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[milkisgross]

[Edward's been seeing all of these different posts come up. It's obnoxious to him, but he can see the potential of being able to communicate with so many like this, so he decided to give it a try.]

It's come to my attention that there's a few people here who use "magic." From what I've seen, there's nothing like it where I come from and I have a few questions for anyone who's willing to answer.

In science, you've got different laws that everything follows. Is that the same for magic? Does some magic have laws while others don't?

Are there different fields of magic? What are they?

Where does the energy or power come from?

What makes it "magic" and not a field of science?

Comments

[milkisgross]

[Fine. He will deal with a video response. Just like how Ziva's going to have to deal with what might be a nauseatingly shaky camera.]

Hey! I'm man enough to admit when I was wrong about something!

[Usually.

Holy crap. He was able to follow that!]

But what about that circular thing you pulled out to do those spells? Is that something you need to perform those spells?

[purrrrfection]

[ Aw Ed. She's actually proud of you! ]

Good on you. I've known others sadly lacking in such good sense. There's always something more to learn in life, for all of us.

[ Oh gods, well. Compared to the overwhelming dizzy spells that come with the Echo it isn't so bad, though she does squint just a little to minimize the visual disruption in any way she can. ]

Yes, that's called an astrometer. It acts as a focus for my mana- magical energy -to cast my spells. All mages require a similar tool to harness it. In my case, however, it also houses the cards that I draw on for enhancements.

[milkisgross]

[Ed had been expecting Ziva to jab at him again. He was pleasantly surprised to hear a compliment instead. He shrugged.]

Yeah, well, you can't make any progress if you're stuck with your head in the sand.

[Ed's picturing playing cards but he's certain those aren't the kinds of cards she's talking about.]

Ok, so a couple questions. What are these astrometers and such made of? What about them lets you harness this aether stuff? And what are the cards you mentioned? They're not paper playing cards, right?

I am deciphering lore and spitting it back out as best I can GOD I HOPE I'm not horribly off here.

[purrrrfection]

Well said. We're agreed on that.

[ Now, to focus on the questions at hand. This part she's still fairly comfortable with answering. ]

Various metals, depending on the grade. The stronger ones are often made of rarer materials, like koppernickle, azurite, high mythrite, and eikon iron, just to name a few ingredients. The tools a beginner or novice use may be made of more common metals and reagents like silver, brass, and iron for the metal work and enchanted silver ink for the cards.

[ Speaking of which, Ziva retrieves a few, holding them up for the camera to see, first one side- with a uniform decoration adorning the back, and then the reverse. Presented are three different designs. ]

You're half right. The cards are physical cards, but the ink used to pen them is unique to each recipe. The higher the level of the astrologian the more potent the materials. Certain inks are made with materials that conduct aether better than others. For more detail on that you'd need to ask a master level goldsmith, however. I only know this much because I've been tasked with fetching my own materials when commissioning a craftsman. [ They tend to be very informative, especially if you even so much as HINT at wanting to know why the cost or effort is so high. ]

[milkisgross]

[Ed's surprised that he recognizes a lot of those materials. He was expecting them all to be something that didn't exist in his world. Interesting.

While Ziva speaks, the camera on Ed's device suddenly swings away from Ed's face as he scrambles for his notebook and pen. It's now pointed at the ceiling since Ed had to put it down to write. If Ziva listens, she'll be able to hear the soft sound of turning pages and maybe even the scribble of a pen being scratched across paper.]

I think I got all of that.

[The camera focuses on Ed's face again as he picks his device back up.]

So, back to when you cast that spell on me at the chocolate fountain. That one spell had a lot of different uses if I remember correctly. Are there a lot of spells like that?

[purrrrfection]

[ It takes a little more effort not to get distracted from what she's saying when the camera moves, but she manages, slowing down to give him a moment to find what he needs, in fact. She recognizes the soft scratch of pen on parchment, and he won't see it, but her grin grows. He had not only taken her advice to heart but he was taking the initiative in the next step, even, clearly planning to study up on some of this. She may not be a scholar but she can still certainly appreciate someone putting in the effort to broaden their horizons.

After that, she waits patiently for the next question, watching calmly as the camera focuses on Edward again. ]

Only the healing spells, in my experience. You can use Esuna to cleanse the body, and there are a handful of spells that mages of different types can use to heal the body, but things like offensive spells serve only one purpose. Benefic for healing, Maelific for attacking, for instance. At most, a spell may have a side effect, like temporarily hindering an opponent's movements.

[milkisgross]

I guess that makes sense.

[Ed quickly glances off camera to the papers ad notes cluttering his apartment. He bit off a bit more than he could chew with this project of his.]

When it comes to alchemy, people tend to specialize in different areas. For example, there's this guy who specializes in flame alchemy and I know a doctor who uses it for healing people. Is it the same with magic where you're from?

[purrrrfection]

Mmm... [ The noise is one of consideration, as is the frown. Trickier question, but not at the same time. ] I suppose... When you consider that all magic relies on aether and the manipulation of it, one could argue that the disciplines themselves are specialties. It isn't very common but there are some exceptional individuals who can find ways to make even those specific types of magic their own.

[ Y'shtola immediately springs to mind, as does Master Matoya.

Ziva sets down her device so that it's propped on a table against something, freeing her to fold her arms in thought. ]

The disciplines had to start somewhere as well, so perhaps those that created magic as we know it today could have been considered specialists, once. But if you want the straight answer, then no. Magic is relatively uniform in practice. Red Mages practice a mix of black and white magic. Black mages specialize in destruction spells. Conjurers and White mages are healers with very few offensive capabilities. Astrologians draw on the influence of the heavens for theirs. I've not yet heard of any individual with a type of magic wholly unique to themselves. The nearest I can think of are Arcanists, who I believe are said to have once had two branches of specialization.

[ But my player ditched the SCH/SMN job two expansions ago so we don't know about that IC'ly. ]

[milkisgross]

That's a lot of different types of mages though. From my perspective it sounds like each one is its own specialization in itself.

[He leans back a bit on the couch he's sitting on.]

I follow what you're saying though, about how no one's come up with anything unique for themselves. You think it has something to do with the nature of the magic itself?