АРКАНУМ
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World

The public-safe foundations of the Arcanum universe — no story spoilers: how the Interreality holds together, its key location, the rank hierarchy, and the schools of magic.

The Interreality

Arcanum is neither a world nor a planet but a structural node of the Interreality: it exists not "somewhere" but in between. If the web of worlds is an endless, many-dimensional fabric, Arcanum is the place where its principal vectors converge and stabilize. Without it the web of worlds does not shatter at once, yet it loses its footing, begins to waver and distort. Arcanum is the anchor of balance.

Key location

The Citadel

The Citadel of Arcanum is the single anchor that has held the worlds apart for thousands of years. It has never fallen. Here the mages of every rank live and train, here the Council of Elders convenes, and from here issues the will that keeps the balance of the Interreality. The Citadel is the heart of the Arcanum universe and the entry point into its story.

The Seven Ranks

A closed hierarchy of seven ranks, from lowest to highest. Every rank commands all sixteen schools of magic — the difference is depth and density, not access.

  • 7

    Neophyte

    The entry level. Recruited from the worlds, their gifts recognized at once, they pass through the academic cycle.

  • 6

    Warrior

    A full combat unit. Universal magic, clear discipline, subordination to the command structure.

  • 5

    Guardian

    The connecting tier. Commands small units, the link between officers and warriors. Deeply trained.

  • 4

    Legate (Officer)

    The officer tier. Magic, combat skill, and analysis all at a high level.

  • 3

    Archon

    The highest active tier of power. Universal mages of the greatest density, strategists who act autonomously in crisis.

  • 2

    High Archon

    The Council of Elders. Having risen through the whole hierarchy from neophyte, with centuries of experience and a strategic horizon.

  • 1

    Supreme Archon

    The summit of the hierarchy. Keeper of the Source, interpreter of the balance. The final word is theirs.

The Sixteen Schools of Magic

The magic of Arcanum is divided into sixteen canonical schools. The list is closed: there is no seventeenth. Every mage is trained in all of them; the primary is the one a practitioner leans toward.

  • 1

    School of Air

    Way of Wind and Skies

  • 2

    School of Fire

    Way of Flame and Ash

  • 3

    School of Water

    Way of Current and Depths

  • 4

    School of Earth

    Way of Stone and Root

  • 5

    School of Light

    Way of Radiance and True Sight

  • 6

    School of Shadow

    Way of Dusk and Shadows

  • 7

    School of Destruction

    Way of Doom and Sundering

  • 8

    School of Illusion

    Way of Deception and Reflections

  • 9

    School of Mind

    Way of Hypnosis and Telepathy

  • 10

    School of Wards

    Way of Defense and Resistance

  • 11

    School of Morphing

    Way of Transformation and Making

  • 12

    School of Healing

    Way of Harmony and Restoration

  • 13

    School of Space

    Way of Limit and Warping

  • 14

    School of Time

    Way of the Moment and Eternity

  • 15

    School of Necromancy

    Way of Bones and Obedience

  • 16

    School of Bioforms

    Way of the Shaper of Living Forms