Every wizard needs a focus implement to help them channel their magic during spell-casting. This implement is symbolically connected to the wizard's primary magical discipline, and it reflects the way in which the wizard interacts with his or her talent. It is an example of the wizard's technique where organized patterns of thought help them control their magic.1
A wizard can learn spells typically associated with elements other than their primary element, but these spells will be more difficult for them, take longer, and be more vulnerable to interference.
Dagger (Air)
Blades have long been used to represent the element of Air, the element most strongly connected with human intellect. Like the mind, blades divide the whole into parts, the general into its specific components.
Most air mages use a ceremonial dagger, sometimes called an athame (uh-THA-may) or arthana (ar-THA-nah). It is often silver-plated, and the more expensive ones are inlaid with jewels. Most athames are sharp, but if they are ever used to do physical violence, they must be ritually cleansed before they can function again as a focus implement. They may, however, be used to draw the wizard's own blood in the casting of certain spells.
Air magic includes the disciplines of Concealment, Electricity, Illusion, Memory, Speed, Thought, and Weather.
Chalice (Water)
Water mages use cups and basins for their casting. A traditional chalice is made of silver, copper or bronze, inscribed with smooth, flowing symbols around the outside of the cup.
The chalice is typically used with pure water that has been bottled at a magically significant source, such as the Vyaldi River that empties from the Dragon Mountains into the Sea of Souls. For certain spells it may also be used to hold wine, mead, holy or unholy water, or even blood. If the chalice is ever polluted with a liquid that is not an intentional part of a spell, it must be ritually cleansed before it can be used again as a focus implement.
Water magic includes the disciplines of Divination, Enchantment, Emotion, Healing, Transformation, and Trickery.
Crystal or Medallion (Earth)
Earth magic is slow, steady, and relentless. An earth mage needs a focus that is as steady, solid and unyielding as the Earth itself. For this reason, earth mages use pieces of the earth that have been clarified into their purest forms: crystals and bits of refined metal. Quartz crystals and bronze medallions are the most common forms, but wealthy casters may use diamonds, gold alloy, or mithril. The focus is usually carved with thick, heavy runes that help to clarify its mystical purpose.
A crystal that has been cracked or a medallion whose runes have been warped by fire is ruined as a focus implement and cannot be used again. Other than that, though, Earth foci are immune to any sort of taint, and can be readily used even if they are dirty or stained with blood.
Earth magic includes the disciplines of Defense, Inertia, Resistance, Stability, Stasis, and Strength.
Sickle (Life/Death)
Life mages, or biomancers, concern themselves with all the vital processes of living things. Inevitably, this requires an understanding of the end of life, as well. The sickle, the traditional focus of biomancy, reflects this duality: it harvests food to sustain one life even as it cuts down another. Most sickles used as foci are made of wood and inlaid with silver sigils. They are also small, no larger than a dagger. Some biomancers also use a staff made of green wood as a focus for some of their spells, particularly if they focus heavily on Plant magic.
Sickles are the second most durable focus implement, after the crystals and medallions of Earth magic. They can be destroyed by breaking or burning, but otherwise little will render them unusable. They do not even have to be sharp to be used in most spells. Notably, using the sickle to kill does not defile it, since both life and death are part of the duality it embodies. This is true even if the wizard is strongly aligned to the Life side of the life/death spectrum.
Life magic includes the disciplines of Animal, Body, Communication, Emotion, Healing, Plant, Thought, and Transformation. Death magic is the mirror-image of life magic, involving the corruption, decay or reversal of those things that life magic supports and enhances.2
Wand (Fire)
The fastest and most combat-focused branch of magic, Fire requires a focus that is quick and simple to use — point and shoot, as it were. Most wands are between 6 and 12 inches long and half an inch in diameter. They are made of wood, inlaid with sigils, and usually tipped with a ruby, opal, or other fire-aspected gemstone.
Wands are fragile and can easily snap if the caster gets involved in a hand-to-hand struggle, which is one reason why Fire mages tend to stay well back from the front lines in combat. The wand is often carried in a protective case to shield it from damage. Appropriately, wands are immune to damage by fire.
Fire magic includes the disciplines of Destruction, Dispelling, Emotion, Heat, Light, and Speed.
