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In Marrishland, magic is the source of all power, so it isn't surprising that it plays such an important role in its history and culture. It also lies at the heart of the conflict in the book. To find out how, read the book.

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Magic and Scholarship Main

Magic and scholarship are boon companions in Marrishland. Mar wizards are naturally curious — a necessary quality in apprentices. While scholars in Marrishland have studied magic most exhaustively, many have taken an interest in virtually all aspects of the natural world. This encyclopedia is, in fact, but one scholarly effort to which wizards have chosen to contribute.

Posted by Eric on 2/6/2006: Magic in the world of Diah and especially in Marrishland is not some mysterious force that is far beyond the capacity of human beings to understand. Magic is simply another aspect of nature no different from chemistry or meteorology. People have studied it and experimented with it extensively. This doesn't mean that the Mar or any other civilization understands everything about magic any more than modern doctors understand everything about medicine or physicists understand everything about physics.

What it means, though, is that magic colors the way civilizations operate. The wizards rule Marrishland because their power allows them to control those who lack it. In a world where magic is consistent, observable, and widely available, you're not going to get a handful of ancient men content to hang out in drafty towers who can seldom be bothered even to provide advice to those in power and who hesitate to use the power they possess. Magic costs nothing to use and carries few risks, so why not use it for everything (unless there is some social taboo against doing so)?

Simply put, magic like this changes everything about the way history unfolds. And when each civilization's magic follows a different set of observable rules, it is going to shape the way those civilizations develop and how they interact with each other.

Posted by Matt on 2/7/2006: It wasn't until I started work with The Gift of Magic that I really began to appreciate what Eric's done with the way we use magic. Generally, it's one of those things I gloss over and let Eric work more closely with. We have had long debates about how magic should work. However, recently and just like Weard Darflaem, I had to go through the mental steps as to how this whole thing could possibly work. Weard's strain to make the green motes move is a great thing to understand.