Steinbjorn: On The Nature of Magical Items

It is a popular misconception among the magic-wielding classes that the nature of magic is to be used. That magic is, somehow, this massive force that's been placed here for the express purpose of being used, being bent into the will of a caster, and forced out onto the world.

Based on my research, I've come to believe that nothing could be further from the truth. Magic is not meant to be used, but to hold the fabric of life itself together.

Consider: if magic were meant to be used, how does one explain the areas where the magic has been used up, dried out? Where casting a simple spell will lead to the death of all life in that area? It is precisely because more magic was used than the area could afford to use, and that abuse has cost every living thing.

The common argument to this is that magic is a limited resource, that it can dry up. Many wizards claim that, in time, magically depleted areas will heal, get better, then everything will be okay.

This has never been demonstrated. Areas have been wiped out, and none has ever been known to recover. And if it does, it is a long, slow, process, one that takes lifetimes that not even an elf could fathom.

The truth is that magic is a dancing bear. Sure, there are those who tame bears and make them do so, but no one ever called it natural, and there's a fair chance the bear will eat it's owner, sooner or later.

So why cast magic at all? And why, god forbid, would you tie up a great deal of magic into some object, where it will be kept in captivity forever, unable to contribute it's force to the crucial business of sustaining life.

Which is, of course, why I've devoted my life to undoing the magic of others. To return that magic to the world can help insure the world a future long beyond when I am dead, perhaps far beyond the death of my race.

I am, however, not an idiot. Magic is a cannon, and an army with a cannon will blast an army without one. And magical items exist, whether I would prefer it or not. And given, for instance, our present enemy, I would overall prefer that a potent magical item was in the hands of someone like my wife, and not in the hands of some awful, mind controlled fish thing.

For my part, I can wield enough magic to largely get away without carrying around my weight in magic items. I have the advantage of knowing that magic is a dancing bear, and knowing how to piss it off. A magical sword can kill more easily than a mundane one, certainly, but a well-trained Abjurer can make that make that death the sword-wielders own.

Knowing that makes it much harder to believe that carrying magic items is a good idea. If others insist on doing so, if my wife does, I can't stop them. And, to be honest, she can take the pain that may come from some wizard turning her magic against her far better than I can.

For my part, I'll keep the bear at arms length, unless I have a damn good reason to need him.