| abstract | - Sahir was the name given to practitioners of magic in the Burning Sands. The sahir was similar to the Rokugani shugenja, in that sahir wielded supernatural forces, although they did not follow a rigid priest-like code of ethics as shugenja did. The power of the sahir was based off of Hakhim's Seal, a magical geometric formation that was representative of the forces of the universe. The sahir learned to create the seal in his/hers mind, and manipulated the image to achieve various magical effects. When a sahir was casting a spell and making physical gestures, he/she was in fact doing so as a mental aid and memory tool, much in the same way a person would imagine how to solve a puzzle by pretending to move the pieces and imagining the change. Invoking Hakim's seal was believed by many factions of the Burning Sands, such as the Qabal, to be the last remaining way to access magic after the Day of Wrath. It was a scrap of magic leftover from the times before, discovered by the man Hakhim. In reality, the configuration of Hakim's Seal was discovered by the Ashalan, and given to Hakim so that he could share it with mortals so the tradition of magic would not die out in the Burning Sands. Some cultures with sahirs, such as the Senpet, did not use Hakim's Seal, but instead wielded magic through invoking their Pantheon of Ten Thousand Gods. Sahir magic was divided into five types corresponding to the elements, much in the same way as a shugenja. These five types are Summoning (air), Death and Life (earth), Blessings and Curses (fire), Divination (Void), and Illusion (water). Sahir practice of illusions had given rise to the common and popular belief that sahirs could accomplish anything. Sahirs did not dispute this belief.
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