Stormwind Circle Mage Tome: Divination

This chapter of the Stormwind Circle Mage Tome provides a definition of Divination and a listing of its related spells.

Acknowledgements: Archmage Hraglof Firebane, Professor of the Arcane Arts.

What is Divination?
Divination is the practice of seeking knowledge of the unknown through use of the Arcane. It is arguably the most ambigious form of magic within the seven schools.

A diviner is one who specializes in the acquisition of knowledge by magical means. The divinists tap into their pool of mana to interperet spiritual or cursed dreams, see blots of land hundreds of miles away, or even peer into different worlds or times. Few Magi have ever become extremely fluent in Divination, aside from the great Medivh, who was regarded as the master of the field.

Scrying
Scrying is regarded as the most common, and powerful, incantation associated with Divination. Scrying is a spell that uses a translucent or reflective surface to peer into a different area, time, or even a completely diffferent plane of existance.

Those more experienced with the spell are able to peer miles and miles away, track missing person(s) through a totem, and in extremely rare cases, see into a different time.

Dream Interpretation
The mind is most vulnerable during its period of rest; when one sleeps. During this time, foreign entities are able to tap into ones thought-pattern and alter it as they wish. Dream Interpretation uses the Arcane energies to try and decipher these tampered thoughts.

A diviner would first draw Arcane energies on the subject, creating a brief protrayal of the dreams contents. The diviner would then string together key images from the dream to try and interperet its true meaning.

Sense Life
Tells the caster if there is any life in the subject area, and gives a general impression (if the caster is skilled) of what kind. Caster can also specify he is looking for a specific sort of life; plants, elves, redheaded girls, or a named person who the caster knows.

Can be used on a person to check whether a target is undead or not, because the undead aren't registered by this spell. Thus, a target being not registered as "living" by this spell is either an undead or a construct or a really bad illusion.

Comprehend Language
By focusing one's mind on the tone of voice and gestures of a speaker, a mage can comprehend exactly what his target is saying through the arcane.

On the same note, the most skilled diviners can comprehend text written in unknown languages through the same arcane focus.

Truthsayer
Through mental focus and picking up on physical cues, a mage can tell whether a subject is lying or not.

This spell may be cast in two ways:

(a) to tell whether the subject has told any lies in the last five minutes; (b) to tell whether the last thing the subject said was a lie.

The spell may also give an indication of how great the lie is, if it is indeed a lie.

Tools of the Diviner
A true diviner would always carry with them a special, personal item known as a totem. This totem can be used for the diviner to decipher when they are in the real, physical plane, rather than an alternate one. This totem would hold special value, so the diviner would always know if something was out of place.

Another special tool would be a sort of mirror, or bowl, used for scrying. This item would need to be reflective in order for the diviner to accurately depict the time or plane they are attempting to peer into.