Magic

All magic flows from the Wheel.
As a wizard, I touch the Wheel.
As a God, I am the Wheel.
~ The Riddle of il Aldanathi, translated from the Ancient Elvic by Valdasine Dalani, Autumn 1440

Magister Moriah: Magic is the ultimate truth, for my opening my eyes to magic I glimpse, however faintly, the Realm of All Possibilities.
Magister Karel: Magic is the ultimate falsehood, for through magic I exert my will to warp the substance of reality.
Magister Szadim: Magic is the ultimate falsehood, Truth; and the ultimate truth; Falsehood.
~ Arguments in Council, Summer 568

Who cares what it is, as long as it works?
~ Daelyn Fire-Eye, Free Companies invoker

To the Mesiani, magic is The Gift. To the Dwarves, it is The Art. But whatever magic is called, and whether its practitioners are feared or revered, all denizens of Madara would agree that magic is power. Mages trained in the Mesiani tradition call the source of all magic the Wheel. The Wheel exists beyond time and space, and is more ancient than the oldest empire. Through knowledge and focus, wizards learn the ability to pull raw magic from the Wheel and craft it into reality.

The Spiritualist

Most Madaran magic users are members of the Spiritualist class, as presented in the Iron Heroes Player's Companion. The Spiritualist's method of collecting spirit tokens represents the mage reaching out to the Wheel, gathering raw magical power, and holding it within their bodies. Touching the Wheel directly is daunting and often physically dangerous, however, so a Spiritualist's attempts to pull magic from the Wheel can result in failure, especially when an overzealous caster snatches more magic than their body can safely contain.

Spiritualists on Madara are usually the product of long-standing arcane traditions or academies that teach the spiritualist's art to gifted students. In some cultures, these are sponsored by the church, and spiritualists take on the role of mage-priests, while in others, they are secular in nature and function more like institutions of higher learning. Spiritualist magic does rely on innate abilities, and many children are identified from an early age as being gifted in magic, but with sufficient training and dedication, dormant magical powers can sometimes be unlocked later in life.

Other Spellcasters

Although the Spiritualist is the premier spellcaster of Madara, there are other, rarer magical traditions. Rather than touching the Wheel directly, as a Spiritualist does, these other traditions rely on outside forces to help them shape magical energy. Their abilities are usually more narrow in scope than a Spiritualist's, but they can be equally powerful - and equally dangerous.

The Warlock

"Speak not your pacts here, Moraya," said Aldis, "for the bitter fire of the binder's way leadeth only to corruption."
And so the Nurian was placed on the path to redemption.
~ The Amor Meses, the Book of Prophets, Canto 41 Verse 2

When all hope seemed lost, she called upon the spirits of her forefathers and they came to her in a torrent of red fire, for there is no force mightier than an ancestor's honor renewed.
~ Amarel's Saga

A Warlock, coming from the ancient Elvic word wyrloch, meaning 'one who makes oaths', chooses an alternate, and perhaps darker, route to magical might. Rather than touching the Wheel directly, Warlocks draw their magic from pacts made with otherworldly entities, who grant the Warlock a small fraction of their power.While some warlocks claim otherwise, a great majority of the beings that grant such pacts to mortals are demons.

As most religions on Madara consider demons to be evil, this practice is often discouraged, and Warlocks are frequently hunted down and burned. As such, there are very few Warlocks in most nations. However, some Atorran Warlocks believe that the demons they traffick with are in fact the spirits of their deceased ancestors, and warlock-craft is much more accepted in that nation. Warlocks in Atorra can expect to be received with more respect than fear, for their knowledge as much as their magical prowess. Atorran warlocks are often honored and trusted advisors.

Elsewhere, the lack of information and instruction in warlock-craft makes members of this class very rare. It's also important to note that being a Warlock is dangerous. Even when a Warlock doesn't have an angry mob with pitchforks or a fanatic inquisitor hot on their trail, there is always the threat of demons, either servants of a rival demon lord or even the Warlock's own patron, should that entity grow displeased. Demons are not evil, or, at least, not all of them, but they care little for human morality, and can be fickle and unpredictable in their motivations.

The Warlock in the world of Teller's Tales is represented by HuiYin's conversion of the Warlock class from Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 to the Iron Heroes system, available here.

The Druid

All the birds and beasts of the land and sea are my brothers.
The trees and flowers are my sisters.
The sky is my father and the earth is my mother.
~ Druidic acolyte's prayer

The Druidi people have their own method of channeling magical power. Their spiritual leaders focus magic from the wheel through animal totems, allowing them to change form into wild beasts and gain other benefits related to their connection to the natural world. Cerzi shamans often use hallucinogenic herbs and mushrooms in their rituals, claiming they can enter the spirit world in a trance, while the Druidi people prefer meditation and quiet contemplation of nature. It is difficult to find training in the druidic arts, and these powers are rarely if ever taught to outsiders. Therefore, only those from the Druidi or Cerzi cultures or the Totem Initiate feat may join the class.

In Teller's Tales, this power is represented by HuiYin's conversion of the Druid class from Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 to the Iron Heroes system, available here.

Feat: Totem Initiate
You have been initiated into the animist religious tradition of the Druidi or Cerzi people and may learn the secret arts of their shapeshifting shamans.
Prerequisites: Wisdom 13, 4 ranks in Survival, 4 ranks in Handle Animal, 6 ranks in Knowledge: Nature, approval of another druid
Benefit: You may take levels in the Druid class.