A craftsman in his workshop winds together beautiful, colorful threads in just the right pattern and from just the right material, and touches them with just a bit of arcane grace, making a little lock between the dream world and ours; a dreamcatcher.

	A commander passes techniques onto his warriors, ways to push and pull at the world with merely your mind, to knock your enemies’ weapons away or put just a little more force behind a swing.

	A scholar learns to see the threads that hang in the air, to see every little current, every exchange, every reaction, the churning cogs and grinding gears that roll beneath reality’s surface, and to manipulate them to his favor.

	A legendary mage seizes the cosmic clock by its minute hand and wrenches it back, giving him another chance at a deadly opponent and undoing the wounds he’d received.

	Arcane magic //is// our world. Make no mistake, all other kinds of magic are merely shortcuts and different mixtures of Arcane magic. There is nothing in this world that does not rely on Arcane magic in some sense, because Arcane magic is what //allows// all things to exist. It is the very same energy that defines our world and all of its rules, it is the foundation on which our universe exists, and the structures that hold it all together.

	In this role, some even consider the use of Arcane magic as ‘profane’. A debate has long raged between different factions, especially those dedicated to the [[Architect]], whether or not Arcane magic was meant to be used by mortals. Minor applications are often excused, but to use it as a mage would is a contentious matter in some places. Many would exalt the Arcane mage for the connection between his magic and that of the Architect’s, and others would consider the use of high-level Arcane magic as ‘playing god’ and tampering with cosmic machinations that no mortal was ever meant to even see, much less touch.

	However much veracity there is to that notion, there is a grain of truth around which that belief formed: Arcane magic, at its peak, is unbelievably powerful. A creature who commands Arcane magic at its pinnacle would be far beyond a simple [[God]], among the ranks of the [[Celestials]] if not greater. There is no theoretical limit to the amount by which a determined mortal might be able to dominate a dimension through Arcane magic… except for their lifespan, and, as your kind will come to understand in centuries ahead, how much of a certain kind of metal they can manage to fit into their skull.

	The primary weakness of Arcane magic is its inaccessibility. Indeed, Arcane magic was certainly not designed for the comprehension of mortals, and as such it is a little different from the other forms of magic in that it doesn’t immediately ‘resonate’ with any given personality trait. The trade-off for Arcane magic’s theoretically limitless power is its extremely complicated nature, and generation after generation of the most powerful Arcanists have made it their goal not to master Arcane magic, but merely to make another arduous, lifelong step towards a more complete understanding of all of its capabilities from which the next generation can carry on.

	Arcane magic, in general, can be split into three categories of use: “minor”, “supplemental” and “major”. Minor uses of Arcane magic are the most common: magical lanterns with eternal light, dreamcatchers that reinforce planar seals that deny the blending of the dream-world and the mortal plane, minor illusions that manipulate senses to change someone’s appearance or change the taste or smell of unpalatable food in times of famine, day-to-day uses of that sort. These occur everywhere across Var Sarlir. Supplemental uses of Arcane magic are extremely common among mages of other types, who learn basic Arcane techniques such as telekinesis or teleportation to supplement their magical repertoire or martial prowess. Major uses of Arcane magic are generally specific to Arcanists, who dedicate a large portion of their lives to achieving most Arcane power that they can.

	Arcanists //must// be dedicated scholars by nature. The process of attaining Arcane magic is predominantly study, experimentation, and rote, repetitive, intense training. For some, the paths that have already been explored and carved out by previous Arcanists are the most practical, while others venture deeper in search of knowledge yet to be uncovered. The motivation towards Arcane magic can vary; for one, it is a matter of attaining insight and scientific knowledge through Arcane magic, and for another, it is simply a means to an end. Ultimately, how much one achieves is decided both by the amount of time they have to spend studying, and whether or not they have the dedication to press on and continue their training in spite of gruelingly slow progress.

	No one, save for the exceptionally rare [[Children of the Chains]], is innately //gifted// in Arcane magic. One does not have a connection or an instinct about it, for Arcane magic’s very nature defies instinct; it is pure, raw logic, a billion little intricate pieces forming the clockwork that runs our world, and the only edge one gets in deciphering those machinations is perhaps simply having a sharp mind.

	Put most simply, Arcane magic’s primary use revolves around most physics-based magic. Which, yes, means quite a lot of things. Generally, elemental magic is left to [[Nature Mages]] or certain [[Divine|Divine Magic]] disciplines, because they are easier paths to attaining such power than Arcane magic. Instead, Arcane magic is used for the manipulation of things like force, temperature, gravity, light, other kinds of magic (this is referred to as ‘metamagic’), space and even time. At its highest levels, Arcane magic can affect molecular bonds, particle physics… ah… things you probably don’t even know about, at your world’s current level of advancement.

	To most magi, attaining all of these abilities is all but impossible, and so it is generally best to approach Arcane magic as a number of distinct sub-disciplines. For instance, you might have a temporal mage who has spent their life studying the flow of time and the ways in which they can subtly tweak it to suit them on the battlefield, a force mage who has become exceptionally adept at telekinetic control over his surroundings, a Mesmer, or an illusion mage, who has learned to confuse her opponents or mask her identity with tricks of light, or a planar scientist who has developed his magic to aid in interdimensional research.

	So, certainly, Arcane magic is among the most flexible ‘types’ of magic, but to regard it as a discipline all its own is a bit dangerous… woe betide the foolish scholar who thinks he can learn it all and finds himself mired in a thousand different lines of inquiry. Like in the science that is so integral to its use, specialists operating in specific fields often make the greatest strides. Instead, it is classified as a “type”, like the other forms such as [[Ichor Magic]] and [[Nature Magic]] because all Arcane disciplines are bound by an almost identical methodology. In the same way a Witch cultivates their connection to the world and their inner fire, or a Divine mage tends carefully to their faith and worships diligently, the means by which one attains power in all disciplines of Arcane magic is simply through pure study and familiarity with what it is they intend to control.