Magick

Magick is a curious thing, to say the least. It has been a source of mystery and interest to mundayne creatures since the dawn of time, by recent technological advances have lead to breakthroughs in our understanding of the true nature of magic and its properties.

Specifically, much our knowledge about this fascinating topic is thanks to the tireless efforts of Dr. Phinneas Flumpert (shown right). Dr. Flumpert, originally trained in biology at the great universities of Neerhemhind, is credited with founding the burgeoning field of Magickology, which studies the presence of magic through empirical means. The information presented in this article is a summary of his pioneering books Magic and the Body and Chasing the Blue Mist: Conversations with the Magickal Folk of the Erkenheld. Flumpert is on temporary hiatus from his studies, as he was recently drafted into the Imperial Army and given the post of clerk.

Biology and Magic
One of Flumpert's earliest findings was that magickal beings have a number of curious biological deviations from mundayne beings, especially in the brain. Upon dissecting an elf brain, Flumpert discovered that much of the neuroanatomy was strikingly similar to that of a human brain except for the presence of what appeared to be an extra sensory lobe. Flumpert found a similar lobe in gnome and mage brains, giving support to his claim that this lobe is associated with the perception and processing of magickal input. Subsequent research carried out with human bloodlines with confirmed elvish ancestors has shown that a smaller version of the Flumpert lobe (as it is now called) exists in mundayne creatures which exhibit some sort of magickal ability.

The discovery of the Flumpert lobe excited the scientific community for two reasons. First, it confirmed what has been suspected for millennia, namely, that the ability to harness and use magic is a trait passed through genetic transmission. Second, Flumpert's discovery showed that the traces of magic can be seen through its impact of physiological structures, thus opening a door for the empirical study of magic.

A very recent discovery has found that there seems to be a link between corporeality and magickal abilities, with the presence of the living, breathing organismic form inhibiting, in some way, the use and perception of magick. Not much is known, but certain established facts do point to this apparent relationship, namely, the significantly longer life spans of magical species and the apparent ethereal nature of spirits and deities.

Classes of Magic
From his anthropological excursions to the Erkenheld Forest and sections of the Klevarcht Mountains, Flumpert has gathered a large amount of information about how magick is understood and classified by those who can use it. For this massive undertaking, Flumpert became fluent in several gnomish dialects and two distinct elvish languages, and spent 2 years traversing the forest in order to interview knowledgeable elders and observe magical rituals. In a truly peculiar chapter, Flumpert describes his meeting with a spirit of the forest, sometimes called the Sprite Queen.

Flumpert found that virtually all magickal creatures describe three broad classes of magic: elemental magick, tinkering, and social graces. Elemental magick includes any magick that draws on natural phenomena. This magick can be related to inanimate objects, but also includes magical interactions with flora and fauna. Those who use this class of magick describe the experiences as suddenly becoming aware of a strong current rushing past, and finding away to channel the current through their own bodies in order to direct its effects.

Tinkering refers to magick that takes the form of technological advancement, and includes any form of magick that is involved in the unnatural construction of things or orchestration of events. The most strictly logical of all forms of magick, the act of tinkering is described by one desert elf as "being able to see all levels of the thing in question at once, and while you hold them there, seeing the precise configuration that of all those disparate elements need to be in." Examples of tinkering are surprisingly broad-ranging, including the mechanical pets of the San-Kesh Desert (see left), the picking of locks, and military strategy.

Social graces are those aspects of magick that are evoked by the interaction of sentient beings with each other. Flumpert describes this as the slipperiest form of magick, taking form as it does most often through humor, charm, and grace. This also encompasses languages and magickal tactics of domination and intimidation. The concept of glamours, or the ability to shape what the person you are interacting with sees, also fall into this class. The graces are, perhaps, the easiest types of magick to use, as well: Flumpert suggests that beings such as Red Elves, who use this magick at a near constant rate, do not show the signs of wear or need to go into the trance states that elemental magic and tinkering require.