Warhammer Magic Lores

Hysh
Hysh, the Lore of Light is the White Wind of Magic, a magical lore of illumination and holy radiance. It is the Aethyric manifestation of light, and the abstracts light sometimes represents to mortals, like enlightenment and purity. Hysh is the light that banishes darkness and keeps terror from your doorstep. Although diffuse and difficult to manipulate, Hysh is constant and steady luminence, completely opposite of Chaos's randomness.

Hysh has many potent applications, in healing, protection, and the banishment of evil. The Magisters of the Order of Light - or Hierophants, as they prefer to be known - are among the most disciplined of wizards, and the most obstinate foes of Chaos.

White Magic
The nature of the White Order’s magic (also known as white wizardry, soulkeeping and guardian magic) is as hard to pin down as the magic that forms and drives it. The spells of the White Order tend to fall into three general groups: illumination, protection or healing, and abjuration.

Illumination
These spells fall into two sub-categories: those of actual illumination (as in the creation of dazzling lights and so on) and the illumination of the mind (such as the ability to inspire or see through falsehoods). Hierophants are renowned for their mastery of light and brightness, and they are said to be able to bend any kind of luminance to their will in almost any way.

Where the Pyromancers of the Bright Order create bright, burning fireballs and walls of flame, the Hierophants are able to concentrate light into a tightly focused destructive force, which, although more limited than the destructive powers of the Pyromancer, is far more controllable and able to be directed because of it.

Healing & Protection
The Order of Light teaches the importance of the sanctity of existence and possesses a great wealth of spells dedicated to healing injuries and protection. This drive to heal and protect is geared more towards the preservation of the spiritual being of intelligent and sentient life, rather than a mortal’s body, which is more the concern of the Magisters of Ghyran. Because of this, Hierophants are generally peaceful and non-violent, but they are not total pacifists like the sisters of Sweet Shallya. Against the creatures and servants of Chaos and Dark Magic, the Hierophants are utterly ruthless, as devoid of compassion as they are of hate or fury for these creatures.

To the Hierophants, the minds and souls of Chaos servants are filled with darkness, and the creatures’ natural luminance has dimmed or has been extinguished altogether. And so, the Hierophants do not view such beings worthy of the gift of life and consciousness.

Abjuration
The abjuration practiced by Hierophants of the White Order isn’t about summoning spirits and various Aethyric beings but is instead a form of extremely powerful and dependable exorcism. Where the exorcism practised by the priests of Sigmar or Morr relies on invoking the God in question and the supreme faith of the exorcising priest, the exorcism practiced by the Hierophants relies upon their ability to focus the searing light of Hysh into the possessed person, driving the offending entity into the light of day.

However, the magic of Hysh has very limited success exorcising the spirits of dead people not overly tainted with Dark Magic. If Hysh is the light that banishes the darkness, it cannot banish a soul that is already luminescent, just lost. Daemons and spirits of the blackest magic, like wraiths, are another matter. The great Hierophants of the White Order are able to drive these creatures back to the darkness of the Realm of Chaos.

Controlling Hysh
Because Hysh is the subtlest of all the Winds of Magic, it requires the total focus of will and an absolute determination of mind to channel and bind it into a spell. Hysh is the most difficult of all the fragmented colours of magic to bend to one’s will. For this reason, the spells binding Hysh tend to be very elaborate and ritualistic, meaning that the Lore of Light is the hardest lore for a human to master.

Master Hierophants combine the abilities of their Apprentices to draw upon the White Wind and focus it into a usable form that can be drawn into the Hierophants and channelled and sculpted by them into a spell. Many Light spells are so powerful they would obliterate any individual who tried to use them unaided. However, using the strength of a choir of trained Apprentices to control how much energy is focused into the Hierophant and how quickly, Magisters of the White Order can create enchantments far beyond the powers of the other Colleges. However, not all spells of the Hierophants require the aid of Apprentices, only the most powerful or convoluted spells of the Order.

Azyr
Azyr, the Lore of Heavens is the Blue Winds of Magic, and it is said to be a manifestation of the Aethyr’s reflection of inspiration and that which is out of reach. The magic of this Wind is based upon knowledge of the unknowable and the manipulation of the skies. This magical lore, also known as Astromancy, is practiced by Magisters of the Celestial Order to divine the future and pluck the strands of fate.

Azyr has few temporal boundaries and supposedly reaches into all the possible futures as readily as it floats across physical distances. After passing into the mortal realm, Azyr is said to be drawn into the upper portions of the heavens, becoming a haze of eerie cloud, visible only to those who posses witchsight (the ability to actually see the Winds of Magic). This association with the sky gives Celestial Wizards their power over storms, flight, and mighty hurricanes. As the Blue Wind blows from the timeless realms of the Aethyr across the distant sky, it supposedly appears as a clouded window through which Azyr’s Magisters can predict certain events. It apparently can be sensed by the manner in which the permanent celestial bodies are distorted by the drifting cloud of Azyr’s impermanent and temporally distorting blue light.

The magic of Azyr leads its practitioners to become dreamy and unearthly, with a calm, comparative demeanour. These gentle effects may lead some to believe that the Blue Wind is an easy thing to master — not so, for one glance into the eyes of a Celestial Wizard reveals the burning power of Azyr and the terrible foresight it brings. It is this foreknowledge that is the true test of Astromancy, for if you look into the future you must live with what you see.

Celestial Magic
The magic of the Celestial College, also known as Astromancy and Divination, can be very roughly divided into three areas: prognostication, control over meteorological phenomena, and the most dangerous, manipulating the future through curses.

Astrological Prognostication
This is the arcane art that tries to decipher the most likely future of mortals by examining the interaction of the Blue Wind of Magic, Azyr, and the light of various celestial bodies, including moons, stars, comets and meteorites. It is frequently termed Astromancy—divination by the stars.

As Azyr blows from the timeless realms of the Aethyr across the distant sky, it supposedly appears as a clouded window through which Azyr’s Magisters can predict certain events, apparently by the manner in which the permanent celestial bodies are distorted by the drifting cloud of Azyr’s impermanent and temporally distorting blue light. Yet even though this is a mystical art, it apparently requires many mathematical processes like geometry and statistical analysis to read the messages hidden in the heavens. It is for this reason that the Magisters of the Celestial College are exceptionally skilled mathematicians, and in this they share commonalities with the Magisters of Chamon.

Astromancers create instruments of exacting calculation and measurements, such as astrolabes. Yet it is not just the upper heavens that can be utilised to foresee the future. The Astromancers of the Celestial College are also exceedingly adept meteorologists, and through the application of this science they can forecast weather conditions, and so they manufacture barometers, heliographs, hygrometers, anemometers, and so on of incredible accuracy and exquisite artisanship.

Astromancers gaze at heavenly bodies through the shimmering haze of Azyr’s blue light, documenting the various images and movements that can be seen where astrological conjunctions and constellations meet with the Aethyr’s a-temporal wind. They must study long and hard to be able to learn how to interpret the formulae and hazy images that offer glimmers of the future, and they must also master the principles of time and the almost infinitely complex nature of cause and effect. In time they become adept at seeing the parts played by the hands of Destiny and Chance on the mortal world.

Magisters attuned to Azyr are also attuned in some way to future and are fascinated with divination and all the affairs of those things that have not yet come to pass. Azyr is the epitome of the pursuit for omens and knowledge of the future and its Magisters are experts at interpreting dreams, the casting of runes and indeed all manner of prognostication. They are oracles and seers, fortune tellers and diviners with few equals within or without of the Empire. Yet also, Azyr’s Magisters are also great theoreticians, dealing more with profound leaps of logic rather than the steady analyses of arduous trial and error that so fascinates the Magisters of Chamon.

Meteorological Magic
Such is their understanding of the processes of the atmosphere, Astromancers also have many spells to control the weather, or, at least, air pressures, movements of air, and even lightning itself, calling it down upon the heads of their enemies.

Fate Manipulation
Perhaps the most alarming of the Astromancers arcane skills lies in their reputed ability to change the future, in the sense that they can actually change someone’s fate for the worse if they are skilled enough and if they so choose. How they do this is a secret known only to them, and perhaps the High Mages of distant Saphery. As it is, their power to curse and bring misfortune to their enemies is a cause of great alarm amongst certain elements of Imperial society.

Chamon
Chamon, the Lore of Metal is the Yellow Wind of Magic, and it is a manifestation of the Aethyric abstract and reality of logic, the desire to quantify, the desire and need to learn and instruct, and the wish to implement learning to practical or tangible ends. The Magic of Chamon is alchemy, the art and science of transmutation, creation and investigation. Known amongst the wizards that study Chamon as Alchemy, much of its spells are to do with change — rusting new metal to old, turning one metal into another, or enchanting it to become more effective.

Chamon is supposedly attracted to dense materials and particularly metals. It is said the heavier and denser the element, the greater Chamon’s attraction is to it, which may account partly for the reason why gold and lead are so often used in magical experiments — one as a magical conductor and the other as a magical insulator.

Chamon is also the Wind of logic and experimentation, thus it also grants spells that protect and encourage such — from aiding the student in their experimentation to drawing insanity from the cluttered mind (useful, considering one so often leads to the other). The so-called Gold Wizards who use Chamon are affected by this logical bent, becoming rather dry and scientific in their ways, rigid and yet strong. Darker whispers indicate that those who weave Chamon can in fact cause their own transmutation, from flesh to gold.

Gold Magic
Also known as alchemy and transmutancy, the magic, or spellcraft, of the Golden Order mostly involves manipulating metals, though they also have many spells to help with their studies and promote rationality. It’s generally believed that the Gold Magisters can create gold from nothing; some claim to have seen them do it, but the Magister Alchemists of the Golden Order deny this. Though complex by any normal measure, it is easier for a Magister to change a man into a pig because both man and pig are living mammals made from similar elements. To do it, Magisters would only have to change the structure, not the materials themselves. It is an entirely different matter to change the basic element, the very stuff of an object, from one thing to another for longer than a spell’s duration.

So gold is made of gold, and lead is made of lead and short of permanently changing the structure of these two (something beyond the skills and scope of any human Magister), any gold transmuted by a spell will eventually revert to its original form. How long this apparent change lasts depends on the skill of the Magister and the strength of the spell, meaning it could last a day or a couple weeks. Obviously this can have some rather severe repercussions. A living creature that is transformed into gold for longer than a few minutes will be dead when it finally reverts to its original shape and substance.

Temporary transmutation spells are at the heart of the Golden Order’s spellcraft. Their battle magic revolves around causing enemy weapons to rust, turning their steel armour into unwieldy lead, or even changing their metal swords and maces into useless objects. Such spells need not be permanent, as long as they serve their purpose on the battlefield. However temporary they may be, practising and refining these spells are the foundation of the Golden Order’s magic.

Ghyran
Ghyran, the Lore of Life, is the Green Winds of Magic often described by Imperial Magisters as the Aethyr’s momentum towards growth and the need to nourish and be nourished. Ghyran is Aethyr’s echo and mirror of fertility and the nurturing aspects of mortal life. This brimming energy has granted the spells of Ghyran their title as the Lore of Life. Concerned with healing, curatives, and the magic of plants, these powerful spells are wielded by the Jade Wizards with great respect. Known by common folk as Druids, these Magisters wax and wane with the seasons as they are closely tied to the land and its spirit — the Wind of Ghyran.

Ghyran is said to fall down upon the mortal world in a manner similar to rainfall upon the earth. Those with witchsight claim to be able to see Ghyran form into pools and swirling eddies of green magic that gradually form into rivers, flowing across the land like water, though unbound by physical laws. When the Winds of Magic blow most strongly, Ghyran flows across the lands like a great tide, sinking into the soil and drawn to the rivers, waterways, lakes, and springs of the mortal world. Its energy is attracted to water particularly and saturates the earth with its life-giving power. It is drawn up through the roots of all plants it comes into contact with, feeding all living things, and encouraging growth.

Jade Magic
Jade Magic, or the spellcraft of the Lore of Life - also known as druid lore or animism - comprises spells that concern themselves with the change of the seasons, agriculture, fertility, growth, soil, earth, and water. These spells are powered by the Green Wind of Magic, Ghyran, which has inspired many hedge wizards and petty magickers in the past, including the much fabled Elementalists (of water and earth), and of course Druidism. All of these clumsy gropings at Ghyran’s power can now find themselves perfected and made manifest in the Lore of Life as taught by the Jade Order.

It is said that Ghyran’s Magisters, or Druids as they are sometimes known, are the most sensitive to the natural lifecycles of the countryside, and so spend little time within the confines of the Empire’s great cities. Such is their skill with, and love for, the forces of nature and living things, that Ghyran’s Magisters are often called upon to cure crop blights or bring nourishment to barren soil. They can make dead earth fertile, cure blights, encourage fertility in humans and beasts, and it is even whispered that they can cause wild and unstoppable growth of creatures and plants if they so wish. Yet these Magisters also have the ability to control flows of water and the very earth beneath their feet. In battle, Jade Magisters can call forth steaming geysers in the ranks of their enemies and even cause the earth to split under their feet.

Ghur
Ghur, the Lore of Beasts is the Brown Wind of Magic which is often called the Aethyr’s wild and bestial spirit. Ghur is used by the feral Amber Wizards to shape spells of beastcraft and communion. In strange shamanic rites, these Magisters can call Ghur into their bodies, allowing it to shape them into wolves and ravens, clawed savages and gentle horse whisperers. It is known as a savage Wind, the antithesis of civilization and domestication, as primal and unreasoning as it is devoid of malice.

Ghur is attracted to animals and wild places in equal measure, retreating from the ordered existence of man and his cities. This is reflected in the misanthropic ways of the Amber Wizards — shunning civilization for the wild mountains and moors, where the Wind of Ghur blows free.

Amber Magic
Ghur’s Magisters have embraced the savage Brown Wind of Magic, allowing them to have control over all manner of wild beasts and even communicate with them. Amber Magisters can also call upon the attributes of various spirits of the wild and are able to summon the strength of the bear, the swiftness of the hare, the eyesight of an eagle, and the heightened senses of smell and hearing of the wolf. Amber Magisters are said to be able to shape-shift, travelling on the paws or wings of wild creatures and birds if they so desire.

The Amber Brotherhood uses the Brown Wind to call upon the power of the wild spirits of nature. Their world vision is an animistic one, where every living thing, every plant, every animal and insect, and even the soil itself, has its own independent living spirit. The world through the eyes of an Amber Magister is a hard one, where the spirits of all living things must compete to live. It is a world of survival only for the fittest; where every creature has its place as predator or prey.

Amber Magisters are said to be able to merge their spirits with those of animals and go on vision-quests to learn more about themselves, the land, the ways of the spirits and how they can be pacified or bound.

Aqshy
Aqshy, the Lore of Fire is the Red Wind of Magic, and it is the coalesence of the experience and abstract of passion in its widest possible sense. It is the projection of brashness, courage, and enthusiasm. It is also an expression of the mortal feelings of warmth and heat that is often felt in a state of high emotions.

Aqshy blows down from the north as a hot and searing wind, unnoticed by those not sensitive to Aethyric currents. It is attracted to wherever there is passion, argument, or excitement. Actual physical flame also seems to draw the power of Aqshy. Human wizards who feel the pull of Aqshy the strongest usually train as Pyromancers of the Bright Order in the Imperial Colleges of Magic. Those who do not get proper training often lose control of their powers and destroy themselves accidentally.

Bright Magic
The Magisters of the Bright Order study the Lore of Fire, also called Pyromancy. Spells woven from Aqshy are aggressive, destructive, and vigorous, and the Red Magisters’ spells range from simple but effective fiery blasts and flame-balls, to the summoning of massive infernos that engulf entire detachments of troops. A Bright Magister can wield flame as other warriors can wield swords and bows. It is no coincidence that the Magisters of the Bright Order are held above all others in matters of warfare, but also they are favoured in noble courts as advisors and protectors.

In one sense, the Bright Order is the oldest of all the Orders of Magic, simply because basic fire spells were amongst the very first that Teclis taught to the base magickers and hedge wizards of the Empire during the Great War.

Ulgu
Ulgu, the Lore of Shadows is the Grey Wind of Magic, and one which is the Aethyr’s reflection of and reaction to the experience of being lost or confused. This Wind is full of unseen depths, plots, shadows, and illusion. Grey Wizards weave Ulgu into elaborate spells that wreathe them in its mysterious presence. This Lore of Shadows contains spells of darkness, invisibility, shadowy death, and panicked bewilderment.

Ulgu appears to those with witchsight as a thick, impenetrable fog rolling across the earth, invoking a sense of mistrust and confusion in ordinary people who pass through it. Ulgu is drawn to the natural mists and fogs of the mortal world, where it hangs upon the quiet chill of the air, wrapping all in smoky shadows. Ulgu is also drawn to deceptions, mystery, and illusions. Dawn at an ancient stone circle will likely see strands of Ulgu slinking betwixt the monoliths, gradually flowing away as the light of day, and the time of Hysh, grips the land.

Ulgu works subtle changes upon those who call upon its powers — rendering them as mysterious, puzzling, and fleeting as the spells that they call upon. The Grey Order of Wizards use this to their own unknowable ends, acting, hopefully, for the greater good beneath the veil of shadows Ulgu provides. It is hard to remember the face of a Grey Wizard — harder still to track his steps. Those that have tried have returned confused, moon-struck, or occasionally dead.

Grey Magic
The Lore of Shadows, also known as legerdemain and phantasmancy, is a magic formed from the drives, purposes, and predispositions of the Grey Wind. It is the lore of illusion, confusion, and concealment. It is commonly referred to as Shadowmancy.

Shadowmancy, then, is the catchall term given to describe the arts of illusionism, which is the branch of magic dealing with the deception of the senses. The Grey Order’s Shadowmancers seem to bring nightmares alive and the sweetest dreams into reality. They are masters of appearances and sculpting lies.

Naturally, Shadowmancy offers great benefits on the battlefield, where the number of friendly troops can be made to appear far fewer, far greater, or far more fearsome. However, the secret role of the Grey Order’s Shadowmancers is far more sinister.

Shyish
Shyish, the Lore of Death is the Purple Wind of Magic, and it is the Aethyric certainty of the passage of time and the inevitability of death. It is the most mysterious and terrible of all the wholesome forms of magic.

Shyish is said to be formed by the realisation of the transience of life, of reminisences of days gone by, of mortal acceptance of the day currently lived. It blows from the past and into the future. It blows most strongly when death must be faced or endings take place. It is therefore drawn to battlefields, sites of executions, and graveyards. The Wind of Shyish is manipulated by the Amethyst Order.

Shyish is most often described as a puppet to the passage of time. It blows from the past, because the past has ended and is gone, through the recent, because endings and the expectation of death are intrinsic parts of the living of life, and into future, for the future leads inevitably towards endings and death. Some have equated Shyish with destiny, for it does not control what was, is, or shall be, but instead permeates and reflects these things with absolute intimacy.

Shyish blows strongest wherever death must be faced or endings take place. It is drawn to battlefields where men must embrace or submit to their deaths, and because all soldiers must accept the possibility of their own demise as part of their daily life. Shyish lingers around the gibbets of execution and hangs in the silence of graveyards where mourners gather in longing and reminiscence.

It is said to be strongest in times of most obvious transition — at dawn and dusk, for one is the end of night, and the other is the end of day. Its times are spring and autumn, and yet also the solstices of both summer and winter, for they mark the longest and shortest days of the year and therefore the beginning of the end for each of the seasons.

Amethyst Magic
It is true that Magisters of the Amethyst Order have power over the dead and the power to cause death. They can steal the soul of their enemy or suck away his life, leaving nought but a flesh and blood husk. These Magisters are reputed to even be able to see spirits and souls as they travel between this world and the next and are said to be able to communicate with them, after a fashion.

The most powerful amongst Magisters of Shyish are rumoured to be able contact the spirit world and whatever remains of the souls of the dead within the Aethyr. These spirits may sometimes be encouraged to speak through Shyish’s Magisters, for they have a degree of mastery over spirits both benign and otherwise — although this ability ends, or so they say, when that soul is devoured or embraced by one of the many Gods or Daemons of Mankind.

Once a man has grown to full maturity and the point has been crossed where growing up is replaced with growing old, the Magisters of Shyish are said to be able to actually see in a noticeable and measurable way his slow demise as death claims him in tiny increments, second by second, hour by hour, and day by day. They see the approaching end of all things that live.

There are those who wrongly accuse the Amethyst Magisters of dabbling in Necromancy, but this is not the case. At least not entirely. Necromancers defy death and despise endings, while the Order of Shyish accepts death and embrace endings. Despite this, the Order of Shyish remains tainted by their apparent association with the powers of darkness. Yet there are some similarities between the magic of the Amethyst Order (also known as soul-stealing) and the dark arts of Necromancy. Only the spiritualism and spellcraft of the College can be practised without causing the detrimental psychological, spiritual, and even physical effects of Necromancy. Having said this, Amethyst magic can never reach the levels of raw power achieved by the corrupt and coldhearted Necromancers.