by L. Itram and Ben Yackley
Main * Story * Setting * Cast * Illustrations * About * Comment
Interlude 3: Spellcasting Techniques
(Posted on 6/25/03)
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by L. Itram and Ben Yackley Main * Story * Setting * Cast * Illustrations * About * Comment |
Interlude 3: Spellcasting Techniques (Posted on 6/25/03) |
SCENE: A clearing in a forest. LUEN is sitting under a tree, polishing his trappers' chalice. VOICES can be heard in the background.
VOICE1: Are ye sure nobody bothered ta tell him?
VOICE2: C'mon, he's been out here all day!
VOICE1: He's gonna be mad, I can tell ye that.
(VIOLA and KINTO enter, arguing.)
LUEN: What're you doing here? You're not supposed to show up until after my scene! (He takes out a stapled booklet and flips though it.)
VIOLA: We came ta tell ye --
LUEN: Tell me later, then! Chapter 19 starts any minute now!
VIOLA: Chapter 19's been postponed.
KINTO: Until t'leventh.
LUEN: And nobody told me?
VIOLA: We're tellin' ye now.
KINTO: Hey, where'd you get a copy of the next chapter? They're not even done writing it!
LUEN (quickly putting it away before KINTO can grab it): Never you mind about that. Well, I'm not one to complain about a week off.
(VIOLA and KINTO look at each other.)
KINTO: Ehh...
VIOLA: Well...
LUEN: What now?
VIOLA: The, uh, authors...
LUEN: Yes?
VIOLA: They went out o' town this week.
KINTO: An' they want us t'cover for 'em.
LUEN: Great! Just wonderful! What're we supposed to do? Sing and dance at the audience?
KAI enters, wearing oven mitts and carrying a tray.)
KAI: We get to explain magic to them. Hi, guys.
LUEN: Kai! You knew about this, too?
KAI: Well, yeah. You really should get a cell phone if you're going to be out in the wilderness all the time.
VIOLA: Kai, let's leave out th' anachronisms.
KAI: Don't worry about it. This is technically an interlude; nothing that happens has any bearing on the plot anyway, right? We're just gonna explain what we do and how we do it.
KINTO: Wait, so y'mean I can blow things up and nobody'll complain?
KAI: When you put it that way...
KINTO: Awesome!
VIOLA: Since ye're so eager ta destroy somethin', we'll let ye go first.
KINTO: Sure. But first we need a change 'f scene.
(The Blue Barrel backdrop covers the forest clearing)
SCENE: The Blue Barrel tavern. The four MAGES are seated at one end of a bar with ASSORTED PATRONS milling about.
VIOLA: Hey, teleporting is my specialty!
KAI: Let him have his fun. Brownie?
LUEN: Those aren't ... enchanted brownies, are they?
VIOLA: I'm nae touchin' that joke.
KINTO: C'n I start now?
(silence)
KINTO (Standing up and adopting a professorial air): Thank you. It's like this. Uh. Thousands 'f years ago, see, there was no magic. I mean, there was, but nobody knew 'bout it. People jus' sorta lived th'way people do. Nobody knew what maginaria were or what Instilling'was or any 'f that. They were too busy doin' ancient stuff.
VIOLA: Ancient stuff?
KINTO: Yeah, ancient stuff. Y'mind? Where was I? Right. My people were th'first t'discover magic - and don't let anyone tell ya otherwise! Sure, people call us primitive, but our shamanic rituals are jus' as powerful as those Instillin' machines. Besides, we were th'ones who came up with it in th'first place. An ancient shaman discovered that if ya make the spirits happy enough, one 'f them might agree t'live inside ya and turn ya into a dragon.
VIOLA: Kinto, stay on topic.
KINTO: Right, okay, Viola will 'splain that stuff later. Anyhow, 'ventually other people found out about our dragons and th'Aezites decided t'figure out how it all worked. So they did what Aezites do - they put together a bunch of experiments an' did a bunch 'f tests an' took a bunch 'f notes. They found out that these spirits were really real and that if y'give them th'right incentives and th'right words, they'll do stuff for ya. Th'incentives are what we call chroma and th'words are what we call spells.
LUEN: So the Aezites didn't discover magic, but they did come up with that color-based system we use today.
KINTO: Yeah. Then they tried t'apply th'color system to everythin' in th'world, includin' people. That didn't work so well.
VIOLA: As we noticed.
LUEN: Tenthys was insane, Viola. Most Aezites don't take the color cycle quite that seriously, even the ones who do treat it as more than just a handy metaphor.
KAI: Hey, weren't you going to explain how spells work?
KINTO: Oh yeah. Hoi, Malzia! Gimme a shot of Sanshaja an' an empty glass.
MALZIA (entering): Why you want empty glass? My beer no good enough?
KINTO: 'S a demonstration! Man, everyone's such a critic... Thanks. Okay, s'like this. See this little glass? (places the shotglass in front of an empty chair)That's chroma. See this big glass? (covers the shotglass with the mug) That's a spell. It says what y'have t'do t'get that chroma.
MALZIA: No, it say "Blue Barrel".
KINTO: Yeah, whatever. Okay, now watch. Hoi, Roan! Free drink if y'stand on yer head.
ROAN: I ain't that dumb, Kinto.
CHILD: Hey, I'll do it!
KINTO: Go 'head, shorty.
(The CHILD hops onto the table and performs a backflip, followed by a hand-stand. With another backflip, he grabs both glasses and runs off.)
MALZIA (exiting): You no break Blue Barrel special mug, you hear?!
KINTO: Just like that, only chroma's even more important t'maginaria than drinks are t'us. It's their food, see? And one other thing: anythin' livin' has chroma, that's part 'f what bein' alive means. Th'very first thing a mage learns is how t'control their own chroma and stick it inside a spell. That's pretty much all your beginnin' mage does -- channel chroma and write instructions. The maginaria is th'one that actually makes somethin' happen.
LUEN: But that kind of chroma is different from the type I use.
KINTO: Yeah. Our chroma is colorless --
KAI: Except Viola's.
KINTO: -- and we keep makin' more 'f it. Plants make green chroma, 'cuz they're plants. And the other colors come from other things like fires or flowin' water or thunderstorms or stuff like that. So maginaria like chroma. And they like people who give them chroma. Soon's you start castin' a spell, th'maginaria in th'neighborhood start crowdin' around you, waitin' t'see what you're gonna ask them t'do.
LUEN: Kind of like those guys behind you?
KINTO: Wha? Hey, scram! No more free drinks! So where was I?
VIOLA: Maginaria like chroma.
KINTO: Right. Most of the maginaria y' get are little and pretty stupid. They can do one or two things but that's it an' y'have t'tell 'em exactly what you want 'em to do. If you wanna do somethin' really complicated, you hafta either break it down into tiny steps that a lot of little, dumb maginaria can understand, or you hafta put in a lot of chroma -- enough chroma t' draw th' attention of a more powerful maginaria that can actually figure things out for itself. This is why it pays t'specialize. Elementalists are mages who focus on a specific type of spell. Doesn't have to be a single color. I'm a lightning mage, which means I use mostly orange spells, but a weather mage might use indigo for wind, orange for thunder an' blue for rain. If y'get really good at one really specific thing - like lightning - then y'learn t'do a more tricks with th'same type of maginaria by changing th'instructions you give 'em. So you can make do with smaller maginaria (an' less chroma) 'stead of having to get larger ones... which means that if you put in the extra chroma anyways, you'll get a bigger boom out of your spell.
VIOLA: Literally, in yer case.
KINTO: Okay, so that's th'basics. Luen, you go next.
LUEN: Maginaria perform spells; mages direct maginaria. So it stands to reason that the ultimate pinnacle of magical practice -- the purest, if you will, and most refined magical technique -- is the one which focuses on the control of maginaria themselves. In other words, summoning.
KINTO, VIOLA, KAI: No it's not!
LUEN: Heh. I knew you were going to say that.
VIOLA: Will ye stop bein' such a snob and get on with it?
LUEN: Snob? Me? What about you, Miss "I wear black because I'm so cool"?
VIOLA: Criticize me outfit now, do ye? Ye must be runnin' out o' ammunition already, Luen.
KAI: Why don't I go next while they're settling their differences...?
LUEN: No, no, we can settle this later. As Kinto was saying earlier, mages give instructions to maginaria and maginaria make things happen. Spells are like contracts that say what the maginaria has to do in order to get paid. So you could say that elementalists or other run-of-the-mill mages are like laywers: their big skill is not spellcasting but writing wordy contracts.
KINTO: Who could say that? I don' say that. I don' even like writin'.
KAI: You don't like laywers much, do you?
LUEN: Hey, I didn't interrupt you guys!
VIOLA: Enough commentary on Kinto's explanation; get ta yer own.
LUEN: If you'll quit interrupting... Thank you. Elementalists and the like write spells that can be understood by any maginaria. Sometimes they forget that what they're doing is writing instructions and some uneducated people actually think that the words and gestures of a mage are what cause all the fancy fireworks. Summoners don't bother with spells at all - with a few exceptions I'll get to later. We talk directly to the maginaria and we never forget that we're talking to living ... or sort of living ... entities, some of whom are as intelligent as we are.
VIOLA: And more intelligent than some o' us.
LUEN: Excuse me?
VIOLA: Nothin'. Go on and explain how ye summmon.
KINTO: (snore).
LUEN: Fine, I'll pick up the pace a bit. Summoning is when a mage calls a maginaria out of its own world --
KAI: The Maginary Plane.
LUEN: -- and into our own. One way to do it is to cast a spell, just like an elementalist does. The spell instructions would say, essentially, "Come over here, I want to talk to you." Summoning that way has a number of problems. First off, it takes a lot of chroma. Kinto can make do with stupid little maginaria --
KINTO (oblivious to the sarcasm): Right. 'Swhat makes me such a good mage.
LUEN: Uh, right. Sure. But any maginaria smart enough to "talk to" is going to be either big or powerful - or probably both - and you're going to need a lot of chroma to get their attention.
KAI: And since that chroma is coming out of your own body, you have to be a pretty good mage yourself...
KINTO: Or y'end up with a killer migraine.
LUEN: Exactly. And once you've got the maginaria's attention, it'll want even more chroma as a reward for whatever you ask it to do for you. Sure, you can do more with something like that on your side, but I know my own limitations and I know better than to try a stunt like that. Now summoners are also negotiators, of course. If the maginaria is already hanging around, I fancy I could be pretty persuasive --
KINTO: Like with Iff?
VIOLA: Kai made a better summoner that day, I think.
KAI: Quit picking on the poor guy. He's a trapper, not a negotiator.
LUEN: Just what's that supposed to mean, huh?
KAI: Well, it means I got them to stop picking on you so you can finish your explanation.
LUEN: Er, yeah. Thanks. Where was I?
KAI: If you can't call them up and talk to them...
LUEN: Thanks... again. Right. The other thing to do is to find a less voracious -- and therefore less intelligent -- maginaria and train it to do what you want. Like training a hunting dog. You can either summon one up the way I described before or, like I do, you can chase down one that's Instilled itself into an animal and catch it while it's stuck in the real world. Or you can always buy one from a trapper like me if you don't have the guts to get your own. Those sorts of maginaria are basically trained pets, unless you buy yours straight off a trapper in which case they're untrained pets but then that's your problem and not mine.
KINTO: People are certainly willing t'pay a lot f'r a problem like that, tho.
LUEN: Yeah, it takes all kinds. Anyway, the advantage of training a maginaria is that you don't have to sacrifice valuable time putting together a spell. If you take the time before hand, you can teach a relatively simple-minded maginara a complex series of tricks and they'll perform on demand. The disadvantage, of course, is that it takes a lot of time and patience to train any animal, especially a wild one that hasn't yet learned to trust you.
VIOLA (to KINTO): Or learned that yer tha one with tha food.
LUEN: I heard that.
VIOLA: Tell them about yer little crystals ye keep 'em in.
LUEN: Viola, I don't keep them in crystals. What you fail to realize is --
VIOLA: That tha authors said ye did. Ye want me ta quote chapter and line?
LUEN: They what? With all due respect, the authors are a pair of ignorant --
KAI (to VIOLA, LUEN continuing in the background): They changed it, didn't they?
VIOLA: Aye. But tha problem with writin' live is ye canna do too much fixin' o' tha early stuff, even if it sounds better.
KINTO: I thought th'crystals were kinda stupid myself. What sorta animal is gonna trust someone who keeps it in a little cage for weeks on end?
LUEN: -- who do you think you should listen to? Are you even listening?
VIOLA: Are ye gonna explain yer crystals or nae?
LUEN: Once you've caught a maginaria what do you do with it? You can't exactly carry it around on your shoulder everywhere, but if you let it go, it's going to race straight back to the maginary plane and you'll never find it again. So what do you do?
KAI: You put a leash on it, of course.
LUEN: Almost right. Modern science has yet to create a rope that can stretch between worlds, so you do the next best thing. You tag it.
(blank looks)
LUEN: Since metamagical theory is obviously beyond you, let me explain it metaphorically. You put a spell on the maginaria; think of it as a collar. Then you bond the collar to an object in your vicinity. Think of it like a long magical leash with one end attached to the collar and the other end to a handle. A skilled summoner can use anything - a rock, a piece of jewelry, heck even something as silly as an oil lamp - but the best sorts of handles are these little babies. (tosses a green crystal into the air)
KINTO: That's Clorin's crystal. I thought that doctor had it!
LUEN: He did. I snuck it out of the prop bin. For... uh... sentimental reasons. Anyway, once you've tagged your maginaria, you can let it back into the wild again. When you want it to come, you perform a small spell upon the object which signals the maginaria. When I first caught Clorin, I had to put a lot of chroma into that little spell to bribe her to come back. Eventually she started to like me --
KINTO (to VIOLA): Or his food.
LUEN: -- and she'd come when I called.
KINTO: So...can y'show us?
LUEN: Show you what? Summoning? I don't have a maginaria. You know that.
KINTO: Y'got Clorin's crystal thingie. Wha'd happen if y'summmoned her? Would she leave Auli?
LUEN: I doubt it. The doctor would have removed that spell from the crystal before Instilling her. In fact, I doubt he could've done the Instilling with the collar in the way.
KINTO: Try it anyway! Mebbe you'll get her back.
VIOLA: Tis not like ye're spoilin' tha plot here, Luen. An' ye can at least demonstrate a summoning ritual fer us.
LUEN: Oh, very well. I'll do the beginner's version so you can see every step.
(LUEN stands, holding the crystal in front of him, balanced between his thumbs and forefingers. He closes his eyes.)
LUEN: Spirit of healing, heed my call. Lend me your power as I lend you my protection.
(Pause)
LUEN: I suppose it's rather corny, but whatever works... (He sits down again.) Now where was I?
KINTO: She didn't come?
LUEN: Nope. Told you it wouldn't work. But that's what a summoning looks like. Normally I can run through the steps in my head and don't bother with the poetry, and if I had taken a bit more trouble, I could've enchanted the crystal so that merely performing a key gesture or saying a key word would activate it.
KAI: In which case even a non-mage could call her?
LUEN: Pretty much. Whether she'd listen to them once she showed up is another question. Remember Nhaal? Someone taught Auli what to do to call him and to banish him, but she didn't have any control over him at all. Of course, she didn't need to, for what she used him for. The whole capture-crystal misunderstanding --
CLORIN (enters, looking as she did in chapter 17): Didn't know you were home already. What's the special occasion?
LUEN: C-clorin?? I thought you were with Zeph!
CLORIN: He'll be along shortly. We were touring Levend, but I just suddenly got this urge for grilled fish, so here we are.
KINTO: Grilled fish?
CLORIN: Yeah, it was the weirdest thing. Happened not three minutes ago. Hey, are those brownies? (sits down between LUEN and KAI) May I? Thanks. I'm famished!
KAI: You came all the way from Levend for grilled fish?
CLORIN: Mphhm. Someone told me the cook here makess the best pepper-grilled trout ever.
(LUEN boggles at CLORIN, then at the crystal in his hand. He quickly stuffs it in a pocket.)
KINTO: Hoi! Malzia! Grilled fish over here, double portion!
LUEN: Make that two fish!
VIOLA: Luen was just explaing summoning to our audience. Ye might be interested.
LUEN: Wha? Uh. Oh. Right. Ahem. Like I was saying, there are legends of summoners who trapped powerful or dangerous spirits into little cages. Not so they could train them, but to keep those spirits from wreaking havoc. Of course, trapping a powerful maginaria and keeping it trapped like that takes an insane amount of skill and power and if you screw up you've got a really angry maginaria on your hands, but that didn't stop some uneducated people from assuming that modern summoners did the same thing. So we tend to have this reputation as being heartless megalomaniacs who wrestle maginaria into submission and force them to do our bidding.
CLORIN (in between bites of brownie): That's silly. Everyone knows Luen's as soft-hearted as they come.
VIOLA: He is?
KINTO: We do?
(awkward pause)
KAI: ...Um. Viola, why don't you go next?
VIOLA: Having flocks o' strange maginaria crowd around ye everytime ye cast a spell is great for yer ego, but a more practical solution is ta have a single maginaria that knows ye so well ye dunna even need ta formulate yer instructions in a spell.
LUEN: I've been through that already.
VIOLA: I'm nae talkin' about yer summonings, Luen. I'm talkin' about a maginara that lives inside yer body and shares yer very thoughts as if ye were one person. I'll concede that the Tximisti first stumbled across tha concept --
KINTO: There was no "stumblin'" about it.
VIOLA: -- but today 'tis practiced everywhere and ye dunna need ta be a shaman ta take advantage of it. Modern Instillin' involves taking a large amount o' pure chroma and using it ta lure a powerful maginaria into a person. Chroma is expensive, and so's tha proper machinery, so only tha rich, tha elite, or tha very resourceful can become Instilled. There are rare people, usually Tximisti, who do it tha old fashioned way, spendin' years attracting and then befriending a particular maginaria but ye hardly ever hear about them.
KAI: So what would be a reason to get yourself Instilled?
CLORIN: Especially if you're not in danger of getting killed otherwise?
MALZIA (enters): Fish and fish. Blue Barrel new policy say customer responsible for own fish and anything fish break. (she leaves)
CLORIN (picking up a fork): That's not very reassuring.
VIOLA: The most obvious is that ye become part maginaria yerself. Which means ye can do some o' that which yer maginaria could, and without havin' ta prepare spells or even think about it. A side effect -- which can be good or bad depending on how ye look at it -- is that yer outside appearance becomes more like a maginaria, too. Clorin here's a good example; we all know what she and Auli used ta look like when they were separate. I never saw me maginaria but I'd guess she had four arms and eyes like mine.
KINTO: And she's purple.
VIOLA: Aye, tha' goes without sayin'. And there were other, smaller changes, too. I don't have many pictures o' me as a lass, but I suspect that not all tha changes in me looks are attributed ta growin' up or poor memory.
CLORIN: Not surprising you didn't recognize me, then.
VIOLA: There's a down side, o' course. Yer natural chroma supply decreases. That is to say, yer body still produces it like always, but yer maginaria is eatin' half. This is most noticeable for mages, though I wasnae a mage afore I was Instilled so I dinna have that worry. But ye may find yerself sleepin' more or gettin' tired a bit more often, or havin' trouble concentratin'. Not so much that it's cripplin', just compared ta what ye used ta be able ta do. On the other hand, if yer maginary half had a lot o' stamina or energy, ye may note tha opposite there. It really depends, right, Clorin?
CLORIN: I don't know. My memory's not so good. But Zeph keeps making fun of me for sitting so far from the campfire.
VIOLA: Aye, that's tha other down side. Because ye're part maginaria, ye become allergic ta tha same things. I canna cast green or yellow spells, fer instance.
KINTO: Not at all?
VIOLA: Not at all. I've tried. It feels... wrong, Kinto. An' when I can complete tha spell, nothin' happens. I also dunna react well ta those colors. Healin' spells dunna work as well. Remember, Kai had ta make that special extra-strength salve. And harmful green magic will hurt me more than you.
CLORIN: That explains a lot.
VIOLA: How so?
CLORIN: Well, like why you smell funny.
VIOLA: I smell just fine! Ye're one ta talk!
KAI (sniffing): I don't smell anything bad. Except that fish - phew!
LUEN: There's nothing wrong with my fish!
(KINTO nudges VIOLA.)
VIOLA: Aye. Right. As I was sayin', one o' the side effects o' bein' Instilled is that ye react badly ta spells o' certain colors. Green and yellow in me own case. Tisn't because 'f any alchemical properties but simply because green and yellow maginaria dunna like me much. As ye just saw.
CLORIN: I'm open-minded. I'm willing to see you as a person and not a color. Just don't sit next to me.
VIOLA: Likewise, I'm sure. On the flip side, I'm quite good with purple spells - even those which I need ta cast in the normal fashion. The chroma that my body naturally creates - and that I use to cast spells - is tinted purple now. Purple maginaria like that, and they like me because I look - (glaring at CLORIN) or smell - like one o' them so they'll listen more carefully ta me, follow me instructions more enthusiastically, and sometimes settle fer less chroma if I'm in a pinch.
LUEN: One of the biggest mistakes of a beginning spellcaster is to focus on the spells themselves and forget about the maginaria who are really doing the job. Magic isn't about words, it's about living things with their own feelings and feuds.
VIOLA: Nicely put, Luen, fer once. T'is especially important if ye've got one livin' inside o' ye. Now... normally I would never admit ta uncertainty or indecisiveness, and I like ta think I know me own mind. (pause) But this is very important if ye're ta understand how magic works around here, and ... well, none o' ye can use anythin' I say now against me later in the story so there's no reason not ta speak up.
KINTO: You've got a crush on Luen?
VIOLA: What? No!!
LUEN: You don't have to be so vehement about it.
VIOLA: I was talkin' about Instilling, remember? I started out talkin' about having a maginaria living inside o' ye, and then later I talked about bein' part maginaria. The actual truth is somewhere in between. I have th' abilities and weaknesses o' tha maginaria I was joined with, but that maginaria is still there. It still has its own mind, even if its mind is usually in agreement with me own, and I still get the feeling that there's someone else in my head at times. Not to mention all tha odd dreams -- dreams which are probably also memories.
CLORIN: I dream about giant mushrooms sometimes.
KINTO: Huh?
CLORIN: A forest, with giant mushrooms.
LUEN: Sounds like something in the maginary plane. It's probably a memory from before I knew you.
CLORIN: Maybe. Sometimes I dream about libraries, too. Those are the really weird dreams. What?
KINTO: Hey, I think libraries are weird, too. 'Least, th'people who work in 'em certainly are.
VIOLA: That's because --
CLORIN: There he is!
(ZEPH enters, laden with shopping bags.)
ZEPH: Sorry I took so long. The store at the school where they sell stuff was having a sale.
CLORIN: I do hope you found something useful this time...
KINTO: What were y'sayin', Viola?
VIOLA: Eh... I believe I'm through. Kai! Why don't ye explain yer specialty now?
ZEPH: What's going on?
CLORIN: Magic lesson. Have a seat.
ZEPH: Cool! Is he going to do that spell with the rabbit and the top hat?
VIOLA and LUEN: No!
KAI: Okay. I'll start with the basics: there are seven different varieties of artichoke, corresponding to the seven chromatic shades.
(ZEPH takes out a notebook and pen. Both have the Featherglass logo on them.)
VIOLA: Kai?
KAI: The first and most common being -- yes?
VIOLA: Why don't ye start with somethin' more general. Like what potions are?
KAI: Oh. Okay. Well ... magical potions generally also work by attracting maginaria. There are some potions that don't, but they're generally considered nonmagical because ... well ... they don't attract maginaria.
(ZEPH starts taking notes but quicky gets confused and is distracted by the brownies.)
KINTO (under his breath): That makes so much sense, 'm sure.
KAI: The ingredients in a potion are like the words in a spell - they attribute certain meanings to the final result. All plants store small amounts of green chroma, and some plants have other colors as well. Pouring ether into the mix releases the chroma so it can be used as part of your spell.
CLORIN: So what's the point of having a potion instead of just casting the spell?
LUEN: Presumably non-mages can use potions as well.
KAI: That's right. And potions can be more effective than spells because they're already inside the body when they start working. Like ... imagine casting a healing spell on someone's stomach without all the bones and muscles and magical armor and stuff in the way. And they don't have to be potions, either. Any sort of food with magical properties can work the same way.
(ZEPH immediately drops his brownie.)
KAI: Watch out for walnuts, there.
ZEPH (under the table, retrieving the brownie): W-what do the walnuts do?
KAI: They can be a bit unexpected, that's all.
VIOLA: But potions are nae tha only way ta package a spell.
KAI: No, of course not. Another alternative is to set a spell into a physical object, together with a source of chroma that'll keep it active - or possibly some sort of word or gesture as a trigger to set it off when needed.
KINTO: Like Luen's summoning stones?
KAI: Yes, though if you just want a particular effect, there's no reason to tie it to a single maginaria.
ZEPH: Like my sword!
LUEN: Ugh. Don't remind me about that stupid sword...
KAI: Exactly. I'm guessing the voice illusion spell on your sword was active all the time - or, anyway, whatever was used to activate it was at the other end, with Davro.
ZEPH: No, my new sword, Silverblade! It never gets rusty and has a spell in the handle that lights up at night!
KAI: Uh, yeah. Something like that. (to CLORIN) Is he still fighting for Justice?
CLORIN: Just little Justices. He's freelancing now. No more quests to save the world.
(ZEPH is examining his sword throughout the rest of KAI's explanation)
KAI: (to CLORIN) Er, yeah. (aloud) Since a magical object...like Zeph's sword...is going to be used without a mage around, it needs to have its own store of chroma, usually in the form of an attached crystal or stone or the like.
ZEPH: Got one! Wait, this one has three!
KAI: It also needs to have the exact specifications of the spell engraved onto it or built into it - sometimes this means a verse of poetry or engraved runes --
ZEPH: Got -- no, wait, I think that's the maker's label...
KAI: Sometimes it doesn't look like a spell, Zeph. It could be an etched diagram of various magical or semi-magical components linked to the chroma source. Sometimes even the shape of the object itself is important to the spell.
ZEPH: It's sword-shaped. I think the spell's inside.
CLORIN: Best to leave it alone, then.
KAI: That's probably a good idea, yeah. Usually an object is enchanted either with a spell that's on all the time - and meant to last - like a protection spell or a spying spell like Zeph's old sword had.
VIOLA: Or those reading glasses that librarian had.
KAI: I'll take your word for it... Or, it has a spell that can be used over and over again ... well, until the chroma runs out. Like ... I can't think of any good examples right now. Maybe a stick or something that ... I dunno, shoots lightning bolts or something weird like that.
KINTO: Heh. Don' need one o' those.
KAI: Anyway, you'd need instructions for something like that, but you wouldn't have to be a mage to use it.
CLORIN: You mentioned nonmagical potions before...is that what happens if you forget to add ether?
KAI: No, when you forget to add ether you usually just get soup. Or, you get something that does what you want but is so weak you'd have to drink several gallons to get an effect. But many plants have "meaning" or side-effects which occur without the addition of ether. Lion's eye, for instance. The flowers are mildly hallucinogenic if you eat them and the roots contain an oil which numbs skin on contact.
LUEN: What happens if you smoke the flowers?
KAI: I believe the fumes are toxic.
LUEN: Dang.
KAI: Now, if you distill the entire plant in ether for two days, both effects are lost but you get a very small amount of pure iridescent chroma. This might or might not be what you want at the time.
KINTO: Seems like it'd be easier t'make spells with th'chroma.
KAI: Maybe. There's a new subfield of herbal magic called "pure" or "chromatic" pharmacology; they're trying to figure out how to create potions from nothing but chroma.
LUEN: Why? Chroma's expensive.
KAI: They think they can get more precise results that way. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I say wait ten years and see what they come up with. On the other end, in Ertset - and other places, too, I presume - there are people who call themselves "herbalists" but don't have any magical training whatsoever. Instead, they have an excellent knowledge of local plants and their properties. Some herbologists look down on them, but the sorts of things these people can do is truly impressive. Ether breaks down the basic chroma and plant material and makes basic potion-making a lot easier because you can, to a degree, pick and choose your effects. It takes much more knowledge - not to mention creativity - to come up with a spell from local ingredients. The ideal solution, of course, would be to have a foundation in both fields so you can use the wider knowledge of the herbalist and the more powerful tools of the necromancer together.
LUEN: Sounds like your senior thesis right there.
KAI: How'd you guess?
VIOLA: Enough talk o' school. I'm ready fer lunch.
LUEN: I just had lunch.
VIOLA: Then that's yer problem, nae mine.
KINTO: An' after lunch, we oughtta take our places again. I wanna get on with th' story!
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