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The Magic Within

By Duane Marwell

Table of Contents
 
Prologue
  Spiritual Transition
  Mystic Theories

Chapter One: Mystic Roles
  Choosing a Role
  Changing Roles
  Designing Roles
  Meeting Role Requirements
  Role Descriptions
    The Barbarian Shaman
    The Centaur Shapechanger
    The Citadel Mystic
    The Dwarf Earth Mystic
    Sidebar: Earthen Magic
    The Independent Mystic
    The Kagonesti Shaman
    The Kender Nightstalker
    The Knight of the Skull
    The Knight of the Sword
    and Knight of the Rose

    The Legionnaire Mystic
    The Monk
    The Mystic-Sorcerer
    The Rogue
    The True Believer
    Sidebar: The True Gods

Chapter Two: Mystic Groups
  The Knights of Solamnia
  The Knights of Takhisis
  The Legion of Steel
  The Citadel of Light
  The Holy Order of the Stars
    Sidebar: The Order of Good
    Sidebar: The Order of Neutrality
    Sidebar: The Order of Evil

     Chapter Three: Mystic Lands
  Khur
    Sidebar: Morgain di Kyre
    Map: The Lands of Khur
  Dimernesti
    Map: The Sunken Land
  Port Balifor

Chapter Four: Optional Rules
  The Mystic Spheres
    Alteration
    Animism
    Channeling
    Healing
    Meditation
    Mentalism
    Necromancy
    Sensitivity
    Spiritualism
  Mystical Combinations
    Sidebar: Mystic Applications
    of New Magic Rules

  Kagonesti Elves as a Hero Race

Chapter Five: Mystic Figures
  A Mystic Sampler
    Ghostwolf
    "Feather"
    Jahran Kaldeist
    Drincabir Redstone
    Lord Morham Targonne
    Saraele Mellivaene

Appendix
  Roles Quick Reference
  Elven Races Quick Reference

Credits

Editor: Sue Weinlein Cook
Proofreader: Cerrie A. Bebris
Creative Director: Harold Johnson
Graphic Designers: Shan Ren and Dawn Murin
Typographer: Angelika Lokotz
Cover and Map Illustrator: Jeff Easley
Cartographer: Diesel
Interior Illustrators: Jacen Burrows, Jeff Butler, James A. Crabtree, Ned Dameron, Terry Dykstra, Jeff Easley, Larry Elmore and Valerie A. Valusek
Graphic Coordinators: Paul Hanchette and Dawn Murin
Special Thanks To: Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Jean Rabe and Richard A. Knaak, whose novels provided this book with descriptive quotes to begin each chapter; to Steven Brown for magic concepts; and to Jonas Williams for his research.

Author's Foreword:

When Goldmoon first discovered within herself the power of mysticism, she was in the twilight of her life. The Chaos War five years earlier had claimed the lives of many of her friends. Her husband Riverwind and her younger daughter Brightdawn had perished not long after, in an abortive attempt to drive Malystryx the Red from Kendermore. So when Goldmoon undertook what was to be her final trip to the Inn of the Last Home, it was with a heavy heart.

Little did she realize that a new chapter of her life was opening.

When this one woman tapped into the strength of the mortal heart to heal a dying dwarf, she opened the door for the world to explore the power of the spirit. Whether she was actually the first person ever to experience such a power is irrelevant. What matters is that she became the first individual in the new age to explore these powers and teach them to others.

Since that day more than twenty-five years ago, the magic of mysticism has spread across Ansalon. Some mystical knowledge has gotten into the hands of those who would use it for Evil ends, such as the Order of the Skull of the Knights of Takhisis. Others use the power of the spirit for the common good: healing the ill or injured, defending others against harm, and improving the lot of their communities.

Some people believe the Fifth Age will be among the most magical of all the Great Ages of Krynn's history. This speculation arises less from the potential power of sorcery and mysticism - although the limits of modern magic have yet to be tested - and more from the possibility that nearly everyone might one day wield some sort of magic. As knowledge of mysticism and sorcery spreads, more people have access to arcane powers than ever before. In the Fourth Age, mages and priests had to make the study of wizardry or religion their life's work, committing themselves to a lifelong study of their field in order to work their miracles. In the Fifth Age, some claim, an innkeeper can tap into the power of the spirit as easily as the Revered Daughters and Sons of Paladine. Farmers might improve their yields by using animism, warriors their combat skills through channeling, and physicians their healing skills through the assistance of mystic magic.

Most philosophers, however, consider the notion of this "Golden Age" of magic little more than a dream. Reality cannot approach these speculations, they remind their colleagues, while there remains the little matter of surviving the predations of a dangerous world.

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