by Wolfbelly » Sat Feb 05, 2005 12:23 am
The reason I asked is I want to understand what you guys just innately think of magic and then see what follows from those thoughts. Jak Snide and the link posted by the non-thinking Jason describe magic as a flowing or drifting force. Going with that, one could liken magic to air or water, something that has currents that could accumulate and recede. From this, you could imagine things like magical tides (a place that is inundated or depleted of magical energies at specific moments in time), or magical fronts (bodies of magic that are perhaps attuned to a specific affinity that enhance the ability of people to use that specific magic while it's in the area).
The Great Nevareh proposes the idea of casters becoming more capable when they come to realize that their preconceived notions of reality don't apply. What follows from that is that these casters manipulate magic with their will, and not through incantations and the like, as it is their fruits of perception that fully deny them from magical power, not specifically their skill. Also, this implies that magic itself is an element seperate from physical reality like fire is seperate from water. If one could only perceive fire, but not water, they would be very inept at the handling of water. Furthermore, they'd believe that the sudden quenching of fire to be an impossibility, unless they shattered their preconceived perceptions and tried out this "water" that everyone's talking about.
Brain-dead Jason's link proposes that various races discovered magic, implying that it's a feature of the natural universe. This implies that it's always there, but only usable by those who understand it/are educated about it. Kind of like how we understand the role of bacteria in life, and are educated about bacteria, and can therefore do ... stuff ... with bacteria. If magic is an everpresent feature within the universe, then it follows that it has a specific rule of physics that it follows (well, I guess physics uses the wrong latin root, but you know what I mean). So, if magic follows a specific universal law, and physical objects exist, then it follows that there are specific laws that determine the interaction of the two. This doesn't mean that mortals can easily understand them, but hey, right now we're struggling with crazy shit like string theory and such, so the possibilities are infinite.
One thing in that Gaera article that's kind of interesting, it says that magic is molded by people's auras. This shows that for some reason, living creatures have a unique quality, perhaps a magical solidity, that other objects do not have. The description of magic as a flowing thing further enforces this difference between living and non-living. What, then, does this raise about constructs? Undead? Souls? Constructs are generally purely physical beings animated by magic. Does that mean that they have an aura? Undead are commonly referred to as having negative energy. Would this be an anti-matter of sorts? Souls have the magical solidity without the body, is then the act of living essential to magical usage? Or is it something more self-determining that allows magical use?
And Zemyla, I'm glad you raised the uttered word as a magical cause. While I'm not too sure about the gods thing outside of reality (which is, in my opinion, impossible), your suggestion raises a few questions about power. What does a god have to gain from specific intonations and phonetic utterances that give it the desire to alter reality for those who stumble upon those intonations and utterances? Also, let's assume that the God aspect is seperate for a moment and it's just intonations and utterances that are essential. This opens up a world of magical possibilities with creatures that speak in frequencies well beyond the range of human vocal chords. Suddenly, "Faerie magic" becomes a shitload more exclusive. Also, doesn't it follow that some magical effects may happen randomly in nature during, say, a rockslide? Or perhaps as waves break upon rocks?
Now, answer my original question further. I would like to know what you all think about magic in general.