(07-12-2017, 10:47 AM)Vokcas Wrote: The way I see it. Red Mages are neither Black or White Mages. Conjury and Thaumaturgy belong to the White and Black School, the more powerful and more costly the skill in most cases these are referred to forbidden magic.
Just a minor nitpick, but it's the other way around. Black Magic is an extension - a technique - to allow Thaumaturges to reach greater levels of power. A Thaumaturge's ability is limited by their own personal aether - as seen in the THM questline. Shatotto - who I believe suffered from a low aetheric well also, but am not certain - developed the technique to instead draw power from the planet instead of being forced to be limited to one's own... well, aetheric limits.
From this came the ability to cast bigger and more potent magicks, to call down the stars and move mountains. And thus Mhachi was able to wield a great arcane power, without really caring about how it would affect the planet.
The Elementals, to combat this, bequeathed Succor on the nation of Amdapor. Or those bequeathed the power became the nation of Amdapor, I don't exactly remember if the order of operations for this was ever explicitly stated. Conjury already drew power from the planet, but in small amounts and you were taught to return what you took. Succor, however, much like Black Magic (and thus, in my mind, is - again - a technique) draws far more aether to power their own greater spells.
... Though, do we know if Conjury came first? One could potentially argue that Conjury could have come afterward. A watered down version of White Magic, and the idea of "returning what you take" becoming part of the process specifically to prevent a repeat of the past? Might be worth digging into.
ANYWAY, Black and White clash... along with a third party that still uses their own personal aether, but also brings to the fore more tactical prowess rather than just raw aetheric power: Nym. This conflict is later known as the War of the Magi, and the amount of aether being drawn by Mhach and Amdapor risks killing the planet. In an attempt to end this, the Elementals intervene once more and in a much more final fashion - they flood the world.
... and a small group of refugees from both sides end up in the lands of Gyr Abania (via a ship you can actually visit IG)... and rightly decide that they probably shouldn't use the White and Black techniques anymore. Thus Red Magic is developed and we have the Red Mages we know and love today.
~