Magic

Anyone can technically learn ritual magic though their application may not be as remarkable as one with natural talent. It’s similar to how the learning of music; technically anyone can learn to play piano and with enough time, lessons and practice they might produce music. However that same music will not be the same as someone with natural talent.

Rituals
Rituals vary in degrees of difficulty both in their construction, materials and subject. Some rituals summon or banish things, others transform while others still connect or disconnect the intended targets. A tracking spell, for instance, is a ritual designed to connect a focus (typically something that can swing or move independently) to the target often through some intermediary component (name, hair, photograph, blood, etc.). The ritual will make the connection stronger when the items get closer (thus causing the focus to swing or move in the direction of the pull) and less strong as they move apart.

The difference between two practitioners casting the same ritual is all in the details. An amateur might be able to connect the focus to the target with only one element (physical component: hair/blood) a more skilled caster might also include the target’s name, a photograph of them, and might also use a map of the city to limit the possible locations (as opposed to anywhere on the globe). An expert caster might link all of the above mentioned and more but do so in a fraction of the time due to their understanding of how the ritual is constructed. They are in possession of the shortcuts and hacks that aren’t generally known among the more amateur crowd.

Those who practice Ritual Magic are sometimes called simply 'Ritualists'.

Spells and Tricks
Non-ritualized forms of magic, generally classified into either spells or tricks, are more immediate than the time-consuming and often materially expensive rituals. Both spells and, to a latter degree, tricks, are nearly immediate effect-based magic. You say a word, move your hands and something will happen - if it’s the right word, the right gesture, you’re able to tap into a power source to fuel it and have enough control not to blow yourself up in the process.


 * Tricks are those spells that can pass for what could be considered ‘stage magic’, those mortal feats that, while not apparently evident, have a basis in misdirection, manipulation, and mirrors. These range from whistling up a wind (breeze) to lighting a candle with a kiss to chilling a cup of water to fill it with icy chunks or even turning a lump of coal into a quartz crystal.


 * Spells tend to follow the base elements of the universe; earth, fire, water and air. Spells, however, can also involve forms of energy that exceed these base forms and include those involving raw kinetic force (shields, blasts, etc.), fusions of two or more elements (air and wind combining into deadly storms, fire and air fueling large explosive effects), or the more wild and difficult to manage...life. Life magic, the magic of living things, is a difficult subject to learn let alone master.

Most who have been able to gain access to spells and tricks are considered Hedge Wizards or a Hedger

Life Magic
Life magic might allow someone to transform their form into that of an animal, to move the life essence of one living form to another (similar to a blood transfusion but of raw life energy), to alter a life form’s growth cycle (growing a tree in a matter of days rather than years) or to blur two different forms together into an entirely new combination. As with other forms of magic, raw energy is changed into another form through the application of will, spoken words, gestures, etc. Raw energy can become fire, wind, etc. With life energy, one can not simply create life where there wasn’t life. They can, however, encourage its growth where it has been diminished. Someone with life magic can not bring someone back from the dead. However, they can heal someone who is nearly dead through the liberal use of life energy.

Life energy almost always involves the sacrifice of one life (or more) to fuel the effects. This may take the form of ending the life of the target so that their life energy can be funneled directly into the intended effect. This is a very crude and often simplistic approach to the field whereas masters in this type of magic can draw small amounts of life energy from multiple sources, simultaneously so as not to permanently harm any singular individual. Life energy is an incredibly potent source and is often used to add additional fuel to complex rituals where the intended effect would exceed the capacity of the caster or casters.

Fuel
Most starting practitioners will often draw upon their own life force (or the life forces of others) to cast rituals and tricks. Many a dabbler has had to be rushed to the hospital because they tried to cast a ‘real spell’ and only had their own life force to serve as fuel.

Using one’s own life force as fuel leaves them tired, exhausted, susceptible to illness, pale, gaunt, bruised and possibly injured depending on the amount of energy consumed. Recovering from the casting might take days, weeks or even months without additional assistance to replenish the life force that was consumed.

This has caused many a new caster to enlist the use of compatriots who can each contribute a portion of their own life energy into the effect rather than relying solely upon a single caster’s reserve.