Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Non-Hârnworlds: Sorcery of Wyranth

There are a number of powerful sorcerous traditions in the World of Sorrows known as Disciplines. None of them ever reached the island of Wyranth in any force. While the East has seen the development of the ancient and powerful Disciplines of the Astrologers, Kharigenoi, Rûmiloi, Atriani, and powerful Ylonnic necromancers, the West has none of these learned claves.

However, there are generic hedge mages and necromancers who developed in the absence of any formal training in the Occulted Art. These folk are normally thought of as being better than physikers and leeches; they are wise and cunning-folk of the villages and towns who sometimes live beyond the bounds as outlaws.

Starsigns (as affecting mages born under them):
Strife
Law -- -3 to necromancer spells
Growth -- +3 to hedge wizard spells, -2 necromancer
Terror -- +2 to hedge wizard spells, -1 necromancer
Might -- +1 to hedge wizard spells, 0 necromancer
Greed -- 0 to hedge wizard spells, +1 necromancer
Fire -- -1 to hedge wizard spells, +2 necromancer
Shadow -- -2 to hedge wizard spells +3 to necromancer spells
Oration -- -3 to hedge wizard spells
Sky
Thunder
Anger

Skills
BOTH Necromancers and Hedge Wizards open Folklore/4
Hedge Wizards open Herblore/3, Agriculture/2, Animalcraft/1, Embalming/1, Foraging/3, Physician/2, Survival/4, Tracking/3
Necromancers open Herblore/2, Mental Conflict/5, Alchemy/3, Legerdemain/2, Foraging/1, Physician/4, Survival/1, Tracking/1

Necromancers
Necromancy, as it is known, is a parcel of magic that can be learned by any Discipline, just like the works of Hedge Magic. They are both founded on such universal principles that there is no need for specialized training. Necromancers are very common in the East, and almost universally Talented women. In the West, the term applies to much the same craft, but with a complete lack of Disciplines to train the young and Talented and apply the rigorous and misogynistic standard of men-only sorcery, there are both male and female necromancers. The only thing that distinguishes a Western necromancer from a hedge wizard is the field which they choose to focus their study. Because starsigns are aligned in an opposite fashion for necromantic magic, hedge wizards tend not to learn it, or to learn it in limited quantities.

Hedge Wizards
The difference between hedge magic and necromancy is that necromancy deals with the cold, otherworldy land of the dead (the World of Forms) and hedge magic deals with the vibrant, living world of the living (the World of Suffering). Hedge magic is usually focused on fields and crops, although sometimes it may also be used to cure fevers and disease.

Spell Lists
Both hedge wizards and necromancers may use the so-called grey magic from the Hârn books.

Necromancy
Azure Hand (Odvishe)
Breath of Dhivu (Odvishe)
Pall of Veshel (Odvishe)
Perfection of Sif (Savora)
Violet Eye (Savora)
Loth's Key (Savora)
Ordeal of Frida (Savora)
Spirit Block (Savora)
Jerila's Zone (Savora)
Carak's Ward (Savora)

Hedge Magic
Fyrvian spell-list for now

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