GLRP:EMs:Royal Spies:2010:Blood Feud:Scintillus Academy
Title: Scintillus Academy
Author: ...
My journal from Scintillus Academy
To explain the Academy, one must start with the test. The test is dangerous. Students who complete nine years of study at the Academy are given the option to take the final exam or leaving in disgrace. Of those who choose, some pass and are awarded their degrees as Full Mages. The less fortunate are mailed home to their families in large envelopes. Even those who pass are sometimes scarred or wake screaming.
The test subjects are no secret, as we are told on the first day:
Section One: Lateral Reasoning
Section Two: Equilibrium and Non-local Causality
Section Two, Part Two: Synchronization
Section Three: Psychokinesis and Terraforming
Section Four: Spatial Reasoning
Section Five: Effects and Constraints
Section Six: Risk Avoidance
Section Seven: Nonreversible Effects
These subjects cover the first eight years at the Academy, with the final year being focused on working for a full mage to prepare for the exam. Those in the final year
do not often sleep. Fear keeps them focused on the task at hand.
I.
Lateral reasoning is about putting aside formal logic which doesn't always apply to magic. Many of the constraints we believe are wrong and can be ignored with a little creative reasoning. With enough magic, every wall is a door. The tricks are numerous, but so are the pitfalls.
II.
Equilibrium at its most basic idea is that the natural world likes being a certain state, and it will move back to that state of balance whenever possible. Magic can shift that, but must always keep equilibrium in mind. To understand, non-local causality, one must understand that many properties we assume are universal are a matter of perspective. From one perspective, something can be seen to cause an event to happen, but from another point of view, the outcome happens before the cause.
II - II.
Synchronization is the elaborate timekeeping required to coordinate the pieces and events in a complex magical system. While most with the gift can cast simple spells, elaborate rituals and artifact crafting require more detailed planning and precision.
III.
Psychokinesis is manipulating matter and energy with one's will. With practice and power, the earth itself can be manipulated.
IV.
Spatial reasoning is more than geometry and a good eye. When travelling and measuring the Void, one must understand strange spatial relationships.
V.
A focus on the sorts of effects magic can create, and some of the limitations of magic. Most of these limitations are only limitations based on available magical reagents and time.
VI.
An entire year spent learning when not to use magic and when to avoid the temptation to abuse power. I know some failed this year, and they will spend a long time with some very horrible demons.
VII.
Some deaths cannot be saved by magic. Some things are permanent. That which created life in the Void and its worlds are such fixtures of reality. These are dangerous to meddle with.
I have passed my test. I should write what happened, but it was as difficult as they say. I must return to my studies of the Void.
This is now the fifth straight day that I have detected an interdimensional disturbance in the ether. Judging from the proportional increases. I am now surer than ever that something monstrously powerful is fast approaching our planet. The council has thus far refused to acknowledge the import of my observations, but I am convinced that we are potentially in grave danger.
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