This little bit is partially in response to Meridok's which can be found here. Brought to you by the South Shore initiative for the perpetuation of the magical arts.

Magical Channels: The first age

Magic, much like all of the universes forces is constantly seeking stability and equilibrium. One way it achieves this is by channeling which is to say obtaining an element. In its natural state, magic exists as latent energy. This is by far, the most powerful state of magical energy, but it is also the most unstable by far. This is also the type of energy which the elemental spirits, the eleven, are composed of at their core. These entities are magic's way of stabilizing itself. 

When too much latent energy gathers in one place, it stabilizes by forcing itself into the channel. In Sornieth's beginning, latent magic channeled using the resources found in abundance on the planet, creating channels for the first four elements. This also created the first four deities as conduits through which latent energy is consumed and channeled. As the third age progressed, new resources with which to create channels were made via cosmic warring. These became the next four deities. At the creation of the lightweaver and the eighth channel, nearly all of sornieth's latent energy had been consumed.

Casting: The second age

During the second age, Sornieth's magical energies were mostly stable. The planet's inhabitants were quick to discover that channeled magic was not only stable, but easy to control. This was the beginning of magical casting. In casting, a mage pulls magical energy from a specific channel through their body, a casting rune, or casting circle. All of these act in a way opposite to elemental spirits like the deities, separating magic from its channel to create a physical effect and latent magical energy. The latent energy produced is released into the atmosphere or the ground. Most all latent energy during the second age was inevitably drawn to the pillar where it would be rechanneled by the slumbring spirits and released. 

This energy cycle continued for centuries of casters and casting. All the while, the amount of latent energy within the shield generated by the pillar stayed relatively low. This was until it was discovered that technological advancements powered by magic made much better use of latent energy than channeled. Latent generators which unchanneled energy far faster than the pillar could undo it became popular. At the same time, the pillar's barrier created a magical greenhouse effect that trapped the extra energy on the planet. 

With so much latent magic concentrated in one place, the energy was forced to create new channels in order to balance. These new channels had to be created from new elements which did not exist on first age Sornieth - Non magical life in both its aspects, creation and destruction. Still this was not enough. There was still more than enough energy left to justify one more channel. Unfortunately all of the possible elements within Sornieth's greenhouse had been used up, forcing the remaining energy to channel into itself, creating an unnatural neutral channel. 

The formation of the eleventh channel brought about the end of the second age, as the forming deity's energy simultaneously disrupted the worlds latent generators causing global meltdowns.

Oracle pairs are a fixture in clans far from the sea or in which water dragons are not common. Composed of a pair or team of non water dragons with significant natural reserves, these units function as a water oracle would. The team usually consists of a Medium, a Diviner, and sometimes a Ward artist. 

The Diviner handles the majority of an oracle's duties. Their jobs include reading fortunes and preforming predictions. They also interpret dreams and give advice. Diviner oracles or seers make strong advisers, but are usually hesitant to take action on their predictions as that job falls to the medium. A seer may also take on the duties of ward artist as well, although this is uncommon. The Diviner is considered the passive role in an oracle pair.

Medium serves as the active role of the pair. A Medium, or channel, 's main duty is to interact with spirits, elementals, and ghosts. Sornieth's magically charged lands tend to trap these entities in the physical plane. A channel may confer with them for advice on things unseen by those in the physical plane. Mediums are also able to influence things that Diviners can only foresee or interpret. They may banish nightmares and preform exorcisms of shade or of ghosts. A particularly powerful medium may even be able to read minds to a small extent. Medium is by far the more difficult of the two positions, and generally requires a more powerful mage.