Wands and Staffs.

[somethingwild]

FORM: Crystal.
SENDER: Newt Scamander.
RECIPIENT: Everyone with a crystal, though the message itself is directed toward fellow magic users/mages in particular.
WHAT: Wizards and mages and their proper tools.
WHEN: Early Justinan/June, after the Grand Tourney.
WHERE: The Gallows
NOTES: Unintentional (and otherwise) sexual innuendo, magic talk, Newt making an unintentional fool of himself (but what else is new?), etc. Will add more warnings if they become necessary. There is probably a good chance this post will not be safe for work.

[Trying desperately not to think about the recent news about the phylacteries, Newt mostly focuses on his own work in the Research division. But during his down time, his mind yet lingers on the uncomfortable possibilities of said recent news, and so he tries to distract himself by sating his own curiosity about something he's happened to notice about the native mages in Thedas.]

Hello all! Pardon me if I'm not using this crystal device correctly; it's, oddly enough, more advanced than some of the Muggle technology from my own home.

If we haven't yet met, my name is Newt Scamander, and I'm a rifter. [A brief pause as he considers what he wants to say next. Perhaps it isn't wise to announce himself as a rifter with magic so openly, but, frankly, he would like to reach out and connect with others with magic, to get himself familiar with the magic of this world if he can help it. It's much preferable to dwelling on the phylacteries, after all.]

A wizard rifter, to be precise, and so this message is mostly geared towards mages and others with magic themselves, particularly those native to Thedas.

And because it must be said, no, this message is not about phylacteries of any kind.

I can't help but notice that you lot use staffs to conduct your magic instead of wands. I just wanted to know: what is it like using such large tools to do so? Do not get me wrong, the staff work I have seen so far has been very impressive. And they are very neat-looking, and seem to make for good weapons, especially for hitting things. But they also seem so unwieldy? And a pain to carry around everywhere. Do you charm them to make them lighter?

I myself use a wand, which is much smaller and of a different kind of build. Perhaps, if you would be willing, we might compare our instruments some time?

[Newt says all of this with a completely straight face, entirely unaware of how he sounds. He is genuinely curious, and he's engaged with some very interesting conversations through these sending crystals before. He looks forward to the responses, though he can't yet know how they might turn out.]

Honestly, the magic of this world is fascinating, and I look forward to learning more about it.

Comments

[ipseite]

They seem equally inconvenient for my part; I have never used anything but my hands.

( petrana is absolutely not making any kind of innuendo. )

[somethingwild]

Really? You use wandless magic? That's very impressive. Such use requires great skill, back in my home.

[Any lack of innuendo flies right over Newt's head.]

[ipseite]

( they are entirely in the same boat there. )

Prior to my arrival in Thedas, I'd never known a use of anything else. If one used anything for focus, it would be—something that one had crafted to purpose. I've a pen, for example, for a particular language spell.

[somethingwild]

Really?

That's fascinating. We can charm and transfigure objects of all sorts back where I come from, but we really only use wands to focus and channel our magic.

A pen seems nifty, especially for a language spell.

[ipseite]

It allows one to acquire the knowledge of a written language from someone who speaks it. The pen alone wouldn't serve, of course, but it saves one having to make another, for the next time.

[somethingwild]

That is quite the ability. And I imagine saves one a lot of time with translations.

It really is fascinating to learn of the different ways in which we all use and work with magic.

[ipseite]

It's an imperfect method—something to be used in conjunction with the proper study, rather than as a wholesale replacement. Nevertheless, I have found it most useful in building my repertoire here. I preferred to learn to read the trade language properly, first, as something upon which to rely.

I entirely agree. I've long wished for the opportunity to speak on such matters, with educated voices.

[somethingwild]

That makes sense. I imagine it's much more effective as something built on a foundation, as opposed to suddenly learning an entire language through a pen alone.

That would be a grand opportunity, and one I would very much like to take part in. I imagine, given the current climate, it might not be the most wise to do so just now. But hopefully in the future.

[ipseite]

This is one such opportunity, comparative to my previous experiences. ( wryly. petrana is aware she's in the minority of rifters in preferring thedas; it's not something she tends to address directly in so many words. ) To speak of the practise of magic even this way is—it would have been unimaginable. It's fascinating to me.

—but yes, regarding that spell, quite. It does have some other potential applications; excellent forgery, if you have access to someone whose penmanship you might wish to forge.

[somethingwild]

Really? [Newt listens attentively, curious and also concerned.] I suppose magic is much less...open, where you come from? [In that, he can relate, but at least those with magic in his world have their own community, away from Muggles, to comfort them. He knows rifters all come from different worlds with various degrees of acceptance of magic.]

That does sound quite convenient. My younger self would have been delighted by such a prospect.

[ipseite]

Magic is well-known. To choose to practise it is sacrilegious treason, and punishable only by death, regardless of circumstance or specific magic practised. A crime of the desperate and defiant.

( she was neither, she thinks, but nor was the crime hers. the burden, of course. but not the choice. )

[somethingwild]

Merlin's beard. [His tone is empathetic; Petrana will be able to hear the wince in his voice.]

I'm sorry. Magic isn't a crime. It shouldn't be a crime.

We've gone underground, back home, to avoid precisely that.

[ipseite]

I imagine it is a very different picture, for those for whom magic is not a choice.

[somethingwild]

Even still. No one should be punished in such an...extreme way simply for choosing magic. Not if they aren't doing any harm.

[ipseite]

It will change.

( a comfortable certainty to that. what has begun cannot be stopped. )

[somethingwild]

I hope so.

[He appreciates her more definite sense of optimism, even if he can only remain cautious in his hoping, himself.]