How mortal divine magic fits into Scarterra, culturally and economically

Divine Spellcasters, worldwide, by the numbers

    In most barbarian tribes about one in a hundred people are divine magic casters though some spiritually bereft groups have far less. goblins tend to have half the barbarian norm at best.   Barbarian tribes tend to have roughly the same proportional number of traditional anointed to civilized people but they have proportionally more favored souls and self-taught anointed.   In civilized nations with politically powerful Nonagons, about one in two hundred people are divine spell casters. In civilized nations where the Nonagons are relatively weak, about one in three hundred people are divine spell casters or perhaps even less. It is noted by some theologians and scholars that indifference seems to stifle theurgy more than active oppression of religion. If anything, attempts to actively oppress a religious group tends to create more theurgists, not fewer as underground religious sects seem to have disproportionally high numbers of annointed forged by the crucible of faith developing under extreme pressure.   There are sixteen Divine spheres, assuming most divine casters pick up two lores, there is about 12% chance any given theurgist is going to have a lore if it were truly random, but it is not random. Some spheres are very popular and are not.   For their part, many divine casters are dabblers, content to only develop a small number of spheres of divine magic at the first or second level of power and never progress beyond this. Many are specialists who focus on one or two spheres to a very high level. Some take the Dragons' Path and seek to acquire as much divine magic as possible. More than a few are pragmatists only seeking theurgy that enhances their normal day-to-day activities.   Crafts, Healing and Purification are very popular spheres to study. Augmentation, Animal, and Plant are fairly popular spheres. Spirit Magic is fairly rare. Necromancy and Weather are very rare spheres to study.    

Wider Social Changes from Animal magic

    Animal theurgy comes easier for Maylar and Korus theurgists. Other theurgists can develop a special aptitude for this if they spend a lot of time among animals. Given that Scarterra is a pre-industrial it is not uncommon for anyone to spend a lot time with animals.   On an individual level, theurgists develop Animal magic if they spent a lot of time among animals and are experts on at least one or two species of animals. By far, this magic is more common among nomadic barbarians and so-called savages than in the civilized world. Most theurgists in the civilized world never get beyond the first or second level of the lore. Even rudimentary Animal theurgy is enough to make a person a fantastic animal trainer and veterinarian. Barbarian theurgists are more likely to get Animal magic than civilized theurgists, and they are also far more likely to progress farther in it.   While Animal transformation can let a theurgist fight better, cover ground faster and even help them with stealth and espionage, the true society shaking power is the ability to summon and command ordinary animals. Among nomadic groups that live by herding and hunting, Animal theurgists can wield a lot of power over the tribes. It doesn’t really affect their societies very much. Often, the most powerful Animal theurgists are loners or recluses, which hampers their ability to influence their society. Even if they are not asocial loners, some Animal theurgists view petty use of Animal magic as an affront to their divine patron.   It should be noted that in Scaraqua, Animal theurgy is far more widespread and it is more casually used. Summoning and commanding sea creatures is something that is considered a relatively routine move in politics and war.   Animal ● allows the theurgist to speak with animals. This is a very commonly seen ability among theurgists, even those from orders with no special aptitude for Animal magic. This ability is useful for training or simply understanding animals but even with this power, communicating with animals is not always straightforward.   “Mine! Mine! Mine!”   “Throw the ball! Throw the ball”   If a theurgist is not patient or understanding to get through these awkward stages and learn to talk with an animal on its own level, they will probably not advance beyond this stage.   Animal ●● allows summoning of specific types of animals. The respectable use of this power is to summon animals to talk to, but there are other uses. Some herders view this is a sometimes useful cheat for rounding up strays or moving herds quickly. This can also be used as a cheat while hunting. Most Korus theurgists consider this very disrespectful to the natural order and most Maylar theurgists consider this the mark of a weak or incompetent hunter.   Animal ●●● allows for animals to be possessed or controlled. Possessing an animal outright gives the theurgist temporary control of an animal completely but leaves their own body comatose and helpless while doing so. It’s safer for a theurgist to remain in his own body and issue commands to animals. This works, but is limited by an animals innate nature and their understanding of the world. A monkey is not going to be able to write a letter unless it’s possessed. Opinions differ on whether this is a cruel abuse of animals or the natural order of things. That said, a theurgist who routinely sends animals to their death is eventually likely to attract some hostile attention from a guardian of nature of some sort.   Animal ●●●● and Animal ●●●●● are essentially the same power, but one is a more powerful version of the other. It is rare but not unheard for theurgists out of Maylar and Korus’ ranks to reach this level. Usually this is used for combat or travel purposes, but it can also be used for espionage.    

Wider Social Implications of Augmentation

    Zarthus’ and Hallisan’ theurgists have special aptitude with this lore but Augmentation is pretty common among theurgist of any stripe. Augmentation can be used by the caster or the caster’s allies. Very few Augmentation theurgists are the sort to magically buff up minions then send them out ahead. Whether they act as heroes or villains, very few of them are cowards. Most theurgists skilled in Augmentation are athletic and action-oriented “lead from the front” types.   It is considered a serious taboo and often is a criminal act to use Augmentation magic in an athletic contest or tournament, but in actual warfare, the desire for fair is discarded. Even a little bit of Augmentation can make an untrained warrior into a proficient warrior or a proficient warrior into something approximating a highly skilled warrior. Generally, Augmentation is at its most useful when it elevates already highly skilled warrior into a virtual demigod.   Augmentation ● gives everyone a small but real edge in mundane endeavors. Potions of this level are relatively common as they are universally useful and relatively cheap.   Augmentation ●● provides more specific edges in physical endeavors but a single spell can be cast on a small group making this valuable for adventurers and small elite military sorties. Augmentation ●●●● is basically a souped-up version of this.   Augmentation ●●● is rarely used by non-adventurers given how niche the need for developing situational magical powers without direct combat use, but it is all but required for Scarterrans to travel to Scaraqua or Scaraquans to travel to Scarterra so it useful for exploration or diplomacy. Augmentation ●●●●● is basically a souped-up version of this.    

Wider Social Implications of Crafts

    For different reasons, Greymoria, Hallisan, Zarthus and Phidas all give their divine casters an advantage with Crafts magic. The creation of magical items is universally useful that it is not unusual to find theurgists and favored souls of any stripe.   Those theurgists who focus primarily on Crafts magic usually came from a background of craftsmen and worked with their hands a lot before or shortly after joining their priesthood which is handy because the strength of a caster’s magical crafting is usually proportionate to their skill at regular crafting.   A lot of divine casters opt to dabble into Crafts magic as a side interest. This sphere probably attracts more dabblers than any others. Crafts ● and ●●● are both very handy in combat for their ability to enhance and weapons and armor very potently for short periods, so a lot of warriors choose to dabble in Crafts. Crafts ●● lets people make potions, scrolls, and arrows imbued with their other magic, so a great many divine casters choose to advance their Crafts to this level and then stop.   Crafts ●●●● magic can make permanent magic items or charged wands and the like. These magic items are something everyone covets and any caster that reaches this level can wield a lot of power and influence in whatever faction or factions they are a part of.   Crafts ●●●●● can let a divine caster manufacture any golem. Arcane casters can make Golems at far lower levels than this, but they must individually research and learn how to build each type of golem individually. Most cheap and weak Golems are manufactured by arcane casters, but a slim majority of the most powerful Golems are crafted by divine casters. That said, in the rare instance where a theurgist reaches this level of power, she is probably going to make a fair number of cheap Golems just because she can.    

Wider Social Implications of Divination

    Divination is linked to cosmic neutrality in Scaterra as Korus, Nami, and Khemra all bestow their casters with a special aptitude for this sphere. Among other priesthoods, Divination attracts many dabbler, but few masters.   There is a lot of overlap between arcane diviners and divine diviners and there is some friendly or not-so-friendly rivalry between the two groups. It doesn’t help that most arcane diviners are stereotyped, rightly or wrongly for being an impious lot.   Divination ● is in wide demand because Scarterrans want to know whether not magic is present, and if it is present, what kind of magic. Of course, adventurers and government agents also like to know when magic is or is not present.   The average Scarterran commoner will rarely if ever encounter magic in his or her life, but there is a great fear of magic regardless. Is your daughter really in love or has she been ensnared by an enchanter? Is the merchant using illusion magic to pass off subpar goods? Did that weird old lady giving me a dirty look put a hex on me? Did that guy who dominated the athletic contest magically augment himself to win? Upper class Scarterrans are even more paranoid about hostile magic against them.   Divination ●● allows for overcoming written and spoken language barriers. Valuable for adventurers, diplomats, and scholars, but not so much for the general population.   Divination ●●● and ●●●● are more or less the sole province of adventurers or elite military units and spies not wanting to get fooled by illusions. Divination ●●●●● allows makes a person an oracle. oracles are held in high regard and complicating matters, it is possible for an oracle to be born with this gift and skip the first four dots of Divination entirely. Generally oracles who are born with their Second Sight have more powerful visions than those oracles who quested their way into by following the Dragon’s Path but the latter oracles can generally access this power more reliably.   Most people who are born as oracles never develop any other supernatural abilities but they are proportionally far more likely to do so than the general population. About one in five oracles develop theurgy independent of their oracular ability (and they rarely bother with Divination magic) and about one in four are spirit loas.    

Wider Social Implications of Healing

    Healing theurgy comes easier for Mera theurgists, but Healing is so universally valued that many theurgists of different stripes make the effort to learn this lore. theurgists not affiliated with Mera can still develop a special aptitude for Healing magic. In most cases the individual in question has a very compassionate heart or else has such as scientific curiosity for medicine that it borders on an obsession.   Special aptitude or not, the Healing theurgy is more powerful if the individual magical healer is also knowledgeable in mundane medicine. Many priesthoods make their acolytes study medicine in the hope that this will eventually generate Healing theurgists. Self-taught theurgists, while still fairly rare, are disproportionately represented among physicians, midwifes, and other professionals who deal with medicine for a living. Theologians have speculated that constantly praying for the welfare of the sick and injured can translate into the true piety, and regularly dealing with the hardships of the sick and injured can temper one’s willpower. theurgists manifest their very first magic when they combine piety, willpower, and focus and a lot of theurgists first magic is Healing.   Every adventuring party wants to have a magical healer in their ranks if they can pull it off because they get injured a lot and unlike in battle, it is very difficult for a wounded adventurer to step out of the fight and recuperate, they usually need to get back to the fight immediately and magical Healing makes this possible.     Militaries love magical healers too. Even rudimentary Healing magic can be the difference between a long and slow recovery or dying from complications and infection which can save many wounded shoulders. More advanced Healing magic can not only prevent mortal wounds but will bring a wounded person back to their full physical peak and let them fight again almost immediately. Soldiers that know they have magical healers among them will fight more courageously because they have less risk of loss of life and limb.   Most magical healers are very empathetic and compassionate people. In a lot of cases, they refuse to cooperate with military leaders unless they approve of the cause of the war and the manner in which it is fought. Those armies that regularly rape and pillage have trouble recruiting magical healers. Armies that do not give full quarter to yielding or wounded enemies also have trouble recruiting magical healers. In war time, unaffiliated magical healers may heal wounded from all sides based on the healer’s ideas of what is right, not the military commanders and this can cause conflict.   Whether they are adventurers, military medics, or philanthropic charity healers, at some point any magical healer is going to eventually run into a situation where there are more wounded people than the healer can handle. This is where triage comes in and the healer has to make hard choices. Sometimes this leads healers to falling into depression or dealing with other psychological trauma.   Healing potions are the most widely demanded potions in Scarterra largely because of adventurers and because militaries love to stock up on them. Healing potions also sidestep a magical healer’s daily mana limit and it can sidestep the need for militaries to fight in a manner that healers approve of (though most dispensers of Healing potion adjust theirs selling price based on their attitude towards the buyer). Healing potions are also valuable because with a proper potion dispenser, a soldier or adventurer can drink a potion in the middle of a battle without leaving himself too open.   The dark side of magical Healing is that magical Healing can let a person be injured repeatedly without being killed or permanently maimed as long as magical Healing is applied. This form of torture is called the “Chevell Treatment” after a famous legend about a man who was wounded and healed repeatedly every day for years. This form of torture is outlawed in some regions, but not in others. Given there empathetic natures, relatively few magical healers are willing to participate in this, but it only takes one for willing magical healer for an ironfisted noble or criminal kingpin to be able to use the Chevell Treatment as an arrow in his quiver.   Another controversial use of magic is so called “Reversible Maiming”. A government, priesthood, or rarest of all, a criminal band with a master of Healing magic applies a brand, disfigurement, or amputation to a person convicted of an offense and then offers to heal it later good as new. The person could sport their injury for a week, a month, a year, a decade, or whenever the organization feels they have “learned their lesson.”   Opponents of this practice call the practice both cruel and domineering. Also, it is pointed out that this can create some very resentful and potentially vengeful victims. It also breeds fear and anger in the general populace as the maimed person walking around is a living symbol of the organizations cruelty and overreach.   Supporters of this practice say this is more merciful than executions and more efficient than imprisonment (because they can still work and live their lives). It also serves as deterrent for the general populace as the maimed person walking around is a living symbol of the organizations justice and power.   Some of this is academic. There are not many healers capable of removing a brand or Healing an amputee and many of these healers refuse to participate in this form of draconian justice. The Paladins are the group most likely to use this as their organization has the rare combination of lots of healers and lots of hardnosed conviction.     Healing ● can alleviate pain and prevent additional blood loss or complication from untreated wounds. It also reduces but does not completely eliminate the risk of infection. Proper medical treatment can accomplish these things too but magic accomplishes this much faster. Most magical healers rely on their mundane Healing skills unless performing triage on a large group. Very few magical healers are content to be mere dabblers and most desire to advance beyond as quickly as possible.   Healing ●● heals bashing damage which lets a healer fix most injuries that occur during peace time, but these sorts of injuries are relatively rare on the battlefield. Most this view this a temporary stepping stone to the next level.   Healing ●●● heals lethal damage, which covers the vast majority of wounds received on the battlefield or by a typical adventuring party. Most magical healers opt not to advance beyond this level because this is what their friends and allies want and need.   Healing ●●●● heals Attribute Damage. Attribute Damage is something adventurers run into a lot, but normal people, even professional soldiers rarely have to deal with this.   Healing ●●●●● heals aggravated damage and can regenerate amputated limbs or remove brands or deep scars. It is pretty rare for theurgists to get the fifth level of any magic. Aggravated damage is something non-adventurers rarely have to deal with and regenerating amputated limbs is something adventurers rarely have to deal with. There are enough amputees in Scarterra and few enough master healers that a magical healer with this level of mastery will never run out of clients whether they perform their services for free or charge money.    

Wider Social Implications of Hexing

    theurgists of Maylar, Greymoria, Nami, Zarthus all have a natural aptitude for Hexing magic. It is not especially uncommon for theurgists of other stripes to develop Hexing magic. Hexing is as likely to attract dabblers as it is to attract true enthusiasts. Either way, barring a few who revel in outsider status, most Hexers are fairly subtle in the application of their power.   theurgists who develop Hexing magic are usually cerebral individuals who are often indirect if not passive aggressive (though once in a while you find loud casters who revel in their outsider status). Not always though, some are very straightforward and direct warriors who simply cast a hex or two before charging into battle themselves.   What sets Hexing apart from other magic is not the raw power, but how the effects tend to be long lasting, which is why this lore is rightfully loathed and feared. Some uses Hexing to prank others. Some use Hexing to teach others (with a very harsh and perhaps cynical means of teaching). Other use Hexing to gain advantage in combat. The most feared practitioners of this lore are those who spread disease. If every theurgist with the power to do so opted to spread disease far and wide, Scarterra would be awash in horrible plagues all the time, but with a few major exceptions, most theurgists with Hexing magic use this power sparingly, if ever.   It is also noted that it is difficult to use this magic against strong willed targets. Given that strong-willed individuals are hardly rare in the life-or-death struggles that adventuring theurgists tend to find themselves, many view this as an inferior magical weapon to aid in combat. It is viewed as a weapon to help dominate the weak, which against doesn’t help the public image of those with Hexing magic.   Complicating issues, while extremely rare, it is possible for a non-spellcaster to create a magical binding curse if their will is strong and the curse is given a boost by one of the Nine or the Nine’s spirit minions. Curses done in Greymoria’s name are especially likely to come true.   All this bad publicity for Hexing magic has a cumulative effect in that it heightens general paranoia. Most instances of bad luck or disease are not caused by a supernatural curse, but magical hexes make a popular scapegoat. Even if a theurgist doesn’t have any Hexing ability at all, they can find themselves blamed for all sort of things, especially if they are affiliated with Maylar, Greymoria, Nami or Zarthus.   Hexing ● can afflict a target with bad luck for a couple minutes. Hexing ●● can afflict a target bad luck for a day or a few days. In both cases, this can be so subtle it is not clear whether someone is cursed or not.   Hexing ●●● is less subtle. It can infect someone with a serious disease or give someone weeks of bad luck. It may be possible to write a disease occurrence off as a natural infection but no one has this kind of bad luck without realizing they are cursed.   Hexing ●●●● can infect people with very serious diseases or very dramatic bad luck.   Hexing ●●●●● can afflict people with permanent supernatural curses that require a heroic effort to remove. Of those theurgists that reach this level, even the most vindictive cursers don't use this lightly as they view this sort of a curse as a holy act of sorts, only to be used on the truly deserving.      

Wider Social Implications of Necromancy

    Divine Necromancy attracts very few dabblers. Regardless of his/her religious faction a divine necromancer is affiliated with, he or she probably began his journey with grand ambitions.   Necromancy is competing with Weather control for being the rarest divine sphere seen. Only Greymoria gives her divine casters a special aptitude for this sphere and many theurgists among the Children opt not to bother with Necromancy at all or they choose to focus on arcane Necromancy.   About three out of five divine necromancers are affiliated with Greymoria. About one-in-five divine necromancers are affiliated with Maylar and about one-in-ten affiliated with Phidas. Most Maylar and Phidas theurgists dislike Necromancy for various reasons but those that do like it, tend to really like it.   The remaining one in ten are oddballs from the other factions. Mera, Korus, Nami, Khemra, Zarthus, Hallisan all have priesthoods that preach that the creation and use of undead is a blasphemous crime against nature but all of these factions harbor a few hypocrites. Most necromancers affiliated with these deities start out as dabblers desiring to be able to detect and turn undead in order to defend themselves and those they cared about from the undead, but then went down a slippery slope.   The slippery slope that ensnares so many Necromancy is a slide from “I will use Necromancy to protect the oppressed masses from the undead.” To “I will use Necromancy to protect the oppressed people with undead” to “I will use Necromancy to liberate the oppressed people with undead.” While any magic can be abused, Necromancy has a disturbing tendency to create self-perpetuating cycles of necromancers being addicted to their own self-aggrandizement.   Ironically, the Children are generally better at avoiding having their necromancers becoming asocial cackling madmen because these necromancers tend to learn at the side of mentors with long lineages of wisdom that can warn them about dangers and pitfalls of Necromancy while most other necromancers are on a journey of self-discovery and have to learn their lessons the hard way.   Even benign undead are a disturbing reminder of onlooker’s inevitable mortality, but sometimes peasants and princes will let their unease bow to pragmatism. No one wants to see their grandpa’s corpse or spirit dancing on a necromancer’s puppet strings, but not everyone is upset by seeing a stranger or enemy’s corpse reanimated and many people find it preferable to use a zombie as an arrow catcher rather than send a living soldier out as an arrow catcher. Even where pragmatism prevails, necromancers are widely distrusted and a lot of maleficium laws target necromancy specifically.   There is a lot of overlap between the abilities of arcane and divine necromancers and almost all of the laws and cultural stereotypes from one group apply to the other. There are probably slightly more arcane necromancers than divine necromancers. Some necromancers extend professional courtesy to other necromancers while others while others see all outsiders as rivals, not peers. Either way, most necromancers care more about raw power and effectiveness than they care about whether the magic is of divine or arcane origin.   Necromancy ● cannot create undead, only detect and to a lesser extent control them. This level of Necromancy can and often is used purely defensively, but even well-meaning theurgists rarely stay at this level.   Necromancy ●● can make basic zombies with no enhancements or power. These zombies can do little more than serve as arrow catchers in battle, unless fielding in superior numbers. They have a psychological effect on enemies and most Scarterrans consider these zombies exactly as morally repugnant as the stronger undead are. In fact, stronger undead are less morally repugnant because you get the same result with fewer of them.   Necromancy ●●● can make moderately powerful undead. Enough to hold their own against relatively green professional soldiers. Necromancers of this level can also heal wounded undead and/or temporarily augment an undead creature's abilities.   Necromancy ●●●● allows for the creation of powerful and versatile undead. While necromancers of this level cannot become true undead, they can slow down their aging process at the cost of their appearance and/or sanity.   Necromancy ●●●●● allows for the creation of top tier undead and can theoretically allow the caster to turn himself into a lich. Not every necromancer wants to do this, but some enter the field of necromancy simply because they hope to cheat their own natural death.   Even most societies that allow legal use of undead soldiers do not tolerate liches, at least not publicly.    

Wider Implications of Plant magic

    Korus is the only one of the Nine to give his followers a special aptitude with Plant magic. In a lot of cases, theurgists don’t bother learning all or even any of their divine patrons favored spheres but it is pretty rare for a Korus aligned theurgist not at least learn a little bit of Plant magic making this magic sphere pretty tightly associated with the Stewards.   Korus does not have a monopoly in Plant magic. Any theurgist that travels a lot is likely to develop a dot or two of Plant magic. Also, given that both Plant Magic and Purification use Hearth Wisdom as the base casting ability, many Purification theurgists dabble in Plant magic and visa versa. Even if they are not Korus affiliated, any theurgist born to farmers is likely to develop a bit of Plant magic just because a theurgists first magic is often opportunistic developing in response to what skills the budding theurgist already has.   In Barbarian Tribes you might occasionally see a non-Korus based theurgist learn high level Plant magic if theurgist in question is both widely traveled and a great warrior, but most Plant magic of three dots or higher is pretty exclusive to the Stewards and specifically the Stewards of the Dominion.   That said, a theurgist with Plant ●●● is going to be capable of reversing blights and to a lesser extant accelerating growth of crops. Most Stewards of the Gift never bother advancing their magic beyond this level. This is technically enough magic to be a “food mage” though the process is slow but steady. Plant theurgists are generally held in high regard by peasants and princes a like. The Plant magic most people see is benevolent and useful and the more exotic and scary power and rarely seen at all or when they are seen, there aren’t many survivors to tell the tale.   Wider Implications of Protection magic Mera and Phidas bestow their casters with an aptitude for Protection magic, but this magic is fairly popular outside of these affiliated priesthoods. Divine Protection magic is a boon to all combat but it especially excels at defending against hostile magic. Much like with Augmentation magic, this magic can make weak people strong and it can make strong people legendary.   Given that the Protection sphere is reactive, not proactive, peasants and princes rarely consider these theurgists a personal threat unless they saw one of these theurgists in the thick of things. A lot of Protection theurgists are also powerful warrior and the combination of abilities is potent indeed.   Protection ● can only target the caster whereas the other four abilities can be cast on the caster or other people. If a theurgist is not a great warrior but nevertheless wants to cast support spells in dangerous situation, it helps his or her survivability by taking Protection ●. A lot of support spells use Theology or Enigmas as the base casting abilities and since Protection uses this ability too, support theurgists can throw a lot of dice at Protection spells.   Protection ●● is good for fighting dragons or dragon-like creatures of fighting other spell casters. This is is niche ability and most theurgists see this is a mere stepping stone to the next level. Sometimes you might get a Protection theurgist who hides behind minions, but most theurgists who pick up Protection ●●● or ●●●● are usually frontline warrior types. A warrior with this Protection on them is very hard, especially if they are carrying a shield or benefiting from another buff spell.   Protection ●●●●● overlaps with the arcane spell Dispel Magic, which mages can use at much lower levels that theurgists but Protection theurgists who master this sphere can use Dispel Magic with more finesse and control than most arcane Abjurers.    

Wider Implications of Purification magic

    Mera, Khemra, and Phidas give their theurgists a special aptitude in Purification but Purification is very popular with pretty much every religious faction because Purification magic is so widely in demand everywhere. If Purification is not the most widely known divine lore, it is definitely in the top three. The personalities and traits of theurgists with Purification magic are hard to stereotype. Many are gentle compassionate souls who focus on the Healing aspects of this magic. Others are harsh perfectionists who desire removing impurities in both a literal and figurative sense. Others are simple pragmatists who view this as an extension of their hearth wisdom.   Some Purification wielders charge fees for their services and others do it for free. A few darker theurgists will cause problem and then sell their Purification magic as the cure. This causes friction between different theurgists when one theurgist is taking “donations” for his purification service and an altruistic Purification wielder moves in and starts cleaning and curing things for free. For day-to-day use, peasants and princes want to be friends with a Purification wielding theurgists who can purify their water, cure illnesses and hangovers.   Adventurers like being able to detect and turn undead and to remove curses and hostile magic. A lot of Purification theurgists choose to also learn Healing and Plant magic. These three go together both thematically and practically.   Purification ● allows for the detection and diagnosis of diseases and curses which is useful for everyone. It can detect poisons which is useful to politicians and adventurers. It can detect undead and Void creatures which is useful for adventurers. Even a novice with one dot of Purification magic can try to turn undead. That said, this is not why most theurgists learn Purification as even among adventurers, this is not an everyday problem. Most theurgists don’t want to stop at this level.   Purification ●● can reverse spoilage of food and water to an extent. Useful to most peasants and princes alike. It can make saltwater drinkable which makes these theurgists welcome in coastal towns and on ships. It creates a pile of useable salt which some theurgists sell or give away as a side hustle. This level of Purification can cure minor poisons, slow major poisons, and even sober up drunk people quickly. This level of Purification magic cannot make fecal matter pleasant, but they can de-odorize it and tamp down on its disease spreading effects. Purification magic will instantly dry out fecal matter and let it be quickly and relatively safely and easily be used as fertilizer for the gong farmers to pick up. Most towns and cities have one or more theurgists performing this task at least part-time so Scarterran cities are somewhat cleaner and less smelly than real world Earth cities in medieval times though even with the help of theurgists, you generally get fresher air out in the country.   Also, it’s easier to find clean drinking water in Scarterra than most pre-modern places in Earth though it’s not always easy. Note that in Scarterra, it is widely known that boiling water will purify it, so magic is not required for cleansing non-salt water, it just simplifies the process considerably.   Purification ●●● is where most theurgists choose to stop advancing. It allows the curing of most poisons and diseases which is extremely useful for the general population. It can remove most spells and hexes which is very useful for most adventurers.   Purification ●●●● allows the curing of very rare and serious curses and diseases. Not something even most adventurers have to deal with but desperately needed when the situation comes up. This can also be used to dispel magic. Not as effective as a Protection theurgist or arcane Abjurer but this is largely a side benefit of the Purification sphere.   Purification ●●●●● is mainly for epic adventurers only. This level of magic is needed as part of the process to cure some epic problems. It can provide a potent warding event to preemptively against a number of malicious magical effects. It can also be used offensively to suppress magic items.    

Wider Implications of Spirit Magic

    Spirit Magic is the only lore where none of the Nine give their theurgists an aptitude though some rare individuals who deeply immerse themselves in theological and arcana theory can develop a personal aptitude for it.   Almost every theurgist with Spirit Magic is an adventurer or retired adventurer. Normal people have little use for this magic though it possible for helpful utilitarian spirits to be summoned, this sphere is mainly used to summon fighting backup and/or conjure elementals (which are usually used in combat). It can also be used to counter other people’s summoning efforts which is something mostly only adventurers want to do.   Of course, mastery of this sphere allows for planar travel. Almost every religious faction teaches that this power should be used with forethought and reverence. There are other ways to enter other planes but (for those who have access to this magic) generally more convenient but the inhabits of other planes tend to view visitors with Spirit Magic somewhat distrustful. This is the metaphysical equivalent of sneaking in through a window rather than knocking on the front door.   Wider Implications of Weather magic Weather and divine Necromancy are in competition with each other for which one is the least seen divine sphere.   Nami as the weather goddess gives her spell casters special aptitude for this. It is rare but not unheard of for other theurgists to learn a few basic Weather powers. Usually it is Stewards, Lanterns, and Testers who are able to dabble in limited Weather Magic, but the four dot and five dot powers are more or less exclusively the province of the Rovers and only a small minority of them at that.   Weather theurgists usually are well traveled people who come from wilderness savvy backgrounds. In the one dot to three dot level, Weather magic allows for useful adventuring tricks with wind, fog, and water. Few people within or without the Rovers view this magic as being something to be revered or feared. It’s a useful tool that is as good or as bad as the person wielding the magic, little else. Of course Weather ●●●● allows actual control of local weather patterns. The Rovers consider this power sacred and while Rovers don’t agree among themselves much, they generally all agree that this power should not be abused for petty ends and will react badly to individuals who do things like blackmail farmers by threatening to mess up the weather patterns for their crops or taking bribes to make rain in the desert. Oddly enough, most Rovers don’t consider gratuitous of Weather ●●●●● a big deal because this essentially the same effect as Wrath ●●●●●. It smites your enemies in a dramatic fashion. To them, this isn’t really that different from killing someone with a sword or axe. Of course normal people are unnerved by this power (what ●●●●● powers aren’t unnerving?) but this rarely bothers Rovers.    

Wider Implications of Wrath

    Wrath is a favored sphere for casters of Maylar, Khemra, and Hallisan. Militant members of any religious faction might pick up Wrath. It is very common for theurgists to pick up Wrath ● but outside of the aforementioned three deities’ followers, it is rare for theurgists to develop Wrath to advanced levels.   Unsurprisingly, most Wrath theurgists are warriors who believe in a proactive approach to eliminating the enemies of their faith or interests. Wrath ●●● and above has a lot of overlap with mundane archers so a lot of theurgists who are also archers make it a point to pick up Wrath eventually. Given how tightly Wrath theurgists are bound to various warrior codes, most Wrath theurgists are skilled at range combat and close combat.   The general population does not view Wrath theurgists very differently than they view large muscular warriors carrying large weapons, with cautious fear and respect.   Wrath is popular for dabblers because Wrath ● is extremely versatile. It is good for people who want to bring in opponents alive because it is very hard to accidentally kill a prisoner while apprehending them with a Wrath enchanted weapon. This enchantment is also a huge boon in training letting warriors practice with their normal weapons without restraint and have an almost negligible risk of harming their friends and allies. On the flipside, Wrath ● lets warriors inflict fully lethal damage with their bare hands and feet which can catch many opponents off guard.   Wrath ●● provides a specific combat bonus in some circumstances. It is more useful when a group of people is fighting a giant monster or major villain, it is not very good at crowd control. The next three levels of this power are for smiting enemies at range.