Cairn:Magic

Elementalism

The magic of Elementalism is fairly simple to understand - it allows the wielder to call forth the powers of the four primal pillars of existence: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. By manipulating these forces, you can do such things as bathe entire rooms in flame, freeze a foe solid, hurl both opponents and objects around with gusts of wind, or create obelisks of raw stone to crush those who defy you. And while any mere beginner has access to all four elements, a true master learns to not only channel multiple elements at the same time, but to wield them in even more destructive ways: summoning great firestorms, hurricanes, tidal waves, or earthquakes. Archmasters are where the real power is though, able to combine elements together to achieve unique and devastating effects.

Sacrifice: Your body suffers terrible damage, usually losing a body part or internal organ.

Necromancy

The magic of Necromancy is, at its core, power over death itself. Necromancers possess horrifying abilities, including the ability to create and command undead, to steal and manipulate souls, to drain and utilize the life force of others, to command disease and rot, and other things besides. But even though they possess such fearful powers, necromancers are often wise and a force for good, as their main task is to police and protect the realm of the living from any machinations of the dead. They are ghost whisperers, crypt keepers, funeral overseers, and protectors of the barrier separating Cairn from the Netherworld. Some choose various types of undeath to continue their vigil eternally, while other necromancers see life and mortality as sacred, and strive to ensure all beings have the choice to die. And while regular necromancers can do everything listed above and more, master necromancers called Death Lords are capable of even more terrifying feats.

Sacrifice: Your life is forfeit, and you return to existence as either partially undead or fully undead.

Beneficence

The magic of Beneficence is one of healing, enhancement, and preservation. With this power you can do such things as heal others of wounds, disease, or other maladies. You can also improve the bodies and abilities of others, making them stronger and better at what they do. Some of your most potent abilities are those of protection and defense, such as raising mystic barriers, creating powerful wards, and even designating an area as a Sanctuary to make it a place of peace, calm, and recovery. The greatest users of Beneficence, called Paragons, are able to perform astounding, almost miracle-like effects: healing entire rooms of people or regenerating severed limbs, transforming others into the epitome of their potential, protecting entire structures or sealing away the most vile entities, or even the most wondrous feat of all - bringing the dead back to life.

Sacrifice:

Saelynn

The magic of Saelynn is the power of nature itself - of the trees, the plants, the beasts, as such it is no wonder that Tal'ra are drawn to this path of magic. Wielders of Saelynn are often known as Witches, and tend to be found in places of great natural beauty or significance, if they aren't traveling wanderers. With Saelynn Mysticism you can do things like call and command animals, draw down natural forces such as lightning, cause trees and plants to give up their bounties or obey your will, and much more. The strongest of the Saelynn are called Sylvans, and can use the most potent of the Mysticism's powers: the Chrysalis Ritual. With this ritual a Saelynn can sacrifice a powerful creature and then meld its essence with their own, gaining powerful benefits and abilities. They can do this with multiple creatures, each one making them stronger while changing them in some way.

Sacrifice: You lose your health, binding yourself to the life force of nature instead. Where it sickens, you get sick. Where it hurts, you hurt. Where it dies... you too can die. In addition, using the Chrysalis ritual too much can erode your mental sanity until you are nothing but a bestial amalgamation.

Solar Sorcery

The magic of Solar Sorcery is only usable by those known as Lanterns, living people who have been granted what they claim is a tiny piece of the lost divine Sola's light. These floating palm-sized orbs of sunlight are called Little Lights, and are a Lantern's permanent companion. Lanterns claim to have seen a shining vision of the legendary divinity, who then reached into their very selves and infused them with the glory of the sun, manifesting as the light that floats near them. Naturally, many just deride this as foolishness and boasting. Their powers include being able to do things such as stitch sunlight into wounds, create devastating blasts of pure light able to cut through metal or destroy even the most powerful vampire, light up entire areas with little effort, grant them genius ideas from nowhere, or empower themselves with the radiance of the sun for brief moments. There is no known hierarchy for Lanterns - they're so rare that it's basically pointless.

Sacrifice: You lose your soul, it being transformed into your Little Light. If your Little Light is snuffed out for any reason, you are utterly obliterated.

Eldritch Rites

The magic of Eldritch Rites is horrific, terrifying, obscenely powerful, and antithetical to existence. It is the power of the Great Enemy, the ghastly abominations that came from Outside the world and caused the Outer War which nearly destroyed all life. If magic normally breaks the rules, Eldritch Rites shatters them completely. Time, space, dimension, life, death, undeath, reality itself... all of these can be manipulated, broken, changed and corrupted. Worse, often those who use this power lack the finesse to control it completely, and thus the magic becomes unstable and can create severe unintended side effects as a result. None on Cairn tolerate the use of this magic, especially the Ra, and practitioners are quickly investigated and then destroyed mercilessly. Those who are greedy or wicked sometimes try to accuse those they would see gone of using this power in hopes of having them removed, and some have succeeded, but too often the perpetrators of the false accusation are brought before the Empress on trial and punished severely for their actions.

Sacrifice: Your sanity, your appearance, your social life, and very likely your soul as well.