Magical Theory
Magic in Sarenia is like a muscle: the more you practice, the better you’ll get. Some sorcerers start out with more power than others, some have an easier time improving, and others don’t ever reach their full potential in their lifetimes. It sometimes increases and then declines with age, it sometimes doesn’t activate until the sorcerer’s in their fifties. It’s different for every sorcerer. Next to no sorcerers are born able to use their powers: they have to be activated by a stressful situation or through coaxing by an experienced teacher.
Sorcery is not inherited, and neither is its type. The child of a Watermover and a Flamestarter is just as likely to be another Watermover as he or she is to be a Speaker, a Powersenser, or a non-sorcerer.
Which brings us to types of sorcerers. It’s simply impossible for one person to learn it all: in fact, it’s impossible to learn more than just one type of magic. Each sorcerer is born with an affinity for using a certain type of magic, and only that type of magic. Though it is true that some powers can overlap, such as Stormbringing and Windmaking, very few sorcerers have ever managed to expand their powers to cover bits and pieces of other types.
Types of Sorcerers
Mindinvader
Can read people’s minds. Can also speak to someone or create an illusion in someone’s mind. More powerful sorcerers can read deeper thoughts and implant false memories.
Illusionist
Creation of illusions. Unlike mind invasions, the illusions are made up of a kind of thin mist that can look remarkably substantial; everyone can see these illusions. Illusionists can also hide things: they can make themselves or other solid objects blend into their surroundings or render them completely invisible. Stronger illusionists have been known to create illusions of sound or touch as well, but less powerful sorcerers can produce only visual illusions.
Healer
Someone who can heal physical wounds without any outside help. A sorcerer’s power strength determines the quantity and severity of the wounds they can heal. Powerful healers can also injure someone with their powers. In rare cases, this can create a block on other healers, which can prevent them from being able to heal these injuries. Also, the older a wound is, the harder it is to heal. If someone breaks a leg and it heals naturally for a few months, it can be next to impossible for a Healer to fix it.
Oracle
Someone who can see events that will happen in the future. Oracles have no control over what they see or when or where they see it. It tends to work differently for every individual who has it. The level of an oracle’s power determines how long and/or detailed a vision can be. It is very hard for anyone to tell whether someone is an actual oracle or only faking it, unless they are a Powersenser. It’s common for non-sorcerers, especially when they’re born into a family full of other sorcerers, to claim to be oracles. Because of this, no one is ever really sure how many oracles there are, or how prevelent they are in the population.
Shieldmaker
The ability to produce shields or strengthen already present ones. Magical shields look like a mix of glass and water; they are as clear as a very thin sheet of glass, but have moving ripples on their surface. Sometimes they are tinted a particular color. Shields can block anything, from weapons to sounds to water, depending on the Shieldmaker’s intentions. The length of time a shield can be held up as well as the size and strength of a shield depend on the sorcerer’s power strength. Shields cannot be moved once they are produced, and therefore can’t be used to move or hit an opponent. Additionally, the Sheildmaker must always either be in physical contact with the shield or at the center of it.
Shapeshifter
Someone who can change their shape. They can only change into things that they have seen before: they cannot come up with something completely new and form into that. The size, difference from their original form, and time they have in the new shape are limited by their power strength.
Speaker
Can speak and understand any and all languages, including those of animals and plants. They do not need to have ever heard a language before to be able to speak it. They are also exceptionally persuasive and charismatic, and can, to an extent, control people’s actions through persuasion.
Lifebringer
Can move objects at lowest power level, highest can animate them permanently. Their powers do not apply to things that have already died, though there is one exception to this: an exceptionally powerful Lifebringer, when working with an exeptionally powerful Ghostspeaker (and probably a Healer too depending on the extent of the subject’s injuries), can perminantely revive and restore the soul and mind of someone recently deceased. However, this person will remain linked to both the Lifebringer and the Ghostspeaker for as long as they are alive, heavily draining the power of both.
Ghostspeaker
Someone who can see and speak to ghosts and control the undead, mainly vampires and ghouls. Vampires have something left of their original minds when they’re resurrected, though this deteriorates with age. Newer vampires cannot be controlled as easily as older ones. Ghouls, however, are mindless and can be ordered about however the Ghostspeaker wants as long as they maintain their concentration. Ghosts are not controllable, but they can’t do anything to static objects or living beings. The length of time one or more undead can be under control depends on power strength of the Ghostspeaker.
Flamestarter
Can produce and control fire. They are also incredibly resistant to burns and can breath smoke with no ill effects.
Earthmover
Earthmovers can control plants, soil, and sometimes rock. They can “convince” these things to move or draw on the life forces of plants.
Windmaker
Windmakers can control wind and air. They can blow objects around, and with careful concentration can learn how to fly.
Watermover
Watermovers can control water currents, purify salt water, and breath underwater.
Stormbringer
Stormbringers can call storms and control where lightning strikes or funnels touch down. Storms are much easier to call than they are to banish. Stormbringers can control any water and air movements if they relate to a storm.
Vanisher
Ability to vanish on sight and appear somewhere else at will, or to “vanish” someone else and have them appear somewhere else. Distance varies with power strength. Vanishers leave paths behind them wherever they go that can be used and tracked by other Vanishers and by Powersensers. Following a track takes less power than creating a new one. A small number of very powerful Vanishers could create permanent portals that others can use (there were several of these in Sarenia’s past). Slightly less powerful Vanishers can create temporary portals that pull others through, though this is very hard for them to do.
Powersenser
Someone who can detect the power type and the power strength of the people around them. They can also recognize individuals by their power signatures. They can use this combination to track certain people. Stronger sorcerers can detect people that are farther away: sometimes across huge distances. The strongest can track any sort of being, whether they have magical signatures or not. Powersensers are also particularly good teachers for other sorcerers, because they can sense the strength and extent of any other sorcerer’s power.
Cursemaker
Someone who has the ability to curse or bless objects or people. Cursemakers often require assistance from another type of sorcerer depending on the nature of their curses: to make an object or a person catch fire when a set of circumstances are met (i.e. if someone tells someone else’s secret), they would need the assistance of a Flamestarter. On their own, Cursemakers can do things like draw good or bad luck to a particular person or family. More powerful Cursemakers can make jewelry, clothes, or other objects that can block certain powers from harming the wearer, but only with the help of a sorcerer who possesses that particular brand of power. These are very draining and require a lot of work to make. Certain materials specific to the effect the Cursemaker wants to produce can be used to make the effect even stronger, but having a Shieldmaker assist in the process (in addition to the other sorcerer) produces the strongest protection. When a Cursemaker dies, everything and everyone they have blessed or cursed loses the effect. Cursemakers are the most common type of sorcerer.