The New World

It has been years since the Spellplague transformed our world. Magic was different then, it was...kinder, and gentler. Many wielded it, for good or ill, but few of those survived its transformation. Our magic is wild and primal, unpredictable and unruly. And thus, it has been largely replaced with something more suitable to civilization.

This is an age of Artifice. Of course, only the most well-to-do enjoy its boon, as is natural with all things. The void left by magic is quick to fill, but not so quick as to accommodate the lowest on the social ladder. Still, for those of means, this is an age of wonders. Who needs teleportation when one can ride the rails? Who needs a fireball when a gauntlet or cannon will serve just as well? Some even replace the ordinary with Artifice--the rich use it to light and warm their homes, to clean their rooms and serve their meals. Wizards are an anachronism; Artificers are the saviors of civilization, and they're paid to match.

Though it's hardly fair to say magic has faded; nothing could be further from the truth. But it has gone to ground, and keeps to itself. Gone are the days when a city wasn't a city without a few dozen wizard's towers. These days, wizards keep far away from other people, lest their delicate magics come unbound. The old magic, of course--the gods and their prophets--will never truly die. But temples sell a different brand of magic these days, an ephemereal purity of spirit that eludes the cosmopolitan masses. What they sell, no Artificer, nor Engineer, nor even a Wizard can provide--the divine remains inscrutable, if just a few notches shy these days of useful magic.

Unless, of course, you're speaking of the Saints. Those precious few who walk the earth, spreading their god's word, working miracles for everyday folk. They are less welcome in the big cities, for they disrupt order too much. But their power is obvious, and difficult to compete with, even using Artifice. It's no wonder they attract such followings. It's unfair to say that religion has waned--it merely moved away from the big city temples for greener pastures.

For those who would still practice magic, there are a few paths. Perhaps the most common is the Wild Mage: ever so common during the Spellplague, and less so now, these are simply mages in the traditional sense, who brave the volatile currents of magic to weave spells much as they might have in the past, but with the ever-present danger of their spell going wildly out of control. Some strange few learn to wield this chaos as a weapon, never quite knowing how their magic will behave, but directing its effect in the desired direction.

More mysterious are the Shadow Weavers. These darklings claim to weild and older and purer form of magic, one that is not prone to wild surges, for it is subtle by nature. It is not well suited to grandiose displays such as fireballs and walls of prismatic light, but it works well for occult magic, such as twisting the mind, or manipulating life energy. Still, it comes at a terrible cost, for each time they touch it, they exchange a bit of their humanity; the Shadow, it seems, is not readily compatible with mortal-kind.

There are, of course, the ancient sources of magic, tried-and-true. Those who consort with demons and other outsiders have seen nary a flutter in their currency of magic; the outer planes are alive and well, and their denizens every bit as potent, if not more so. Their was always a wild and dangerous magic, so perhaps they were more well-suited to this modern reality. And so too are the hedge wizards and witches of the world, who work with blood, bone, and things of flesh: these haven't gone anywhere, and perhaps it is their physical reality that helps anchor their magic against the mood swings of the world.

Then there is a strange new breed, the Etherealist: those who eschew the natural ebb and flow of magical power, unreliable as it is, and use common sources of power for Artifice, but their own innate magical ability to shape that power, rather than a focusing crystal. This blend of Artifice and magic has proven more reliable than the traditional approach, but some wonder, if you're just going to rely on Artifice anyway, why not just use Artifice directly? Still, the Etherealists can direct the magic of a Power Crystal in a million more ways than are known to modern Artifice, so perhaps they aren't so foolish. Still, their power seems to take a toll on the mind, in a way even old-fashioned magic doesn't.