[OOC] Sorcery and Sword
Okay, so. Here goes nothing.
Magic
Magic in the Empire is divided into four major categories: witchcraft, sorcery, necromancy and psychic skills. It's implied that these aren't the only ones out there, and the lines can blur in various ways, but that's basically it.
Sorcery is manipulation of chaos drawn from the Greater Sea of Amorphia (read: raw chaos) through the medium of the Imperial Orb; it's the most common form of magic in the Empire and probably the most versatile category, being useful for pretty much anything a skilled sorcerer can conceive and draw power for, from teleportation to resurrection to combat spells. (The latter is important, because Draegera is built on top of a universe with recognizeable physical laws; sorcerers are familiar with genetic and atomic theory, for example. No conjuring things from nothingness unless you pour enough amorphia into the casting to create each individual atom and correctly arrange them and the bonds between them, which is basically impossible.) A subset of sorcery is elder sorcery, which is manipulation of amorphia without the intervention of the Orb. Generally sorcery doesn't work offworld, but I'm going to give Morrolan his link to the Orb because it's fun to play with.
Necromancy is concerned with differing states of existence, travel between planes and worlds, and death and the undead. It's less widely studied than sorcery and considered a bit creepy, but not really stigmatized.
Witchcraft is an almost exclusively Eastern art, which means that normal humans practice it and Draegerans don't. It uses a practitioner's internal energy rather than an external source like the Greater Sea, but multiple practitioners can combine their powers to form greater spells than are possible with a single person. It takes a lot more ritual than sorcery, and its effects tend to be subtler, but aren't always. Witches have a lot of mental effects; they can communicate with animals, speak telepathically without using the Orb, change moods or spark ideas, divine information in various ways and generally do a lot of the kind of thing you'd expect from the modern use of the term.
Psychic skills are a subset of sorcery which work slightly differently, but only advanced practitioners really notice a difference. They cover about what you'd expect -- mind probes, telepathic communication, that kind of thing.
Morrolan is a very skilled sorcerer, knows at least the theory of elder sorcery, and (unusually for a Draegeran) is a witch of significant power. He's also a wizard, which means that he's united several disciplines of magic and bound them into his soul. YOUR GUESS IS AS GOOD AS MINE what that means, other than that Morrolan is a badass and has a lot of magical options available to him. He's not the best battlemage in the Empire, even discounting Sethra Lavode, but he's definitely up there.
Witches occasionally forsake their name and quest to find a new name and a soulmate. Morrolan did this when very young (for a Draegeran), and received Verra, the Demon Goddess, patron of elder sorcery, as his soulmate. He serves her willingly and loyally, and she sends him prophetic dreams, guidance and blessings. This is probably pick-up-on-able by people with supernatural senses.
Great Weapons and Blackwand
Long ago, a race called the Serioli developed the Morganti blade -- a weapon that can devour a victim's soul with little more than a scratch. Their aim was to make war so fearsomely terrible that nobody would ever contemplate it. They succeeded -- but only among themselves. Humans and Draegerans can't forge Morganti weapons, but they can and do use them. Morganti weapons are disturbing to sensitive people; they radiate hunger and malevolence and fear unless shielded.
Great Weapons, of which Blackwand is one, are to Morganti weapons what the latter are to normal blades. There are seventeen of them, each with unique powers and personality -- all Morganti weapons are semisentient, but most don't get beyond hunger. Great Weapons are all intelligent enough to choose whether or not they devour someone's soul, and will refrain at their wielder's request. They're also bound to their wielder's soul, and can protect said wielder against a lot of things; the protection isn't infallible, particularly with surprise on an opponent's side, but a Great Weapon can prevent its wielder from dying and protect their soul from other Morganti blades if it's warned. (Incidentally, they have identifiable gender; Blackwand, for example, is female. Morrolan is SURROUNDED by toppy girls.)
Most Great Weapons have additional powers unrelated to combat -- Pathfinder can find anything its wielder can envision, Godslayer deflects and dispels sorcery, and Iceflame is a channel for the power of Dzur Mountain. Blackwand is sort of the exception; its Serioli name is "Wand-That-Creates-Death-In-The-Shape-Of-A-Black-Sword," which sums things up pretty nicely. It enhances Morrolan's already-considerable reaction times, serves as a witch's familiar and wizard's staff, and can project lethal sorcerous blasts on its own initiative even when Morrolan is unconscious or dead. It also radiates a much, much more powerful aura of badness than a normal Morganti weapon -- most Great Weapons do, but Blackwand is pretty much the worst of them in that regard.
What does all this stuff mean in camp? Basically the following, in bullet form.
--If Morrolan draws Blackwand, people will know. Enemy infantry companies have broken and ran when faced with Blackwand unsheathed; it's safe to say that it's a really, really unpleasant experience even without the fact that a pissed-off warrior-mage is about to attack you. Morrolan has a sheath that nulls out almost all of the effect, given to him at the same time as the sword, but if you're particularly sensitive you may pick up some of the badness, and it's really hard not to realize that Morrolan is carrying a weapon of very significant power.
--Generally, if you get cut with Blackwand, you die. It's killed a god in canon and is feared by the Jenoine (who created the gods as servants), so sheer power doesn't make you immune; if you can't be cut by normal weapons, Morrolan may or may not still be able to cause it to bite. In camp, I'll handle this on a case-by-case basis, and Morrolan will never strike to kill unless I've cleared it with the other person first. While it normally prevents resurrection unless Morrolan explicitly tells it not to, obviously in camp the moogles will still pop people back to life. Restoring a save game restores your soul by bouncing a graviton particle beam off the main deflector dish, or something. If you don't have a soul, I'm not sure what happens, but my theory is that you still die as it eats your life force, subject to possible debate with others who know canon. WE'LL DEAL WITH IT AS THINGS ARISE.
If anyone has questions, comments or arguments, feel free to ask! I love chatting about canon and metaphysics, and unlike my last few characters this one has a sane and rational metaphysical system. :D