How do spells work on Armageddon?
For detailed information on how spells are cast, see the helpfile
magick_cast. Basically, spells are combinations of certain words, which signify the power level, the reach, the sphere, the element, and the mood. When you create a magicker character, the word combinations for the spells that you know are emailed with the acceptance email. As you become proficient in these spells, the skills will "branch" and new spells reveal themselves on your skill tree. To learn the word combinations associated with new spells, you will need to either experiment or find a more experienced magicker to teach you.
Why aren't magickers called clerics or druids?
Because there are no religions on Zalanthas: the sorcerer kings are swift to stamp out any attempt at such. This has evolved over the course of the game, with the sole remnant being the reference to elementalist "temples" in Allanak. This should be viewed as academies or centers of magickal learning - not religious institutions. Nessalin said at one point:
A long, long time ago, when I first start moving around in the game's code, one of the first things I did was remove every reference to 'cleric' or 'druid' that I could find and replace it with 'elementalist'. The reason was people kept seeing the other two words and immediately attaching a LOT of meaning to it that we don't have anywhere in the code.
If they latched on to cleric, then suddenly elementalists were these holy representatives of their element on zalanthas. kind, caring souls going about the world doing good deeds.
With Druid, they would go on and on about their powerful attachment to the world of nature, and how they were one with the earth. We had a lot of requests for the ability to shape-shift into animals, to call animals to their aid, and other things that were no where in our documentation and made no sense for the game's theme.
In short: a magicker does not worship their element, but controls it or allows it to work through him or her.
Is it okay to use previous knowledge of spells when discovering words?
This is all right, but please roleplay out the quest for knowledge appropriately. The staff is aware that there are spell lists out there and obviously has little means of policing this, but if sufficient proof is presented that you are passing such documents along, you will be banned for a month for the first offense, and permanently the second time. Passing along more than the basics of the magick system destroys much of the mystery and interest of it, and is harmful (as well as unfair) to other players.
Why are magickers hated? I want to be a nice elementalist!
Magickers are hated and feared by the populace. This is a fact of life on Zalanthas. In New Tuluk, a city once decimated by elementals, magick is forbidden. The general populace does not know what a magicker is and isn't capable of, and assumes the worst. Magickers are blamed for disease, bad luck, and any other negative occurence.
How can a magicker survive on Zalanthas?
In most of civilized society outside of Allanak, mages are killed if their
abilities are known. Of course, exceptions are always made, but this is not
something a mage can rely on. Perhaps the only .safe. life for a mage is in
a group of others like him or herself; perhaps a small tribe dedicated to
reverence the power of a given element. Few mages have the benefit of living
in such a group. A simple approach to survival is for a mage to ignore his
or her powers, suppressing them completely, and maybe even viewing them as a
curse. This is not always possible, however, since non-deliberate magickal
effects and a desire to commune with one.s element can make things
difficult. This is not to mention that, in civilized society (i.e. the city
states) there is great fear that the powerful templars (or others) could
identify them. Though many of the tricks and secrets to hiding magickal
affinity should be learned and explored in game, here are some basic ideas
that might be helpful.
It is common for mages living in society to leave for the wilderness or
other lawless areas to practice their art. However, even .lawless. areas can
have a virtual (or actual) NPC population. Although there might be no coded
retribution, casting within sight of major roads or any type of NPC or
civilization would be seen as major risk. Obviously it would vary from
location to location, and indeed there is no rule against taking risks, but
this serves as a reasonable rule of thumb.
The elemental temples in Allanak are only a safe haven for the gemmed. Even
the prying eyes of your .fellows. would likely report the unmarked, and
there is no reason to assume that those working for the templarate do not
keep a close eye on these places.
Even a magic user who has never once employed their art would likely be wary
of the powerful among society. A magicker is uncertain of what powers of
awareness these people possess, and might attempt to keep a low profile,
fearing the worst.
