RP:Tea, Chats and The Unified Magic Theory
Part of the Lies Within Us Arc
This is a Mage's Guild RP.
Summary: Continuing his research into the esotiric mechanisms of magic, Odhranos interviews Karasu, a long time acquaintance and resident of the Mage's Tower of Xalious. Between the two of them, they delve deep into the precise definition of what magic is and how it is that creatures are innately equipped to use it.
Apprentice Karasu,
I am writing to you on this occasion to inquire if you might have any interest in being a participant in a research project I am undertaking on behalf of the Mage's Guild.
The topic of this thesis is "The Mechanics of Magic; A Comprehensive Study of Vernacular Spellworking Technique."; and the research portion of this thesis will consist of a series of one-on-one interviews with practitioners of the many fields of magic found natively in Lithrydel.
What participating in this project would entail is an informal interview, between yourself and myself, where we engage in an open discussion of the concept of "magic" and your own particular views and methods of employing the arcane in practice.
I should hope that this interview would be an educational experience for both of us, and would serve to further the already vast wealth of knowledge our Guild possesses.
Upon it's completion, all participants will be credited for their participation, and the findings of the thesis open to their perusal.
I must impress, this is a purely voluntary endeavor, if you would feel uncomfortable discussing the outlined topics, or would prefer not to participate entirely, this is absolutely understandable and I shall not press the matter further.
I look forward to your reply,
Yours Faithfully
~ Odhranos Kerrigan, Arcane Steward of the Mage's Guild of Xalious.
To Arcane Steward Odhranos
Thank you for your inquiry. It is wonderful to see that you have found an endeavor worth pursuing that does not involve being kidnapped by dragons.
I am honored that you would consider me for an interview on magic. I know that this is partially because you must have an appointment lined up with my father and you don't want me to feel left out, but I appreciate it nonetheless. It would be my pleasure to have an interview with you. I, unfortunately, have an assignment to attend to with Lanlan this week, but we should be back in Xalious around Friday if all goes well. If this is fine, then I will reserve the Elasilia office over at the Guild for Friday night.
Unrelated, but would you happen to have your old plate armor laying around? There was an incident in Rynvale, and my pauldrons and breastplate shattered on impact. The rest is dented to the point where it would probably be cheaper to just replace it entirely. So much for brass having class!
Always yours,
Karasu Tsuji, Apprentice to Kasyr Azakhaer
Mage Tower, The Elasilia Office
Karasu || The Elasilia office of the Mage's Guild is a true testament for the icy blue planet that hangs in the skies of Hollow. A table fashioned of marbled blue agate sits in the center of the room, with birch chairs as white as the marbled floor encircling it. The Tower's lifelong resident Karasu sits in one of these chairs, her elbows propped on the table as she admires a painting of the room's namesake on the opposite wall. The rune-jaguar pelt sits around her shoulders, nearly concealing the bandages around her bare midsection that disappear under a cropped black shirt. Leopard-like ears twitch as the door creaks to her left. With a smile, she turns her head. "Hi, Odie." The nickname is older than either of their tenure at the guild, bestowed upon the terramancer when Karasu was still a child roaming the halls of the guild.
Odhranos steps around the door with light feet, leaving it open behind him. “Good evening, Karasu.” the mage smiles warmly as he strides across the room, his shoes tapping across the cold hard floor. In his arms, a stack of loose sheets of paper flutter in the breeze of his passage, while he holds a quill and inkwell in his hands. Strangest of all, a collection of crockery follow him on little stone legs, like a line of oddly shaped ducklings stretched out behind him. Like a mother duck, the steaming teapot leads the party, while a jugs and two mugs follow behind, their little sandstone feet tippy-tapping on the floor as they scurry after the terramancer. “Nowsa, that’s everything.” The mage comments brighty as he reaches the table, placing the inkwell, quill and papers down, before lifting his entourage one by one up from the floor. As he lifts them, their stone legs dissolve into sand, which is whisked through the air and secreted away into the golden cage slung by the mages hip. “How are you feeling? I heard you were injured in your most recent mission, are you healing well?” Odhranos asks, a gentle concerned expression crossing his face.
Karasu can't help but smile widely in amusement as she watches the conjured helpers follow the mage in. "I didn't take you as the type to have cute helpers." She jests. "Wow, is all this research?" Karasu leans forward slightly to look at the top of the stack of paper. Ever the curious one, her attention is quickly taken again as the stone dissolves into sand and disappears into his pouch. Once the sand is placed away, Karasu withdraws her wand and flicks it upwards at the chandelier of matching marbled agate to light the candles now that dusk falls outside the room. "The injury was mostly my own doing, really. I got hit with a makeshift ogre-dagger, and the armor I've been using forever splintered from the impact and stabbed me in the process." Karasu raises a discolored hand with a few small bandages on it to move a few curls out of her eyes. A bruise is also present on her forehead. "It's not as bad as it looks, really. My--" Boyfriend? Lover? Come to think of it, they never actually explicitly defined what they were, did they? "--teammate took care of the bulk of it. How is, ah, your friend?" She taps at the cheek underneath her eye to correspond to his own golden eye. "Has he been behaving?"
Odhranos laughs as he finishes placing the crockery on the table. "You'd be surprised. My speciality is making terramantic puppets, which are oftentimes large and aggressive like the one you saw in Sage, but I tend to keep the skill sharp by making smaller helpers when I can. Not to mention, they are absolutely adorable." He taps a hand on the pile of sheets proudly, evidently happy with the progress he had made. "All transcripts from other apprentices like yourself, it's been absolutely fascinating. Your friend Quintessa's interview is in there somewhere too." Pulling a seat out from the table, the mage seats himself facing the spellblade, uncorking the top of the inkwell and separating blank pages from the pile of research. "That sounds like quite an ordeal. I'm glad to see you are recovering well. If you happen to need any help in procuring new armour, I might be able to lend a hand with the material aspect of that." As he dips the quill into the ink, Karasu poses her question and he feels a familiar presence rising to the fore in his mind. "The more pertinent question, Littlefang, would be have you been behaving?" The deep gravelly tone of S'erok's voice rumbled out from the terramancer's throat as the dragon spoke, his voice warm and light with jest. "It was a pleasure to see you in battle for the first time, you are a warrior to be awed and revered."
Karasu sits up straight at the last comment, a hint of a blush dusting her freckled face. "Flattery will get you everywhere, S'erok." The halfling smirks, leaning forward so both of her hands cup her chin. "Going back to why we're here, I have spent nearly my whole life training under the mages. I'm sure that there's nothing I know that you do not. Where exactly should we start on this discussion of magic? The basics, I assume? And, is that wildberry tea?"
Odhranos || S’erok laughs heartily. “So I have learned from my time amongst your people. Though this one seems to be taking longer to learn the lesson.” With a chuckle, the dragon releases his hold over the mage’s voice. Odhranos coughs and rubs his throat as he sits upright, a mildly embarrassed expression on his face. “Ahem, yes, he’s as lively as ever, as you can see. Still making ribbons of my vocal chords, but anyway, back to the task at hand!” Reaching for the two earthenware mugs, Odhranos pours a generous amount from the teapot into both, causing a warm spicy aroma to fill the room. “Masala chai, in fact, it’s a particular favorite of mine. Milk?” Once he had prepared Karasu’s tea, he would pass the mug across before taking a sip of his own. A satisfied smile spreads across the mage’s face as the sweet warming taste of cinnamon and ginger blooms in his mouth. “Perfect blend, that tea merchant in Cenril is really worth every gold piece I spend on him.” Setting the mug aside, the mage turns to Karasu, lifting his quill and placing it over the page, quickly jotting down her name at the top of the page, along with the date. “Mmm, sort of. DId you get the gist of the project from my letter, or would you like me to go over it briefly?”
Karasu withdraws the letter from a pocket sewn into the underside of her cloak and lays it onto the table. The cream of the parchment is a soft contrast against the sapphire of the table. With a murmur of thanks, she takes the warm cup, taking a sip. Her shoulders visibly relax as the milk tea soothes her. "You said you wanted to discuss the concept of what exactly magic is. Do you mean to ask how it is that -I- understand magic to work? It is not a science how, say, smelting or medicine, would be, but I think there does have to be some kind of explanation as to why some are adept or naturally gifted with magic and others are not."
Odhranos nods fervently as he taps the point of the quill against the inkwell, shaking loose the excess droplets of ink. "Mmm, exactly that! Part of what is so mysterious about magic is how imprecise our understanding of it is. Every person you talk to will give you a different explanation. Which is precisely what I aim to document. I want to catalogue these different perceptions of magic, these "styles of spellcasting" as it were, and through collecting this information, I hope to be able to tease out common threads, to find the underlying mechanics by overlaying each person's impression of magic one on top of another and observing the patterns that emerge." Once he has readied his quill, he holds it over the page, ready to take notes. "So, I'd like to hear your take on it. What magic -is- to you, how it feels, how you apply it in practice. I'd like to understand -your- magic." The mages smile is gentle and encouraging, leaving the stage open for Karasu to speak her mind.
Karasu drums her fingers against the cup as she thinks. "Magic seems to be a very fickle thing. Some believe that to channel magic, you must call upon Xalious himself, or otherwise channel his essence. This theory is easily disproven with the known facts that Xalious, being a neutral patron of the Gods, would never allow someone with a chaotic nature to use their magic to disrupt the order of the world. Yet, we have seen the likes of persons in the pursuit of pure disorder channeling magic. Why then, would the Gods not interfere with this? The simplest reason would be because the Gods themselves have no say in who can practice magic and who can't. I believe the ability to wield magic is more biological than perhaps some realize. Tell me, Odie, how is it that my best friend Quintessa is so adept at magic despite having little to no formal training before her arrival here, and yet someone like me, who quite literally grew up imitating great mages like Foreza and my father, is so mediocre?"
Odhranos' quill flew across the page in a flurry of note-taking as Karasu spoke. "Hmm, you raise a good point. We are taught that Xalious is the wellspring of all magic, yet he seems not to have any say in the particulars of its usage… perhaps the Gods have no say in who can access magic, or perhaps, being a neutral God, favouring the acquisition of knowledge and knowledge alone, he sees all acts, even twisted ones, as being informative in some manner?" The mage suggests, though even he turns up his nose at his own suggestion, it would be a rather scathing indictment of the God of Magic if this was to be true. "As for Quintessa, during our discussion, the manner of her heritage came up with regards to her magical prowess. Being her friend, I'm unaware how much she shares with you, as I wouldn't wish to spread the personal information of an apprentice, but one of Quintessa's parents is of a race that practices magic innately, without needing to spend time studying to acquire it. She has the capacity for magic innately written into her body, so that she may use it in the same way a foal knows how to walk mere minutes after birth." Odhranos takes a moment to sit back from his notes and smiles ruefully at Karasu. "I'll admit, I am in some ways jealous myself of her hereditary grasp of magic. It does feel a bit unfair to those of us who have to go to great lengths to acquire our own magic. But! That is not to say our methods are not without merit. While Quintessa's magic is available to her from birth, the magic you and I employ has the potential for greater versatility; we need only look for it."
Karasu shakes her head. "I know of Quintessa's heritage, but she didn't have to tell me. Oriyan and Lorkain are terribly talkative drunks, you know. You just pointed it out yourself: Quintessa's parents were powerful magic wielders, and so, now she is as well.” A pencil is produced from somewhere in her cloak's pockets, and she swipes a blank sheet of paper before Odhranos can object. “The ability to wield magic is a terribly curious thing. It is not a case of whether you can or cannot, I believe it exists on a spectrum." She draws a dual sided arrow. On one end is a crude drawing of a winged human, presumably a faerie, and a dragon. On the other end is what looks like an orc or some kind of goblin. At the center, just above the arrows, is a human. "Heritage above all else determines your capacity for magic. Pixies, dragons, genasi, you rarely see them having to practice their formations. Likewise, an ogre could spend their entire lives struggling to learn, but unless they come into contact with a magical item, they cannot conjure magic on their own because they have almost no innate magic. Then you have everyone in between, who learns magic for a variety of reasons, but is still to some degree, able to channel it in one way or another. In my case, my magic is mostly wielded to prevent me from having to engage in close combat. I'm less than a hundred pounds, and according to Kasyr, I punch about as hard as a puppy." The halfling turns her head to the window. "Truthfully, I always wanted to be a great mage like my father. It was his dream to have me succeed him. At some point, we both realized that my magic was never going to be as strong as his. It’s why I took up the sword to make up for what my magic lacks."
Odhranos doesn't object to Karasu taking one of the pages for her diagram, in fact he is quite happy that she is willing to contribute her own written input. Tapping the end of his quill against his chin, he ponders what she says, even sitting forward in his seat to examine her diagram. "Hmm, so you are quite firm on race and heritage being a deciding factor, if not the deciding factor in one's magic ability." Sitting back into his seat, he mulls the concept over, like one would a fine wine. A curious smile quirks the edge of his mouth and he turns to Karasu with a question in his eyes. "Why would you hypothesise that is? If we were to follow with our earlier discussion and assume that magic is distributed at the will of a God, why would that god favour some races and not others? Or, perhaps more curiously, what if magic isn't controlled by some higher being, and is in fact an autonomous, or even non-sentient thing, why would it favour any particular race?" The mage places his quill aside for a moment to sip from his mug. "It's something I'd find difficult to theorise, but I welcome any suggestions you might have."
Karasu taps the blunt end of the pencil against the paper as he speaks. "Not -the- deciding factor; there have always been rare exceptions, but there are exceptions in anything that can be construed as fact. Consider this: what is some of the defining differences between races dependent on magic versus races that are not dependent? Brute strength. Pixies as a race needed to gather strength from a place that was not pure muscle to adapt to their environment and natural predators. Ogres, orcs, even felines are races that did so well on raw strength alone that they never needed to learn magic. I reject the theory that the Gods favor some races over others. I think at one point, we must have been all equal, but due to different circumstance, such as terrain of some areas, the natural non-sentient predators and such, some races discovered affinity for raw strength, while others turned to invoking magic."
Odhranos' eyebrows raise at Karasu's suggestion. "So, you suggest that magic is an evolutionary reaction? That races deficient in physical or mundane strength instead built up magic as a survival mechanism. Hmm, that would stand to reason." The mage scribbles furiously on his sheet, reaching the end and immediately whipping another one into its place without breaking script. "How do you explain dragons, then? Creatures innately highly skilled in magic, and yet strong physically as well. From an evolutionary point of view, it seems like they have been favoured greatly, even unfairly under this hypothesis." The mage then took a moment to pause and posed a second question to Karasu. "A slight tangent for a moment, if you don't object. What exactly is magic? We're discussing it as if it's some sort of non-corporeal musculature, a biological ability, but we haven't nailed down exactly what it is, be it some sort of resource, or a catch-all name for strange phenomena. To you, what is magic, as a thing?"
Karasu takes a few sips of tea to give Odhranos time to write. Once he is finished and the question about dragons is posed, Karasu thinks for a moment before putting the cup down. Come to think of it, cinnamon had always been her favorite as a kid, wasn't it? "Dragons are the other outlier in this statistical range. They exist in almost the same form they did back during the ancient saurian wars, but they possess different evolutionary traits as well. Have you ever seen Dyraxdiin's true form? He was there since the dawn of time as we probably know it, and he's monstrous. Back then when dragons were the dominant species, there was likely a very competitive need for both brute power and magic. Look where that led them, though. Adult dragons by today's standards are barely the size of the Frostmaw castle. Still huge, but nowhere near what the ancient ones used to be. The dragon purge in a way has made them softer. It wouldn't surprise me if the next generation of dragons, even my Berrentam, was only to grow about the size of the park to the south." Karasu finishes off the cup as he delves into the tangent. "Magic is an umbrella term for a variety of abilities. Being a terramancer is nowhere close to being a telemancer, and terramancers are vastly different than druids, even though they should overlap in theory. Then telemancers and illusionists are two completely different schools of magic. I think magic as we know it is..." She trails off and furrows her brows. They have finally reached a point where she doesn't know how to answer. "Magic is the ability to manipulate the area around you."
Odhranos nods as Karasu explains her logic. "Mmm, that stands to reason. The demands of that era were greater than any we face now, requiring an evolution of both physical and magical strength in order for survival. Very good point." Odhranos grins happily, before tilting his head to the side as if listening to some unseen person speaking. "Ahh, S'erok agrees with your statement about the decline in saurian strength, he says that the species of dragon we encountered in the Nameless desert were of a much lesser quality of strength than when he roamed as a hatchling. So that adds weight to your theory that magic is an evolutionary reaction to the pressures of the era." When he sees Karasu has finished her mug, he gestures to the pot, offering her a refill as he continues. "Hmm, so irrespective of the means, manipulating your surroundings can be considered a form of magic? That still includes mundane means, as they are technically manipulating the area around them, just not through what we would consider magic. The definition needs a little something more to refine it…" Odhranos strokes his chin with his free hand as he ponders. "Hmm, what is it that unifies what we call "magic"? What differentiates it from mundane ability?"
Karasu reflexively puffs up with pride at the praise from the unseen participant, and the praise from the arcane steward. The small girl stands and pours herself another cup, offering one to the man as well before sitting back down. "The one thing that unifies magic, I suppose, would be something akin to the telepathy portion of it. You can till soil the way a farmer can, but a tiller is very different from willing the ground to take the shape you ask of it. Will in itself is not enough, though. Perhaps, it is an art form, like the monks method of combat? That doesn't sound right either." She mulls it over, crossing her arms over her chest.
Odhranos accepts the refill with a grateful smile as he toys with the short, greying stubble on his chin. "I think you're on the right track with it being something in the line of telepathy, magic is sort of defined by being a means of action that's not mundane, but mundanity in itself is not really a definite description. Hmm…" The terramancer picks up his mug and sips from it pensively, holding it in both hands as he stares into the middle distance with thought. "Perhaps, magic can be defined as the application of power sourced from outside the physical form? By that definition, mundane means aren't considered, but it's broad enough to cover all of the fields of magic that I can think of off the top of my head." Odhranos sets his mug aside and jots that thought down on his sheet. "That does bring up the second question of what exactly that "power" is, but I think that is an easier question to answer, specific to each field of magic. What do you think?"
Karasu takes a sip of the tea as she thinks about this. "It is common knowledge that there are various types of magic, all stemming from different sources. Druidic magic and bardic magic are in classes of their own, as those are not things that can be taught from a textbook the way casting basics are done here. I think that definition would be correct, then. Maybe substitute 'power' for 'mana-imbued energy'?" She sets the teacup down and withdraws a pouch of golden flower petals. "Another question would be, how is it that chewing on these guys restores the magical energy required to use magic?"
Odhranos leans forward to peer into the pouch and nods, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “A good question. Perhaps, if by our definition, magic is the act of utilising energy sourced from outside the body, then our body needs some way of interfacing with this energy. A chemical used in the brain that provides the link between our conscious mind and the source of power, one that is found occurring naturally in these plants as well as in our bodies? That might also explain why we suffer physical fatigue from using too much magic, our innate supply of this chemical is reduced from usage and inhibits our ability to interface with magic, draining us of mental and physical energy.” Odhranos sits back into his chair, grimacing slightly. “That’s just wild speculation though.”
Karasu nods, setting a few petals aside for Odhranos. "Take some, they're good to have in a pinch." Her bandaged fingers make quick work of tying up the pouch and putting it away. "Hypothetically, that theory would tie back into the theory of magic users as well. Magic is not only dependent on pure study, but is also influenced by the biological ability to cast spells as well. Fascinating, if you think about it. Why would a zorata need to store mana in the first place?"
Odhranos accepts the petals with a smile and murmur of thanks, placing most of them in a neat little pile beside his tea top while he keeps one to examine. Rubbing the soft petal between his thumb and forefinger, he raises an eyebrow and grins at Karasu. “Magic bees perhaps?” he jokes, placing the petal back with its brethren. “I joke, but that might not be so far off. Flowers develop nectar as a means of attracting insects to pollinate, the zorota and its sister species, the rozota may have developed to use magic-sensitive species to this same effect. I’d be curious to study the correlation between dragon nesting patterns and zorota pollination regions, I suspect they may be related.” The mage chuckles and scribbles down a brief note in the corner of his sheet. “Right, I do believe that just about rounds up this interview; it’s been an absolute pleasure, Karasu. You are a wonderfully bright young woman and I look forward to calling on you for discussions on magic in the future, if it so please you.”
Karasu smiles at the praise. Beneath the table, her speckled mulberry tail swishes from side to side, curling in on itself happily. "I'm glad you believe so. Oh, right, I have a gift for you. You were still gone when the festival happened, right? We were going to sell these at a display, but the telemancers we have residing here were only able to make a small batch. I think you or S'erok might get some use out of it, once you're done studying it of course." From one of the many pockets in the rune-jaguar coat, she produces a pendant on an iron chain. The pendant itself is unremarkable, a bright white that swirls with magic. Once it drops into the man's hand, the face of the pendant changes, and a red arrow appears. "I like to call it a heart-compass. It points you in the direction of something your heart is reaching out for."
Odhranos sits forward curiously as Karasu produces the pendant, ever fascinated by devices of the arcane. Once she places it in his palm, the mage leans down to study its face as Karasu explains its purpose. As soon as the red arrow manifests on its surface, it points straight off to the mage's right, where he turns his head curiously. “Where might that be pointing? - oh…” Suddenly the mages cheeks turn a bright red and he closes his fingers over the amulet. “Ahem, that’s… that’s quite an impressive amulet. Very… ehm… accurate.” Odhranos laughs, a little embarrassed as he tucks it into his pocket. "Thank you for this present. I'll definitely give it a good examining, it could be a very useful device for tracking and seeking purposes." The mage smiles fondly at the feline before him. "- And I'll have to keep an eye out for something to give you in return for such a gift." Standing to his feet and gathering his papers into his hands, the mage bows deeply to Karasu, a pleasant smile on his face. "If you ever have any questions, or anything I can be of use to you with, you know where my door is; it will always be open to you." Odhranos waves with his free hand as his cage spits out small flurries of sand, that sweep the crockery up and manifest their little stubby feet once more. "Do stay safe, and drop by if you ever feel in the mood for tea!"