The Arts

Of Thaumaturgy, Alchemy, and Magic

The understanding of the natural order of the world has blossomed since the light of day broke through the darkness, resulting in the Arts. The Arts of Thaumaturgy, Alchemy and Magic share the same principals to create their wonders, most common folk use the words interchangeable, not able to perceive the differences in the Arts.  Thaumaturgy is used to define the higher powers, usually associated with the gods or the heavens. It can b e used to forge great weapons covered in powerful runes, or to divine the structure of a powerful machine. The Gears are the ultim ate proof in the power of Thaumaturgy, great weapons of war built to rip the world’s enemies to pieces.  Alchemy is the work of apothecaries, herbalists, and wanderers the world over. Mixtures of elements and life can combine to create powerful effects. The concoctions can be as simple as a salve to stop infection or as complicated as the liquid fire used by the Empire. For good will or ill, alchemy is both a great boon to those in need and a weapon to those whose hearts desire destruction.  Magic is an art understood by few, but deadly beyond the comprehension of most people. Luckily it requires intense concentration and study, devotions most people lack. Usually the ways of magic are taught only under strict supervision, and often deadly to those who are not cautious. The complicated and secretive nature of magic has led some to doubt its existence, but they need only look to the undead Kajarii and the return of their lost city, read of the great dragons that stalk the land, or witness the wrath of a Wild Magi who could freeze their blood and snap their limbs. ==

The manipulations of the arts and their various elements often overlap. Gears are coated in alchemical fluids for protection and rune weapons are sometimes enchanted by great sorcerers, so it is best to describe the Arts by what they draw their power from and for this we group our elements of nature and life into eight types.

See elemental weapons for examples of the arts.

Earth
The elements gifted to us through Myos. As unrefined as dirt beneath our feet or as pure as the salt in our homes. The resources of this type are all around and used often. The metals within mines, the jagged black glass of the glacial wilds, the precious stones that serve as the focus of powerful enchantments, all of it drawn from the earth. The cursed lands are the power of earth uncontrolled, wild, barren, and deadly.

 Salt, Soil, Curses, Glass, Earthquakes, and Iron

Aether
Standing against the rigid earth is the open sky and it's vast aether. Aether represents the intangibles that do exist like the electricity that strikes down the unwary, wind that cuts to the bone, rain to flood our homes, clouds to cover the world in darkness, the shadow itself, and the endless heavens. Most have found it one of the hardest of the eight to work with, but when mastered it can create powerful artifacts and deadly effects.

 Lightning, Smoke, Rain, Ghosts, Wind, Whispers, and Air

Frost
The single snowflake that falls is nothing but water, but the thousands of others like it are the trap that will lead you to a icy death. This is how the frost works. Hard to summon, impossible to move, but powerful when drawn out successfully and incredibly focused in all natural states.

 Ice, Hoarfrost, Snow, and Frostbite

Fire
Heat is the wild and most unpredictable of all elemental types. Fire is pure heat and has been mastered by almost everyone. It spreads to anything that can sustain it and consumes everything. Heat is in the coal that melts steel, it is in the water that boils and steams, and behind the powerful furnace engines. Most important of all it is essential for life, as every beat of our heart is the pounding of heat.

 Flames, Magma, Phosphorus, Forging, Blood

Force
The most dangerous of elements is hard to draw upon, but incredibly blunt was called successfully. Force is best described as an invisible push or pull that can affect all things around it. At its most simple function a person can lift a chair, but true study begins with the magic that can push so hard and fast that flesh is torn away from bone. Experimentation has found that pure force penetrates most armors and shields, making it quite against soldiers of all types.

 Gravity, Explosions, Pushes and Pulls

Mental
While awake we analyze what we see and plan our actions. While asleep we create entire worlds and fantasies that we lose when we awake. These actions of thought and the emotions they control are understood by very few, yet how to manipulate them and control them are the interest of everyone. While some believe the security of one’s mental state is impenetrable, it is only necessary to look at the love potion and associated rituals to have doubts.

 Suggestions, Secrets, Insanity, Loyalty, and Morale

Spirit
The last breath of life, the wonder of reproduction, and the secrets of decay. Studying the complexities of creation, the growth of a child within the womb, the sprouting of seed to a blossoming flower, and beyond has never had the allure of the other elemental groups to anyone besides the arcole. Yet the dark side of spirit, the removal of life from the living has drawn many eyes. The great beast folk have always flocked to research and understand it, grinding plants into poultices and poisons and the easing of suffering of those on death’s doorstep.

 Creation, Birth, Healing, Regeneration, Poisons, Rot, Herbal Remedies, Death

Void
The nothing. All of the things we study and experiment with have a counterpart, an element of equal potential of opposite power. The leading theory is that the opposite of creation is nothing. Few accept the Void element, but Aether once faced the same problems and is now accepted openly. As our understanding of the element grows so will proof.

 Darkness, Nothingness, Vacuum, Space, Void Fire, Unholy, Great Rift