Woooohoooooo ! I get the first poooooooooooooooost
so there, a nice 20k of magic philosophy, or bullshit, your choice. I would advise to read the first post in the Game design forum, until I start putting that on my own little page, with some graphics.
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The night was upon us by now, but Hornost was still pushing forward, going deeper and deeper in the forest. I was hesitating between looking at the sky above me and letting myself go in the contemplation of such beauty, and the obvious danger of getting my feet caught in a tree root.
"Isn''t it a bit dark to stll be outside, master ?
-Well, if we only lived during the day, we would be sleeping half of our life, don''t you think ?
Besides, certain tasks require the tranquility of the night. Tell me Axel, did you ever see magic ?
-Well, I saw a traveller once, but I think he was doing tricks rather than magic.
-I meant *real* magic..."
As he said that, he stopped walking, and faced me. We were walking along what looked like a path, where the trees had kindly left enough room for us to step along. The moon had risen already, and her light was shining on the smiling face of Hornost. He had the smile of a child preparing a good joke...
He closed his right hand, then started gesturing with the left, and saying some sort of chant.
As he chanted, his hand started glowing in a white, greenish manner. I was mesmerized.
Then he stopped, and as he opened his hand again, a bight flash of light appeared.
By reflex, I backed off, stumbled on a root, and ended up on the ground, staring with a mad look at the hand, that was now radiating a gentle light.
"What ... how... how did you do that !?
-Well, that''s magic."
Quite obviously, he was very amused.
"Stand up young man, we still have to know what colour his your magic.
-What do you mean? what colour ?"
I stood up again, checked my old bag on my side, and as he started walking again, the path now lightened by his glowing hand, he started speaking with a quieter voice.
"The colour of your Gift. As I told you before, Matter and Void combine and form different elements. There are the three and one elements, Air is cyan, Earth is brown, Fire is yellow and Water is blue. Of course, these are only theoretical colours. The fact is, they differ for everyone. What happens, you see, is that the Matter in the core of the earth is constantly radiating, to avoid Order to settle. As I said before, if Matter and Void weren''t fighting, there wouldn''t be Balance. And so, the Matter emits flows of new Matter, while the Void tries to separate the existing Matter and regroup it in one place. Those flows of Matter are what we magic users perceive, and use to create our spells. We could of course use the existing Matter and Void around us, but this would be far too dangerous, this would be undoing the Balance. All we do is use the wandering flows of unused Matter that are emitted from the core of the planet. Magic users that use the existing Matter play dangerous games, and usually end up being corrupted by the power they seek so much, ultimately destroyig themselves. Well, destroying is not the better word, I guess, for their destruction is worse than death...
Those flows come from within and go wherever they are needed, in order to fight the Void. Depending on what they have already met on their way to their final destination, they ... mmm ... they get tainted, if you will.
A bit like the mountain rivers that carve through the rock, then cross the valleys and end up in the sea. This water carries a little bit of everything it has touched during its travel.
-And that''s what give a colour to magic ?
-Well, yes. We call those flows Mana. Really, you could say wandering Matter. Mana is an ancient word that means the power within, or also, the principle of action. It comes from the inside of the Earth, and it is the wood that we burn in our inner fire. And depending on the nature of the wood, the fire takes a different color.
As you saw, my color is a blend of white and green. Generally, white is the color for the Moon, and the protection she offers against bad dreams, the help she gives to calm the mind for instance. And green of course, is the color of the second realm, that of Vegetal. It is a symbol of the connection with the Nature around me. This is what explains my choice to become a Druid.
Of course, my master wouldn''t say I am a real druid... I am merely a Keeper of the forests.
Master Jormund is, on the other hand, a true druid, a GelehrnsamWachter as they used to call them, a Keeper of the Lore. He is a healer, a keeper of the Laws of men, a Seer, a teacher, and the oldest druid alive I know of."
There was a nostalgy in his eyes; he was looking east, as he talked of his own master.
"But I don''t understand, you said that the Mana was colored. Why do you say that *you* have a color ?
-Yes, true. Well, it''s because we magic users, have the Gift. And the Gift is simply the ability to see a bit more than the rest of us humans. We can see the flows of Mana. And bind them. And we say *our* colour, meaning the colour we can see the best.
-But I don''t see anything.
-Of course, not yet. But you don''t need to see it to believe that it exists. After all, you said yourself that your goats seemed to understand your thoughts ?
-Yes, I guess you are right.
-Of course I am ! Otherwise I wouldn''t have anything to teach you, would I ?
But anyway, we are almost there, the heart of the forest ! Come on, let''s go a bit faster so I''ll show you what''s your colour."
As he pressed the pace, I began to wonder, and if I was not meant to talk to animals, what would I become then ? And if I was not pleased with what I learnt, would I just have to accept my faith silently ?
But I didn''t get a lot of time to worry about all this, as we were indeed already there.
The path that we had followed for almost two hours now, was opening on a sort of clearing in the forest. Nothing like a field, no, rather a little natural hill, at the bottom of which most trees had somehow decided to stop. But I was more concerned with my own worries, than by the beauty of the place.
-So tell me master, if the colour means I can''t talk to animals, what should I do ?
-Hehe, you would simply have to work harder. The truth is, we could all become magic users if we decided to. The Gift is simply a natural advantage you were givn at birth. Just like some other poeple are natural athletes, or have an eceptional ight, you can see Mana, or rather feel, so far, better than the average. If you don''t see the one you are most likely to use to commnicate with other beings, then you will simply train to use that colour you would need. But I would be surprised if you weren''t Yellow...
-Yellow ?
-The color of intelligence, communication as well. This would explain telepathy and the fact that you seem to understand everything I am talking about so far, which is not a simple topic.
-Uh, well, I guess if you say so."
I blushed. I thought all his explanations were quite clear and made sense.
"Well, I don''t know a lot of goat keeper that could about the nature of magic with me as you have done this evening.
-I suppose.
-But now, let''s look at you. I didn''t really need to bring you here to show you what kind of MAna you are attuned to, but I thought you would like to see what can be done with magic. Here is my work."
And he moved sideways, revealing the center of the hill that I couldn''t see so far.
I had never seen a tree that big. It was an oak, just like the rest of the forest, but this was the largest trunk on the face of this world. From the distance I was, I was guessing that ten men could have been put around the tree, arms extended, and barely make the circumference of this oak.
If the oak we had been standing under during our previous discussion was millenary ...
I turned towards Hornost.
"How ... old ... is this ?
-I think it was a thousand years old when I found it.
-But, it''s much bigger than any oak could ever grow in such a period !
-Well, that''s why I am telling you it''s my work." He smiled happily, content with my astonishment.
"What did you do to it ?
-Nothing she didn''t agree to, I assure you. I simply decided to grow that tree to make her take care of the rest of the forest while I am not here. I created a sanctuary."
He pointed at a stone I hadn''t noticed in a corner, and then three others, all arranged around the opening.
"This is a circle of protection. But this one is made to last for probably another millenium.
-And what does it do ?
-It prevents fire, it calms the mind, it helps the ground be fertile...
-But why isn''t there any other tree growing then ?
-Because there is no room left for any of them. The little hill you see is in fact due to the amount of roots that this tree has developed underneath.
-But why do this ? What''s the point.
-Partly to test my power, and because I wanted to create a sort of guardian for this forest. She will take care of the others while I am not there. The fact that I made here older than she should be developed here inner powers. She can do some basic telepathy now. She can hear more things, and understand the language of humans better than the average tree, if there was anything bad happening here while I was away, she would be able to warn me.
-Uh !"
I don''t know exactly what expression my face was giving, but I was just speechless.
"Don''t think this is easy. I have been working on this spell since I arrived here, five years now. Luckily for you, I will be finished by the next full moon, in two nights. I just need to put the last stone in place for the circle, and it will be complete.
-Why ... why do you refer to the tree as ''she'' ? You say it can communicate ? Like you and me ?
-Partly, yes. It''s a form of life, don''t forget. It has a Soul just like any other living thing. It''s just very different from what you would expect. Trees for instance, understand the concept of ''I''. They understand they are one being, even though their system is mainly that of a collective intelligence. Each indiviual is part of the forest, and the collective Soul is what drive them. The older trees usually have the greater role in it. The real difficulty in communicating with them is the difference of point of view. They live in a slower world than us. For them, a day is nothing but a instant. If a tree decided to actually hav a discussion with you, it might take days. This is what explains why they can grow so old. Just to ask the permission to this one, and explain my reasons, took me almost a whole week. Then almost a month so that the forest would come to a conclusion and allow the experiment. All trees of the forest debated, and gave an opinion.
For a month, the forest echoed with the rustling of the leaves, the creeking of the barks, I barely dared to enter it.
And finally she was the one chosed for the task, she was the oldest of the trees, which is why I had asked her in the first place, and now she is even more old."
There was nothing I could say, I was simply fascinated. If magic could allow such things with trees, what would it be able to accomplish with animals !
"But I am only bragging. It''s not everyday that I can show my work. In two nights, you''ll assist me, if you wish, in the creation of the last bounding stone.
-What''s the use of those stone ?
-They are catalysts. They attract the type of Mana I used to create the spell, and as long as the Mana will flow through them, they will keep the spell alive. What I did was to make the stones more receptive that they naturally are, and I ''tainted'' them to the colours I needed. It wouldn''t make much sense to you right now, but I shall explain in more details, later.
Now ! What colour are you !"
As he said that, he pointed his staff at me, presenting it as if he invited me to grab it. The stone encarved in it was shining a pale white, hints of green, like clouds, could be seen moving inside.
"Just touch the stone." he said.
I obeyed, and as I put my hand agaist the cold sphere, well, I realised it wasn''t cold at all. It was as warm as my own hand, it was radiating a warm feeling through it, and it started changing colour, the white turned more and more into a warm, bright, golden yellow.
I was contemplating the slow pulse in the crystal. The intensity of the light seemed to gradually change, at a rythm that was, I realised, the same rythm than my heart beat !
Amidst the golden light, there were some sort of glittering blue particles. As if some dust cloud was present.
I don''t know how long I stared at the light. I felt safe, quiet. It was a dream, I didn''t look at Hornost, I didn''t see the tree anymore, nor anything else than this one simple thing : yellow. All I saw was the glow.
Hornost broke my state of bliss by taking the staff back to his side. It was like waking up from a dream. I looked at him, with a mix of dissapointement and gratitude on my face.
"Why did you stop it ?
-You will learn how to control the Mana, and not be controlled by it.
-What does mean the color , then ?
-I saw mainly yellow, this is for intelligence, communication, it help you Soul to reach outwards. It is not very common I must say. Hypnotists are based on this color.
-There was a bit of blue as well, it was like a cloud of glittering dust.
-Yes, blue is usually the color of peace, friendship, understanding. This increase the idea of communication, I would say probably Empathy is the best word to describe your abilities. Very interesting.
-So I could talk with animals ?
-Ahah, yes, most definitely. But first you need to understand the basic rules, Invocation, Binding, Alteration, and in case of problems, Revocation.
-But can''t I just learn spells ?
-Ahaha ! A spell is only what I just described. A serie of simple actions that made correctly produce the desired effect. It''s like using a bow. You have to bend the bow, accumulating enough power to throw an arrow to your target. Not enough, and you''ll fail miserably, too much and you might not touch the target neither, this is the Invocation phase, where you gather an amount of Mana required by the spell you want to cast. Then you need to aim carefully, so as to reach the target. You might have the right amount of power, but if you us that power to throw the arrow in the wrong direction, the power is lost; this can be thought of as the Binding, where the raw Mana is bent to your own will. At last, you have to release the string, this is the actual casting, the Alteration phase, the power in the string of the bow becomes real by throwing the arrow in the air and making it reach the target.
The last skill I was talking about, the Revocation, is used in certain cases, where your Binding is failed, in which case the Mana might just run wild and wreak havoc around you. By using Revocation, you can dismiss it to its natural, non-destructive state. You can also use it to disturb another magic user during his invocation phase, but that would be another story, I guess.
-All this seems quite complicated, I didn''t see you do such a long process when you made your fist emit this green light ?"
I was looking at his hand, now devoid of its unnatural glow.
"Yes, but I didn''t really cast a spell neither." He smiled "What you saw was the first phase only, the Invocation. I summoned the Mana that I master the best, and focused it around my fist. I did a bit of Binding on it so it would stay there for a little while. This is what explain the taint of the light, it was the colour of my own Mana. Since I didn''t use the Mana, the binding slowly faded, and the Mana returned to its non-excited state.
-non excited ?
-Well, you don''t see flows of colorful light all around you ? And yet the Mana is all around us. Once you know how to look at things, you will see the Mana, you will be able to identify the true nature of things, but you will also have to learn when to close your eyes. For instance, when you looked in my orb, you fell into a trance, which is sadly normal But it could be, if you became used to it, a sort of drug, that would make you lose control over your Gift, and probably turn you into a self-destructive magic user.
-But ... but it was so beautiful !
-yes, of course it is. But what is better, a beautiful fateful wife, or a beautiful mistress that is going to kill you ?
-I ... what ? I don''t think I understand that.
-Ah yes, forgive me. Mmm ... what is best, a powerful but tamed ox to drive your cart, or a powerful and wild bull that could just kill you instead of helping you.
-Oh, yes, I think I understand.
-Well, I don''t say that the trance you fell into is not pleasurable, because to a certain extent, you experience it everytime you invoke Mana to you. But you need to Bind Mana to your Will, you must not let it tempt you, and be your doomfall. Revocation is relly just an extension of your own Will, it is your Will thatyou must properly train in the first place, to learn not to be tempted.
-But, how do I do that ?
-You have to concentrate. You have to know what you want, why you want it, and make it happen. This is why I questioned you on your reasons for becoming a magic user. Being stubborn is essential, as it is a sign of strong Will. It is not for no reason that we druids, and all the other magic users, are known for our bad temper. We can''t afford being tempted.
-I think I understand. So what are we to do now ?
-Now, we will sleep here tonight, or at least you will, as I have to talk with the tree to prepare for the last stone. You will only look for now, and after the circle is complete, we''ll start your training."
The night was quite bright, the moon was almost full, and though we were in an opening, there was no wind whatsoever.
"That''s fine with me, master"
I opened my bag, took a plaid I had for such situations, which were not uncommon for a goat herder, and wrapped myself in it. Then I simply layed down a the bottom of a tree, and fell asleep without any other formality.
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youpla :-P
-----------------------------Sancte Isidore ora pro nobis !
of course; possibly get feedback on what sounds weird, inconsistent, etc. 
