Magic is made up from 12 Basic affinities each of which combine with one another to form 81 Composite affinities.

When it comes to Spellcasting - specifically Mark casting - there are eight Methods each of which combine to form Composite methods.

There are a variety of ways in which this skybound people the ran are able to cast spells.

Mark casting is when a person casts using their Heart Mark or the two basic affinities that make up that Heart Mark.

This can be done when the caster uses matching Affinity and Method from their Heart Mark.

Casters can use their own energy (Mana) for these spells.

Heart Marks naturally appear as a person ages and their Soul develops.

For a person to cast magic using a Mark they have acquired by Attuning to a Temple, they need to use Mana from Gemstones

Unlike Mark Casting, Spellcasting requires the use of a gemstone.

Spellcasting is when a person uses magic of an Affinity they have a Mark for, either:

To cast a Method they don't have in their Heart Mark.

or

To cast an Affinity they don't have in their Heart Mark.

Spellcasting can't typically be used for complex spells and requires Mana from a Gemstone.

To cast a complex spell - such as a spell with multiple functions or affinities - a Pattern or Incation is required.

Patterns are written or drawn, such as on a scroll or the surface being affected.

Incantations are spoken and evoked, but technically can by any sort of sequence of actions, like gestures or hand signs.

These act as a "description" of the spell's formula, functionally compartmentalising complex features one at a time.

These cannot be directly copied, because they rely on the caster's understanding.

If a caster prepares a Pattern, another person can use it.

As an extension of Patterns, Spellscript is a broad category of 'written' or 'prepared' magic.

Casters prepare Spellscript by writing Glyphs, Symbols, Sigils, Runes and Patterns, connecting them with shapes and lines to 'program' a spell.

This type of magic always requires gemstones, but once prepared, anyone can provide the Mana or activate the spell.

Sometimes these are 'infused' at the time of casting, and depending on the Spellscript, may be recharged by another person later.

Different objects & surfaces have different capacities for Mana, which in turn limits the power of effects.

By applying Spellscript to objects, Devices can be created. Such as a staff that shoots fire when a Rune is pressed.

Everything in Aetherbound is magic, so magic effects can be created in ways outside of Spellscript, instead by relying on natural magical properties of objects.

Often this takes the form of using monster parts to create equipment.

The creation of magical items based on their natural properties is known as Affinity Craft

Alchemy exists where people treat and distil parts of nature, creatures, monsters or other items they have found to transfer or create effects and potions.

When a person reaches an Attunement location, they can use the opportunity to manifest an object.

Similar to Attunement this will drain the person's magical energy, but rather than providing them with an attunemnet Mark, they will instead 'create' an item.

The item created is influenced by the person's desires, but not controlled entirely by it. It will require Gemstones to charge with Mana.

Powerful Attuned Items require the weilder to attune to the item. To do this, the caster needs to have a Mark that is not connected to an item and matches it's Affinity

After doing this, the 'Attuned' item can manifest passive effects and naturally recharge, the strength of the effects the item can produce are linked to the strength of the connected Mark

For Example, the Florenic blades, like Giyan's blade of structure, while very powerful, require a powerful Structure Mark to attune with to access that power.

Because of this, it's most common for the most powerful equipment a person uses, to match their Affinities