Faith

The Divine Arts

The temple hummed with the voices of at least a dozen Chanters, lead by their High Priest in fervent prayer to some Divine of the mountain. The wounded from the last ambush lay scattered across the temple floor, many having given their final breath mere hours ago. But as the Priest's voice reached a deafening crescendo with his flock, a great light consumed the room and spread across the wounded and dead alike. It seemed to stitch their wounds back together and breathe renewed life into the recently departed. Such is the power of Faith magic that even the sacred boundary of death is merely an inconvenience to these powerful miracle wielders.

— Excerpt from Observations of a Spellcaster by Elias Dods

The Magic of the Faithful

Faith is the collective term for the power found within the Sophontic Soul wielded by god and mortal alike. While immensely powerful on its own, each Soul contains only a modest amount of spiritual energy that, when harvested through steadfast worship or shared beliefs, allows Faith Magic to perform impossible feats known as miracles. When successfully gathered in large enough quantities, Faith enables sophontic beings to ascend beyond their mortal form and into Divinity, where they gain unfettered access to the potent magical fonts known as Domains. The Faith held in these pools of connection can be wielded by those in this deific state with such supreme control that they can change even the most fundamental laws of a Realm, perhaps even the Cosmos itself.

Unlike the magic of the Glow and Primal Elements, one can only describe Faith's magical wonders as miracles. Where Casters break down other magics into something akin to science, Faith is one part belief and two parts impossibility. With years of practice, a powerful Chanter can learn the harmonies to break the very laws that hold the Cosmos together and perform feats only found in the wildest dreams of Spellweavers or Conduits. Acts of Mass healing, the creation of matter from nothingness, the mending of souls, and even true resurrection is all made possible through Faith. Thus it is proven that the Sophontic Soul is as powerful as it is mysterious.

Faith lacks other magics' subtlety, instantly recognizable by all Sophonts through its harmonious resonance. Weaving the Glow requires the Caster to be methodical and precise while Chanting requires proper rhythm and mastery over one's emotions. This reliance on rhythm, tone, and inflection gives Faith casting its name and is why nearly every religion found across the Cosmo participates in some form of music. Chanters may choose to practice their blessed craft through the use of vocalized songs, the playing of specially constructed spellbinding instruments, rich reverberating hums, or even through carefully constructed poetic verse.

Type

Metaphysical, Divine

Alternative Names

The Divine Arts, Divine Magic, The Holy Truth, Domain Magic, The Hallowed Chant, Miraclework

Caster Titles

Chanters, Warlocks, Theurgist, Paladins, Cultists, Clerics, Skalds, Priests, Bards, Prophets

Chanting

Chanting, also known as Faith Spellcasting, is an immensely powerful and deeply personal form of spellcraft. Chanters dedicate years of study to learning how to harmonize the spoken word with that of the Sophontic Soul. This allows them to draw power not from the elements of the land or the echoes of creation, but from sophontic existence itself. Priests and Clerics do this easily through their dedication to a Divine, but others, such as Bards or Paladins, have learned how to draw power directly from their intrinsic connections with fellow Sophonts.

Manifestations of Faith

Unlike any other form of magic, Faith does not appear naturally in the world and is first created through collective worship or shared belief in a person, object, or ideal. It is a direct product of Sophontic life and would not exist without such intelligent and self-aware species. Their religions and creeds inevitably culminate into a Domain's creation, which often embodies the fundamental tenets or precepts of a shared belief. Commonly referred to as Divines or Deities, beings that possess supreme dominion over a Domain possess truly incalculable fonts of magical power. Yet they become slaves to the power of their collective worship, unable to resist the fickle and ever-changing nature of sophontic beliefs.

The Three Laws of Magic

Three overarching principles governing the use and potential of Faith Magic, like all forms of magic in the Cosmos. They are easily summarized as the laws that govern the total cost, methods of casting, and inevitable limitations of all Divine Magic.

The Law of Divine-Cost

The first and most vital of Faith's governing principles, this cardinal law is defined by the toll inflicted by the use of Faith Magic. Among Spellcasters, Chanters suffer the least visible cost of any magic users as little of its price, if any, is imparted on the individual. Similarly to Primal Magic, The Hallowed Chant draws upon power from outside its Caster and is fueled by deep connections to Divines, beings of great power, bonds with fellow Sophonts, or even their very eternal soul. Because of this cost of connection, many Caster's refer colloquially to Faith as the holy magic of interconnectedness.

The Law of Grounding

The second and most universal magical principle in the Cosmos that is shared by all forms of magic. This law is best defined by the mystical markings, archaic words, gestures, or other components used to manifest magic in the mortal world. It comes in countless forms, and many commonly believe that it is merely a tool used to solidify a Caster's intent and aid them in executing magic. Faith Chanters tends to lean towards the use of memorized songs, prayers, or chants as their primary method of casting. Additionally, they often use tokens of their Faith as physical conduits for their spells.

The Law of Divinity

The third governing principle over Faith is defined by a Divine's inability to create other, independent Deities. However, all Divines are capable of producing a form of Demi-Divine, known as Angels, by creating an artificial bond between their Domain and another sophontic being. These Angels are nearly as powerful as the Divines they serve but are permanently bound to but a single Domain. In the rare cases where a Divine has perished, their Angels find themselves trapped by their power and are often warped by the all-consuming Domain no longer maintained by their original creator.