So white magic was invented by the gods, while black magic came from the wraiths. But the gods are wraiths, so is there any actual difference?
Is white magic actually different from black magic? Convocation of mirrors spoilers
- Thread starter Lostname475
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I think the main difference is that white magic tends to deal with healing, defense, debuffing. stalling, or slowing down things. Or otherwise holy effects. Black magic deals with more damage-dealing and elemental stuff; fire, lightning, blight. There's likely some crossover with a few spells or overlap. You could certainly have a lightning shield that damages attackers or a blast of holy light that does pure damage. So probably semantics.
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I think it has to do with both what use it is given and what background the user has
White magic is more used as "support" magic, be it healing, buffing, purifying and even reviving allies, while the spells that deal damage with it tend to deal at least some holy damage or heal either the caster or its allies by some of the damage inflicted. This magic is usally waved by characters with holy backgrounds or proffesions, like clerics, paladins and such, or characters related to the gods, specialy those affiliated with Lumia and her valkiries
Black magic, on the other hand, is mostly "attack" oriented, almost every spell out of it is thrown to damage, dampen or incapacitate your foes in one way or another. This magic also tends to deal blight or psychic damage, and almost every single offensive spell aplies one or more status effects on the target. This one is more used by your tipical witch or arcanist, characters that focuss on the study of magic and its aplications, always seeking knowledge, as well as characters involved with demon buiseness, like cultists or the imps themselves
White magic is more used as "support" magic, be it healing, buffing, purifying and even reviving allies, while the spells that deal damage with it tend to deal at least some holy damage or heal either the caster or its allies by some of the damage inflicted. This magic is usally waved by characters with holy backgrounds or proffesions, like clerics, paladins and such, or characters related to the gods, specialy those affiliated with Lumia and her valkiries
Black magic, on the other hand, is mostly "attack" oriented, almost every spell out of it is thrown to damage, dampen or incapacitate your foes in one way or another. This magic also tends to deal blight or psychic damage, and almost every single offensive spell aplies one or more status effects on the target. This one is more used by your tipical witch or arcanist, characters that focuss on the study of magic and its aplications, always seeking knowledge, as well as characters involved with demon buiseness, like cultists or the imps themselves
Notably, the terms White and Black do not appear anywhere in the "Spells & Magic" codex entry (an in-universe excerpt written by a pre-war mage), which might suggest that the terms of division only came about after the Godswar had started.
I like to think the distinction between them was originally political in nature:
I like to think the distinction between them was originally political in nature:
What we now call “White Magic” consisted of those spells and rituals that were sanctioned by the old Belharan Empire for widespread use by the temples of the Seven. Healing, blessing, and the odd bit of divine smiting.
“Black Magic” consists of spells that were once considered too dangerous or subversive for common usage - like fireballs, spirit summoning, and necromancy - and the Empire restricted them to well-regulated centers of learning like Estelore and Tychris.
Unfortunately, when the wraiths invaded Estelore, they absorbed all the knowledge of those spells and carried it with them to the mainland. The Godswar became most people’s first encounter with "black magic," and so the art was erroneously associated with the wraiths themselves.
“Black Magic” consists of spells that were once considered too dangerous or subversive for common usage - like fireballs, spirit summoning, and necromancy - and the Empire restricted them to well-regulated centers of learning like Estelore and Tychris.
Unfortunately, when the wraiths invaded Estelore, they absorbed all the knowledge of those spells and carried it with them to the mainland. The Godswar became most people’s first encounter with "black magic," and so the art was erroneously associated with the wraiths themselves.