Lore and RP as an Elf Mage

[Telaryn-argent-dawn (Telaryn)]

@Cirelle-argent-dawn

Good man, Medivh. Was he a fan of the Kirin Tor “schools of magic” or did he sort of shrug off those theories as well?

By the time the novel was written, the schools weren’t rigidly classified yet. The concepts existed, they just weren’t called schools yet. But he didn’t seem to have a problem with that, no. He had a problem with Kirin Tor teaching people to think of magic as a science like math, because he thought this actively sabotages apprentices into trying to apply logic and reason into what is fundamentally paradoxical and unknowable in its true nature. You’re teaching the apprentices to reason themselves into a paradox that they fail to dig themselves out of if you insist magic must follow logic like math.

At best mages would make educated guesses based on what doesn’t work, which Khadgar demonstrates in his manual scrying spell* as he tries to uncover the secret of the Song of Aegwynn. The closer something is to working, the more catastrophic the misfire because the magic had the chance to begin to activate before something went wrong. Something that went wrong at its most fundamental level at the very beginning doesn’t even get to the point of activation, just a sad fizzle.

• The novel introduces us to the Law of Sympathy, which in essence means that you leave a little trace echo of yourself behind to everything you touch. Stronger the emotional attachment or event revolving around that item, stronger the echo. These can be used to trace the item back to its owner, or to be used as an anchor for scrying something or reliving a memory attached to it. Lacking an item like that, you must divine manually, which can be both dangerous and expensive with the reagents used. Crushed amethyst dust in particular is one known reagents. A catastrophic failure while attuning the scrying spell manually without anything to act as a guiding anchor can snap a mage’s mind.

• Mages can also use the Law of Sympathy to read letters without opening them by tapping into the echo of the writer’s intent left on the paper. This also helps them gauge their true intent if they’re lying in their text. The Law of Sympathy is thought to be an apprentice level use of magic, though most apprentices aren’t known for being creative enough yet to use it for spycraft.

[Moridunum-argent-dawn (Moridunum)]

I (mis)remeber some lore that the wrists on Mages’ Water Elementals were actually bindings…

To bind the Water Elemental to the Mage control?(Could be RPG-lore, tho)!

If so, it would suggest that Mages actually summon proper Water Elementals from the Elemental Plane of Water, no?

Also, thanks for teaching me magic… I learn something new everytime you open your lorebook😅

[Remethion-argent-dawn]

@Xeron-doomhammer

I am curious which elf race fits the most to the Mage lore and WoW theme - Void Elves or Night Elves?

It is funny. You misspelled nightborne.

Jokes aside there is no perfect choice (aside from nightborne). If I were you, I’d try to write down a concept, maybe do a little bit of RP. Another helpful bit could be reading about previous players to inspire you and, last but not least: what kind of community are you looking for as a mage?

@Xeron-doomhammer

I know Blood Elves are more oriented to fire, but I am more curious about Void and Night Elves since I am planning to RP as one of these two, and beside that, a bit more knowledge is always good to have.

You know not what you have done! Now we have to talk about… magic schools.

@Gabrindion-argent-dawn

there seems to be more emphasis on the different schools of arcane magic (such as abjuration, transmutation, etc etc) rather than which element you choose to manifest it as.

It’s true that the magic schools are important in WoW’s lore but because tonight I am playing the part of the bookworm mage nerd (which is a part: everyone knows IRL I’m a 80s man with a stoic personality and of a few words) I will go… actshually mage lore is somewhat complex and contradictory, which made a lot of people adopt headcanons to simplify it all.

Warning: lore-rant below. Further reading may include urge to reply, to tell the reader to “get his facts straight!”, or descend into a debaucherous debate about WoW’s lore. Read at your own risk!

Mages classify magical abilities in terms of schools - that much is known - but it’s not necessary for all mages to specialize as an evoker, abjurer, or what-else-you-have. In the mage manga, to name an example, a standard mage training was to combine a spell called Presence of Mind and then release a Pyroblast (references to the in-game abilities, but telling all the same: a mage’s training doesn’t need to focus on the magical schools).

Also, even if all mages study these schools as a form of classification there is no indication that all mages specialize through these schools. In fact, for example, mages may be happy to become, say, a pyromancer, a fire mage specialization that uses both conjuration and evocation but they may be unaware of how to conjure a water elemental or a blizzard, spells that are also a form of conjuration.

So I will go: actshually the idea that mages specialize in magical schools is told, but not always shown by the lore. Instead we are both told and shown that mages specialize in certain elements over others.

Read the lore about these things but be ready to make up your own mind about these inconsistencies in the lore. Because you will often be told to define what kind of specialization your character has. You want to be a frost mage? Say that you are a frost mage, you don’t need to bend over your concept into three or five schools of magic. (But be ready to know that he uses both conjuration and evocation)

As for the races…

People have explained at length the lore of the night elves. So you have that. They fit any specialization/magic school. If you are playing a highborne you have reached the apex of magical knowledge ten thousand years ago. Since then, you have had to wrestle with a strong magical addiction and a lack of magical resources available. You have undergone many changes as your society of old (and its knowledge) crumbled to dust, thus you had to redefine yourself. Or perhaps you have been clinging to the idea of the Empire of Old, fully embracing a decadent life-style alongside fellow highborne in Eldre’Thalas. Or what Lintian said: you could be a young night elf who decides to give the arcane a try. For someone who has never role-played a mage this may be a solid option and it presents its own challanges: why would a night elf embrace a [for her people, at least] controversial road such as this one?

A void elf mage has likely retained his mage-skills from his previous life as a blood elf and now uses them alongside the Void. A few questions naturally emerge: why use both arcane and void together? Perhaps arcane as a force of order can calm your mind and allow you to focus, helping you to control the whispers of the Void. Shadow and Frost spells are also close in concepts, as we associate dark areas to something cold and chilly.

[Dekarn-argent-dawn]

@Cirelle-argent-dawn

I won’t repeat what others have extensively covered already, but simply add that there is no “de-facto race” best suited for magic.

you may have to talk to blizzard about this

https://i.gyazo.com/d51061233b74d4cb98573e5195823b7f.png

[Xeron-doomhammer]

Dekarn, Nightborne are very Mage oriented race, but sadly I am planning to go Alliance and that race is not available, sadly. So I wanted to hear some thoughts about elf races that are playable.

I see a lot of lore things that I didnt know about, and I really appreciate your effort for explaining it, a lot of knowledgeable people on one place and I knew this is the right place where I should ask. You guys really love this game and all about it. And for someone fairly new to the game all these were very helpful and I enjoyed while I was reading it. Thank you very much.