A Wizard Did It

It's best to start any writing out strong, which is why I've decided to stray from the topic of the post, which was magic, from the get-go and just talk about the project in general.  I actually created a rough timeline for the history of this particular idea.  It started off looking to be about four or five lines long, and suddenly overtook an entire page, and it still isn't finished.  Well, it's close to finished, but it will bleed over into another page, and that surprised me quite a bit.  I blame the Collective, which most likely makes little sense to you right now, since I haven't gotten around to talking about them yet.  I think.

Nope, I checked, no mention yet.  Well, they're pretty important, and I'll talk about them next time.  Probably next time, since they're pretty crucial to, well, just about everything.  Also, I would like to take this time to predict that such semi-organized posts will probably not last much longer, as the wealth of spontaneous information will eventually dry up, and I'll actually have to put effort into the idea.  Basically, just a cover-my-ass statement so when I get stuck in a rut, I don't look like I'm just jerking off.

Shit, now I'm supposed to talk about magic.  I won't lie, I haven't put too much thought into magic yet, and I may never do so.  Simply put, most magic is not applicable to this particular story.  Magic, at least in the confines of this idea, is derived from the gods.  Since the gods are not present, the great majority of magic is not either.  So yes, the ability to summon fireballs and magical portals and all that crap was available in the history of this world, but is gone now.  Except for blood magic, but that's an entirely different bag of worms.

I probably didn't explain blood magic very well last time, since I didn't really try, or want to.  But this time is different, because I plan on trying.  Damn this post is very half-assed; if I were smart, I'd just delete it and call it a loss.  But, that's what we're trying to fix with this whole experiment, so shitty post it is.  Anyways, this paragraph sucks, time to get a little more serious and start fresh.

As stated previously, magic is derived mostly from the gods.  However, every human has a degree of power within themselves.  It is this latent power reserve that allows humans to utilize magic.  Theoretically, all living creatures have this power, but no animals have ever been recorded using magic.  This power is independent from free will and destiny, and will lie dormant until tapped.

In the past, mages knew very little about this power source.  Though they knew mankind had some special quality, they believed that it was a link to the gods, and that all power flowed through the link into humans.  The mages learned to channel many forms of energy, using various tools and devices.  The most common were the staff, the wand, and the tome, but many different items were used for different tasks.  The act of channeling took time and energy, and often weakened the magic, but it was necessary, for the alternative was horrible.

The human body was not meant to project magic.  It can channel magic fine, but casting spells from the physical self would cause extreme pain and nausea, lasting for hours or even days, and would leave terrible side effects.  Spells cast from the body itself were more powerful, though a mage casting in such a fashion would often cut years or even decades off his lifespan with every spell cast.  Mages would only cast magic from their bodies at the utmost need, when death seemed the only other alternative.

There were rudimentary ways of using another human being as the focus of casting, but these ways were primitive and evil.  All involved death, and often called for mutilation and torture.  It is from these barbaric acts that the term blood magic was coined.  Those who practiced blood magic were either insane or monstrous, and was considered a forbidden school of magic.  However, the collapse of the Church of Destiny would drastically change these views.

When the Children of Fate died, the gods left the planet entirely.  Though some latent power remained for a time, it was clear before long that the old ways of magic were soon to be lost.  The mages scrambled to find a new source of magic, but all efforts failed.  However, as free will grew, the wise came up with increasingly innovative ideas.  In the second year of the Great Decline, the mages turned to the study of the human body, using Atoners as human guinea pigs.  It was a win-win deal: the mages were able to test on a living subject, and the Atoners were gifted with death, after only a small deal of suffering.

They soon discovered the latent power hidden within all humans, and were amazed at the potential it presented.  However, the power was limited to the human body; it could not be channeled into any nonliving vessel, and required physical casting.  The mages began working on ways to limit the physical injury incurred from physical casting, but no solutions were found.  Finally, with a degree of reluctance, the mages began work on modernizing the sacrificial rituals once forbidden across the globe.  Blood magic returned to the world.

The mages discovered how to enslave other humans, and how to make them into zombie-like followers.  Then, by etching marks of power into their skin, the mage could use the human as if they were a staff or tome.  The mage would channel the power through his slave, and the magic would cast from the slave, causing no harm to the mage.  Of course, the slave would suffer all the pain, but the slaves were often too stupefied to notice.  It soon became a common sight to see a mage walking with several slaves on chain leashes, the marks and ciphers tattooed or carved into their skin, with the mark of ownership placed on the forehead.

Well, that's a little better.  And, though I could go on, this page is acting very laggy, and it's making it so that the text won't keep up with what I'm typing.  So, due to annoyance, that's all for tonight.  Lag can go suck it.