driftfleet | Magic Talk with Yuan, Episode 2

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Magic Talk with Yuan, Episode 2

Who: Yuan Ka-Fai and anyone
Broadcast: Video
Action: The library on the Iskaulit
When: Now

[The video feed opens up to Yuan in the library. He's once again poised to take notes as he addresses the camera.]

A while ago, I asked about magic in other people's worlds, specifically about elves and their connection to it, or where magic originates from if not elves. Today I'd like to ask instead specifically about healing magic.

In my world, healing magic is a little different from regular elemental spells, although most healing spells also incorporate one of the eight elements. Very few 'casters have the aptitude to learn it - I'm not one of them, so there are a lot of gaps in my understanding - and as such, those who do are sought after for their skills. I'd like to hear about healing magic in your worlds as well: is it associated with a particular element or type of magic? Can any spellcaster learn to heal, or is it restricted to certain people? What, if any, are its limitations or drawbacks?

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Where I am from, anyone can cast a basic healing spell if they are able to cast magic. But the stronger spells require specific training and heavy study into traditional healing - at least, in the magic I'm familiar with. General healing spells are not as focused; a healer who has been trained, however, can focus the spell to where it is needed the most.

[a hum] Is that what you are seeking?

More or less. Interesting. Would you say that healing magic is separate from elemental spells, or an element in and of itself, perhaps? Many casters in my world can use multiple elements at a basic level, but find it more useful to specialize when it comes to more powerful magic.

Mmm . . . [there's a thoughtful pause] Perhaps an element on its own, honestly, to put into those terms. But there is still a . . . crossover, though? Holy magic has its own sub-system of healing, as does dark magic. It is fairly simple to explain Elvish healing magic, but when one delves into human magic, it becomes a bit more complicated.

...Is Holy magic the same thing as Light magic, then, if you speak of it as the opposite of Dark? And can you elaborate a little on the differences between Elvish magic and human?

Ah - yes, holy is light magic, my apologies.

I will do my best to? [there's the sound of shifting, as though she's moving to get into a more comfortable position] Elvish magic is drawn from nature; the way it is done and how it is used is restricted to one with elvish blood. The process cannot be controlled, nor can it be enhanced - but it is a magic that allows anyone with the skill to write and alter spells very easily.

Human magic, on the other hand, is drawn from one's personal power. It can be enhanced, be it from a potion or some manner of artifact, and how one takes in additional power from another source can be controlled easily - but the spells are not as easily altered, and one must take great care in writing them. Like Elvish, it is restricted to those who have human blood.

So a human cannot cast magic using the methods of the elvish system, and an elf cannot use the human system. Half-elves, though . . . given what we are, we can use both.

[she huffs out a breath] From there is where it gets more complicated. Humans have a great many specialties they have access to - both holy and dark, their system's healing, other sorts - while elves do not. Half-elves are restricted as well - we are not able to cast any sort of holy magic.

[The sound of a pen on paper - he's taking furious notes on all of this. After a moment, he begins speaking rapidly over the continued sound of his pen:]

This is fascinating, two separate magic systems working in tandem. It's only elves and half-elves that can cast at all where I'm from, and our magic works a bit more like how you describe human magic working.

I think. Can you explain what you mean by 'writing' spells? Spells in my world are more or less inherent to the type of mana they're made from - gather enough mana in one place and guide it into a general shape, and the spell takes form on its own. Is that familiar to either type of spellcasting as you know it?

[He has about ten thousand more questions, but that will do to start with.]

[there's a quiet sound, almost like a chuckle, when she hears the pen and paper noises]

I do not know if I would say that they work in tandem - I cannot cast a spell that is made up of both systems, for example. But I can certainly cast an elvish spell, and then a human spell in quick succession.

[she goes quiet, though, at the next question, as she tries to figure out how to put it into words]

To cast most spells, one needs an incantation - specific words spoken to call upon that magic. For basic spells it isn't necessary, since they are fairly simple to master, but once one gets into more complicated magic, the words are . . . mm, necessary? To give more control. Or in the case of one with a specialty, to ask to borrow power from a greater being.

Writing a spell is both deciding upon those words, as well as determining the form you want the spell to take and how much magic you want to use. It is taking what you said - about gathering - mana? - and guiding it into shape, and giving the user far more control.

To use my magic as an example, I've taken a basic fireball spell and rewritten it for different purposes. More power, more control over how long I can hold it, things like that.

That makes sense, in its way. Spells are mostly pre-defined in my world by the nature of mana, but there are still focus incantations that are taught to young mages, to help them draw and shape the power they need. Many people customize these as they grow older and develop their own style, and the incantation doesn't define the spell per se - there's no particular reason I couldn't recite the chant for Thunder Arrow while I was casting Indignation, just as an example, but since the chant declares the intent of the spell, I'd have to focus harder to make sure I was pushing it in the right direction, and it might increase the cast time as a result. It isn't so hard to envision a system where the words were a more necessary component, and even had an impact on what the spell actually did.

What sort of greater beings do casters borrow power from, in your world? That sounds like summon magic.

Edited 2017-06-01 18:38 (UTC)

For a skilled mage, what you just said is possible. And people certainly take liberties with the words themselves, depending upon the language or what region they may come from. Certain spells cannot be cast without the words, though - but that is more because of the power behind them. Even one who has mastered a magic would still need to speak the words for their most powerful spells.

[a huff, one both amused and a touch something else] Supposedly they are borrowing power from the gods they worship - or in the case of dark magic, the - demons? - that they praise. But there are so many different belief systems where I am from that it is impossible to determine if that is where the magic really comes from. Nor will a priest of either side prove it by summoning who they worship - I have had it out with a few in the past, because I am a bit skeptical of it.

[a little dryly] Though if you ask a the more . . . traditional elves, they will claim our magic comes from the spirits, not nature. A lot of the original spells are actually prayers asking to borrow their strength, if one translates them.

We do have summoning magic, though it cannot summon greater beings. They can summon different magical creatures, or other lesser beings. But it is an older magic not many use anymore.

...In my world, there are spirits, powerful beings who at some points in history were worshipped as gods. They are elemental mana given shape, given consciousness, so in some sense...philosophically speaking, I suppose it would be hard to definitively say that we are not drawing on their power in some way every time we cast a spell. The elves came from another world, shaped the one I know and brought the spirits with them to help foster life on its surface.

Those spirits will make a pact with someone who can prove their worth, so long as that person has both human and elven blood in their veins, and will manifest at the call of the one who bears that pact. It's the one thing that half-elves alone can do.

[there's a few moments of quiet, before she utters a quiet:] Goodness.

To my knowledge, there is nothing - at all similar to that, really. Especially not when it comes to half-elves. [pause] Another world?

Edited 2017-06-06 06:53 (UTC)

Yes; I don't know where they came from originally or why they left, the elves don't talk to outsiders much, but from what I know, they traveled through space in search of a world to settle. When they found a suitable planet, they set up in orbit around it and started raining mana down on the surface so it could harbor life, then alongside the Spirits, set about shaping it to be habitable.

They - traveled through the stars? Like we are now? Elves did?

[goodness sir what is your world]

[We're really not sure]

They did. The place they lived before they came to Aselia - I don't know if it's their original homeland, or simply how they traveled - was a comet called Derris-Kharlan. When it passed a suitable world, the power of the spirits was able to hold it in place long enough for them to shape it and move down to the surface. Before that...perhaps their journey was similar to the one we're making. Although Aselia hasn't had any visitors from space since then, as far as I know.

Goodness . . .

I wish I could tell you how the elves of my world came to be, but it's all rubbish stories about the spirits, which I do not tend to believe. [a little dryly] There are no stories about the stars, though. Just - what they are and what they do, if one's beliefs tend towards that direction.

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Magic Talk with Yuan, Episode 2

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voice; i am sorry for the tldr she loves magic

voice; do not be sorry he will write a book if he gets enough put together

voice; these two are nerds. straight up nerds

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