Defiling is a lesser known arcane tradition which pushes the boundaries of spellcraft transforming living things into arcane energy in order to empower spells. Defilers do not accept the norms and limitations of arcane power, seeking to bolster their own magic without a care for their impact on others or upon the wider world around them. For defilers the ends justify the means and the highest ideal is gaining the maximum amount of power in the shortest amount of time.
Some defilers rigorously stick within the confines of their discipline, studying only Conjuration, Transmutation and Evocation, but play fast and loose with any laws governing the safe conduct of spellcasters within a given realm. Other defilers collect a wider arcane repertoire from other schools or magic, learning anything that boosts their own personal strength as a spellcaster, or explore forms of spellcasting beyond those normally studied by wizards in order to bolster their advantage over others, dabbling in warlock pacts, experimenting to grant themselves sorcerous powers, or opportunistically worship deities, feigning devotion for personal gain.
- from the publisher's blurb