The magical energy usable by the players in Yliakum comes from the Azure Crystal. That energy is divided into six Ways of Arcane Lore: Crystal Way, Azure Way, Red Way, Dark Way, Brown Way and Blue Way. Each Way has a color and a mental stat associated. The color gives an indication of which of the realms that Way is closer to. The mental stat will give bonuses to the casting of spells that pertain to that Way. Every Way has one opposing and two that are more close to it:  Each Way is allied with two other Ways, and opposes one other. There are three mental stats (Charisma, Intelligence and Willpower) and three groups of Ways. Each group of Ways is associated with a particular stat. Each Way has a certain spell domain, so all spells of a particular Way are somewhat related to the same energy and same concepts. That doesn't exclude non-related spells, but they are special cases and are rare. Each way is composed of a set of spells and each spell can be cast by the wizard only with the composition of a set of runes that are called "glyphs".
Glyphs are the base of every spell. They are found in quests, left by ancestors, stolen or purchased. They are found in nature with no real explanation, no one knows exactly why they form, but when some type of energy is strongly present in one place a glyph can appear. Glyphs appear as marks on very different materials from a leaf to the fur of an animal, and usually of any type of rock. During the centuries many glyphs have been found and studied and so the wizards learned to recognize them. Wizards discovered that each glyph can create a spell effect and that many glyphs can be combined to obtain greater effects. To simplify casting of spells the glyphs are associated with a concept and wizards combine those concepts to form new spells. It is possible to combine glyphs of different Ways to obtain special and rare spells. In some rare cases glyphs of opposing Ways can be combined. The glyphs are kept normally in a safe and hidden place by the wizard, losing one can be a great loss as the caster will not be able to cast any spells that require that glyph. When the spell is cast the wizard must have the glyphs at hand, in his backpack or in the pockets of his robe. Glyphs are not consumed during casting. Any glyphs you have purchased will appear in your Inventory and the Glyphs window in your Spell Book. Before they can be combined, glyphs must be purified. Before your character can use a glyph, he or she must purify it. There is a strong magic link between the wizard and his glyphs. That requires a process of purification when the wizard gains a new glyph that may take some time (hours or one day). After that purification process the link is established and if the wizard dies the glyphs will be destroyed with him (or taken to the Death Realm with him). A wizard can trade a glyph, but in this case the glyph can be used by the other wizard only after purifying it and after creating a new magic link with it. To purify a glyph, open the Glyph window from your Spell Book. Pick up the glyph to be purified and drop it on the icon. You will see a message in your Chat Window indicating that purification has begun. Once the purification process has finished, you may use the glyph in combinations to create spells. Once you have one or more glyphs, you can start to create spells. To combine glyphs into spells, open your Spell Book and click .  Shown above is a glyph screen with three glyphs. The six main boxes represent the glyphs for each path of magic. The small box at the bottom is where you put glyphs in order to combine them. In this example, the Freeze glyph has been placed in the combination box and has formed a valid combination. When you have a valid combination of glyphs in the bottom box, a description of the spell you have created will appear. You can then click to add it to your Spell Book. To cast a spell, you must first target a player or NPC if the spell requires it. Next, determine the Spell Power to use for the spell. Next, open your Spell Book, select a spell and click . A window will appear that counts down the time to cast for the spell. When the count down is finished, the spell will be cast. Casting a spell requires Mana Points. See Section 2.5.4, “Mana Points” for information on Mana Points. The spell caster can decide to channel more mana into casting by setting the additional spell power, allowing the caster to cast a more powerful spell. The additional spell power factor is expressed as a percentage value, from 0% to 100%. If you set an additional spell power factor of 50% then you will channel an additional 50% of the base mana requirement for a spell into the spell. The more you push the additional spell power, the more you must have affinity with the Way and its associated Mental Stat to control the effects. The power level of the spell is raised by the additional spell power, so the spell will be more powerful. The use of additional spell power has the side effect that the spell can fizzle or even produce damages to the caster, depending on how much the spell goes out of control. To set your additional spell power, use the slider in your Status Window.
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