Sorcery
From the Lyorn Records of the Dragaeran Empire
Sorcery is the art of grabbing some power from the Orb, shaping it into a spell, and throwing it at whatever you wish to alter.
Modern sorcery depends on the Orb, and the necrophia present in the trellanstone that composes it. It is through the control of necrophia that a modern sorcerer is able to direct the power of amorphia.
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[edit] Sorcerous Spells
- flashstones
- teleportation
- teleport traces
- teleport blocks
- shielding oneself from the rain (umbrella spell)
- levitation
- paralysis
- blowing stuff up
- producing foodstuffs out of thin air (although this may be a form of teleportation)
- genetic analysis
- creating light
- checking the time/weather
- compensating for night blindness
[edit] History of Sorcery
Long ago, in the mists of prehistory, the gods kicked the Jenoine off of Dragaera. Their war produced the Greater Sea of Chaos. Somebody (possibly Kieron or one of his relatives, as the ability is inherited in his line) figured out that they could manipulate the amorphia and use it to do things.
This led to the discovery of Elder Sorcery (or pre-Empire sorcery); a form of sorcery that does not rely on necrophia to control the amorphia that is used to power the spell. Rather, the sorcerer attempts to influence the amorphia directly--or through the use of small, purple or bluish stones of amorphia.
Using these stones as a power source--while not as dangerous as direct manipulation of chaos (which tends to spread and consume everything)--is still very dangerous. Adron's Disaster is an example of a way pre-Empire sorcery can go awry.
Then Zerika the First created the Imperial Orb, which is made of a substance called trellanstone, which channels amorphia to allow citizens of the Empire (at least, those with sufficient education) to use its power without the risks of playing with it directly or nearly directly.
Sorcery has made metal armor dangerous as large amounts of metal attract sorcerous energy. Metal weapons pose a lesser threat, due to the fact that a weapon's mass is much less than the metal mass of a suit of armor - Lyorn warriors likewise rely on metal vambraces in combat, again due to the fact that this amount of metal represents an acceptable risk in return for the protection they provide a trained warrior.
[edit] How Sorcery Relates To Other Branches of Magic
Sorcery is distinct from witchcraft in that witchcraft draws on the practitioner's internal power, whereas sorcery draws on an external power source. Sorcery is also much more culturally acceptable in the Dragaeran Empire; witchcraft is considered Eastern (even though Dragaerans can and have learned it--see Morrolan e'Drien).
Sorcery is always a solo practice. If a sorcerer casts a spell, its effect relies solely on him - none other may boost its range or its potency, for he has no way to add his own power to that of the original caster. Witchcraft, on the other hand, can be a group activity, where covens of witches can combine their abilities to achieve greater effects (such as keeping Castle Black floating a half-mile above the ground).
Sorcery becomes tiring in proportion to the complexity of a spell, not in relation to the amount of power that is used, which is also unlike witchcraft.
Psychics, the field covering psionic communication, mind-probing, and apparently Vlad's reaction to Morganti, is separate from sorcery. A witch's communication with his or her familiar is psionic, but Dragaerans do not condemn all psychic abilities as witchcraft; in fact, many prominent wizards use psionic powers regularly. But it seems to be distinct from sorcery in some manner. For instance, Phoenix Stones can block sorcery and psionics, but one must use gold Phoenix stone to block sorcery, and black Phoenix stone to block psionics. Furthermore, the witch-familiar bond, unlike other psionic contact, is not affected by either color of Phoenix stone.
Necromancy is related to sorcery, focusing on death, becoming undead, and traveling to different dimensions or planes of existence. Since the Interregnum, some necromantic spells have come into common usage, such as revivification and counterspells preventing one from revivifying a body. The Necromancer and Loraan are two known necromancers in Dragaera.
It is unknown if enchantment (Sethra Lavode is the Enchantress of Dzur Mountain; knives are often enchanted) is considered a separate field from or a subset of sorcery, or whether it is merely a synonym for sorcery.
Early practitioners of magic were known as Shamans. Drien was a Shaman. This term is not in use to refer to modern-day sorcerers.
