Ghost Rage – The Capabilities Of A Magus

Someone wrote to ask what precisely Korthion’s abilities (and the abilities of Imperial magi in general) would be. Since this is a fair question (and something Caina would know, anyway), here is a thumbnail sketch of an Imperial magus’s arcane abilities:

-Psychokinesis. Magi can use blasts of psychokinetic force. An average magus can hit about as hard as a mace blow. Stronger ones can kill outright with a single spell, though the level of fine control varies from magus to magus.

-Invasive telepathy. Magi can invade the minds of others to read their thoughts, and for sufficiently skilled magi, to turn their victims into mind-controlled puppets. Caina has considerable experience in fighting off this kind of attack, though she might not be able resist a particularly powerful magus, or one subtle enough to hide the intrusion.

-Warding. Magi can ward themselves against steel and iron weapons, basically anything made out of a ferrous metal.

-Elemental control. Magi may have the ability to control wind, water, and earth, with earth being the most common skill (the anti-steel ward is an aspect of earth sorcery). Since attempting to use fire-based sorcery inevitably drives the user to homicidal insanity, very few magi attempt pyromancy.

Imperial law strictly forbids the use of necromancy, blood sorcery, pyromancy, oneiromancy (dream manipulation), and the summoning of any otherworldly creatures. However, many magi interpret “strictly forbidden” as “don’t get caught”.

-JM