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FORM: Sending Crystal
SENDER: Adalia (

thunderproof
RECIPIENT: Errybody with a sending crystal
WHAT: What's up with your mages, guys?
WHEN: Drakonis 12
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: N/A

I have a question for the native mages among us, if you all don't mind!

❰ adalia sounds inquisitive, curious, sort of sing-songy — she's been pondering this for a while, both in general and today specifically. ❱

Would you consider magic something you are, something you have, or something you do? A combination of those? All three? Something I haven't yet considered?

❰ a sound of shifting fabric as she sits up on her bed. ❱

See, I would consider myself magic, innately. I'm a sorcerer where I'm from — we have magic in our blood. I would be considered a mage by Thedosian standards, but to me "mage" is a very broad word. Anyone who does magic could be considered a mage where I'm from, and then there are breakdowns within the broader "mage" classification — there are sorcerers, who are magic innately; wizards, who learn magic through study; warlocks, who are granted power by others — not to mention bards, and those who are given access to divine magics for worshiping their deities.

All of these different classes of mage approach magic in a different way. What is your relationship to magic? Is it part of you, or is it merely a tool? I'm curious.

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❰ despite the fact that this is an audio-only medium, adalia nods — that tracks with her experience, if you're born with magic trying to live without it is... unthinkable. like living without food, or air. the difference of course being plenty of people do survive without magic, but for adalia it would be like having an entire limb cut off. ❱

So more like a limb than a tool, then. That's about how I think of it, too.

Yes! It can take years of study, but wizards who devote themselves to accruing magical knowledge can be some of the most diversely talented mages alive. I only know so many spells, but I can... change them, or make them stronger, because I just... know how. Think of it like a switch I can see that no one taught magic would ever think to notice. Sorcerers sort of feel their spells, and cast them innately, making whatever changes they need at the moment they need them.

Wizards, on the other hand, know their spells as they learned them and that's that, with no ability to make changes to the formula. They cast them the same way every time. On the flip side, though, your average wizard will know more spells than your average sorcerer, because they can study all known spells and add them to their repertoire. When they specialize in specific schools of magic, they learn techniques that non-focused wizards and all sorcerers will never know, because they dedicate years to the study of these schools.

Does any of that make sense...?

[ She laughs softly. ]

Yes, I follow you. It is different for us. We are sort of... in between a sorcerer and a wizard. We are all capable of magic, and indeed, we first discover we are mages by accidentally casting a spell. But we have no control until we learn it. We learn to cast the spell the correct way, with the right amount of mana. And there are many different branches of magic. Some prefer to focus on a few over others. And we have specializations, of course, which are perhaps like your schools of magic? What are some of them, if you do not mind my asking?

See, I've never had to really study magic. I did, a litle, back in Candlekeep, but I never had to. I know what needs to happen, I will it, it's done. Of course, that's within the bounds of my own talent and knowledge, I can't cast something I've never attempted before simply on will alone, but.

Oh, sure, let me think. There's... evocation, which is what I mainly specialize in, it's using elemental magics to damage enemies. I use lightning and thunder, but fire and ice and such are also under this school. Conjuration, which is procuring something from nothing. Abjuration, protection and denial magic. Enchantment, to bewitch the mind of your target. And then I suppose Transmutation, Illusion, and Divination might be self-explanatory?

❰ she's leaving out necromancy, but that's... a whole can of worms she has no interest in opening right now. ❱

Oh, most of that sounds different from what we have, though there is elemental magic. We call it the Primal branch of magic.

[ And she, in turn, doesn't mention that enchantment in Adalia's terms sounds like blood magic. ]

Is there healing magic in your world? That is primarily what I focus on.

Primal... That fits, I suppose. Sounds less technical, anyway.

❰ and kinda more badass. maybe adalia will start referring to it as primal magic. ❱

There is! It's mostly practiced by divine casters, though, those who get their magical abilities in exchange for worshiping a god. Some arcane casters can learn it, but never to the extent that a divine caster could. I have one healing spell I can do a day, and then I have a little... well it's not a spell, but it's... It's hard to explain. I can do a little more healing besides that, anyway, but not nearly to the extent I could if I was a cleric.

There is a direct relationship between a healer and a god?

[ That intrigues her, given her relationship with her spirit helper friend. After all, the Avvar refer to the spirits as their gods. This isn't such a stretch. ]

Do you happen to know anymore about that?

Not direct as in they communicate with each other, but yes!

❰ luckily fr christine, adalia traveled with a paladin, so she's not entirely clueless about how divine magic works. ❱

I know a little, but my magic is all arcane in nature, so what I've learned is secondhand. Some people will devote their lives to serving a god, however that god wants to be served — spreading their divine teachings through the land, usually — and in return they gain some measure of magic ability from their god. I traveled with a paladin of the goddess Eldath, and through her he could destroy the undead and heal people with a touch.

Hmm. It is all very fascinating. I suppose by healing a person, they might convince them to worship this god who has provided the method to heal.

[ Some might consider it blasphemous to talk of this other world's gods as if the Maker does not hold dominion there too, but Christine is one of those who has completely abandoned the Maker and worship of him. Not that she goes around announcing it. That's any easy way to get yourself in trouble. ]

And this is the only method that heals so quickly? The method you use can only be used once per day, yes? Is it very taxing on you?

It's possible! Healing magic isn't the only kind the divine can give their followers, it really depends on what kind of deity they are and what their focus is. There's a multitude of gods where I'm from, each with dominion over a specific area of life. Gods of life, death, magic, knowledge, craft — they each give their followers access to magic specific to their domain. Eldath is a goddess of peace, for instance.

❰ one whom akrasiel has been straying further and further from, lately, but hey, she doesn't need to worry about that anymore! ❱

Well, we also have healing potions and such, but divine magic is the only way of magically healing. My spell isn't taxing, but the only reason I have it is because I found a book. I can only do it once a day because I shouldn't really be able to do it at all.

❰ ...the book thing's gonna be hard to explain, hoo boy. ❱

It is a strange concept here in Thedas, to hear of gods who are in direct contact with their worshipers.

[ She really does try to hide the bitterness in her voice, but if a little comes through, it's simply because of her utter lack of faith in the Maker now. She's found far better things to believe in than some god that might never have existed in the first place, or if he is real, abandons those who love him. ]

If I understand you right, you should not be able to cast such a thing, but you do because you learned it from a book? Is that rare?

❰ ever so dryly, ❱ It's a strange concept to me, to hear of a god who isn't.

❰ the gods of toril have never really been adalia's concern, up until they made themselves her concern. the only reason she believes they exist is because their effects are clearly visible, with no other possible explanation — akrasiel isn't a sorcerer, or a wizard, or a warlock. he gets his power from a celestial force beyond the ken of man, and that's that.

the maker does nothing, turned his back on his people, and leaves his word to be misinterpreted and used to destroy and kill at the whims of whichever asshole is in charge today. that's no god adalia wants anything to do with. ❱

I shouldn't, no. I didn't... learn it from the book per se... It's more like the book unlocked something in me that I wouldn't have ever known to look for, if I hadn't had it. It's still an innate thing, but nothing I could have done before. My desire to help made manifest in a spell, I guess you could say.

I think it is. I've never met another arcane caster who could do what I do. Granted I've mostly kept to the Sword Coast, so I'm not well-traveled.

[ She smiles to herself, though she considers telling Adalia to be careful what she says about the topic. She doesn't, however, because she bets Adalia has already made her opinion known if she's already familiar with the Maker's ways. Or lack of any, as the case may be. ]

That sounds dangerous. I suppose it is lucky it unlocked the ability to heal, instead of to destroy without control. Was the book written by a wizard?

❰ hilariously, this is adalia being careful about what she says. not the most tactful person, even as she tries so very hard to be. ❱

I... had never thought of it like that, but thank you for that terrifying hindsight. Yes, very lucky.

❰ and it also says something nice about what her strongest desires are, so... there's that? ❱

I have no idea who it was written by, I can't actually read it. The text is... amorphous. I know there's writing in it, but I can never focus enough to see it. It's more having the book which unlocked the spell, rather than reading it.

That is what I am here for. I think of these things that no one else does in order to remind others to be careful.

[ A born worrier, this one. She's always cautioning people because they do such dangerous things! ]

That does sound concerning. Or it would have been, had it given you something different. But enough of that. I am curious as to how mages are treated in your land. It seems they are granted powers or encouraged to study. It all sounds so different to here.

❰ that strikes a chord in adalia — she wasn't born a worrier, but somehow usually she's the one thinking the terrible thing so other people don't have to. and then following through on that terrible thought and making the hard call, so other people can keep their hands clean.

it's a familiar sentiment, is all, though christine seems not to take it to the extremes adalia is more familiar with. ❱

It is different, yes — in some areas, of course, it's not entirely dissimilar. There are many stories, fictional and otherwise, of young sorcerers being cast out of their homes when it comes to light they have magic. This is usually in more rural areas, where people are more likely to blame a bad crop or a rabid animal on a sorcerer.

❰ might that have been what happened to adalia? there's no way of knowing, but she hopes not. she hopes she was loved. ❱

In more urban areas, placers of higher learning, magic is highly prized. There are entire universities for teaching magic — not Circles, but schools, which you can leave at your leisure. No one treats you like a bomb about to go off, no one decides how your life must be lived for your own good —

❰ chill, adalia. a deep breath, and then, more coolly — ❱

It's different, yes.

Unfortunately here, people are cast out everywhere: city or village. There are some, of course, that try to hide their child's magic so they are not taken away, and it often ends in ruin. If only the majority had supported teaching mages and allowed them to live in the world, instead of locking them up, then more would have come forward to learn instead of being tricked by demons or using dangerous bursts of spells.

[ She has a lot of Feelings™ that tend to come out unbidden. ]

It sounds like a dream.

It's not a dream, Christine. And it doesn't have to be here, either. You've all started the process to getting there yourselves, you just need to keep pushing and never give up.

❰ because that would be about the saddest thing in the world, for adalia — for the mages here to make so much progress, to get to the point where they could almost begin to try to live real lives...

and then squander the opportunity, through poor leadership or bad choices or whatever else may stand in their way. ❱

Never stop fighting for it. You all deserve to be treated as people.

[ It's a fine sentiment, but it also hits Christine a little hard. She'd been such a supporter of Fiona, and still agreed with her ideas of mages governing themselves, but being backed against the wall in Redcliffe and indenturing them to Tevinter was a bad move all around. What other obstacles will stand in the way of true mage freedom after a new Divine comes to power? Christine's already made her decision to leave them to their arguments and possibly rekindling of war while she joins the Avvar. But in the here and now, she'll act like she's here for the long haul. ]

Thank you. That is very kind of you to say. It is my hope that one day, this world will be a little more like yours.

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