Learning & Practice¶

Traditional apprenticeship remains the most common way to learn Sjōvneva. For those who prefer standardized torment, magickal academies have sprung up in major cities.

The Cerulean Spire in Idemar is considered by many the most prestigious. Rīōnne’s Breath Academy in northern Ārdmery boasts a near-complete open-air campus; while the Temple-College of Illyānna educates many in southern Bairora.

Self-Teaching¶

Against all sensible advice, a great many intrepid (or suicidal) individuals attempt to teach themselves about Sjōvneva. Pronunciation errors and the like can lead to one disaster after another. Worse still, incorrect invocations may attract attention from unintended divine entities, particularly those with mischievous or malevolent tendencies.

Divine Calling¶

Occasionally, some completely ordinary person with no magickal background whatsoever suddenly starts speaking in divine tongues and performing miracles. These “divinely called” individuals bypass normal learning entirely, receiving magickal knowledge directly through what one described to me as feeling like “having a library dropped into my brain from a great height.”

These sudden practitioners typically demonstrate remarkable power within their patron’s specific domain while remaining utterly incompetent in all others. As a result, the divinely called tend toward zealotry.

Established magickal institutions view these divine wild-tokens with the enthusiasm typically reserved for unexpected tax audits. “Unpredictable,” “unregulated,” and “unsettling” were terms I heard repeatedly from traditional practitioners. Nevertheless, these divinely tapped individuals have historically driven major magickal innovations, typically by not knowing something was deemed impossible until after they’d already done it.