This system is currently under development, but is based on the HarnMaster Shek-Pv'ar rules. The Shek-P'var are organized into smaller groups pertaining to what are similar to elemental spheres. For example, there are Savoryan Shek-P'var
which are related to the mind. Magic is also skill-based.
The Code of the Shek-P'var
- Bring not the scorn of the Kvikir (ordinary people) upon thy brothers, nor make with thy art a place for thyself above them.
- Spread not thy lore, even among thy brothers, without the sanction of thy peers.
- Keep sacred and free from harm thy house of lore.
- Succor not a renegade of the art, but strike him down with thy power, else summon thy brothers to thy aid.
- Make tithe to thy house a portion of thyne arcane treasures for thy brothers' benefit.
- If the rules are not followed, one shall be immediately declared renegade.
"I was wondering how common magic is throughout the Harshlands?"
In a word, rare. Only the most scholarly elite have any notable affiliation to the Guild of Arcane Lore. Most of the few among them who study magic practice solely as a science.
To the commoner, thoughts of magic are a muddled thing of legend, blended with old tales contrary to the nature of magic, like wishes for beauty or lucky. Those who know or practice things that lie outside the average commoner's experience, such as physicans and apothecaries, are claimed to dabble in magic, true or not. It lends to that sense of social elitist respect and mysticism. For example, I think someone on the board mentioned the other day that once a king died, and the commoners sopped up his wounds for the blood's holy, god-ordained properties. Of course, there are many less fanciful people who think magic is just a bunch of poppycock dreamt up by children.
Five thousand Ivinian warriors, a number that exceeds the population of Thay, came back in 707 with a vengeance after failing a siege upon Thay (the royal city of Melderyn) four years earlier. A terrible storm came and dashed many ships upon the Renda rocks before the Ivinian warriors relented and returned home. Melderyn has a slight stigma for magic, as it is home to the Harnic chapter of the Guild of Arcane Lore and home to the most sagely of Knorrian orders, the Shea-al-Aecor. Many people claim that Melderyni mages sent that savior of storms. (Although little good they had done them four years earlier, when the Ivinians came and sacked the surrounding villages of their loot and women.)
There are grandiose, widely-believed legends told, and a great many believe in ghosts. A trip to Thay will find you a haunted inn that attracts many wayfarers to hear the bereaved wailings of the deceased.
A very few scholars argue that the gods are figments of the imaginations of men, but most folk believe in the gods implicitly. The society is pregnant with divine superstition.
There's an amusing anecdote from Harn Religion on the nature of belief in gods. Basically, this less devout fellah goes to a Halean temple to make a donation, and says, "There, I hope that satisfies the B*#ch," on the way out. While walking down the stairs, he slipped on a scarf and nearly killed himself rolling down the stone stairs. Surviving, he wondered, "Did I really stumble over a fluttering, diaphanous, purple silk scarf that didn't seem to have been there before?" The author of the anecdote concludes with the very Scott Adamsesque ending, "Boradak concluded that Gods may not exist, but Goddesses certainly did, and he became a more devoted follower of Halea."
I hope this gives you some perception of magic and superstition in HL.