Introduction[]
The Channeling Magic chapter of the Sarceline Circle Mage Tome provides an overview of the different means of channeling magic into spells. In the wide world of Azeroth, there are many sources that mages may draw from to power their spells. While some occur in nature, others can be crafted or even tapped from one's own body.
Credits:
- Archmage Manix Ebonfire, Headmaster of the Ashen Tree Arcane Academy.
- Archmage Aldrazar Stoneforge, Master Mage of the Sarceline Circle of Magi.
- Sir Roy Sebale, Master Mage of the Sarceline Circle of Magi.
Channeling Implements[]
Channelling Implements are used by a large majority of mages, giving them a mean through which to channel and enhance their magical abilities. Channeling implements can take many forms, but the most common of these are magically enchanted wands, staves, and orbs.
These implements are all crafted by enchanters to act as conduits for arcane magic. Theoretically, one could make a sword or other another weapon for this purpose, but the structures of the three aforementioned tools better lend themselves to this task.
A mage can use their instrument to facilitate far greater and more powerful spells with training. Furthermore, due to the Law of Sympathy, the longer one uses their staff, wand, orb or other implement, the more powerful and easier to use it will become due to attunement.
Staves - The easiest channeling implement to work with, and arguably the most potent. Tipped with enchanted mana gems, you can readily aim your spell by pointing your staff in the direction you wish.
Wands - A lesser version of a stave, wands perform in the same fashion. However, they cannot cast as powerful of spells as staves. They can, however, act much faster than staves can in firing off small spells.
Orbs - Only for the most experienced mages, they consist of huge volatile mana gems enchanted for potent spellcasting. Combined with wands, these can match or surpass staves for certain spell types.
In practice, any physical object can be enchanted to become a channeling implement. Battle mages are commonly known to enchant swords and other weapons to channel spells on par with wands and staves. The flexibility of magic in its ability to be cast onto items is a daunting concept. One should always be wary of hedge wizards who carry mundane items enchanted into deadly channeling implements.
Spellweaving[]
Casting a spell is often referred to as ‘weaving’ the spell. This is due to the basic process behind any spell in which the mage intricately pieces together sections of the spell. Each section is part of an intricate 'web’, and once the web is complete and all the pieces are set then the spell can be cast properly.
School and Element
What do you want to do? What is the goal of the spell? Your intent for a spell shapes it as much as anything else. Willing the magic you wield to do as you wish it to is the first step in forming any spell.
One must first determine the physical effect they intend to accomplish, through the school of magic and appropriate spell. An evocation spell such as a fireball or lightning bolt will have different gestures and components than an abjuration spell that conjures a shield.
Once the desired school of the spell is determined, one must then select an element of magic to cast. The Arcane can be molded into a wide variety of elemental forces. Other forms of magic such as holy and nature magic will require special conditions for their power to be cast into the form you desire.
Source of Power
Where will you draw the power from? Will you be able to draw enough power from ley lines, mana gems, reagents and your own mana to power the spell you’re trying to cast?
Attempting to cast a spell that requires too much power for you to handle can lead to dire consequences, ranging from you losing control of the spell and potentially harming yourself or others, all the way to you simply passing out from drawing upon your own mana too heavily for the spell. Proceeding to this step after properly observing the steps before allows the mage to begin pouring power into the web they’re building and cast the spell.
Magnitude of Power
How strong do you want or need the spell to be? Does it need to affect a large area, small area or a single person or entity?
Deciding how much magic one must use to accomplish the spell they’re attempting is the next step. Calculating the amount of mana one must use and not needlessly throwing around power leads to longevity in combat. Giving the spell too little power can cause it to fizzle entirely or not have the desired effect.
Casting Capability
Are you strong enough to carry out the spell you want to cast? Do you have the requisite knowledge and skill in the school from which your spell would be drawn?
Casting a spell that is too strong or complicated for you to cast can cause more harm than good. Even if all the steps before are observed and calculated, the mage must ask himself if they have the skill and knowledge to successfully execute their plan. Even if everything else is accounted for, if the mage simply does not have the skill to cast the spell, it will fizzle at best, and at worst it might cascade out of control.
Casting Components
Are there words of power? Necessary somatic gestures? Is there a physical material that must be manipulated that is necessary for the spell?
Beyond your own willpower, words, gestures and materials can shape a spell, focusing the magic into the form you want it to be. While higher level spell casters can skip this step for smaller spells, rituals and powerful spells often still need these components to shape the vast amount of power a mage wields.
Counterspells[]
Spells can be countered in a plethora of different ways; though, the most common form of counterspell is named as just that: counterspell. This spell, falling under the Evocation school, uses a quick jolt of arcane magic that surges through your opponent; interrupting their spell casting by tearing apart the lattice of their spell or by overloading the spell, causing it to backfire. This spell often leaves the opponent unable to reorder their magic for a short.time after this.
Be wary, however, that you use this spell at the correct time as a mistimed counterspell will do nothing to the opponent at all, and leave you attempting to build up enough magic to attempt the spell again. In the meantime, your opponent most likely would have cast his or her spell.
Reagents[]
Instead of drawing the essence from his own body, a mage could draw from the features of his environment. One can draw a water spell from a nearby stream, or even a fire spell from the fireplace of a nearby inn.
Some spells cannot be cast without special reagents. The prepared mage brings with him reagents of several types so that he is always ready to cast powerful spells when the need arises.
Essence Casting[]
Essence Casting is the method by which mages focus and draw from their own bodily mana and elemental properties to power their spells. The spells cast from essence casting are often called "Cantrips" as they do not require extensive preparation or reagents to cast.
Examples of Essence Casting:
- • Drawing the warmth from one's own body into a weak fireball or magelight.
- • Using the essence of liquid from what one just drank to power an ice spell.
- • Gathering built-up static electricity in one's clothing to cast an arc of lightning.
Be warned that essence casting should only be used for trivial spells, as the practice of using one's own elemental energies for extended periods of time is both draining and destructive to one's body. As an essence caster utilizes what is already within his person, he cannot hope to cast an element in greater magnitude than what his body possesses. As an example of such, a mage who is shivering and cold cannot warm himself with essence casting, as he does not possess the energy to cast a spell that draws from his warmth. Mages should always carry basic magical reagents with them and channeling implements to tap into ley lines so that they are not caught unprepared.
Do not confuse essence casting with blood magic. While essence casting can draw from one's own reserves of arcane energy, it does not induce physical injury so much as it fatigues the caster. Blood magic requires freshly drawn blood as a reagent, which obviously requires physical, bloody injury to the caster or a victim. The use or damaging of souls is expressly forbidden by the laws of many magical authorities, as such requires the use of void magic.
High Sorcery[]
High Sorcery is one of the oldest magical practices in Azeroth. It is commonly referred to as ‘ritual magic’, and it is indeed the case that it operates via elaborate, multifold casting processes to bring about its effects. But equally defining to the discipline is its pursuit of universal, magically-significant patterns that hold true across the cosmos. The universe is underwritten by natural laws, and many of these are magical in nature. In cataloguing these laws, a high sorcerer establishes rituals and symbols by which they can be harnessed and used for magical purposes. Because of this, high sorcery involves an often strange assortment of practices, ranging from numerology and astrology to demonology, all of which are concerned with the discovery of underlying cosmological law. Detailing the breadth of high sorcery is outside of this work’s purview (and indeed, many sects of high sorcerers remain hostile to divulging their practices to the uninitiated), but what follows is an account of its most significant features and of ritual methodology.
High sorcery’s focus on universal patterns in practice means that it is deeply concerned with symbolism. Scholars and students of ley lines will be familiar with the designs repeated in the runic flows there, including, perhaps most famously, the tortoise design in the Great Bulwarks. Pictographs such as these form a core of the high sorcerer’s art. This practice is essentially that of runecasting or -crafting, in which a runic design corresponds to an element or effect, and indeed, the two disciplines often overlap.
One of the most fundamental symbols for high sorcery is also one of the most simple: the circle. The circle is geometrically representative of magic itself, according to ancient traditions. Its circularity mirrors the infiniteness of magic and the planet of Azeroth. Thus the circle takes an an important ritual significance, appearing in scrying orbs, summoning circles, and portals. Indeed, conclaves of mages throughout the Eastern Kingdoms traditionally refer to themselves as ‘Circles’.
The other key symbol for many high sorcerers is an equilateral triangle with a single point in its middle. This image appears repeatedly in Titan architecture and engineering, and is represented cosmologically in the constellations. High sorcerers seek after Titanic star maps, or construct vast observatories, to track the positions of these constellations. According to sorcerous traditions, when certain constellations align, or when rare astrological events occur, the effects of rituals and spells can be greatly enhanced.
Pictographs, notably the circle and triangle-with-central-point, are put into use by high sorcerers during magical rituals. Using a variety of reagents, pictographs or runes are inscribed within a defined space. This space typically makes use of the aforementioned symbols, taking the form of a circle with a triangle within that, and a central point in the middle of the triangle. These two symbols serve as focuses, absorbing mana and directing it into a spell. Along the rim of the circle, an incantation is written to determine the effect of the ritual. Powdered amethyst, representative of purity and focus, is the most common reagent for the inscribing of ritual circles, but ground herbs, flakes of gold or silver, bone marrow, or blood are all common.
In the cases of summoning demons or elementals, beyond the ritual itself, meticulous research is involved to discover the creature’s ‘true name’, that is, its linguistic representation in the universe as a magical entity. Utilizing this name gives the ritualist near-complete control over the summoned spirit.
Many students of the arcane dismiss high sorcery as antiquated and needlessly esoteric, but it has produced many of Azeroth’s greatest and most terrible feats of magic. Malygos’ Blue Dragonflight, masters of high sorcery, crafted the Nexus according to its perfect mathematical principles, and used the rituals of the Arcanomicon to redirect the ley lines of Azeroth. Kel’Thuzad employed an unholy ritual to summon the Eredar, Archimonde, into the world. This author reminds the critical student, therefore, that high sorcery has brought about the near destruction of Eastern magecraft on two separate occasions. Such power is not to be ignored, nor treated lightly.