Reference: The Forbidden Spells
The Forbidden Spells are called as they are because using any one of them causes one of two things to happen--either an enormous surge of mana is drained from the Mana Tree or the target's soul is afflicted so heavily that the Goddess, the Elementals, and in turn the Wisdoms respond to it the way a normal person might respond to a migraine. As such, using them grants the wielder immediate banishment of his soul to Hell, instant eradication, given an aura so vile that everyone around that person will become hostile towards him, or some combination of the above or possibly some other punishment.
The general populace by large is aware of the spells, what they mean in legend, and some scholars are even aware of the names of them, but primarily they are relatively "unknown." They can't even be properly studied since they can't even be used against inanimate objects without raising some flags. There are nine "natural" spells plus eight "created" spells.
The natural ones are considered so because of how long they've been around; most people assume they've existed since Fa'Diel itself was created, but this isn't entirely true. Rather, they were created in Ancient Fa'Diel, possibly by the Artifact Mages or the Seven Angels themselves. Why they were created is anyone's guess. These nine are the most legendary, the least researched, and the most powerful, one in particular leagues above the others.
The created ones are considered so because they were devised during current Fa'Diel history, most of them developed by the Paladir family or by Cirius himself. And where the natural ones are tied to the primary elements, these eight are tied to the sub-elements. There is a bit of a workaround from the punishment regarding these--as they were definitely man-made, there is no immediate "divine punishment" for them, a fact Cirius personally takes advantage of with his rampant abuse of one spell in particular.
The Opposites and Elementals are each capable of their respective elemental spells while each Angel is fully capable of all spells, though fewer are aware of this knowledge.
Natural Forbidden Spells
Immolation: the Fire spell. Burns the very soul away, preventing a person from passing on through the after life and leaving behind an empty husk of a body. Joshua is capable of this spell.
River of Power: the Water spell. Pulls water from a random source on the planet and channels it into pure power, creating a devastating "rail beam" that, if pointed downward and left uncontrolled, for example, could possibly sever the planet in two. Elazul is capable of this spell.
Wind Shear: the Wind spell. Generates a radial burst of high-pressure vibrations that separate the flesh and muscle from bone and organs in a sickeningly precise manner (as impossible as it should be anatomically speaking), doing so (unusually) very slowly and keeping all nerves intact so the target(s) feel every second until the vital organs have fallen and stop functioning. Only Xinnj has any mastery over this spell, and he frequents it.
Medusa's Javelin: the Earth spell. Grants the target's hand an aura that, upon touching anything, will petrify it instantly and cannot distinguish between animate and inanimate, friendly or hostile.
Armistice: the Light spell. Gives physical form to the target's free will and then destroys it, rendering the target a complete slave to any suggestion from the wielder. Unlike standard hypnosis, the target cannot be freed, and while hypnotized victims generally retain some "sense" in that, if you tell them to build a house and they do it then they acknowledge they are done and await a new order, the target must be told to stop doing something upon completion or it will continue to do it, either adding on to the house or building more and more houses until the target has killed himself from exhaustion. Just as people need to breathe, the target will have an "involuntary need" to continue with the order given until told otherwise.
Gates of the Underworld: the Dark spell. Creates one, possibly two, up to three framed double-doors several thousand feet in height and proportionately wide. Anything that passes through will be sent straight to the Underworld unless it is "godly" in power, in which case the second will attempt to send it straight to Hell. If the second fails, the third will erase it from existence. With any door that opens, the Dead and Demonkind may freely leave their domains, and the more doors that open the more can escape. Used as a last-minute barrier. Amos is capable of this spell.
Infinity Barrier: the Metal spell. Generates a small, possibly larger barrier that is impenetrable so long as the caster remains alive, and it cannot be removed once in place without the caster's death. Nothing without the caster's permission, living or magical or transient or whatever, can pass without the caster's oral, explicit permission. Generally the "safest" of the spells to cast and the only one that does not immediately create a punishment provided the barrier is not too large. This is the most understood and well-known of the spells.
Yggdrasil: the Wood spell, the most powerful of all spells. Generates a perfect replica of the Mana Tree, complete with its own infinite supply of mana that it attempts to distribute to the realm, and then explodes with enough force to destroy the world itself if not checked. Only Dryxad has both the knowledge to manipulate it properly and the stamina to even create the spell--without the minimum enormous requirement of stamina, the caster will blow himself up in an attempt to create it.
Luna Divider: the Moon spell. Severs a person into each of his primary traits, giving them physical manifests and cloned appearances. For example, an arrogant man may be split into his anger, his jealousy, his intelligence, and his pride, and thus four pure manifestations of these traits will appear as clones of the person, capable solely of displaying that particular emotion, and the leftover will be unable to display any of the severed emotions. Only Elazul has been struck with the spell and reclaimed his "selves."
Created Forbidden Spells
Black Night: the Sun spell. Blankets an area in permanent darkness that cannot be lifted under any circumstance except from the Goddess Herself. Lorimar is plagued by this spell when the Paladir family banished it to eternal night. As such, the temperatures drop and nothing will grow.
Diamond Husk: the Ice spell. Similar to Immolation in that it freezes the very soul. However, where Immolation will completely erase the soul through its fires, Diamond Husk will permanently fix the soul where the body once stood, ensuring that only the end of existence and time itself can let that soul move on. Though by then, what is there to move on to?
Indignation: the Lightning spell. When struck with the dangerous bolt, the target is immediately thrown into a terrible fit of convulsions as the target's body and soul are put through an endless torture that the body can never numb itself to. The target will not die, either, prolonging its suffering indefinitely. It's agony of the worst kind, and Cirius is a master of the spell and also the only one outside the Goddess Herself that can cure someone from it.
Rose Princess: the Sand spell. Embeds a sand rose in the target's mind that will spread to anyone the target touches, and in turn whomever they touch, theoretically ad infinitum. Impossible to detect, it puts powerful thoughts of suicide or rage in the person, depending on how passive or aggressive they are. Dangerous in its ability to completely annihilate any city without drawing attention to the caster since no target will be aware they have anything at all in them.
Hand of Fate: the Heaven spell. Generates a beam that, when touched by anyone, will immediately cease their lives and force their souls to skip the cleansing/waiting in the Underworld, sending them immediately to Heaven or Hell, whichever they were destined to go to as of that moment in their lives. Joshua is capable of this spell.
Demon Deathcase: the Death spell. Forces the target to live in his own Hell for just one minute, though weeks, possibly years will go by to the target's perception. Most Necromancers know this spell.
Vacuum Imploder: the Gravity spell. Generates a giant implosive field that pulls everything, caster and targets and immediate area, into its point of singularity. It is not known if the radius of the field can be controlled, though Cirius doesn't believe so. Each cast of it rips roughly five square kilometers, up and down included, apart from the world. Depleted 15% of the world's oceans once after a miscast placed it in the ocean.
Desertification: the Life spell, the most powerful of the created spells. Sends out a fanning wave that immediately rips all mana from anything in contact with it, turning everything to dust. Only Yggdrasil or the Mana Tree can withstand it and nullify it, for they have infinite mana and thus overload the spell. It's random and cannot distinguish hostile or friendly targets, and it cannot be controlled once manifested, appearing in random locations around the immediate area and spreading outward in random directions. When cast, Dryxad has immediately appeared to stop it in all cases, but it's rumored that without Yggdrasil or the Mana Tree, Desertification could go on endlessly and, through the destruction of Fa'Diel itself, could be sent all over the universe. Desertification is powerful enough even to turn the Angels themselves into dust, and has actually been used against the Angel of Death.
The general populace by large is aware of the spells, what they mean in legend, and some scholars are even aware of the names of them, but primarily they are relatively "unknown." They can't even be properly studied since they can't even be used against inanimate objects without raising some flags. There are nine "natural" spells plus eight "created" spells.
The natural ones are considered so because of how long they've been around; most people assume they've existed since Fa'Diel itself was created, but this isn't entirely true. Rather, they were created in Ancient Fa'Diel, possibly by the Artifact Mages or the Seven Angels themselves. Why they were created is anyone's guess. These nine are the most legendary, the least researched, and the most powerful, one in particular leagues above the others.
The created ones are considered so because they were devised during current Fa'Diel history, most of them developed by the Paladir family or by Cirius himself. And where the natural ones are tied to the primary elements, these eight are tied to the sub-elements. There is a bit of a workaround from the punishment regarding these--as they were definitely man-made, there is no immediate "divine punishment" for them, a fact Cirius personally takes advantage of with his rampant abuse of one spell in particular.
The Opposites and Elementals are each capable of their respective elemental spells while each Angel is fully capable of all spells, though fewer are aware of this knowledge.
Natural Forbidden Spells
Immolation: the Fire spell. Burns the very soul away, preventing a person from passing on through the after life and leaving behind an empty husk of a body. Joshua is capable of this spell.
River of Power: the Water spell. Pulls water from a random source on the planet and channels it into pure power, creating a devastating "rail beam" that, if pointed downward and left uncontrolled, for example, could possibly sever the planet in two. Elazul is capable of this spell.
Wind Shear: the Wind spell. Generates a radial burst of high-pressure vibrations that separate the flesh and muscle from bone and organs in a sickeningly precise manner (as impossible as it should be anatomically speaking), doing so (unusually) very slowly and keeping all nerves intact so the target(s) feel every second until the vital organs have fallen and stop functioning. Only Xinnj has any mastery over this spell, and he frequents it.
Medusa's Javelin: the Earth spell. Grants the target's hand an aura that, upon touching anything, will petrify it instantly and cannot distinguish between animate and inanimate, friendly or hostile.
Armistice: the Light spell. Gives physical form to the target's free will and then destroys it, rendering the target a complete slave to any suggestion from the wielder. Unlike standard hypnosis, the target cannot be freed, and while hypnotized victims generally retain some "sense" in that, if you tell them to build a house and they do it then they acknowledge they are done and await a new order, the target must be told to stop doing something upon completion or it will continue to do it, either adding on to the house or building more and more houses until the target has killed himself from exhaustion. Just as people need to breathe, the target will have an "involuntary need" to continue with the order given until told otherwise.
Gates of the Underworld: the Dark spell. Creates one, possibly two, up to three framed double-doors several thousand feet in height and proportionately wide. Anything that passes through will be sent straight to the Underworld unless it is "godly" in power, in which case the second will attempt to send it straight to Hell. If the second fails, the third will erase it from existence. With any door that opens, the Dead and Demonkind may freely leave their domains, and the more doors that open the more can escape. Used as a last-minute barrier. Amos is capable of this spell.
Infinity Barrier: the Metal spell. Generates a small, possibly larger barrier that is impenetrable so long as the caster remains alive, and it cannot be removed once in place without the caster's death. Nothing without the caster's permission, living or magical or transient or whatever, can pass without the caster's oral, explicit permission. Generally the "safest" of the spells to cast and the only one that does not immediately create a punishment provided the barrier is not too large. This is the most understood and well-known of the spells.
Yggdrasil: the Wood spell, the most powerful of all spells. Generates a perfect replica of the Mana Tree, complete with its own infinite supply of mana that it attempts to distribute to the realm, and then explodes with enough force to destroy the world itself if not checked. Only Dryxad has both the knowledge to manipulate it properly and the stamina to even create the spell--without the minimum enormous requirement of stamina, the caster will blow himself up in an attempt to create it.
Luna Divider: the Moon spell. Severs a person into each of his primary traits, giving them physical manifests and cloned appearances. For example, an arrogant man may be split into his anger, his jealousy, his intelligence, and his pride, and thus four pure manifestations of these traits will appear as clones of the person, capable solely of displaying that particular emotion, and the leftover will be unable to display any of the severed emotions. Only Elazul has been struck with the spell and reclaimed his "selves."
Created Forbidden Spells
Black Night: the Sun spell. Blankets an area in permanent darkness that cannot be lifted under any circumstance except from the Goddess Herself. Lorimar is plagued by this spell when the Paladir family banished it to eternal night. As such, the temperatures drop and nothing will grow.
Diamond Husk: the Ice spell. Similar to Immolation in that it freezes the very soul. However, where Immolation will completely erase the soul through its fires, Diamond Husk will permanently fix the soul where the body once stood, ensuring that only the end of existence and time itself can let that soul move on. Though by then, what is there to move on to?
Indignation: the Lightning spell. When struck with the dangerous bolt, the target is immediately thrown into a terrible fit of convulsions as the target's body and soul are put through an endless torture that the body can never numb itself to. The target will not die, either, prolonging its suffering indefinitely. It's agony of the worst kind, and Cirius is a master of the spell and also the only one outside the Goddess Herself that can cure someone from it.
Rose Princess: the Sand spell. Embeds a sand rose in the target's mind that will spread to anyone the target touches, and in turn whomever they touch, theoretically ad infinitum. Impossible to detect, it puts powerful thoughts of suicide or rage in the person, depending on how passive or aggressive they are. Dangerous in its ability to completely annihilate any city without drawing attention to the caster since no target will be aware they have anything at all in them.
Hand of Fate: the Heaven spell. Generates a beam that, when touched by anyone, will immediately cease their lives and force their souls to skip the cleansing/waiting in the Underworld, sending them immediately to Heaven or Hell, whichever they were destined to go to as of that moment in their lives. Joshua is capable of this spell.
Demon Deathcase: the Death spell. Forces the target to live in his own Hell for just one minute, though weeks, possibly years will go by to the target's perception. Most Necromancers know this spell.
Vacuum Imploder: the Gravity spell. Generates a giant implosive field that pulls everything, caster and targets and immediate area, into its point of singularity. It is not known if the radius of the field can be controlled, though Cirius doesn't believe so. Each cast of it rips roughly five square kilometers, up and down included, apart from the world. Depleted 15% of the world's oceans once after a miscast placed it in the ocean.
Desertification: the Life spell, the most powerful of the created spells. Sends out a fanning wave that immediately rips all mana from anything in contact with it, turning everything to dust. Only Yggdrasil or the Mana Tree can withstand it and nullify it, for they have infinite mana and thus overload the spell. It's random and cannot distinguish hostile or friendly targets, and it cannot be controlled once manifested, appearing in random locations around the immediate area and spreading outward in random directions. When cast, Dryxad has immediately appeared to stop it in all cases, but it's rumored that without Yggdrasil or the Mana Tree, Desertification could go on endlessly and, through the destruction of Fa'Diel itself, could be sent all over the universe. Desertification is powerful enough even to turn the Angels themselves into dust, and has actually been used against the Angel of Death.