Stormwind Circle Mage Tome: Channeling Magic

This chapter of the Stormwind Circle Mage Tome serves as a guide to the sources of magical power and the methods of channeling them.

Acknowledgements: Archmage Hraglof Firebane, Professor of Arcane Arts.

Introduction
In the wide world of Azeroth, there are many sources that mages may draw from to power their spells. While some occur in nature, others can be crafted or even tapped from one's own body. Some of the various sources of magic will be explained in detail in the following pages.

Mana, the Bodily Essence
The most straightforward and reliable source of magic is from one's own body, or essence. Mages have come to recognize this essence as "Mana." Whether it be the heat generated, the water you drank hours ago, or even the arcane properties of your very life force, with training, your body can sustain more spells than one would think.

If you use your mana to cast spells, be certain that you drink water and eat frequently! Many a mage have passed out from overdrawing from their body.

Mana Potions
Some of the plants of Azeroth have pure arcane essence in their leaves - Kingsblood and Stranglekelp being the most widespread in Azeroth.

Alchemists can brew these plants into refined mana potions that quickly replenish the magical life essences mages draw from their bodies to cast arcane spells, allowing them to cast spells that would have otherwise drained their reserves of magic.

Reagents
Instead of drawing the essence from his own body, a mage could draw from the features of his environment. One can draw a water spell from a nearby stream, or even a fire spell from the fireplace of a nearby inn.

Some spells cannot be cast without special reagents. The prepared mage brings with him reagents of several types so that he is always ready to cast powerful spells when the need arises.

Common Reagents
Arcane Powder - Made from crushed mana gems, arcane powder is used for most conjuration spells.

Elemental Earth - Rock chunks that are among the remains of earth elementals can be used as a source for nature spells. Can be carried in your satchel.

Elemental Fire - Fire salts from the remains of fire elementals can be used as a source for potent fire spells. Store it in a fireproof bag.

Elemental Water - Enchanted water from the remains of water elementals can be used as a source for water or frost spells. It can also be used for scrying. Store it in a glass vial or jar.

Mana Gems - Conjured by mages, mana gems store raw arcane power that can be tapped into at any time.

Owl Feathers - Mages can draw the flying essense from owl feathers to power levitation spells.

Essence Casting
Essence casting is the method by which mages focus and draw from their own mana or reagents to power their spells.

Do NOT confuse essence casting with blood magic. While essence casting can draw from one's own reserves of arcane energy, it does not induce physical injury so much as it fatigues the caster. Blood magic require freshly drawn blood as a reagent, which obviously requires physical, bloody injury to the caster or a victim.

Ley Lines
Across the world there flow lines of power - patterns of magical energy that carry vitality of the lands of Azeroth through them, like blood vessels in a creature.

These lines of power are recognized subtly by every culture; the races of Azeroth identify them as those places overflowing with elemental power. These "Ley Lines" exist all over Azeroth, and are sources of deep and natural magic.

Eastern Kingdoms Ley Lines
Arcane - Under Dalaran and Quel'Thalas run ley lines of arcane power, from which the lands draw their magic. The sunwell rests atop an arcane ley line on the isle of Quel'Danas.

Fire - Found deep in the Searing Peak in Redridge Mountains is the ley line of flame and fire resistance.

Motion - In a series of intricate canyons in the badlands, the ley line of motion lends speed of movement.

Shielding - The Great Bulwarks near Grim Batol is the location of the ley line of protective wards and armor.

Striking - The ley line that runs beneath Blackrock Mountain increases the martial prowess of the casters - a useful boon for battle mages.

Wind - The ley line that follows the mountains of Stormwind is the source of wind from which the kingdom recieved its name. It also allows casters to unfailingly predict the weather one day in advance.

Kalimdor Ley Lines
Awareness - On the peak of Mount Farview in the Stonetalon Mountains is a ley line that amplifies the senses - often tapped into for scrying.

Restoration - In Moonglade and Mulgore lie two ley lines that increase resistance to poison and diseases and double the effectiveness of healing magic.

Stone - In the Stonetalon Mountains, a great maze of stone rests atop ley lines of resilience and earth magic.

Northrend Ley Lines
Frost - The ley line pattern of Frost is found in Northrend, in a vale of terrible, biting cold that is said to be the source of all cold in Azeroth.

Shadow - The ley line pattern of shadow runs through the dark caverns beneath Icecrown.

Wizards and Sorcerers
While Wizards undergo years of study and training to draw out and manipulate the energies that flow from ley lines through controlled processes, there are some who are born with the innate ability to use their very bodies as conduits for ley energies to pass through.

Many see sorcerers as vessels of potential demonic power. As raw ley line energies course through sorcerers, it attracts demons to our realm and corrupts the caster faster than drawing ley energies by controlled methods

Sorcerer Casting
Sorcerers have the ability to draw arcane energy directly into their bodies to redirect at will. Almost all sorcerers elect to cast their arcane energy through their hands.

It is extremely important that concentration is maintained while casting. Depending on the elment of magic you wield, cast a ward beforehand so that you do not scorch your hands with a fire spell or freeze them with a frost spell.

Channeling Implements
As mentioned before, wizards cannot channel the arcane directly through their bodies, as sorcerers can. They must use channeling implements to draw power from the various sources of magic, and redirect the magic at will.

Wands, staves, and orbs are all examples of channeling implements - crafted by enchanters to act as conduits for arcane magic. With practice, you can draw arcane essenses from the sources mentioned with your channeling implement.

Staves - The easiest channeling implement to work with, and arguably the most potent. Tipped with enchanted mana gems, you can readily aim your spell by pointing your staff in the direction you wish.

Wands - A lesser version of a stave, wands perform in the same fashion. However, they cannot cast as powerful of spells as staves.

Orbs - Only for the most experienced mages, they consist of huge volatile mana gems enchanted for potent spellcasting.

Rune Magic
Those who seek to understand and master runic power understand that the patterns formed by ley lines are important. These patterns, which resemble letters in a strange alphabet, are called runes.

When one copies a rune pattern onto a surface and empowers it with arcane magic, the rune will be charged with the rune's respective element or spell. A rune can be scribed well in advance and can be used when needed.

Scrolls of Power
One can scribe powerful runes onto vellum to create a scroll or 'glyph' that contains a spell that can be used at a later time.

Often penned with magical inks, scrolls of power are valuable tools to a mage. Instead of drawing from mana or one's own reagents, a scroll allows instant casting of a spell.

Counterspells
It is possible to cast any spell as a counterspell. By doing so, you are using the spell's energy to disrupt the casting of the same spell by another mage. Counterspells works even if one spell is divine and the other arcane.

To complete a counterspell, you must cast the correct spell. As a general rule, a spell can only counter itself. For example, a fireball spell can counter another fireball spell, but not any other spell, no matter how similar.