McDonald-Isom

TREATISE ON MAGIC (excerpt):

INTRODUCTION:

The purpose of this document is to explain the origins of magic and mysticism as recorded by Gaius Horace Victorinus of Val Magus. His original writings were lost several centuries ago.  However, an illuminated manuscript of Victorinus’ works recently was discovered in the Library of the White Circle among dusty tomes of forgotten lore. Some of the original text was lost due to translation, and, to our dismay, whole sections were lost due to smoke and fire damage. Even so, this work irrevocably represents the evil of mages and the fate of world if nothing is done to prevent this disaster.

A BRIEF HISTORY:

Victorinus, a native Korrelan, lived in the years 964 thru 1019, before the coming of the Black Wars. His life represents a time when mysticism was considered the earth’s life-blood and not a mere toy for the rich.

Even at an early age, Victorinus was noted as having special abilities. His father, Lucius Calvisius Sabinus, was an advisor to Lord Decius, Commander of the Northern Islands (This realm has been traced to what is now known as Gastria and it’s present Empire). Being from a wealthy family, Victorinus was schooled in the mystical arts by professors brought from all over Korrel. It was noted that, at first, Sabinus refused to send his son to the academies at Val Magus, but eventually he was forced to recognize his son as something other than ordinary, and sent him away. The academies where renowned for their mages, and it was a school where Victorinus’ abilities could be refined (as well as controlled). At only twelve years of age, Victorinus was the youngest applicant accepted into Val Magus. By the time he was seventeen, he had successfully completed all of the Tests of Knowledge and began his research into the topic of mysticism. While still too young to be considered one of the great minds of Val Magus, Victorinus was renowned throughout Korrel for his insights into the origins of the mystic. During the Age of Might, two-hundred years before the fall of civilization, Victorinus wrote a short text that shook the foundations of the institutions of Val Magus. This text, which was known as The Treatise of Magic, theorized that there was a tie between what we now know as magic and the health of the world.

MAGIC AND MYSTICISM:

In today’s literature, there are seven schools of thought for magic. These schools include Astral, Charms, Divination, Elemental, Illusion, Protection, and Necromancy. Each school devotes itself to a certain style of magic, and each type of magic emits a particular type of aura that identifies that school. However, there is one concept that seems to elude the great minds of today’s thought: where does this seemingly infinite power derive it’s origin?

Victorinus stated in his treatise that “magic is of Gaia.” It exists for everyone, but only a rare few realize its potential. This magic can be seen on a rainy day when the sun’s brilliant rays combine with the drops of water. What mage can compare, for all is interwoven as one. Without the one, you cannot have the other — all would fail, the end of life.”

“Magic,” he wrote, “should be used sparingly, allowing the world time to replenish itself.”

He surmised that magic was the blood of Gaia itself, and, like all creatures of this world, if this blood were to be released in large quantities, Gaia would cease to live. When a scratch draws blood, a little escapes without causing permanent damage, but can it be assumed that if a lot of magic/ blood was used all at once, then Gaia would cease to live.

Recently, we have noticed a decrease in the growth of our harvests. Ever since the Black Wars, a time when magic was used haphazardly to our chagrin, Gaia has ceased to be the thriving world our ancestor’s once knew. Instead, it has become a cesspool for magic leeches and false prophets. Each of these assassins are scratching away at an already depleted resource.

Victorinus called himself the first “Preserver.” It was his mission to make the mages of Korrel understand that they must be conscious of their wanton ways. “It is my passion to restore life to our world, so that those who come behind me may appreciate the beauty of a bird’s flight or see a tree sway in the wind … when magic ceases to exists who then will say, ‘I wish I had done more’.”

OUR MESSAGE:

As a Preserver you can stop the decay of our world. You would not be alone as we all stand up and fight for our lives. Victorinus was banished from Val Magus for trying to convince the Great Council that the unrestrained use of magic was evil and should be stopped before we are destroyed. He was branded a heretic and banned from all schools of philosophy. Like us, you too can become a follower of The Preservist and take a step toward insuring that your children will have a place to live.

“. . .Time escapes me as I write this, my last passage. Magic did not consume me as I anticipated. It lives beneath my feet and courses through my veins, but I still can not touch it. I wonder at the people who say they can see such marvels. Wind in my hair, I look towards the sun and see the painful realities of this world with tears in my eyes. Would that I could see magic again … my lost lover, my death.”

CONCLUSION:

Join our cause and see what Victorinus could not. Learn the methods to replenish magic to our world. Help us keep Gaia’s life-blood where it belongs. We are the Preservers, we are the heroes, and in time, we will be regarded as saviors.

“To the earth you return,
seep to the core this desolate place
replenish and burn
as once you did
before you were encased.”

Chairman of the Council of Preservists,
Mons. Guillome F. DeBray