Ghabnah, who is thought to have been a beja mage, wrote the first magical tome collecting the spells strung together from the words of power. This First Book of Magic, or Ghabnah's Book, also contains the principles mages should follow. It is constantly being revised and modernized, and there are different interpretations of her thoughts.
"Look at any one thing and find that it is made of parts. Learn their workings - learn every thing's workings, and you may finally understand the world's workings as well."
— Ghabnah
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"Look at how marvelous the world is intertwined, and everything inseparable from everything else. We know the Great Spirit is at the foundation of it all, but we only know this, we do not grasp it - and when we finally do, I believe it will be most grand."
— Turachgekhan
Neither Ghabnah nor Turachgekhan said anything about hating on the other half of the human supernaturals. Some very optimistic philosophers even believe in unification of both schools. The fact however remains that in six millenia, no-one has learned both the way of the mages and wizards.
Artists' notes
There had to be idols among the speakers, and the most important idols would of course be the founders of their way of life. There's much to say about speakers, spells, and the philosophies. It's sometimes thought that maybe spells are "poisonous", because it's only after casting their first spell that speakers are set in one way.
Thanks! Is there a part of the two spellcatsers' schools you like best? Personally I love the strong opposite between the meticulous mages - who can count a handful of sand grains while they fall - and the intuitive wizards - who can make it through a garden maze at a full run. It would be so cool to have either ability :)
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks a lot for such a great compliment, to be inspired to change your own world after reading this.
ReplyDeleteMagic needs to be carefully invented, and it's true that there is a sort of "classic" approach to it, with highly specialized mages. I have long been very interested in how spellcasters affect society as a whole, especially since there are so many - one of ten is a born speaker, and you can become one later in life.
I imagine levelling up in special ranking systems and classes is cool to many players (myself not excluded), and that leads to so many obscure categories mages can be classified by. Genius Loci's driving motive always was to be beautiful first, and then make that work in rules.
Now, bloodlines are a great idea I hadn't thought of before! Of course there would be arguments about that.