Magic

There are a few different types of magic that can be accessed by practitioners of the Silver Shores.

One is Arcane Magic . Magic permeates all things in the Natural World and its practitioners can wield it through the use of "spells". This field of magic is known as "aether" by practitioners of the mystic arts. Wizards, sorcerers, and warlocks are practitioners of arcane magic, and while all of these practitioners of the arcane arts wield the same type of power, their methods and the origin of their abilities could not be more different.

The second is divine magic . A being can use the beneficial or destructive sides of divine magic through "prayers" to the gods. Clerics and paladins meditate, or pray, to be granted the power from either a deity for their devout piety, or from the dedication to a solemn oath, to manifest a magical power or effect.

Third, Druidic Magic allows druids and rangers to tap into and harness the divine power of nature. Whether this be Silvanus himself granting power to his champions, wardens, and worshippers, or a mystic tapping into the actual the actual raw power of nature, and shape to their will to amazing effect.

And the last be Bardic Magic . A very skilled and gifted minstrel, performer, or orator can draw upon the power of their charisma to wield magical powers to untangle and reshape the fabric of reality in harmony with their wishes and music. The bard's spells are part of their vast repertoire, magic that they can tune to different situations.

A spell is a discrete magical effect, a single shaping of the magical energies that suffuse the multiverse into a specific, limited expression. In casting a spell, a character carefully plucks at the invisible strands of raw magic suffusing the world, pins them in place in a particular pattern, sets them vibrating in a specific way, and then releases them to unleash the desired effect — in most cases, all in the span of seconds.

Spells can be versatile tools, weapons, or protective wards. They can deal damage or undo it, impose or remove conditions, drain life energy away, and restore life to the dead.

Uncounted thousands of spells have been created over the course of the multiverse’s history, and many of them are long forgotten. Some might yet lie recorded in crumbling spellbooks hidden in ancient ruins or trapped in the minds of dead gods. Or they might someday be reinvented by a character who has amassed enough power and wisdom to do so.

There are some basic rules of casting spells that must be followed. These are the following steps and components needed for casting a spell;

Components

1. Verbal component; the casting of most spells required the chanting of words from the ancient arcane tongue. However, the words themselves aren't the source of the spell's power; rather, the particular combination of sounds, with specific pitch and resonance, sets the threads of magic in motion.
2. Somatic component; the precise movement s of arms, hands, and intricate gestures of fingers for harnessing ambient magical power.
3. Material component; the casting of some spells requires the ambient arcane energy to be drained from a particular object or material. In some cases, the magic being funneled into the Natural World would cause the material to be consumed, often times not. In the era of Mystra's existence, the stored magical energy from most material components could be transferred and stored into a "spellcasting focus," (see below) such as a wand, staff, glass orb, or crystal. In such cases, the foci needed to be comprised of certain materials (wood, glass, or gemstone) to store the transferred magic used in casting spells.
4. Spellcasting Foci; A focus can be used in spellcasting to replace the need for the actual handling of material components used by magic to manifest a spell. Arcane foci since the assassination of the goddess Mystra, no longer function, and actual material components must be used. This has affected how sorcerers, wizards, and warlocks cast their spells. Material components, often stored in a waterproofed leather pouch, must be handled by the arcane spellcaster.
   Spellcasting foci still function for clerics and paladins as their power comes from a source other than the aether. Typically this is a holy symbol or something that embodies their faith, devotion, and commitment to their gods or ideals.
   For druids (and rangers), their magic is derived directly from the forces of nature, and thus can also use a focus to wield their elemental magic, such as a symbol fashioned from Ironwood or Duskwood , a sprig of mistletoe, or a necklace fashioned from the bones or teeth of a fey-type creature.
   And a bard channels their energy through some sort of musical instrument, or other implement used for their performances.

Monks from the far easy are said to harness a type of "magic" as well. Through extreme discipline and training of the mind and body, monks can harness their spiritual energy (or "chi") and manifest it to reality defying effects. Most of the time this chi powered abilities affect solely the monk but can also turn their chi loose on their foes for devastating results.

And finally, there are legends and rumors of certain "gifted" individuals who can tap into the power of their minds. By making their thoughts tangible, they can also affect the physical world. These gifted people are referred to as "psionicists," or "psychics."