A Brief Summary Of Clerical Magic
By Deacon Varlo Kirlosa of the Althenian Church

Clerical magic, above all things, deals in the manipulation of life. No mortal can control the forces of life but Clerical magic delves into the mysteries there in. All beings that can manipulate their Elementus to any small degree may heal their own wounds. Some warriors have trained in this along with their combat skills so they can heal flesh wounds. More serious wounds and the healing of other people, however, falls under the umbrella of Clerical training. Clerics are usually devoted to the church of a God, whether their Elemental God, the Mother, or the Father. They learn religious scriptures and prayers. These learnings steel their will and lead to the ability of magical control.

As for the magics that the Clerics practice I have already mentioned the greatest one: Healing. With concentration and usually prayer Clerics and feel out the wounds and ailments of a person, and this is the base to their healing abilities. Clerics master first the ability to heal in the name of their God. As this ability progresses they can heal life-threatening wounds and deadly diseases. They can even counter magical diseases after they have time to meditate over the patient. When Clerics advance in power to the point of the Deacon - power comparative to an Archmage - they may even raise the dead. The longer the person has been dead the harder it is to ressurect them. When the person has been ressurected their Element will be that of the Deacon that raised them, as the Deacon uses his own Elementus to bind the Soul to the body once again. Something that is important to note is that all Clerics, because of their healing abilities, have unnatural longevity. Their bodies tend to reject all diseases and poisons and may even heal old scars if one comes to the Clerical path later in life. This natural healing, though slow, keeps devoted Clerics alive much longer than their natural lifespan.

Their ability to heal magical diseases also gives clerics a knowledge of how to create magical diseases as well. Clerics are not as talented at making magical diseases as Necromancers are, but they can still create ailments to strike those who have been disloyal to the church and the Clerics want to bring the person back to their God. These diseases aren't usually life-threatening, but rather something like blindness or the sudden paralysis of a limb. More often than not the disease will be tailored to the sin that a person commits, though sins vary from one religion to another.

Clerics who are more inclined to battle in the name of their God can use their magic to augment their existing physical traits. They may become faster, stronger, or more dextrous. Once a Cleric is versed in this talent they may bestow it over another person or, with more power, a group of people as a blessing. Other blessings they give strengthen the weapons and armor of the Cleric and his fellows in arms. A good army always has Clerics to back it up. Some Deacons who excel in this art have even been seen with weapons or armor of light. These are temporary things, but these Deacons simply condense energy to fit their needs. Though this can only be kept up for a short time these weapons are usually devastating and the armor inpenetrable.

Well-trained Clerics are indeed a force to be reckoned with but must adhere to the strict rules of their church. They are a magical force weilded by divine patrons. Some powerful Clerics have even been communicated with their God (with the exception of the Clerics of Primus, though they have become adept at interpreting any mundane piece of existence as a sign from the Father). The powers of Clerics are always augmented when they are worked upon people of the same Element as the Cleric, though they will work upon someone of any Element. Each church focuses upon different areas of the magic, however. The Mercusians and Diosians tend to focus on combat abilities (offensive and defensive, respectively), while Aidonites and Vulkanites look toward healing. Thanatosians like to uses the magical diseases more than others, especially on those that ridicule Thanatos as a weak God. Althenians like to use all of the abilities equally, but adept Clerics of Althena have also been known to get glimpses of the future or past (these glimpses vary in their length and time from the present, but it is important to know that this isn't a learned ability but rather a gift from Althena at appropriate times). Primusian Clerics dabble in all schools but are more involved in reading signs of the work of Primus in the world, believing that since all things exist in the Father then the Father exists in all things.