The Ten Circles of Spellcraft

"Once, there were ten. Now, we are allowed only three — not because we forgot, but because we were made to forget."

Origins of the Circles

Before the Veil’s weaving, spellcraft was measured not in raw damage or showmanship, but in Circles — concentric degrees of mastery carved into the very foundations of magical law.

The First Circle was a whisper of what was possible; the Tenth was the rewriting of reality itself.
No mortal ever climbed all ten without either burning away their humanity or drawing the gaze of gods — and often, both.

When the Veil was raised, the Watchers cut away the upper Circles, severing their knowledge from mortal minds. Only fragments survive in family vaults, forbidden grimoires, and the blood-memory of those whose lineage predates the barrier.

The Circles Before the Veil

First Circle – The Spark

Minor workings: candle flames, harmless wards, whispering charms, and the simplest healing. The foundation every spellwright stood upon.

Second Circle – The Hand

Practical enchantments, combat-ready bolts, illusions the size of a man, environmental shifts within a room’s breadth. The soldier’s and artisan’s magic.

Third Circle – The Blade

Magic able to decide a duel or change a harvest: barriers that could hold back arrows, frost to lock a gate shut, blasts that could knock down a watchtower.

Fourth Circle – The Banner

Battlefield-altering magic. Weather called in minutes. Siege walls broken by a single touch. Marks the first Circle the Veil now actively resists.

Fifth Circle – The Legion

City-scale effects: storm systems, firestorms, plagues cured or unleashed, rivers diverted in a day. This Circle could feed or starve a nation.

Sixth Circle – The Crown

The shaping of nations. Rearranging coastlines, silencing volcanoes, or waking mountains. Required a web of casters or a single archmage.

Seventh Circle – The Throne

Transcendent working. Altering time in a province. Making a god bleed. Breaking the oath-magic of entire races.

Eighth Circle – The Sundering

Capable of killing gods outright or banishing them from the mortal plane for centuries. Could rip open leylines or weld them shut.

Ninth Circle – The Origin’s Breath

Rewriting the natural laws for a region — changing how gravity worked, altering the cycle of day and night, or erasing entire concepts from existence.

Tenth Circle – The Unmaking

Only ever used in desperation. The destruction or rebirth of worlds. The permanent rewriting of reality’s script. No mortal record of such a working survives intact.

The Circles After the Veil

Today, the Veil permits only:

• First Circle: Parlour tricks and minor aids.

• Second Circle: Useful but subtle tools of trade or combat.

• Third Circle: Rare, battlefield-tier magic under strict control.

Anything beyond this strains the Veil. A Fourth Circle working will ripple through miles of reality. A Fifth can tear it open entirely.

The Guardians of the Higher Circles

Only two bloodlines are sanctioned to wield above the Third:

• The ATO Elders — descendants of Watchers who enforce the Veil’s boundaries.

• The Pendrake Elders — the last human champions bound by oath to the Watchers themselves.

Their use is “permitted,” not trusted — because they are as much executioners as they are defenders.

The Quiet War for the Fourth

The ATO, the Pendrakes, and the Watchers kill to keep the higher Circles buried. Books burned, mages “disappeared,” prodigies silenced before they can breach the Fourth.

Yet the whispers persist:
The Veil is fraying.
Someone is preparing a Fifth Circle spell.
And this time, the gods may not be the ones to stop it.

First Circle – The Spark

"A candle in the dark — harmless until you remember that even candles burn."

Lore

The First Circle is the breath before a storm, the smallest ripple in the ocean of magic. In the age before the Veil, these workings were taught to children of magical families as playthings and to apprentices as their first test of control.

The Watchers allowed the First Circle to survive unchanged because it is safe — or, at least, appears so. The Veil barely stirs when these spells are cast, absorbing them like rain on parched ground.

However, old records warn that even a First Circle spell, repeated or layered cleverly, can become dangerous. In the Mythic War, the Fall of Petricore was achieved entirely with thousands of First Circle flame charms, igniting the city over the course of a single night.

Common Uses

• Utility: Lighting fires, creating small sounds, chilling or heating small objects, cleaning items, mending tiny breaks.

• Combat: Minor blasts, stings, and shoves — enough to deter, not to kill.

• Illusion: Small glamours affecting an object or patch of air no bigger than a person’s head.

• Healing: Stabilizing wounds, stopping minor bleeding, soothing pain.

Veil Interaction

• Veil Response: None noticeable unless spammed continuously.

• Perception: Mortals see harmless coincidences — a match flaring, a breeze, a flicker of light.

• Risk: Minimal; cannot tear the Veil.

Mechanics (D&D-inspired for your system)

Damage Cap:

• 1d4 elemental or force damage (caster’s choice from available resonances).

• Cantrip-level scaling; no proficiency bonus to damage.

Range:

• Touch to 30 ft. depending on spell.

Area of Effect:

• Single target or 5 ft. cube.

Duration:

• Instantaneous or up to 1 minute with concentration.

Casting Time:

• 1 action.

Examples:

• Sparkflame: Ignite a flammable object no bigger than 1 cubic foot.

• Gust: Push unattended light objects, snuff candles, ruffle hair/clothing.

• Pebble Lash: Small stone propelled to deal 1d4 bludgeoning.

• Lightgrip: Cause an object to glow faintly for 1 minute.

• Mendshard: Repair a crack or break no longer than 1 inch.

Scaling:

• Level 5+ caster: Damage can increase to 1d6, range to 60 ft.

• Level 10+ caster: May affect up to three targets in range.

Tactical Notes

First Circle spells are often underestimated, but:

• Layered casting of multiple First Circle effects can outpace a single Second Circle spell in niche scenarios.

• Illusions at this level are crude, but still invaluable for distraction.

• When combined with mundane tools (e.g., oil, rope, powder), First Circle magic becomes deadly.