'Traditional' Ironsoul style spellcasting

Ironsoul style spellcasting originates from before the time when Ironsoul was founded. In the centuries before The Shattering, humans of the region were ruled by their all-powerful Mercanian overlords. Arcane power, the secrets of controlling the fabric of reality, were used at the expense of thousands of human lives. Even attempting to learn about how the Mercanians work magic meant a death sentence.
 
Still, things were learned over time. Observers shared rumors of bits seen of battles between Mercanians, servants whispered about spells cast when their masters weren't careful to hide their powers. Still, progress was slow, as much of Mercanian magic was etched into their skin and therefore even harder to discern.
 
When the Mercanian empire collapsed almost literally upon itself during The Shattering, the surviving humans no longer had to hide their research. Thousands of years of magical knowledge gained over dozens of generations of a species that passed on their power to their survivors had been lost.
 
The empire had been shattered, their magnificent cities devastated and lost to the oceans that rushed to reclaim the sunken continent. Nearly every location containing arcane knowledge had been lost, save for one. Ironsoul.
 
Originally a border city, Ironsoul had still been under construction when The Shattering called a halt to the Mercanian empire. The millions of enslaved humans  watched the destruction of their empire and waited for a Mercanian overlord to return to tell them what to do. None came, and in the years that followed the humans abandoned the tasks their masters had enforced in them, and began to build their own society.
 
Centuries passed, and since then the survivors of the labor force of Ironsoul spread out, forming their own kingdoms. From the meager archives of magical knowledge present in Ironsoul, the circle of magi were formed. Like a pale echo of the former Mercanian masters, the circle of magi gained great power... for humans.
 
Ultimately, human magic is based off of a model of one method Mercanian spellcasting. Gestures, words of power, and mental practices were learned from the scraps their prior masters left behind. While initially incomplete, Humanity had proven quite capable of filling in the gaps.
 
Calling their magic scraps of a prior empire would be doing their abilities an injustice. Ironsoul style spellcasting is unique in that it uses the simplest forms of spellcasting available to achieve great results. Human ingenuity had sprung ideas that made economic use of a human's meager auras a possibility. Even the elves, the next users of magic, could not do the same with as little power as the average human mage had.
 
Human spellcasting has three primary components. There is the gestures used, the words of power spoken, and the spell form shaped using power drawn from their aura. The ultimate goal is the creation of a spell form: a complicated shaping of power that changes something in the world.
 
Power is first pulled into the body through the anchoring chakra that connect the aura to a living person; the heart.
 
The words of power are fragments of an ancient language used to help form the world. Their purpose lubricates the creation of a spell form, making it easier to push it into the proper place. This necessity can be reduced the more a mage is capable of making that form by memory, but even so, the final word of power, the triggering word, is almost always impossible to remove since it is what helps the mage focus his power into a targetable effect.
 
The gestures, postures, and mudras used are a long list of pre-learned movements that a mage uses while pushing power through their bodies. By expelling the power, typically through their fingertips, a mage literally shapes a spell form in their body. Most any spell form can be made using a combination predesigned motions. This can be shaped with will alone, but that only comes from practice and deep understanding of the spell form being used. Even so, the final gesture is needed just like the final word of power in order to make a targetable effect.
 
Human style spellcasting relies heavily on rote learning. By being able to perform the actions required to cast a spell without actively thinking about it, a human has the concentration to focus his mind on channeling power through their body safely. This is inherently dangerous for humans, as since they are natural creatures and not inherently magical which have bodies capable of handling power flowing through their systems. To them, actions like 'holding' a spell are possible, but highly damaging to their bodies.
 
Because of rote learning, they have developed their own 'trick' to spellcasting: Slinging. By knowing intimately every aspect of a spell, a human spellcaster can internalize all but the final word and gesture of a spell, shaping the energy flooding their body in an instant. This allows a spell to be 'slung' out at speeds useful for combat scenarios, but the process is admittedly inefficient, losing upwards of half the power spent on the spell. This meant that the spell could be brought into play with a thought, murmured word and a gesture... but pushing power through the caster's body so quickly causes much of it to be lost in the process.
 
Among human spellcasters, the quality of a spell when slung is considered the standard. Long-form casting, the normal way, is usually used when the caster has the time and attention available to make sure it is done efficiently and precisely.
 
Even so, humans still unknowingly lose some of their power when casting. Since their bodies are not naturally able to handle power, a little bit is lost in their meridians, burning them very mildly. This is why a human mage can end up exhausted from 'emptying the well' quickly; It's the ache from their overexerted meridians more than any physical exertions (Unless the spells being cast had great physical motions required)
 
Burning out is the term relating to leaving power in a human's meridians for too long. From the instant they draw in power, it burns itself onto their flesh. Holding it for more than the moments required for spellcasting can be dangerous. For long-form casting, the trickle of power is not usually enough to cause long lasting harm if kept in their body, but when one floods the maximum capacity their meridians can handle in order to 'sling' a spell, even a second too long can cause burn out.
The damaged meridians harm the skin and nerves of the body, causing a constant, itching and burning. It also prevents the meridians from being used for any purpose, and attempts to use them further burn out the areas around the injury.  The physical damage is quite evident on the surface, but what's worse is the possible internal damage. Any damage to the deep meridians can kill a mage outright, as their life energy flows through them.

Next week I will discuss another type of magic! Any questions?