Magic

Magic is one of the most astounding, powerful, and coveted natural forces in the Material Plane. Capable of incredible feats, such as parting oceans, obliterating entire cities, and even raising the dead, magic is a power unlike any other force in the universe. Although incredibly abundant in the rest of the Planar System, on the Material Plane, magic is exceedingly rare, and those who can perform it are rarer still.
Because of this scarcity, magic is very poorly understood in Ferlausen. The average person has never interacted with anything magical or anyone who can perform magic, saving for the occasional magical monster. Most would call any person who can perform magic a "wizard," without distinction between the kinds of magic performed or how that magic was obtained. Indeed, there are so few mages in the world that creating a system cataloging the minute differences between various types of magic user would be pedantic at best and futile at worst.
However, if there is any clear distinction that can be made between different types of magic user, it would not be in the manner in which the magic is practiced (e.g. via music, hand movements, writing, chanting, potions, etc) but rather by how that magic is obtained. There are three basic ways in which a person on Ferlausen can gain magic; via the use of a magic item, exposure to a source of magical power, or as a gift from a magical being.

Magic Items

Some magic items, such as a wizard's spellbook, certain magical wands and amulets, and various other enchanted objects, can confer the ability to perform magic on the person who bears it. These items are generally relics of the Great Arcane Era that have for one reason or another survived the Arcane Cataclysm. Such items are exceedingly rare and can confer vast amounts of power, and as such are often jealously guarded by their owners.
Not every magic item is capable of giving their owner a variety of magical powers - most have only one or two specific abilities, such as a wand which can send balls of fire shooting from its tip, or a cloak that makes its wearer invisible. However, certain magical items are able to contain a myriad of magical abilities, and may even collect new spells or powers over time. The best-known examples of such items are spellbooks, which may contain a vast array of spells and can also be added to over time.
If a person wishes to use a magical item in order to cast spells, they must first study this item carefully. Many such items are impenetrably difficult to understand - most spellbooks, for example, are written in secret languages, with secret alphabets, or both, resulting in very confusing or downright incomprehensible instructions. However, once the owner is able to discover or decipher the correct method of utilizing the magic item or is taught how by someone who already knows its secrets, they can channel the item's abilities to cast the spells available to them.
Only one person can use a magic item like this at a time, and if it is lost or stolen, the user may lose all of those abilities. There are many tales of individuals making copies of spellbooks or magic wands, but in reality most of these copies are mere duds, unable to confer any magical ability whatsoever. Although there are some recorded instances of the enchantment switching from the original item to the copy, there can never be more than one such item at a time.
Because of this, spellbooks and similar items are often closely guarded and treasured. Many are passed down from parent to child and teacher to student. Although only one person can use the item at a time, two or more people may switch back and forth for a while between using it, in order to teach or to learn its use. These magic items are often heirlooms of noble lineages, and as a spellbook is passed down through a family line it might acquire more and more spells as time goes on. When magical power seems to run in families, it is most often via the passing down of magical objects like this.

Sources of Power

Although the Material Plane is cut off from the rest of the planar system by the nigh-impenetrable Obsidian Wall, there are still a few sources of magical power available on Ferlausen. Whether naturally sourced or artificially made, exposure to these sources at certain times and in certain quantities can grant an individual innate magical powers. These sources of power are usually very difficult to get to, which is why there are comparatively few innate mages on Ferlausen.
Some of these sources are naturally occurring. These sources of power usually exist because of places where the Obsidian Wall wears thin, allowing other planes to just barely brush up against the mundane world and release vast amounts of magical energy. Often called portals or planar wells, these connections between the planes usually lie dormant for long periods of time, only to unexpectedly open up and release vast floods of magical power to the surrounding area for a short period, before getting shut off again.
People who are within the realm of influence of a portal at the time of its opening may be deeply affected by this energy. Some will become cursed, warped and twisted by the nature of the realm beyond; it is widely speculated that lycanthropy was originally the result of a portal to the Feywild inadvertently transforming the inhabitants of a region into various ravening beasts. Because of this, portals and planar wells are often considered extremely dangerous, and most people avoid known locations out of a superstitious fear.
However, not all effects of planar wells are detrimental. When fetuses, babies, and very young children are exposed to small amounts of power like this, many of them develop powerful magical abilities, often directly related to the plane to which they were exposed. Such children often seem to inherently understand their powers and how to use them, although they may need to experiment with or study their abilities, and over time grow stronger and stronger. Even some adults, when exposed to open planar wells, can develop innate magical abilities, although this is an even rarer circumstance and no one is entirely certain why such instances occur.
There are also a few artificial sources of magical energy. These are almost always relics leftover from the Great Arcane Era, and are usually state-owned cultural artifacts. Unlike most magic items, their power can be drawn upon by many individuals at a time. Exposure to these items in utero can result in magically talented children, although because artificial sources of power are generally less powerful than natural ones, this is still exceedingly rare. The best known examples of artificial sources of magical energy are the @Dragonstones.
A few legends exist in which the children of a person exposed to a planar well inherit their parent's powers - however, there are no truly confirmed cases of such an occurrence. In most instances where magic appears to be passed down through the generations, the inheritance is through a magic item gifted to the child, not via genetically inherited powers.

Magical Beings

The last and rarest source of magical power in Ferlausen is the gift of magical beings. There are a myriad of beings which can confer magical ability in the planar system, including deities, elementals, fiends, celestials, fey, nature spirits, chaos beings, and many more. The obstacle to gaining such powers comes from the Obsidian Wall, which prevents extraplanar beings from entering the Material Plane, and as such limits the amount of influence they can have over Ferlausen.
Extraplanar beings may spend hundreds, if not thousands, of years wearing down the Obsidian Wall until it is thin enough that they can reach through to an individual on the other side. Likewise, certain cults or religious orders on Ferlausen may work for generations to try to connect to an extraplanar being from within the Obsidian Wall until they make contact. Even then, the connection is fleeting at best, and if an agreement is not quickly reached, the Wall may repair itself before power can be exchanged, and the entire process must be started again.
Although often referred to as a "gift," magical power is rarely freely given, and usually comes with some kind of price or stipulation attached, whether or not the recipient is aware of this price. The details of such exchanges often vary widely, depending on both the giver and the recipient. Fiends and celestials often give power in exchange for an individual's soul, a deity might require that the recipient proselytize in service of that deity, and beings such as the fey usually stipulate that the recipient owes them a favor, a debt which will be called upon at a later date.
Whatever other conditions may come with a gift of power, in most cases when an individual is given power by an extraplanar being, the recipient becomes that being's familiar. A familiar is any creature which acts as an extension of a being's magical power. Although an intelligent familiar, such as a person, can act and perform spells on their own, they are only channeling the power of the being to which they are connected. Likewise, the owner of a familiar can use the familiar's body to empower and extend the reach of their own spells. An individual connected to an extremely powerful being, such as a deity, might find that spells are cast through them in a manner they cannot control, sometimes even without their knowledge.
Sometimes an individual can steal such a gift without the magical being's knowledge. Although extremely rare and often hidden or guarded, there are a few recorded rituals which can allow people to attach themselves to a given extraplanar being, and begin channeling that being's magic. This does confer the same kind and amount of power without the same stipulations as a freely-given gift; however, it comes with its own risks. If the extraplanar being ever discovers the connection, they are liked to be extremely displeased with this act of theft, and may find horrible and exacting ways to punish the thief. This can include reaching through the bond between the being and the thief, in order to cast destructive spells that will destroy the thief's friends, family, and loved ones.
Most recorded instances of magical gifts in Ferlausen are given by nature spirits, a certain kind of elemental that is still tied to the Material Plane and is therefore just as effectively cut off from magical power as the rest of the world. Such gifts are usually not very powerful and extremely limited. An individual gifted by a nature spirit may only have power in a limited area, or might have significantly fewer powers the further they get from the spirit who first gifted them.
Despite this, gifts like this are often seen as potentially conferring the greatest possible amount of magical power to an individual. Compared to the mundanity of the Material Plane, an extraplanar being's power is practically limitless, and an individual connected to such a being can perform incomparable feats, in some cases even bringing the dead back to life. Though the risks are great, and the difficulty of contact an immense challenge, some consider such drawbacks well worth the vast power that comes with them.
Although rare, magical gifts from extraplanar beings can be passed down from generation to generation. Usually, the extraplanar being must make the decision to extend their power into another person on Ferlausen. This process is exceedingly difficult for extraplanar beings, as supporting more than one familiar at a time expends an enormous amount of magical energy, and on top of that, the process may require breaking through the Obsidian Wall again. In the eyes of most planar beings, this is rarely worth the effort. When they do choose to pass on the power to another generation, it usually either occurs at the very end of the previous familiar's life, or the previous familiar almost immediately loses all their power.