A Rune Mage was actually a special caster. Instead of using incantations or rituals to cast spells, they turned those spells into runes beforehand and then used magic to stimulate them. In this way, they could cast any spells they wanted.
Rune Mages were more flexible and faster than ordinary spellcasters, but they also needed to be more sensitive and stronger. In order to carry the power of those spells, the materials used to make runes were generally quite strong. "Strong" and "heavy" were roughly twin brothers. People who needed to carry a large number of runes had to be very strong, even if they were not thickly built men.
For example, if Palin, who was weak and small, were given eight or ten runes, he would hardly be able to walk. If he were given twenty or thirty runes, those runes might crush him to death.
