Magic of Alturas

Magic in Alturas is common, but rarely directly cast as artifice is seen as more efficient. Most common form of magic is arcane, sorcerers being the most common and found mostly in gnomes and humans. Second most common are wizards and similar prepared casters, mostly humans with the exception of dwarves who practice runic magic. Bards are next rarest, followed by the witch which are very rare sights outside of hags. Divine magic is less common due to the potential madness it can cause. Some consider alchemy a form of magic, and with that it is on the rise as the world is developing technologically and now easily trumps divine magic in terms of widespread use. Then there is druidic magic, secretive and often limited to small region it is an unusual thing to see outside of small pockets.

Blood Magic
The primal form of arcane magic in its absolutely purest form, originally a natural talent of the gnomes it has come to be seen as a sort of emergency magic by most. Almost all sentient creatures can perform blood magic, among humanoids it is common knowledge even. However it does drain the body so few would resort to it fearing the backlash. However some arcane casters who are practice in the flow of magic relish in the pain, the sensation of blood burning and seeping through the skin, and have experimented with its potential. Nobody is quite sure what extent blood magic’s power is.

Undeath
Generally illegal, necromancy itself is considered a shady subject of study but widely allowed to be taught and practiced. However animating the dead on humanoids is a red flag worldwide. On animals it is more of a grey area, some places ban it outright, others allow small clean examples. So something like a cleaned dog skeleton isn’t likely to get you arrested but you’ll be put on some lists for sure, but a rotting bear corpse dripping viscera will summon the guards.

Teleportation
A difficult to use type of magic is teleportation. All spells that teleport a creature any amount of distance requires a rare substance called Void Residue. It is a difficult to describe material, sort of a flaky, powdery, yet sludgy material which seems monochromatic and fuzzy at best. This material is found in places where strong conjurations happen or dimensions are otherwise messed with a bit too much, as such is too rare for common sale. Due to this teleportation is exceedingly rare. Though some conjurers do try to make a living attempting to create it by extensive casting.

Summoning
A creature summoned in Alturas doesn’t come from another plane, instead it comes more from a sort of alternate dimension. They never really quite fit the ideal of what you intend to summon but are functionally the same, but always are clearly summoned as they never ‘fit’ correctly into the world and appear strained or distant in some way. Many casters affect how their summons look as a passive effect of their personality, so a pyromaniac summoning a dog might summon one with embers in its fur but one who is devoutly religious will have angelic aspects.

Planar Travel
There are no other planes in Alturas, the elemental planes do not exist and the domains ruled by the various gods exist more as distant celestial bodies. Plane shifting spells are treated as teleportation thanks to this, however it must always be done blindly as there is no overlap in the area where you are in one plane to another.

Elements
The iconic elements of Alturas are slightly odd. The four earthly elements are Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. They interact as expected. But Shadow and Light are both considered their own elements as well, being counterparts to each other. Lastly there is Order and Chaos, which are more interesting. Order is the element of law, natural cycles, systems both artificial and natural, society, etc all fall under part of Order. Chaos is the world’s flexibility, resistance to change, but also ability to change and adapt, the innate madness of reality and trying to make sense of it.

Arcane Sickness
Affected classes: All arcane casters

The Arcane Sickness is a plague which is inherent in all who practice arcane magic as a sort of side effect. The most basic form of this is a taint in the blood, or bloodlines which can be passed through generations. Though the sickness quickly progresses as a mage practices and masters magic. The first major effect is on the mind, mages always find themselves taking on mental quirks. Odd personalities, little obsessions, talking to animals, and so on. Many take the objects of these quirks and call them bonded objects or familiars, but just as many do it without the need for such things. Later they may turn somewhat mad or lose themselves and change completely over time. The other major effect is on the bones. See arcane magic has much more extravagant somatic components than divine, and the sickness helps facilitate that. As a mage grows in power their bones start to turn flexible, rubbery even until they can bend into truly impossible positions such as bending shoulders forward to touch them together, spiraling arms, and folding their own spine.

Divine Madness
Affected classes: Divine casters except Oracle, Druid, Shaman, and Ranger

Divine magic is granted through listening to and being able to comprehend the will of divine entities, usually not gods but their servants or lesser spirits. Eventually it comes to a point where a person legitimately can’t stop, or that it goes out of control. This has led to many a careless cleric being filled with the unyielding voices of thousands lesser divine agents and wandering spirits at all times. This ends their career as a cleric usually, eventually the endless voices confusing the victim and leading them to corruption or simple suicide. Though the worst possible outcome of this is when one hears the voices of some less than savory entities promising a way out, the path of lichdom. Being a lich does supposedly stop the voices at least, so that’s an upside.

Oracle
Affected classes: Oracle

Oracles are incredibly rare, and like other divine characters hear divine will. But unlike others they hear it clearly, they can interpret it clearly and when the follow it they are rewarded with more power. As a sign of this they gradually take on the appearance of a servant of their god. So one who serves Gul’ul will gain gemstone eyes, golden hair and silver skin, but one of Yggsdral will turn their face old and withered, giving off an aura of patience and safety.

Patrons
Affected classes: Any with a patron or prepares spells through a familiar

Patrons are particularly powerful spirits or magical entities who instead of granting magical power directly channels magic into a person and teaches them how to use it. However this is always in exchange for something, varies from case to case but regardless a patron only aids someone who serves their own goals. If the person stops or attempts to go against the patron’s will their magic will fail. Patrons and their servants share a very close connection, individually tailored to them.