Can't be a wizard without a hat

[les_magique]

[Video]

I have taken the time to figure out the use of this communication device for two reasons. The first is to show off my hat.

[She has a hat on. It's a wide brimmed pointy hat that looks exactly like the kind of hat a wizard would wear. She looks quite pleased to have it.]

I suppose a hat isn't that important in the grand scheme of things, but I like this hat, and having ANYTHING from home is something of a luxury, given our current situation.

Anyways the other thing I wanted to talk about isn't quite so trivial. I'm curious about magic.

I have spent the last few years devoted to unlocking magic's mysteries, you see, and I THOUGHT I was making good headway. But now that I'm here, I'm realizing that this is a MUCH more complicated subject than I thought it was. Magic works entirely differently depending on what world you come from. Some worlds don't even HAVE magic in the first place!

So if you know anything about how magic works in your world, I would be interested in comparing notes.

[And then, a minute later.]

Oh right also. Gladio, if you wanted to try teleportation, now seems like as good a time as any.

Comments

[laurefindil]

[Personal response, and Glorfindel hopes this works right|

That is a nice hat. Similar to what the wizards back home would wear. Though with less bird droppings than Radigar's.

I understand from Mithrandir that the first piece of magic a wizard must learn...is how not to lose their hat.

I know a little of my world's magic, but it is mostly practical magic, so I don't know if it is of any use to you.

Unless you are after magic rings used to control people, in which case I will come visit, but only to convince you to give up that idea.

[les_magique]

Is this a particularly wizardly hat, then?

[Action] Because my brain wouldn't let up on me until I did SOMETHING.

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Nita has her Manual open, absently sketching a chord for a spell diagram.]

The Speech's power comes in two parts - the ability to understand someone or something else, and the ability to persuade.

Most spells are convincing part of the universe to act in a way it couldn't do on its own, or just to do something faster or slower than it would normally. For that, you have to give something of yourself, usually energy. No spell without its price and all.

[Common knowledge between them, but it's still part of what Samata asked for.]

[les_magique]

That is a completely different paradigm from the world I know. It sounds almost like your magic is alive.

[As she said that, she peeked down from her bunk to see what Nita was sketching.]

Video

[yep_stilldead]

Oh, what a grand hat! Just one look at it, and I can tell you're quite the wizard.

Re: Video

[les_magique]

You can tell all that from my hat?

[yep_stilldead]

Well, that and all the talk about magic, but it IS a very wizardly hat.

[les_magique]

It's just my hat.

But...I guess I AM the first wizard! Maybe I'm a trend setter across the multiverse!

[laurefindil]

To quote Mithrandir, who was the best wizard I know, if it is your hat, and you are a wizard, then it is most definitely a very wizardly hat.

[ Video ]

[shutupnail]

There's magic in the universe I'm from although trying to explain how it works... is a completely different story.

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Bobo made a noise of quiet approval in the back of Nita's head; she smiled.]

In some ways, it is. To read intent at the level of complexity it does - what a wizard says tends to come true, so it pays to watch what you say - it practically has to get in your head itself.

Not in an invasive sense, though. If a wizard defaults to that, back home, they're doing it wrong.

[And not just in the moral sense.]

[yep_stilldead]

Now that you mention it, I suppose the image of what kind of hat a wizard wears had to come from somewhere... does this mean you're actually reallly famous?

[les_magique]

I'd rather be remembered as the first wizard than as a dirty heretic. And I don't think people really keep track of the headwear of infamous heretics.

[les_magique]

My research has shown that magic is a natural force. A sort of energy flow that passes through the world. Sorcerers naturally draw it into themselves and can use it to power their spells. I can't draw it into myself but I can still change its flow and, through that, effect reality.

What are you drawing?

[les_magique]

Sorcerers wax poetic a lot about how magic cannot be understood intellectually, only on an intuitive level.

Which is absolute nonsense, if you're willing to actually apply your brain to the problem instead of just going off of gut emotional responses.

[les_magique]

This Mithrandir character sounds like a very wise fellow.

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Nita nodded, sitting up and turning her book around so Samata could see; the lines on the page were actually composed of words in the Speech - describing dimension, intent; numbers and words, though the chord was largely numbers at the moment.]

It's as natural as light where I'm from, too.

[If, depending on how you look at it, a little younger.]

And there's two ways to go about a spell; when you're young, you have a lot more power just in general, so you don't have to focus as much on detail. But when you get older, you have to emphasize specifics more, and strategy. So if you're altering the water currents in a given area, like this spell's for, you have to be more careful not to waste power, or you could render a whole part of the ocean unlivable.

[shutupnail]

I've never given much thought about it. I'm a warrior, not a magician. I understand how ki works, I've trained others in martial arts and ki manipulation. But when it comes to magic it either just happens or I...forget about it.

[That sounds as awkward as it's phrased. And perhaps a little bit of embarrassment peaks in there, too.]

[les_magique]

Tell me about ki, then, if you don't mind. I'm afraid I've never come across the concept.

[shutupnail]

Ki is an inner energy, some call it spiritual energy. Every living thing has ki. A martial artist trains their physical body through combat and their ki strengthens. A truly good martial artist can learn to then manipulate their own ki to perform different techniques that harness this power in a physical manner.

[les_magique]

Fascinating, I think I DO know about that actually!

It was the topic of the thesis paper, and I called it the Odic Field. It's an energy field which exists in all living things. It divides that which is alive from mere objects, and understanding it is essential to understanding wizardry.

[shutupnail]

Sounds more or less right. I don't know how ki interacts with magic, if at all, but I do know that to judge a person's ki doesn't reflect how powerful their magic might be. It's why we've had problems with magic users in the past. They tend to feel weak but their magic can be overwhelming.

[les_magique]

It's how my prosthetic arm works. Even if my body only has one arm, my odic field still has two!

It also is the main tool for molding magical currents into spells. I could teach you, if you wanted.

[shutupnail]

[That was a turn in the opposite direction. Usually it was Piccolo who was offering to teach. But one thing at a time. He's curious.]

You use your energy to manipulate your prosthetic arm? That's innovative. I've seen prostheses and robotics but none properly use ki as a means of operation. The androids used artificial energy to power themselves and their attacks which made them impossible to read through ki sensing as well.

[A bit of a pause.]

I...tend to resort to magic as a last resort or practical purposes. [ beat ] I am curious what you mean though. You could show me.

[littlefury]

Well...what do you want to know, I guess?

[this is the sound of the Nasubabble Alarm, please run while you still can.]