Mind Over Matter

The art of subtle domination of the environment and one's surroundings is summed most perfectly in the art of Magecraft. The Mage is a highly intelligent, peaceful, mentally focussed individual who seeks the purest forms of control over themself, their surroundings, the people they meet, and the beings they come into contact with(A Mage must be peaceful, as an angry, vengeful, confused or otherwise highly emotional person cannot properly concentrate). Everything aspect of life that concerns a Mage from day to day is domineered so that the Mage is always in total control. Magecraft, as a whole art, consists essentially of three hubs: Psychism, Natural Magic, and Temporal Magic.
The highly psychic nature of a Mage lends itself well to being developed into a finely tuned art. To control living beings, a Mage must learn to impose his/her will. Usually, what a Mage does, is to begin with becoming one with the environment. This will be discussed at length later on, so I will leave the detailed explanation until then. After a Mage has become one with their environment, a Psychic Thread is opened between the Mage and the Target. This is often seen, with the vision of a Magician, as a yellow-blue thread of light which extends from the Third Eye of the Mage, to the equivalent of their target. The opening of a psychic thread allows the Mage to listen to thoughts, see past thoughts and to insert thoughts of their own directly into the mind of their target. The pure energy of a psychic link is a phenominal experience, and not one that is soon forgotten. At first, it may be hard to link with another sentient being, and it may feel as though only the surface of the targets mind is being penetrated. It is a fine way to start. A Mage will know the instant a truly powerful psychic link is formed. It is like having lived two lifetimes, and instantaneously feeling overwhelmed, elated and very God-like. Once the newness of the "link sensation" has subsided, the Mage can then concentrate and will find that their own thoughts can quickly and simply become the thoughts of their target. This is because of the highly focussed energy that is supporting the psychic bridge. This energy, however must come from somewhere.
Mages draw their energy from somewhere. Truly, anywhere. The Mage appears to be a slightly different breed when one examines their method of energy storage/usage. Energy flows through a Mage. Unlike many casters who store energy and use it at a later time, the Mage uses their stored energy only to initiate a link. The Magecraft system runs on the principle of the four elements: Fire, Air, Earth and Water. A Mage views the entire world as ethereally composed of one or more of these elements. Each of these elements also governs different properties. If a Mage were to attempt a psychic link, their stored energy of Air (intellect) and Water (spiritualism) would be used to open a channel between themself, their target, and to turn themself into ethereal "lightning rods". The environment then, with each spell casting, continuously feeds a Mage so that energy is not spent on the casting of the spell itself, but rather only in the spells initiation. A link between the Mage and the environment is opened with stored energy. The environment then starts flowing through the Mage. The Mage filters the energy into what is wanted
and what is not. The Mage uses the required energy type/s (Air & Water, to keep with the example), and lets the energy then flow into its purpose. In this fashion, energy is conserved and the spell can continue (as long as the required concentration level is maintained). Warning: Be sure to learn your limits! When you are getting tired, stop the spell! Because the energy will never stop flowing through a Mage until it is willed to do so, many Mages injure themselves by continuing a spell until they can no longer maintain precise concentration and collapse to the floor with exhaustion and suffer from an ethereal backlash. You have been warned. Be careful. The last thing a Mage does is Temporal Magic.
Temporal Magic is also known as "Superficial Spellcasting". As the name and nickname imply, these spells have no lasting effect, but rather are used for dramatic results over a highly limited time span. These types of spells include: Teleporting (not a strong Mage skill), elemental spells, Mage enchantments, curses, effect spells (such as casting weakness, sleep, clumsiness, etc.) and a few more. The way this is done, is that the Mage uses their body as a magical battery. Energy is very quickly stored at ultra-high speeds, and then jettisoned into a spell. This is quite draining on the mind and body of the Mage, and therefore can be done a finite amount of times in one day, but is a useful skill nonetheless. Sometimes, in certain circles, the energy here listed as "Temporal Magic" is called "Psionic Energy". Either way, the idea is the same: High amounts of energy used in large burst quantities to create short-lived, dramatic, magical changes.
Magecraft is a powerful art but, above all other caster types, requires a great deal of mental control and concentration. The next page represents some of the finer points of this art, and some of the minute details of Magecraft.