The Art of Summoning in Aethoria

Summoning stands as perhaps the most personal and individualized magical practice in Aethoria. Unlike other magical disciplines with their formal institutions, summoning remains stubbornly resistant to standardization—a direct connection between individual practitioners and the vast multiverse beyond.

The Fundamental Nature of Summoning

At its core, summoning is a meeting of wills across the boundaries of reality. Each summoner develops their own unique signature—a magical fingerprint that becomes known across the planes. This signature carries with it the summoner's reputation, intentions, and history of interactions.

When a summoner reaches across the veil between worlds, entities on the other side immediately recognize who calls. As Farin Brownlock often tells his students, "Your reputation precedes you—quite literally—as your magical signature ripples through the cosmos before your summons even completes."

Summoning vs. Conjuration: A Crucial Distinction

Novices and the uninformed often confuse summoning with conjuration, but the differences are fundamental. Where conjuration creates something from nothing (or from magical components), summoning transfers an existing being from one plane to another.

A conjurer crafting a hellhound from flame, intent, and spellform creates a magical construct that mimics a hellhound's form and abilities. This conjured beast, while seemingly alive, exists only because of the spellwork that gave it form and will dissipate when the magic expires.

A summoner calling a hellhound from the infernal planes brings forth an actual creature—a being with its own history, personality, and agenda. This hellhound existed before the summons and will continue to exist after its return.

"One makes a copy; the other makes a doorway," as Master Farin succinctly explains to confused first-year students.

Planar Relations

Summoning is, in essence, a close cousin to Void and Dimensional magic, though with a crucial difference in focus. Where dimensional mages manipulate the spaces between planes—creating portals, pockets, and pathways—summoners focus specifically on the transference of beings through those spaces.

This distinction becomes evident in the magical signatures left behind. Dimensional workings distort the fabric between worlds, leaving characteristic ripples that mages trained in such arts can detect. Summoning creates a momentary bridge focused on a specific entity, leaving a thin but distinct thread connecting summoner and summoned that often remains even after the working is complete.

Understanding these relations has practical implications. A summoner with basic training in dimensional magic can see when a being tries to follow a summoned entity through a carelessly closed path. Similarly, a dimensional mage can often tell when a summoning has recently occurred in a location by the distinctive pinpoint distortion it leaves in the planar fabric.

The Dance of Wills

Contrary to what many believe, summoning is never a one-sided affair. Entities from other planes possess their own agency and can resist being called if they choose. This creates a natural system of checks and balances:

• Entities with greater willpower can refuse or even counter-summon particularly weak or inexperienced summoners
• Those with powerful reputations for mistreatment find fewer and fewer beings willing to answer their call
• Summoners known for fair dealing and respect find doors opening more readily across the multiverse

When an entity resists summoning, a battle of wills ensues—a magical contest of strength and determination. These metaphysical struggles can leave both summoner and potential summonee drained, which is why wise practitioners carefully consider who they attempt to call.

Reputation Across the Planes

Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of summoning is how information about practitioners spreads throughout different planes of existence. Entities talk, sharing stories of their experiences with various summoners:

"The sorcerer with the moon-silver eyes treated me with dignity and released me precisely when promised."

"Beware the witch who bears the crimson staff—she binds beyond the terms agreed upon."

"The little halfling with the brass-rimmed spectacles offers tea and conversation rather than commands. His summons is worth answering."

These reputations cross planar boundaries with remarkable efficiency. As Master Farin explains, "The multiverse has its own communication networks we barely understand. Word of both kindness and cruelty travels faster between worlds than it does across Aethoria itself."

Forms of Summoning

Binding Summons

The most contentious form of summoning forces the called entity to obey the summoner's will. This approach requires substantial magical strength and creates inherent tension in the relationship.

Proficient binders typically create layered protections:

• Primary containment circles with personalized runic patterns
• Secondary barriers to prevent retribution
• Tertiary safeguards against allies of the bound entity
• Customized release mechanisms only the summoner can trigger

Binders earn particularly powerful reputations across the planes—either as respected practitioners who use binding only when necessary and treat bound entities with respect, or as feared tyrants who bind for personal pleasure or power.

Contract Summons

The contract represents a negotiated agreement between summoner and summoned. Unlike formal legal systems with their institutional oversight, summoning contracts derive their power from the magical intent of both parties.

While each summoner develops their own contract style, several elements remain common:

• Precisely defined terms of service
• Clear duration parameters
• Specific compensation agreements
• Exit clauses for both parties

The most successful contract summoners are often those with backgrounds in debate, negotiation, or merchant practices—individuals who understand the art of creating mutually beneficial agreements.

Agreement Summons

Built entirely on trust and verbal commitment, agreement summons rely on the personal integrity of both parties. With no magical enforcement mechanism, these arrangements rest entirely on reputation and relationship.

Farin Brownlock, renowned for his preference for agreement summons, explains: "When you remove compulsion, you discover the true character of both yourself and those you call. An entity who keeps its word without magical enforcement is an entity worth knowing."

Open Invitation

Perhaps the most trusting form of summoning, an open invitation provides an entity the ability to travel between its home realm and Aethoria at will. These arrangements typically develop only after years of building trust.

Experienced summoners who use this approach typically establish:

• Personal signals to announce arrival
• Agreed-upon spaces for manifestation
• Clear boundaries regarding timing and duration
• Emergency protocols should either party need assistance

Monitoring Bonds

These connections allow summoner and summoned to remain aware of each other's condition across planar boundaries. Originally developed for practical safety purposes, many monitoring bonds evolve into deeper connections of friendship and mutual protection.

The nature of these bonds varies widely:

• Simple danger awareness
• Emotional state monitoring
• Intentional communication channels
• Full sensory sharing (rare and intensive)

Symbiotic Relationships

The rarest and most profound form of summoning, symbiotic bonds create a shared existence between beings from different planes. Each symbiotic relationship is unique, shaped by the specific nature of both participants.

Known examples include:

• The battle-mage Korvin and his demon partner Azamath, who merged during the Battle of Ravencliff and remained bonded for thirty years
• Sylvan Mistweaver's partnership with a spirit of ancient knowledge, allowing both expanded consciousness
• The legendary "Twin Souls" of the Northern Wastes, a human summoner and frost entity who alternated control of their shared form with the seasons

The Personal Art

What makes summoning unique in Aethoria's magical landscape is its profoundly personal nature. Each summoner develops their own approach, specializations, and network of contacts across the planes.

Some focus on specific types of entities:

• Elemental specialists who build relationships with beings of fire, water, earth, and air
• Spirit-callers who work primarily with ancestral or nature spirits
• Deep-realm specialists who dare to contact entities from realms mortals were never meant to witness

Others specialize in particular techniques:

• Complex binding practitioners with elaborate protection systems
• Contract specialists with precise, loophole-free agreements
• Relationship builders who rely on mutual trust and friendship

Learning the Art

Without formal institutions governing its practice, summoning is typically learned through personal mentorship. Established summoners take on apprentices, teaching them not just techniques but approaches to relationship-building across planes.

Farin Brownlock's approach to teaching emphasizes:

• Understanding the cultures and customs of various planes
• Learning to listen before commanding
• Building genuine relationships rather than viewing entities as tools
• Respecting the autonomy of all beings regardless of their plane of origin

This personalized approach to teaching ensures that summoning remains diverse in its practice, with techniques and traditions passed down through lineages of practitioners rather than standardized curricula.

The Multiverse's Awareness

Perhaps most humbling for summoners is the realization that entities across the planes are just as aware of Aethoria as Aethorians are of them. Many beings study summoners as intently as they study the multiverse:

• Some planes maintain their own records of Aethorian summoners
• Certain entities specialize in responding to summons, building their own reputations
• Some realms have developed defensive measures against unwanted summoning attempts
• Others actively seek to be summoned for their own purposes

As Master Farin frequently reminds his students: "We are not simply observers and callers of the multiverse—we are also the observed and the called. Humility in the face of this reality is the beginning of wisdom."

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The art of summoning thus remains one of Aethoria's most fascinating magical disciplines—deeply personal, endlessly diverse, and shaped as much by individual character and relationships as by magical technique. Without institutional oversight, each summoner bears complete responsibility for their practice and their reputation across the planes, creating a magical discipline where personal ethics and relationship-building matter as much as magical power.