Magic and the common people

[kjetilkverndokken]

The intro for the book does state that magic are rare, very rare. But how does it affect the common people?
Does it change the life of this medieval world beyond creating more mystic stories? Is magic used for anything, as a beneficial thing for a society - or are the magic in itself a quirk that have few uses, but are scary non the less?

The reason I ask, is that as soon as one put something into a world it changes it - if the magic have little to be of use to the common people - what is the magic for, why is it there?
Could the game world be "better" if player characters do not have the ability to have magic, or is it a big enough part of the setting that it does not matter.

[Pierstoval]

For the three factions, magic is understood differently, and so for the common people.

About Demorthèn, people believe that Demorthèn are the spirits representant in the real world, and their power is not their, but only a manifestation of the will of the spirits around people.

Although it's very rare, only a few Demorthèn are really able to call the spirits like that. Usually, Demorthèn use their knowledge about tradition and sacred materials (plants, roots, ointments, specific stones, etc.) to cure disease, and speak some chants to the spirits, hoping for mercy and kindness.


For the Temple and the religion of the prophet Soustraine, it is kinda different. Common people only believe in the Unique to be servants to him. They pray and hope for an answer, and so the event may happen or not.
For the PCs, they usually play "Chosen Ones", which are so faithful and passionate of their religion that when they call for the Unique, they have a lot of chance to have a good answer from him, and so common people see this as a miracle (in the rules, the Discipline is called "Miracles", kinda explicit ).

But as for the Demorthèn, the Chosen Ones are really rare, maybe 10 to 20 in Taol-Kaer are really able to call a miracle, the other just pray for it and have less influence.


And finally, for the Magientists, they only use physical material, so it's not really called magic. It's heresy for the Temple, and an offense to the spirits for the Demorthèn, so maybe the other factions can see it as dark magic, but anyway, it's just chemical and alchemical, but more than our real world


I hope this answer is good enough for you

[kjetilkverndokken]

Yeah, it kind of gives me some clue on the vibe.
Demorthèn is kind of like Animism in a way then if i understand it correctly.

But with Magiscience - how does that affect the life of people. Is it only the rich and powerful that have access to their technological wonders, or are there some form of gadgets for the lesser people?
Also, is their technology traded with the other factions or closely guarded?

[Pierstoval]

Yeah, it kind of gives me some clue on the vibe.
Demorthèn is kind of like Animism in a way then if i understand it correctly.

But with Magiscience - how does that affect the life of people. Is it only the rich and powerful that have access to their technological wonders, or are there some form of gadgets for the lesser people?
Also, is their technology traded with the other factions or closely guarded?

I don't know if it's Magiscience, or Magience like in French, but maybe Nel can tell us...

Anyway, in the kingdom of Reizh, many cities and villages are lighted by the "Nébulaires" (Nebulars?) which are simply lights of different colors, depending of the Flux that feeds it.
For an idea about the price, one Nebular is worth 3 Azure Daols, and the basic light axe costs 2 Azure Daols. If you remember the currency, 1 Frost daol = 10 Azure daols = 100 Ember daols.

About the technology itself, the plans, ideas and ways to make stuff are guarded in all magientists universities, but they are glad to sell the Artefacts to the whole peninsula, even though Gwidre is recusant to accept this technology they consider as heresy. In Taol-Kaer, the capital, Osta-Baille, have been restored by Athaonthù, a magientist leader, some 200 years before the actual storyline. He build huge elevators to go from the bottom to the top of massive rocks on which is built some quarters of the city. So they're used commonly in Osta-Baille, for example.

In almost every great city you can find a Magientist reseller, and get some Flux cells for your artefacts, but it has a price.
In the Book 1 - Universe, the price depends of the kingdom you are in. For example, the basic mineral flux cell is 7 ember daols in Reizh, but 12 in Gwidre, which is almost twice the price, because of its rarity in the kingdom of the Unique.

[Deorman]

Theorically everyone is able to become a magientist, provided you have enough money to pay for lessons.
Magientist are modern thinkers. Many of them want the people to have a bigger part in affairs of the state and yearn for a parliament.
Nevertheless the most often, only nobles or bourgeois can hope to get a grip on principles of magiscience.
Despite its blessing common people usually view magiscience with suspicion and aren't fond of gadgets even if some are available.
Still some huge machinery need many operator, and there are many worker educated in the use of these machines even if they don't know how it does work.

Magientist try to expend their science and philosophy everywhere in the peninsula but they still greedily keep their secret. It is indeed closely guarded as you suspected.

[kjetilkverndokken]

I like it, seems like they have really gone far with making the setting feel alive. To many fantasy rpg's have magic or science in it without a good reason why its there and how people react to it.

[Pierstoval]

That's exactly my feeling about magic ! Even though I love the idea to be able to throw a fireball on a man, there would be no "logical" reason for a way to do it, whereas in SoE, magience has a real explanation (Flux is a fluid coming from everything in the world, that makes some sense)
The Chosen One accomplish miracles from their faith to the Unique, as for popes having be able to cure people in the word, called also a Miracle.
And for the Demorthèn, it's like you say : quite animist, but does make sens in the fact that the different Cairns and mono/megaliths created by Demorthèn avoid demonic foes from the places, which can be called as a spiritual sanctuary, like we can see in some far places in Africa or in the Amer-Indian stories and legends.

[iznurda]

Most of people think magic exist but they never see it for real. Tradition and history of the three kingdom encourage this belief.

People are very traditionnalist so the magience and his artefacts are viewed with suspicion, or rejection, except in Reizh (only in big cities, in reality).
Magientist have some secrets but they are progresist and their knowledge is diffusing with time : steam&flux mills, nebulars, urbanism (sewages, lifts, ...), airships (!!! but it's forbidden after a big crash) and the conventional science. There are, universities, especially in Reizh, were scholars can learn in many domains, not only magience. So in Reihz also arise from new schools of thought (reflexion about the power by the people, roots of a kind of republic or democratic government).

You will see there is many nuances with factions: nothing is all white or all black.

iz