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CyranoDeBergerac
Star
- Joined
- May 27, 2020
According to physicists there are four fundamental interactions, also known at the four fundamental forces that do not appear to be reducible down to more basic interactions. These four forces are: gravity, electromagnetism, strong and weak interactions. Some physicists propose that there is a fifth force in the universe that cannot be reduced to other interactions and they are correct in that proposal, but they will never be able to empirically prove their hypothesis. They are correct though, there is a fifth force, magic. They will never be able to prove the existence of magic, however, because Magic is an Art. You cannot scientifically know or perform magic, one person can say a word of power such as "Abrahadabra" and nothing would occur. Another one may say it and bring down mountains.
Magic inherently competes with science, because Science requires that 1+1 always equals two, and magic is the inherent refutation of that proposition. Because of this, technology made as recently as the mid-fifties is bound to be reduced to scraps after any amount of time in the presence of a particularly powerful magic user. Airmen in the 1940's were the first to note this strange phenomenon, attributing their unexplained mechanical failures to "gremlins" and not to the number of magic users within their ranks and at the battlefields they were flying over. Perhaps it was also no coincidence that the first article noting disappearances in the triangle created by Miami, San Juan and Bermuda due to mechanical failures was published early in 1950.
Perhaps a more modern example might better illustrate this principle. Imagine, if you will, a young woman driving around the bend of a mountainous road, almost as far from civilization as it's possible to get east of the Mississippi. Now this young woman, from appearances, would seem to be perfectly normal. Driving an affordable modern car made of the safest materials and equipped with an advanced computer to control everything from the wind shield wipers to the engine and brakes. Now, as mentioned this young woman does not appear to have a magic bone in her body, but perhaps she has a reputation for bricking her smart phones and never seemed to keep a new car or device running for long without it needing near constant maintenance. Perhaps, she's never been on a plane or spent much time at hospitals, or maybe she has just been lucky. It could after all just be a twist of fate that her being had become so in tune to the arcane energies that flowed in the world around her that the delicate equipment of her vehicle could not withstand the uncertainty of the energy that now surrounded it. Causing the car to breakdown on the side of the windy mountain road in the middle of nowhere.
Now to continue down this illustration, add grey storm clouds to the sky and the slight echo of thunder in the distance. in the search for shelter and assistance the girl then goes into the woods to try and find anyone at all to give her succor. As she searches it begins to rain and not only does she want to find assistance, she Needs it. Now, Need is one of the most ancient kind of spells, and the type that one does not cast without great consideration. It requires much channeling of energy and will, but it is also the exact type of rough instrument that a prospective mage in need might cast in a time of distress without knowing that she was even doing it. The prospective mage would feel warm, filled with energy, and experience heightened sense for a moment, with the rain falling around her, and then the spell would transport her through the woods and over the hills to the nearest place to find shelter. She would be tired, wet and maybe hungry by the time she arrived to the clearing that contained Jacob's cabin, but besides the slight passage of time she would never have realized she had done magic until it was pointed out.
Not only does this hypothetical demonstrate the basic principles of how magic interacts with modern technology as well as providing an explanation for why Jacob felt the odd pinprick on the back of his neck that indicated that someone was approaching his cabin on the near side of his wards. That was something strange because he had wards designed to do two things: first, stop all really big and powerful things from getting closer than a mile from his valley; second, put a suggestion in the mind of all plain mortals that would direct them to go somewhere else. So the reality that there was something either strong enough to get around his wards without being sensed, or sly enough to sneak through them coming towards him certainly put him on edge.
Jacob looked like a man from another century as he sat at his reading chair beside the fire in his cabin that he had built himself over a period of two-hundred years. He wore jeans with a belt that had loops cut into it for pistol and rifle cartridges, there were a pair of farmer's boots next to the door and a button up flannel shirt that all combined made him look like a farmer from the 1950's. His cabin was a simple thing, with walls lined with shelves of books spanning four hundred years.; a kitchenette to the right of the door,; a hallway beside the kitchenette that led to a bathroom, a room for his apprentice and his own bedroom.; there was also a trapdoor hidden beneath one of the rugs that led to his basement laboratory. His innate sense of the surroundings of his valley told him that whoever was approaching his cabin was about three-hundred yards away and closing.
Rising from his comfortable chair he set the grimoire he was reading on his stand next to his reading chair and turned towards the door, in an umbrella stand next to the door were two instruments that he called to him. His staff and a Henry repeating rifle. He leveled both at the door as he sensed the intruder came to the large, circular clearing that he had created around his cabin, and then he waited as that person crossed the clearing and came to his door. To his surprise, the person knocked, the sound of rain almost drowning it out.
"Who is it?" Jacob asked cocking his rifle.
Magic inherently competes with science, because Science requires that 1+1 always equals two, and magic is the inherent refutation of that proposition. Because of this, technology made as recently as the mid-fifties is bound to be reduced to scraps after any amount of time in the presence of a particularly powerful magic user. Airmen in the 1940's were the first to note this strange phenomenon, attributing their unexplained mechanical failures to "gremlins" and not to the number of magic users within their ranks and at the battlefields they were flying over. Perhaps it was also no coincidence that the first article noting disappearances in the triangle created by Miami, San Juan and Bermuda due to mechanical failures was published early in 1950.
Perhaps a more modern example might better illustrate this principle. Imagine, if you will, a young woman driving around the bend of a mountainous road, almost as far from civilization as it's possible to get east of the Mississippi. Now this young woman, from appearances, would seem to be perfectly normal. Driving an affordable modern car made of the safest materials and equipped with an advanced computer to control everything from the wind shield wipers to the engine and brakes. Now, as mentioned this young woman does not appear to have a magic bone in her body, but perhaps she has a reputation for bricking her smart phones and never seemed to keep a new car or device running for long without it needing near constant maintenance. Perhaps, she's never been on a plane or spent much time at hospitals, or maybe she has just been lucky. It could after all just be a twist of fate that her being had become so in tune to the arcane energies that flowed in the world around her that the delicate equipment of her vehicle could not withstand the uncertainty of the energy that now surrounded it. Causing the car to breakdown on the side of the windy mountain road in the middle of nowhere.
Now to continue down this illustration, add grey storm clouds to the sky and the slight echo of thunder in the distance. in the search for shelter and assistance the girl then goes into the woods to try and find anyone at all to give her succor. As she searches it begins to rain and not only does she want to find assistance, she Needs it. Now, Need is one of the most ancient kind of spells, and the type that one does not cast without great consideration. It requires much channeling of energy and will, but it is also the exact type of rough instrument that a prospective mage in need might cast in a time of distress without knowing that she was even doing it. The prospective mage would feel warm, filled with energy, and experience heightened sense for a moment, with the rain falling around her, and then the spell would transport her through the woods and over the hills to the nearest place to find shelter. She would be tired, wet and maybe hungry by the time she arrived to the clearing that contained Jacob's cabin, but besides the slight passage of time she would never have realized she had done magic until it was pointed out.
Not only does this hypothetical demonstrate the basic principles of how magic interacts with modern technology as well as providing an explanation for why Jacob felt the odd pinprick on the back of his neck that indicated that someone was approaching his cabin on the near side of his wards. That was something strange because he had wards designed to do two things: first, stop all really big and powerful things from getting closer than a mile from his valley; second, put a suggestion in the mind of all plain mortals that would direct them to go somewhere else. So the reality that there was something either strong enough to get around his wards without being sensed, or sly enough to sneak through them coming towards him certainly put him on edge.
Jacob looked like a man from another century as he sat at his reading chair beside the fire in his cabin that he had built himself over a period of two-hundred years. He wore jeans with a belt that had loops cut into it for pistol and rifle cartridges, there were a pair of farmer's boots next to the door and a button up flannel shirt that all combined made him look like a farmer from the 1950's. His cabin was a simple thing, with walls lined with shelves of books spanning four hundred years.; a kitchenette to the right of the door,; a hallway beside the kitchenette that led to a bathroom, a room for his apprentice and his own bedroom.; there was also a trapdoor hidden beneath one of the rugs that led to his basement laboratory. His innate sense of the surroundings of his valley told him that whoever was approaching his cabin was about three-hundred yards away and closing.
Rising from his comfortable chair he set the grimoire he was reading on his stand next to his reading chair and turned towards the door, in an umbrella stand next to the door were two instruments that he called to him. His staff and a Henry repeating rifle. He leveled both at the door as he sensed the intruder came to the large, circular clearing that he had created around his cabin, and then he waited as that person crossed the clearing and came to his door. To his surprise, the person knocked, the sound of rain almost drowning it out.
"Who is it?" Jacob asked cocking his rifle.