All normal men can use magic. Some are naturally more inclined to do so, some need years of training before they can cast even the most basic of spells. The potential is however always there. The strongest and rarest wizards are almost demi-gods, so strong has their own inner spark grown. The theurges or theurgists, on the other hand are members of the clergy or otherwise religious people who channel the power of the gods. They invoke prayers that ask the divine for favours and when those above are pleased, they will work the required magic. The most trusted of all theurges become thaumaturges who were personally blessed with a second divine spark that lets them work miracles wherever they go without asking the gods. So far the strongest of thaumaturges have never been notably more powerful than the most powerful mages.

 

A different kind of magic is that of runes. Each of these symbols was created and imbued with power by a god or other powerful entity. Some of them require special circumstances to work, must be etched into the skin or written with black chalk in the middle of a summoning circle. These runes channel the influence of the powerful being into the world in the correct shape to start a certain effect. Carradis the Armorer, a loyal and exalted servant of Dimidias has created an entire armory of war runes that are given to brave warriors and special troops. Some mages can create lesser, personalised symbols called ar-signs that channel an iota of their own energy, marking it, and signifying the mage who created it.

 

Yet another kind of magic is alchemy. In alchemy the skilled craftsmen reduces a substance to the properties the dual spirits have put into it. He then mixes and matches these to get a variety of results. They brew potions, transmute base materials and try to perfect themselves. Alchemists often make use of homunculi, little beings made from clay, ash, mandragora roots and other ingredients of the alchemist’s personal choosing whose mimicry of real life allows the Alchemist to test various concoctions on them.

 

The final form of magic is neither due to the gods, nor the dual spirit. Instead it stems from the first gods: The Pillars. Such magic does not require training. It can not be learned, studied and mastered and it is not granted through faith. It comes to blossom when one personifies the pillar in a meaningful way. A child playing a prank on a friend to get back at him for being wronged before will not result in the magic of the pillar of vengeance to infuse that child. A man who has lost his family, his dear ones, his home and all that was dear to him at the hands of one other man, however, may identify with that pillar strongly enough to gain a significant amount of power as long as he holds on to his grudge. He cannot die until he has taken revenge. Walls will crumble before him so as to open up his way, the most powerful magic will falter before the temporary avatar of vengeance until his soul either burns out under the stress or revenge has been fulfilled. The effects of the other pillars are similar. One who dedicates his life to never be seen and never be noticed may eventually truly adopt a face that will instantly forgotten and a body that can’t be noticed in a crowd when he becomes close enough to the pillar of the Unseen.  Those who are filled with the power of ruin will have a touch that rots food, makes stone brittle and turns wealth to dust. Fury grants pure, unadulterated rage, and a gloriously brutal power equaling it. The pillar of despair is the only one that will not grant anything other than the sweet release of death.