Magic Talk with Yuan, Episode 2

[cloakand_danger]

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?

Comments

[cloakand_danger]

[Yuan listens patiently to this. There's a lot of names in there that he doesn't recognize, and he's not sure he understands all of the political entities involved, but the description of the end result seems fairly clear.]

Sounds like they had good intentions, but at the same time, to me that seems like an oversight that could have been corrected, rather than allowing people to perish for the sake of dogma. ...But your magic works very differently from mine; maybe there are complexities I'm not understanding.

[lord_wizard]

[His expression turns slightly wry]

One could argue magic in my world functions on dogma, but that's maybe the subject for a deeper discussion on theory. I cannot say I understand all the reasons the Cabal did what they did...they were necromancers too, you know...and they made of their own art a heresy as well. I understand their reasons, but I don't necessarily agree. And it certainly didn't eradicate the practice entirely.

[cloakand_danger]

...And so you wind up with healers operating underground, and presumably charging whatever they can get away with? [You can always count on Yuan to understand the nuances of the gap between what's allowed and what's possible.]

[lord_wizard]

[The small smile he gets in return shows that he does indeed appreciate Yuan's often accurate insights on these matters]

Precisely. Nature witches, as those particularly keen on healing magic call themselves, do in fact operate in the Lower City. Any wizards born in the city who don't get training as Cabalines must get training somewhere, and it's either them or the necromancers.

[cloakand_danger]

Necromancers. [He is making a very uncomfortable expression right now.]

What does one have to do to get training as a Cabaline?

[lord_wizard]

[That expression of unease gets an echo of sympathy from Felix and nothing else by way of acknoweldgment. That's another thorny subject.]

Historically it's through the master-apprentice arrangement. One must find, and possibly pay, to train under another wizard. Finding tutelage is easy enough for the gentry, but it's generally a matter of luck and possibly persistence for anyone else.

[The inequality of this arrangement is only one that really occurred to him to be bothered by until recent years, and there is a shade of bitterness to his matter of fact explanation. Marathat's practices in magical learning as whole are even more stark after seeing how places like Corambis do it. In any case, Felix privately hopes Yuan will latch onto the modifier and assume that Felix was in the former group.]

[cloakand_danger]

[To Yuan's mind, Felix is a fop, but the decent kind, the kind Yuan can work with: his thought is mostly that there's no point in pushing too hard on a system neither of them can change from here.]

Nothing strange about money keeping its own in power, unfortunately. Out of curiosity, what would happen to someone who had the ability to use magic, but was never trained to do so?

[lord_wizard]

[His reaction is a dissatisfied frown]

Destruction, ultimately. It almost never happens because once a child's magic manifests it comes with the need to channel it somewhere, consciously or otherwise. Some of them end up attempting unguided magic that ends up killing them. If they manage not to do that...they'll find training one way or another. I have never heard of, in any discipline, a successful untrained wizard.

[cloakand_danger]

Find a way or let the power kill you, is it? [Yuan shakes his head.] ...It's strange to think about. It's not as if a half-elf can't lose control of their magic - corner a frightened child at a certain age and you're liable to lose an eyebrow or two no matter if they meant to cast or not - but it isn't inevitable like that. Caster training helps by teaching focus and modeling how actual spells should be shaped, so the energy doesn't just fizzle out when gathered: it would be very difficult to start out without some kind of guidance, but not impossible, and once someone knows a few spells it's simple enough for them to practice and make progress on their own.

[lord_wizard]

In part I would say the same is true for us. It's the first bit of learning that's the most important. Even a little makes them much safer. But...if a young wizard is determined enough to try without that guidance...it's easy to let something go wrong because there is no one true way to use magic.

[cloakand_danger]

And I think that must be the place our worlds differ the most strongly. [Yuan nods.] Mana knows the shapes that spells take. 'Knows' might be the wrong word, but...just like crystals have the same number of sides no matter where you find them, if you gather enough fire mana into one place and nudge it into...alignment? [Once again he's falling short when trying to describe to others a sense they don't have] ...it will form a fireball spell, without specific intention on the part of the caster. If they keep it from coalescing and gather more, they can coax it into other shapes, perhaps even discover a new shape that they weren't aware it could take. But the shape of the spell is ultimately determined by the type and quantity of the mana used to cast it, not the caster's intent or understanding.

Based on the things you've described that are possible for spellcasters in your world... [he shakes his head] ...from that alone, I can guess that your magic doesn't work in the way I'm familiar with.