Week Six Chapters 22-24: Love, the Revelation

[Deyavi]

Welcome to Week Six, “Love, the Revelation,” covering Chapters 22-24. This week, we delve into many relationships marked by love and caring - Cole’s with Deirdre, Sullivan’s with Deirdre, and Lauren’s with the Cagliostro – that are also marked by sacrifice and pain. There is sweetness, there is sadness, and there is, of course, magiq.

The discussion points on offer this week are sparse mostly because, selfishly, these are the ones I’m most interested in hearing! However, if you have your own thoughts, comments, ideas, or questions, you are – as ever – welcome and encouraged to share!

YARRR! HERE, THERE BE SPOILERS.

1. Cags’ words to Lauren when she suggests using the same spell that Sullivan used on Deirdre to shield Cags instead imply that he is very familiar with the magiq used to erase memory of itself and its effects. Do you believe that this implies his familiarity with the Silver, perhaps the very same that control The Storm and use it against anyone with memory of magiq or the BoB?

AAARGH! THE SPOILERS ARE FINISHED!

2. Marty discusses libraries and his complicated feelings about them because of their beauty and his personal loss. Do you believe that there is something special about the Morgan Library alone to have made it a well, or that, perhaps, all libraries are wells in the Magiqverse to some degree? Based on your personal beliefs or knowledge about Magiqverse lore, conjecture as to why, or why not.

3. Putting yourself in the shoes of one of the characters from these chapters, talk about how an experience from this week’s reading affected you. If you were Deirdre, listening to the person you’ve come to greatly adore telling you a story about your life that is unbelievable at best, insane at worst, what would your reaction be?

As always, Mountaineers, if you can pick out any themes or Easter Eggs from this week, please feel free to share! Your original thoughts, related ideas, or favorite lines from the book are always welcome in our discussion. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to @ me or another Guild Leader!

Creative Prompt: The theme of the week is “Love, the Revelation.” Using this theme for inspiration, please share with us your own written/visual/auditory creation.

[Deyavi]

I am going to kick off same as last week, by sharing my favorite quotes

[Drus]

Seems like I’m popping in and out with these threads. Call me a grasshopper

Anyway.

1. I’m gonna stick to my theory of Rabbit being Cagliostro and I’ll say he never had anything to do with Silver or Wool bar observing them from above like a magpie. He’s more or less of a butterfly or a defective cog that goes against the rest of the scheme, driven by his own agenda. Deirdre’s posts and her father’s messages clearly proved you don’t have to belong to either of the groups to practice magiq. It might be different or more difficult but it also leads to some unrestrained possibilities while barring you from other options. So Cagliostro might have had some broader idea of how things work but I’d still believe he’d never actually, for example, ventured to Neithernor.

2. I’d split the libraries into two groups - wells and some playgrounds with only residues of energy. I can’t shake off the feeling that they’re like trees - the older they are, the stronger they get. Of course, you could repurpose a building into a library and stuff it with the most powerful books and artifacts but this would only lead to magiq flowing around, ready to burst out at the tiniest mistake. They need to get imprinted, soaked with it and this doesn’t happen overnight. In this case, the Morgan Library would be just a building that inherited what its owner started and fed throughout the century on what was stored in it. It’s a relatively young well and probably not as powerful as the ones on the old continent. But, let’s say, sticking to the US part, we’ve got a library that is build right next to where the Indians lived - then it would feed on and repurpose what was left after the original inhabitants. After all, the stones will still sing their own songs if let.

3. Lauren? I believe she was both confused and desperate to find understanding. That’s what led her to getting rampant and relentless, hoping possibly she’d either trade the results of her tasks for greater understanding or claw back what she thought she deserved. I’m convinced she wasn’t so blindly obedient as the email exchange with Cagliostro suggests.

[OracleSage]

I have always suspected Wells have ties to locations of creativity. From what we know of them, they are pure magiq. From what we know of magiq, it is pure creativity. So I suppose it wouldn’t be that big a stretch to say that libraries and museums are common types of Wells. However, we also see other odder wells, like the one discovered at Triplets Bridge (I honestly don’t recall if it’s a canon Well, but I have always assumed it was one).

[Viviane]

Wells, to me, are one of the most fascinating and confusing parts of Magiqal lore. They’re always interesting when they come up, and they always evoke a deep sense of mystery and the mystical connections between worlds, but we know so little about them, and what little we do know is not exactly systematically treated.

I personally sort of doubt that every single library in the Magiqverse could be a well, just given how many libraries of different kinds exist and how it seems likely that, if all libraries behaved this way or caused this kind of reaction, we would probably know about it. For example, Endri is a librarian, and it seems like she, a Magimystic, was able to go to work regularly without feeling intensely disoriented. I guess she may have experienced something like that once and never made mention of it in canon, but my sensibilities about magiq generally and wells in particular lead me to believe they’re rather rare occurrences, and while perhaps some particular libraries are wells (personal experience vote for the Boston Public Library), I don’t think all of them could be.

I do kind of like @Drus’s theory that the age of the library could play into its status as a well, and it makes me wonder whether all wells are of equal strength, or whether there are different degrees of strength surrounding them. (Maybe this could also explain why newer Magimystics don’t necessarily feel overly disoriented when meeting Marty; the ‘adept’ version of a well has a shorter lifespan, and therefore has a shallower connection to/less echoes from the other side.)

And then, if there is a different strength or depth to each individual well, what could be the rhyme or reason behind it? The Morgan Library (established in the early 20th century) is relatively new compared to some other notable libraries, even within the U.S., and yet seems to be a well of some power or notability. Maybe it’s some particular knowledge or idea encapsulated within that makes it a well? Or maybe it’s impossible for people this side of the veil to determine what makes something a well because of where they are - there’s something else driving the existence of wells that our characters can’t really see.

[CJB]

This is one of those situations where I just want to go on and on about an element of the 'verse but because I know more than I’ve canonically established, and know when more will be revealed, I feel handcuffed by my own narrative plan.

There is a rhyme and reason to wells and their power, and it will be further explored in the future.

My question for you, what in the narrative brings you to the conclusion that Endri is a magimyst? Or better, do you perceive adepts different from magimysts, or those with sensitivity to magiq? Do you define magimystics or magimysts as those who simply pursue knowledge and perform magiq, and adepts as those with an innate and specific power? I’m just curious… :) That I can probably discuss more.

[Augustus_Octavian]

@CJB

Do you define magimystics or magimysts as those who simply pursue knowledge and perform magiq, and adepts as those with an innate and specific power?

That’s always been how I’ve read your work. The best analogy I can come up with is that magimysts (magimystics?) seem to be more like D&D “wizards” - learning to perform a variety of magiqs, with adepts being more like D&D sorcerers - with a narrower range of innate abilities.

I think the narrative, in-world difference I perceive is that adepts are people that “The Lie” forgot and therefore retain magiq abilities from the Time Before/The Book of the Wild/etc, where magimystics are people who forgot “The Lie” and therefore know magiq is real.

[CJB]

The wizard/sorcerer concept is basically what I intended to convey.

[Augustus_Octavian]

It’s my adept ability; I’m a mind-reader.

EDIT: It says so in my PRSFNE profile.

[CJB]

I always thought of adepts as magimystic X-Men.

[Viviane]

YES! That’s actually the way I think of adepts, as well. (Annnnnnd now I want an AU fic where Port and Aether start an Xavier’s School but for adepts.)

Actually, the adept/non-adept distinction is one of the most continually fascinating elements of this universe for me, as far as character development. For most or all adepts in the Book of Kings, I think their gifts tend to bring trouble more than anything, but it’s interesting to contrast that with the sort of “regular Joes” of the Magiq-verse? I think the majority of characters who ran the Forum were not adepts, people who didn’t have the same innate special abilities, but who are drawn deeply to the study and experience of Magiq nonetheless.

To me that split is an interesting reversal of, for example, the standard Superhero universe, where the majority of the protagonists have innate/accidentally acquired gifts or powers, with an occasional outlier Iron Man or Batman who acquired their superhero status by other means.

[CJB]

Often, adepts served a narrative purpose, whereas “regular Joes” made up a lot of the character development. Though, of course I love my adepts…

Because reader/mountaineers were coming in to this as “Joes”, I didn’t want it to be a case of normal people versus superheroes. Batman is intrinsically more fascinating to me than Superman. The choice of a regular person to fight immeasurable odds without the aid of innate supernatural power…

[Augustus_Octavian]

That isn’t to say that an adept with natural ability couldn’t go on to learn other magimystic skills, though, right? Lauren, with her innate telemancy but then learning magiq from Cagliostro comes to mind.

[CJB]

Absolutely. Though Lauren is exceptional in a way most people aren’t.

[Drus]

You basically asked for it

Anyway - my question is, whether there have been more Laurens in the history. If she’s exceptional, was Cagliostro alike?

I’d say, to me, adepts are still a bit far from stereotypical fantasy wizards throwing fireballs but, based on how she was presented, this group would be one that doesn’t have to pursue magiq cause it’s simply innate to them?

The magimysts (I’d save the name magimistycs for the displine… but hey, I might be wrong here) are something that strongly resembles mages from Mage: the Ascension (I think I mentioned this in that review I posted on Apple Books (speaking of which, I want more of these in digital!)) or even those who are able to look behind the veil in Kult (maybe without the apocalyptic occult/horror vibe). Even if powerful and effective, they’re still like children in a foggy forest - too many forked paths and threats behind every corner, so it might blow up your face. They can harness magiq but they aren’t naturally disposed for this.

And then there are living wells like Marty who confuse me. For a brief moment I even thought that he was on the opposite side of the scales to Lauren.

As for the wells themselves. Well… of course there’s more to it, I didn’t expect otherwise

[Deyavi]

I think if I were to experience the events of these chapters as a character I’d choose Cole. Not that I envy him some of the intense things he faces, like potentially alienating the girl he likes as one not-insignificant example, but because there is something thrilling about his role in these chapters. He was often our man on foot, taking on tasks we couldn’t, and grabbing the adventure by the horns. I have this notion of wanting to retrace all his steps from the entire TMP campaign. He was, in a way, one of our most fully-immersed characters.

He really came through for us here, going head-to-head with Lauren in a race against time and then, you know, she set the library on fire (or tried to). He also put his relationship at risk to give Deirdre the truth.

[grimangel53]

the wizard/sorcerer concept fits, and there are sorcerers who can learn more magiq. sometimes, they can learn it through study like a wizard. (multiclassing) the innate nature of their magiq power is all well and good, but they do have to learn their magiqs. so they can do it. magimystics are good wizards.

[Drus]

Beg to differ - I’d call both Wool and Silver magimysts but if we were to discern them as good and bad, then there’s not much we can defend when it comes to Silver?

…I think?

[OracleSage]

I always took polyguilds as a form of multiclassing?

[grimangel53]

i mean sure. if each guild represents a magic class.

its more just the idea that sorcerers, like adepts, have innate magical potential, where as wizards learn to bend teh arcane energies through study and things like books and spells and ritual.