All magic in Voxana originates from the Loom. There is no other source. What varies is how that magic is accessed, channeled, and controlled. The two primary traditions—divine and arcane—represent fundamentally different relationships with the Loom’s resonance.
Divine Magic
Divine magic draws upon specific threads through belief and devotion. A cleric of Xathys channels the resonance of Xathys’s thread—the thread of renewal, life, and prosperity—through the Divine Veil. The Veil filters and shapes this resonance into the spells the cleric casts. The cleric does not interact with the Loom directly; they interact with a single thread, mediated by faith.
This makes divine magic reliable but constrained. It is shaped by the domain of the god being invoked, and its power is influenced by the strength of the Veil at the location where it is cast. Holy sites, where the Veil is thinner, tend to amplify divine magic. Places scarred by the Fray may diminish or distort it.
Arcane Magic
Arcane magic taps directly into the Loom’s raw resonance without divine mediation. A wizard studying the eight schools of magic is, whether they know it or not, learning to pluck individual threads of the Loom with precision. This makes arcane magic more versatile than divine magic—it is not limited to a single god’s domain—but also more dangerous. Plucking the wrong thread, or plucking too hard, can cause local fraying, wild magic surges, or resonance feedback.
The Eight Schools and the Arcane Stones
The eight schools of arcane magic each correspond to a different type of thread resonance within the Loom. During the Divine War, the Arcanum Divinorum—empowered by the gods—forged the Arcane Stones, one for each school. These artifacts channeled divine power through arcane frameworks, creating weapons of extraordinary potency. When the Arcane Stones shattered after Erruuth’s banishment, their fragments scattered across Voxana and eventually became the mineral known as Glowstone.
| School | Stone Color | Domain |
|---|---|---|
| Conjuration | Blue | Summoning and creating objects or creatures |
| Necromancy | Green | Manipulation of death and the forces of mortality |
| Evocation | Red | Manipulation of raw magical energy |
| Abjuration | Purple | Protective barriers and wards |
| Transmutation | Orange | Alteration of physical objects and creatures |
| Divination | Yellow | Acquisition of knowledge through magical means |
| Enchantment | Brown | Manipulation of minds and wills |
| Illusion | White | Creation of false images and sensory deception |
DM Truth: Glowstone Is Not Inert Anymore
For a thousand years, Glowstone was believed to be a naturally occurring mineral with a faint luminescence, valued for jewelry and decoration. Its true nature—shattered fragments of the Arcane Stones—was erased from memory along with the rest of the Divine War. Now all Glowstone across Voxana has reactivated, glowing brightly and crackling with magical energy. No one alive understands why. The reactivation could mean the Loom is destabilizing, that Erruuth’s prison is weakening, that the gods are stirring, or something else entirely. This is the single most important present-day mystery in the setting, and its resolution should be the culmination of a major campaign arc.