Most humans on the continents of Safara and Glorien have some amount of the Talent. The Talent is the term used by the mages of the Academy for the ability to manipulate the world using magic. Granted, few qualify for the title of Mage, not able to do more than light a candle or change the color of cloth at will.
Those with more skill or more power must be trained to use their Talent, lest uncontrolled magic make them a danger to themselves or others. In Safara, all mages are trained at the Academy in Freyk’s Wall. In Glorien, the preeminent center for magical education is the Imperial College in Krenburra, Krondak. There are smaller institutions in Hronteer in the Five Nations and in Ashingtown in Auriland. The Llwynedd elves learn to practice their particular form of magic at the great University.
Many mages claim that there are many types of magical energies, each of which “feels” or “tastes” different than the others. Hence, the Academy categorizes these types as “flavors”. An adepts is either able to manipulate a variety of magical flavors, albeit in a minor way, or is quite competent in a single flavor. Adepts energize the rails on which the trains run. Adepts keep the streets of Dragon’s Reach clean. Adepts keep vermin out of the grain warehouses in the Docks.
Masters are highly skilled in a single flavor. Architectural masters raise the skyscrapers in East Gate. Elemental masters control the forces that move massive freighters across the Sea of Perryn. Shield masters protect the troops of the army and ships of the navy during combat. Some mages who have demonstrated skill in multiple flavors have been granted the title of Master.
Archmages have demonstrated the skill and power of a master in multiple flavors. There are many fewer archmages than there were a century ago. The casting of the Dragon Bane spell six decades ago destroyed many of the casters. Currently, only sixteen archmages reside in Loksenta, with an unknown number living in Glorien. Nine archmages sit on the council that governs the academy.
The High Mage of Loksenta is an advisor to the monarch and member of the Privy Council. The High Mage is normally one of the archmages but, on occasion, has been a particularly powerful master. The position is an appointed one, but candidates must have exhibited tremendous magical power and skill. Typically, a candidate must have performed at least one great magical act. Pietral was named High Mage after flooding the Valley of the Grok, killing the Ghan and most of his army and ending the Third Goblin War. After the death of Pietral in a ball of fire, the post remained empty for thirteen years, until Treson Three-Eye raised the Rock of the Falcon out of the Sea of Perryn.
The Academy recognizes seven flavors of magic:
Architectural - Architectural magic allows a mage to build and maintain structures. Adepts can build walls, roofs, and simple structures using magic. Architectural adepts maintain the Wall and the bridges across the Lyvenness. Minor masters can assemble complex buildings, given a blueprint. The greatest masters of architectural magic can design and put together fantastic buildings simultaneously, including infrastructure such as plumbing and lifts.
Elemental - Elemental magic allows a mage to control fire, water, earth, and air. Adepts keep the Castle and the skyscrapers of East Gate warm in Winter and cool in Summer. Masters manipulate the sea to move vessels large and small quickly and safely between Glorien and Safara. The ranks of elemental mages include High Mages Pietral and Treson Three-Eye.
Bestial - Bestial magic allows a mage to influence animals. Adepts train the horses of the cavalry companies of the Crimson Brigade. Masters hired by fishing fleets find schools of fish and call the fish directly to the fleet.
Informational - Informational magic allows a mage to manipulate human knowledge. This flavor encompasses the most diverse effects. Adepts use spells to communicate over far distances. Adepts make hundreds of copies of an exemplar of a book or the current issue of the Independent. Masters create illusions that mislead the wisest observer. Masters foretell the future, with seers able to get only a very limited amount of questionably accurate information. Many think there are mages who can secretly govern someone’s actions and even thoughts.
Manipulation - Manipulation magic allows a mage to change some aspect of an inanimate object. Adepts keep the clothing of the wealthy clean and in good repair. Adepts color the sashes of the Crimson Brigade with a hue that no dye can replicate. Adepts ensure that the drinking water of Freyk’s Wall is potable. Masters infuse exotic flavors into dishes offered at the most exclusive restaurants.
Shield - Shield magic allows a mage to prevent harm to people, places, or things. Adepts block a reign of arrows from hitting a squad of infantry. Masters protect units as large as a company. Masters prevent mass conflagrations by stopping fires from spreading, at least in districts that can afford their services.
Enchantment - Enchantment magic allows a mage to imbue inanimate objects with magical properties. Enchantment is considered by mages as the hardest flavor to master. First, because an enchantment spell itself does not allow the target object to do anything special. Enchanting an object merely modifies it to be a container for another spell. An enchantment mage must partner with a specialist in another flavor who can cast the desired spell or be competent enough in another flavor to cast the spell themselves. Second, because enchantment spells fade quickly, leaving the target object as mundane as before. An adept can enchant an object for several hours to a few days. The most powerful master may be able to enchant an object for a month. Only legendary artifacts maintain permanent enchantments. This permanence usually requires the soul of a sentient being to be bound to the artifact.
The elves of Llwynedd are the only non-human species to be imbued with magic. This fact has led some to speculate that humans and elves are related. The source of elvish magic are the phantasms that live within the great forest. Communing with these beings allows the elves to cast spells that manipulate the mind, body, and spirit.
The Galliana elves lost contact with the source of their magic when they left Llwynedd. A few can still perform minor magic. They are usually despised by other Galliana, as it is thought that being able to perform this type of magic indicates that their line is tainted with human ancestry.
The dwarves’ familiarity with minerals and metals allow the wisest of them to manipulate those substances without using tools. The Academy regards this ability as elemental magic. To the dwarves, it is natural for a dwarf to speak to the products of the earth and convince them to do what they want.
The Zlobra are new to the continent of Glorien, arriving just over forty years ago in a great fleet from a homeland unknown to non–Zlobra. The Zlobra are an insular species and seem satisfied to keep to their new home on the peninsula of Ogakwa. Thus, the Academy does not know much about Zlobran magic. Some of the mages who have traveled to Ogakwa feel that the Zlobra must have some magical tradition. The Zlobra themselves are evidence of this, these mages say, able to change their shape and their gender seemingly at will. The changes the Zlobra have wrought in Ogakwa are held up as further evidence. When the Zlobra arrived, the peninsula was sparsely inhabited, consisting almost entirely of lowland swamps on either side of a steep mountain range. Now, many of the swamps have been replaced by old-growth forests and verdant meadows. New pastures have crept up the sides of the previously rocky mountains.
The mages of the Academy long thought that the diminutive Dalibor had no magic. After the great wyrm Drazhan drove them from Frandylshyn, the stateless Dalibor became a people that live on the sea. Since then, at least a few Dalibor have shown they can sail ships with elemental magic as well as any human master.
The Hokkai do not exhibit any conventional magic abilities. Their mystics claim to be able to talk to the spirits that inhabit every living thing. These spirits provide advice and information about the past, present, and future. As any one of these spirits can be beneficent or malicious, those giants who can divine its intent are highly revered.
The Starntor believe that their primary duty is to create order out of chaos. To them, all magic is chaos. A Starntor who has magical abilities rejects them. A Starntor who cannot control and conceal such abilities is either exiled or executed. Over the generations, magical ability has been bred out of the Starntor. These days, very few have any magical potential.
Den of the Red Wolf 