Throughout the land, there are a select few people who are able to fully wield a mysterious energy force, known as magick. Magick is as much a part of the history and land of Aÿshra as the Jekovaan Mtns or Eagorn's Elm on the northeastern shore of Mhan's Landing. There has always been two (2) fundamental truths regarding magick:
WELLS: For starters, within every living being on this planet, there lies a 'well' of energy. Because of this, every sentient creature in Aÿshra technically has the capacity to learn and wield magick. The vast majority of the population however have little to no experience with their potential magick capabilities, but for the few who do (regardless of their experience with it), every time they perform magick, some energy is taken from that well within, and the more powerful the spell, the more energy is taken from that well.** Everyone's well is different and there is currently no way to measure or conclude how deep a person's well is. This means that eventually, your use of magick could suck you drier than a stout Jekovaan Gurnfruit Ale if you aren't careful. ((essentially this means that most magick users learn to either lose their fear of dying or come to peace with it bc death could literally come from them doing anything magick-related, be that a conjuring intended to affect an entire town, to the simplest little spell such as starting a small flame on the end of your finger, death is potentially always there. And so because of that, many choose to live their lives with a fearlessness that can oftentimes border on reckless))
---INTOXICATION: The second fundamental truth of magick use is, intoxication is a very real threat for any serious magick user. When referring to intoxication, I'm referring to the intoxicating effect that a wielder may experience the more energy they release from the well within themselves. And within that issue lies an even greater issue for each magick type. However, I'll save the intoxication differences for each magick type in their respective descriptions below.
**It's common in this world for magick users to go to alchemists where they can buy a specific concoction, commonly known as Well Water. This special elixir is no mere bottle of water, but a very specific and incredibly complicated mixture that is closely guarded by the Alchemy Division, an organization who supervises and regulates alchemists throughout most kingdoms in Aÿshra. Well Water has been around since the First Age! Evidence of such exists thanks to the sacred texts of Oogalah Min from which experts date at having been written around roughly 2770 1A. Well Water is such a vital resource to magick users that it's formula is taught to only well experienced alchemists who have to swear a blood-oath to secrecy to prevent the formula from being spread so that any idiot could attempt to make it which would create headaches for the Alchemy Division.
The two types of magick are as follows:
ROAR – Though magick users don't get to 'pick' which form of magick their body is capable of learning, the type of mystical energy known as Roar magick has always been the more appealing one to outgoing folk, such as adventurers, mercenaries, bards and so on. The big draw for it is the sheer amount of incredible power you can (potentially) learn and wield. Need a mountain leveled? Done! Need someone to distract a dragon so you can sneak in to pinch something from their hoard? No problem! However, it's popularity belies it's darker workings as well as it's weakness. As mentioned above, when a magick user gains more experience and control over their magick abilities and begins experimenting with more complicated and intricate spells, the more intoxicating the magickal release from within them becomes. Unfortunately for the users of Roar magick, commonly known as a Roar Magus, they become more intoxicated the more energy they exert in a single spell. And as that intoxication increases, they become more and more careless, gradually losing their ability to focus due to the increasing pain from the higher-level spells and can very often leave physical damage as well ((internal burns, blindness and lighting-shaped scars are all examples)). This more often than not, leads to any number of tragedies; a village burned to the ground, an opponent in a fistfight being punched into the air and their body discovered three leagues away, things like that. Roar magick also gets increasingly difficult to control the more concentrated the spell. So yes, crushing a giant under a pile of boulders is very useful in a fight, but want a small flame on your finger to light your wizard friends pipe? If you aren't properly trained and learned in this form of energy usage, then you're more likely to implode yourself (which would result in several city blocks being taken out with you) more than you are to get that pipe lit.
WHISPER – Much less is known about the ethereal energy known as Whisper magick and it is often also (mistakenly) thought by many to be the 'weaker' of the two magicks, but this couldn't be farther from the truth however. While Roar is very showy and dazzling in it's bursts of use, Whisper magick is often used by those who tend to be more discreet in their day-to-day uses. My own personal opinion, but this magick is by far the one I'd prefer were these mystical energies real, but I'll let you figure out why. This magick, despite it being the 'invisible' magick to anyone not paying attention, is the more dangerous of the two. Let's say that you need a Duke assassinated. An experienced wielder of Roar could be used to bring an entire castle down around it's inhabitants, murdering the Duke in the process, or maybe throwing lightening bolts or burst of flame at him would work as well, but could also lead to innocents being hurt not to mention tons of property damage. However, as an example, an experienced Whisper user would simply need to walk into the vicinity of the Duke where they would cast their spell and quietly give the Duke a heart attack or put a crimp in an artery to stop blood flow. It's for these reasons that most wielders of Whisper magick tend to lean more towards subtle and discretionary types of work such as diplomats, assassins and healers. Now having said that, Whisper does still come with its own weaknesses as well. As with Roar, the more complicated or precise a spell is, the more quickly they drain their energy well. This means that technically yes, the Whisper user mentioned before could crush the heart of that Duke, however if he didn't have some Well Water on him, or if his well was already somewhat low, he could very easily end up on the floor as dead as the Duke. While it may seem somewhat easy to think that you could just pay attention to your well and cut off the spell at the right time, this unfortunately isn't how it works as no one is able to sense the depth of their own individual well. On top of that, Diviners of Whisper (as Whisper users are known as) can get as intoxicated as badly as Chaos users do. Only with Whisper users, the more intoxicated they get, they harder it is for them to break the spell they are casting.
So in a nutshell:
Roar works in large bursts and fades the longer the spell is in place. A Roar Maven will lose focus as they become more intoxicated, thus making their magick increasingly more destructive and thereby potentially deadly for the Maven and anyone in their vicinity. Their death would come from the spell itself. (think a living, breathing wildfire: the more it consumes, the harder it is to control) A simple example would be that Roar would be great for scaring off a gaggle of bandits with one or two tosses of a fireball.
Whisper is the opposite and starts out weaker and has to build up to be a stronger spell. Diviners of the Whisper have a harder and harder time ending a spell as they become more intoxicated, thus making it more likely they'll kill themselves from over usage of magick or holding a spell for too long. In other words, their death would come from their energy well draining itself to the point of being empty. (literally the living embodiment of 'do not operate heavy machinery' while performing magick) A simple example would be that Whisper would be great for throwing off a bandits timing in his sword swing just enough to miss the magick user.
ADDITIONAL RANDOM NOTES:
In this world, there's also an asylum (more of a Victorian-era type prison really) for magick users who've used spells far beyond their skill level wasn't enough to fully deplete their energy well, but was enough to essentially cause a lifelong form of the intoxication I mentioned earlier. But when that intoxication becomes terminal, it is equivalent to madness.
Users of either magick will suffer higher energy costs from their own well when they are specifically trying to negatively affect someone else's energy well. The reason an individual's energy well is able to 'protect' itself this way is still a mystery. However, to positively affect someone else's well, you need their trust and permission.
'Trust' is essential for most magick to work. It builds a bridge between two people so they may exchange energy more easily. That bridge can only be broken upon death from one of the two or a complete reversal of trust between at least one of the two parties.