Magic System: Core Concepts and Schools

This document is part of the worldbuilding behind the tales I'm creating. It outlines the fundamental principles of magic, its limitations, and the various schools through which it can be wielded.

I. Basics of Magic

What is Magic?

Magic is a poorly understood force that can be shaped by the will of a sentient being. Casters manipulate Mana through gestures, words, or focused thought patterns to achieve specific effects. While "rituals" (gestures, words) aren't strictly necessary for Mana manipulation, they aid the caster in achieving precision. The most important factor, however, is the caster’s mind-patterns and their alignment with the spell.

What is Mana?

Mana permeates everything: people, objects, and places. Casters typically use their own Mana for spells, but ambient Mana can influence this.

Mana-Rich Areas: Improve Mana regeneration.
Depleted Areas: Hinder Mana regeneration.

Learning and Improving Magic

Anyone can learn to cast spells, much like learning any skill.

Learning Methods: Solo study, classes, or private tutoring.
Spell Variation: Spells vary by target, intention, and Mana flow. Some are instant, while others may take days to cast.
Improving Mana Reserves: Similar to physical training, it involves:
- Meditation
- Proper nutrition or potions
- Good rest

Magic in Society

Rules regarding magic vary: some places have strict laws, religious controls, or enforcers, while others are more permissive or even celebrate it. Spirit magic and soul manipulation are generally taboo, with harsh punishments for those who practice them.

What People Think of Casters

Views vary widely: some see casters as heroes, others as weird and risky, and some treat magic as just another part of life.

Natural Talent Exists

Some individuals are born with larger Mana pools, akin to athletes with superior genetics. Training helps, but some start with a natural advantage.

Spells Are Craft and Tradition

Spells blend art, science, and traditional methods. Many are openly shared, but crafting scrolls or enchanted items takes time and Mana. Magic cannot be mass-produced like mundane goods.

No Direct Tech Magic

Magic does not directly affect machines or technology. While objects can be influenced, devices like gears and circuits remain immune, except when minds are involved.

Spell Duration Varies

Some spells have permanent effects (e.g., healed wounds, grown plants), while others fade over time (e.g., force fields) and require recasting.

Backfires Happen

A failed spell usually just fizzles. However, a severe failure can have nasty effects:

A healing spell causing harm.
A mind spell causing migraines.
A growth spell killing the plant.
Large groups with immense Mana can cause massive disasters if rituals go wrong.

Magical Objects and Items

Wands and Staves

These are common magical objects that aid a caster's focus and Mana flow, though they are not strictly required for casting.

Mana Storage: While a caster's body holds their Mana, it can also be stored in carefully crafted objects.
Mana Regeneration: Some crafted objects can regenerate Mana over time.

Elixirs

Brews made from mundane ingredients that restore a person's Mana reserves.

Creation: Require correct recipes, ingredients, and preparation.
Consumption: Once consumed, the caster's body converts the elixir into usable Mana.
Overuse Risk: Excessive consumption can lead to intoxication, similar to other abused substances.
Common Brews (Coffee, Tea): Restore 1 to 3 Mana (depending on quality).
Special Brews (Rare Herbs): Restore up to 5 Mana.
Concentrates/Isolates: Currently, no effective concentrates or isolates exist.

Scrolls, Potions, Glyphs

Objects that house a spell in a hair-trigger manner.

Creation: The caster must know the spell and have the necessary Mana to imbue it into the object.
Casting Time: Requires 10 minutes per Mana used to cast the spell into the object.
Usage: Can be used by any person.
- Scrolls: Read to activate.
- Potions: Drank to activate.
- Glyphs: Pressed to activate.
Consumption: Once used, the object is consumed by the spell and dissipates into the environment's Mana.

Enchanted Objects

Objects with a specific spell housed within, which can be cast multiple times or be permanent.

Multiple Uses: Uses the skill of the original creator but the Mana of the current caster.
Imbuing Time: Can take days to months, depending on the caster's skill and the desired spell's complexity.
Example: A simple low-skill healing spell imbued by an amateur might take a week; a master could do it in a day.
Destruction: If the object is broken or loses 25% of its mass, it is considered destroyed and ceases to function.

Permanent Objects

Objects with a permanent effect, such as a forcefield.

Mana Cost: Requires 10 times the Mana needed to cast the spell.
Mana Imbuement Rate: Energy can be dumped into the object at a rate of the caster's maximum Mana per hour.
Duration: Longer works can be held for days.
Mana Seal: A special seal is placed on the object to prevent Mana from escaping.

II. Magic Limits

Caster Limits

Mana Reserves: A person has a finite amount of Mana available in their body.

Voids: 0 Mana
Untuned: 1 to 5 Mana
Common: 5 to 10 Mana
Everyday Caster: 10 to 15 Mana
Top Trained Caster: 15 to 20 Mana

Mana Recovery:

Rest: 1 Mana per hour of rest (includes sleep and light, low-attention activities like watching a series or reading).
Active Meditation: 1 to 5 Mana per hour, depending on meditation skill.

Skill: Magic is a skill like carpentry or music. Practice and study lead to greater skill. Becoming a master of all spells is as difficult as mastering multiple complex real-world skills simultaneously.

Casting:

Mind-Pattern: The caster's mind-pattern is paramount. Gestures, sounds, objects, and places can help achieve this, but are not strictly necessary.
Skilled Casters: Only the most skilled can cast without gestures or words.
Concentration: Casting is difficult in distracting or physically shaking environments, easily breaking concentration.
Personalization: Gestures and words for the same spell can vary wildly, even among students of the same teacher, as they are personal aids to enter a specific mind-pattern.
Spell Focus: Any object can be a spell focus. These are personal items used by casters to achieve the necessary mind-pattern for a spell.
Enchantments: A spell focus doesn't require enchantments and usually doesn't transfer its effects if lent.
Common Forms: Staves and wands, often made from wood, are common. Low-skilled casters use them frequently, and even masters may use them for particularly challenging spells.

Mana Stones

Objects capable of storing Mana, prepared by a caster.

Preparation: Requires 1 hour per point of Mana to prepare the object. This can be done multiple times.
Storage Capacity:
- Common Objects (Dolls, Stones): Up to 5 Mana.
- Crafted, Dedicated Objects: Up to 20 Mana.
- Special Objects (Expensive Materials, Expert Craftsmanship): Up to 100 Mana.
Refill & Recharge:
- Direct Filling: A caster can directly dump their own Mana into a Mana Stone to fill it up to its limit.
- Passive Recharge: To enable or improve a Mana Stone's passive recharge rate, an 8-hour ritual is required. Performing this ritual initially allows the stone to passively recover 1 Mana per day from ambient Mana. Subsequent 8-hour rituals can further improve the daily passive recharge rate by an additional point per ritual. The maximum daily passive recharge rate for a stone cannot exceed its total storage capacity. During passive recovery, stones must be kept at least 2 meters apart from other recharging stones, resting mages, or Mana-draining devices.
Usage: A caster can use multiple Mana Stones to cast a spell. Those need to be at a touch range of the caster.

Mana Reservoir

An airtight contraption with a Mana converter at the top that converts donated Mana from a caster into liquid condensed Mana.

Properties: Liquid Mana is highly volatile and toxic, and must be kept at 5 atm.
Container Breach: If the container breaks, the Mana evaporates into the environment and dissipates within minutes.
Refill: Any person can donate Mana. Each point converts to 100 ml of Mana. Cannot be refilled by any other method.
Storage: Bulky but excellent for storage, limited only by its physical liquid storage capability.

Rituals

Lengthy ceremonies involving many participants for larger magical effects.

Participants: One or more casters who know the spell can participate to cast and stabilize it. Other people can participate silently to donate Mana.
Mana Sources: Any number of Mana Stones and Reservoirs can be employed.
Mana Draw: Every caster can draw up to their maximum Mana per hour into the spell, from their own Mana or any present available sources.
Duration: Rituals can be held indefinitely, with participants and Mana sources exchanging.
Dangers: Exceptionally dangerous if the spell gets out of control. Risks include premature casting or a Mana explosion, depending on casters' concentration and skill.
Disruption: If disrupted by an external force (e.g., raid, flash flood) that breaks concentration, it risks a similar failure (miscast or detonation).
Attention: Rituals draw significant attention due to people movement and local Mana disturbances (sparks, lights, strong winds, weather effects).

III. Schools of Magic

Magic is categorized into five main schools, each defined by its target and Mana flow.

A. White School

Casters channel Mana into a target to mend, restore, enhance, or protect, typically focusing on living creatures. The guiding mind-pattern is that of the giver: to nurture, to protect, to restore.

1. Healing

Covers spells that return a body to its natural state, closing wounds, easing fatigue, and regenerating lost parts. Cures diseases and neutralizes poisons.

Context: An 80 kg human has approximately 8 Life. Animals have 1 Life per 10 kg of mass. Injury reference table:

Injury	Life Cost	Description
Scratch, Bruise, Surface Cut	0	Cosmetic, no real impact.
Clean Cut (shallow)	1	Bleeding but no deep tissue damage.
Deep Cut (muscle/tendon hit)	2–3	May impair function.
Small Bone Fracture	2	Fingers, forearm, minor breaks.
Large Bone Fracture	3–4	Arm, leg breaks with swelling.
Shattered Femur / Pelvis	5	Massive trauma, can’t move.
Organ Damage / Stab to Gut	4–6	Internal bleeding.
Severed Limb	5–6	Blood loss, shock, disability.
Crushed Rib Cage / Heart Blow	8+	Likely fatal.
Head Trauma (severe)	6–10	Brain damage, coma.

Healing:

Cost: 1 Mana per second.
Effect: Recovers 1 Life per second from any creature. Mends skin, tissue, and bones.

Aura Healing:

Effect: Creates a healing aura for 1 hour. Creatures in the area heal 1 Life per minute.
Caster Requirement: Caster must concentrate and not be interrupted.
Cost: 1 Mana per radius meter per hour of concentration.
Scalability: Duration and area can be improved by multiplying the Mana cost.

Regenerate:

Effect: Regrows missing body parts at 100g per hour. Can recover organ function and blood loss at the same rate. Severed limbs may take days. Cannot restore life to the dead.
Cost: 2 Mana per hour of concentration.

Stasis:

Effect: Puts a willing or unconscious creature into a magical coma. Prevents continual damage from hunger, disease, poison, or blood loss.
Cost: 3 Mana to cast and to dispel.

Cure:

Effect: Supercharges a creature's immune system to neutralize toxins, diseases, and pathogens.
Cost: 3 Mana per hour of concentration.
Duration: Each hour of casting equates to a week of normal recovery. Recovery time varies by person and affliction.
Example: A single application can cure the Flu in an hour for a common person.

2. Alter Body

Enhances the target's physical or mental abilities.

Boost Strength:

Effect: Excites muscular pathways, enhances calcium ion flow, reinforces muscles.
Increase: +25% per hour for each 1 Mana.
Scalability: Duration and effect can be improved by multiplying the Mana cost.

Boost Speed:

Effect: Accelerates synaptic transmission and motor response loops.
Increase: +25% per hour for each 1 Mana.
Scalability: Duration and effect can be improved by multiplying the Mana cost.

Boost Focus:

Effect: Suppresses external stimuli and stimulates prefrontal cortex focus.
Increase: +25% per hour for each 1 Mana.
Scalability: Duration and area can be improved by multiplying the Mana cost.

Boost Stamina:

Effect: Optimizes mitochondrial output and slows lactic acid buildup.
Duration: Target cannot tire for 1 hour per Mana.
Scalability: Duration can be improved by increasing the Mana cost.

3. Force Fields

Mana shaped into a protective layer around a target (creature or object), absorbing damage.

Context: 5K Joules equates to 10 9mm rounds.

Ward:

Effect: Creates a barrier that soaks 5K Joules of damage.
Duration: Lasts 1 hour per Mana.
Scalability: Duration and resistance can be improved by multiplying the Mana cost.
Example: A Ward lasting 3 hours and resisting 20 KJ would cost 12 Mana.

Armor:

Effect: Enhances a Ward by passively reducing 1,000 Joules of damage per hour per Mana.
Limitation: Must be cast alongside a Ward. When the Ward is depleted, the Armor ends.

B. Green School

Channels Mana to influence plants, beasts, and the environment. Often slow to cast, drawing energy from the surroundings. The core mind-pattern is that of the listener — to observe, understand, and empathize.

1. Plants

Affects plants and fungi, enabling rapid growth, increased yield, toxin secretion, or creation of new magical species. Casters can also read information from plants or regions.

Detect & Identify Plants:

Effect: Reveals and identifies plants.
Range: 10m radius per hour per Mana spent.
Scalability: Duration and area can be improved by increasing the Mana cost.

Grow Plant:

Effect: Speeds up growth of 1m³ of plants by 1 day in one minute.
Cost: 1 Mana per day of growth accelerated.
Scalability: Increase Mana to expand area or speed.

Bountiful Yield:

Effect: Increases yield of 1m³ of plants by +25%.
Cost: 1 Mana.
Requirement: Must be cast during the germination phase.
Duration: Lasts until harvest.
Scalability: Effect and area can be improved by increasing the Mana cost.

Fertilize:

Effect: Improves soil quality, plant health, and disease resistance for 100m² of plants.
Cost: 1 Mana.
Casting Time: Takes 1 hour.
Duration: Lasts 1 month.

Change Plant:

Effect: Alters traits of a 1m³ plant patch.
Cost: 2 Mana per trait changed.
Duration: Lasts until the plant dies or is harvested.
Requirement: Can only be cast on seeds.
Changeable Traits:
- Chemical properties (e.g., medicinal oil, poison, sweetener)
- Yield (+25%)
- Nitrogen fixation (improves nearby soil over time)
- Disease resistance
- Drought resistance
- Growth speed (+25%)

2. Animals

Spells tied to beasts. Allows tracking, reading memories, remote viewing, or calling for help. Obedience is earned via Mana attunement, not control; mistreatment severs the bond.

Detect & Identify Animal:

Effect: Reveals and identifies animals.
Range: 10m radius per hour per Mana spent.
Scalability: Duration and area can be improved by increasing the Mana cost.

Bound:

Effect: Creates a telepathic link with one creature, allowing understanding and communication.
Cost: 1 Mana per creature.
Duration: Lasts 24 hours.
Range: 1 km (extendable with skill up to 10 km).

Command Beast:

Effect: Temporarily commands a bonded creature as if fully trained.
Cost: 1 Mana.
Duration: Lasts 1 hour.

Swarm:

Effect: Gives full control over 1m³ of insects or very small creatures.
Duration: Lasts 1 hour per Mana spent.

Passager:

Effect: Lets the caster see and feel everything a creature experiences.
Cost: 1 Mana per hour.
Range: 1 km (extendable with skill up to 10 km).

3. Weather

Quick spells for wind, fog, or toxic clouds. Greater spells bring rain, end droughts, or spark storms. Most powerful spells require days of attunement and can shift land (quakes, reshaping terrain).

Gust:

Effect: Summons a sudden blast of wind in a 5m cone.
Cost: 1 Mana for 40 km/h winds (staggers/knocks over light objects).
Scaling: Each additional 1 Mana adds +20 km/h (max 100 km/h).
- 40 km/h (1 Mana): Blows leaves, sways branches, unsteady footing.
- 60 km/h (2 Mana): Knocks down small creatures, unbalances people.
- 80–100 km/h (3–4 Mana): Hurls objects, slams doors, can blow people off their feet.

Fog:

Effect: Fills a 20m radius area with dense, obscuring mist.
Cost: 1 Mana.
Duration: Lasts 10 minutes per Mana.
Scalability: Duration and area can be improved by increasing the Mana cost.

Toxic Cloud:

Effect: Creates a 5m radius cloud of choking, low-grade poison. Deals mild damage and hinders breathing.
Cost: 1 Mana.
Duration: Lasts 10 minutes per Mana. Dissipates faster in wind or open areas.
Scalability: Duration and area can be improved by increasing the Mana cost.

Rain:

Effect: Calls down steady rain over a 1 km radius. Useful for ending droughts, watering crops, or dousing flames.
Cost: 3 Mana.
Casting Time: 1 hour.
Duration: Lasts 1 hour. May fail if weather conditions are unfavorable.
Scalability: Duration and area can be improved by increasing the Mana cost.

Tornado:

Effect: Creates a powerful whirlwind in a 30m area.
Cost: 10 Mana for a weak (EF0) tornado.
Scaling: Each additional 5 Mana increases intensity by 1 EF level (up to EF3 max).
Duration: Lasts 10 minutes.
Requirements: Unstable and hard to control. Requires open terrain and at least moderate wind conditions.

Move Earth:

Effect: Shifts up to 10m³ of soil or loose rock.
Cost: 5 Mana.
Speed: 1 hour per 10m³.

Quake:

Effect: Triggers a localized tremor in a 100m radius.
Cost: 15 Mana for a weak quake (Magnitude 3).
Scaling: Each additional 5 Mana increases magnitude by +1 (up to Magnitude 6).
Casting Time: Requires 1 hour per 10 Mana used.
- Magnitude 3 (15 Mana): Rattles furniture, cracks glass, unsteady footing.
- Magnitude 4 (20 Mana): Cracks walls, topples light structures, opens small fissures.
- Magnitude 5 (25 Mana): Destroys weak buildings, collapses tunnels, causes rockslides.
- Magnitude 6 (30 Mana): Major devastation, ground splits wide, landslides possible.

C. Red School

Focused on raw energy generation, producing spectacular effects by burning Mana. The caster gains no protection and must avoid being caught in their own power. Its core mind-pattern is a fierce blend of deep emotion.

1. Fire

Raw Mana ignited into intense heat and flame, shaped into bolts, balls, blazing walls, or explosions. Fast, destructive, and adaptable. Driven by fierce rage, burning lust, and relentless fury.

Fire:

Effect: Creates a contained fireball in the caster’s hand.
Casting: Instant using Mana, or charged over time using seconds.
Scaling: Each 1 Mana or 1 second increases potency by one level or adds +1m to the explosion radius.
- Level 1: Second-degree burns, chars flesh.
- Level 2: Serious burns, melts soft metals.
- Level 3: Explodes outward, breaks wood.
- Level 4: Engulfs targets, kills unarmored.
- Level 5: Armor-penetrating, scorches ground.

Shape Fire:

Effect: Move 10m or extinguish up to 10m³ of fire.
Cost: 1 Mana.
Scalability: Movement speed and area can be improved by increasing the Mana cost.

2. Ice

Mana used to rapidly lower the temperature of a target, freezing nearly anything. Appears as a bluish-white thread from caster to target. Driven by quiet resolve, bitterness and melancholy.

Freeze:

Effect: Sends a bluish-white thread of magic to rapidly chill a single target (creature or 1m³ of volume).
Cost: 1 Mana to initiate.
Scaling: Gains +1 potency level per second while the thread remains unbroken and line of sight is maintained.
- Level 1: Frostbite on skin, freezes a small object (cup of water).
- Level 2: Freezes limbs, cracks wood, brittle metal parts.
- Level 3: Encases target in ice (limb or small creature), stops most biological functions.
- Level 4: Snap-freezes a humanoid target’s entire body, internal rupture risk.
- Level 5: Shatters frozen targets, instant cryo-death, can destroy metal/stone with expansion.

3. Electricity

Creates an electric potential between the caster and the target. Extremely fast to cast but drains more Mana. Driven by recklessness, impatience, excitement, and raw energy.

Lightning:

Effect: Creates an instant, shaped electrical bolt that travels up to 10m in a line. Caster can bend the bolt freely within range.
Cost: 1 Mana to cast.
Scaling: Each additional 1 Mana adds +10m of range or +1 potency level.
- Level 1: Jolts a creature, stuns lightly, singes skin/hair.
- Level 2: Strong shock, knocks back small targets, can disrupt spells or tools.
- Level 3: Burns flesh, stuns large creatures, can arc to nearby targets.
- Level 4: Causes muscle spasms, unconsciousness, lights fires.
- Level 5: Lethal discharge, chars flesh, destroys unshielded tech.

4. Telekinesis

Easy to learn, hard to master. Caster can move objects or creatures with precision and speed depending on skill. Driven emotions are patience and serenity.

Move:

Effect: Creates a telekinetic force that moves up to 25 kg at 5 m/s.
Cost: 1 Mana per hour, plus 1 Mana for each additional 25 kg.

Levitate:

Effect: Caster hovers in the air, moving at 5 m/s.
Cost: 1 Mana per hour.
Scaling: Each additional 1 Mana increases speed by +5 m/s.

Throw/Pull:

Effect: Exerts an instant force of 1 kJ on a target.
Cost: 1 Mana per 1 kJ.

D. Blue School

Shapes unseen forces—thoughts, perception, and the very flow of magic. The core mind-pattern is equal parts keen observation and subtle manipulation, weaving Mana’s threads to bend reality to the caster’s will.

1. Mind

Allows glimpses into thoughts, planting compulsions, and full control of sentient creatures.

Detect Mind:

Effect: Reveals and identifies minds.
Range: 10m radius per hour per Mana spent.
Scalability: Duration and area can be improved by increasing the Mana cost.

Telepathy:

Effect: Enables understanding and communication with one mind.
Cost: 1 Mana per mind.
Duration: Lasts 24 hours.
Range: 1 km (extendable with skill up to 10 km).

Mind Probe:

Effect: After establishing a telepathic link, the caster asks questions. Answers are truthful, but the target can resist each question.
Cost: 1 Mana.
Duration: Up to 1 hour or until target resists successfully.

Compulsion:

Effect: Caster issues one simple, instant command (e.g., stop, don’t lie, run). Target obeys if resistance fails.
Cost: 1 Mana.

Erase Memory:

Effect: Erases up to 1 hour of target’s recent or probed memories. Takes 1 minute of concentration.
Cost: 1 Mana.

Mind Control:

Effect: Caster fully controls a creature’s actions using their own skills and memories, sensing everything the target feels. The caster cannot access the target’s skills or memories.
Resistance: Target can resist every minute.
Risks: Any injury to the target risks breaking concentration. Caster becomes helpless and unaware of surroundings during control.
Cost: 1 Mana per hour.
Range: 1 km (extendable with skill up to 10 km).

2. Illusion

Affects minds by projecting false sensations (images, sounds, smells). Advanced illusions can mimic living beings and respond to stimuli, but do not fool machines or appear in recordings.

Context: Illusions only affect minds and are visible up to 100m.

Static Illusion:

Effect: Creates a static illusion (image, sound, or smell).
Coverage: 1m³ per hour.
Cost: 1 Mana.
Scalability: Duration and area can be improved by increasing the Mana cost.

Moving Illusion:

Effect: Same as Static, but illusion can move up to 10 m/s.
Cost: 2 Mana per 1m³ per hour.
Scalability: Duration and area can be improved by increasing the Mana cost.

Reactive Illusion:

Effect: Same as Moving, but illusion reacts to others' actions (can fight, bleed, talk following predefined commands).
Cost: 3 Mana per 1m³ per hour.
Scalability: Duration and area can be improved by increasing the Mana cost.

3. Metamagic

Manipulates the nature of magic directly. Allows dispelling spells, shielding areas/individuals from magic, and siphoning Mana.

Detect Magic:

Effect: Reveals and identifies all magic. Can pinpoint school and spell cast.
Range: 10m radius per Mana spent.
Scalability: Duration and area can be improved by increasing the Mana cost.

Dispel Magic:

Effect: Neutralizes a currently active spell.
Cost: 1 Mana per spell.
Focus Time: Requires 1 second of focus for every Mana the original spell used.

Counterspell:

Effect: Instantly cancels a spell being cast.
Cost: Half the Mana of the incoming spell (rounded up).

Magic Protection:

Effect: Makes target immune to incoming spells unless caster's skill exceeds protector's. Blocks targeted effects (Detect Magic, Healing, Mind Control).
Limitation: Area spells (explosions, storms) still affect the protected target normally.
Cost: 1 Mana per hour.

Syphon Mana:

Effect: Drains Mana from a creature to the caster or the environment.
Effectiveness (Mana Drained):
- Novice: 1 Mana
- Professional: 2 Mana
- Skilled: 3 Mana
- Master: 5 Mana

E. Black School

Specializes in drawing energy and entities from beyond, twisting Mana to command death and decay. The core mind-pattern is the taker: to draw power, to pull threads from what was and is, to harvest strength from death and entropy.

1. Spirits

Grants the ability to see and commune with spirits. Allows tethering a soul to its corpse to raise a mindless undead, or seizing control of undead raised by others. Spirits are normally invisible and intangible, but if someone attempts to control them and fails, they may manifest a magical aspect, drawing Mana from the environment to do so.

Detect Spirit:

Effect: Reveals and identifies all spirits.
Range: 10m radius per hour per Mana spent.
Scalability: Duration and area can be improved by increasing the Mana cost.

Deathspeak:

Effect: Enables understanding and communication with one spirit.
Cost: 1 Mana per spirit.
Duration: Lasts 24 hours.

Create Zombie:

Effect: Binds a soul to its corpse, reanimating it as a zombie under the caster’s control. Obeys simple commands. For the spirit, this is a torment. A waking imprisonment in rotting flesh.
Cost: 5 Mana.
Duration: Lasts until destroyed.

Control Undead:

Effect: Takes control of an existing undead creature not created by the caster.
Resistance: Resisted based on the original caster’s skill.
Cost: 1 Mana.

2. Corrupt

Twists Mana to sap vitality, wilting plants, decaying objects, spreading poison or disease. Can afflict living beings or place lasting curses.

Wither:

Effect: Rapidly ages or deteriorates a creature, object, or up to 1m³ of matter.
Levels:
- Level 1 (1 Mana): Wilts plants, rusts metal slightly, causes discomfort.
- Level 2–3 (2–3 Mana): Causes cracks, brittleness, or pain; weakens structure or flesh.
- Level 4–5 (4–5 Mana): Rots wood, crumbles stone, causes serious flesh decay or internal damage.

Corrupt:

Effect: Inflicts disease on a living target or introduces critical faults into objects (e.g., brittle iron, rotting wood).
Cost: 3 Mana and 1 minute of concentration.
Duration: Lasts until the target resists.

Curse:

Effect: Gradually drains the target’s vitality, focus, or strength over time. Effects stack slowly, not instantly deadly.
Cost: 3 Mana and 1 minute of concentration.
Duration: Lasts until the target succeeds resistance or dies.

3. Drain

Channels the target’s life force into the caster, healing wounds or restoring vitality. Prolonged use can extend life unnaturally, but leaves the user pale, gaunt, and otherworldly.

Drain:

Effect: Steals 1 Life from a target to restore either 1 Life or 1 Mana. Also cures fatigue and slows aging.
Cost: 1 Mana per Life drained.

Consequences of Overuse (Mana used on Drain in last 6 months):

0–25 Mana (Eerie): No physical change, but radiates a chilling aura.
25–50 Mana (Vampiric): Pale skin, red eyes, growing thirst. Harder to resist the urge to drain.
50–100 Mana (Ghoul): Hollow eyes, corpse-like features. May drain instinctively.
100–200 Mana (Gaunt): Twisted limbs, claws, and fangs. Craves the living and loses control.