Vancian Spellcasting
Clerics, Druids and Magic-users may cast spells. Clerics and Druids pray for their spells, receiving them from the powers which they serve, thus having the spell formula imprinted within their mind. For the Magic-user, the arcane formula and instructions are inscribed into Spellbooks, from which he chooses and memorizes the spells he wishes to hold within his consciousness.The act of memorizing these spells (or receiving them, in the case of Clerics and Druids,) merges the spell-casters awareness with energies and intelligences which exist in other planes of existence. These highly charged and aware eldritch forces are shaped and focused, melding into aspects of the spell-casters own consciousness and becoming part of his psyche. When casting a spell, the Cleric, Druid or Magic-user calls forth, channels and releases the energy, generated and shaped by this psychic synergy.
This disengages the mind of the caster from the source of the spells power and removes the charge within his awareness. As his mind is no longer acting with and within those alien planes, all memory of the spell is removed from the Magic-users mind. This is similar to the way a dream will sometimes fade as the sleeper becomes more awake. The effect is much more pronounced, as the Magic-user is dealing with planes of consciousness, far more foreign to the human mind than dream reality. Also, it should be emphasized, that part of the awareness with which he memorized the spell, came from those alien psychic environs. The spell is then gone and must be re-memorized, before it may be used again.
