Hi,
like many other readers I began to theorize about “what if´s” and the possible future development of the story while reading. This is the result and I hope you have fun reading.
Please excuse possible grammatic errors, lack of vocabular and poor choice of words, I am not a native speaker.
Homework on the nature of magic
Siobhan
At some point of time while waiting at the Verdant Stag
„Sorceress!“ Theo called her and she turned to see him running up to her. In his arms were utensils for his homework, however he seemed to have forgotten their presence.
„Running from homework again?“ Siobhan chuckled and his face turned sour. „No, ist is just so boring. The teacher only tells me well known facts with that monotone voice of his and expects from me to be overly interested in it. But it isn’t interesting and the homework would be to copy what he said without actually copying him.“
„What do you work on?“ she asked and he showed her his notes. „An essay on the nature of magic?“ „Yes, but magic is illogical, yet follows rules. Not even the best thaumaturge got figured out what the essence of magic is, still he asked me to write about it.“
„Can you help me write it?“ Theo whined, but she shook her head. „I can’t help you with that. However, I can help you get information on what to write.” He nodded with an eager face and they sat down together in a corner.
Remembering a theory that said it was easier to learn when one had visual material, Siobhan took an illusion spell array out of her satchel.
“You are right when you say, no one ever has correctly summarized the essence of magic. This lays in the contradiction of magic, which is why humans tend to compare magic to something that they actually understand to describe it.”
“What is already existing and can partly compared with it?” Siobhan asked and after a moment of thought he answered. “It is like a mill.” “A mill? But what are the similarity between them?”
“Like a mill magic transforms one energy into another. For example, the mill turns the movements of wind or flowing water in rotation. Comparably, Magic can turn sacrificed heat into the energy that powers the spell, whatever the result is.”
She gave him an encouraging smile and he scribbled notes down.
Magic comparable to a mill
Like a mill is the machine to transform wind into rotation, magic is the “machine” to transform the energy contained in the sacrifice into the energy to empower the active spell
“But is it actually the same energy ? Or is it a transformed power with different characteristics?” “I am not sure.” Siobhan answered him. “Since this is just a picture you can use to describe how magic works it is not necessary the truth. For example, it isn’t proven that magic actual uses energy. It is just that the sacrifice disappears and the result of the spell appears. Whether or not magic uses an energy and transforms it during the casting isn’t certain.”
“So, is me comparing magic to a mill wrong?” Theo asked fidgeting with his fingers. “No, it is just the most fitting picture you found to describe the process on how you believe magic works. And like you said, even though there are many people who speculate on the actual process, nearly nothing is known about it and even less is proven.”
This left Theo a little lost in his thought and his pen was swirling between his fingers. “I think I got another one. It describes magic, yet isn’t a comparison. Does it also count?” “Since the essay is on the nature of magic, of course. As long as it depicts what magic is or how it can be seen.”
“It is a factor unlike any known other to bend or change the rules of the world or reality. For example, a spell that temporary stops gravity from existing in an area.”
Afterwards they discussed about how to formulate this part of the essay until Theo asked, “What other ways are there to describe how magic works?“
„There are many and they vary in their credibility.“ Siobhan told him and activated the illusion spell. Using the light and heat in the area she showed him a book, or to be exact the illusion of a book.
„One of the first that exists is ‘magic is like a blank sheet of paper‘ by an unknown author. It is mentioned in the book ‘The beginning of magic; Theories and hints left after the cataclysm‘ by Verner Van Vielsach. And yes, his parents really named him like this.” she added with the hint of a smirk.
“But back to the topic.” She opened the illusionary book and let it flip to page 271. On the right page was the translation of a piece of text from pre cataclysm which was sketched on the left. The boy moved closer, the interest written all over his face.
“…and I had a discussion on the subject of magic. He expressed his difficulties with how magic advances faster than humans can solve its mysteries. So, as a philosopher I had to question him ‘what do you think magic is?’ and he answered how to most magic was equivalent to power but to him a thaumaturge and mathematician ‘magic is essentially an Equation with an known input, an known output as well as many variables. These are the reason magic can’t be defined since many variables are yet to be discovered and the few that are, are not defined.’ . I admitted my inability to definitely describe magic since magic itself is not definite, but my dear friend disagreed since ‘although the variables are unknown, they are definite’. “
“After we spoke till late into the night, the sun had long since set, we found a way to describe and simplify the complexity of magic. Magic is like a blank sheet of paper in front of an artist. Since the possibilities on how to use magic are endless the paper is blank and it’s up to the thaumaturge, the painter, to paint the picture of it. So, each time a new spell is found magic is defined anew. These definitions may vary and contradict each other, but…” Theo read out loud.
“The text ends here.” He shifted his attention to her “Yes, this is the middle of a scroll. The rest most likely got destroyed or didn’t survive the cataclysm.” The boy nodded absently and only after a while he began to note down his new findings.
Magic = power?
Magic is like an equation that works even though it contains unknown variables
It’s also similar to a blank sheet of paper in front of an artist.
It’s possible to paint anything and the painter defines it each time again when a new painting/spell is created.
Afterwards he put a bracket around the three and added a “cf. The beginning of magic; Theories and hints left after the cataclysm by Verner Van Vielsach page 270/271”
“But doesn’t that mean one should be able to do anything with magic?” Theo frowned. “Yes, everything can be done with magic.” “But not everything…”
She chuckled while thinking about a certain lesson in Introduction to Practical Will-based Casting. “A great free-caster once said something similar to ‚magic has no boundaries, but humans have‘ and I can only agree with that.“
She waited till he wrote the quote down and with a wave of her hand the book changed into another much smaller one. It read ‚Magic for beginners; 111 easy arrays’ by Nicodemus Kafer. After another wave of her hand, it opened and showed one of the first pages.
“In the beginning this author reminds the readers of the dangers of casting. He uses the phrase ‚Magic is like a leashed beast. You have to remember: a single error and in the next second it could free itself to bite you.‘ . It is used as a warning that magic is not harmless and could turn on you any second.“
Theo nodded and again scribbled down the information. Siobhan watched him from the side, first hesitating but then beginning to speak.
“In some cases it is also possible to compare it to a sapient being.“ She nodded to the illusion she had created just a second earlier. It showed a humanoid figure with giant ears.
“Each thaumaturge when casting a spell is telling Magic what they want and what they are willing to sacrifice to get it. But there are so many, their voices overlap and they use different languages so that it’s difficult for It to listen to them.“
She created a horde of tiny humans at the feet of the larger humanoid figure.
“That’s why they use a circle to gain Magic‘s attention. They use Glyphs so It can easier understand what they try to do. By doing this Magic can fulfil their wishes.“
“But what about free-caster?“ The boy questioned and she answered with a chuckle, “Free-caster have found out the language of Magic over the time of their training and can directly communicate with It. Instead of trying to gain Its attention they can just scream really loud at It. Metaphorical of course…”
As a reaction to her last sentence Theo also began to giggle, but after scrutinizing her illusion he added, “However to listen to so many thaumaturges at once it needs to have at least a few more ears!” To humor him she just did that, leaving the figure with ears all over Its body.
She watched him as he finished his notes and noted how he never asked for references for the quote and the last thought model. After all the boy knew that since she didn’t mention it, he most likely wouldn’t get an answer. She made sure he had all the information down before she rose and put the spell-array back into her satchel.
It was a fantastical time, but sadly she had to speak to Katerin and so she soon said her goodbyes to Theo. Leaving him frantically writing his homework she left to meet the other woman.