The Start of Magic

[Steve]

This is related to my Fantasy Genetics and other threads on the introduction of the Sidhe into Earth's history.

 

Prior to sometime before 1000AD, refugees from Faerie escaped the Dark Lord, a powerful Sauron-like Unseelie, opening up gates across Europe, the Middle East and Asia to enable their escape. Magic came with them, flowing into the previously nonmagical Earth from Faerie and enabling magic to function by drawing on these flows, with magic at its most powerful nearest the gates.

 

In the year 1000AD, the war against the Dark Lord came to Earth, and ending the war required sealing all the gates everywhere.

 

However, something happened in the process of sealing the gates. Due to decades with the gates left open, the essence of that other reality seeped into the land and air around the gates, like radioactivity. This weakened something that used to be more solid in Earth's quantum mechanical rules and the closing of the gates functioned like an igniting spark, creating a form of Fae-like magic that was native to Earth.

 

The Sidhe became mortal, cut off from the magic that used to leak into Earth and became very long-lived mortals instead, with something extra in their makeup. They began interbreeding with humans, and such hybrids were more fertile than either pureblooded humans or Sidhe. Pureblooded Sidhe still exist, born to Sidhe parents, but the ones alive during the war are pretty much gone now, as their maximum age is about 400 years now without magic.

 

Sidhe sorcery remains at its strongest near the former gate sites due to the magical radioactivity tainting the ground and air. Some sites are more attuned to darker magics, due to the Unseelie that were based there. There are fears that the new magic is some sort of breakdown in reality, that something was damaged in the war and the use of magic is making things worse. Only some mages are aware of this. Others simply note that the stronger magical warping that used to only be right around the gates seems to be permeating further outwards from the former gate sites. Closest to the gates, things have a more "fairie tale" quality to them. Near former Unseelie strongholds and gates, this taint gives a darker, goblin-infested feeling to the land. Nobody is sure if the whole Earth will become like this or if it will stabilize into pockets of faerie tale weirdness.

 

It's now been a few centuries since the war ended, and I'm trying to see how Europe could have changed with magical wellsprings like this. I'm also looking for any suggestions on how I could flesh out my magic source concept.

[Markdoc]

Well the first thing that springs to mind is that people are going to react to this, and pretty dramatically. Those interested in magic would probably see fae places as valuable resources: there might even be conflict over controlling them or access to them. A mage's tower built on or near a fae gate would make that mage significantly more powerful. At the same time, it might make him into something else if he stays there. I can see that those who are wary of the fae (and that would be many, many people) might want to try and "cleanse" the area or at least control access to it. I can easily see local crusades like those we saw across Europe in the Middle Ages springing up.

 

cheers, Mark

[Steve]

Well the first thing that springs to mind is that people are going to react to this, and pretty dramatically. Those interested in magic would probably see fae places as valuable resources: there might even be conflict over controlling them or access to them. A mage's tower built on or near a fae gate would make that mage significantly more powerful. At the same time, it might make him into something else if he stays there. I can see that those who are wary of the fae (and that would be many, many people) might want to try and "cleanse" the area or at least control access to it. I can easily see local crusades like those we saw across Europe in the Middle Ages springing up.

 

cheers, Mark

I fully agree that magical "hot spots" would be valuable resources. One thing I was considering was that there would be a form of Aid effect near these places. If I set a mage's Active Point cap on their spells at a lower level (like 30-40), being near an old gate site would boost that to higher levels.

 

If such sites were in remote places, it would simulate the lonely wizard's tower imagery. But imagine such a gate in the middle of a major metropolis, like Cairo or Paris.

 

My setting timeframe is currently at the 12th century on this alternate Earth. Many of those Sidhe who fought in the war are in the process of dying off from old age. The younger generations of Sidhe are rising up in prominence, among them those who subscribe to Unseelie doctrines.

 

The setting feel I am going for is something akin to Ars Magica but with the added weirdness of faerie tale people being out in the open more. The Sidhe look much like your classic elf, being the basis of the stories, but they also divide out into different sub-races based on where they are from.

[Ockham's Spoon]

Have you read Adam Rex's "Cold Cereal"? The tone of the book is more amusing than serious but the nature of the world is similar to what you describe. It is worth reading in any event.

 

The easiest route for your alternate history is to say that magic is kept secret and hidden by those who can use it, either to preserve their own power or from fear of persecution. That way the world is pretty much as it is now, since most people will think magic is imaginary.

 

Alternately magic could have played a bigger role. The rise of Great Britain as a world power might be attributable to magic. Sidhe would have been drawn into the government and even royalty to strengthen their position. As such, the Sidhe might be seen as a class of aristocracy. Or it might be a government secret to prevent backlash from a fearful populace. Either way could have a lot of role-playing potential.

[Steve]

Have you read Adam Rex's "Cold Cereal"? The tone of the book is more amusing than serious but the nature of the world is similar to what you describe. It is worth reading in any event.

 

The easiest route for your alternate history is to say that magic is kept secret and hidden by those who can use it, either to preserve their own power or from fear of persecution. That way the world is pretty much as it is now, since most people will think magic is imaginary.

 

Alternately magic could have played a bigger role. The rise of Great Britain as a world power might be attributable to magic. Sidhe would have been drawn into the government and even royalty to strengthen their position. As such, the Sidhe might be seen as a class of aristocracy. Or it might be a government secret to prevent backlash from a fearful populace. Either way could have a lot of role-playing potential.

I haven't read that book, but I'll take a look at it. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

As far as the magic goes, it's not really a secret thing, but its not High Fantasy style. The Sidhe and their descendants will be part of a society, but magic is now more Low Magic/Swords & Sorcery in feel in most of the world. Near the old Fae gates, it is more powerful, but they are localized effects.

 

The magic feel I am trying for could probably be described as a mixture of Ars Magica and Conan's Hyborean Age, using real countries instead of those created for that setting. The Sidhe don't all have magic, but they are more likely to because of genetics helping them.

[Markdoc]

Well the first thing that springs to mind is that people are going to react to this, and pretty dramatically. Those interested in magic would probably see fae places as valuable resources: there might even be conflict over controlling them or access to them. A mage's tower built on or near a fae gate would make that mage significantly more powerful. At the same time, it might make him into something else if he stays there. I can see that those who are wary of the fae (and that would be many, many people) might want to try and "cleanse" the area or at least control access to it. I can easily see local crusades like those we saw across Europe in the Middle Ages springing up.

 

cheers, Mark

It might be worth checking out the old feng shui roleplaying game. In that, various factions were fighting a secret war for control of certain places with stronh Feng Shui - which gave the owners access to mystical power. Strip away the time travel stuff, and it'd actually be pretty easy to file the serial numbers off the factions, change their special effects where needed and use a lot of the ideas from there.

 

Cheers, Mark

[Steve]

Well the first thing that springs to mind is that people are going to react to this, and pretty dramatically. Those interested in magic would probably see fae places as valuable resources: there might even be conflict over controlling them or access to them. A mage's tower built on or near a fae gate would make that mage significantly more powerful. At the same time, it might make him into something else if he stays there. I can see that those who are wary of the fae (and that would be many, many people) might want to try and "cleanse" the area or at least control access to it. I can easily see local crusades like those we saw across Europe in the Middle Ages springing up.

 

cheers, Mark

Using Feng Shui as a source was something I had not previously considered. The different factions could be repurposed into different but similar forms. Taoist sorcery could be an interesting variant on Sidhe magic.