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North Harbour - Lyceum
Theal ponders for a while. "There is no shame in not having the ability to read or write. The majority of the human race lacks these skills. Moreover, they are not critical to your understanding of the arcane path. As we discussed previously, our power is innate and natural. We are conduits for the magical energies which surround all of us. Were you a student of wizardry ... well you would find that most difficult without the ability to read and comprehend the vast theories and formulae that they rely on. You and I shall spend days in deep discussion and personal experimentation. We will expand your mind and in doing so, we shall help to unlock your powers and your understanding."
Your tutor picks up a large piece of parchment from his desk, along with a piece of chalk and walks over to sit with you on one of the lecture benches. "You have asked me an incredibly complicated question Lars: what is magic? Debates in the sciences and philosophy on this subject are required studies here at the Lyceum and they vex even upper year wizards." He smiles and begins to draw on the parchment, starting first with a small circle and then drawing a second larger circle surrounding the first. "Consider in your mind that this small circle is the world as we know it: the rocks, trees, mountains, oceans, nations. Magic touches everything on our world. It suffuses us as beings, lives in nature, the wind, tides, everything. Magic comes from what wizards and certain clergies refer to as 'the Weave.'" He points to the second larger circle. "This is the weave. It is a great source of power and energy that blankets our world and the planes beyond us. It can be thought of as a fabric with uncountable strands of thread. When we use magic, we grasp these threads and order them in a certain way so as to produce a certain effect. Now, most scholars and priests believe that the weave was created by or may even be the body of a greater deity known as Mystra, the Mother of all Magic. It is to her that many give thanks and prayers, believing that continued worship will ensure an associated continuation of the existence of the weave."
He takes a break and scans your face to see if you look lost. "Now, just bear with me here as I know this is alot to take in. If we accept that the weave suffuses everything and everyone, then for us sorcerers, we must learn what our connection to the weave is. This is what allows us to manipulate it and achieve great feats. When we do so, magic takes on a number of forms dependent upon what we want to do. The intellectuals have decreed that magic takes on 8 great specific schools and 1 universal. The schools are as follows: Abjuration, which forms protective and warding power; Conjuration, which allows summoning or creating of material; Divination, which can be used to see great distances, know things and contact other planes of existence; Enchantment, which enables influence over other's minds; Evocation, which creates our most offensive powers - lightning bolts, fire balls and so forth; Illusion, which creates figments, images and sounds or affects the perception of things by others; Necromancy, which is associated with death and undeath; and Transmutation, which includes the powers to alter something both negatively and positively. The universal school is quite small and consists of spells to which we can not precisely assign."
Theal pauses. "These are the basics Lars. I now have two questions for you. First, I want you to think on the powers that you can manifest when you put your mind to it, or as we have just learned, are telling the weave how it should order itself for you. I want you to tell me how you think you are accessing the weave. From where is that link. Think back of what we discussed a few days ago before you answer. Second, what spells can you create and which schools of magic, which we have just learned, can you assign them to? Are there types of spells or schools that you seem to favour?"
