Scholarly Understanding of Magic - By Apollo Silveren

(Summary of book) The ability to harness magic is only found in a small percentage of the population. Every living creature has an "arcane spark" that connects them to other living beings and the magic of the world, but few have a strong enough spark to harness that power in any meaningful way. Surprisingly, Clerics and Paladins magic requires no strong spark at all, but instead get their power from devotion to gods.
The first discipline is the one that is the easiest attain and work with work with for those with a powerful enough spark. Known as Tonal Magic it is the application of using music and or specific sounds as a medium to channel the power of ones spark and manipulate the magic of the world. The most famous of this discipline are arcane bards, but rarely other groups find ways to use this power.
The second discipline is the hardest to attain but fairly easy to work with. Those with a strong spark who in some way forge a connection with nature around them will find themselves able to use Natural Magic. Druids are the only known practitioners of this discipline and are able to channel their spark through the natural world around them to manipulate magic in a way no others can as they transform into the creatures of the world around them.
The third discipline is only very rarely attained and also nearly impossible to use effectively. Fury Magic was formerly unique to the Salamander race, and only the Immolators among them are able to harness it. It is believed that the ability to use your own anger to channel your spark's magic is connected to the fact that Salamanders are a beast race and possibly have the soul and spark of a monster. In more recent years it has been discovered that other races can use any emotion to channel magic, provided it's intense enough.
The fourth and final discipline is Arcane Magic. This is theoretically easy to use as anyone with a strong spark can attempt to cast a spell at some effect. It is however the hardest to use effectively, as it requires extensive knowledge of the inner workings of magic and the spells that you are trying to cast. This discipline, unlike the others, does not use any other medium to cast spells through. It needs not music, nature, or fury; it simply requires the caster to express the energy of their spark out into the world. That being said, unless you have great understanding and control, one will rarely get the desired results from such raw force. For these reasons many mages choose to spend their time understanding a single school with only a small amount of cross study as individual schools tend to follow the same laws and theory, and so are easier to learn and understand as a whole.
Schools of Magic: Evocation - manipulating the magic of the world in front of you to create direct effects such as fireballs, light, and magical tethers Summoning - opening a "door" from somewhere else to here and bringing something in such as spirits of the dead or monsters Divination - magic focused on expanding your consciousness to be able to perceive the magical links of all things. Used for scrying and future sight Illusion - focused on the minds of others to change their perception. Used to disguise self, frighten opponents, and other variously deceptive tactics Enchantment - the magic to alter something in the world. Used to make magical items, polymorph, and change people's thoughts (as opposed to illusion simply changing their perceptions)