Sosarian magic



In the Age of Darkness, magic worked quite differently in comparison to its now-codified rules. The magic wielded in ancient Sosaria was far less versatile; mages were very busy rediscovering the limits of sorcery, since magic had been outlawed in Sosaria for many generations due to a general distrust by the populace. The coming of Mondain forced its return, in the hopes that a knowledge of magic might help to combat the evil wizard. It was an interesting time, before the rules for magic were finally set in Britannia.

First Age of Darkness
At the time of Ultima I, Sosaria was just recovering magic, after it had been banned for a long time; powerful magic users had yet to emerge. Wizards and clerics both practiced the art through their own separate methods. Preparation of spells and casting them from spellbooks wasn't yet the standard, so magic users had to resort to buying single-use spell scrolls, which they then would use for their magic.

Additionally, four objects were available to strengthen the caster's magic powers: Staves, wands, amulets and triangles. The triangle was also a magical sword, usable as a weapon. The wisdom of the caster determined the chance of successfully casting a spell, while intelligence determined how powerful its result would be.

Ten spells were available:

Second Age of Darkness
On the time-warped Earth of Ultima II, the division between divine magic and arcane magic grew larger, with wizards practicing arcane magic and clerics divine magic. The same rules for wisdom and intelligence applied, yet the use of magic itself was much more limited. While purchased scrolls were still a necessity, only three of the nine spells could be used by both classes. Three of the spells were purely divine, and three purely arcane in nature.

For whatever reasons -- perhaps the warped nature of time and space in this part of Sosaria's past -- spells could only be cast in the various dungeons and towers, making the formidable power of magic users next to useless on the surface world.

Nine spells were available:

Third Age of Darkness
In the time of Exodus in Ultima III, the division between arcane magic and divine magic in Sosaria was complete, with various specialty classes practicing either one or the other form of magic. Scrolls no longer had to be bought. Casters knew their spells from memory, and only the amount of mana available limited their level of power and frequency of use. Divine magic relied on wisdom about the world that surrounds the castle, while arcane magic relied on intelligence to understand the concept and theories behind magic.

In these times, the Cult of Runes represented the arcane side of magic, while the Cult of Truth represented the divine aspect. Both sides had their own unique set of 16 spells, which were further divided into 10 basic and 6 advanced spells. Both cults tried to make the workings of their spells a secret to outsiders, by giving them names that were not of the common tongue.

Both forms of magic required different words of power (in the form of phrases unique to each spell), and some had extremely rare and exotic components (even compared to Nightshade or Mandrake Root!) needed to bring about their effects. Very little of these old ways survived the transition into the Age of Enlightenment.

The available spells were:

This was the last age in which magic was under experimentation. With the establishment of Britannia, the ways of magic were streamlined, and Britannian Magic replaced all the other systems of magic.