Way of the Elements

The Way of the Elements is a school of formalized arcane thought taught within the territories of the former Peternean Empire, now referred to more generally as the Shimmering Shore. The school taught a highly formal arrangement of arcane magic that placed equal emphasis on elementalism, astrology, and cosmology as influences on magic.

Notable in the Way of the Elements as a deviation from Ars Magica is that it recognized a total of only five elements: air, fire, water, metal, and wood. This makes it the only school in Wisteria to subdivide the element of Earth, though it ties wood and metal together by associating both with the Elemental Plane of Earth, Petrii.

Way of the Elements practitioners are a traditionalist bunch; the school itself is considered to be essentially "complete" in its teachings, with the emphasis placed on greater comprehension on the part of the student. Wizards are far more common under this system than Sorcerers or Bards. There is a strong tradition in the former Petrenea of mixing martial and arcane training, resulting in unusual mixes such as the monk-sorcerer or the Magus.