hat a wonderful treat for this release of the Ages of Athiria newsletter! The design team has decided to release the first sneak peek of how magic will work in the world of Athiria.

lso included in this month's newsletter is a first glimpse of the bestiary of Athiria and the long awaited Elven music to accompany the High Elven race that was released in Volume 2.

tay tuned next month as we begin our tour through the lands of Athiria.

Yours in Athiria,
Tom DeSanctis
a.k.a. Noonway
Ages of Athiria Development Team
http://www.agesofathiria.com

We thought it might be time to release something that a lot of you have been waiting for. As a thank you for staying with us throughout the past several months, we've decided to show you a first glimpse into the mystical side of Athiria. After reading through this introduction to magic in the world of Athiria, we would love to hear your comments and discussion over at the Ages of Athiria message boards on RPGVault/IGN Network.

eep in the forests surrounding Tuvien, the town of Ravaal was well known for their exquisitely handcrafted pottery. The Lothien family was largely responsible for this, as all of the town's grandmaster potters came from their bloodlines. Since pottery was the primary source of income for their town, all children were watched for their aptitude in the craft as they made projects during their school time. It was desirable to have their most gifted citizens involved in the business. The elven culture deeply valued the natural skills in which their people showed talent. Therefore nobody was forced into a craft or job they would not enjoy.

Sunia Lothien was gifted, but not in the craft of pottery. She was no disappointment to her family, however. Meneth and Cathiel, her father and mother, were extremely proud of her accomplishments. The youngest of five in this elven family, her natural attunement to the energies of Healing was noticed early in life, being discovered during one of Cathiel's many illnesses.

"I worry that Elder Elama comes to visit mama so often," thought Sunia as the Healer came into their house for this latest visit. Sunia could not remember her mother not being sick. In fact, Cathiel's life was sorely in danger throughout her pregnancy with Sunia. "Father looks so worried, as do Alfalas, Iarin, and Aronen." They were her older siblings still living with them. The oldest sibling, Gaelach, was serving with the Palace Guard in Tuviel.

"In every visit, Elder Elama sets down his book on the bed next to mama. He speaks strange words while holding his hand over the book. Sometimes mama opens her eyes after he finishes. Sometimes she doesn't. Mama tosses and turns in her sleep too, although she does more of that lately. I wish I could make her sleep better."

Because of the many visits to their home, Sunia had many plenty of opportunity to watch the way the Healers performed their duties. She was distressed that her mother was sick so often, and would do anything to help her.

"I like the sound of the words he uses, the ones just before he leaves. They always make mama look more restful. The creases around her eyes go away, and she sleeps. Those must be very special words." Even though the Words of Power were spoken in a language she did not know, certain phrases and spells were spoken often enough that she was able to memorize them.

"Today they didn't seem to work, as mama was still tossing and turning even after Elama spoke those words." The Elder Healer had left his spellbook open on the side of the bed when he left to speak with Sunia's father outside in their main living area. "Maybe if I put the book on mama's tummy and said the words myself, then it would work!" thought Sunia as she began to anguish over the sight of her mother in pain.

Alone in the room, and emboldened by love of her mother, Sunia stepped over to the bedside. Gently picking up the book, she placed it on her mother's stomach, hoping the crinkling sound of the stiff parchment wasn't heard outside the room. "Elama holds his hands over this page, says those words, and then it will work!" Taking a last deep breath, Sunia lifted one of her small hands over the page while recalling the words she had so often heard the Healer speak. She whispers the words, but nothing happens. "I guess I didn't say it loud enough," she said as she cleared her throat a bit before beginning again. This time, as she began to repeat the Words, she felt a strange sensation in her hand as it hung slightly off the page. Keeping her concentration, she continued. Now the sensation moved up her arm, then into her shoulder and head as she finished the last Word.

Healer Elama overheard the Words of Power being spoken, and rushed into the bedroom. It was quite coincidental that the phrase Sunia spoke corresponded to the page that was open in the spellbook. Unfortunately for the girl, she was not skilled enough to handle the backlash of ethereal energies caused by this powerful spell. Easily, the ethereal energies overwhelmed her as she fell to the floor in exhaustion. She was fortunate not to be physically injured by the spell, a testament to her raw natural talents.

For the remainder of Cathiel's illnesses, Elama allowed Sunia to assist with some of the more easy tasks he performed, even going so far as to allow her to cast very simple healing spells on her mother. Sunia's natural talent for healing was obvious, and she was sent to the Learning Schools in Tuvien when old enough. Years later, she returned to Ravaal to become an Adept Healer, continuing under the tutelage of the Elder Healer Elama.

he rediscovery of the Ethereal Plane and the ability for Athirians to manipulate its energies marked the rebirth of magic in a world devoid of its power for countless generations. This was a turning point of great significance in the history of Athiria. The Ethereal Plane was first discovered by what are now known as the Great Mages. They learned that the Ethereal Plane contained energies that were the essence of all life on Athiria. These energies were called Calarite, which existed in both mineral and ethereal forms. The Great Mages were aware of the mineral form of Calarite, but could not explain why this exotic mineral felt powerful. Over time, the Great Mages slowly discovered the nature and meaning of the energies that make up the Ethereal Plane, and realized that the mineral Calarite was simply a physical manifestation of these same energies. As they discovered how to manipulate the energies found in the Ethereal Plane, entire libraries were formed that contained thousands of recipes for controlling these powerful energies.

amed early in Athiria’s history, well before the Great Mages existed, the art of manipulating ethereal energy was called “magic”. Early Athirians needed a term to describe the effects they saw created by the first Caluvians to discover this planet. Magic is everywhere, permeating every living thing, from the lowly ants to the now-evolved and civilized races that inhabit Athiria's varied landscapes. It is the ethereal energy of the world that binds the soul to your body. Sufficiently willful casters can learn to tame those energies and shape them to do their bidding. The Great Mages grew to understand this, and created artifacts and vast libraries of spells to do just that. They studied the language of the Ethereal Plane, and learned its secrets. They chronicled every advancement in the magical arts from the time of its discovery in an effort to grow more powerful through its use.

oon it was discovered there were several forms of this ethereal energy. Each form of this energy had certain properties that allowed it to have specific effects in the world. The Great Mages organized these forms of energy into what became known as the spell wheel. The wheel defined the energies that were related to one another and the energies that were known to oppose one another. Further, it became known that as a mage cast spells using a certain type of this energy, his body became attuned to that energy and the effectiveness of spells using that type of energy increased. As long as the mage would continue to cast spells using the same form of ethereal energy, they would continue to cast powerful spells. The mages noticed a marked difference in their casting abilities when moving from one type of attunement to another. For a period of time they would become detuned to any spell casting. Consequently, the mages’ power was significantly reduced. The spell wheel was adjusted to show this phenomenon, which was labeled "The Void" and was quickly known to be something that a Mage did not want to encounter often. This resulted in specialized mages and gave rise to a council of great mages that consisted of one master from each specialization.

or many generations the Great mages worked to institutionalize magic. They formed schools in nearly every city, and had representatives from nearly every intelligent race on the planet. During this time, Caluvians began to take notice of the ethereal activity that resulted from this intense use of magic, and moved to investigate. As the history of Athiria indicates, a great cataclysm destroyed much of the holdings of the indigenous races of Athiria. Unfortunately, most of the knowledge of the Great Mages was lost. Only recently have their works begun to resurface. With each new discovery, knowledge of the lost Language of Power increases.

hel Khazul (a.k.a. Matthew Koch, of Elysian Productions) sat down with me to talk about his responsibility with Ages of Athiria and what you can look forward to from him in the future. Here is the full interview:

Noonway:    What is your responsibility on the Ages of Athiria Development Team?
Bhel Khazul:    I've been concentrating primarily on the the storyline of, and on-going content for, the world of Athiria. In addition to content, I always have an eye out for Customer Service issues. Yes I know we don't currently have any paying customers to service. But, if you wait until you have them, then it's far too late to design and implement your policies.