Auras in RP

One thing which have always left me a bit confused, is different auras in RP. I know one can have a Light aura, as several of the books I've read it's referenced to the 'feeling of holiness' and such.

However, here comes my question:

Is there actually any lore sources that you'll give out a fel aura, or a shadow aura as a user of those magic?

I can see how a paladin can sense corruption on someone, if they -activly- try to sense for it on the person, but aura as a passing thing that "Oh, I sensed shadow on the person passing me." out of the blue without actively sensing for it, is something different.

Now, I am interested in actual lore facts here now, and not server lore. Quests, references in the novels, comics and such.

- I know a Warlock extended his fel aura out to Valeera Sanguinar in the World of Warcraft monthly comic, to lure her closer, but she did not sense anything of him before he did it on purpose.

I've been trying to find sources on these "Shadow aura" and "Fel aura" that people put in their descriptions. Anyone able to help?

Dumb people attach to dumb things.
One of these days I'm gonna write a "How to not be a dumb RPer" guide and piss off 75% of the people on this forum because they'll fall under at least two of the categories I'll mention.

There is Paladin and Priest ones. But not Shadow or Fel.

I would love to read it, Copper.

Detect Magic used to be a mage spell way back when (ah the days of limited buff/debuff slots).

Lorewise... I am not sure it had a significant lore explanation. However, on looking into it:

"Detect magic is a divination spell used by healers and arcanists. It allows a caster to detect magical auras. The amount of information revealed depends on how long someone studies a particular area or subject. It can show the presence or absence of magical auras. With further study it can show the number of different magical auras and the power of the most potent aura. Finally with enough time it can give the strength and location of each aura."

That's from the WOW RPG though. And therefore, now "non-canon".

Some tracking/detecting could be about auras. Detect Demon (spell and potions), Undead, Elementals in particular.

Some people do get hung-up on the minutiae of the game though. But whatever enriches your play I guess, so long as it doesn't become a rule-heavy borefest!

Thaldir Shadowstar wrote:However, here comes my question:

Is there actually any lore sources that you'll give out a fel aura, or a shadow aura as a user of those magic?

Demon Hunters can 'see' Demons because of their... evilness, I guess. I can't immediately recall anything specific about it in regards to, for example, Warlocks, neither in game nor any of the books I've read, though there's also been nothing saying they can't be detected either.

I think the Rule of Dramatic Convenience applies, if anything.

It's not necessarily dumb. More... going with the flow, I suppose?

I am simply curious if there is any actual lore behind it, hence why I am asking

Thanks for the reply, Gruftoof! That actually helps a lot, even if its from the rpg books.

I know demon-hunters can see auras. But its all they see, after all.

I don't mind people going with having different auras. I'm more wanting to try to keep it as proper as possible with my own chars. So I was wondering if I did an error by not listing shadow or fel aura.

Death knight frost, blood, and unholy presences.

Unholy Aura, death knight ability. ("All death knights can learn to exude a dark, raging battle aura that causes allied creatures around them to move and regenerate life more quickly." - WarCraft III) Seen in-game on characters like Baron Riverndare, Alexei Barov, and Eredar.

Burning Embers on destruction warlocks, which is more of an Immolation Aura.

The Blight.

Soul Harvest, passive ability that causes warlocks to absorb nearby wandering souls at a constant rate.

And, of course, the Law of Sympathy, which is basically 'magical auras 101' and says outright that handling something, even by mundane methods, leaves minute traces of a person's spiritual essence behind. Spiritual finger prints.

Khadgar took a deep breath. “One of the magical laws. When someone handles an item, they leave a part of their own magical aura or vibration attached to the item. As auras vary with individuals, it is possible to connect to one by affecting the other. In this way a lock of hair may be used in a love charm, or a coin may be tracked back to its original owner.

Khadgar stopped for a moment, feeling the weight of Medivh’s eyes pressing in on him. That was what he knew from lectures. He was halfway there. But how did Medivh use it to figure out…

“The more someone uses an item, the stronger the resonance,” said Khadgar quickly. “So therefore an item that experiences a lot of handling or attention will have a stronger sympathy.” The words were coming together tighter and more rapidly now. “So a document which someone had written has more aura to it than a blank piece of parchment, and the person is concentrating on what they are writing, so…” Khadgar let his thoughts catch up for a moment. “You were mind reading, but not my mind—the mind of the scribe who wrote the letter at the time he was writing it—you picked up his thoughts reinforcing the words.”

-The Last Guardian

I think based on the above that it's pretty expected that someone handling something with evil magic is going to leave a trace of that evil magic.

There are also mana wyrms and fel hounds, creatures that are actually attracted to spiritual auras that emanate from powerful artifacts or people and seek to devour that energy. The Burning Legion itself looks for potent expressions of magical energy that they can consume.

Demon hunters, as well, who physically blind themselves so that they might be able to track creatures, particularly demons, through their spiritual presences instead. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ("Beings (namely fel users and demons) shine a radiant assortment of colors making them easy to detect even when disguised.") This is the reason that demon hunters wear those blindfolds, because they rely on sensing spiritual auras instead.

Fel energy is known to corrupt its surroundings, twisting and mutating it. Orc and blood elf warlocks consistently using fel magic for extensive periods of time caused mutation even of those who had no part in it (orc green skins came from being near warlocks using fel magic, as they got the green skin long before they drank the blood of Mannoroth). "Fel magic works a bit like radiation in this sense; it permeates the area and seeps into anything in the vicinity. Anything near a source of fel magic shows signs of slight corruption, it just so happens that high elves and orcs manifest it in a very visual way." - Ask CDev


As for why we use them? Pretty simple for me. It is pretty classical fantasy that evil magic exudes an evil presence. Because it's dark and evil on a cosmic level, something that is intrinsically disturbing to be around. It also means that those who use that kind of magic are not as capable of hiding from the forces of good. This is one of its big weaknesses.

Usually I clarify my own 'auras' to state that only those spiritually attuned (like priests, druids, elves, etc) can easily sense them because those are characters who are in touch with mystical, spiritual forces. At the same time, it is a common fictional element that such evil can be picked up by more mundane creatures too, such as children, and animals (inspired by the many tales IRL of animals having a preternatural ability to sense motive or danger).

In this care I more meant would the average paladin or mage on the street be able to walk past my warlock and instantly know he is a warlock, because I should have some sort of aura?

Evil creatures are often very adapt at hiding their evil presence.

Unless a warlock has explicitly stated they have a darkness surrounding them that can be sensed, you'll remain blissfully ignorant.

While Dru was faster than me, even i found some magicy aura reference from Lore.

The taint of magic on the high elven spirit is a poisonous air to the tauren, a stench of the soul that they cannot tolerate for long.

Warcraft RPG Books, Core Rule Book 2nd Edition, page 48, Tauren, Affiliation/View on other races

Not exactly on-topic about Shadow and Fel, but more about general Arcane corruption: it does leave a trace.

I also actually found a quest that involved dark auras, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] where the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] says: "anyone that has recently used the cult's necromancy will be enshrouded by a dark aura"

While the example is about Necromancy, it still falls under Shadow, and does use evil cultisty people as the target.

Thaldir wrote:In this care I more meant would the average paladin or mage on the street be able to walk past my warlock and instantly know he is a warlock, because I should have some sort of aura?

If using the above quest as the "lore source", if you have recently cast any dark spell, or carry around any object or artifact that reeks dark magic, yes. If you have taken precautions about hiding your aura, like that one Warlock had before "revealing" his aura mentioned in one of the earlier posts of this thread, you can't be noticed.

Oh, and if anyone remember the starting quests to Twilight Highlands on Alliance, there is a major cultist guy in the THRONE ROOM of STORMWIND KEEP, next to a huge deal of Guards and close to a Priest (Anduin) and nobody notices a thing (before he attempts to kill the king and transforms into an icky monster of old gods).

Evil aura can definitely be cloaked, but it can also be visible. Use which suit your roleplaying better.

Thanks for the replies ^^
Sadly the RPG books are not canon, so I can't really use that one, but the quest reference is great! Cheers!

I normally RP that if my char has recently cast a corrupted spell, he'd have a air of fel around him, including a brimstone smell.

Thaldir Shadowstar wrote:In this care I more meant would the average paladin or mage on the street be able to walk past my warlock and instantly know he is a warlock, because I should have some sort of aura?

Do you want them to? That's the gist of it. You can go either way, as the plot/story/drama demands. Personally I prefer to make it apparent because it opens up the possibility for roleplay and it respects the abilities of those kinds of characters to detect evil. I see it as a natural consequence to playing a darkcaster.

But it can be hidden. Kil'jaeden in Rise of the Horde was able to make his aura appear as glorious and radiant to powerful shamans like Ner'zhul and Gul'dan. Sargeras did the same to the draenei. (basically like Sauron did in LotR).

In the quest Skarain linked (which is a perfect example of the existence of shadow auras, I had forgotten about that one), recent magic left a trace that could be detected, but it required a specific artifact to do such. Without that artifact, they appeared as any other person.

I can't think of an in-game example off the top of my head of a paladin/priest/etc immediately being able to passively detect a hidden warlock or other darkcaster, and I would imagine that for the most part a warlock could get by easily as long as they didn't draw attention to themselves and avoided casting dark magic around those characters. (afterall in some cases, even actual demons can block such detection as in the case of the various dreadlords and the Scarlet Crusade). The only ones who I could see being impossible to fool would be demon hunters, since that's their specialty.

Just a sidenote, afaik the Law of Sympathy only works one way. As in, you can't track a mage's belongings, but you can track the mage, using his belongings. Meaning, an evil guy might leave his imprint on an item, but nothing says it will leave its mark upon him.

Demons and satyrs have been consistently able to hide their presence within even Lighty and druidic circles, but that being said, demon hunters of course can see them.

Imo, if you want to have an aura, go for it; never tell someone that they DO have an aura that you CAN track, whether they like it or not. My DK has an unholy aura for flavor; my warlock has nothing, because he... well, just doesn't.

Regarding the 'stench' of arcane magic, in the RPG books, Arcane was flat-out corrupted/evil, whereas divine magics were all pure/good. That's no longer the case lorewise. Arcane still corrupts if allowed to flow through the user (as opposed to used only through runes, though that again is RPG lore) but it's no longer evil, per se.

/my two cents, perhaps a bit late.