Magick, Miracles, and Witchcraft
MAGICK
Kethira is a magically weak world, but it does exist in the form wizardry, alchemy, psionic ability, and other mysterious natural events. By contrast, religious invocations are "miracles" performed by pious priests and shamans in the name of their god. Magic requires natural ability, scholarship, and learning, invocations require faith in, and the favor of, a particular deity. Both mages and priests alike become upset when someone confuses magic and miracles.
MIRACLES
There are ten major religions on Hârn and hundreds of minor deities in the Kethiran pantheon. Most Kethirans worship only one of the major gods. The churches to these deities often consist of several clerical sects.
These sects may exist due to philosophical reasons, or for reasons of geography, or both. A clerical sect may sponsor a fighting-order. Fighting orders are organizations consisting of knights-bachelors and common soldiers. These fighting-orders are committed to a higher goal, like defending a particular temple, or converting a barbarous region to their religion. The churches are organized into two groups: the clergy and the laity.
The clergy consists of priests and priestesses who run the rituals, maintain the church's organization, usually by devoting their lives to their deity. The laity are the non-clergy adherents of the church. Each church has specific holy days, usually with a high mass and a low mass each month. The high mass is for clergy while the low mass is for all adherents.
WITCHCRAFT
The practice of magic is not proscribed on Hârn, as long as it doesn't involve the summoning or consorting with demons or affect human souls. Demonology, necromancy, and possession areas governed by the evil gods and are proscribed in most areas of Hârn; witchcraft is punishable by execution. Where not illegal invocations involving the dark arts are closely guarded secrets of the evil churches. In order to protect magicians from unfounded accusations of witchcraft, the Guild of Arcane Lore was formed. All Shek-Pvar take an oath to refrain from interfering the common folk. The guilds purview covers all magic, including alchemy, divination, and sorcery. The guild has chantries where members study arcane lore.
The wizards of Hârn (and all of Lythia) are known collectively as the Shek-Pvar They have seven different sub-orders or convocations; Lyahvi, Peleahn, Jmorvi, Fyvria, Odivshe, Savorya. These make up the largest portion of the Guild of Arcane Lore, and they have their own chantries dedicated to specific convocations or areas of magical study. The Shek-Pvar live by a strict code of conduct. Sorcerers that do not adhere to that code are declared renegade and those who refuse to repent and make amends are hunted down and eliminated by other members of the Shek-Pvar.
People with innate mental abilities, which includes all manner of paranormal powers, are rare but not unheard of on Hârn. These abilities are collectively called Psionics and occupy the space between magic and miracles. Some religious groups claim psionics to be the divine gift of the gods and thus fall under the control of churches. Shek-Pvar take the view that psionics requires skill and to control, thus they are a natural extension of sorcery. Normally, having psionic powers is enough to allow a character entry to a Shek-Pvar chantry.
The difference between a miraculous invocation, magical spell, and witchcraft can sometimes be unclear. A miraclous invocation is always performed by priest or very pious adherent and are gifts from the gods. The difference between magic, witchcraft, sorcery, and necormancy is sometimes hard to determine, which is why wizards work hard to protect their reputations. Wizards know better than to use their magic for controlling people, theft, murder, espionage, mayhem etc. A wizard doing this would be declared renegade by their peers, hunted down, and eliminated. Casting a fireball in the middle of the town square on market day is not done.
The guild of Arcane Lore is not a true guild, they do not produce a product for sale. The Guild of Arcane Lore is a loose association of Shek-Pvar whose purpose is the education and policing of its members. The guild earns its wealth by a variety of means, including private tutoring, research services, rents form resident mages, bequests and endowments.
Convocations of the Shek-Pvar
Lyahvi – the magic of air, the insubstantial, and the ethereal.
Peleahn – the magic of heat, smoke, fire, and pyrotechnic effects.
Jmorvi – the magic of artifice, minerals, and particularly metal.
Fyvria – the magic growth and decay, the green and growing.
Odivshe – the magic of water, of slow, cool darkness.
Savorya – the magic of the mind divination, aura, spirit.
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