The fragile peace has shattered.

Magic

Magic in this world is unique in that instead of, for example, saying, "Fire!" or reciting a long speech when casting a spell, the user uses a word that reminds them of whatever they're casting. Again, as an example, if Mona the hingvatt were to cast a fire spell, and she spent her childhood following Lisa the blacksmith, Mona might say, "Lisa," or, "smithery," to help herself recall the memory.

With the exception of the Icarians, magic users are limited in non-magic occupations, and even then their speciality is in magic. Magic reacts negatively to blood when in contact with the user's skin, blood being the source of magic and the uncontained concentration of it often leading to an uncontrollable explosion of power. Because of this, most magic users aviod melee combat.

It takes years to achieve just the proper mentality needed to gain the use of magic, much less being able to use them effectively. There are universities one can go to to learn, or apprenticeship with the local magic user. Training is usually finished by the time the user is twenty. Everyone but the Quoarl has the potential to use magic, to varying degrees.

There are many ranks of magic users, hags being the weakest (found in small village as the healer/midwife and general help with whatever needs to be done) and enchanters (who are extremely rare- one is found every century or so) being the strongest. Most are witches and wizards, however. Beyond that, there're classes given out by the Guild of Magic-Users-of-All-Sorts, which stretch from first to fifth class. Many employers of magic users require a certificate from the Guild stating the rank and class.

Many magic users, especially those in Silhurst, belong to the Guild of Magic-Users-of-All-Sorts, which is located in Barrow.

However, there are those who haven't recieved formal magical training who have magical “talents”. These are extremely specialized abilities that occur in about 50% of the population, excluding the Quoarl, who posess no magical abilities.Most talents are simple, like the ability to put purple polka dots on a wall.