"Before all else, the world was stone and sea, flame and sky. These are the First Circle, the primal elements of creation, without which nothing endures. All higher forces are but their unions and reflections."
The First Circle comprises Fire, Water, Air, and Earth — the roots of all matter and motion. They are the oldest of the Elements, the bones of Voryndral, and are known by every culture from the humblest tribes to the greatest courts.
Fire (Ignis) — passion, destruction, renewal.
Water (Aqua) — healing, adaptability, erosion.
Air (Caelum) — freedom, breath, storm.
Earth (Terra) — strength, permanence, endurance.
These Four are the most stable of all elements, yet they oppose one another in balance: Fire quenched by Water, Air resisted by Earth. From them are born all higher elements.
So it is written: “As the Four contend, so the world is shaped.”
"From the marriage of the primal Four arise new essences, stronger and stranger than their parents. These are the Second Circle, the elements forged by union, neither wholly natural nor wholly alien."
The Second Circle comprises Light, Shadow, Frost, Storm, and Magma — born where primal forces mingle.
Light (Lux) — the child of Fire and Air, tempered by Aether. It illuminates, reveals, and purifies.
Shadow (Umbra) — the echo of Light, the absence that conceals, born of what is not.
Frost (Glacies) — the bond of Water and Air, cold that preserves and paralyzes.
Storm (Tempestas) — the union of Fire and Air, chaos of lightning and thunder.
Magma (Pyra-Terra) — the marriage of Fire and Earth, molten stone that creates by destroying.
These elements are less stable than the First Circle, prone to extremes. Frost preserves but kills, Storm creates but destroys, Magma forges but consumes. Light and Shadow stand apart as twin truths — one reveals, the other hides — and are counted as eternal opposites.
So it is written: “From the mingling of the Four comes both wonder and terror.”
"Beyond the natural and the forged lie the forces most dangerous of all — the Third Circle, wrought not by creation, but by corruption, will, or divinity. These are the essences that pierce the mortal soul, and in them lies peril beyond measure."
The Third Circle comprises Necrotic, Poison, Psychic, Force, Radiant, and Silence (some scholars deny Silence as a true element, though the Codex includes it as the absence of Animus).
Necrotic (Mortis) — entropy and decay, drawn from Draethor.
Poison (Venenum) — corruption of matter, the hidden death.
Psychic (Animus) — thought and dream, the element of the mind.
Force (Vis) — raw Weave energy, unaligned to form.
Radiant (Aether) — divine essence, flame of Eryndralis.
Silence (Tacitum) — the void where thought and will are broken, recognized only by abjurers.
These Six are most feared, for they are not of the natural order. Necrotic binds the soul, Radiant burns it clean. Psychic tempts madness, Force crushes without mercy, Poison corrupts unseen, Silence unravels the very self. They are the least stable, the most punishing, and the most contested among scholars.
So it is written: “The Third Circle is the last; beyond it lies no balance, only peril.”
"The flame devours, yet without it the hearth grows cold. To wield fire is to wield both life and death, for all things burn in the end."
Nature: Fire is passion made manifest, destruction bound to renewal. It consumes swiftly and without mercy, yet from its ashes life begins anew. Fire is the heart of transformation — from forge, from hearth, from war.
Primary Uses:
Evocation — bolts of flame, infernos, controlled blasts of heat.
Transmutation — reshaping matter through heat, altering form by flame.
Philosophy: Fire teaches that nothing is eternal. It is both destroyer and purifier, the trial through which all must pass. The flame does not choose between saint or sinner — it devours all, and by doing so, equalizes all.
Perils: Fire consumes friend as well as foe. Evokers who lean too heavily upon it bear scorched flesh, shortened lives, and tempers as volatile as their element. Entire cities have fallen not to invaders, but to their own defenders’ unbridled flames.
So it is written: “The flame remembers nothing, and forgives nothing.”
"Soft to the touch, patient in its flow, yet no stone can withstand it. To wield water is to wield time itself."
Nature: Water is adaptability, healing, and erosion. It takes the shape of its vessel, yet wears away even mountains. It is the element of nourishment and the element of flood, at once life-giver and destroyer.
Alchemy — solvent of essences, dissolving and binding.
Transmutation — altering states, shifting between ice, liquid, and vapor.
Philosophy: Water teaches patience. It overcomes by yielding, flowing where others break. To study water is to learn that persistence outlasts force, and that even the smallest stream carves valleys given time.
Perils: Water drowns as easily as it heals. It erodes bonds, sweeps away foundations, and leaves nothing untouched. Casters overbound to water grow cold and detached, their morals dissolving like salt in the sea.
So it is written: “What fire consumes, water claims; what water claims, none may reclaim.”
"The wind is unseen, yet it topples kings. The storm is untouchable, yet it carves valleys. To wield air is to wield freedom, but also chaos."
Nature: Air is freedom and inevitability, the unseen current that governs all. It is breath, storm, and sound. Unlike the solidity of earth or the heat of fire, air resists control — it is movement without end.
Primary Uses:
Evocation — lightning, thunder, storms.
Conjuration — portals, flight, and currents to carry spells.
Illusion — sound, whispers, echoes on the wind.
Philosophy: Air teaches that all things move, and none may remain still forever. It is the reminder that what cannot be seen may still rule all.
Perils: Air cannot be bound. Illusions carried on its currents deceive, storms defy command. Those who bind themselves too closely become scattered of thought, restless, reckless — their minds as fleeting as the winds they love.
So it is written: “The wind bows to no master, yet all bow before the storm.”
Earth (Terra)
"The mountain does not move, yet kingdoms rise and fall upon its slopes. To wield earth is to wield strength and permanence."
Nature: Earth is stability, weight, and endurance. It is the foundation upon which all else is built — stone, soil, metal, and bone. Where other elements move, earth holds.
Abjuration — wards of stone and iron, bulwarks that endure.
Alchemy — ores, crystals, and minerals as reagents.
Philosophy: Earth teaches patience and resilience. It is the slow change, the mountain’s grinding against the sea. To wield it is to embrace constancy.
Perils: Earth is slow, but merciless. It buries, entombs, and crushes. Those who bind themselves too closely grow rigid in thought, unable to adapt, their bodies and spirits calcifying into unyielding forms.
So it is written: “The stone may yield to none, yet in time even stone breaks.”
"Light reveals, light heals, light purifies — yet in its brilliance, shadows are cast all the darker. To wield light is to wield truth, and truth may burn as surely as fire."
Nature: Light is revelation, purity, illumination. Born of fire’s heat and air’s clarity, it embodies hope and judgment alike. It drives away shadow, yet cannot exist without it.
Primary Uses:
Abjuration — purifying wards, banishment of corruption.
Evocation — radiant fire, blinding sunbursts.
Divination — sight through darkness, revelation of what is hidden.
Philosophy: Light teaches that all must be revealed. Nothing may remain hidden forever; all lies are burned away in time. For this reason, many faiths regard Light as the truest echo of the divine.
Perils: Light blinds as surely as it reveals. Those who cling too tightly to it see only purity, scorning nuance, scorning mercy. Many who devoted themselves wholly to Light became zealots, incapable of compromise, scorched into inflexibility by their own radiance.
So it is written: “Light shows truth, but truth is fire, and fire consumes.”
"Where light shines, shadow follows. To wield shadow is not merely to conceal, but to embrace the silence and entropy that lie in all things."
Nature: Shadow is concealment, entropy, silence. It is born of absence, the twin of Light. Unlike Illusion, which deceives, Shadow simply hides — covering truths in stillness.
Philosophy: Shadow teaches humility — that not all truths should be seen, not all powers revealed. It is the refuge of the hidden, but also the cloak of corruption.
Perils: Shadow whispers. It tempts with concealment, urging casters to trust no one, to hide all, even from themselves. Those who yield too deeply vanish into Draethor’s touch, becoming shades — unseen, unheard, unremembered.
So it is written: “Shadow hides truth until truth is forgotten.”
"The flame consumes, but frost preserves. The river flows, but ice halts. To wield frost is to embrace patience weaponized."
Nature: Frost is preservation, stasis, and the cold that halts life. Born of water’s patience and air’s clarity, it stills motion while preserving what lies within.
Primary Uses:
Evocation — blizzards, shards of ice, freezing breath.
Abjuration — wards of stasis, prisons of ice.
Transmutation — preservation of matter, halting decay.
Philosophy: Frost teaches endurance. It is not destruction through fire, but denial through stillness. Where heat ravages, cold preserves — but in preserving, it also denies growth and motion.
Perils: Frost numbs more than flesh. Casters who lean into it grow cold of heart, unfeeling, detached. Empathy freezes, compassion dulls. Entire villages have withered when their protectors cloaked them too long in ice, preserving them to death.
So it is written: “What is frozen may endure, but it does not live.”
"The storm is freedom unchained, fury unmeasured, destruction and renewal as one. To wield the storm is to wield chaos."
Nature: Storm is upheaval, born of fire’s fury and air’s speed. It manifests as lightning, thunder, tempest winds — violent, unpredictable, overwhelming.
Divination — omens in stormclouds, prophecy in thunder.
Philosophy: Storm teaches that change is violent and inevitable. Nothing is stable; all must be broken before it can be renewed.
Perils: Storm resists control. Casters who call it too often become erratic, their tempers fierce, their thoughts scattered like thunder. Many are consumed by their own storms, their bodies charred by lightning or shattered by sound.
So it is written: “The storm breaks all, even the hand that calls it.”
"Stone is strength, fire is fury. Together they become magma — creation and destruction as one."
Nature: Magma is molten stone, fire and earth bound in violent union. It is the destructive force of eruption, but also the forge by which new land is made.
Primary Uses:
Evocation — lava, volcanic eruptions, rivers of molten death.
Alchemy — alloys and reforging, drawing purity from destruction.
Transmutation — reshaping land and mountains.
Philosophy: Magma teaches that destruction and creation are one. What is destroyed feeds what is made. The volcano consumes villages, yet from its ash grows the richest soil.
Perils: Magma devours without mercy. Those who wield it often embody its hunger, violent and short-lived, leaving ruin behind. In Ashenmoore, the Scaled Insurgency reveres magma as a divine fire — but their devotion is laced with death.
So it is written: “Creation is fire in stone; destruction, stone in fire.”
"All that lives must wither, and all that withers must die. Necrosis is the shadow that follows life’s flame, the hunger that devours when the fire is gone."
Nature: Necrotic essence is decay, entropy, and the hunger of the soul. It is drawn most strongly from Draethor, the infernal realm where the Keepers of Fate dwell. Necrotic force is not mere rot of flesh, but the unmaking of vitality itself.
Abjuration — wards against death, barriers to halt decay.
Evocation — black fire, corrosive blasts of entropy.
Philosophy: Necrotic energy teaches that all things end, and in that end lies equality. It is the great equalizer, swallowing kings and beggars alike.
Perils: To wield it is to court Draethor’s gaze. Necrotic magic leaves marks: pallid skin, sunken eyes, chill touch. Each act stains the soul, hastening the caster’s own judgment. More than any other element, it calls attention from infernal beings — for the Keepers claim swiftly what is theirs.
So it is written: “He who feeds on death shall be fed to death.”
"The dagger wounds once, but poison lingers. It is the silent killer, the corruption that waits."
Nature: Poison is corruption and toxin, the subtle death that creeps unseen. Unlike Fire or Frost, it does not strike swiftly; it festers, seeps, and spreads.
Primary Uses:
Alchemy — crafting venoms, antidotes, and plagues.
Necromancy — disease spells, curses of rot.
Conjuration — summoning serpents and venomous beasts.
Philosophy: Poison teaches patience. Unlike the storm, it does not need force; unlike the flame, it does not need brilliance. It kills slowly, inevitably, by corruption of what is pure.
Perils: Poison corrupts its user as surely as its foe. Alchemists who practice it grow frail, their blood darkened, their flesh weakened. Spiritually, poison rots trust as much as flesh: those known to wield it are never wholly trusted again.
So it is written: “What poisons others poisons the self.”
"The mind is its own world, vast and fragile. To touch it is to shape a universe, yet universes are not made to be handled."
Nature: Psychic essence is thought, dream, will, madness. It is not an external element but an internal one — the force of the soul’s consciousness itself.
Philosophy: Psychic energy teaches that reality is perception, and perception is malleable. To wield it is to realize that the mind is the true battlefield of the world.
Perils: The mind is not made to touch another directly. Psychic casters fracture themselves, losing track of which thoughts are their own. Many end their days in madness, wandering among dreams that no longer fade upon waking.
So it is written: “The mind that binds others becomes unbound itself.”
"Force is the Weave itself stripped bare, the weight of magic without color or form. It is the fist of the unseen."
Nature: Force is raw arcane energy, unaligned and unshaped. It is the skeleton of the Weave, the pressure that holds spells together, the blunt impact of magic unrefined.
Primary Uses:
Abjuration — barriers of pure pressure.
Evocation — bolts of concussive energy.
Conjuration — stabilization of portals and circles.
Philosophy: Force teaches that power, in its rawest form, is neither good nor evil — only weight, pressure, inevitability. It is the element of structure, invisible but fundamental.
Perils: Force resists guidance. It strains the body, tears muscles, snaps bones. Casters who overuse it often die crushed by their own spells, as if the Weave itself exacted a toll for being wielded without guise.
So it is written: “The hand that hurls Force shall be struck by its recoil.”
"The flame of the gods burns brighter than any sun. To wield Radiance is to borrow heaven’s fire, and heaven does not lend lightly."
Nature: Radiant essence is divine light — transcendent, purifying, burning. It resonates with Eryndralis, the plane of gods, and is wielded most often by clerics and paladins.
Philosophy: Radiance teaches that corruption cannot endure purity. It is judgment, the light that sears away shadow.
Perils: Radiance does not distinguish. It cleanses by destroying. Those who wield it risk zealotry, scorched into inflexibility by their own fire. Many radiant casters are remembered as martyrs — burned as much by their own devotion as by their foes.
So it is written: “The light that saves also consumes.”
"Beyond sound, beyond thought, there is silence. Not the gentle quiet of peace, but the void that unmakes. Silence is absence given weight."
Nature: Silence is the rarest and most debated of the Six. Some scholars deny its existence, calling it only the absence of Animus (Psychic), but abjurers know its weight: a force that unravels thought, will, and even magic itself.
Primary Uses:
Abjuration — nullification of spells, breaking of enchantments.
Divination — veils of thought, shielding minds.
Rare Others — rituals of banishment and severance.
Philosophy: Silence teaches that absence is power. It is the void into which all sound, thought, and essence may be drawn. It is not destruction, but erasure.
Perils: Silence unravels not only foes but caster. Many who wield it grow empty, apathetic, hollow-eyed, their wills eroded. Some vanish altogether, as if consumed by the very void they called upon.
So it is written: “He who listens too long to silence hears nothing, even in himself.”
