pertinent categories that exist are the aforementioned communion spells, which allow for divine communions, as well as travel spells, which allow for easier travel across the continent, and much more besides.
Truly, the options here are dizzying, and cannot be accurately covered in a single page.

Utility Magic by Pindurski