SearchSkill Gather
This skill allows your character to collect magickal energy from nearby lifeforce. All magick and all life are inextricably linked, and thus whenever anyone wishes to accumulate sufficient 'mana' for spellcasting, one must drain the necessary energy from a lifeforce.
There are two schools of gathering: one which brutally takes life from the local flora, and another which attempts to collect energy from oneself. The activity of gathering will inflict physical harm to the participant, the extent of the damage is based on your character's skill proficiency and relationship to the land.
Defiling, as the first method is called, will typically cause a premature aging effect on the sorcerer. In addition, as is well known, recuperation occurs at a greater rate where more life exists, and so defiling causes an indirect harm both to the defiler and all other nearby lifeforms. Lastly, the accumulation of magick by defiling creates a thin film of ash near the sorcerer, thus marking his/her presence.
Once a sorcerer has begun defiling in earnest (i.e. an unfavorable relationship to the land), it will become more and more painful to preserve. In order to return to the path of the preserver (as sorcerers who do not take the Land's energy are known) the defiler must find arable land and water it continuously until his/her relationship with the land is restored to at least "neutral" status.
The rulers of most centers of civilization make no distinction between preservers and defilers, and sorcerers of any sort are strictly outlawed. Gathering may alert the templars to a sorcerer's presence.
Syntax:
gather <amount> <source>
Examples:
(Preserving)
> gather 15 self
(Defiling)
> gather 20 land