Rune Magic

Rune magic, the magic style favored by peasant and soldier alike. Rune Magic has proven to be one of the most useful arts of magic, both for means of battle, and means of everyday life. Rune magic is the projection of the wielder's thoughts into a materalization of magic, shown as a rune. Should the wielder think wild, angry thoughts, a rune of fire could be created. Or should the wielder think bolstered, resplendent thoughts, a rune of life could be created. Rune magic is all a matter of keeping a specific type of thoughts and doing so with practiced focus. Like wizardry, rune magic is considered a 'scientific' art of magic and that it uses magical essences to create the magic. rune magic differs from wizardry in the way that instead of drawing magical essence from nearby objects, rune mages can simply create those magical essences by intensely thinking about them. Said by a wizard watching a rune mage perform his magic, the magical essence created by the rune mage seems to emit from his head, just like it would from a stone, a fire, an animal, a plant, or whatever the rune mage is thinking about. But since the rune mages' thoughts are so intensely focused on creating these essences, they cannot play with them as freely as wizards would be able to. They have to store the energies into a rune made of the magic they produced. These runes take long time to create and are very unpractical to create in the heat of battle. But should the wielder prepare one or more runes before battle, he would be able to discharge the runes in a blink of an eye. Most rune mages will create the runes on their palms, where they are easy to discharge and unleash the magical energy upon their foe. But not all runes are made for combat. Some runes are created with the intention of providing light in the darkness, heat in the cold, or life for withering crops.

Grades of Rune Magic
As all other styles of magic, Rune magic too has sub-styles to it that give the art variation for the wielder. In rune magic, there are two known styles.

Active

Active rune magic is the style of rune magic that builds up tremendous amounts of energy in a rune and unleashes all of it in one powerful burst. This style of rune magic is violent and can prove very deadly in combat situations. Should the wielder of this style place runes of fire on the bullets of a flintlock, the bullets will burst into flame as they strike the target or mid-air. This kind of rune magic will also make excellent traps by placing the runes upon the ground and triggering them as something approaches. In The Eastern Valley, it is said that the dark elf and human seperatists will use active rune magic to destroy trade-caravans and passanger transport and give either faction the blame. Active rune magic has also made their way into the world of trade and business, as some rune mages will place runes of life upon their customers as a life-insurance, should they need urgent healing.

Passive

Passive rune magic is the style of rune magic used most for mundane tasks, such as lighting up darkness or boiling water. Passive rune magic is the sub-style that allows the wielder to let the magic slowly seep from the rune and prolong its effects in smaller doses. Most wielders of passive rune magic will use their skills to keep food fresh with a rune of life or as an energy-source for devices. Passive rune magic, just as any other style of magic, can be used for combat purposes as well. Most rune mages will place passive runes of life upon themselves to bolster their strength and quickly regenerate cuts and slashes.

Locations of Practice
Most will prefer wizardry over rune magic, although there are some places where rune magic is a preferred (if not even revered) style of magic. Like these places:

Rimnoll Wetlands

Although not all of the Rimnoll Wetlands prefer rune magic, the wetlands are famous for one place where they do practice rune magic: The Academy of Advanced Gizmology. These tinkering, soot-brained technicians and engineers wield a volatile mix of technology and rune magic. By using the runes as magical batteries, they will empower their tools, contraptions and various gizmos with whatever runes that serve the purpose. The college is very solitary, hidden away in the very corner of the wetlands where they are not disturbed by other, less capable people.

Nightweald

In Nightweald, rune magic has played a vital role in making sure the darkness does not consume the forest entirely. Rune magic is practiced with utmost care and determination in this dark forest by The Cleansers in Lonelight. After the death of Mother Sanguine, The Cleansers have begun to offer safe escorts for the civilians, using rune magic to light the way. The Cleansers use rune magic with more combat in mind, so they hone their mind for thoughts that will bring down a foe swiftly.