User:Cainad/magic
From Vaporstory
This is me not-so-secret place for working on me new magic system.
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[edit] Quintessence
Essentially the ether; an omnipresent spiritual substance.
The quintessence acts as the conduit for minds to interact with the physical environment, normally by connecting the mind to the body. It is the go-between for thought and action. Magicians find ways of extending their influence over the quintessence beyond their physical bodies.
By this definition, magic is literally the act of imposing one's will over reality, as if flexing a muscle.
[edit] Magic
Magical effects are the result of manipulating the quintessence, which in turn is done by carefully trained minds. A few are naturally gifted with the ability to extend their mental influence in this way, but even then it requires skill to make any use of this ability. Most magicians acquire their magical prowess through various meditative and ceremonial practices, which vary depending on the magician's culture.
The simplest application of magic is psychokinesis: moving objects by one's will alone. However, such basic magic has limited applications, as it requires the magician's full attention to perform with any precision. Magicians in training quickly learn these limitations and apply themselves to more advanced studies.
The subtleties involved in skillful magic give magicians their reputation as very introspective, mysterious individuals. One of the most well-known lessons in magical thought is a simple exercise nearly every magician has heard of: an instructor stands before his students, and next to him is a simple piece of paper. They are all standing outside, on a sunny day. This instructor says to his students, "Make this piece of paper catch fire." One by one, the students apply their hard-learned control of quintessence to this task. They focus on the paper, trying to apply as much heat as they are able. However, none are able to start a flame, and few can do more than make it hot. It eventually becomes apparent that their minds are simply not strong enough to control the quintessence in such a way as to create the heat needed to start a fire. The instructor then shows them the trick: rather than applying his focus to the piece of paper, he instead uses the quintessence to shape the air directly above it. With the sun shining bright in the sky, the instructor forces the air into the shape of a lens, focusing the sunlight and setting the paper on fire.
It is with such careful thought that magicians apply their skills. Magic is not simply a means of wishing away problems, as the common folk once believed. It is a versatile tool, with many possible uses, but utterly useless if one does not understand what the problem is or what is needed to solve it.
[edit] Common Applications
Ever since the Magical Influence, magic has become relatively commonplace. The fields of study available to magicians are diverse and nearly limitless. Magic also had its place before it became common, but its uses were far more limited and the knowledge confined to an elite few.
[edit] Warfare
The unfortunate truth is that humans always seem to find ways of killing each other with whatever new technology they acquire, and the same tends to hold true for magic. Illusions are by far the easiest spells for magicians to cast on a large scale, and illusions have been used to gain an advantage in battles for centuries. An entire army can be hidden under an illusory fog, ghosts and specters may haunt an enemy army in their dreams to demoralize them, and of course magicians who can ward off such tricks are just as valuable as those who can cast them.
[edit] Communication
Because it is so closely associated with the mind, quintessence is an ideal medium for communication over long distances. Psychically sensitive Mindspeakers (magicians with a special skill in magical telepathy) were once commonly employed by the wealthy and powerful, but recent inventions such as the combox have replaced such means for day-to-day communications and are used by the majority of people in most countries.
Individual telepathy is still practiced by some, however, since comboxes can be listened in on by an experienced Mindspeaker.
[edit] Medicine
Ever since magic started being used to hurt people, its medicinal applications have never been far behind. Unfortunately, the complexity of biological systems makes it difficult for magicians to fight certain maladies, but it is profoundly useful as a means of stimulating natural healing in the body. No spell exists for destroying infections the way an antibiotic can, but careful application of magical stimuli to the body's glands and nerves can have great long-term benefits.
