The following may contain some slight spoilers.

I realize that some people may be wondering about the magic system in Remnants, and may wonder why my magic users don't use their magic too often. Well, here's my explanation.

Magic users can be basically divided into two groups: sorcerers and mages. If you play D&D games, you'll see that my sorcerers and mages are almost the same as sorcerers and mages in them. But still, there are differences. While "sorcerer" is a specific term, "mage" collectively refers to elementalists, priests, witches/wizards, and Relic Mages. That is, people whose powers are based on tapping into some other power source and compelling/requesting it to do as they wish.

For example, Daimira is a mage -- specifically a Priestess of Kellan. While she has limited sorcerous capabilities as a result of her own innate power, those abilities are insignificant in comparison to her Priestess abilities. As a Priestess of Kellan, she has powers that Kellan granted. The powers belong to the Goddess, and she but wields a tiny amount of it. She is strongest in a place where the spirit of Kellan is strong, e.g. Kalborne, as a direct result. Also, since the Goddess she worships has a specific role in the balance of things, her powers are also rather specific. As you may have noticed, she specializes in mind tricks: mental domination, sleeping spells, and the like. She also has limited conjuration abilities, though she says she's not very good at that. Other people in the religion business also have specific powers, depending on who they worship.

Elementalists and witches/wizards, on the other hand, rely on lesser spirits, minor deities, and yes, even ghosts. Since there are a large variety of spirits, wizards are able to have a wider range of abilities than Priests and Priestesses and may, in some situations, surpass the abilities of the latter. However, their powers are harder to focus and direct, since they are compelling the spirits to help them out. There is a greater chance for their spells to go wrong. The same goes for elementalists, who are further restricted by the fact that they can only control, at the maximum, three elements, hence the terms "first-level," "second-level," and "third-level" elementalists. One who controls fire, for example, cannot control air and water because of the natural conflict. One who controls water can't control lighting or fire but only also air and earth, and so on. Though this applies mostly to first and second-level elementalists. Some third-level elementalists have been known to control conflicting elements, though their hold is tenuous.

While we're on the subject of innate mages (as opposed to Relic Mages that we'll get to later), we'll talk about spellcasting, which more or less does not exist in the way that is usually portrayed. There is no excessive muttering, hand-waving, swirling lights, etc. etc. All the spellcasting takes place inside the caster's head. It's all a mental battle with the spirit/element that you wish to command or borrow power from. The only exception is the rather special, formalized versions of the Binding Spell that are used in betrothal ceremonies, nuptials, and servitude. There's also the special Binding Spell involving the exchange of blood to enhance the bond.

Relic Mages are those people like Xandra, Falcon, and Sirene whose powers were obtained by wearing one of the many Relics. While their source of power is more reliable than those that wizards wield, their powers are extremely specific, and are limited because the angels (or Archangels) contained in the Relics are, well, sealed and the powers they can grant are diluted as a result of their sealing.

Lastly, we have sorcerers. Lake is chiefly a sorcerer, so is Mirage, though the latter's gifts are limited to making illusions, dispelling illusions, and flickering (travelling from place to place in an instant aka teleportation, but I don't want to use that because it's too techy-sounding). Sorcerers have the potential to do, well, anything -- and they don't have to wrestle with unreliable demons to get their way because everything they do comes from within. But this means that they also tire easily and their abilities are restricted mostly by their imagination. Only sorcerers can have the power to heal, and not all sorcerers can heal, at that.

About those healing gifts, by the way, a sorcerer cannot heal himself. Which only makes sense because when he heals, he takes a little bit of life energy out of himself and others nearby to heal the injured/diseased person. This also explains why some wounds can only be healed at the price of the sorcerer's life.

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