An Essay In Magic: Part One

This is a Mage's Guild RP.

An Essay in Magic By Enelys Ruza

Foreward

I have been both diverse and obsessive with my studies as of late. What follows is my understanding of magic from such a youthful and preliminary experience. I do not submit these writings in order to further the communities understanding as a whole but to collect my own thoughts on it and reflect at a later date. I hope also that it is equally of use to some other student some day who is equally as lost and drowned in this torrent of information provided to me. This essay will provide me with a clear picture of my journey one day and remind me of my roots. It will clarify to me the next step on my path if I have a record or the steps I have taken. So in here, for my own benefit, and as a reflection of those who have come before and will surely come after me, I will record not only my understanding of the topics at hand from an objective standpoint, but a personal one as well. When I rule the guild, and thus, become legend and myth, this account will serve to prove that such a mortal being can truly ascend and cement my existence and rise to power as fact eternal, no mere fiction.

1.a The Origin of Magic Within the Body, Mind, and Soul

All magic stems from a realm of dreams. A realm of pure energy and formless mists that escape any real semblance of physical nature within our own realm. At times this place may be reached in dreams, visions, meditations, or by astral projections, but it’s true nature is too vast and beyond us to fully grasp a picture of the realm. What we believe to be recollections of what it may look like are only individual perceptions formed from personal inclinations so that to each of our minds eyes it is a constantly shifting interpretation of a collective dream. This is where the flow of arcanum comes from, this limitless seeming energy that pervades and surrounds us. Only by siphoning and refining this energy through our body and minds are we able to utilize and bend the rules of nature to our will. Not all are capable of such feats of magic. For some it takes a great many disciplined hours to learn to open the astral pores and visualize then actuality the energy of the arcane. For others, there is usually some natural affinity, displaced differently thought it all lythridels races, which is triggered at some time in their natural development. For some, the inclination comes from an event before they are born, for others, it is visited upon them by the hand of fate. Those who come into it naturally may have received such a gift from far off ancestors in their lineage or much closer relatives in their blood lines. Some may not receive such a blood gift at all, but awaken such a power later.

Any way one comes into magic, it is usually taken at a price. Those born with the gift may be limited to their natural inclination and have talent but no skill, and lack control of the tremendous power they wield. For others it costs years of study and practice to understand the nature of these arts and even longer to actually produce them. Such skill is varied in its uses but rarely do those so learned posses such deep inner reserves of magical will.

I am perhaps an odd mix of both the former and latter. My mother, a high elven mage, carried within her many skills, and a small bit of natural talent. My father, a tinker gnome, was possessed of great talent he had spent his years refining into incredible skill. I was born with an inclination to produce magic and then tutored by both parents in how it should be used. To that end I have yet to see a horizon of my powers as wide as my mothers, nor a basking light to shine on a pool of arcanum deep as my father. I can only hope that as I continue in this personal journey, I surpass them both, and prove them proud of producing such a successful daughter. Once I rise to power, I shall remember them quite fondly.

1.b The Classification of Magic

Arcanum, Mystic Artes, witchcraft, wizardry, sorcery, there are many names for the study and performance of this phenomenon we call magic. It has existed before there were mortal hands to wield it and was of course a fundamental factor in the formation of the universe itself. Wether as a natural gift, a long learned practice, or a seemingly random act like a shower of rain on a clear day, it has always exceeded the reach of our grasp. Even now surely we can only scratch the surface of such world altering power that exists within each mortal soul. We must respect and fear this primordial force with both religious fervor and mortal arrogance. Through our attempts to understand and ultimately bend the rules governing our realm we have come to some vast conclusions seemingly agreed or expanded on in each and every age that passes. So too here will I account my understanding of our classification of magic, such that it is. These are the most basic facts and divisive beliefs in how we approach and use the knowledge we have been given.

Some would say that the use of arcanum and it’s derivatives can be formed into three broad categories based on intent, these being Offensive, Defensive, and Nuetral Magic. It should be noted that since magic has existed it has been used as a war and that has perhaps always influenced our system of classification and methodology of our beliefs. This essay is not one on ethics however, so I shall not disperse my personal arrogance on how it could be used for the betterment of mankind or the abolishment of poverty, strife, and warfare as whole. It may not seem like it, but I am not so airheaded as to believe in all my years, I have accused such knowledge as to surpass all those who surely pondered such grievances before me. So instead let us continue on into the modern dissertation of these three broad categories into the various schools of magic.

1.b.a Magical Classification and Derivatives

From our three broad categories we can further dissimilate from neutral magic into all types of affectual Magic’s, personal or otherwise. Summoning magic, the act of drawing an object or being from another plane into our own, is a type of affectual magic, as is magic that is used to manipulate time or space, and even evocation magic. It can be said that all magic is truly neutral, and only when intent is made clear, does it fall into a category of defensive, offensive, or affective. To affect, after all, is to change, or impact, while to offend, is to make a personal attack against another’s ethic, and defend to prevent such an attack. From here we can move into modern schools of magic, since they address content more than the intent with which the content was created.

Thaumaturgy, is the act of working magic, miracles, or other feats of supernatural power, so it could be said each mage is in fact a thaumaturgist or thaumatacist, though you would never hear one call themselves by such broad strokes, as a mage does not wish to find relevance to clerics despite both our powers being of a certain divine origin. No, we prefer to be so distinct as to refer to ourselves as arcanists instead, believing we are holders of select and secretive powers, that few understand. In reality this is just the same as calling oneself an occultist, and having such delusions of grandeur as to believe no other caster of mystic arts wether divine, Druidic, or otherwise, could possibly understand our incredibly unique and pompous point of view. I urge my fellows to seek out these practitioners of parallel arts and find themselves not among familiar characters, so that I could see the surprise on a wizened bearded face to find himself seeing someone with just the same wrinkles and the same jaded prideful look in his eye at having achieved such a position of power and prestige. But I digress.

As I explained previously, all magic is merely a different use of the manipulation of Arcanum, or magical energy in its purest, most raw form, or essence. Each school is actually just a derivation of its use, a different understanding of its rules, a new perspective on how it all works. Older mages can be stuffy instructors in their way of thinking, so proud as to believe their way of magic is superior to all others, that they forget this simple truth. All magic stems from the same source. There is no wrong or right way to use it, just as there is no wrong or right way to use a bucket of water. So it is that we will see many similarities between such so called schools of magic and classifications thereof.

1.b.b Evocation

We can begin with evocation, or elemental magic, as it’s sometimes called. This involves the creation and manipulation of other natural forces besides the ethereal essence of arcanum. Usually this evolves into what younger students slang “mancy” although this is not correct by definition. To derive mancie, or mantia, actually involves divination or the extra-sensory sight of something, so such a word as ‘pyromancy’ would involve divination of, not control, through fire. A closer denominator would be menos, or passion, or inspiration, since those who devote themselves to the command of one element reflect the superstitious relative qualities of such an element in their personalities as a sort of self fulfilling prophecy. Even better still would be the word egkrateia, since it defines as self control or mastery of. Again, I must digress.

To evoke, to bring a response from, to call or entice. Cation, to act, or a response of. Evocation, the act or process of calling upon a spirit, or bringing forth an image of, something. In this way, evocation is a relative of conjuration, the swearing of oaths, as they both pertain to appeals for relevance and power from outside oneself. However, conjuration, is at best invocation, and not evocation - evocation involves the memory, perception, or mental image of a thing, and as such is an appeal to the senses of others, whereas invocation, is an appeal to a figure of higher authority, law, or spiritual deity. One evokes the image of fire and makes their will real, in whatever way fire might mean to them. One invokes or conjures a spirit of flame, a being of the western watchtower, or a base elemental realm. However, unlike true summoning, it is often an appeal to borrow such power, not gate over the entire being itself. An evocation can be written as such:

I call upon the inner flame, of burning passion, and insatiable hunger, come forth from my heart and mind, fueled by the essence of my soul. Make my will be true, and alight my foe before me - consume them and burn them utterly to ash.

So, in this spell, we instruct the flame and imbue it with both our intent, and a powerful mental imagery, to solidify our evocation, and create our vision of flame made real. This arte is not a projectile, and uses a line of sight rule for targeting, while drawing our inner mana, our soul, and turns our foes own body against them. As long as we can hold a strong image of what we want the fire to do and where it comes from, it should be capable of being sustained from our energy, and burn our foe not just to a crisp, but literally incinerate them. Quite useful, yes? While this incantation is short, it is not infallible, and presents several weak points for us to work on. The longer and more specific our spell is, the less openings or misunderstandings are left up to debate or interpretation by our minds and the forces around us.

Let’s address our targeting rules. “My foe before me” specifically lists foes we can see, or perhaps foes that have come previously to our own existence, a very strange idea indeed. Instead we could perhaps use “my foe wherever they may be” and thus negate the inconsistencies presented in our previous line, thus, as long as we hold this spell within our mind, as well as a clear mental picture of our enemy being consumed by flame, they can out avoid us, even if they hide behind pesky rocks or other terrain.

This is not the last of our problems though. We should turn to the source of our flame, here dictated as “fueled by the essence of my soul.” This means that as long as we focus our spell energy, it will draw not just from an internal mana pool but our very essence, and could in fact lead to the shortening of our lifespans, or corrupt us in some horribly unpredictable way. Poetic, yes. Practical, no. Let’s instead try to word it as “fueled by the essence that surrounds and pervades me,” since this will draw on atmospheric mana refined through you. Much better, but it’s not the end to our grammatical errors yet. Finally, “alight my foe before me” could mean many things, from just enough heat to cause a spark, or a flash, to literally shining a light on them. The point of this dissemination exercise is to strengthen our visualization techniques through clear wording and associative imagery, so let’s change “alight my foe” or compound it with our definitive action ending segment, “consume them and burn them to ash”. Here we can use one line to create a faster casting that manages the extent and ferocity of our fire without sacrificing or ill defining targeting and area of effect. Such a phrase as “devour them entirely with the heat of your blaze” is much better. A blaze is very bright and large, we’ve specified length and duration, and have completed the spell. It should now read something like the following: I evoke my inner flame, of burning passion, and insatiable hunger, come forth from my heart and mind, fueled by the essence both in and around me. Consume my foe entirely, whoever they may be, with the heat of your flame.