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The Implements of Magic - Fluff


Sabin Stargem
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A while back, I posted a bunch of descriptive fluff for some of the tools that mages may use. Here it is again, in it's own thread. Feel free to use them. :)

 

 

 

Wands:

Cheap and sufficiently durable, these are the standard. Ranging in size and thickness, they are made from all kinds of materials and forged with all kinds of spells. Be it dragon's whiskers, griffin feathers, or fairy dust, you will probably find it in someone's wand at the Academagia. Most prankster students prefer wands that have been halved in length or can fold into itself, so they can be stowed away at a second's notice. Most small wands are known as "snappers" because the user whips out the wand and snaps their wrist to make it extend. Duelists often prefer metallic wands for their general-purpose spellcasting, but are often known for using "preloaded" wands engraved with specific spells that are outside the user's normal ability to use. Such wands are disallowed by Academagia staff due to safety issues, but it has been largely a losing proposition. Due to this, the Academagia has been considering a program of having 3rd Year students and above to craft Preloaded wands in order to compete against unsafe preloaded wands.

 

 

Runes, Glyphs, Engravings, Seals, and Etchings:

These are the various forms of calligraphy that are created exclusively for magical usage. These often form systems of passing on information or to make markings that lend themselves to safe, yet powerful spellcasting. However, learning these systems in the first place requires extensively learning and understanding in how to use them appropriately. Seals, for example, are used to contain or channel energy, which is often key in trap-making or creating an effective summoning circle. With a good piece of chalk, a pencil, or a stick, you too can create shapes that will perform great magic!...just take care to not spill water on them. Or trip. They are easy to ruin, and that is often why mages craft these shapes into plates of clay, metal, or stone in order to prevent easy tampering.

 

 

Staves:

A much longer version of the wand, these are preferred by elder spellcasters because they can support the weight of the user, but they can also be heavily customized. Offering a tremendously greater amount of space, the shaft can be engraved or runed to increase the powers of the staff, and the staff itself can be made of heavier metals or different materials from wands, due to not being concerned about lightness or durability - just by being larger offers a quality of it's own. This makes staves more expensive, but elderly mages often have the coin to compensate. Some staves are outfitted with blades or orbs at the top, which offers increased combat abilities or further improving spellcasting possibilities. An recent innovation from a recent graduate of Academagia allows the top of the stave to be "modular", allowing for the replacement of Orbs or blades by screwing them into or out of the Stave. This reduces the power slightly, but being able to change an aspect of the Stave's properties is invaluable to rich mages, but most of them are uninterested since they can't wrap their head around the idea.

 

Orbs:

Most often in the form of a "crystal ball", these serve as observational tools first and foremost, but some orbs are designed to have specific crystal formations and to be "grown" into a sphere. By doing so, you can have a fixed and stable platform for one very specific purpose, like a spell. Because these orbs are usually large or hefty, they are stationary. Preferable for any task where you need to command a great deal of power quickly, specifically, and safely.

 

 

Athames, Bolines, & Blades:

Pointed objects or those with an edge often work best in magic as a focus, by simply allowing someone to quickly collect energy, and point it somewhere. Wands are pointed for this reason, but knives and spears often worked the best, but spears were too long and knives could easily be used to kill someone without the use of magic. As such, the wand was created. However, some users of magic still rely on small daggers and blades in order to channel magic, or to cut herbs and roots with a Boline. Mages who specialize in Gates or magic that alters reality prefer the Athame, but most other mages prefer the Boline, since the latter is safer to use, and is less likely to be used for assault magic. Some practitioners of Athames and Gates claim that the Athame is symbolic, as it represents "cutting" or "piercing" reality, so it is easier for spellcasters to visualize doing so with an actual blade. Those who have a good imagination and concentration can forgo such focuses entirely, and achieve much more specific effects, like imagining a pair of scissors or a sewing needle to "stitch" reality, in effect repairing it, or closing off a part of it.

 

 

Tomes:

Your basic spellbook, they serve as basic formulas for spellcasting for future reference by a compentent mage. However, the better models offer "autocasting" depending on what page is empowered by an energy source. While not as reliable or safe as an specifically made Orb, these pages can be created relatively quickly and be readied for use within a few days, instead of the weeks-months period required for creating a particular orb. Removing an autocasting page from a tome is unadvised, because the spine and cover of the book offers additional focus and support for utilizing spells. However, such tomes have been known to disastrously cast a number of their spells if they have been in disrepair or have been tampered with.

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