Magic

There are various kinds of Magic throughout Reality, and even those who practice the same kind will find that their ways of casting are not quite identical. Things get even stranger when Casters, (any mortal who can wield magic consciously) are able to utilize spells from more than one discipline, though this is incredibly rare.

The different types of Magic are separated into two classes, cataloged and studied by the Winter God, Frakt, and the Destructive God, Heroicus. The Classes are Native, and Ancient. The vast majority of Casters are only able to wield magics from the Native Class, as the secrets of the Ancient magics are jealously guarded by the 4 Primals.

_____*NATIVE MAGICS*___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Native Magics are the types of Magic that arose with the existence of this Universe. While varying elemental and augmentative magics have been seen so far, no true Classes have been studied and cataloged yet.

_____*ANCIENT MAGICS*__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ancient Magics are Classes of magic that were native to a previous Universe, though some types are older than others. There are 5 known Ancient Magics.

	¥Solar Sacrificing¥
The first Class of Ancient magic used to be the most prominent in the previous Universe, and was unknowingly inspired by Domina herself. In much the same way that the Star Mother purifies the souls of Gods in her crucible of a womb, so too do these Casters purify their souls for their magical abilities. Casters who practice this type of Magic are known as Solar Clerics, and their spells are some of the most potent and versatile of any Class of magic. By shaving off fragments of their own soul and purifying it through concentrated willpower, a Solar Cleric can perform spectacular feats, such as tearing apart buildings or redirecting rivers. Infusing these soul fragments into items is how most enchanted objects were crafted, and as a result the Old Universe was littered with such mortal playthings. Solar Clerics do not cast spells often, for the obviously steep price it entails. Those who have cast many or particularly powerful spells will find that their shrunken, withered soul leads to a loss of willpower, compassion and determination. However, souls can be renewed by devout, demanding practices, and Withered Clerics often take pilgrimages or become hermits in harsh locales to hasten the rejuvination of their soul.

	¥FrostFire Calling¥
Just as Domina inspired Solar Sacrificing, the old Winter God had Casters who mimicked his abilities, though he too had little awareness of them. Not nearly as numerous as Solar Clerics, the FrostFire Mages were concentrated to the icy Planet Xioni, with scatterings on other worlds to be found in either the hottest or coldest of places. Those who call upon the FrostFire are keenly aware of the environment around them, able to sense the fluctuating temperatures that surrounded them. What's more, they could move these about, pulling or pushing energy with ease. The most basic form of FrostFire magic would consist of a Mage pulling in the heat around them to coalesce into a fireball in their hand, simultaneously leaving everything else around the Mage frozen. Mages with a modicum of talent were able to convert any fire they conjured or found into FrostFire, a paradoxical substance that burns cold. As a result, FrostFire Mages were actively able to destroy energy, a feat not readily accomplished by the other Classes. This, of course, makes the Universe just a little colder, something that Frakt would wholeheartedly support, if he knew of it. On the whole, Mages lacked the versatility that Clerics could wield, with almost no skill in enchanting, healing or anything besides physically constructive or destructive capabilities. However, unlike Clerics, Mages did not suffer through their Magic, and thus could cast spells as long as they stayed sound of mind and body.

	¥Binding Summoning¥
Binding Summoning, practiced by Summoners, was the rarest, and arguably the most powerful, form of Magic available to Mortals. These Casters were born with exceptional senses, able to catch glimpses of the Gods as they danced across reality, to hear snatches of the words they spoke. This often drove them blind, deaf, mute or even all three, but too a Binding Summoner this just made the song of the Gods that much clearer. By observing them in their motions across Reality, Binding Summoners were able to mimic the Gods of Creation, tapping into The Word itself, the same source of power that the Gods use. All the Summoners across time did not take more power from the Word than a handful of sand from the desert, but to the Mortals this power was beyond their comprehension. Binding Summoners could use the word to create creatures or objects straight from their imagination, and it was not uncommon to find isolated Summoners living in remote corners of the world that they had shaped to their will, a miniature Paradise of fantastic creatures where the rules of Reality did not hold sway. Binding Summoners despised and pitied Clerics, for they could see, clearer than any mortal, the damage these Casters inflicted upon themselves in their lust for power. Towards the end of the old Universe, an entire planet came into being, filled with a strange new race of beings, each and every one of which was a fully fledged Binding Summoner. Was this the act of a God, or an exceptionally powerful Summoner?

	¥Celestial Weaving¥
Celestial Weaving was a strange Class of Magic that was practiced very rarely. Exclusive to the race of the Fae, some of these beings were able to see the patterns of reality reflected in the stars. To them, water flowed down because a certain star was in a certain spot in the sky. Another star was responsible for when the seasons would change, another for the way a specific person acted. Every rule, every action, from the grandest to the most mundane, was determined by the position of stars.
For the most part, these Casters, known as Weavers, could not change the Fate of even the tiniest insect, as the Stars were implacable, moved only by the Gods, who were above the Stars as the Stars were above the Mortals. However, every few millenia, there have been occasions where the Fae have come together, seemingly by instinct, to cast a great Weaving spell on all reality. One such example was to change the Fate of a violent race of Orks, dooming them to confinement on in a single planet. When asked, no Fae will ever remember casting the spell, not the ritual, not the multitudes that chanted the same words across reality as the Stars above shifted their alignments, nothing. Perhaps this is as it should be?

	¥Shadow Bringing¥
Arguably, this is not a true Class of Magic. Shadow Bringing itself was not practiced by any Casters, and is more an (un)natural pheneomenon that exists as a result of Outer Gods such as Lurker or Manoloth. Simply put, Casters who come into prolonged contact with a Shadow Shard become Heralds, practicing dark, twisted variants of the Magic they once knew. Heralds behave differently depending on the original Class of Magic they used, but all work to protect and proliferate the Shadow Shard that tainted them.
Solar Clerics are the most resistant to corruption, taking anywhere from 3 days to a week to submit to the Shard. Casting spells seems to hasten this process, likely due to a loss of mental stamina that Clerics suffer through their Magic. When corrupted, Solar Clerics roam the land, splintering their soul into fragments that become the seeds of future Shadow Shards. Eventually, the poor creature will become a withered corpse, the remnants of the soul collapsing upon death into a particularly large Shadow Seed.
FrostFire Mages are more vulnerable, but their magic is very good at clearing out the tainted land and creatures that encircles Shadow Shards, due to the paradoxical nature of FrostFire and it's destructive capabilities. However, most Mages cannot stand to be within this tainted Zone for more than a day, and every spell cast means a struggle to resist the dark influence pouring in along with the heat energy they need for their magic. When succumbing, FrostFire Mages work to undo the destruction they caused, spreading a sickly, purple flame that speeds the corruption of anything it touches. Since they used to collect Heat and change it into a substance with characteristics of both Hot and Cold, corrupted Mages can collect "Purity" with their purple flames, and create structures that share the traits of "Pure" and "Corrupted", usually taking the form of mock Shadow Shards that lack the abilities of the true ones. This serves to make finding and destroying the real Shard more difficult.
Binding Summoners succumb within minutes, and are the most dangerous when corrupted. Their shaping of reality allows the Shard to exert it's will through them, creating gibbering monstrosities and malevolent phenomenon. It seems the ultimate goal of a Shard is to re-create/bring forth the Outer God it spawned from, and it is through Binding Summoners that it can accomplish this.
Luckily, no Celestial Weaver has ever been corrupted by a Shadow Shard. It is best not to imagine what the consequences of such an event would be.