A Travelling Mage’s Almanac

Excerpt from Master Eladri’s ‘Modern Magic - A Study of the Modern Mage.’

“Historically speaking, magic was once solely the realm of those fortunate enough to have spare time and resources to devote to study, practice and research. The nobles and scholars had no need to work the fields, so they could understand the secret of magic. The labourers and the farmers, those who keep busy to keep society aloft, are never able to stop their duties for the sake of a mage’s curiosity. 

I say ‘are’, of course, because they still are—there is a reason, to this day, that Aulprean kesh far outnumber their yolm counterparts in the mage’s classroom. It is my hope that the historical gap, forged centuries ago by the pressures of bodily difference and class divides, can be bridged—that all may discover the wonders of magic…”

While her new students enjoyed their new ability to sense and manipulate magic, Yenna took a moment to think about what had brought her here. In the span of less than a week, she had gone from a humble mage instructor, eager to spend her evenings with a fine book in the safety of her own home, to an explorer with a number of fascinating discoveries already waiting to be fully untangled.

Demvya had inadvertently brought her to the black book—that sinister volume that still defied scrutiny—and her desire to understand it had left her curious about the witch Lumale’s magical secrets. Yenna from a week ago would have baulked at the idea of meeting a witch, let alone calling her master—though she did that somewhat reluctantly. Now, out of a desire to understand the revelations of witchcraft, she had begun teaching once again. A more superstitious person might have called it fate, but Yenna wasn’t much of a believer in predetermined futures.

Turning her attention back to the four before her, Yenna watched them closely. There was a curious effect that came about when one first learned the secret of magic, a harmless little thing that was rather more enjoyable if one wasn’t forewarned of it. There was something about opening the gateway to one’s wellspring of magic that brought mind and soul closer.

Shortly after learning the secret of magic, a new mage will find themselves having a ‘realisation’—the exact nature of why this happens was of some consternation between mages¹. This realisation manifests in the certainty of some idea, concept, dream, hope or the like suddenly coming to the fore of the mind. Yenna remembered her realisation quite clearly, as do all mages—she dreamed of learning new things and sharing them with others. The realisation can be ignored, forgotten, cast aside in all the normal ways, but it continues to hold a special place in the mage’s heart—it is the true desire of that mage, made obvious.

Besides the sudden emergence of an idea that may shape one’s future, it also came with a rush of euphoria. The beaming faces before her reminded Yenna of why she had chosen to teach Tirk in the first place—she wished to understand the colour of Joy. Did Joy exist in the excitement of learning new things? Did Joy come about from beginnings and friendship? Was Joy formed from the smiles and laughter of friends? Did–

“Yenna! Yenna, look!” The mage’s thoughts were interrupted by Tirk, who was balancing a wisp of magic on the tip of his horn. The smile on his face was purest happiness, and all around couldn’t help but be transfixed. Still, the boy did love his questions. “When d’we get to cast real spells, Yenna?”

“First off,” Yenna straightened herself up, “It is Master Yenna as long as you are my students. Secondly…well. Here’s where I burst your bubble.”

The four of them stopped playing around, turning to face her. Even Chime’s painted-on expression seemed a little bit more serious. If granting the secret of magic was Yenna’s favourite part of taking in new students, grounding them with realistic expectations moments after was her least favourite.

“Aside from whatever I manage to figure out through my discussions with the witch Lumale, I’m afraid Arcane magic is quite a bit of studying. For now, we will simply be practicing control—once you can handle moving magic and manipulating it, I’ll introduce you to the beginnings of spellcasting.”

Tirk’s smile seemed to fade, as well as Jiin’s. Yenna couldn’t help but notice Chime’s antennae drooping, though Mayi seemed quick to bounce back.

“How hard could it be? I’ve already studied mundane medicine, and I’m sure that’ll give magic study a real run for its money!” Mayi grinned widely and put a hand on Jiin’s shoulder—her friend smiled right back.

“Besides, I do have some good news for you all!” Yenna hoped to pick up their spirits—there was nothing to ruin one’s enthusiasm for the Arcane like thinking it all hard work. “I’ll be tailoring all my tutoring to the things you would like to achieve! I also have good feelings that all of you will show me some exceptional skills. There were some interesting effects during your magical awakenings that I’d like to follow up on, too. But for now, let’s get some practice in.”

Before anyone could protest, the group spent the next couple of hours practicing the extreme basics, simply conjuring up and dismissing balls of magic, forming them into coherent shapes, bending and manipulating them until it all became muscle memory. 

Yenna found that Tirk could gather magic with impressive ease, and use the tip of his horn much like most mages used their fingers. When asked if they could do the same, Jiin and Mayi were incapable of drawing magic to their horns—Yenna wondered if it was something unique to the boy. It did seem to put a smile on his face, to have something special that only he could do.

Chime and Mayi were about as skilled as Yenna expected any beginner to be, but Jiin had excellent control—at least, that was what she thought at first.

“Jiin,” Yenna spoke to her as they took a short break, “Could I speak to Demvya? They have been suspiciously quiet, and I would like to ask them a few questions.”

Jiin gave a nod and closed her eyes. An awkward moment of silence passed between them as Yenna waited. Jiin furrowed her eyebrows.

“Uh, norm’ly Demvya’d be here by noWHAT DOST THOU WISH OF ME, MORTAL?” Cutting the yolm off mid-speech, Demvya began to speak in her usual tone—though Yenna noticed she sounded oddly distant.

“As a spirit– sorry, goddess, you might know about the wellspring of magic in most mortals, right? Did something happen when Jiin opened hers?”

“I AM FAMILIAR WITH THE SEAT OF POWER WITHIN MORTAL BEINGS. AS LOATHE AS I AM TO ADMIT IT, I WAS NOURISHING MY BEING WITH THE EXCESS. IT IS SHAMEFUL FOR ME AS A PROTECTOR TO TAKE WITHOUT ASKING–”

“Wait, hold on. You’re able to do that?” Yenna frowned. Demvya was functionally admitting to the high crime of taking a sip of water from a leaky pipe—it was simply more surprising that they could take it, rather than have it offered through prayer.

“IT IS A DEMON’S TECHNIQUE, A FOUL AND TERRIBLE THING, TO DRAIN A LIVING BEING. BUT, LO, I COULD FEEL MY ESSENCE FADING. I HAVE TAKEN ONLY THAT WHICH CAN SUSTAIN ME, THOUGH I GROW WEAK. NOW THAT THIS MORTAL HAS OPENED THE GATEWAY, TO DRAW FROM THEIR OWN SEAT OF POWER, TO FLOOD THEIR CORPOREAL FORM WITH ESSENCE, MY OWN FORM CANNOT RESIDE SOLELY WITHIN.”

The frown on Yenna’s face deepened—she had come to expect that all the spirit’s answers were obtuse, but the mage quietly wished that Demvya could say one thing without raising several more pressing questions.

“If you can’t reside within Jiin’s body, how are you holding together? I observed you forming a kind of shell around her. And, you have the ability to drain magic–erm, ‘essence’ from people?”

“I AM EXISTING WITHIN THE GAPS, AND WITHIN THE EXTENT OF THE MORTAL’S CONTROL. I AM ABLE TO AID THEIR MAGIC, AND I HOPE THAT THINE INSTRUCTION SHOULDST GRANT THEM GREATER REACH—I AM QUITE CRAMPED IN HERE.”

Yenna thought about this, though a thought side-tracked her. Did Demvya just make a joke? The expressionless face and monotone shouting was somewhat hard to read, but that did sound like a joke. Perhaps the spirit was learning something from her host? Regardless, it was difficult to tell what would become of this just from this point. The concept of one’s magical ‘reach’ was a largely academic point—a measurement of how far away one could manipulate magic directly. Could it coincide with some unknown facet of magic that Demvya natively understood? Yenna gave a small shrug and turned back to them.

“Rest for now, spirit. And, um, perhaps speak to Jiin about her giving you some more magic? I’m worried that you might begin to fade if you starve yourself like this.” 

After their magic practice, when everyone had returned to their duties, Yenna decided to get in some practice of her own. Today had been filled with joy—a pleasant day, filled with new discoveries. It stood to reason that it would be optimal conditions for pondering the colour of Joy. But where to start? Yenna had decided to remain under the tree she had been teaching from, a few books open around her—including her own journal, in which an enchanted pen filled in her thoughts for her².

“What is Joy?” Yenna decided to speak it aloud, though she was the only one within earshot—Chime had decided to see the town, and the rest of the party were busy elsewhere. Saying it aloud made it feel more tangible, somehow, but it didn’t answer the question.

She knew that Joy was related to a few things—the colour green, wind, and happiness to name a few. But Joy could represent so many other things. Just on this day, she had experienced the joy of learning new things, the joy of imparting knowledge, wonder, excitement, all these other happy feelings. Yenna couldn’t imagine how long it would take her to discover and categorise every single facet of how joy could exist, to say nothing of its elemental relations or its interactions with the world–

“Argh! I’m overthinking it!” Yenna tugged at the sides of her hat in frustration. Witchcraft was about feeling, not thinking. She could practically hear Lumale chuckling at her. Typical mage, the silupker would say, too busy staring at the clouds to see your hooves.

Holding out a hand, Yenna conjured a ball of magic and split away the colour of Joy. It swirled about like wind and threatened to fall apart for the mage’s lack of control, but she was determined now. Getting to her feet, she gripped it tight and thought about what Joy meant to her.

“Joy is when a student finally understands a lesson taught!” Yenna began to talk to the green glow in her hands, the words aloud feeling all the more real. “Joy is the wind through my hair, the rustling of the leaves on the trees! Joy is a fine book that sparks the imagination and transports you far away! Joy is the uncontrollable laughter between friends, the scent of a cozy dinner, the jaunty song carried on the wind…!”

As Yenna spoke, she recalled the good times in her life, the things that brought her happiness and sparked her imagination. As she spoke, the glowing fragment of magic swelled and grew in strength, and Yenna could feel power being drawn into it—both from within her and all around. A breeze picked up, and the leaves on the boughs above her rustled in a pleasing manner. Without thinking, she held the fragment aloft and let it go.

A brilliant, flowing light composed of all different shades of green burst forth from Yenna’s hand. It tugged at her robes, it ruffled her hair, it threatened to drag away her hat—it was all she could do to hold it down. The light—no, this Joyful wind—billowed under her caparison, kicking leaves up all around. Yenna couldn’t help but beam brightly at the dancing, beautiful lights that surrounded her.

She understood the colour of Joy.

¹ - Contemporary research is a muddle of theories with no real evidence, but the prevailing idea at the time was that the soul contained some kind of ‘truth’ within it. Attempts to influence this truth in mainstream arcane research have invariably failed, even in the time since.

² - It is around this point that the rambling nature of Yenna’s journal begins to make sense—for many of her entries, she uses an enchanted ink-pen that simply copies her thoughts directly onto the page. It is one of the reasons Yenna was able to write such an obscene amount of information while also finding the time to adventure, but it does make for some harsh reading at times.