What is the essence of the Are?

  For most ypeople, it is the image of an Are Mage standing upon high battlements shooting endless streams of glowing purple guided missiles or bolts toward their foes while protected within an imperable bubble of magical energy.

  While the various missile, bolt, and barrier spells are indeed onp Are Mage bat csses, the field of are magic – and ihe affinity itself – has vastly broader application. If one subscribes to Mendeken’s traditional magical cssification, are magic is closely reted to the various fields of knowledge magi practice, whether by the luck of the natural path, rigorous training, or expensive elixirs, are magic is the most only sought affinity among archmage schors. It is this patibility that makes the are affinity so practical for the uanding and furthering of magical research.

  Within these pages, the dising student will discover that are magic is essentially the magianiputing magic itself. Metamagid magical analysis, are the erstones of the Are Mage, and we will endeavor to demonstrate this fual basis – and thus provide a solid foundation for developing an are affinity and unlog its vast potential.- Excerpt from Fuals of Are Magic: Theory and Practice.

  Aliandra Malika led Ali across the bridge to the mert district. The bridge was nothing more than a simple arched stru that spahe tributary of the Myrin River which cut through the middle of the town. But the fact that it appeared to be a single tiguous piece of delicately speckled granite, rather than a mundane assortment of interlog blocks or bricks, spoke to the skill of the stone crafter or earth mage who had jured it, despite the simple and uated practicality of the architecture. ly a choice Ali might have made – she had always been a little partial to some artistry or sculpture – but the decades of wear across the bridge, and the fact that it still bore heavy traffic, stood as a testament to the builder – whoever they might have been.

  Ali followed Malika’s unhurried steps away from the soft, rushing flow of the river and on into the mert district. The surprising trast between the bustling noise of the thriving stores and the ominous silence of gutted, abandoned buildings uo Myrin’s Keep was on full dispy in this distrid she wondered how people even mao stay in business on some of the more run-down streets. Why did people still put so much effort into their businesses when they might find themselves suddenly bleeding iter like that pnome, Morwynne Fizzlebang?

  Eventually, Malika slowed and came to a stop in front of a small stone er shop with a brightly painted siging an open book with sparkli. Lush ivy with green and red leaves had been cultivated along the walls, lending it a f atmosphere of stability and timelessness.

  The Reading er.

  Ali gazed at the quaint and tiny building with a little flutter of excitemeling iomach. For sure, there was no parisoween this miore and the Grand Library Ara she had grown up with, and she had deliberately set her expectations accly, but the building exuded an intoxig sense of possibilities and unexplored paths that she simply couldn’t ignore.

  A cheerful magical chime sounded as she pushed the wooden door open aered the store. The nostalgic st of old books, part, and ink whisked her instantly into memories of long, pleasant hours wiled away with her favorite stories. There was even a hearth with a small warm fire and several fortable reading chairs scattered about – the perfeook froup of beloved friends to huddle around over a cup of warm, floral Elven tea. A small board had been pced on a table, set with unadorned but well-worn crafted pieces of light and dark woed in the middle of a game of Kings and Emperors. A thick, dark rug covered a warm wooden floor, and a small floating orb of soft light pleted the reading area. Surrounding the reading spot were tightly packed shelves separated only by the narrowest passages, almost Fae-sized aisles, to allow access to the books stacked to the ceiling. Scattered about, and filling most of the avaible floor space, were many half-opened boxes filled with unsorted books and scrolls.

  Ali took a deep breath, taking her fill of the atmosphere, a out a happy sigh. She could easily spend a week on one of the fortable reading chairs and simply not notice the outside world moving by. She gri Malika aered the room i on expl.

  “Hi, wele to The Reading er!”

  A tall, raven-haired young human woman wearing dark-rimmed gsses poked her head out from one of the narrow passages between two tall bookshelves. She wore a bright green dress with practical matg hairclips keeping her hair out of her ink-smudged face. In her arms, she carried several books and a clipboard.

  Ali immediately liked her. The open and curious smile, the careful way she carried the books, and the gentle way her haed upon the bookshelves beside her told Ali all she o know.

  “My name is Ryn. I’m the bookseller’s apprentice, how I help you?”

  A quick Identify told Ali that Ryn had yet to unlock her css. “I’d like to buy a couple of books, but I’m not sure what I afford.” Ali gazed around the store, w how anyone would find anything specifi the seemingly chaotic anization.

  “Oh good,” Ryn smiled. “I’m about halfway through reanizing everything so it’s a bit chaotic right now, but I help you find anything. Do you have something particur in mind?”

  A reanization of the entire bookstore seemed like an immense uaking, but it expihe chaos.

  “Magic books, history, and maybe a good story?” Ali didn’t want to seem too desperate, but she had been sidering this very question for weeks. Now that she was so close and literally surrounded by books, she couldn’t wait to get something worth reading. I’ll have to pace myself. She had worked hard for her gold, and if Malika was right, she could easily wipe out all her earnings in an instant.

  “What kind of magic books are you looking for? I’m sorry I ’t Identify you yet. If you’re looking for something advahey’re locked away and you’ll have to wait a few weeks for the owo return.”

  “I just reached level twenty.”

  “I think we find something, let me see…” Ryn moved towards a set of shelves, running her fingers across the backs of the books stored there. “How much would you like to spend?”

  “I have about five gold,” Ali answered quickly, earning a frown from Malika. Oops, I probably shouldn’t have shared that. But Ryn seemed trustworthy, and Ali couldn’t imagine she would be taken advantage of, despite Malika’s obvious paranoia.

  “Here we go. These are mostly introductory works and fuals for newer spellcasters, perhaps there is something you’d like here?” Ryn called out, invitio peruse a shelf with books stacked on it seemingly at random. Ali reized the telltale soft glow and sparkle of magical ink on the spine of several of the texts, and now, with her skills, she could see the mana swirling around this se of the shelves. Authors of magical texts often used mana-infused ink to help illustrate the cepts depicted within, or to impress the reader with dramatic cover designs, or sometimes both. The magical text ses within the Grand Library Ara had always been a spectacur riot of color and motion.

  Ali’s eyes lingered excitedly on the modest colle of magical tomes. Unsurprisingly, most of the texts were for fire and ice magic. Even iime, fire and ice were by far the most on affinities among mages. Particurly Humans. Not the most versatile magic, but certainly reliable – especially for bat csses.

  I o focus. While she would have loved to read a good discourse on fire magic, her personal mana was not patible and it would satisfy her intellectual curiosity, but not much more. This wasn’t a library with free access to everything – she had limited gold and something that she could use would be the best option to help her grow.

  Her haed on a small tome on the shelf that cimed to be a text on Pnt magit magic had a substantial overp with the broader Nature magic affinity, and she was certain she could find a few patible spells. But… Mato seemed very happy to lend her his Druid magic book whenever she wanted.

  Probably I find any patible pnt spells ioo.

  “Do you have anything on Are magic?” Ali couldn’t immediately see anythied to are affinity on the shelf in front of her, but the sele was rather small, and it didn’t surprise her much. While it was worth asking, Ali wasn’t expeg anything.

  “Hmm…” Ryn pursed her lips in an expression of deep thought. “I do recall something… oh yes! I know, it was in the shipment that just arrived this week. Now, where did I put that box…”

  The studious bookstore apprentice hurried over to the end of the aisle and dug into a box of books with an iious energy that Ali just had to admire. A fellow book enthusiast! Even with her vigorous-looking search, each book was handled with gentle care and respect, set aside carefully to avoid damaging them. “Here we go!” She popped her head up, holding a smallish book with a browher cover and shining silver-embossed writing that emitted small drifts of vibrant purple mana – the typical color of are mana – into the air around it.

  Fuals of Are Magic: Theory and Practice.

  Ali took the book and paged through it, sing the table of tents. The book felt good in her hands. Like most books, it was sized for the rger races, but Ali found it familiar and fortable. There had been many introductory texts just like this ohat she had read duriime in the library, but this time it was quite a different experience. She felt her attention drawn by densely plex runic spell structures written on the pages; the flow of mana embedded within the ink was clearly visible with her Are Insight. Both her Runic Script and Sage of Learning instantly activated to augment her uanding of the magical inscriptions and the es between the ruhe runiscriptioing the various magical structs reminded her of the inscriptions of her imprints in her Grimoire, albeit vastly simplified.

  “This one is two and a half gold,” Ryn answered, breaking Ali’s focus. She was sulting her clipboard with a bit of a frown. “I’m sorry it’s so expensive – are magic books are quite rare, you do uand?”

  Oof. It was almost half her hard-earned gold for just oroduagical book. A small mountain of arrows. But it looked like exactly the book she needed – she would be able to practice with her Sage of Learning, and finally unloe useful magic for her Runic Script.

  “Ok, I’ll take it.” While it might be a rge fra of her money, she was certain she would not be able to develop her Runic Script skill without something like this book. Her Grimoire was unfortunately way too plex to uand, and acc to what Malika had said, this was a reasonable price for the book she was holding.

  Ryn’s frown disappeared in a fsh, repced with a beaming smile.

  “We should get this too,” Malika suggested, holding up a rugged-looking brown book.

  The Adventurer’s Guide: Third Edition.

  It was an obviously mundane book, but one presumably aimed at adventuring aed activities. Malika seemed surprisingly sure of herself, the book for her to peruse.

  “You’re this adveuff, and you said you learn well from books.”

  “That one is one gold and twelve silver,” Ryn offered helpfully.

  It’s also expensive. But Malika was right, she did not have the years of preparation most people got before taking a bat css. She gged in her uanding pared to everyone else, and, if she hadn’t chosen the Adventurers Guild, she would have been way out of her depth. It was a stroke of amazingly good fortuhat she had run into Malika and the others early on and gotten a lot of help and advice.

  “I’ll split it with you if you like,” Malika offered. “I think I learn a lot from it too. And I’m sure will want to read it.”

  “Ok,” Ali answered, and Ryn took the book and pced it on the ter beside her magic book.

  Before they finished shopping, Ali had Ryn suggest a book on local history and a popur story that she thought she might enjoy reading. her were as expensive as the first two books, and she was certain the history book would be a huge help orienting her in this era in which she had awoken.

  Ryn totaled it all up. “That will be fold and thirty-seven silver,” she said, pg the four books in a nice-looking bag with a printed book on the side, matg the one on the sign outside the shop.

  Ali paid, and even with Malika’s tribution, she suddenly found herself a lot poorer. It had taken a lot of work to earn her money, and even though there was no doubt in her mind that she ending it well, she still felt a pang of loss as she handed over the s.

  Baaking arrows fold, she thought glumly. The quests and jobs in defense of the town against the Goblin siege would probably be over now, so she might o find new ways to recover her money.

  “I hope you enjoy your books,” Ryn called out brightly to her as Ali and Malika left the store, and her excitement for finally having new books of her owurned in a rush.

  ***

  Ali apanied Malika on a few errands around town, but she didn’t pay much attention, her mind still lingering on the bookstore, and the brand-new acquisitions stored in her ring. She couldn’t wait till she got bap so that she could read.

  When they finally returo the shrine, and Malika began practig her kicks, Ali sat herself down on the moss in the ter of one of the golden fairy rings. Gng within her ring’s ste space, she located the silver-embossed book on are magid retrieved it, the weight of the tome suddenly heavy on her p.

  A little more light, she thought. Ali summoned a small disk of her barrier magic, setting it h in the air above her head where it could shed its golden light on her book, augmenting the soft glow of the golden mushrooms and the light of the shrine behind her.

  She traced the silver embossed runes on the cover of the book with her fiips, sav the way the mesmerizing wisps and swirls of purple mana it emitted softly tickled as they brushed against her skin. Her heart pounded with excitement as she sidered all the knowledge and magic separated from her by nothing more than a book cover. Much as fighting was a y these days, she would never love it like she loved the knowledge she was about to absorb, no, swim in!

  She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, shutting out everything in the world around her, except for the faint wispy tendrils of mana surrounding her book, and the powerful backdrop of her are and nature mana, still visible to her Are Insight.

  She took a deep calming breath, following the meditation exercises Malika had taught her, and within a few moments, the pounding of her heart and freic excitement in her mind faded to a and focused curiosity.

  She opened her eyes and carefully opehe cover to reveal the first chapter. It was an introductory are spell called ‘se’, but in her calmer state of mind, she didn’t mind o. Ali po learhing in this book, of course, so starting with the easiest magic was the most logical approach. She began to read the author’s expnation of the spell, keeping her breathing calm and even, and the world around her faded into unawareness as her focus sharpened. Sage of Learning responded almost immediately, providing the familiar sensation of a slow drain on her mana, and a bizarre reshuffling of information within her mind as her skill searched her memories and experiences for even the most obscure es that might be relevant.

  She turhe page, and her magical sight exploded with delicate traceries of magic as she viewed the pleted inscription of the spell revealed on the pages. The circle of runic magid the delicate es that the author had been expining were id bare on the page, plete, aiful. Runic Script immediately interpreted the meaning and yout of what she saw, augmented by the active structure of the mana flowing within the magically inscribed ruhis was a plete spell, much like the spells inscribed in her Grimoire – only this one had vastly fewer runes and es. It was a teique that magical schors often employed – the inscription was an unpowered magical struct, and the mana flowing through the runes was simply an echo of what would be o power it – ambient mana that collected in the inscribed runic els. It was enough to show how the magic should work, but it would require an infusion of are mana to actually fun.

  Ali eled a small trickle of her own are mana into the spell strud the runes fred into brilliant golden light as she studied the flows within its structure. For all that this was introduagic, the active structure was remarkably plex. But with her mana flowing through the runes, she felt the distinct prickle of magi her skin as her hand passed through the circle and it tried to se her.

  She had no idea how long she spent studying the runes, but she remained focused, and filled with a sense of joy aement. Finally, an opportunity to take a little time off from fighting to learn something fasating. After she had fixed the eructure within her mind, Ali carefully set the book aside on the mossy ground and began to trace the structure with her mana using Runic Script.

  Her skill helped her el her mana into the shapes of the desired runes, each sinking into the mossy ground as she pleted them. She strung the es together, copying the structure that hovered, glowing within her mind. Her first attempt failed, of course, but she didn’t mind in the slightest, simply returning to the referen her book and paring the structure until she found the subtle mistake she had made. The sed attempt failed with a substantially more obscure error – a spot iricky runiions that she hadn’t fully uood. Smiling happily, she dug into the snarled and tangled e she had inscribed, referring to the smooth flow in the book until she felt she had fully uood what she had missed, before starting again.

  The mana flowed out into the ground, trag the elegant flow of the runes, and each ected with the whole smoothly, extending and enhang the strud the structure of the magical energy. As she pced the final rune, she trated on the e to the beginning of the circle – the spot that had broke attempt. It was a tricky e – she had to bind it to the beginning of the circle, while simultaneously eg it to the previous rune – and it pushed her focus and tration to the limits.

  The pure ale sound of her chime rang within her mind.

  Your reserved mana has increased by +14.

  Are Insight has reached level 11.Sage of Learning has reached level 10.Reading has reached level 8.

  Did it work?

  Ali held her breath and used Identify on the circle of glowing magical ruhat y before her.

  se – level 3 (Are)Removes dirt and grime.Runic Circle

  Yes! Her heart leapt with excitement at the sight of the pleted runic circle, glowing softly with her golden are mana, a perfect match to the smaller copy inscribed upon the pages of her new book.

  Ali immediately stepped into the ter of the runic circle and sat down. A cool prig sensation rippled across her skin, and small particles of dirt and grime floated up off her body and clothing, sparkling into tiny motes of golden mana before evaporating into the ambient mana in the air around her.

  This is awesome! I’ll never have to wash my clothes again, she giggled inwardly. Or my undies.

  As she sat enjoying the sensation of her magic circle sing her from dirt, her notification chime sounded again. What now?

  Requirements met for skill adva.

  Able to perceive magic.Able to read magical runes.Sage of Learning has reached at least level 10.Memorized a new magical struct while in a state of meditative focus.Created a new magical struct while in a state of meditative focus.

  Sage of Learning gains Study Trance.Sage of Learning gains eled trait.Sage of Learning – level 10Your ability to learn nguages, magical systems, history, and simir academiowledge is signifitly enhanced. You have enhanced memory for the tent you have studied.Mana: el mana and uninterrupted focus to enhance Sage of Learning while studying. itive funemory, and reading are enhanced in speed and crity. Are, Knowledge, eled, Perception, IntelligenceAccept this adva?

  Ali sat and stared dumbfou the notifications. Well, of course, I’d be foolish not tht?

  She had only beeed about studying her new book, and a simple magical struct at that. Other than veniehe magistruct for se would not be particurly useful – certainly not for bat, unless she po threaten the Goblins with unwanted ing? In her desire to focus, she had intuitively used Malika’s breathing exercises to calm herself down, and instead of unlog the expected Meditation general skill, she had unlocked something substantially more useful to her.

  Accepting the adva would set the dire for future growth of her css and skill, but an iional study trance was ideal for her. Even though she didn’t have access to many books for studyi, it could only be a matter of time and earning enough money before she had many more. With this skill, she would be able to accelerate and enhance her learning. Maybe she might even begin to make sense of the impossibly plex runic magi her Grimoire.

  Ali accepted the advance, itting herself and her css growth to the path of her passion fical study.

  timewalk