Zhak'raa

In the isolated and wind-swept lands of Nel'Akhiron, little is known of its mysterious inhabitants, save for what rumours convey about their strange and ancient magic. Unbeknownst to most of Cyllarune, their ancient magic goes back thousands of years and has survived so long due to a cloistered culture and closely-guarded rituals and practices.
Zhak'raa is both the religious and magical system observed and practiced by the people of Nel'Akhiron. It is also known as "archomancy".

Ranks

Neophyte

Untrained, non-magical status. Not yet inducted into a magic school, but beginning to learn practices such as meditation, energy flow, and magical theory.

Apprentice Magic

The first, most basic step of learning magic is the manipulation of air and conjuring gusts of wind. More complex techniques involve using the air to block attacks and enhance your own movement.
Air Spells –

• Whirlwind
• Wind whip
• Deflection
• Agility

Adept Magic

After completing the Apprentice school of magic, the student then begins the arduous process of learning to control matter on a new level: manipulating heat and creating energy instead of just moving it around. Though this is a big step up from the skills acquired in the Apprentice school, fire is the easiest type of energy for Adepts to control.
Fire Spells –

• Fireball
• Flame cloak
• Wall of flame
• Molten earth

Advanced Magic

Mastery of fire magic in the Adept school sends the practitioner to the final school of magic. The Advanced school is concerned with fine-tuning the knowledge learned from the control of fire, and fine-tuning it to extend to more volatile and potent forms of energy, generally classed as “Plasma” though it also covers electricity, light and even radiation.
Plasma Spells –

• Arcane missiles
• Prismatic shield
• Ethereal walk / Blink
• Lightning storm

Master Magic

Upon graduation from the Advanced school of magic, the practitioner will be only be considered a “Master” if they pursue has further studies in magic. They will have a specialisation and profession selected for them, so they may follow one of four paths in a Master-level education. This is not technically a ‘school’ but more of a class of magic, however it has more distinctly religious connections and rituals than the previous schools.
Becoming a Master means being designated one of four elements (Ice, Blood, Smoke and Shadow) to continue to study, whereupon they will travel to the corresponding temple/monastery and become a part of the order there.
The process for choosing where a master practitioner will spend the majority of their life, begins with a lengthy ritual carried out by a council of archmages, after which they will deliberate on the final decision concerning the mage’s path.
Within the chosen organisation, the Master practitioner will also have a role chosen for them that best suits their abilities. This will be their job on a daily basis, which they will pursue in addition to learning about the Master class of magic. This may be one of several options including:

• Priest
• Acolyte
• Warder
• Archmage
• Sage
• Scribe
• Prophet
• Archon
• Envoy
• Apostle
• Champion

Elemental Magic

While the three previous magic schools are concerned with the manipulation of matter, the Master level encompasses a more ancient system of magic, centred around the control of four separate elements. Each one requires existing materials and has rituals, techniques and a philosophy shaped around them that are observed and taught by members of the orders at each temple.

Element	Alignment	Combat Method	Ideals
Ice	Cold / Negative	Strike with precision, debilitating opponent	Perfection, isolation, emotional detachment, indifference
		Ice lance Freeze / Shatter Hail / icestorm Ice sculpting Snow magic -	Requires Water (enough moisture may be conjured from the air)
Blood	Warmth / Positive	Enhance yourself with opponents power, exsanguination	Passion, drive, power, health and physiology, revenge
		Blood lash Divining/scrying Haemokinetic combat (appendages, weapons, tendrils, etc.) Exsanguinate Wound healing	Requires Blood (not necessarily your own)
Smoke	Warmth / Positive	Path of least resistance, Avoid and evade	Endless change, defence, spiritual evasion, freedom
		Smoke rush Cloud Asphyxiate Smoke form Ash constructs Ash skin	Requires Fire
Shadow	Cold / Negative	Stealth, deception and manipulation	Stability, discipline, patience, silence, purity, deception
		Shadowbolt Umbrakinetic combat (Roots/tendrils) Envelope Animated shadow Light absorption Cloak of darkness	Requires Light

Rites

Rite of the Frozen

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Rite of the Bloody

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Rite of the Charred

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Rite of the Dark

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Temples

Intentionally placed in difficult environments, the four temples function as places of worship, libraries, monasteries and strongholds. Master magic-users come to study their arts, as well as immerse themselves in spiritual worship. At the heart of each location, there lives a powerful elemental spirit that acts as a guardian.

Temple of Ice

Seated high up on a mountainside, resting on an alpine glacier, lies the Temple of Ice. Its myriad towers shine bright, a cracked white exterior with frosted walkways between them, icicles hanging like spiderwebs beneath. Nestled amidst them is the main building, its tiled, gabled roofs ever caked in snow. Despite the cold, there is nary a chimney to be seen. While its occupants wrap up and embrace the icy chill of its halls, a warm bowl of broth or cup of tea does not go amiss.
Guardian: Glacien, the bitter squall

Temple of Blood

On a barren hilltop of gravel and silt, the gothic towers and arches of the Temple of Blood cast looming shadows on the valley below. Columns, buttresses and spires give this place an ominous and even threatening silhouette, further amplified by rather grotesque statues and reliefs depicting gruesome strategies of bloodletting. Despite all this, no other institution has as comprehensive knowledge of anatomical health and the workings of the human body, and the temples inhabitants are blessed (or cursed) with unnaturally long life.
Guardian: Plasmia, the pulse of vitality

Temple of Smoke

In the volcanic regions, the Temple of Smoke has found a home on the rim of one of these crags of boiling earth. The landscape around is scorched and blasted, little more than piles of ashy chips, fields of black glass or rivulets of glowing magma. The temple itself is made up of a collection of smaller structures around a central larger urn-like building, the home of the Everburning Flame. This chamber is the beating heart of the inhabitants of the temple and is used for most of their rituals. Needless to say, the Temple of Smoke can be spotted from miles around.
Guardian: Hearthus, the smouldering ember

Temple of Shadow

At the bottom of a valley, a cave entrance yawns open, beckoning the willing to step into its gaping maw. This will lead to a series of underground caverns which only those with a guide can navigate, or risk becoming lost in the dark forever. Eventually though, newly inducted members of the Temple of Shadow will find themselves at the foot of a grand, monolithic structure built into the rock and housed within a colossal chamber. Over time, many inhabitants of this dank, dark place will find their eyes adjust to the levels of light in this place, even losing their reliance on it at all.
Guardian: Umbral, the void shade

Type

Metaphysical, Arcane