Magic: What it Is and What It's For by Will Keith to Jihad Praxeum Venificus So what is magic, anyway? Why would you want to use it? And what kind of limitations should you be aware of? These questions will take considerably longer to answer than a single essay, but one has to start somewhere. Each question will be addressed from the writer's point of view, and in a completely different fashion from the character's point of view. This is the writer's essay, written in real voice. The character's essay will be a role-played treatise from my character. It might be best to define what I refer to as magic. I offer the following: magic is the ability of characters to break the laws of the physical universe. This is not chicken feed. Consider, to begin with, four shades of literature: hard science fiction(SF), soft science fiction, fantasy, and High Fantasy. Magic, in its traditional form, is the inhabitant of fantasy and High Fantasy. In hard science fiction, a writer will allow his characters to have access to skills, and tools which do not exist - but can be described, or predicted, on the basis of modern science. If they do not exist, they could soon, or might at some future time. The writer takes pains to justify the inclusion of any object(a skill or tool) which is unknown, and in the writing process denies himself any unjustifiable ("impossible") implement. The laws of the physical universe are binding, and only the hopes logic offers are usable. Example 1: The author's characters may travel via wormholes as predicted by the vogue theory of their usage - but only to specific destinations. Wormhole creation occurs at sublight speeds. Thus a character might travel to Andromeda and back in a day, but if no wormhole exists from Earth to Alpha Centauri he will not be getting there for 4 years. Example 2: If the character(let's call him Our Hero) is in a fight with the villain(say, El Feo Grande), his wounds may be stitched or bandaged, but he will recover at a natural rate. In soft SF, a writer will allow his characters to have a much broader range of abilities. Faster-than-light engines are common, and a new object may be introduced without particular pains for justification, although its appearance *at this time* may need to be justified... more on this later. The laws of physics are obviously bent, but not claimed to be broken. Example 1: Our Hero may travel to Alpha Centauri, or any location he chooses, in a brief time, dependent only on his ship's speed. Depending on the "softness," Our Hero may be visiting the past or alternate universes. Clearly, a slight relaxation has led to marvellous vistas opened. Example 2: If El Feo Grande wounds Our Hero, he may retreat to his base to seek medical care, wherein mortal wounds may be annulled quickly. Even a death on the operating table may not be permanent if hastily acted upon. Fantasy differs from sci-fi in two basic areas. First, no justification is required for the reader; the physical laws of the universe have been considerably relaxed. Second, the traditional trappings are different - staves, spells, and books instead of ships, programs, and computers. This can be of importance when it is considered that magic is often in the hands and mind of the user. Example 1: Our Hero has been captured by El Feo Grande. Despite not having a ship available to him, he may be able to transport himself elsewhere in the twinkling of an eye. Alternate dimensions, realities, or times may be familiar to him; alternate planes of existence, like the astral, temporal, or enlightened, may have radical effects on reality's structure and the outcome of the story. Example 2: Not only are the shamans capable of healing wounds, El Feo Grande's army may be unwoundable. On the other hand, Our Hero, though long-dead, has been raised to fight them. Lastly, High Fantasy involves cosmic forces or beings - gods, Destiny, Reality, Good and Evil personified. Physical law is meaningless to these beings, they created and command the Universe. Example 1: Our Hero, being the scion of a god and having some of that deity's powers, is omnipresent and thus has no need to travel. Example 2: Wounds and death can be irrelevant. El Feo Grande has made a deal with evil powers and is now immortal; Our Hero sacrifices his existence to become immortal and struggle with him forever. Are the distinctions clear-cut? No. From hard to soft SF is a matter of degree; from soft SF to fantasy is a matter of the trappings. Only High Fantasy is clearly beyond the others, and even then it can be similar. For example, Oh! My Goddess! involves three goddesses, some of whose powers are only slightly different from a plain magician's. The difference lies largely in the origins and motivations of the characters. This is important. Why would you want to use magic? Clearly, the most obvious answer is that it broadens your characters' horizons. It gains them powers and allows them access to new settings. Your enemies can be unpredictable, their methods murky. But what is there beyond the obvious? Magic can add an air of otherworldliness to your story. Sci-fi *might* happen someday. But magic is by design something that could not happen in the real world and thus sets the events of the story at a safe distance from the reader. The story can be used more as entertainment; wish-fulfillment can occur without worrying about the niggling details of the work required to obtain the desired powers. Magic can be humanism taken to an extreme. Science fiction largely depends on tools. Magic puts the power directly in the character's hands, and springs from their feelings, desires, and actions. The story is not cluttered with justifications or technobabble, and one can *pay more attention to the characters and events.* There are as many reasons for magic use as there are authors. But consider this: magic's strength is its weakness. You have allowed the laws of the universe to be broken. Why, then, should events follow any preconceived order? If the characters can do anything, where is the tension? If Our Hero can whisk himself away from capture in an eyeblink, what does he have to fear from being captured? Certainly El Feo Grande could erect a no-transporting-allowed zone with his own powers... but then what have you gained over simply capturing a non-magic-using hero with ropes and chains? More importantly, if wounds and death have lost their sting, where is the heroism in a depserate charge? Let us take a cue from the AD&D manual: relaxing the restrictions on death and injury allows the characters to more reasonably pursue heroic acts. They can plunge into the thick of the fray, creating havoc left and right, knowing that a gash may be repaired even if a sudden wound could be fatal. With the enemies having their own powers, you can alter the balance of the story at will, allowing unusual events or holding events to a natural path. Your options may be broader even when your characters' are not. To some extent, the restrictions of High Fantasy are self-imposed. Gods and devils must work according to their natures. Ariea, Goddess of Peace, will neither strike her opponent nor permit her priests to do so. Good and Evil, once characterized, stick to their sides, and there is no wondering who is who. A moral dilemma will be resolved as required by the two, given the author's opinions of morality. And herein lies the answer. The restrictions of physical laws aside, the characters are freer to explore the laws that cannot be removed. In High Fantasy, a personification of a trait such as Peace or Evil interacts with the characters and events, and the author explores how nonviolence can confront a social ill, or how Evil can be quiet and seemingly innocent in pursuit of its goals. In fantasy, the laws of cause and effect bind characters when physical laws do not, and the author can examine the motivations behind human actions. Telepathy provides him a device to make the characters' thoughts a more integral part of the story than he could if they interacted through actions and speech. The laws of logic hold fast, and consequences follow from the conduct of the characters. The wizard's scrying ball permits the author to pursue in detail the consequences of a person's actions, perhaps the ones he never would have thought to look for. The social structure of the world can be constructed with the aid of magic to exaggerate an aspect of our own. The laws of human nature under such conditions will be displayed differently than in a more grounded story. All of these laws are more easily examined and considered with the options available from magic. There are two more notes to consider. First, in the Jihad Universe, magic exists. This has been decided, and if you wish to limit its presence in your story, a few lines to the effect of how the balance was achieved and why it's best to win by natural means might not be a bad idea. Second, magic is fun. It's neat to watch Our Hero win in a blaze of white light as El Feo Grande is sucked into a demonic netherworld, which just doesn't happen in your average realistic Tom Clancy novel. It's fanfare and fluorishes in a unique way. This is an advantage not to be overlooked. Now that we've gone over these points, let me bring up an example, the one with which I'm most familiar: Operation Home Front, which I designed and helped to lead. In HF, magic has a strong presence, but hopefully not an overriding one. A few examples should provide some insight as to methods and reasons of magic use. The conflict in the story is a basic Us vs. Them. B'harnii, however, does not put in an appearance physically, nor do the Lyrans show up much. This was partially because no high-level Jihaddi were involved in the story when it was begun(a need to keep it balanced), and partly because I desired to tell the story of a human approach to the conflict - civilians, and Jihaddi who are not godlike or alien. In this case, magic was suppressed to aid storytelling. The central elements of the story, a spongification array and their Main Generator, are slightly magical by the nature of the Jihad Universe - they draw their power from the extra-dimensional existence of B'harnii. For the most part, though, they consist of scientifically understandable parts which could be analyzed and combatted, which was necessary for the story. The invasion of the Tower was entirely magical in nature. This was partly a wish-fulfillment, "thought it would look cool" decision, and I took advantage of it to again promote the theme of a humanistic conflict, as the battle involved Purple Forces, anti-B'harnii magic users, and Mundania presence. Each had a different take on the situation. My character is highly magical - he is primarily a wizard. This was deliberately chosen to maximize the options available for character development; essentially, the laws I work under are the desire not to munchkin and the need for the abilities to do his job in the stories. To sum: magic exists as a tool to remove the writing from the complicated real world and abstract the story. It allows clean consideration of topics of interest or presentation of concepts. It suffers from the same problems as a scientist's model, namely, that the more abstract and easily understandable the model, the less accurate it is. It takes a supremely talented writer to create a High Fantasy epic that effectively conveys the desired complexities of the real world in a believable fashion. When you want your characters to use magic, consider what you are giving up in believability and what you are gaining in options. Think about the purpose for which you are introducing this power. Wish-fulfillment, or "because it's neat," isn't bad at all, in fact it's stylish story-telling if it appeals to the reader, just be prepared to balance it. In fact, remember how the great magicians got their reputations: they were mysterious. They kept magic hidden, but presented their powers when necessary. Use magic at the appropriate times and conditions, and it will add a great deal to your story.