The Nature of Magic/Text

"So just what is magic?" This is a question that has been asked innumerable times since its conception in the early ages of man. The wizards of Freeport believed all magic to stem from the Gods, indeed they could just as well have been called priests as wizards, seeing as how their every spell was in part a prayer. It is believed that the Iksar thought magic to be an innate part of every living creature, carried through their blood - it is well documented that Iksar shamanism commonly included blood sacrifices as part of the casting of complex spells!

A more popular theory that has gained ground in our homelands of Faydark is the idea that all magic is rooted in one of the four elements - Air, Fire, Earth, and Water - and either composed of a single element, or a mix of several, even all four.

The truth is that the situation is the reverse. Magic is the origin of the elements. The source of magic, the chaotic nether that suffuses Elael, could be said to be a wellspring of pure, unrefined power. During the day, this power sweeps over Dalaya, breaking down into distinct components as it enters our atmosphere. The heavier, slower magic, potent but difficult to channel, suffuses the earth and the water, while the lighter fiercer magic is bound into the daylight and the wind, effectively forming the four elements as we know them. This is why all simpler spells correspond to an element - it is much simpler to draw only on a single source of magic than it is to weave them together, or even try to draw on all four. It could be speculated that if one could somehow cast a spell from outside of Dalaya's atmosphere, it would be a trivial matter to draw on the undivided forces present there, but such an endeavor is for all practical purposes impossible, and mere food for thought.