by Anonymoogle on Tue Jul 07, 2009 10:28 am
"Interesting question." Artha says, rubbing his goatee, a smile on his own features now that he actually has a chance to talk about his field. "To me, magic is a science. There are hidden powers in the world around us... the elements, perhaps, or perhaps simply magic lives within all things, an invisible force. However, each magic-user calls to these powers differently."
He takes out his journal, and begins drawing a bit to illustrate his concept. It looks like a small cartoony version of a magic-user, with symbols all around him, one for each of the five known schools of magic. He goes to the firs, Arcane, and draws an arrow from the symbol to the person's hand, then makes it look like the hand is shooting a magical blast.
"First, mages. We know of these forces through study, and arguably know the most about their presence. We train in the use of a material focus, such as a staff or wand, to harness these powers. But you also need to learn the proper gestures and words that call to these powers, and harness them through the material focus, the combination of all the components producing a specific spell. The Arcane a fine science, one that requires hard work and study to master. To me, it's a science and an art, and studying it as such yields the best results. The Arcane method of magic is arguably the most powerful of the known five, because it allows for immensely more control over the magical forces. That's it's forte - control."
He goes to the next symbol, Divine magic, and draws a couple question marks near it. "Now, Divine magic is supposed to be based on faith in gods. However, I don't truly believe in them. I was raised on the concept of doing things with your own two hands, and getting powers from a god goes against all I know. I don't doubt the usefulness of Divine magic... but if you ask me, it's a cover up for some kind of "faith-science", and they just want to keep passing it off as god power. As a scientist, it's impossible to prove faith in itself, so Divine magic is a rather contradictory field to me."
Next symbol, Alchemy. He draws a potion bottle around the symbol, and draws many arrows going into it. "Alchemy is quite different from other magics. Instead of calling on that worldly energy through yourself, they take it from specific components which each have a specific form of energy within them. Combining these specific components in the right proportions produces a magical effect when someone drinks it. This requires just as much training as my field to master, and I believe it's the one that also proves my theory. If things in the world around us contain magical properties, then it proves that magic is all around us."
He moves to the Elemental symbol, and draws a bunch of arrows coming from all over and going into the symbol, including one arrow from the man. "Elemental magic is similar to Arcane magic, however to me the key difference is the way the two styles use that force of the world around us. While a Mage calls to the powers through himself, the Druid calls to the forces to directly act how they wish. While this gives a Druid less control, it also means they need only practice, not study. They must simply KNOW how the elements and forces mesh with each other, and which components they must call to create a desired effect."
Finally, the Sage symbol. He draws an arrow from the Sage symbol into the man's head, drawing the symbol again where a brain would be. "Finally, the art of the Sage. I envy Sages, like Zeesa there. They alone have the power of the worldly forces within them. They don't need to draw more power from the surroundings through materials, or through magical components... they themselves are a direct conduit of those magical forces, and by their will alone they force those powers to do whatever they wish it to. Their innate power surpasses any the other types of magic users could hope for, a fact that's simply remarkable."
Artha finally sets down his journal, showing it to Orogom. "Well? That's magic, in a nutshell. What do you think?"
~ Artha Locke, of the esteemed Locke family of paper merchants
Also known as Fluffy. >_<