Re: Changed magic in 2nd and 3rd Age

From: John Machin <orichalka_at_D0RNV3mwNlRwJyb0vTY8Rs78WRNWsP8AgRn_I5Qk-V_sIshGtEEox8xTmHaOJLiPbH>
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:56:52 +1000

2009/6/17 simon_hibbs2 <simon.hibbs_at_cCfgF76xOUy-UoiVAqLHWgnkJdYYcURhvRSFJLaleEuYgBV5EJLV8yV55YeH3SqIYzZ9PpBbBWKhwNIM3guqeg.yahoo.invalid>:
> I think it would might work in a similar way to Qabalism or European occult
> magic. The heroquests would reveal the states of mind necessery to unlock
> the power of magical incantations, gestures and rituals. For the most
> experienced practicioners, they might be able to perform the spells purely
> through an act of will, by calling the magical formulae and ritual actions
> to mind.
>
> Some monotheist spells might be in the form of prayers, with the heroquest
> re-enacting the story of the saint that orriginated the prayer so that you
> 'discover it' for yourself.

FWIW this is pretty much precisely how I imagined Wizardly HQs to go. It can be something like a Borges short story (with nodes and nooks with books or something) or it can be Tron or it can be a Pi or it can be like Alan Moore's Promethea - it's an attempt to, albeit temporarily, understand the nature, structure, and intent of the cosmos in a way that most people don't bother with.

In their own way people who devote themselves to wizardly explorations should be a strange as the folks who become devotees of Humakt or any other theistic entity. That they have concerns that are weird to the rest of society is entirely proper.

-- 
John Machin
"Nothing is more beautiful than to know the All."
- Athanasius Kircher, 'The Great Art of Knowledge'.