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

[somethingwild]

Indeed. It's a wonder they can get anything done, given how diverse and full of varying walks of life Thedas is.

[People being depressing and terrible is why Newt prefers dragons. And other magical creatures, of course.

He snorts at Aro calling them Salamanders. That it sounds close to his own last name only amuses him further.]

Not everyone with magic in our world is subtle. And Muggles have habits of stumbling into lairs of various creatures.

[sorcerised]

Not diverse enough.

[ If humans weren't so much in the majority, they wouldn't have these problems, he thinks.

Not that humans are entirely the problem. Everyone seems to be part of the problem here. ]

I suppose it can't be easy keeping a whole world of magical creatures secret from them, as well. I mean, don't they see them? It's very hard to miss a dragon, I've found.

[somethingwild]

Perhaps not.

Well, that's why we have an entire section of the Ministry dedicated to help people forget what they see. Dragons are hard to miss, indeed, and people can be right idiots about them.

But then, so can witches and wizards, too.

[sorcerised]

Oh, yes. I know they can.

Where I'm from, dragons have quite a bit of diversity. Chromatic dragons are often as dangerous as everyone says, but the Metallics are really quite different. It's right to be respectful, but not to be afraid. Fear is the last thing you'd want to show, anyway.