The archmage Oana attempted to keep her magic as close as possible to the methods recorded in the writings of the ancient elves. While it is difficult to reconstruct exactly the methods of The Aulva from the carvings they left behind, incorporate the Aulvan knowledge of the dragon as the source of magic, proving a school that is uniquely adept at manipulating the nature of magic itself. The school is referred to as dragon magic, for the methods used by The Aulva were thought to be learned or taken from the ancient true dragons.
True Magic
Dragon mages practice the ability to manipulate magical energy itself. The most basic applications of flow manipulation allow a caster to empower or weaken spells, change some of their fundamental properties, or nullify them. While some of these techniques existed historically, this is the area of magic that Oana particularly pioneered herself. For much of history, when a spell was discovered, there often was little other casters could do to alter it without causing the spell to fail, so precise are the formulas behind powerful magic. The fine-tuned manipulation of arcane energy studied by Oana significantly widened the possibilities and axes on which spells could be altered while preserving their functionality. A quick-witted mage can also alter or nullify spells cast by others. Metamagic also allows for some of the most straightforward and powerful detection of magical auras.
A much older way of manipulating magic’s raw flow was simply to direct pure magical energy. Most of these techniques involve training one’s own body to be able to produce and channel more magical energy than is ordinary in casting magic. Once this ability has been learned, a variety of materials and creatures react in interesting ways to an intense, controlled application.
Most simply, an intense enough barrage of magic can atomize almost any material, though it takes years of training to be able to produce such an effect without also obliterating oneself. Less extreme barrages are still enough to kill most mortals, but those who have learned to channel raw magic themselves might be able to resist them and even use that energy to empower themselves. This, too, is another simple application of pure magical energy, to channel it to briefly enhance one’s abilities or defend oneself.
A more controlled barrage aimed at several strategic points throughout the brain can create a fleeting, arcane simulacrum of the creature that owned it, living or dead. The simplest application of this spell kills living creatures, but more advanced variants can spare them. The simulacrum is generally simple-minded and trapped in the mental state the brain’s owner was in at its creation. The simulacrum of a corpse allows the caster to “speak” with the deceased as they were the moment before they died. Brains decompose shortly after death, and this spell must frequently be paired with medical magic in order to repair a damaged brain. Some cultures throughout history have created crystal casts of the brains of their elders so they might be communed with by future generations. Other applications of this magic include creating ghostly clones of the caster; with enough focus, they can be directed to perform specific, brief tasks.
Spell Examples
- Metamagic
- Enhance Spell
- Extend Spell
- Delay Spell
- Counterspell
- See Magic
- Simulacrum
- Fleeting simulacrum
- Permanent simulacrum
- Simulacrum clone
- Mage arrow
- Mage lance
- Disintegrate
- Mage shield
- Arcane Acceleration
- Arcane Strength
Chronomancy
The manipulation of time. Oana did little research into chronomancy, and never matched the power of the ancient Aulva in this regard. The first law of chronomancy is that the past cannot be altered. Time moves only in one direction, but it is possible to understand and manipulate its pattern of motion, or step outside it altogether.
The oldest form of Chronomancy used by the Aulva might have been the prediction of the future, as some translations of their most ancient writings indicate they could see the world on a geological and ecological scale, and understand how small changes to the environment could ripple through the world itself. Today, the long-lived ogres are especially suited to this brand of magic, and some seem to take to it naturally. For humans, orcs, and goblins, it can take years of training to visualize the future beyond a few years. Visions of the future are always imperfect, as they cannot take into account the whole of the world.
The Aulva also developed the ability to reconstruct the past from the present. More recent writings have them them to walking their ancient halls exactly as they used to be to seek the wisdom of their ancestors. Oana’s spells which draw upon this power are generally more limited, allowing their caster to see the history of powerful artifacts, for example.
The more practical side of time manipulation from Oana’s perspective was the manipulation of the flow of time around the caster. Spells that allow the caster to speed or slow parts of the world relative to the rest of the timestream were among the most used Chronomancy spells under her tutelage. Few, however, mastered the ancient Aulvan technique of stepping outside of time itself, allowing the caster to move and perform magic while the world is frozen in place around them.
There are, of course, many subtle applications of the ability to speed and slow time. Even a small warp in the timestream can cause an unwary target to trip or fumble a spell, and more drastic alterations to the local flow of time can rend a target to shreds.
Spell Examples
- Commune with Ancestors
- Walk the ancient halls
- Dragon’s Dream (imperfect future prediction on a geological scale, visions are unconcerned with the lives of individual mortals)
- Identify Object
- Read object’s history
- Accelerate
- Slow
- Time stutter
- Time rend
- Think outside time
- Step outside time