On Magic, A Primer on Thaumaturgy by Solon of Nupiat
There is, among many common folk, the idea that the abilities of elementalists, illusionists, and the like are magical abilities. This is entirely untrue. Magic does not exist except in the old wives tales or make believe adventures of young children. Magic refers to something supernatural, like getting something from nothing, turning bia berries into carriages, giants who live on clouds, and the like. Rubbish all of it. The abilities of the so-called "casters" are not magical at all. They are entirely natural. They are spells, studied hard by students and making use of what is already there. We live in a world of more than one dimension, anyone with the most cursory knowledge in religion can tell you that. There are the three dimensions of space, that is length, width, and depth, there is the dimension of time. Each of these we pass through every moment of our life. We exist in a special dimension in which each of these "parallel" dimensions manifests itself right on top of the others. But there are others as well. Multiple dimensions that we are living inside of. Each has its own aygeema. Thus, in every open space there may be a dimension of time, space, fire, water, air, light, dirt, life, and even possibly others. Each of these possesses different properties that might be made use of during a spell. The key to proper spell casting is an awareness of the elemental planes surrounding and permeating oneself. When one is able to manipulate the portions of the elemental plane within oneself, one can use that to manipulate that plane outside of oneself. Just as an arm may push away a stick in the "physical" realm, manipulating the fire plane that exists within one's arm can stimulate the fire plane within the same stick causing it to ignite. Forming the hand into the "invocation" position (with the thumb and first two fingers extended) may be necessary for any but the most basic of spells. By learning the feel of the necessary elemental planes and the proper way to manipulate each to produce the desired effect, a student may master a new spell. Thus, everything is naturally there for a spell to be cast in almost any location. As such, the effects or casting of a spell is not magic, but a natural process.
Hierarchy Amongst Adventurer Academies
Primary level students of academies are referred to by the classical name of the art itself. Thus those from the Academy of Prophecy are prophets, those from the Academy of Necromancy are necromancers, and those from the Academy of Brawling are brawlers. Those wishing to continue their schooling may learn higher levels of skills. Once certain levels of skills are reached, more honorary title are conferred upon an individual. There are those outside the academies who have masted spells to epic levels and even uncovered new spells. Legendary titles are given to these great Kushi'dayoklanya.