The unnamed magic

"Magic is nothing but superstition," they say within the cities, with a huff of contempt. "Magic is the stuff of fairytales," they say inland, with a glimmer of fear in their eyes. Those who actually practice it, hide it well. Inland they supply medicines that secretly are more effective than they should be, or they just serve a better brew than you have ever drunk. In the cities they hide behind cogs, steam and elixers, amongst frauds and other unrepeatable scientific experiments.
There is a reason that medicine is what magic mostly supports, for magic is nothing other than lifeforce that is kept after death. Those trained in magic are capable of keeping part of the lifeforce, which they then enrich potions and other concoctions with. This secret is kept well, for the truth of magic would scare people even more than strong tales.
Practitioners of magic call themselves doctors or alchemists, to hide the truth behind their success. The prefered vessels of choice of many of them are strong medicinal herbs. This lets them combine the natural healing effect with the lifeforce, making a stronger concoction. But fruit or even crops may also be used. An alchemist may brew beer with lifeforce kept inside it, or add spices to a meal to add a hidden boost.
While magic can be taught, it still requires a form of natural talent. Those with green fingers are often a good source for recruiting pupils.
Within the cities, alchemists can be more public with their abilities, though they are careful not to make their products too reproducable. Doing so would make it too easy to expose the presence of a touch of magic as secret ingredient. Instead, they experiment, claim hidden ingredients and special preparation methods, hide what materials they use. Sometimes they even hide their magic behind technology, such as special glasses that are combined with a magical salve for maginified vision.
In towns and inland, doctors will create their own healing salves, special bandages, elixers and so forth. The lack of precision in people's injuries makes it easy for them to hide that it's not just their normal skills that help people recover so well.
There have been magic users who have experimented with life force from animals, or even humans. So far, it seems none have succeeded. If one ever were to manage, this would bode ill for all other magic users and society as a whole. A more succesful approach has been ways to leech the lifeforce of living plants instead, allowing for boosting one's own physique and superstitious amulets that actually work. Yet not many dare create or use these, out of fear it will expose them too easily as magic users.
Alchemists are rarely organized, working in very small cells or just a teacher-pupil pair. Some traveling alchemists will train a pupil every few years, making sure the knowledge is spread far and wide. Others may never take a pupil, choosing to take their secrets to the grave. Very little is put on paper, out of fear that people may discover the true nature of magic. Even many pupils may never be taught exactly how their magic works. Rumors amongst alchemists say a group of alchemists have teamed up in Graycliff, though truth and intent is completely unknown.

Type

Metaphysical, Arcane