Magic
Everything that is…is alive.
On Thaerrathas, every rock, every tree, every grain of sand has a Soul.
And all magic relates to channeling energy of Souls, primarily dealing with manipulating the Souls of the natural world around you, but it can also include your own Soul or the Souls of other creatures….
PRIMAL POWER
Primal power relates to the communication and cooperation with the Souls of the natural world. Druids, Rangers, and Bards fall under practitioners of Primal Power, additionally Barbarians who have access to magical abilities could fall under this category.
Rangers use magic to defend the Order or Civilization from the Chaos of Nature. Nature, the chaos, respects power. Survival of the Fittest. Rangers commune with the spirits of the natural world on a fundamental level, expressing the quality of their abilities and thusly imposing an authority over the spirits of the natural world on a level they understand and accept.
Druids sit in the middle of Civilization and Nature to negotiate a balance. They speak for the natural spirits of the world as much as they do for the people of the world. If the natural world is being defiled there is a good chance a Druid will show up to correct things, and likewise, if a Settlement or Stronghold has a Druid inhabitant there is a good chance that the spirits of the natural world won't have reason to run amok.
Bards coerce Nature to do their bidding. Bard’s sing the song of the world. There is a rhythm to the world and music in everything. Music is life. Things live by a rhythm and bards tap into that. Heartbeats are a rhythm. How you walk has a rhythm, how you breath, blink, talk, chew, how the wind blows or water flows has rhythm, how birds sing, bugs chirp, wolves howl. By playing music, Bards directly interact with the Souls of everything around them, manipulating them on a subconscious level.
Divine Power
Divine power relates to unleashing the power of your Souls or the Souls around you. Clerics, Paladins, and Artificers fall under practitioners of Divine Power, additionally Monks who have access to magical abilities could fall under this category.
Clerics pray and commune with a Higher Being. These Higher Beings use Arcane Power to unleash the power of the Soul of the Cleric and the souls of those around the Cleric. Much of what the Cleric does is an attempt to understand the whims of a Higher Being to appease them into bestowing blessing.
Paladins believe in something. It is the strength of their convictions that unleashes their Divine power. They directly channel their own Soul, tapping into a power within themselves and unleashing it upon the world as well as unleashing power within the souls of others. Many Paladins fight in the name of an individual or faction they believe in.
Artificers study and experiment with the materials that house the spirits of the natural world. Artificers then shape said materials to unlock the true potential of the spirit within. The methods of the Artificer are thought to be the oldest practices of magic on Thaerratha as the magical crafts that the Artificers employ parallel magical artifacts from civilizations lost to the mists of time.
ARCANE POWER
Arcane power is one of the three methods of channeling magic for the people of Thaerrathas.
Arcane power relates to controlling and guiding the Souls of the natural world. Warlocks, Wizards, and Sorcerers fall under practitioners of Arcane Power, additionally some subclasses that reference Wizards such as Arcane Trickster(Rogue) and Eldritch Knight(Fighter) could fall under this category.
The manner in which the various Arcane spellcasters control the natural forces of the world does not vary from class to class, they all impose control over the spirits of the natural world, but they do so without communion. Arcane Spellcasters bend and twist the world to their whim. They are akin to a puppeteer, pulling on the unseen strings of the Spirits. The manner in which these spellcasters access their powers differ.
Wizards spend time studying the Arcane arts, inscribing spells into a Spellbook. Their way is the long way, but they know the arcane arts better than any other.
Sorcerers are mortal beings infused or born with the innate ability to utilize Arcane power. They usually do not know how they got their power or how it works. Sometimes it is a blessing from a Higher Being or it was something sleeping in their bloodline.
Warlocks form a pact with a Higher Being. Through this pact they are taught the secrets of Arcane power. A warlock might not understand why or how their powers work the way they do.
It should be noted that all Arcane Spellcasters are looked at with disdain by the peoples of Thaerrathas, excluding inhabitants of the Moons, because the Aberrations that roam the wastelands of Thaerrathas employ Arcane power. These Aberrations are what destroyed the old world and made much of Thaerrathas uninhabitable. The movements used to cast spells through Arcane power mirror the natural movements of these Aberrations and those aspiring to be Wizards will travel to the Aberrant Wastes to study said movements and develop a mastery over the Arcane. Many view the use of Arcane power as "using the weapons of the enemy" and put the motivations of Arcane spellcasters into question.
