Arborean Magic

Potent and powerful

For the most part Arborean magic follows the constraints and mechanics shared by arcane casters across the planes. Since the Severing of the Veil however, there has been some noticeable changes to how magic operates and is perceived within Arborea, particularly with regards to those magicians employing Shadowfell sources. Not unexpectedly, trying to sacrifice the Wild Realm to the Realm of Despair didn't exactly leave the best impression.

Sources and Spells

Arborean magic resembles the magic practiced in other realms with certain notable exceptions. Like other planes, magicians are identified through the source they use to generate arcane power and the types of spells they prefer to cast.
Numerous sources of metaphysical arcane power exist within Arborea, many of whom with a close affinity to nature. The draconic broods almost certainly use their own ancient and closely guarded sources, while many Arborean Fae can trace their innate power to a local source, such as a lifespring of water, or a potent grove.
The source of power dictates the type of spells available to the wielder, though there is no shortage of overlap between sources. The depth of attunement or communion (or, in some cases, enslavement) to the source of power limits the wielder's power, with personal sacrifices often required to ascent to rarified heights. Perhaps due to the extreme nature of Arborea, magicians of all ilks often find the source of their power significant impacts, and thus delineates, the physical and auditory aspects of the spell cast. Thus, a water nyx controlling her pond would be distinguishable from a satyr orchestra manipulating the flow of a river by the colour and sound of the manipulation, plus the gestures and symbols used, plus certain mundane aspects of the spell that don't dilute or alter the overall intent.
Several different classes of sources are prevalent throughout Arborea.

Shadowfell magic

Those spellcasters and magicians who generate their metaphysical power from a Shadowfell source still find their magic works just fine. Casting spells proficiently and casting spells without getting lynched are two different things however. Therefore, many magicians who utilise a Shadowfell source have modified their spells to obscure or obsfucate the more obvious signs of Shadowfell generation. Thus, certain symbol classes and physical manifestations that once identified Shadowfell casters have fallen out of favour, with Shadowfell casters mimicking, with varying degrees of success, the symbolic and metaphysical characteristics of other sources.
Those who defy or ignore the strong distaste against Shadowfell sources are identified through the dark tinges within their spells and the darkening of the air around. The more arcane attune can often feel their worries increasing or a sense of fatigue settling upon them in the presence of Shadowfell magic.
Shadowfell casting is sparse and utilitarian, as if they are using the minimal amount of movements to impose their will upon forces around them. Their symbols are stark and angular, and contain little inherent beauty. Shadowfell casters move with a brutish anger when casting, their expressions suggesting they are seeking dominion over the subject or intent of their spell.

Fae magic

To the surprise of no-one, fae magic has an overwhelming presence within Arborea, easily accounting for the majority of spellcasters. While many studied magicians exist who pull from fae sources, including the slumbering elder fae, many fae magic pracitioners use innate powers and can manifest their spells and abilities at will. The lack of careful gestures and precise symbols are clear characteristics of innate fae magic, as if the immediate affect many of their spells and abilities have on the surrounding environment, whether the target of the spell or not. Blooming flowers, creeping vines, bursting petals that carry intoxicating scents often accompany fae magic, as does the opposite effects - wilting plants, the smell of rotting vegetations, and the drying of the earth.
Those who gain access to a fae source and still need to entertain hours of careful study to master their arcane craft are often distinguished by the graceful flourishes and flowing dance-like movements associated with their casting. Unlike the utilitarian movements of Shadowfell casters, the movements of fae casters seem to invite cooperation and collaboration with the forces they seek to control. Casting often seems like a joy to them, an act that celebrates their ability to commune with the nature around them.

Draconic magic

Draconic magic is the flashiest and proudest of all the sources of magic. While most wielders of draconic magic are dragons, there are a few non-dragons that have gained access to draconic sources of magic (all with permission from the various broods).
Using draconic magic, or any source for that matter, to create dragon-kin is strictly prohibited and likely to bring an entire brood down upon the attempt. Perhaps because of this dictate, those who gain access to a draconic source have often achieved the trust of a brood first and demonstrated their loyalty and worthiness. This trust often comes at the price of anonymity - draconic casters operate at the fringes of society to influence matters on behalf of their broods and never advertise their abilities.
Which is ironic, considering draconic casters and dragon magic are flamboyant and flashy. If there is a way to make a spell the loudest, more colourful, most explosive and generally the most obnoxious version, draconic casters will strive to achieve high marks in all aspects. It's not enough to cast draconic magic - you must be seen to own the magic, to be part of the magic, to let the magic find unbridled expression through your mastery. Draconic casters must create fear and awe both through the affects of the spell itself and the way in which the power bursts forth. Only then will the famous dragon pride be assuaged.

Dwarven magic

As Arborean Dwarves are considered a myth, so is the powerful, earth-shaping magic they reportedly wielded. Arborean dwarven magic is subject of rumours, hearsay and folktales, but they tend to find common ground on a thimbleful of characteristics, namely that dwarven magic issues from the Life Forces of Arborea themselves and that you can feel dwarven magic in your bones before you see it. In many tales, the power of the Arborean dwarves bordered on incomprehensible, shaping contintental features with a power that far outstrips that of even the most powerful draconic archmages.
The effect of the seeming destruction of the Life Forces of Arborea during the War on dwarven magic remains unknown, given Arborean dwarves are now considered extinct or a made-up myth to begin with.

Other planar magicks

The arrival and subsequent stranding of countless Feywild and Owena denizens has had a noticeable affect on Arborean magic, none more noticeable than their magic still works after the Severing of the Veil. After several years of frenzied study, the conclusion reached were as simple as they were elegant - the connection remained intact in the same way someone inside can hear the foot traffic outside through a locked and barred door (and, in the case of Arborea, with a hungry dire wolf crouched in the threshold). If anything good came from the tragic ending to The Upheaval, it's that Owena scholars now appreciate the true power of those they once took for granted. Only gods or god-like power can still fuel the arcane appetites of the trapped Arborean Owena and their allies.
Their stranding heralded the advent of another new feature in Arborea - academies of learned magic. Originally established to study whether the ongoing connection to the various arcane sources could provide a method to re-open planar travel without saturating Arborea with the hungry wash of the Shadowfell realm, they have since pivoted towards more traditional approaches as places of education for those with an arcane affinity.

t

"The folly of casting within an eldritch storm cannot be understated. This is not a blanket edict against such an act, were I ever to possess the power of such a thing. Rather, magicians must increase their usual vigiliance when casting within storm or event of eldritch origin, for the undue influence of the eldritch source that generates the event on the casting cannot be anticipated or predicted. The fact that the outcome could be wonderous or exilharating should not blind one to the equally germane fact that the outcome could be dire, tragic, and catastrophic for yourself and those within the vicinity. As always, exercise caution (and report the results of any successful experiment post haste).
- Tall Balrama, open letter to other members of the Court of Stars

Type

Metaphysical, Arcane

The Realm of Despair

The Shadowfell, or Realm of Despair, is regarded as one of the most inhospitable of the Outer Realms. Where Arborea is a realm of natural potency where life blooms, the Shadowfell is a realm built upon negative emotions of despair, spite and sorrow.
While seeming opposite of each other, both realms have their place within the natural order of things and were connected through more than metaphysical connections. Within the wild emotional resonances that ruled Arborean life, an excess of negative emotions could easily descend into despair amongst it's denizens, fuelling Shadowfell sources within the Wild Realm. Similarly, at the far reaches of total despair, a certain type of life blooms, fighting for its own survival and experiencing a virility that would be at home within Arborea. Rather than realms in opposition, they are best viewed as shadows of one another, both containing echoes of the other.
Perhaps no-one understood this better than Lolastre, the Autumn Queen. Many, even among her enemies, doubt her goal amounted to destruction of her home realm. Rather, many magicians, scholars and sages now believe she intended a merging of the two realms, that each would complement one another to birth an arcane unity that would rival the strength and power of the Originals Planes. Among the evidence collected from the various blast sites of her ritual markers are encrypted symbols whose translation remains incomplete but seem to hint that Lolastre had intended the realms to grow together rather than destroy one another - harnessing the rage of despair and the daring of life to transform the realm into something... greater. Something magnificent. Something to rival the majesty and size of the Original Planes.

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