Enchanter


A Brief History Of Magic
By Gustar Woomax

Copied right in 927 GUE. All rights reversed.
A POPULAR ENCHANTING book.

The history of magic can be broken down into four distinct periods:
the Empirical Age, the Scientific Age, the Industrial Age, and the Age
of Guilds. Each of these will be explored in some depth in order to
give the reader a sense of the course of events which has shaped the
use of magic in today's society.

The Empirical Age

Primitive cultures had naturally assumed that the disorderly nature of
our world was due to such supernatural causes as magic. With the
founding of the "natural" sciences, however, nature was increasingly
viewed as being orderly. As the sciences progressed, the knowledge and
lore of magic largely disappeared. As early as the 5th century GUE
(Great Underground Empire), however, such students of the mystic arts
as Bizboz and Dinbar thoroughly examined ancient writings on the
subject.  Bizboz himself wrote what became the seminal work in
Thaumaturgy, "On the Presence of Incredibly Weird Stuff Going On," in
473 GUE, in which he claimed to have discovered "for-the-most-part
Natural Rules" by which this "Weird Stuff" is ordered.

This work was ridiculed by the leading scholars of the time, leading
to Bizboz's removal from the faculty at the Galepath University, and,
eventually, to his tragic suicide in 475 GUE. His work, however,
encouraged others in the pursuit of magical knowledge, with mixed
results. Charlatans, claiming to have created magical potions and
powders, regularly fooled the gullible population into buying potions
which claimed to do such things as "reverse hair loss" and "draw
Trebled Fromps in Double Fanucci." Such appeals to public ignorance
led King Duncanthrax in 672 GUE to write the Unnatural Acts, which
provided stiff penalties for those convicted of selling "Unnatural or
Supernatural substances."

The Scientific Age

While the charlatans were at work, serious students took up the cause
of magic, attempting to explain the natural world as a byproduct of
the interrelated workings of the sciences of Physics, Medicine,
Chemistry, Mathematics, and Thaumaturgy. Their success in
demonstrating the so-called first principles of Thaumaturgy, namely
Presence, Incantation, and Unusual Effect, led to a loosening of the
Unnatural Acts to allow what became known as Scientific Thaumaturgy.
During this period, the first chapter of the Guild of Enchanters was
founded at the tiny hamlet of Accardi-by-the-Sea by the great
thaumaturge, Vilboz.

During the reign of Frobwit the Flatter (701-727 GUE), the art and
science of Thaumaturgy flourished. The first reliable Incantation
Device, known to scholars as the Hyperbolic Incantation Concentrator,
was produced at the Thaumaturgical Institute in 723 GUE. The long,
thin, portable device, nicknamed the "magic wand" by the lay press,
became an instant sensation among the populace, and gained a certain
measure of respect for the fledgling science.

A major advance in Thaumaturgy occurred when Davmar, working in
newly-crowned King Mumberthrax Flathead's laboratory, discovered a
means by which Incantation could be stored on special Presence-imbued
paper.  These so-called scrolls were found, however, to be destroyed
during the spells' Incantation. Nonetheless, scrolls soon replaced the
temperamental and poorly-understood "wand" as the primary means of
Incantation.

The problem of imbuing Presence became a deterrent to the rapid growth
of magical science. The creation of a single powerful scroll could
take literally months for even the most creative and productive
thaumaturge.  This roadblock prevented the widespread use of magic for
generations.

The Industrial Age

The Industrial Age dawned in 769 GUE with a discovery by a
little-known thaumaturge named Berzio. Berzio, working for years in
his own self-made workshop and often going for days without food,
drink, or sleep, created the means by which Presence could be
transferred from a scroll to a specially impregnated paper by use of a
simple spell, which he named after his dog, Gnusto. This paper, in
turn, held the Presence even after the Incantation had been finished,
solving the major problem in spell production. The euphoria which
greeted this discovery was tempered by the finding that very powerful
spells could not be transferred in this way. Nevertheless, spell
"books," which were capable of holding dozens of spells, were produced
in great number, leading to the founding of a new industry.

Another advance in Thaumaturgy occurred with the finding that certain
liquids and powders could be imbued with the magical Presence. Such
potions are of great interest, although their limitations have
prevented them from supplanting scrolls as the primary method of
Incantation. The first of these potions, which obviates the need for
food and drink, was given the name BERZIO, in honor of the great
thaumaturge.

The Age of Guilds

As the use of magic became more prevalent, so did the problems
inherent in its use. Since magic had become available to people in all
professions, conflicts arose. One famous issue involved the question
of whether the plumber's FIZMO spell ("cause stopped-up pipes to
unclog") could be sold as a digestive aid by physicians. The issue
came to a head in the aftermath of the Endless Fire of 773 GUE, so
named because it burned for 4 weeks after destroying the city of
Mareilon. It was later found to have been started by a civil servant
who thought he was casting the ZEMDOR spell ("turn original into
triplicate") but who, instead, cast the ZIMBOR spell ("turn one really
big city into lots of tiny, little ashes").

This led Lord Dimwit Flathead (the Excessive) to issue a series of
5,521 edicts over the following few weeks, which had the effect of
severely limiting access to magic (and, incidentally, lawyers).
Henceforth, all magic was entrusted to the various Guilds of
Enchanters, which by now existed in many small communities. Each
Guild, whose elders comprised the so-called Circle of Enchanters, was
empowered to form schools for the training of new Enchanters. This
official sanctioning of the Guilds led to the formation of numerous
other chapters, with membership in the various Guilds in excess of
2,000 by the year 800 GUE.  Despite the fall of the Great Underground
Empire in 883 GUE under the feeble-minded reign of Wurb Flathead, the
Guild of Enchanters remains virtually unchanged in character today.

Today's Enchanter

Since the fall of the Empire, magic has again become a mysterious art,
practiced primarily by trained Sorcerers, although a few spells, such
as UMBOZ ("obviate need for dusting") and NERZO ("balance checkbook"),
have been approved for over-the-counter sale. Upon graduation from an
accredited Thaumaturgical College, an Enchanter is given a spell book
with a few spells, none of which has great power. As an Enchanter
continues his or her studies, new spells may be obtained; these may be
copied into a spell book for use whenever the occasion warrants.

The Enchanter's job is not as easy as is commonly thought. An
Enchanter must memorize a spell written in a spell book before casting
it. (Spells on scrolls and those which have been permanently etched in
the memory by training needn't be memorized.) Moreover, if an
Enchanter needs to use a particular spell twice, it must be memorized
twice, since the effort of casting it makes it a jumble in one's
memory. In fact, even a night's sleep will make an Enchanter forget
any memorized spells.  But, in spite of the rigors of spell casting,
the personal rewards are great, and the job of Enchanter remains a
popular and well-respected vocation.

An Afterthought

The most fitting words regarding the history of magic were written
over a century ago by the renowned historian Ozmar in 821 GUE. He
wrote:  "The greatest irony is this: that the ancients of our kind
were nearer to knowing the truth about Science than those who called
themselves Scientists. Science has taught us much and given us new
words for old mysteries. But beneath these words are mysteries, and
beneath them more mysteries. The pursuit of Magic has given these
mysteries meaning and provided for our people great benefits
unrealized as yet by Science. One day, perhaps, a great union will be
formed between Magic and Science, and the final mysteries will be
solved."