Magic Overview

Magic is a force which gives great power to its practitioners. Those who use magic are called magicians.

There are five major magic schools in the Allied Lands, with the largest being Whitehall. The curriculum among each is practically the same. The schools were formed in response to the danger of the Necromancers, as well as the inability for the original Master-Apprentice System to churn out enough capable magicians to meet the Necromancer threat.

Magic is used in the Schooled in Magic universe in the same manner as most fantasy or magic-centered canons, with some specifics.

Influence and Sources
The ability to use magic generally develops between the ages of 15 and 17. Those who show an ability to use magic at a young age are often discovered by travelling magicians and sent towards Whitehall, or one of the other magic schools. Sorcerers are also expected to let potential students know about what not to do in the schools. Magical families often seek after magic-using children born to non-magical families, since they are seen as valuable new blood.

Magicians are often seen as vital to a nation's existence, next to a king. This is seen in the game Kingmaker, where the Wizard, and not the King, is the most important piece. Likewise, magical families are seen, alongside kingdoms, Lone Powers, and city-states as one of the four major power blocs in the Allied Lands.

Due to the heavy influence of magic in the Allied Lands, the nations never went through an industrial revolution similar to the real world. Instead, most of the resources went into magic and magical research. Likewise, magic has had a heavy influence on the fauna and natural sources of the world, leading to the study of alchemy.

The bodies of dragons contain high levels of magic, and hence the creatures are highly sought after by magicians. Some creatures, such as Gorgons and Medusas, use magic in their bodies as a weapon.

Schools
There are various kinds of magic to be used by magicians and sorcerers.

Martial
The Martial school involves magic to be used in battle or fighting. This can involve defensive magic.

At Whitehall, someone must first qualify before studying provides three years of Martial training, after which a student is expected to either find an apprenticeship or join the army. Combat magic is taught by General Kip.

Healing
The Healing school, true to its name, involves magic to be used for healing purposes. Sometimes, transfiguration is to serve the same purpose as a healing spell.

At Whitehall, healing is taught by Professor Torquemada, later replaced by Lady Barb. Students are advised to never attempt to heal themselves, unless there is no one within shouting distance.

Charms
The Charms school involves spells which can enchant items for various purposes. This can include protective charms, locks, and a host of other potential uses.

At Whitehall, Charms are taught by Professor Lombardi.

Transfiguration
The Transfiguration school involves the transformation of items from one form into another.

Subtle Magic
Subtle Magic involves a form of mind control, most often with runes. It pushes a person's thoughts into a particular direction, and is very hard to spot, let alone counteract.

Some enchanted items can protect a person from the affects of Subtle Magic. The only way to completely way to defend against Subtle Magic is by personally carving runes into one's bare flesh.

Black Arts
The Black Arts are those spells limited or forbidden to be practiced. This includes summoning demons, creating a homunculus that can pass for a human, as well as any form of magic intended to drain a person's magic or life force (basically, necromancy).

Rules
One of the codes in the magic world is the Sorcerer's Rule, which states that a magician cannot be forced to share any magical discoveries against his own will. This does prevent, however, the possibility that magicians might attempt to spy on each other, or attempt to recreate the original magician's feat.

Magic requires a target in order to work. A name alone can provide someone with the ability to leak through cracks in a magician's otherwise power ward; because of this, many magicians take made-up names (Void and Shadye being examples). Some also use only their first name, since a full name is required.

Magicians are capable of finding creatures to form a special bond with, and utilize as an ally or tool. This bond can be so special that, if a magician uses a poisonous snake as a familiar, the venom will no longer harm the magician. Certain creatures can grant the magician special spells to use.

Wands are utilized, but are seen as crutches due to the fact that a spell already exists in the wand, with the practitioner pumping energy into the wand. Hence wands are useless in the creation of new spells. Generally, wands are only used for specific spells, or as a focusing tool for practicing magicians.

Practitioners
There are various kinds of magicians, many of which overlap (for example, a Lone Power can also be a Necromancer).

Full Sorcerers
The term "Full Sorcerer" is used in reference to a magician who has completed both studies at Whitehall, as well as an apprenticeship.

Nuttall has admitted that the term itself is not precise, and that using it may have been a mistake.

Combat Sorcerers
Combat sorcerers are experts in the Martial school of magic.

Combat sorceresses are rarer than their male counterparts, due to the need for physical strength and endurance as opposed to simple magical power and skill. They are also generally looked down upon by their male counterparts.

Hedge Witch
A Hedge Witch is a magician who has a low level of magic, and offers low-magic potions and tricks to assist a local population. Despite the name, Hedge Witches can be male or female.

Necromancers
Necromancers are those who practice a form of dark magic, in particular that which involves the dead. Necromancy itself came from the notion that murder itself can be used as a form of magic.

Due to the fact that necromancy must be channeled through the mind, Necromancers eventually become insane. Likewise, because magic begins to replace the Necromancer's body, the Necromancer himself will begin to appear corpse-like and transformed.

Lone Powers
Those magicians who obtain enough power to be practically their own sovereign authority are known as Lone Powers.

DemonMasters
DemonMasters (no longer in existence) were those magicians who had a large number of demons under their command. They lived during a time when summoning demons was done regularly, and required a little of the magician's lifeblood to keep a horde of creatures under their control. It was not uncommon for DemonMasters to die at the hands of those under their control - in fact, the last of the DemonMasters were killed by their own creatures in the midst of a duel.