How Magic works

So here's what I think I know.
All magic in Wyverndale is the result of elemental spirits called Kami.
Wizards study to learn essentially "brute force" techniques to make Kami submit to their will.
Sorcerers and Bards are naturally gifted in compelling kami.
Warlocks make an agreement with a higher power for influence with the Kami.
Clerics and Paladins are bound to a god whose power influences Kami.
Rangers and Druids I dunno.

Mr. DM, can you elaborate?

Thanks,

Long Time, First Time

No I can not.Well not definitively.

From a certain point of view (Wajano and many the high elves) much of this is true. Kami are essentially condensed -personified magic. Kami can be fully sentient though frequently they are not. Once magic has a purpose that function is a often performed by a Kami.

Sometimes the manipulation of pure magic energy can awaken or even spontaneously create a Kami. This is seen with magic items where magic imbued into an item. An enchanted sword is enchanted because it possesses a "pool of magic energy" whether that pool has interests (In a philosophical sense) depends on numerous factors including the original source of the magic, how long its been enchanted, what other magic its come into contact with etc.

As far as other points of view

Some arcane casters ignore the Kami entirely simply manipulating the magic energy on a direct level (a live tree can be burnt as can firewood or coal) and believe that Kami are the inefficient harnessing of magic, much like smoke is the result of imperfect combustion.

Spiritual beings (gods, ancestral spirits, demons) are similar to kami but with varying amounts of power and typically a much more highly developed identity. While divine casters receive power from their deities the deities themselves are fed by the emotional content in worship and spiritual devotion. This is an arcane debate for sages.

Druids can recognize un-awakened Kami and understand the interests of the natural spirits. They might not use the term Kami however. The "balance" they seek is typically more about the balance between the fey realm and the natural realm -not so much about the balance between good and evil or law and chaos.

Rangers have a more arcane magic point of view though limited by more of a respect for the natural spirits. Bards deal with any bit of lore they can muster-utilizing divine power, arcane secrets, and beseeching kami and spirits as the need arises.

Warlocks enter into contracts with other powers- the nature of these powers depends almost entirely on the entity granting them.

Paladin powers can come granted as a boon from a deity or (with some Eladrin) from a pantheon of ancestral spirits.

Thanks for this Mr. DM. Just trying to resolve how Jenn/Joff would think about magic. Given that her EF levels are supposed to be a reflection of the combined training from Jenn's time at the temple as an initiate /her time searching for clues to her quest and Joff's time as a mercenary (hiding from aforementioned temple) with the party, I was at a bit of a loss on how to resolve that in her head. Now that the Warlock levels have come into play I wanted to play the mental game of how she feels about magic. Thinking she's coming to anthropomorphizing the kami, and see's the use of pact magic as more in line with her moral compass, especially as she makes (possibly/likely incorrect) assumptions about her patron's motivations. Just a couple additional questions then.

Spiritual beings (gods, ancestral spirits, demons) are similar to kami but with varying amounts of power and typically a much more highly developed identity. While divine casters receive power from their deities the deities themselves are fed by the emotional content in worship and spiritual devotion. This is an arcane debate for sages.

How does this work literally? Does the priest actually channel the energy, or is the spiritual being basically answering a prayer and doing all the real heavy lifting?

Warlocks enter into contracts with other powers- the nature of these powers depends almost entirely on the entity granting them.

Does this work the same way as the divine casters above? Who is actually manipulating the forces involved? If its the caster what organ or sense is being used to perceive this manipulation?

The classical sense of the answer is that "It depends." There used to be a break point ( in AD&D I think it was 2nd level spells) where a god's divine energy had a reserve of magic and the caster itself was able to tap that magic based on their faith. Spells more powerful than that were more directly drawn from the deity with higher level spells requiring more and more of a connection/ influence of the Deity itself. But the central theme is the faithful are the source of the power. The original Ravenloft played on this theme by limiting higher level cleric spells. It can be assumed that deities have some baseline access to the universal pools of positive and negative energy and perhaps it is manipulation of this energy which powers their follower's spells and maybe even their divinity,

Do warlocks work the same way? No. It is fairly clear that while warlocks gain access to their abilites from a patron that patron does not seem willing (or able?) to access the energies from the positive and negative planes directly, rather they typically grant arcane powers. It could be that some patrons seek to elevate themselves to godhood (thus gaining access to these sources of power) though each patron has their own agenda.

A deity will have more control over higher level spells but less over lower level spells as those are almost skills learned by casters. Patrons might allow access to their arcane power but have less constraints over how you use it. The source of the arcane might depends on the particular patron but even may not be understood even by them. A patron might have access to particular reserve and figure they will let a mortal have access to it so the patron could study it. They might understand secrets which they are willing to pass on.