Magic

"Isn't it beautiful? With one hand I can form entirely new worlds and with the other... I can burn them down." - the last recorded words of Demitrius the Psyker (1852 SE) For most of the history of Ancient Earth, magic was thought to be little more than a fantasy and while advanced technology may simulate magic, true control over the forces of nature would forever be out of reach. The creation of the Conduit, and more specifically the Vector Catastrophe, changed these ideas forever.

The Structure of Magic
Magic works through the latent psychic connection that all living things have with the Conduit. Due to the strange properties of Otherspace, manipulating energy there can affect the real world (realspace). The energy required is taken from the Conduit's vast reserves, allowing single beings to perform incredible feats of strength through pure will.

While all beings have some form of connection with the Conduit, only a rare few are able to use this to create magic. Those who can use magic have a much greater connection with the Conduit than ordinary people, although how they achieve this can vary wildly. With this connection, they are able to command the Conduit to use its energy for their desired purposes. Magical strength comes from one's ability to force their will onto the Conduit. If there are hard limits to what can be accomplished through magic, they have never been reached.

The First Mages
What is believed to be the use of magic occurred on 4.2.48(2), when an unknown individual began emitting large amounts of energy in the middle of one of Old Earth's largest cities. The only surviving record of this event come from satellites in orbit at the time as — less than two minutes later — the individual detonated, taking out several city blocks and killing several hundred people. Similar events would occur 22 more times over the course of the next several days, leading to over ten thousand deaths. It's still unknown to this day why these first mages were unable to control their powers.

On 7.2.48(2), around 300 individuals began emitting similar power levels, but all but two managed to control this energy. These individuals would be the first mages. Compared to magic users in the coming millennia, they were all very weak, with only a few possessing enough power to be a real threat. Over the following weeks, world governments would strive to capture or, if that was not possible, kill these individuals in order to prevent further damage. While many nations sought to study and use these new powers, several simply issued kill orders on anyone suspected to have powers.

These efforts would be in vain however, as more and more people came into power. It's estimated that in the next two months, over 20 thousand people would gain some level of magical ability. While many did have powers, most were very limited, with only around 10 thousand being able to permanently effect the physical world and only around a thousand with the ability to channel the amount of power in a stick of dynamite. Around 100 people had far greater powers, being able to channel levels of energy similar to the power use of a small town. Almost all of these either joined or were coerced into joining their country's military.

Over the next several months, there would be many large scale clashes between government mages and those who either refused to join or were actively hostile against civilians using their powers. This led to many thousands of deaths, but by 49(2), all but a few mages were either under the employ of a government, in hiding, or dead.

The First Mage War
This peace would be short lived however. On 5.5.50(2), the mage Kamila Richmond would be elected as the chief executive of the nation of Vonya, with many of her supporters taking positions in the nation's legislature. Having long had poor relations with most of its neighbors, Richmond pushed for the nation to use these new magical abilities in full out war. On 21.7.50(2), Vonya declared war on several nearby countries, quickly overwhelming them. This conflict would quickly spread across the globe, starting the first of what would later be known as the Mage Wars.

Sorcerers
Sorcerers are one of the rarest types of magic users. They inherit their ability to manipulate the Conduit genetically, although it is rarely passed from one generation to the next. The gift often skipped not just one generation, but many. It is not uncommon for someone to be born a sorcerer with no idea of where their gift first originated. Even if both of your parents were sorcerers, you would still have a very slim chance of being born a sorcerer yourself. There are two possible origins for sorcerer bloodline. The vast majority of them are the descendants of the first Psykers, although their share little of the raw strength of their ancestors. The other possibility is through Draconic intervention somewhere in the bloodline. The most common of these would be if a dragon performed a major feat of magic on someone, such as restoring them from death. The use of the powerful Draconic magic would leave a touch on any children that person had. It was not unheard of for a dragon to simply gift sorcercery to a bloodline, but it is exceptionally rare. While the average sorcerer is stronger than the average wizard and a sorcerer often has less difficulty with the basics of magic, they are no stronger than wizards of the same strength and have similar levels of strength as they advance in their abilities.

The first sorcerers were the descendants of the early Psykers. The first sorcerer was born in 70 SE, the grand-child of one of one of the most powerful early Psykers.

Clerics and Paladins
For those who are not born with magic and do not wish to undergo the arduous struggles of the early stages of wizardry, there is another way to power, through the Gods. The Gods, being beings of Otherspace, have the innate ability to manipulate its energies. Clerics and paladins tap into this ability by having their chosen god manipulate the Conduit to create realspace effects, rather than manipulating it directly.

This does not mean that it is easy to become a cleric or paladin. First, one must gain the favor of a chosen god. This can be done in many ways, such as being a particularly devoted member of the gods religious order or completing an arduous quest or challenge in the name of your god. Clerics and paladins grow in strength slightly differently from the other types as well. Like the other types, they are able to increase their abilities by increasing their mental strength and acuity, allowing them to communicate their desires to their god with greater accuracy and ease. They can also become stronger as they continue to impress their god. If a patron god is particularly pleased with their clerics performance, they may grant them increased power or a special skill. Gods are limited by the physiology of mortals in how much power they can grant, if they gave too much power, a mortal would not be able to control it.

The first clerics were granted power shortly after the birth of the Gods in 225 SE.

Warlocks
Warlocks are very similar to clerics and paladins. The main difference is that, instead of being granted power by a being of Otherspace, they are granted power by one of the denizens of the Outer Realms. Creatures in the Outer Realms, being suspended in between realspace and Otherspace, have a greater natural ability to connect with the Conduit than those in realspace, particularly those in the Far Outer Realms. While they may be weaker than the Gods, the strongest still have more power than a mortal could handle, making Warlocks and Clerics often similar in strength and ability.

Becoming a warlock can be accomplished using the same methods that clerics and paladins go through, impressing a being and convincing it to grant them strength. However, warlocks often go down another path. As all but the strongest Outer Realms beings pale in comparison to the Gods in terms of strength, they are much less willing to share their power. This means that they often expect something in return. This can be anything from occasional odd jobs to massive arduous tasks. Failure to obey can result in having their power stripped from them, which often leads to horrible injury or death.

The first warlocks were created shortly after the formation of the Outer Realms in 279 SE.

Druids
There are two ways that a druid can come into power. The first is by being blessed by a spirit of nature. Rather than working through their patrons power as a cleric or warlock does, a druid's patron grants them the ability to control the Conduit themselves like a wizard or sorcerer.

They can also gain power by tapping into the Natural Realms, one of the Outer Realms. This requires a higher than average ability to connect to the Conduit, but it does not need to be strong enough to work magic directly. Once a druid connects to the Natural Realms, they are able to use its power as an amplifier to their own. Their will is sent through the Natural Realms to the Conduit, where it is acted upon. No other part of the Outer Realms is able to act in this way.

The druidic practice began several decades after the formation of the Outer Realms in 279 SE.

Monks
Monks are similar to wizards in that they are born little to none proclivity for magic. They differ in how they achieve their enhanced connection with the Conduit. While wizards gain their abilities through rigorous training and mental exercise, aiming to improve their natural connection with the Conduit, monks work to more finely attune their existing connection. This distinction may seem small, but it drastically affects the way monks and wizards use magic.

All beings are born with a connection to the Conduit. Through years of meditation and self-control, monks gain enough control over their own minds to be able to use their incredibly limited natural connections to perform great feats. To become a monk, one must spend years in quiet study and reflection until they truly understand the nature of their connection to the Conduit.

The first order of monks, The Verdant Protectors, was founded in 53 SE and first gained the ability to use magic in 74 SE.

Psykers
Psykers are the strongest and rarest of magic users. Like sorcerers, they are born with the innate ability to use magic, but that is where their similarities end. Psykers are not full a part of realspace. Unlike all other types of magic users, they do not have to reach out to the Conduit. They are born with a connection in their bodies, similar to a Conduit Node, that allows them to manipulate the Conduit, and therefore Otherspace, at will.

While they may have easy access to the Conduit, how much they can access is still limited. Every psyker has a limit to their abilities. The limit determines how strong their magic is. If they have a low limit, they will only be able to cast simple spells, but at the upper levels, they can level cities, nations, and even planets at a whim. A psyker's is born with a very low limit and during the first few decades of their life their limit will increase. Their limit will reach its maximum around the time that they're body is fully grown, while some species, such as elves, may mentally mature much later, they will still reach their limit once they are physically mature. The limit will increase at a constant rate until maturity, meaning that a psykers max limit can be determined a few days after birth. Once the max limit has been reached, a psyker will never be able to grow stronger, no matter how much they train. Due to a psyker's direct connection with the Conduit, they need to exert almost no will and energy to perform magic, meaning that they can perform spells, up to their limit of course, an almost endless number of times without rest.

The first psykers were created during the rebirth of the Conduit in 48 SE, after the Vector Catastrophe in 42 SE.

Barbarians
While a barbarian may not be the first person thought of when one thinks of a magic-user, their 'rage' as well as the few spells they can learn all count as magic. Similarly to wizards, they are not born with power and must work to gain it. A barbarian's power comes from being able to broadcast their will so strongly, that it reaches the Conduit even through their weak connection. A barbarian's connection will never grow stronger, instead they increase in strength by becoming better at 'yelling' louder.

Bards
How bards use magic is very unique. Rather than using purely their own mind to contact the Conduit, a bard's spells use the combined strength of multiple people. The music of a bard has the power to use multiple minds to cast spells, making the call to the Conduit much 'louder'. Even with multiple minds, a bard's song rarely reaches all the way to the Conduit in Otherspace. Rather, it'll be spread out among the denizens of the Outer Realms. The songs are so quiet compared to vastness of the Outer Realms that they are almost never noticed. Each Outer Realm being who the song reaches adds a minute amount of their own skill to the spell even if they never realise, allowing the spell to reach the Conduit. A bard still must practice this as a wizard would, but the skills are much different. The more skillful the bard is with their instrument, the more creatures they can reach.

It is not unheard of for the song of a specially skilled bard to be noticed by an Outer Realm being. If this occurs, they being may chose, if they liked the song, to grant some power to the bard or to bestow a curse upon them if they didn't. Only a few bards have ever reached all the way to the Gods throughout the entire history of the Realms. If this occurs, the bard will often receive the favor of that god, which is a gift of immense power.

All Others
While these are the main types of magic users, there are some who can use small amounts of magic without being a part of this types, most notably, fighters, rangers, and rogues. Their power is very similar to wizardry. They are all born with no magic ability and gain their ability through hard work and practice. Every member of these groups that can use magic, has passed the biggest hurdle of wizardry, casting your first spell, and could become wizards if they wished. However, instead of focussing on improving their control over magic, they focus on improving other skills.