Before I go into it, there is a symbol for magic, which I haven't been able to get up yet(lack of scanner) which I will describe now. Imagine a compass rose, with a center, north, south, east, west, and southeast, southwest, northwest, and northeast. The center of this is Nature, north is Light, northeast is fire, east is metal, southeast is earth, south is darkness, southwest is water, west is lightning, and northwest is air or wind. There is a significance to this assortment, such as the major elements are all spaced by one, their 'combinations' between them. Air and fire make light, fire and earth make metal, water and earth make darkness(like caves and such) and water and air make lightning(like storms). And nature is in the middle because by all of these means life is made possible.
Also, there is a history one must also know, which I will go in depth in at another topic. Magic, along with it's potency, has been on the decline. Now, magic users are about one in a million, and not nearly as powerful as the age of old would suggest. While in legend a learned fire mage could make it rain fire from the sky, one from this age may have problems making the flame a size of himself.
Nature: The center of the wheel, also sometimes referred to as life magic, it has the power to manipulate flora and animals. Some more acclaimed mages of this field can even transform their own bodies to those of ferocious animals. This branch of magic also has potent healing abilities, which helps lead to it's other name as life magic. This magic is most prevalent in humans.
Light: The highest point in the wheel, or proverbial 'north,' this branch has the ability to manipulate visible light. This manipulation can do anything from camouflage, creating illusions, blinking, which is a means of teleportation, and channeling light into a semi solid form, akin to a laser. Magic is most prevalent in Terantis.
Fire: Between Light and Metal, it is one of the 'basic' elements, and also takes up the proverbial 'northeast' point. The magic has the ability to control fire and heat, and some talented mages could even control the flame's fire color. Most prevalent in the Eidechse
