Arcana

"Arcana is... a little difficult to explain or understand, if you've never seen it in action. The old world would have simply called it magic, but since it's something we can understand and harness, that makes it a force of nature instead of an inexplicable mystery. Arcana unharnessed by an arcanist is neutral in the air, harmless and invisible.
"When harnessed, it can manifest as fire, bits of earth, water, blades of wind, rays of light, moving shadows, and more, at the wielder's command, and you can do nearly anything with it if you can control it well enough. Not everyone has the capacity for it, though, like not everyone has the capacity for more than the most basic of psionics."

_{-Sholto Liam}

This mystical force infused the world in 3028 R.N. Called 'creativity-based elemental control' by the philosopher Solamni, it is an unseen force which, when channeled by one with an affinity for it, physically (or at least visually) manifests as a particular element.
These elements are fire, air, water, earth, electricity, life, death, light, and dark. Not everyone is born with the ability to use arcana, but those who are have varying levels of capacity for it. Likewise, not everyone with the capacity is able to access all elements. One person may have affinity for light, but they may be unable to manipulate air, or do so poorly. Some people have access to two or more types of arcana, while a scarce few have access to the entire spectrum equally.
Additional types of arcana include holy, demonic, and energy theft, the latter of which can kill a person if enough of a certain type of energy is drained. These are the rarest three, verging on unique, as only a handful of mortals in recorded history have ever wielded them. It is said these powers can only be gained through death rituals involving the killing of extraplanar entities, but this is unverified as far as the general populace knows.
Life arcana includes biomancy and healing, and very few individuals are born with the capability of wielding it - roughly 1 in 100,000 arcanists can use life arcana. Likewise, around 15 people born out of every 100 can use arcana at all.
Death arcana can only be accessed through rituals, its usage being gated by Anak'shi himself.
Deity Control

It is theorized that as more deities awaken, other types of arcana may have more gated usage as well, but this is as of yet unconfirmed.

The major aspect about arcana is that it requires no spells or casting time beyond basic gestures, and sometimes not even that much, instead being controlled strictly by the user's force of will and concentration. Creativity, mental, and physical stamina are the only true limits to the usage of arcana - that, and calories. Arcana will, in fact, burn calories, meaning arcanists who don't want to greatly injure themselves need to eat as much as they plan on burning, and then some, just to maintain a healthy weight.
It is also true that some arcanists are weaker than others, and may never get any more powerful, and it is theorized this is because their affinity for any given element is very low. Those with greater affinities, are, therefor, stronger. How an affinity is gained in the first place is still largely unknown, but so far it appears to be based on personality and innate preferences.
Solamni theorized that affinities were also based on the western zodiac, of all things, claiming that the associated elements have direct bearing on arcanists. While at first this was laughed at, over the millennia of studies it appears there is some basis for this claim, as those born under fire signs do in fact have greater tendencies towards fire usage, water signs for water, and so forth. However, it has also been observed that those born under a fire sign might have no affinity at all for fire, and instead may use primarily water, which makes for a fair amount of mystery even after so much time has passed.
It is also an observed phenomenon that those who are transformed into Terran vampires are suddenly gifted with not only a threshold increase, but an affinity for an arcana they may never have had access to before, based entirely on the clan's Lord - for example, those who become part of Clan Raimondi gain access to water arcana. Why this is has entirely to do with the so-called curse the sealed Verith bestowed upon his zealots.

Manifestation

Fire: One of two elements whose manifestation is unnaturally colored, and also one of the hardest to control. Instead of looking like normal fire, it matches the wielder's primary aura color, meaning it can be any color on the visual spectrum. The constant, however, is that the higher the heat, the brighter the color burns, all the way up to white. Pure white fire, however, is usually Holy. Fire arcanists are able to not only manifest flame from the unseen energies around them, but also directly manipulate existing flame sources, such as lit candles or fireplaces.

Air: Invisible even when manifested, an air arcanist's channeling is felt rather than seen, and takes on no special properties. It can be compressed into fine blades, compressed into solid barriers, become buffeting winds, or even be turned into small twisters. Larger scale manifestations, such as creating tornadoes, are nearly impossible due to how much energy they consume from a single caster. Unless one is exceptionally skilled, weather manipulation takes far too much energy for most to accomplish on their own.

Water: Water can be manifested from both moisture in the air and directly from the fabric of arcana itself. Being pure and clear, it can do whatever its wielder commands of it, and can also be called forth as ice rather than liquid at all. This is called pre-freezing, and typically can only be done by highly skilled users, as most need to first call water in its liquid state before freezing it. Creative users can also take advantage of any liquid with water in it, such as milk, or exposed blood. While some may wish to forcibly control the blood still inside someone's body, this is an impossibility with only water arcana - one also needs the gift of biomancy.

Earth: Either called up from the ground itself, or summoning rock from the aether, earth arcana is dangerous and versatile. Arcanists may also use it to create precious stones and metals, but such things have a very short life, dissolving after minutes if the arcanist is weak, or hours if they're stronger. The reason for this being that arcana does not like to stay in a single state for very long, and will disperse itself when not actively being used.
Economic Abuse

Initially this power was heavily abused to look like gold or coinage, or even diamonds. It ended up creating jobs for other earth arcanists, who are now the most commonly employed clerks and cashiers, since they are able to detect counterfeit currency made by arcana. In fact, just about anyone making transactions these days and expecting to receive physical currency tend to have an earth arcanist on hand, just to avoid getting duped. Those unable to employ an earth arcanist may forbid hard currency sales altogether, instead demanding credit or debit only. Attempting to use arcana for the purpose of counterfeiting is, in fact, a crime, and those caught in the act serve jail time.

Electricity: The second of the two elements whose manifestation matches the primary color of the user's aura. Electricity is a potent and deadly arcana, easily channeled from one's own bioelectricity or the fabric of arcana itself. While one must first have an affinity for it, it is considered the easiest to call but the hardest to control after casting. Static shocks are simple, but lightning bolts are the most draining arcana per singular strike to date.

Light: Either bent from existing light sources or manifested, this arcana can be used to blind, illuminate, or, if concentrated, turn into white-hot lasers, among other creative applications, such as weaving illusions or invisibility fields. However, while invisibility fields would render one invisible to the naked eye or certain light-based visual technology (if highly skilled, even skirting infrared), it does not render one invisible to aura sight.

Dark: Dark arcana can be used to enshroud one in shadows, cut out illumination, create shadow weaponry and projectiles, and so much more. Also linked to the expansive Plane of Shadow, which sits parallel to Terra's dimension, one may call enough darkness forth to be able to briefly step into and out of the Plane, effectively teleporting any desired distance in an instant.

Life: Life arcana is the rarest naturally occurring arcana in humans, with approximately 1 out of every 100,000 being born with the affinity for it. It also the hardest to use, as one must have an extensive understanding of biology in order to use its biomancy aspect. Once enough is learned, however, this is one of the most versatile types of arcana, allowing its wielder to alter biology on the molecular level, whether it be their own or that of another being's. Healing, however, comes more naturally, as willpower dictates what to do and the arcana seems to understand the intent.

Death: Restrained by Anak'shi, death arcana can only be used through lengthy rituals. (See: Death Rituals.)

Holy: Typically manifesting as white flame, it can also be used to heal. It is also anathema to demons and vampires. Thought to only be usable by the divine and their agents, little is known about it or what it can do, as only a few humans in all of history have ever attained the capability to use it.

Demonic: Strictly in possession of demons, this arcana is deadly and corruptive, and will corrode or decay that which it touches and lingers on. It most commonly manifests as reddish-black flame, smoke, and miasma, although it is up to the demon in question how they use it.

Drain: This arcana is used to steal arcane energy from other users, but can also drain raw life force. Considered one of the deadliest forms of arcana, it is thankfully both exceedingly rare and can only be used via physical contact.

Type

Metaphysical, Arcane

See also: