We call the kind of magic I practice Red magic, or lunar magic; I'm pretty sure that solar magic exists, but I don't remember very much about it other than that. The basic concept is that we convert cosmic essence, which you can more or less think of as raw magical energy, into energy aligned with one or more of the six Crafts using our cosmic shards, then release that energy according to the instructions of a spell.
[he holds up his arms, and intricate metallic fractal tattoos materialize on his arms, sparks of crimson energy crackling over them]
These are my cosmic shards; we get them when we ritually awaken ourselves to magic. I haven't remembered quite how that happens yet, but I know that one thing we have to do is derive our own Axiom, which is a set of instructions for handling and converting cosmic essence. My Axiom determines which Crafts I can access -- all six, in my case -- and how efficiently I can process and convert essence into spells.
[he was warned!! but he seems interested rather than overwhelmed, eyes widening with interest at the show of magic]
Your "Axiom?" I understand the concept of . . . handling essence or energy in certain ways, but how what exactly is being . . . provided with "instructions?"
The instructions are for our cosmic shards -- our Axiom is imprinted into them when we awaken, I think, so we're stuck with whatever we've derived. An individual spell tells me what kind of converted arcane energy I'll need and how to release it as a useful effect, but the Axiom is what tells my shards how to handle that conversion and execute the spell's instructions.
....no, not at all. Think of my shards like a very complex machine; in that metaphor, deriving an Axiom is working out techniques for using the machine effectively.
...I'm going to mangle this metaphor awfully, but imagine if there was a musical instrument that was enchanted to play itself, if it was given the right score. The enchantment can reproduce all the fingerings and techniques a musician would need, but it needs the actual instrument to play and the musical score to tell it how to turn those techniques into a song. My Axiom is like that enchantment, my cosmic shards are like the instrument, and each spell is a different song.
Does that make it any clearer, or am I just digging myself a deeper hole?
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Date: 2025-02-06 05:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-06 05:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-06 05:21 am (UTC)We call the kind of magic I practice Red magic, or lunar magic; I'm pretty sure that solar magic exists, but I don't remember very much about it other than that. The basic concept is that we convert cosmic essence, which you can more or less think of as raw magical energy, into energy aligned with one or more of the six Crafts using our cosmic shards, then release that energy according to the instructions of a spell.
[he holds up his arms, and intricate metallic fractal tattoos materialize on his arms, sparks of crimson energy crackling over them]
These are my cosmic shards; we get them when we ritually awaken ourselves to magic. I haven't remembered quite how that happens yet, but I know that one thing we have to do is derive our own Axiom, which is a set of instructions for handling and converting cosmic essence. My Axiom determines which Crafts I can access -- all six, in my case -- and how efficiently I can process and convert essence into spells.
no subject
Date: 2025-02-07 10:02 pm (UTC)Your "Axiom?" I understand the concept of . . . handling essence or energy in certain ways, but how what exactly is being . . . provided with "instructions?"
no subject
Date: 2025-02-08 12:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-08 08:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-08 09:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-09 11:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-10 12:39 am (UTC)[thinks for a moment]
...I'm going to mangle this metaphor awfully, but imagine if there was a musical instrument that was enchanted to play itself, if it was given the right score. The enchantment can reproduce all the fingerings and techniques a musician would need, but it needs the actual instrument to play and the musical score to tell it how to turn those techniques into a song. My Axiom is like that enchantment, my cosmic shards are like the instrument, and each spell is a different song.
Does that make it any clearer, or am I just digging myself a deeper hole?
no subject
Date: 2025-02-11 05:23 am (UTC)That is clearer, actually. Though . . . I take it that you yourself are not a musician?
no subject
Date: 2025-02-11 05:25 am (UTC)