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Magic - Types of Magic
Topic Started: Jul 3 2015, 08:54 AM (28 Views)
Gwynbleidd
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Magic is as varied as it is powerful - many mages specialise in specific areas or types of magic, though many also function as world heads in fields such as virology, biology and other sciences, which broadly fall under the title 'alchemy'.

The most common type of magic is basic elemental magic. The most common element, and apparently easiest to use, is that of fire. Most mages appear capable of conjuring large amounts of fire for use in combat, usually in a jet or 'ball' of flame. Certain powerful mages who are particularly adept in the use pyromancy, such as Triss Merigold and Sabrina Glevissig, have shown themselves able to conjure meteor-like projectiles high in the air and rain them down upon enemies, causing huge devastation and destruction.
Other mages, such as Yennefer of Vengerberg, have shown themselves capable of utilising blasts of lightning.

Certain other magical skills are universal, such as the ability to erect forcefields either around the caster or on a specific area, though these must be magically maintained and as thus most forcefields blocking doorways are done through a complex series of magical formulae and equipment. Most mages of significant talent are also able to open portals, though stability and accuracy of portals is difficult for many, and it is possible to cast spells that will disrupt portals and offer unexpected results.
Basic illusion and transmutation spells - such as causing one's clothes to appear and disappear - also appear to be in the repertoir of nearly every mage as some of the earliest and easiest spells they learn.

There are types of magic considered "specialist", and so their mastery will often find a mage labelled as a particular kind of magic-user.
Oneiromancy is the use of dreams as a form of prophecy: whilst often vague in the hints it grants, legitimate oneiromancy is certainly effective and can be useful in some situations.
Polymorphism is an extremely rare talent and very few mages ever show even a basic aptitude for it: it is the ability to transform into an entirely new shape, such as an animal or other humanoid figure.

Curse magic, which is technically capable of being cast by non-mages, is extremely powerful under even the most leniant of circumstances. Curse magic is extremely specific: it certainly requires some kind of traumatic event, nearly always involving violence and subsequent death.
A curse importantly requires pre-defined boundaries: some of the most famous examples of large curses have used islands, individual structures such as a house or tower, or even a battlefield - whilst varying in appearance all have known boundaries inside which the curse operates.
Curses are invoked by spoken word, though the wording varies: something as simple as "I curse you to suffer" may suffice, though the effects in that case will vary. Knowledgeable mages, such as Sabrina Glevissig, have been able to cast curses of incredible magnitude: with her dying breath, Sabrina cast a curse powerful enough to cause time and wraiths to shift, and block the entire Kaedweni army by replaying an old battle with wraiths which would kill all the living who entered.

One of the rarest forms of magic is space-time magic: this has only been known to be effectively used by Cirilla, and Elves of the Aen Elle people, a group of elves from an entirely different dimension. Very little is known about it, and it has mostly faded from the world.
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