An Introduction to Magic

Beyond Dominia: The Role Playing Mill: An Introduction to Magic

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By Karn on Sunday, December 31, 2000 - 05:39 am:

OOC: I really don’t think mages are boring. I think powerful mages are, but mages that don’t rely entirely on magic are cool, especially when they can summon poultry-geist! Notice he is an apprentice to a butcher… I did some foresight :)

December 12, 794 Talismanian Reckoning

Again Valin woke up early. Today was the day his formal (well, as formal as it ever was going to be in the near future) training was going to start. He was impatient.

“Mana is the force that is magic. Mana can be manipulated…” Valin mentally went over what he knew.

After repeating it three times, Valin got up. He yawned, stretching. “I’m sweating.” Valin realized.

After a moment’s thought, Valin got up and got dressed. He dressed in his finest clothes, fine cotton (and in good condition, too!) pants and a decent shirt. He put a rare silk robe over all of that and sat down on his bed.

“Judging by the sun, there’s still and hour until daybreak of Mertana’s Day, an hour of daybreak. It’s too hot to stay in this attire for that long.” Valin took off his fine silk robe and placed it on his bed. Mertana’s Day was a local holiday in the memory of Mertana, a local hero.

Valin got up and strolled to the window. There he saw two brothers, Noran and Phalar, playing. Noran and Phalar were one of Valin’s best friends, and they both loved to play. Valin bet himself that at around daybreak they would go to their friend’s houses and ask if they could come out to play.

Valin decided to study the Tome, which turned out to be called Celidden Tome. He opened it to a random page in the book, and looked at a picture. There was a picture of a design, which looked like it was made of chalk, and a mage. There were all sorts of devices around the mage, some glowing with magic others lifeless. “Sheesh? All this preparation for a single spell?” Valin thought.

Valin continued turning the pages, staring at pictures. Occasionally he would attempt to sound a word out, but it never made much sense to Valin. “Perhaps I should become literate?” thought Valin.

After looking through about a hundred pages, Valin looked up. He could tell dawn would be coming soon, within minutes. Valin folded the Tome and neatly put it back on its perch. It was alone there; no other books occupied any space in Valin’s room.

Valin got up and put on his silk robe. For the first time he examined the patterns carefully. Only now did Valin truly realize how much work this must have taken, the designs were very intricate. The general design was a large sun with clouds behind it and some words.

Valin looked up, just in time to see the ray of light pass over the distant Tanarai Mountains. Valin shielded his eyes and shuffled out of the room. He entered the master bedroom, where Master Desdel was sitting. He was in a casual dress, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Valin was surprised that Desdel was already ready for him.

“Surprised?” Desdel asked. “I detected your awakening an hour ago. You read the Celidden Tome, didn’t you? I read through your eyes, you were reading about generating a very powerful maelstrom. One stronger than most mages can do with just mana.”

Valin was dumbstruck. He never knew his master was so proficient in magic! Valin realized he was stalling and bowed, then sat down, opposite of his master. “Hello, Master Desdel. I presume you are well this morning?” Valin said.

Desdel only nodded. “Tell me what you know about magic, not just about mana, but everything to do with magic.”

Valin took a deep breath. “Well, I have several theories about magic, correct me if I’m wrong. For one, mana is the force of magic. It is here, I guess, and we have to summon it, call it, to use it. I presume you have to be in ultimate concentration to get this mana, and to use it. That’s all I know, other than that you use it.”

Desdel nodded. “You are correct, Valin. But, you do not have to be in down-right concentration to gather mana,” he raised his hand and fire danced at his fingertips. “Instead you need to know how to summon it. But first, I will talk about mana. Do you know what a plane is?”

Valin shook his head. “No sir.”

“Cut that formality. We live on our plane, called by some foreigners Phaema, others Tenatris, others Gaea, and even others Irigantaro. I do not know where those names came from but for now we shall call our plane Phaema. Our whole world, all of Tenatris and beyond, and even the sky is part of Phaema. There are others worlds like ours, or so it says in some Tomes, and between them is the Nethervoid. The Nethervoid is all mana, and it is what mages `harvest’. Have you heard of the bastions?”

“No si… no.”

“Well, the bastions are the focal points of mana on our world. Mana from the Nethervoid is much denser near those bastions. The colors of mana are red, blue, green, white, and black. Each bastion is associated with one color, and there is one bastion per color. The bastions radiate mana outward, in lines, to other bastions. Magicians must catch those lines and use them to their own needs.”

Valin nodded.

“Each person can tap into certain colors of mana lines. I for one, can tap into red mana. I don’t know what you can tap into, yet, but we’ll see. Some say it is where you are from, some say it is your personality, some say otherwise. But, not all of those are plausible as some mages are multicolored!”

“M… so how do I access these mana lines?”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This is good review for me, I rarely think about the philosophy behind magic, so lets go on. Mana, when I use it, is in my mind. From there I turn it into power, to spells. In my mind, the mana is red, and thus I am a red mage. A few years back I studied green a tad bit, and did manage a few green spells. But then I stopped using the green so I can no longer access the green mana. Perhaps I became `attuned’ to green mana `frequency’ and no longer am. Now, onto how to access mana lines.”

Valin smiled.

“I have felt it in you that you are capable of magic. Not everyone is. Can you feel the power of the mana lines coursing through you? If you concentrate and imagine those lines, you will start to feel their power.”

Valin closed his eyes and attempted to imagine the mana lines. The mana lines came, but he could not feel their power. He tried to tap their power, to no avail.

“Wait. I almost forgot. Mana is dangerous if you hold it in your mind too long. It burns you and eventually your whole body burns out. I will have to teach you a simple spell that all colors can do. (OOC: That is what manaburn is- holding mana too long in your mind and it burns you, that is explained in the Gathering Dark.) It lets you get rid of the mana very easily, and wastes it. Well, recycles it to the Nethervoid. Simply will the mana to course through your fingertips and point them upward! If you don’t if you turn out to be a red mage, it might hurt me. To access these mana lines, simply will the imagined mana lines to give you the mana. If you have the power of a magician, you will feel the mana develop in your mind. If multiple types of mana form in your mind, this spell works just as well.”

Valin nodded, and imagined the mana lines. He willed them to give him his power, to no avail. He willed them harder. Eventually, a small speck of mana came into his mind. Soon, it filled his mind with not one type of mana as he had expected, but two. White and black. Slowly, Valin willed the mana to escape through his fingertips.

The mana tingled as it left Valin. After it had all left, Valin opened his eyes. He looked at his fingers which were still tingly. He looked at Desdel, obviously amused.

Desdel chuckled. “You were straining really hard to get your first mana. Soon it will come with ease, but until then, good job. I felt the mana leave and enter your mind. What color was it?”

Valin looked at Desdel, puzzled.

“What color was it?” Desdel repeated firmly.

Valin shook his head. “Sorry, it’s hard for me to concentrate after the mana has left me, it feels like it takes my conscience away for a second, and it takes a while to come back. Anyway, there were two colors, white and black.”

“White and black? Do you know what this means, boy? Do you? Obviously you don’t but you have a give. Not some ancient prophesy or anything, but very few people have two opposing colors of magic when they first start!”

Valin stared at Desdel. “Huh?”

“Let me explain. The color white is allied with green and blue, and opposing to red and black. Black is allied with red and blue, and opposed to green and white.”

Valin nodded. “Oh, that. I saw a pentagon like that in the Celidden Tome; I see what you mean. I never knew it was significant. How come it felt like my conscience was slipping away?”

Desdel nodded. “Oh that. That is because you have reached your limits of mana use. You are exhausted, correct?” Valin nodded. “Well, as you continue learning your capability for magic will increase and you will not feel so exhausted after a single spell. But for now, rest for about half an hour. Oh dear, it’s almost noon! You can play with your friends after lunch. Oh, and DON’T try to do any spells. We will go over stuff like that in a while, the next time I have this much free time. Before then, I will be studying the Celidden Tome for useful beginner spells of red and black.”

OOC: Um… is this true? Like that stuff about mana lines and so on?


By Elrohir (Elrohir) on Sunday, December 31, 2000 - 06:44 am:

Actually, most of this was fairly good. However, I felt that Desdel knew far more about magic than he should. He's not a planeswalker, so he wouldn't know much at all about the planes from any "conventional" learning. Only a random few have any inkling of the Nethervoid or other planes. What I gave you yesterday was all OOC information, so that you as a writer would know how things work in the big picture. There has been too much strife and rebuilding in our world for common-taught mages to know much more than that they have magic and the ability to use it. Think of it this way: You know how to walk and don't need to know the specifics of gravity and physiology and kinetic energy in order to do so effectively. Sure, having the extra knowledge brings that extra sense of enlightenment, but is unnecessary to the overall experience. So it is with the knowledge I gave you.

Other things. New outsiders don't come here anymore, a consequence of spells rendered by the being Tara, who rebuilt the world. Only a few, such as Thrakkiss, who still have memory of this place are able to return. Casual planeswalking by others can no longer bring them here, or even reveal Phaema's existence to them. This renders the concept of alternate names to the plane irrelevant, I'm afraid. It wasn't until a few game years ago, when Tara fixed things in the first place, that the world was even given a name. Prior to that time, it was known and referred to simply as "Beyond Dominia." However, since you're basing your characters outside of the realms commonly inhabited by everyone else here, we can assume that for whatever reason, the translation of the name was miscommunicated, and your characters know the world as Tenatris. Gaea is the supposed name of a goddess in our world, though her existance is questionable (we don't have any gods that directly influence anything).

A final thing: The bastions are also quite new, dating back to Tara's intervention 8 game years ago. Their status and is all relatively unknown to all but a few, since I can name or reference all those who would know of them.

Blue Bastion: Gandalf was resurrected with the blue bastion in his possession. He never really discovered what its purpose was, but knew it was an artifact of great power. He passed it on to Jaron at their parting.

White Bastion: This was uncovered by an expedition from Oor-Tael that ended in the demise of nearly all its members. The two survivors were Sunset (now deceased) and Tivadar (somewhat insane) and neither quite knew what it was either.

Green Bastion: The treefolk Xanthos knows what he is, but hasn't shared this knowledge with anyone else. This makes me quite suspicious of those who seek him out because they know he's the green bastion because...there's no way in hell they WOULD know anyway.

Red Bastion: This was discovered in Loebar and the most widely recognized of the bastions due to the long expedition with many members that went there.

Black Bastion: Its power was compromised by the First Evil and a great battle was fought there to prevent that being from usurping its power completely. The FE was ultimately defeated by Elrohir, who died from wounds sustained in the conflict. Elrohir was the only person who knew the nature and purpose of the bastions, and he died without passing on his knowledge to others.

The point I'm trying to make is that it is known by all OOC what the bastions represent, but there is no character living in the world who has a clue as to precisely what their purpose is, even though the most learned have by now learned their number.

Proposition for amending your story: Remove all references of the nethervoid, planes, and the five bastions from Valin's training. That is all information that even the most "in the know" characters don't know. I'm afraid that Desdel certainly would not have such advanced knowledge. He would know something about mana, though not necessarily mana lines - again that's more of something that planeswalkers would deal with. Mages such as Valin and Desdel would simply be tapping into their specific aspect of latent ambient mana in their area. Also, the ability to use magic is an inherited condition. Not many people have innate magic ability, so tapping into mana isn't available to everyone in the way you describe. However, runic and component magic is also available for the "mundanes" of the world. Component magic requires ingredients (reagents) and instructions to be cast, and mana is used by the combination obtained. Runic is quite varied, it can be done by innate magic users very easily, or by mundanes through careful craftsmanship. Often words of power are all that are necesary to enact a runic spell or enchantment; other times they require an infusion of mana from an innate user to activate, or perhaps activate when a given set of conditions arise for the proper words of power to activate them.

I'm not going to stop your characters; outside of knowing quite a bit more than necessary, the descriptions I didn't point out about mana lines and mana burn were appropriate. My biggest pet peeve is the fusion of player knowledge and character knowledge - I'm giving you quite a lot of information that isn't common knowledge to any character. There are few enough people who know or even care about these specifics; I'm one of them. This information should not be known by characters. It is meant to give you the background and framework of the physics of magic in which your characters will interact, but it is not meant that your characters should know them. Magic is not commonplace here. Users of magic are rare, and extremely knowledgeable ones even rarer. That I'm the only one who can even answer your questions should be adequate proof. And the character that did know this information is dead. :) Please don't get discouraged if you feel I'm attacking every word you write - it's true I do a lot of that on a constant basis, but it's meant as constructive criticism to help you better fit in here.


By Karn on Sunday, December 31, 2000 - 07:09 am:

I'm not. I guess I did give him too much knowledge but that's only cus I like to go to specifics and explore worlds on my own terms and make up stuff that can or cannot be true. He thought of Gaea not as a god but as Earth, well a synonym for that that's not neccesarily Earth, that sounds too much unlike Phaema but earthly

I'll send in the erratta asap (not really, but eventually).

vote rath


By Shadow (Shadow) on Sunday, December 31, 2000 - 07:57 am:

Just two brief notes:

1) "that is explained in the Gathering Dark."

I don't have any objection to your explanation of manaburn, but keep in mind that actual m:tg lore has _no_ bearing on the RPM. That is, things stated in mtg novels are not necessarily true here. The RPM, now, really has very little to do with mtg. Not a problem w/ your post, just something to keep in mind.

2) In character, nobody knows for certain how magic actually works. Some of them just happen to have particularly good theories.


By /\/\ist Phantom on Sunday, December 31, 2000 - 04:20 pm:

Just a little note for Elro....
Just so you know, §hard and Aphiron know about Xanthos because they met him in their first excursion from their hometown, when they tried to become knights of Dantimos. He saved them from a rampaging wurm and talked to them a little, though they don't know what exactly he is or anything, just that he's some kind of treefolk sorcerer or something and that he's a really nice guy (for a tree). :)


By Karn on Sunday, December 31, 2000 - 07:24 pm:

Ok here's the fixed version. And I happen to like making references to books because it makes it seem like it's not totally made up. I know it has nothing to do with it but oh well, here it is:

December 12, 794 Talismanian Reckoning

Again Valin woke up early. Today was the day his formal (well, as formal as it ever was going to be in the near future) training was going to start. He was impatient.

“Mana is the force that is magic. Mana can be manipulated…” Valin mentally went over what he knew.

After repeating it three times, Valin got up. He yawned, stretching. “I’m sweating.” Valin realized.

After a moment’s thought, Valin got up and got dressed. He dressed in his finest clothes, fine cotton (and in good condition, too!) pants and a decent shirt. He put a rare silk robe over all of that and sat down on his bed.

“Judging by the sun, there’s still and hour until daybreak of Mertana’s Day, an hour of daybreak. It’s too hot to stay in this attire for that long.” Valin took off his fine silk robe and placed it on his bed. Mertana’s Day was a local holiday in the memory of Mertana, a local hero.

Valin got up and strolled to the window. There he saw two brothers, Noran and Phalar, playing. Noran and Phalar were one of Valin’s best friends, and they both loved to play. Valin bet himself that at around daybreak they would go to their friend’s houses and ask if they could come out to play.

Valin decided to study the Tome, which turned out to be called Celidden Tome. He opened it to a random page in the book, and looked at a picture. There was a picture of a design, which looked like it was made of chalk, and a mage. There were all sorts of devices around the mage, some glowing with magic others lifeless. “Sheesh? All this preparation for a single spell?” Valin thought.

Valin continued turning the pages, staring at pictures. Occasionally he would attempt to sound a word out, but it never made much sense to Valin. “Perhaps I should become literate?” thought Valin.

After looking through about a hundred pages, Valin looked up. He could tell dawn would be coming soon, within minutes. Valin folded the Tome and neatly put it back on its perch. It was alone there; no other books occupied any space in Valin’s room.

Valin got up and put on his silk robe. For the first time he examined the patterns carefully. Only now did Valin truly realize how much work this must have taken, the designs were very intricate. The general design was a large sun with clouds behind it and some words.

Valin looked up, just in time to see the ray of light pass over the distant Tanarai Mountains. Valin shielded his eyes and shuffled out of the room. He entered the master bedroom, where Master Desdel was sitting. He was in a casual dress, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Valin was surprised that Desdel was already ready for him.

“Surprised?” Desdel asked. “I detected your awakening an hour ago. You read the Celidden Tome, didn’t you? I read through your eyes, you were reading about generating a very powerful maelstrom. One stronger than most mages can do with just mana.”

Valin was dumbstruck. He never knew his master was so proficient in magic! Valin realized he was stalling and bowed, then sat down, opposite of his master. “Hello, Master Desdel. I presume you are well this morning?” Valin said.

Desdel only nodded. “Tell me what you know about magic, not just about mana, but everything to do with magic.”

Valin took a deep breath. “Well, I have several theories about magic, correct me if I’m wrong. For one, mana is the force of magic. It is here, I guess, and we have to summon it, call it, to use it. I presume you have to be in ultimate concentration to get this mana, and to use it. Mana comes in five colors. White is generally construction and healing, as well as other stuff. Generally healing in the short term. Green is long term healing associated with plants and animals. Green mages tend to be organized. Black is associated with the balance of life and death. Blue is illusion, control, knowledge, and so on. Red is generally of chaos and destruction. That’s all I know, other than that you use it.”

Desdel nodded. “You are correct, Valin. But, you do not have to be in down-right concentration to gather mana,” he raised his hand and fire danced at his fingertips. “Instead you need to know how to summon it. But first, I will talk about mana. Mana is everywhere, I don’t know where it comes from, but it just is. It extends far beyond Tenatris, far beyond the Tanarai Mountains. To mana there is no end.”

Valin nodded. “M… how do I access mana?”

“Well, you have to imagine the world, not just our village but all of Tenatris and beyond in mana. Imagine it is all mana, and will it to come. But will hard!”

Valin took a deep breath. He imagine the world of mana and started willing it toward him. He felt it developing but only a little bit.

“Wait! I almost forgot. Mana is dangerous if you hold it in your mind too long. It burns you and eventually your whole body burns out. I will have to teach you a simple spell that all colors can do. (OOC: That is what manaburn is- holding mana too long in your mind and it burns you, that is explained in the Gathering Dark.) It lets you get rid of the mana very easily, and wastes it. Well, recycles it. Simply will the mana to course through your fingertips and point them upward! If you don’t if you turn out to be a red mage, it might hurt me. If you have the power of a magician, you will feel the mana develop in your mind. If multiple types of mana form in your mind, this spell works just as well.”

Valin nodded, and imagined the world of mana. He willed them to give him his power, to no avail. He willed them harder. Eventually, a small speck of mana came into his mind. Soon, it filled his mind with not one type of mana as he had expected, but two. White and black. Slowly, Valin willed the mana to escape through his fingertips.

The mana tingled as it left Valin. After it had all left, Valin opened his eyes. He looked at his fingers, which were still tingly. He looked at Desdel, obviously amused.

Desdel chuckled. “You were straining really hard to get your first mana. Soon it will come with ease, but until then, good job. I felt the mana leave and enter your mind. What color was it?”

Valin looked at Desdel, puzzled.

“What color was it?” Desdel repeated firmly.

Valin shook his head. “Sorry, it’s hard for me to concentrate after the mana has left me, it feels like it takes my conscience away for a second, and it takes a while to come back. Anyway, there were two colors, white and black.”

“White and black? Do you know what this means, boy? Do you? Obviously you don’t but you have a gift. Not some ancient prophesy or anything, but very few people have two opposing colors of magic when they first start!”

Valin stared at Desdel. “Huh?”

“Let me explain. The color white is allied with green and blue, and opposing to red and black. Black is allied with red and blue, and opposed to green and white.”

Valin nodded. “Oh, that. I saw a pentagon like that in the Celidden Tome; I see what you mean. I never knew it was significant. How come it felt like my conscience was slipping away?”

Desdel nodded. “Oh that. That is because you have reached your limits of mana use. You are exhausted, correct?” Valin nodded. “Well, as you continue learning your capability for magic will increase and you will not feel so exhausted after a single spell. But for now, rest for about half an hour. Oh dear, it’s almost noon! You can play with your friends after lunch. Oh, and DON’T try to do any spells. We will go over stuff like that in a while, the next time I have this much free time. Before then, I will be studying the Celidden Tome for useful beginner spells of red and black.”

OOC: There. I fixed it and there is no mention of planes or bastions or mana lines.


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