Ophion began a long speech. He was used to this question...
"Magic is the practice of energy manipulation in order to achieve a desired result. The kinds of energy manipulated are many, but the most common kinds are the four elements, astral magic, magics of life and death, divine magic, psionic magic, and ethereal magic. So, in short, magic is the manipulation of energy. A practitioner of magic is called a mage."
"I'll explain the most common types of magic, but are many, many more out there. The most common kind of magic is elemental, and this means earth, air, fire, and water. Earth magic tends to be defensive, air magic is usually enhancing and offensive, fire magic is mostly offensive, and water magic is usually healing and enhancing. Astral magic is considered to be the purest form of magic out there, as it is the manipulation of pure magical energy, also known as arcana. Life and death magic are fairly self-explanatory; one is mostly related to healing, the other is mostly related to killing and raising the undead. Divine magic is the use of spells granted by a deity to a cleric, usually related to healing, enhancing, and destroying evil forces. Psionic magic refers to spells related to the mind, like telekinetic spells, or the ability to read minds. Ethereal magic is tricky; it involves the manipulation of the powerful but highly unstable energy from the ethereal plane; I prefer to avoid its use."
"There are many different ways to go about using magic. For example, I am a wizard. My magical powers come from study and constant practice. For me, magic is a science, not an art. Wizardry is, in my estimation, the best school of magic, as it enables the practitioner to understand the power he is wielding, and to use the greatest variety of spells, as if I don't know a spell, I can simply learn it."
"My wife is a sorceress. Her magic was inborn, and manifested at puberty. In other words, she didn't have to learn her magic; it is as much a part of her as her skin or her heart. This sort of magic is rare, because it usually has to be inherent and it cannot be learned. To a sorcerer, magic is an art, not a science. Sorcerers have access to a smaller, but still large variety of spells relative to wizards. Also, because it is part of themselves, their magic is subject to changes based on their mental or emotional states. For males, sorcery is based on willpower, for females, it is based on emotions."
"A third school of magic is alchemy, the art of manipulating elements. This school is based on mixing things or combining them in such a way as to achieve a desired effect. While I've never had the time or patience to spend hours and hours on end every day mixing things just to be able to use magic, I must admit that alchemical arts are invaluable, and that alchemists, like wizards, treat magic like a science, which is how it ought to be, as magic is dangerous when one doesn't understand what they are wielding."
"Divinity is the school of magic in which the practitioner doesn't so much cast spells as he asks for his deity to cast them on his behalf. For obvious reasons, divine magic users have to believe in their god, but they also have to have at least some understanding of the magic they are using, even if the greater part of their power depends on faith. Some clerical magic can be very powerful. I wouldn't like having to be part of a religious order for it, though."
"Psionic magic is... tricky. Even I am not fully sure how it works... I know that it involves mental magic, and that psionics are in high demand in noble courts due to their ability to read minds and gain important information. I've never been interested in that sort of thing. It is a kind of magic that must be learned, and it can be dangerous, although it usually only works against foes who have a mind that can be affected... so that limits its use considerably against mindless foes, like golems or beings of pure energy."
"Enchantment is another school of magic in which one uses spells to change the nature of an item, person, or place. Usually, this is a way to give something more power, or to transform it from one thing to another. The problem with this school is, in my opinion, that it is based on the duration of a spell; it doesn't truly transform something, it uses a spell to force something to be different. If an enchantment is broken, an item will revert back to its normal state. It is a also a rather... limited form of magic, as it doesn't really do anything else besides add magic to something, or break an enchantment that was already there."
"There is also a pair of mage classes which are... tricky. First is the warlock, who gets his magic from a deal with an entity. Now, this sounds similar to divine magic, but is different for two reasons; first, a warlock actually has his magic as opposed to it being requested, and second, warlock magic tends to be of a darker nature than most divine magic, and tends not be centered around healing or getting rid of unnatural creatures. The other tricky class out there is the Druid, which gets his powers from nature itself. I admit that I don't know a whole lot of Druid magic, other than the fact that it is strongly based in manipulating plants and animals, and tends to be a rare form of magic."
"We also have magicians, who don't actually have any magic of their own, but are skilled at using magical items. Most true practitioners of magic look down upon them as pseudo-mages. There are many smaller schools of magic than those stated. Alternation is changing one item into another, conjuration is the creation and summoning of magical beings, summoning simply calls forth said beings without creating them, demonology is the use of blood rites to summon and bind demons and use their power, thaumaturgy is the manipulation of arcane essences, as opposed to their mainfestations, and, construction magic revolves around making magical items and magical constructs, like moving statues or magical swords."
"There's more to it as well, but I think I've covered the basics, Harly. Any questions?"
