simplestgift | Seven Bells: [ACTION/WRITTEN] Hat Day.

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Seven Bells: [ACTION/WRITTEN] Hat Day.

[Citizens of Luceti may see Archie Kennedy wandering around with a new hat today. It looks a little like something a magician would pull a rabbit out of, but he seems to be enjoying it. He'll be around town today--the library and grocery store during the day, and Good Spirits in the evening. In the afternoon, he'll sit at the fountain to pen a few words.]

I believe morale might improve if we had some sort of goodbye ceremony for those who were returned home. Not a funeral, mind you, just an occasion to remember them, celebrate their return, and hope to join them soon. Perhaps once a month or so, for everyone who left during the month. It's the little things that help one cope, sometimes.

Also, who left a note under my door? I'm afraid I can't read it, or indeed tell if it was even meant for me. I live in Building One, in the first flat on the first floor.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Whoever is responsible for these drafts is obviously not thinking clearly. Not only are civilians unable to participate, they are also a strain on ressources in combat and reduce the combatants' efficiency by necessitating their protection. Are they trying to get the draftees killed?

My concern was that the civilians were practically defenseless. A few of the draftees rounded them up in some grand fortress of a barn and tried to protect them. It was foolishness, is what it was.

A barn? Was there no better location for them? Such a building could easily have been set on fire, and would have been nearly impossible to fortify.

Exactly!

Were there any casualties amongst the non-combatants?

None that I heard of. However, half the people here are practically demigods.

Demigods? What do you mean by that?

Magic and spells and incredible strength. I've never seen anything like it till now.

Magic is not common in your world, then?

I never saw it in my life. I've heard of things. My nurse when I was a boy believed very strongly in the fair folk and other spirits, and since coming here I've been told there are many things most simply don't see.

There are many things in all worlds that few people see, true. But magic is not one of them, at least in my world. Most armies include White Mage and Black Mage corps.

[The idea of Black Magic makes him a little tense and nervous, so it takes him a moment to reply.]

I'm sure they're formidable, then.

They are, because of both their battle prowess and their more mundane abilities. Ice spells are surprisingly good at keeping the food stores fresh, and Libra eliminates the need to bring maps.

[He's never heard of anything quite like this. Black magic, from what he's heard, is pretty nasty stuff and he's never been quite sure if it existed anyway.] No maps or charts at all? Not even on a ship?

[THAT is baffling.]

A good Libra spell allows one to see over kilometers in only a few seconds. Bringing a map can still be useful, especially if your White Mage is tired, but it becomes much less necessary.

On a ship, it doesn't matter if you can see kilometers--you're in the middle of the ocean.

It does when those kilometers number in the tens of thousands.

How is that possible?

I'm afraid I know too little about magical theory to be able to explain it. And since only the user can see it, showing you would not help much. I believe it involves opening yourself to the world, and sending your consciousness outwards.

[Whooooa. This is heavy stuff, but kind of amazing.] And you can see everything? Navigate with no compass, no mathematics, only your mind?

Well, I know too little about boats to be able to do so on the ocean. But as a trained airship pilot, I can do so in the sky.

[...Archie SO wants to be able to do this. He struggled with navigation as a midshipman--though not as much as he pretended--and thinks this form of navigation sounds pretty nifty.]

Could you teach someone?

I could try, at least, though I've never taught magic before. But since the barrier apparently reduces abilities, the range of the spell would be somewhat smaller.

That's all right. [He just wants to know what it's like, and if he can use it this summer while sailing with Jack.] Now, the nature of this magic is where does it come from?

Generally, magic is a potential you are born with, though that might vary from world to world. It tends to run in families. But it can appear in someone after decades, and most people have at least minimal traces of it. Since Libra is a basic spell, it would be one of the easiest learn.

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