Depends on the spell and the sorcerer. The majority of our spell texts are written in Ancient Sanskrit, so there can be spoken spell elements, but they aren't always the most accessible. We hail from all over the world, so for the most part it's gestural - though even the gestures don't mean as much as the caster's intention. Here—
[ He stops in the stroll, turning to lift his hands - thick scars run in faint trails down the lines of his fingers, but it's more difficult to spot the tremors when his hands are clapping together then sliding apart for a mandala to bloom before his upright palm, patterns spinning and flickering idly as he holds it here for observation. ]
A lot of spells require precise gestural work, but I like to think of it more as a focusing agent: the gestures act as guide rails to keep you in the right lane as you piece together the spell, like the key for a code. Get to a certain point and you can skip the gestures, but their inclusion makes any casting easier, so the more complex the spell the more likely you are to see a sorcerer run through casting patterns.
This thing, for instance, I could pretty much do in my sleep.
[ He lets it flicker out completely - and then, without any of the (admittedly already very simple) gestural work from a moment before, the mandala sputters back into life again. ]
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[ He stops in the stroll, turning to lift his hands - thick scars run in faint trails down the lines of his fingers, but it's more difficult to spot the tremors when his hands are clapping together then sliding apart for a mandala to bloom before his upright palm, patterns spinning and flickering idly as he holds it here for observation. ]
A lot of spells require precise gestural work, but I like to think of it more as a focusing agent: the gestures act as guide rails to keep you in the right lane as you piece together the spell, like the key for a code. Get to a certain point and you can skip the gestures, but their inclusion makes any casting easier, so the more complex the spell the more likely you are to see a sorcerer run through casting patterns.
This thing, for instance, I could pretty much do in my sleep.
[ He lets it flicker out completely - and then, without any of the (admittedly already very simple) gestural work from a moment before, the mandala sputters back into life again. ]