Post by pisces on May 23, 2015 22:05:06 GMT -5
[nospaces]
[attr="class","infoh"]for magicians and djinn
[attr="class","infop"]All magic in Black Sun comes from the Other Place (exception: seraphim powers). Magicians have no innate supernatural ability; akin to an elaborate sleight-of-hand, the "magic" they appear to wield can be directly or indirectly attributed to the unseen spirits they control. The magician-djinni relationship is, with exceptions, a power struggle characterized by distrust and hatred on both sides. Magicians' spells are designed to bind and inflict punishment on their contracted demons, who capitalize on the slightest flaw in a summoning/order to escape their bindings and usually kill their unlucky master before returning to the Other Place. [break][break]
The usage of magic in combat and other situations is freeform and up to the discretion of the player. Anything goes as long as it's realistic given the premises outlined below. For ideas of what spells, etc. are possible, you can consult the Bartimaeus Wiki.
It's generally accepted that there are seven overlapping planes that make up the earthly plane. The first is the physical plane, while the rest show varying presences of magical activity—energies, attacks, beings, etc. Only the first plane, and under certain circumstances the second, is visible to humans. Spirits are almost always invisible or otherwise disguised on the first plane (and higher planes, depending on power level). A djinni can see all seven planes and mask its true, monstrous form on all but the seventh plane.[break][break]
Magicians wear special glasses or contact lenses that render the second, third and blearily the fourth planes visible.
There is a strict procedure for summoning demons:[break][break]
Two pentacles, though not always necessary, are usually drawn in chalk or paint to trap the demon and protect the magician. The larger pentacle enclosing the demon is surrounded with candles, binding sigils, herb mixtures, the fine print of the contract. The smaller one in which the magician stands has runes of protection. The being's true name must be called in a complex incantation, spoken perfectly to assure a successful summoning. [break][break]
Known weaknesses of spirits are silver, to a lesser extent iron, and certain herbs like rosemary.
Magical training in Paris follows an apprenticeship system. Commoners are required to give up their firstborn child to the Protectorate. These children become wards of the state, raised in "orphanages" and subject to basic schooling/tests of magical capability until age eight. Those deemed promising then become apprentices to a senior, mentor magician, responsible for the rest of their magical education (including rigorous academic subjects and several languages).[break][break]
(In a secret deal struck with the strigoi society, the children who don't make the cut are turned over to the vampires as human livestock.)[break][break]
Apprentices are nameless until their thirteenth birthday, when they choose a magician name from an almanac. A magician's birth name must be concealed, as knowledge of this "true" name would give enemy magicians and spirits power over the magician.[break][break]
Upon reaching adulthood at the end of apprenticeship, young magicians take a governmental or military role appropriate to their magical and work talents.
The usage of magic in combat and other situations is freeform and up to the discretion of the player. Anything goes as long as it's realistic given the premises outlined below. For ideas of what spells, etc. are possible, you can consult the Bartimaeus Wiki.
[attr="class","infoh2"]the seven planes
It's generally accepted that there are seven overlapping planes that make up the earthly plane. The first is the physical plane, while the rest show varying presences of magical activity—energies, attacks, beings, etc. Only the first plane, and under certain circumstances the second, is visible to humans. Spirits are almost always invisible or otherwise disguised on the first plane (and higher planes, depending on power level). A djinni can see all seven planes and mask its true, monstrous form on all but the seventh plane.[break][break]
Magicians wear special glasses or contact lenses that render the second, third and blearily the fourth planes visible.
[attr="class","infoh2"]summoning
There is a strict procedure for summoning demons:[break][break]
Two pentacles, though not always necessary, are usually drawn in chalk or paint to trap the demon and protect the magician. The larger pentacle enclosing the demon is surrounded with candles, binding sigils, herb mixtures, the fine print of the contract. The smaller one in which the magician stands has runes of protection. The being's true name must be called in a complex incantation, spoken perfectly to assure a successful summoning. [break][break]
Known weaknesses of spirits are silver, to a lesser extent iron, and certain herbs like rosemary.
[attr="class","infoh2"]apprenticeship
Magical training in Paris follows an apprenticeship system. Commoners are required to give up their firstborn child to the Protectorate. These children become wards of the state, raised in "orphanages" and subject to basic schooling/tests of magical capability until age eight. Those deemed promising then become apprentices to a senior, mentor magician, responsible for the rest of their magical education (including rigorous academic subjects and several languages).[break][break]
(In a secret deal struck with the strigoi society, the children who don't make the cut are turned over to the vampires as human livestock.)[break][break]
Apprentices are nameless until their thirteenth birthday, when they choose a magician name from an almanac. A magician's birth name must be concealed, as knowledge of this "true" name would give enemy magicians and spirits power over the magician.[break][break]
Upon reaching adulthood at the end of apprenticeship, young magicians take a governmental or military role appropriate to their magical and work talents.