I expect it will just look foreign. Your average Cottar probably won't even know that other 'systems' of magic such as Animism and Theism even exist. Even if he hears of them, he'll probably assume that spirits and saints are just funny names for gods. He won't have the theoretical framework to distinguish them, they're just different kinds of foreign.
> I suppose another way of putting this is to wonder if Theism,
> Animism, Sorcery, and Common Magic are fundamentally distinct and
> recognisable magics or do they all just boil down to seemling
> arbitrary combinations of (dare I say it) verbal, somantic and
> (possibly) material components?
There probably are some noticeable differences between theist, animist and sorcerous magic, but I don't expect they are realy very great and may not be the kinds of things that an ignorant observer might immediately notice. Dara Happan magic is theist, the same as Orlanthi magic, but the symbolism and methods of invocation will differ hugely. Your Orlanthi cottar will know it's foreign, just as he'd know Malkioni magic is obviously foreign, but he probably wouldn't automaticaly focus on those aspects of Dara Happan magic that appear similar to Orlanthi magic and those aspects of Malkioni magic that are different from both.
Simon Hibbs
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