Spells are the basic form of ancient magic. A person who has learned magic can cast a spell at will, altering the world around them in some way.
A spell is a written sequence of metamagical runes that, when read by a the subconscious, creates a reproducible magical effect using the caster's inherent magical energy as its fuel source. The effects vary in strength and complexity, with more powerful spells being more taxing on the caster and more complex spells being more challenging to successfully cast.
The Torchlight Society's first successful casting of a spell since the rediscovery of magic happened on 7 January 32, nearly two decades after the existence of magic was discovered amongst the ancient ruins. Since then, the society has collected and catalogued over 300 spells written by the ancient Tolgethic people, and believes that many hundreds or thousands more existed that have been lost to time due to the lack of surviving written scripts.
In order to learn a spell, a spell script is required. The mage wishing to learn the spell must read the script while in a state of deep meditation that borders on sleep, as the markings on a spell script cannot be understood by the conscious mind. The technique to meditate and expose the senses to the subconscious can take months to years to master. Failure to properly commit the spell to the subconscious memory can have unpredictable results when the improperly-memorized spell is cast; the spell may drain the caster's body while having no effect, or may produce random unexpected effects known as wild magic.
Interestingly, only spell scripts in physical print or written by hand can be used to learn spells. Digital images on screens are not usable, as the conscious mind "shuts down" during meditation which includes the area of the brain that processes visual stimuli on computer screens into mental images. Mages attempting to learn a spell from a digital image therefore find the script illegible once they reach the semi-conscious state.
Once a spell has been learned, it can be cast at any time. Most spells involve a specific sequence of hand or body movements to invoke their effects, although some can be cast asomatically. These movements become ingrained in the caster's muscle memory from the moment the spell script is memorized, without needing to be explained directly.
Many spells focus their effects on a specific object of the caster's choice. When casting one of these spells, the caster must concentrate hard on the object they wish to target. Wandering thoughts or improper concentration during casting can cause the spell to affect an incorrect target, or to affect no specific target at all and have a much wider-ranging effect than the caster intended.
While most spells' effects are instantaneous, some are able to persist for several minutes, hours, or even days. They usually require the caster's continued attention in order to continue their effects, and will end if the caster loses their focus or is even briefly incapacitated.
The vast majority of modern new era spellcasters stick to established spells that have been refined and perfected over time. The practice of creating entirely new spells is known as spellcraft and is considered extremely difficult, with only the most experienced magic experts daring to attempt it.
A newly-created spell rarely produces the exact desired effect on the first attempt. It can take many attempts and revisions over weeks to months to perfect a new spell. Despite the difficulty and danger, many Torchlight scholars have produced new spells in the years since the rediscovery of magic.
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