One of the two fundemental types of magic. Modern arcane magic is league’s faster than classical magic however is much more volatile and less flexible. Arcane magicians typically only comitting a small number of glyphs to memory, alongside their effects and costs. In Arcane magic glyphs are synonymous to spells and due to this the stages associated with Arcane magic are as follows.
- Glyphing: The drawing of a large number of intricate symbols on a variable number of rings each of very specific colours. Modern Glyphing is peformed with the use of a glyphing stone.
- Sacrifice: Something is given up for the sake of the cast. Exactly what depends on the glyph being used. If present the sacrifice ceases to exist and the magic takes place without any further input. In most cases compared to classical magic energy collection sacrifices are incredibly inefficient.
Old Arcane Magic:
Before the discovery and popularisation of glyphing stones arcane was much slower. At the time it was the only type of magic to exist. Colours were very specific materials harvested in very specific ways in very specific places before they were collected in one place. The symbols had to be painstakingly drawn by hand with incredible accuracy on a moving surface. Indeed old glyphing tables had to be operated by teams of people. Smaller, portable glyphing tables were hand cranked devices which capped out at 5 rings (although the 3 ring variant was by far the most common). Glpyhing emplacements could support up to the theoretical maximum of 23 rings but were large buildings which were manned by dozens of people drawing, the ring spinning frequently performed through the use of a waterwheel. Even with multiple people performing old arcane magic 3 ring arcane magic took teams of 2 several minutes, 5 ring arcane magic took teams of 6 hours and 23 ring arcane magic took dozens if not hundreds of people years. With the advent of classical magic, arcane magic was feared to fall into disuse. Classical magic being far faster, safer, predictable and versatile. Indeed the glyphing stone is the only reason Arcane magic saw a resurgence. Obtaining speeds unmatched even by the newer classical magic and being capable of things that classical magic never could. Few arcane tables exist, and are primarily collected for the history they represent. Only one glyphing emplacement still exists. The 21 ring emplacement only continues operation for the novelty of it. The traditional method of glyphing a rapidly dying art.