User:Yunzhong Hou/Sandbox/Mage/4

Themes
These umbrella themes have to do with the concept of Magic/Mage overall, and will intertwine in unusual ways as the story unfolds.

Fantasy and Science Fiction

Throughout the story the reader is under the impression that it's all a fantasy world, albeit a very complex one and perplexing one. There is not much reason to suspect that it could be otherwise. Later on it is revealed that the whole framework is developed on the foundations of a post-industrial society that had progressed to the point that all different forms of "magic" were possible. This post-Human Mind Project society was capable of such science-fiction-themed abilities as warp/space travel, restorative medicine, immortality/perpetual youth/vanquishing death, nanotechnology, integrated biological cybernetics, and much more. And then, through a certain process to be revealed during the course of the story, the technological aspects of that former society vanished, as well as its civilization's form, to be replaced by a pseudo-romantic, pseudo-utopian fantasy society. And through it all, no direct hints were left of any technologically advanced society. Instead, all this is presented throughout the story in droplet fashion as supposedly supporting the idea that this was all fantasy. The reader, as do the characters in the story, are led to accept unorthodox (but in this society very common) and totally wrong explanations about how the world works, and then to rationalize away their rationality. This continues until they can barely question anything that happens in the world around them, so confused are they deep inside. Thereafter, they become the puppets of a hidden hand in the great scheme of things. Perhaps the most significant tip-off points that this was a science-fiction-based chronicle in disguise is missing. Instead of magic sprouting from the same, coldly rational analysis that science embodies, science itself is twisted so that the magical potential appears to arise out of other, clearly fantasy-themed reservoirs. Additionally, spells are often not made in the versatile but difficult-to-learn sense that Lorica portrays. They are made as concrete, distinct units that are referred to by the society itself as individual spells - which must be individually learned. While there are a host of connections that, looking back, the reader and protagonist realize made the truth painfully obvious, these connections are not obvious at all and therefore can easily go unnoticed.

The only entities in the story who have a firm grasp of the truth do not present their side of the story in any direct fashion; instead, their communications are either stealthy or muddled. Meanwhile, those characters who are in a sense enlightened with their understanding of the world do not have much of an opportunity to express/debate it and are at times very confused. This results in a lack of trust that other characters have for these enlightened ones, and also leaves the reader guessing at just what all the quirks and surrealities mean and portend.

False Maxims

The protagonists (and by connection, the reader) begin the fall into the confusing abyss practically the moment the story starts, as they are given a battery of instruction that quickly convinces them that certain things - things which aren't true by our knowledge - are true in their world. The reader, because this is after all the start of the story and the classical time for orientation, is sucked into this perverse rationality as well, and without even noticing that they are falling into this potential quagmire. Thereafter, as almost everything in the story world seems to make sense, there is absolutely no reason to question the maxims (implicit and explicit) that society had introduced from the outset. The fact that so much of the story makes sense in this context goads readers to conclude - erroneously - that the maxims are what the story, and world, are based on. Yet there soon starts to creep a growing number of troublesome issues. While small, they are but the first rumblings of an avalanche which ultimately greatly changes the direction of the expected story (to the main story path). The experiences that the characters encounter is wholly unlike what society had led them to believe, and goes against the teachings (the maxims). As a result, the characters - and the reader - get steadily more confused about what the truth may actually be. In attempting to reason things out, the characters fall into a frame of mind which both meshes and doesn't mesh together with the storyline. This in turn causes the reader, who is likewise trying to figure out what is going on, to be likewise perplexed. However, because of what the reader had initially accepted so readily, the reader can't change the frame of mind enough to fit the facts. Add on to that the fact that the Lorican magical system is utterly non-intuitive, that the society introduces several very different interpretations of magic, and the internal rationalizations of the characters, and all attempts to unlock the truth ahead of time fall into chaos.

Deliberate Confusion

The story also utilizes different methods for confusing readers even more in addition to the convoluted storyline and guesses at the backstory and foundations. Magic spells are often confused with similes and metaphors for strictly physical and nonmagical actions, yet the response of the characters often refuses to distinguish between which mode is the real one. Topics and lines of thought jump from place to place, perspective to perspective; sometimes even the focus of attention changes while a character is in the middle of a prolonged action or deliberation. At various points in the story, entire spans of the story that proceeded it are found to be incorrect views of the truth, or validated, in a half-truth manner. Backstories shift as the readers' understandings are guided to diverging, often totally wrong paths, and these then have to be correlated with poor memories and other inconsistencies. At some points, a reader with a misguided interpretation may be able to continue reading for quite a while and rationalizing away inconsistencies before noticing that he had just veered off on a totally deliberately wrong mindset, and will then have to backtrack.

Hence, the rise of a surreal mystery that lasts the entire story (and is resolved at the end).

Self-imposed Limitations on What is Achievable

Because the actual backstory is that a hyper-advanced society had developed the magic system, in theory practically anything is possible. In actuality there is much rationale for those enlightened entities' keeping things in the current state, which is explained through the story. Additionally, society imposes on itself its own determination of what is possible and what is not; many uses of magic cannot be done by the ordinary peoples, and not even imagined done by them. When one encounters a situation which should not be possible, the sociological/psychological system works in tandem to convince everyone around that person that he is either crazy or lying. On top of this, there are actually various levels of understanding of different truths, each allowing their believers to interpret magic and its uses in different ways and thus unlocking different possibilities for spellcasting. Hence, the hunt for the ultimate truth: for only the ultimate truth can unlock all the magic and take society back to its pre-cataclysmic state.

Systems
Magic in Mage comes in a few different systems, which are entire paradigms of how magic works. All of them can be viewed as different angles of the same thing (Magic); however, people can follow one or more than one system in how they do magic.

Common System
Known to exist by: Practically everyone

Learned by: Those who have learned the kinetamancy discipline (mostly the military)

Kinetamancy is the layman's simple understanding of magic: as a physical means of expression for bodily energy, a "vitality" of sorts. It is based on the idea that energy can be altered/transmitted across the boundary between the body and the rest of the world.

The field is the most limited of all magical disciplines and is the only form of magic available within the Kinetamancy system. Hence, those who only know of this form of magic simply call it "Magic". It is also the simplest, and the most obvious, so beginning magi very often begin with learning this art. The methodology greatly resembles Tai Qi Quan, with ritualistic bodily movements taking advantage of breath-energy and muscle-energy that create, move, and end magical effects. No kinetamancy can be cast without making the proper movements, which in turn requires freedom of movement. In society, kinetamancy almost invariably leads to a career in itself, the military, or law enforcement. It is also very caster-centered; all spells start with parts of the caster's body as a point of reference. The magic that kinetamancy is responsible for are:


 * Flame manipulation (Ignite, extinguish, fire bolt/ball, fire breath, suck-in fire, fire trail, fire wall (moving or static), fire whip, immolation, temporary fire enchant-weapon, fire "dragon")
 * Fire without a sustaining fuel
 * Entropy manipulation (Warm up, cool)
 * Light manipulation (Flare)
 * Sound manipulation (Sonic boom)

As there aren't many people who know about stronger spells, the generic war-magic is limited to the kinetamancy system. Kinetamancy lacks a resistance ability - meaning its effects can't be countered by a mage in opposition - making it effectively over-potent in wartime. There are no degrees of power in this discipline; however, the size of the spell can be controlled, and contact with it can be minimized.

Enforcement System
Known to exist by: Many people

Learned by: Most soldiers

One of the first greater things that a kinetamancer may learn is that magic has a greater capacity for differing intensities than many people believe. This is not known by everyone, but most who know what they're doing understand this concept. Its highlight is evident in the resistance category of spells (aka. counterspells), such as Banish fire and Repel fire. It thereby gives mages a greater degree of flexibility over fire manipulation. It also allows for a "levelling" system of spellcraft by which fires or flares can be made brighter or dimmer. Mages in opposition can superpower their spells to override counterspells, which in turn can be superpowered.

It is easier to make a spell weaker than normal, allowing for relatively cheap control over minor spells (such as igniting a cooking fire). It is only slightly harder to strengthen a spell, but the advantage is twofold: the spell is stronger (such as a brighter flare or a hotter flame) and it can only be countered by a counterspell that of its same level or higher. So, a fire whip that is doubly superpowered (level 3) can only be stopped by a counterspell of level 3 and greatly weakened by a counterspell of level 2 (where these levels are subjective and lack distinct increments). In most cases, however, countering a spell with a weaker counterspell is not very productive if even part of the spell lingers (because it can also be very powerful by itself). There is a seemingly infinite range of superpowering "levels" that can be developed for each spell, but training for them is separate and takes considerable time, so those who reach a high spell level are considered masters in that spell variety. In practice, relatively few people superpower any spell outside of the military, and only people who have had contact with military personnel know this fact.

The enforcement system's basic principles can be applied to certain non-fire spells as well, once a mage has learned them.

Order Theory
By far the predominant systematic way to view the world, order theory (also known as scientific theory) holds that everything - or at least most - are explainable by the laws of nature (such as the laws of physics). The only exception would be those caused by the intervention of gods or deities (which, of course, any religion must adopt in order to thrive for long). Hence, the result is a strange but commonly accepted paradox in which "magic" is found irrelevant yet at the same time very relevant through religion; the end result is that non-deity-inspired "magic" is banished from society's viewpoints.

By the start of the story, order theory had already very, very well established itself. Hundreds of years ago, or at least the records state, humanity was a base civilization; however, in the centuries since, society had used the scientific theory and its corollary, the scientific method, to make great technological progress that has made life better for practically everyone, all without the use of magic. Sure, the religions may claim their share of causations, but those are not everyday and at any rate not controllable nor to be experimented on. And given the centuries of data, chronicles, intelligent people and their honors, and currently living peoples' testimony, the power of the scientific theory can hardly be doubted.

Constantly, people would state that there's no such thing as magic; it's implicitly accepted that claims of "magic" are utter baloney. No social framework accepts claims of "magic". Schools and universities teach reverentially of the scientific theory, and professors and experiments prove their point unerringly. Given their battery of evidence and logic, how can any protest? Even when incidents do occur, peoples' conditioned, explanatory minds immediately jump to the conclusion that there must be a rational, non-magical explanation for it, or else that the gods have intervened.