Spells were deliberate workings of magic through which a spellcaster shaped raw Extraplanar power into a specific, intended effect. Unlike Inner Energy, a type of magic which welled up from the body and will of its user, the power behind a spell was channeled from beyond the caster, typically through arcane currents and Leylines or from the divine favor of a god or patron. A spell was the means by which that power was given form, whether through spoken invocations, careful gestures, or material Spell Components.
Each spell cast drained the caster’s reserves of spell magic. Spent spell magic was naturally restored through rest, but could be supplemented by using a Potion of Spell Magic. However, excessive consumption of such potions often came with side effects. There were several types of spells, which Mages classified into Schools of Magic according to the nature of their effects. The definitions of these schools were never fixed; over the span of time, scholars redrew their boundaries, merged some, divided others, and argued over where particular spells belonged.
Most Mortalborn never cast a spell in their lives, and many regarded those who could with a mixture of reverence and unease. However, those who trained to become Adventurers learned spells by many paths. Arcane casters gathered theirs through years of study and mastery or through practicing their innate Sorcery. Divine casters received theirs as gifts from their god or patron, granted in answer to devotion and withdrawn just as readily from those who strayed.
Spells were not bound solely to those who cast them. Magic items could hold a spell within them, allowing their bearer to release it without drawing on reserves of their own. Spells could also be copied onto Spell Scrolls or recorded in Spellbooks, preserving them for later use or study. The language of these writings was not universal, and each caster tended to record magic in their own notation. A spell written by one could prove difficult for another to parse, even when both had mastered the same working.