Soulwield

Among the different forms of magic, Soulwield may be by far the youngest, so to speak. The discovery of Soulwield is similar to the birth of Blood Magic, in that it was a method developed to emulate the effects of natural magics such as Rune magic and Primal and Shadow magics without the need to tap their arcane sources.

It is widely believed that Soulwield was developed around five hundred years ago by a certain monk who belonged to an order supposedly resided in a mountains. Some historians suggest this pertained to the mountain ranges west of Torun, others say the mountains of concern lie further south. The particular monk was a master of Primal Magic, and due to an accident, his ability to draw from the River seemed to disappear.

Despite the loss of connection to the rivers, the monk continued to practice his magic, reliving the sensation of drawing power from the River and the sensation of molding that energy into something tangible. Through this constant practice and meditation, he eventually produced an effect. It took another couple of years before this was replicated, and by then he narrowed down the possible new source for the magical effect to be from within. he believed it drew from the very essence of existence, from what we call the soul, hence the name Soulwield.

The monk taught the other monks the new technique, which they immediately adapted because it was a relatively less destructive way of magic. They have kept it a secret for a few hundred years before deciding that the knowledge should be shared to the world. Recently, Soulwield has seen much use through the members of the Brotherhood of the The Shattered Moon.

Through years of training and experience, the monks were able to come up with the tenets of the new discipline:


 * Soulwield is the ability to draw out the latent energies of the essence of existence, or what is known as the soul. To draw out this power, what is needed is belief, belief strong enough to resonate with the soul.
 * By this definition, all things have a soul, both living and non-living things; it is the matter of existence or non-existence that defines if one has a soul or not. It is through this tenet that it is possible to affect anything with Soulwield.
 * Soulwield can produce any effect, but it can only affect what is inherent or characteristic of an object or a person. One can make a person's skin tough, make his eyes sharper, make him run faster, or heal his wounds rapidly, but he cannot make a person fly, because it is not 'characteristic' for men to fly. Similarly, one can make a stone harder or softer, heavier or lighter, or turn to mud, but one cannot make a stone turn into metal, because stone is stone and metal is metal.
 * In order for the power of Soulwield to be invoked, belief is needed. And with that, comes the requisite need of having someone who can provide that belief. A person who can utilize Soulwield can affect himself, or any other person or object, as long as he has physical contact with the target.

In theory, Soulwield is limitless, because the soul is limitless as long as one exists. However, the process is taxing to the user. It has been shown though that frequent practice and usage of Soulwield leads one to be able to use it more and more, like how daily exercise improves one's stamina in terms of physical activity.