W is for the Winds of Magic

The Winds of Magic envelop the Old World. Invisible to all save Elves or Man—touched in the womb by their unstoppable influence—the Winds have 10 “colors."

The Elves have mastered the Winds. Master Elven wizards came with Elven traders millennia ago to the Old World and spoke of great “gates" in their ancestral lands. Spewing from these gates were the Winds of Magic, carried aloft to wrap the world. From beyond these gates dark beings—daemons and beasts—came to roam the world. The Elves, in time and at great societal cost, had reversed the gates to drain the world of the Winds influence. This may continue today and some heretical scholars believe it is why there are “convulsions" in the Old World as the Winds diminish and the influence of the gods with them.

The Elves are master's of all 10 colors. Man is wielder of nine, but never a master. There are eight widely used colors by Man. A ninth “color," Dhar—the “Dark Wind"—influences and corrupts the eight.

Elves have names for all the colors.

The Winds in Harmony and Discordance

Qhaysh, the High Wind. This Wind is the mastery of all eight winds uncorrupted by Dhar. It is only known to Elves and never taught to Man.

Dhar, the Dark Wind. Written often of in this chronicle, Dhar is source of all dark magic and the principal wind of the dark gods and their warriors, priests, beasts, daemons, and slaves.

The Winds Alone

Hysh, the White Wind and the Lore of the Light wizards.

Azyr, the Blue Wind and the Lore of the Celestial Wizards

Chamon, the Yellow Wind and the Lore of the Gold Wizards.

Ghyran, the Green Wind and the Lore of the Jade Wizards.

Ghur, the Brown Wind and the Lore of the Beast wizards.

Aqshy, the Red Wind and the Lore of the Fire wizards.

Ulgu, the Grey Wind and the Lore of the Shadow wizards.

Shyish, the Purple Wind and the Lore of the Death wizards.

Each Wind is ultimately corrupting of  Man and the temptation to use Dhar to empower a single wind creates dark Wizards, such as Necromancer's use of Dhar and Shyish, or wizards seeking wealth and influence though the use of Chamon and Dhar to create gold from lead in foul alchemical labs.

Use of the Winds by Man is taught in great colleges in the city of Altdorf in Reikland. Founded by nascent Wizards and Elven masters, graduates of these colleges are officially sanctioned and licensed users of magic. To be unlicensed is to be a Hedge Wizard.

Editor's Note

In all the years of doing A to Z, I've done specific posts about the Winds of Magic, but no generalist post. This is that generalist post. There is so much more. The game's detailed look at the magical colleges opens opportunities for great story telling in the Empire's Wizardry Schools.

A wizard's Witchsight might see the Winds influence in a village as flowing fog of multicolored points of light with the strongest influence. In the distance is the ever present glow of the wind's origins.