We're authors

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.

More than just authors

OTHER PROJECTS

HANGOUTS

COMICS

Magic use

Seeing the myst with torutsen is not the same as using magic. An elf or Aflangi can see the myst with the help of torutsen, but they can never control it. The motes only respond to Mar, farlanders, and a few Kafthaens. Because of the tor buffer (see tor), no living thing can simply grab motes of myst out of the air. Natural forces like wind and heat can't change the slow movement of the myst, nor can inanimate objects impede the motes in any way. Every Mar has the potential to learn how to attract motes of myst to increase the local density of a color of motes, shape these dense pools of magic into useful shapes, and release the energy contained within each mote. This is the act of wielding magic.

The process of learning to draw the myst to oneself comes naturally to a Mar — much like learning to walk or talk. It is easiest to learn through a combination of imitation and experimentation. Especially in the early stages of learning, it is almost impossible to wield the myst without using torutsen to gauge one's progress. Doing so without ever tasting torutsen is as likely as a child deaf from birth learning to speak.

Once a wizard has gathered enough myst together, he uses a similar process to shape it into the desired potential effect. Apprentices quickly learn that calling and manipulating one type of magic is far easier than working with two types, and manipulating additional colors only become more difficult the more kinds of magic are involved. Powerful wizards learn advanced techniques for controlling multiple magicks without expending a monumental effort, but these are of no use to wizards who cannot employ at least three colors simultaneously.

The shaping and mixing of the myst is an essential step, especially for complex multi-magicked spells, for it determines what a spell is capable of accomplishing. It is largely impossible to learn to wield magic effectively in the absence of a teacher (or at least a very detailed instruction manual), because the colors of the motes in themselves provide no hint of what they can accomplish. It has taken Mar wizards thousands of years to discover how to do so many things with magic, and today's apprentices can accomplish more with magic a month after their first taste of torutsen than Weard Darflaem could even at the end of his career.

The final step in using magic is releasing the power of the gathered myst, setting off the chain reaction that produces the magical effect. It requires a great deal of practice to accomplish this feat, as well. The wizard must focus on the myst in a different way than that necessary to gather it together without losing concentration on calling the myst, for the motes will quickly disolve into the surrounding myst if left untended. Some wizards use a stick, weapon, or other hand-held object to direct just a small amount of their attention to it and the shaping. These focuses are collectively known as wands. As they have no power in themselves and, in fact, make learning to wield more than two types of magic vrtually impossible, most wizards regard wands as crutches that must be quickly abandoned before their use cripples the student's ability too wield magic.

Each type of myst is capable of a specific range of magical effects. Certain combinations of myst allow an even wider range of magical effects. The exact effect a type of magic produces depends on the desire of the wizard at the time he activates the motes. If the wizard imposes no will on the magic or attempts to accomplish something with it that it cannot do, each type of myst has a different reaction, but it is always something of which the myst is normally capable. If more than one type of magic is involved in such a failed spell, the results are more difficult to predict, but they still fall within the capabilities of the myst involved.

(Contributed by Nightfire Tradition)