The theory magic has a complicated, yet quite straightforward history. Magic has been used by countless civilizations and virtually all nations we know of use it in some capacity. And yet, in spite of magic being so readily available amongst the peopler of our world, few have actually taken the time to ask questions as to how it works. Most simply accept that some can conjure fireballs or transmute metals or influence the minds of others, and don't care to ask where these powers come from or how they work.
The first we know of one trying to obtain a deeper understanding of the mechanics of magic, was none other than the Grand Necromancer. He tried to obtain a theory on how to develop necromancy, and indeed according to all surviving manuscripts he was quite sucsesfull. He developed a theory of life-energy (which we today know as Vitus Vitae), and he created spells and powers with which this life-energy could be manipulated to produce interesting and unlikely effects. Had he not been betrayed, who knows what wonders he could have made had he turned to other arts of magic.
Many wizards were inspired by the work of the Grand Necromancer, and banded together to try to understand magic. They formed institutions such as the White City and the World-tower. These wizards focused first and foremost on discovering the source of magic, and found many interesting things:
Magic can largelly be divided into two categories:
Magic that is innate, and magic that is bestowed upon an individual.
The innate magic is the magic of wizards, bards, monks and sorcerer, mages who have power from their very being and whose talents for developing such magic are not bestowed by an outer or higher power. The magic of dragons also generally fall into this category.
Magic that is bestowed upon an individual is the magic of warlocks, druids, clerics, paladins and rangers, these are given their magic by an outside force.
They also discovered that magic could be defined by type:
Arcane magic is the magic of wizards, bards and some sorcerers. The old wizards did not understand the source of arcane magic nor how it worked, but they recognized it as its own category. Even today, our understanding of the arcane is limited to tranmutation and evocation, but theories of magic are being worked on. One prevalent theory is that arcane magic uses fundamental forces and concepts (expressed in the spells of the wizards and songs of the bards) to manipulate reality.
Elemental Magic is the magic of the six elemental powers, water, fire, air, earth, nature and of darkness. These powers drive druids and rangers, and is elemental energy given form and will.
Divine Magic is the magic of the gods and upper planes. These use the strange, esoteric energy of divine beings to manipule reality. Clerics and paladins use this magic.
Infernal Magic is the magic of devils and hell. Infernal magic uses the power of hell to manipulate reality. This form of magic is the magic of some warlocks.
Ki magic is the magic of monks. It is a rather esoteric form of magic compared to many others, and seems to use the soul of the wielder in creating strange and wondrous effects.
Psionics is the magic of mystics. There is currently a great deal of debate regarding whether or not one should consider psionics as a form of magic, but the author belives that a student of the theory of magic should at least have knowdlege of psionics so as to have an informed debate in academia regarding psionics. Psionoics utilize the power of their minds and souls in a similar manner to ki magic, and can create fascinating and wondrous effects.
The focus of the Azure Order is the theory of arcane magic, as all forms of magic function according to their own laws. The Purple Order studies elemental magic, amongst other things.
It would not be until much later that further inquiries into the nature of magic was made, as the wizards of yore were far more concerned with creating new and powerful spells than understanding what they were creating. It would be the magelords of the High Elves who eventually came up with the next big leap in magic theory, the classification into eight schools of magic.
Abjuration spells are protective in nature, though some of them have aggressive uses. They create magical barriers, negate harmful effects, harm trespassers, or banish creatures to other planes of existence.
Conjuration spells involve the transportation of objects and creatures from one location to another. Some spells summon creatures or objects to the caster's side, whereas others allow the caster to teleport to another location. Some conjurations create objects or effects out of nothing.
Divination spells reveal information, whether in the form of secrets long forgotten, glimpses of the future, the locations of hidden things, the truth behind illusions, or visions of distant people or places.
Enchantment spells affect the minds of others, influencing or controlling their behavior. Such spells can make enemies see the caster as a friend, force creatures to take a course of action, or even control another creature like a puppet.
Evocation spells manipulate magical energy to produce a desired effect. Some call up blasts of fire or lightning. Others channel positive energy to heal wounds.
Hemomancy spells are powered by blood to produce a desired effect.
Illusion spells deceive the senses or minds of others. They cause people to see things that are not there, to miss things that are there, to hear phantom noises, or to remember things that never happened. Some illusions create phantom images that any creature can see, but the most insidious illusions plant an image directly in the mind of a creature.
Necromancy spells manipulate the energies of life and death. Such spells can grant an extra reserve of life force, drain the life energy from another creature, create the undead, or even bring the dead back to life. Creating the undead through the use of necromancy spells such as animate dead is not a good act, and only evil casters use such spells frequently.
Transmutation spells change the properties of a creature, object, or environment. They might turn an enemy into a harmless creature, bolster the strength of an ally, make an object move at the caster's command, or enhance a creature's innate healing abilities to rapidly recover from injury.
The High Elves formed this system based on the realization that certain spells behaved in the same way, and slowly but steadily they developed theories to explain the phenomena of these schools. It is the credit of the High Elven empire that most institutions that deal with magic think in the nine schools, even though it is in some cases a fallacy. The magic that allows a cleric to heal the wounds of their comrades is fundamentally different to that of a wizard who does the same thing, as the cleric uses a store of divine power gratned by their god, while wizards manipulate reality to achieve similar effects.
The High Elves also believed that arcane magic was the first amongst equals when it comes to magic, as it was able to produce the most effects. Today however we understand that to be a fallacy, more likely a lie conjured by the magelords to justify their imperialism and subjugation of lesser races.
In modern times we have attained a deeper understanding of two of the schools of magic, transmutation and evocation, and understood that these are in fact one and the same. This theory is called the transevocation theory, and in short terms it states that transmutation is the manipulation of matter and evocation the manipulation of energy, and one can fuel the other.
Many Azure Alchemists believe that the next big step for the study of magical theory, is the unification of the schools of Enchantment and Illusion. The prospective theory is called Illuchantment, and would deal with manipulating the senses and mind. Some believe that Necromancy and Hemomancy can also be formed together into Vitamancy. This theory, however, is more far fetched and more difficult to research. All of this work goes towards what is called the One School, an idealized theory that combines all the schools of magic into one single unified theory.
The greatest roadblocks on the way to they One School are the schools of Abjuration and Divination, which are difficult to explain in the context of the other schools.
The formation of the One School is the ultimate goal of the Azure Order.
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