Divine and Nature Magic
Three sources
Arcane magic draws on Arcanite. Divine magic comes from a deity: this is the source of both priests' and paladins' power. An oath or personal conviction can guide a paladin's conduct, but is not itself a source of magic.
Druids draw directly from nature. A priest of a nature deity receives power from that deity instead. These paths can share concerns without sharing a source.
All three traditions involve a personal reserve and a limit to safe control. A vast source does not allow a mortal body to handle unlimited power. Rest supports replenishment through the appropriate source; it cannot replace a lost connection. Reserve-restoring elixirs cannot bypass that loss either.
Divine gifts
Religious office and ordination do not guarantee magical ability. A priest can serve a community and conduct its rites without a magical gift. Those granted power must learn to use it; divine favour does not replace an understanding of healing.
A deity can withdraw access. A moment of weakness does not by itself condemn a priest: persistent opposition to the deity's teachings can lead to withdrawal. This is not an automatic penalty for every failure or breach of an institutional rule. Possessing a gift does not prove moral perfection or the correctness of an entire doctrine.
The druidic bond
A druid develops a connection through practice, knowledge and experience. Affection for nature or initiation into a circle does not automatically grant magic. Nature includes forests, seas, mountains, wetlands, deserts and tundra, along with death, decay and predation.
Persistent destruction of the processes underlying the bond can weaken or sever access. This is not a divine judgment or an automatic punishment for felling a tree or killing an animal.
Shamanic traditions
Shamanism is a tradition of nature magic, focused on the elements and ritual practice. Shamans draw their power directly from nature; shamanism is not a separate religion. Shamans and druids share this source, while their traditions emphasise different practices. Neither has exclusive command of the elements. Arcane mages create and shape elemental effects through Arcanite instead.
Healing
Magical healing is available only to priests, druids, paladins and shamans through divine or nature magic. Not every practitioner is a skilled healer. Healing supports bodily repair: stopping bleeding, closing wounds and setting bones. It does not automatically replace lost blood, nourishment or rest.
Knowledge and diagnosis matter. Greater power cannot substitute for understanding an injury, and incorrect treatment can mend it badly. There is no single spell that cures every disease. Replacing lost limbs or destroyed organs lies beyond ordinary healing. Medicine, surgery, alchemy and recovery retain their importance.
Resurrection
Resurrection is a known but exceptionally difficult art practised by a few sufficiently skilled priests, druids, paladins and shamans. Healing skill alone is insufficient. A return can be organised when its conditions can be met.
The soul must be able and willing to return. Captivity can prevent its return until it is freed. The body must be capable of sustaining life: fatal damage must be repaired before the return or during the ritual. Calling the soul back does not by itself regrow missing organs. Time since death and the condition of the remains increase the difficulty.
Resurrection does not reverse age and cannot evade death from old age through repeated rituals. A person may return more than once if the conditions are met each time.
Necromantic animation creates an undead being; it does not restore the deceased to life and does not bypass these requirements.