Magic

There are two types of magic that can be accessed by practitioners of the Silver Shores. One is arcane magic. Magic permeates all things in the Natural World and its practitioners can wield it through the use of "spells".

Wizards, sorcerers, and warlocks are practitioners of arcane magic, and while all three practitioners of the arcane arts wield the same type of power, their methods and the origin of their abilities could not be more different.

The second is divine magic. This is power granted by the gods to its most pious and faithful followers. A being can use the beneficial or destructive sides of divine magic through "prayers" to the gods. Clerics and paladins meditate or pray to be granted the power to manifest a magical power or effect, while druids tap into and harness the divine power of nature.

A spell is a discrete magical effect, a single shaping of the magical energies that suffuse the multiverse into a specific, limited expression. In casting a spell, a character carefully plucks at the invisible strands of raw magic suffusing the world, pins them in place in a particular pattern, sets them vibrating in a specific way, and then releases them to unleash the desired effect — in most cases, all in the span of seconds.

Spells can be versatile tools, weapons, or protective wards. They can deal damage or undo it, impose or remove conditions, drain life energy away, and restore life to the dead.

Uncounted thousands of spells have been created over the course of the multiverse’s history, and many of them are long forgotten. Some might yet lie recorded in crumbling spellbooks hidden in ancient ruins or trapped in the minds of dead gods. Or they might someday be reinvented by a character who has amassed enough power and wisdom to do so.

Professions such as bards and rangers also tap into arcane (enchantment and illusion, typically) and divine (nature) powers respectively, but not to the effect and strength of the above-mentioned professions.

Monks from the far easy are said to harness a type of "magic" as well. Through extreme discipline and training of the mind and body, monks can harness their spiritual energy (or "chi") and manifest it to reality defying effects. Most of the time this chi powered abilities affect solely the monk but can also turn their chi loose on their foes for devastating results.

And finally, there are legends and rumors of certain "gifted" individuals who can tap into the power of their minds. By making their thoughts tangible, they can also affect the physical world. These gifted people are referred to as "psionicists," or "psychics."