>>@SUBUBI | @ALL

[excelsus]

I may be completely alone in this, but is anyone else disturbed by the alarming dearth of rebel archivests?

Fortunately it seems that the number of books outnumber the actual people who wish to burn them which is rather fortunate because some of these things I can actually read. The Malleus Maleficarum is actually quite a facinating read if you're interested in the true barbarism of this world.

Malleus refers to a hammer and Maleficarum is the plural of Maleficar which refers to one who is wicked or depraved. In this sense it seems to loosely translate as Hammer of Witches...I laughed admittedly.

I'm certain it would be Hammer of Mages where I come from, but that is completely apart from the point.

Apparently these people believed that magic was some sort of delusion of the mind precipitated by demonic seduction through visions and dreams. They blamed the most rudimentary of problems on people, captured them, tortured them into fraudulent admissions, and then killed them.

The magic and spells they discuss are not even real magic, not as I know it anyway...unless one considers mathematics, philosophy, and general enlightenment magical.

I suppose I would define magic as the ability to expend mana...or putting it more simply, the ability to burn my accuser's face off by willing primal fire into being.

And here I thought the Southern Circles were bestial. Flaying someone alive for anomalous intelligengence, very dyed-in-the-wool dedication to the extermination of magic...and that there could be a book devoted to the finding and killing these so-called magic users.

It's certainly telling, not completely unfamiliar either. I'm certain the Southern Chantry has their own step-by-step process for teasing out mages and spiriting them away to the Circles.

Comments

[northerndragon]

FROM:@AEGONNER

I don't think those things are magical. If I can do sums, there can't be any magic in them.

But I've never heard of a Southern Chantry that spirits mages away to Circles, only the Citadel in Oldtown where those who wish to be Maesters can train. Will you tell me more about your world?

[excelsus]

@AEGONNER It seems as though these witch or mage hunters targeted anyone with a modicum of enlightened thought. They called it witchcraft and punished you for it...severely if this book is to be taken seriously.

@AEGONNER Yes, this is becoming a theme, all of these people from different worlds, I'm not adverse to sharing information, but where to begin.

@AEGONNER I suppose I'll start with Thedas. It is a large continent divided into numerous countries, in the South mages, like myself, are rounded up and taken to these Mage Circles when it is discovered that one possesses magic.

Mage Circles are institutes devoted to the training and protection of mages, at least that is what the Chantry will tell you. Ah, the Chantry is the dominate religious organization in Thedas and in the South it espouses rhetoric about the dangers of magic so as you can imagine Southern Circles are not these happy little institutes for learning and protection. Many Circle mages in the South refer to the Southern Circle as a choice between various deaths of body and spirit.

It is different in the North where I am from, Circles are an institute for learning, prestigeous schools where magic is safely practiced. Magic is praised. You're not snatched from your families as a child and chained up, highborn children do not lose their claims, you don't spend the rest of your life in a prison being spied on and abused by templars who are force-fed Chantry rhetoric.

Templars are knights of a sort, by the way.

I am a notif-loser :( so sorry!

[northerndragon]

@EXCELSUS Magic isn't so common where I come from, though I've met a Red Priestess from Volantis, far across the Narrow Sea, who had gifts I didn't understand.

@EXCELSUS In the South, those who wish to become Maesters may study at the Citadel. But not many forge their Valyrian steel link, and even so, Maesters are learned men more than men who can perform any sort of magic. They aren't rounded up.

@EXCELSUS Lately, there are dragons, but not many. There hadn't been any for so long that we thought they had passed into legend.

@EXCELSUS Is there anyone in your country who can work to put an end to the great injustice you speak of?

un: @MINIMALCAT

[hakanai]

@SUBUBI By the standards of these books I should have been accused and tortured into admitting my 'witch powers' just on the basis of my clearly delightful personality. Isn't it fortunate that everyone is so distracted?

They've not even noticed when I set their sleeves on fire during the riots, instead blaming whoever's nearest of being clumsy with a torch. Whether they have a torch or not.

If there are any actual magic users in this land, I doubt they're ever actually caught.

[excelsus]

@MINIMALCAT Fortunate indeed. No one has yet to notice that I'm walking about with a staff that has a skull crowning it, you would think that would draw a gaze or two.

So are you a mage of sorts?

I suspect these people wouldn't believe real magic existed even if it bit them in their wits end. Their idea of magic is far too convoluted.

[hakanai]

@SUBIBI I read in one book that you can rid yourself of an unwanted husband by coating the skin in honey, rolling in grain and then baking bread with the mixture. Why this should be labelled as magic, I cannot say; even without being some kind of ritual it would no doubt chase a partner away.

Or attract them further, if they are of a certain mindset.

You might call me a mage, though I have never used a specific word for what I do. Most of my magical skills are of an elemental nature, though I can conjure light-based illusions and have a few other tricks up my sleeve.

[excelsus]

[You can't see it, but he's laughing.]

@MINIMALCAT That's absurd! I love it, it's almost as awful as the superstitious nonsense they get up to where I am from. Placing leeches on a child's limbs to absorb any magic before it takes hold. Madness.

Hmm. We might have to share and compare, I'm able to use elemental magic as well as spirit, but I specialize in Necromancy.

[hakanai]

@SUBIBI That's a waste of perfectly good leeches. All the medical uses they have and they choose to torture children with them? Nobody wants to risk a 'magical leech' either. Can you imagine the chaos they might cause?

[He's rather enjoying himself now. Good nonsense, this.]

Necromancy? How does that work? I'm completely unfamiliar with the term but it's nothing I've ever seen outside of legends.

>>@BASICWITCH

[courtintrigue]

@SUBUBI I have no need of a hammer, but the thought of wielding one as I might a staff is mildly entertaining.

I had started to believe I was the only recruit -- if I can truly be called that -- from Thedas, but surely you are. Unless there are multiple worlds where mages are herded into Circles to be watched closely for any deviation from the Chantry's prescribed path.

@BASICWITCH

[excelsus]

@BASICWITCH I can only imagine how graceful that would be. Like a druffalo trying to dance I suspect.

Fancy meeting another fellow Thedosian in a shithole like this, though we've yet to officially meet. We might have to, especially if you're a mage...and by all appearances I think I'm assuming correctly.

[courtintrigue]

@SUBUBI I can assure you that my aim would be much better than that of a druffalo.

I am indeed a mage, though, and you must be of Tevinter.

[ Her travels up until this point have largely been limited to crisscrossing Ferelden an unenviable number of times, but the way he speaks of the Chantry and Circles is absolutely not lost on her. ]

In my experience, the mage-hunters of Ferelden are no match for a witch.

sorry for my lateness, two big exams this week ugh

[excelsus]

@BASICWITCH Well I should hope, bloody things cannot even aim themselves in the direction of home.

Very astute, I must have given myself away given that I've not been locked up in a Circle.

[Southern Circles are so strict by Dorian's standards.]

Different from mages in the circle I expect, free reign to practice magic, no limitations, I imagine a witch is just full of surprises that mage-hunters are hardly ready for.

my turn to apologize, this time of year can be a mess

[courtintrigue]

@SUBUBI Have you attempted to herd them? I suppose that what they lack in directional sense they make up for in brute strength.

The Chantry's ill preparation never stopped Templars from trying, of course. One has to wonder how long they could beat their heads against a wall before they realize they bleed.

Do you like this method of communication? I trust it little. [ Perhaps she would trust it a bit more if she had opted in, but she recalls doing no such thing. ] Shall we talk in person?

un: @ponytail

[horsepowered]

It seems what you're describing is a book that has a fantasy of what magecraft is, and would be good for going after people that fit a certain mold. I am curious as to where you read this though, as it seems...interesting. The only part I myself recognize is that magi have some other element involved that isn't strictly human in nature.

[excelsus]

It's certainly a fantasy, more like silly old wives tales than actual magic. They must be properly scared of this demon they keep referring to if it makes them behave in such an uncivilized manner.

I have an interest in libraries, this city might be a shithole, but it has books...well bore books than people who are willing to burn them. I grabbed this one out of an...I don't know...abbey? Not a proper library, but they did have books, several written in a language I can understand.

Mages are often different from normal people and when you come upon one there is no disputing it or riddling about with it. It tends to be rather obvious.

[horsepowered]

In my own time, the word just identified any kind of spirit, rather than a specifically malicious one.

If there are any that you find issue with, I might have an idea on how to best read them. [If there's Greek, then this is absolutely your man.]

That I can't dispute at all. But based on your word use, I am also going to guess that your own magi are distinct from the ones I've encountered.

[excelsus]

Where I come from we just refer to demons as demons for the most part, but there are specific kinds of demons as well. Some demons are so powerful and ancient that they have their own names, such as the four Forbidden Ones...they call the demon in this book Devil.

Some of them are written in a language I can only describe as Orlesian and I am not well versed enough in Orlesian to read it, but enough to know what a few scant words are.

It would depend on the sort of magi you have encountered.

[chariotry]

[ Tbh, Achilles has no patience for reading and has mostly skimmed over this. But certain words caught his eye and his full, undivided attention. ]

FROM: @ACHEELIES

Tell me, do you know of the Holy Grail War?

[excelsus]

There have been references of a floating sparkling golden chalice in the Western Approach, but no one has ever declared a war over it...and I'm not certain it's holy.

Any particular reason you ask?

[chariotry]

Because you're a mage. I'm surprised you've never heard of it, since it seems to be a pretty big ritual. At least it is where I'm from.

[excelsus]

I've heard of nug racing, it's quite the ritual among dwarves where I come from...which brings up an interesting theme. It appears that mages exist in more than one world.

To be honest the most holiest of vessels in Thedas would be the Urn of Sacred Ashes, hardly a grale.

@BRUNNHILDE

[heilt]

Is there more to magic than what you described?

( if it's only being able to burn people's faces off then that's terrifying )

[excelsus]

There is so much more to magic that burning someone's face off, that was just an example.

[heilt]

Would you be able to provide some other examples?

[excelsus]

Magic can be broken up into several schools and specializations, more aggressive forms of magic will be found in Primal schools, but you have less aggressive forms of magic for healing, barriers, enhancing an individual's attributes, repairing some minor structure damage.

I'm not a Spirit Healer. I specialize in elemental magic, a different form of spirit magic, and more specifically I am a Necromancer so my magical knowledge will be more aggression focused.