On Magic

"Magic is perhaps a materialized sentiment, the idea that communication is man's greatest asset, the most powerful force it has, whether to build or sunder."

IC Account
"Magic comes to us in the form of runes, which we can classify in two different ways: method and heritage. All magic is within a category in both of these manners of classification. There are three methods for magic, which we label as Objects, Acts, and Modifiers. They are not dissimilar to language's nouns, verbs, and adjectives and adverbs. In an almost surreal manner, magic can identify and understand itself, so long as we identify and understand it. Much like learning a new word, we cannot use any rune effectively without understanding it, and we cannot use it with another if we do not understand their contextual relationship with each other. Object runes manifest something that can persist on its own so long as the rune is empowered, but it can also be given a task from an Act rune, or it can be modified by a Modifier rune. Act runes can also function independently, and they can be enhanced for specification by targeting through an Object rune, or the act itself can be directly modified by a Modifier rune. Some runes do not work independently, even if within a category that normally does.

The other classification which we use upon runes is their heritage, their general category that holds similar context with others within its category. In nearly every heritage, there are Object, Act, and Modifier runes. Not every heritage is known, but I will list what I do know: Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Nature, Life, Death, Illusion, Aura, and Abstract - also called Arcane. This list may expand in your own encounters, reader.

Most magi devote their time to learning and understanding runes in a heritage, growing more powerful with their runes the more that they understand those runes and the context of the heritage that binds them together.

A wizard is one who studies the world itself and with no particular heritage finds himself postulating at the use of all the runewords he does and doesn't know. A wizard does not master any rune or heritage, but instead turns to a more overarching understanding and attempts to use the words in combination with the world to craft what we know as 'spells' - named incantations with some requirements and understanding that perform a more specific function than the use of runes in a rune sentence. Wizards are typically well versed in lore, and many who know how to create a spell find themselves without the time and resources to pursue its creation.

Due to their general knowledge of magic, wizards are usually suitable to also cast the spells of others. Wizards not only seek their own creations, but the creations of others. To distinguish, some have taken to calling wizards who have created their own spell or magical artifact a 'sage,' and those who have not are simply called wizards. The potential power of the magic in a wizard makes them the most dangerous wielders of magic, for their life's work can turn into something that can shift the projected course of history."

OOC Information
For the usage of a particular rune, your skill with that rune itself, your skill with the rune's heritage, and your skill with the rune's method all apply to its effectiveness and success chance. Charisma, which is the presence of your will, overall affects your runecast's effectiveness. Wisdom, similarly, affects your runecast, affecting the overall success chance. Intelligence reduces the overall mana cost for the rune. Usage and study of a rune will lead to skill increases. The decision to cast a runeword or a rune sentence is also affected by your skill to those forms.

Spells, as opposed to runecasts, do not necessarily require mana. They typically have reagents found in the world that are necessary for both their creation and use thereafter, and the reagents in both instances are not necessarily the same.