Cant seem to invoke/cast any spells in combat,examining mage says he's got a fire spell but when u try cast it nothing happens. Same with priest ,only been able to use the paladins lay on hands spell ? Please any tips on how to cast,thankyou.

You need to type the name of the spell you want.

At the beginning of the game, with the default party, your mage and priest are pretty limited. As an example, If you want a fire spell, for your mage specifically, you have only two different spells available because you only own an Iron ring (Fe), Take it as first level spells.

So, Try to press C (cast) and then type "Amras" or "Orlos", the two different fire spells for the Iron ring.

Believe me, the manual is very important in this game. For context and gameplay and fun.

Thankyou for your reply Gudadantza,i was scratching my head how to do it. Much appreciated :D