On the Matter of Mages

An Essay on the Recorded Use of Magic- Past and Present- and of a Mage’s Powers- Affinity and Ability

Elder Alexander Haber

Introduction

For most of our recorded history, and through recent efforts it would seem even our pre-history, mages have lived within our communities. These mages are individuals who display supernatural abilities and perform feats that were not possible by a normal man without the assistance of machinery. Sometimes the feats could not be performed by a normal man, even with the assistance of machinery. While mages are an integral part of society today, it seems like this was not always the case. This text will seek to explain the position of mages in civilisation, both past and present. After that, there will also be a brief discussion on the categorisation and understanding of these abilities.

Pre-Upheaval

Most of the information we have about our past civilisation has been lost to the Upheaval and then time and the elements. However, from what can be gleaned, mages lived much harder lives during this period. It would seem that during this time, they were shunned and exploited for their abilities. Most surviving texts that mention magic treated it as some form of greater evil power manifesting in the mage that they would need to be cleansed of. No records on the cleansing methods have been found, and from our current understanding of magic, it cannot be “cleansed” from an individual. The fate of these mages is therefore unknown, though from certain records, there are mentions of constant tension and friction between mages and the rest of society. The knowledge of the use of magic is also sparse at this time, possibly showing no real care for the study of this phenomenon. As such, it would seem that the stance towards magic and mages was largely one of animosity and something that the world was better off without. 

Upheaval and The Shrouded Age

The Upheaval was a cataclysmic astronomical event that spanned most, if not the whole world. The world was plagued with meteor showers that tipped off a chain reaction of geological activity- volcanoes, earthquakes, and the like. The survivors of the Upheaval soon found themselves at the mercy of the Shroud. Dust from the impacts and volcanoes sealed away the Sun and her influence on Earth.

By all accounts, it seemed that humanity was handed a death sentence by some sort of higher power. And humanity would have toppled over and died, if not for mages. Small pockets of societies continued to eke out a living with the help of mages, who used their abilities to keep those around them safe, grow crops even in the dark, and ward off creatures. The Shrouded Age was also the era during which humanity made prolific use of and conducted extensive research into magic in general, including magical items and the practice of magic by mages. The sentiment towards mages was overturned within two generations, and though the Shrouded Age lasted much longer than that, humanity might have never lived to see the Sun again if the mages were not there to guide them.

The New Era

With the fall of the Shroud some 200 years ago, mages have now been an integral part of society for close to a millennium, being found in multiple areas of industry and service. Mages are found among respected engineers, doctors, soldiers, farmers, academics, explorers, and multiple other professions. Some mages make great use of their abilities, and others who are capable of magic engage in work where it does not end up being needed. Being a mage is still a bit of a rarity, however, as the trait does not seem to be completely familial in nature, with people who have had no history of mages in their family displaying the phenomenon and no real “magical” bloodline.

The advent of technology has continued since the fall of the Shroud and the rediscovery of various relics from the past. And as technology and machinery continue to develop and reach new heights, more and more feats that mages were capable of can now be done by the normal man. While it is not my opinion that mages will one day become obsolete, I do believe that there will come a time when we will no longer have roles where mages are dominant, such as warfare. 

Our Understanding of Mages

A person’s magical ability tends to manifest at a very early age, about when the child starts to develop language capabilities at the ages of two to four years old. This manifestation can be sporadic and barely susceptible. Often, the manifestation is only truly recognised at much later ages when the child themselves realise what they are capable of and start to explore their abilities. Teaching magical abilities is a very strenuous affair, as there are no real standardised methods on how each person makes use of their abilities. By this, I mean the way each person understands and employs their magic is different to each other. It often falls on the mage themselves to learn what works for them and to employ their skills to hone their abilities further. Some choose to make it their life’s pursuit, others are content to leave it in their back pocket and work on it when their mood allows for it.

On the topic of mood, it seems to have some sort of effect on a mage’s ability to employ their powers. Once again, there seems to be no standardised system that predicts this change in ability. Contentedness can cause one person’s magic to spiral out of control, while it can cause another’s to peter out. For another, it can provide great control over their abilities, while for yet another, they may realise that their magic is doing awkward things without their awareness. Some other things that seem to affect the magical ability are a person’s age, wherein it seems to falter but never really completely dissipate as a person grows older. There is also the general amount of spirit the individual has. Of course, I have alluded to emotional spirit not too long ago in this paragraph, but here I refer more to the individual’s physical condition- if they are starved, greatly tired or are ailing from an illness, their ability tends to fall predictably.

Through the study of magic and its use, intellectuals have chosen, through arbitrary convention, that a mage’s abilities can be described through two descriptors- affinity and capacity. These descriptors are explained below.

Magical Affinity

As mentioned above, magical abilities are supernatural and showcase great diversity. However, mages tend to showcase control over only one facet of this diversity. This descriptor- the facet over which a mage has power over- is referred to as their affinity. Affinity is the descriptor that stays constant over a mage’s life. It seems to never change, and it cannot be lost or gained. While the concept of affinity is well known, it is often much more granular among the general populace.

Academically, there are only three affinities referred to rather handily as the Trifecta- material, energetic and ethereal. Though even this is sometimes debated over, for the sake of this treatise, I will be subscribing to the notion of these three affinities. Material affinity refers to a mage’s ability to control and manipulate matter at their whim. A mage with material affinity can move large amounts of material with just the wave of their hand. They can mould a material without touching it, rip something apart and even put it back together better than any craftsman can hope to do so. Energetic affinity refers to a mage’s ability of control over “immaterial” systems. I highlight immaterial because the truth is, some of these systems still technically contain material components, and yet mages with material affinity still have no control over them. These immaterial systems refer to states such as fire, electrical current, magnetic force and gravitational force. Finally, the ethereal affinity refers to the colloquial field that neither of the previous two affinities sufficiently describes. The most classical example of a mage of the ethereal affinity is the telepath- an individual with the ability to broadcast their thoughts to those around them.

I would like to once again repeat that the Trifecta is the most well-known academic system. Some academics insist that there are only two affinities- material and energetic, stating that the ethereal affinity is really a subset of the energetic affinity. While I see the merits of this notion, my personal opinion remains that until we have a better understanding of this supposed similarity, the Trifecta is a much more usable and understandable system. The general populace expands the notion of affinity to a greater degree, wherein the affinity is limited to a particular element or substance. While it is true that most mages only have control over some specific form of matter, for example, one mage has exceptional control over rock, while another over water, there have been multiple cases of mages able to control multiple of these “affinities.” As such, all of these are under the one umbrella of the material affinity academically, though I do find that the notion of it being divided further may be more suitable to a general layman’s understanding of the phenomenon. Perhaps sometime in the future, a much more granular system with the Trifecta at the top of the hierarchy may be employed.

Magical Capacity

While the magical abilities of a mage are impressive, there are still limits on their potential. This limit is the second descriptor of the mage’s ability, referred to as their capacity. Capacity refers to the range and potency with which a mage can project their magic. This is a skill that can be trained and often fluctuates over a mage’s life, both positively and negatively. Capacity is very straightforward in how it is measured- the greater the range over which the mage can project their power and the more potent their magic is at any distance, the greater the mage’s capacity. I wish I could speak on capacity further, but it occurs to me that this explanation is rather straightforward and to the point, and as such, I will leave it at that for fear of causing greater confusion within the reader.

Conclusion

We now reach the end of this short essay. Magic is still a very mysterious topic among our peers. This short introduction to magic is meant to serve as a metaphorical “whetting of the appetite,” where the reader may be enticed to pursue their study further. If this does happen to at least one reader of this essay, I will be satisfied. And if they go on to chase the answers to those mysteries that magic produces, well, I would be positively elated to have their company in this journey.