Talk:Magic/@comment-7036612-20130309071742

'''Do I not have authority to edit the introductory section to the page? I want to add some notes on why human belief may exert a palpable force. '''

Proposed:

From the writings of Bahadin al-Shaddar the Wise

Laylines represent inherent 'fractures' in reality which make drawing on the power of the Outer Realms (I sort of just invented some terminology whilst writing this; any word with a capital really. Let me know what you think.) easier. Laylines can therefore be conceived as 'energy flows' only in an indirect sense; being locations where the ethereal power of the Outer draws near. Our world, the Material Realm, exists within the chaos of the Outer Realms and is but one facet of existence.

The human soul, however, is unique within the Material Realm - it possesses Conciousness. The ability to reason and think, to conceive of self-identity, is unique amongst the animal kingdom. The human is thus afforded an elevated existence. The existence of a human soul, self-aware and cognisant, is an existence more profound than the rest of the Material. The reality of the human soul echoes elsewhere and can be perceived, perhaps, even from teh chaos of the Outer Realms.

Accordingly, the soul can be considered a tangible (though very small) fracture in reality, in the same sense as a leyline. Although the power of any individual soul is weak, collectively the human race can generate great force.

The soul can be differentiated from the leyline, however, in that it exists under the direction of the Concious mind. Thus, whereas the layline exists as a wild and untempered force, the soul can be directed and harnessed.

A magic user can, in simplest terms, be viewed merely as a human being whose soul, by whatever agency, represents a much more potent fracture in the Tapestry of the Material Realm. With practice, a magic user's Conscious mind can direct the nature of this facture, draw in some particular element of the Outer Realms, and manifest supernatural Change in this world. Succesfully enacting a Change requires extreme levels of concentration and force of will, as reaching blindly or uncertaintly into the Outer Realms will infallibly result in unintended consequences. The possible Changes that lie within the Outer Realms themselves are nearly infinite; and enacting only the precise Change required is therefore difficult.

A magic user that sites his or herself upon a layline will find that this is significantly easier to accomplish. The prescence of the layline signifies that the strength of the Tapestry in general is much weaker in the area; drawing in power from the Outer Realms is therefore a simpler affair. Those unused to the effect may find that the effort normally exerted on a simple Change produces widespread and unintended effects as the puncture in the Tapestry is much larger than anticipated. With practice, however, a magic user may harness the inate properties of the leyline to enact much greater Change on the world than would elsewise be possible.

A magic user may further bolster their strength by harnessing the innate power of other souls. Although most individual human souls are incapable of enaccting true Change in the same way as a magic user, en masse the souls of a large group of humans may generate a significant fracture. Unfortunately, due to the disparate nature of the human mind, it is virtually impossible to cause a wide diversity of minds to concentrate on the same concept with sufficient clarity to directly enact a Change.

Accordingly, those wishing to harness the power inherent in the souls of others must attempt to do so both en masse and in a regimented fashion. The most common method of accomplishing this is to encourage many Concious minds on the simplist possible concept. The simpler a concept is, the more likely that many Concious minds will be able to focus on it in tandem.

A cynical mind may note that humans are at their most credulous when it comes to matters of religion. Concious Worship of an individual, in which that individual is accredited with great power, may result in a perceptible increase in that individual's power. A magic user can thus find the enacting of Change in general easier when a service of devoted followers focuses on him or her in their prayers. One hypothesises that all the Gods of this world began in such a form, and have ammased such great power from their followers as to be unrecognisable.

In the alternate, the Concious attention of many followers may be harnessed by a mass Ritual; wherein a great mass of individuals are made to focus attention on a specific Change. In order to succesfully co-ordinate so many Concious minds, it is common to utilise tools such as mass chanting or ritual motions to achieve sufficient uniform focus on the desired Change.

Astute minds may note that the nature of both leylines and the human souls leave open the possibility that a Change may be enacted independantly of the Concious direction of a magic user. If leylines represent fractures in reality, is it not possible for the Outer Realms to intrude of their own accord? If the human souls of non-magic users could be directed on mass, could they not effect change without requiring a magic-user's direction? One must acknowledge the possibility of such things; but the lack of evidence of such occurences suggests that if they are, indeed, possible, then they are surpassingly rare.