Thread: TARAK TALES BACKGROUND THREAD - WORLD MATERIAL (no comments)

A Magical Life The daily lives of most folks in Tarak are not going to be entirely unfamiliar to folks oh, sure, the details will be different, like how cattle have to be driven up and down ramps from their stable, and how everything is multi-level all over the place, but by and large, most activities are going to be known and understandable. But the element of this world that bears examination is the magical powers. Magical items can be viewed as basically technology, so those can be worked in with little issue. It's the lives of the spellcasters that bear more examination. It's important to note that magic in this world is merely the ability to work one's will on the universe directly. The force exists, and only some people have the ability to tap it without special tools and runes and equipment. Now, since this very magic led to more or less the destruction of the old world, and the current very limited world-under-siege state of affairs, magic is viewed with huge suspicion in general. However, in this world, it is still immensely useful, so society can't give it up entirely. But it has to be controlled, and the two organizations have evolved to allow magic to be used in a safe, controlled manner. Perhaps because the energy of magic is so readily available here, powerful beings also participate in the events of the world, beings that mortals can only call gods. This led to one easy method of controlling the power of magic swear binding oaths to the gods, and let divine punishment fall upon those who break the oaths. I mean, who's going to argue with the gods as arbiters of justice, right? But there were also uses of magic that gods weren't really interested in, or that couldn't be justified under peaceful gods, and incorporating said other uses into oaths gave entirely too much wiggle room as to render the whole exercise pointless. So a different organization had to be developed to allow magical power without as many strictures, but since the gods weren't in control, they had to be zealously controlled by themselves, or society wouldn't allow them. And that's how the Orders and the Guild came about. The thing to realize is, although both organizations have defined methods and flavor, they don't actually limit the kind of characters you can have. I mean, a given PC has to be able to operate within the structure, nominally, but there's a lot of lattitude. A priest can be friendly or cranky, forgiving or vengeful. A wizard can be outgoing or reserved, intellectual or seemingly dull. They can chafe under their restrictions or they can thrive. It all depends on the type of character you want to play. People are usually recruited into the organizations as soon as their capability becomes known. It's generally considered a great honor or at least a great opportunity for the magic user, but there are all kinds of family dynamics. Sometimes the magic user is an orphan, sometimes the family stays close, sometimes the family essentially gives up the child to the care of the organization for reasons of their own, or any number of other permutations. Needless to say, this has other effects, depending on the specifics of the situation. Life within the organizations can be very similar to life everywhere. There's nothing in either group that forbids friendships, romance, even marriage and family. But because the ability to work magic is intrinsic to each individual though it doesn't necessarily run in bloodlines, the magic user can never be free of the organization entirely. Spouses may come and go, children grow up and leave, but they will always be a wizard or a cleric. That's why many in the Orders take vows of chastity and instead devote themselves to their parishioners as a whole, and why many in the Guild develop relationships with each other, and seem even more insular to outsiders. In general, those in the Orders are, yes, priests and priestesses of the religion, but they're also social workers, schoolteachers, mail carriers, and newsagents. Shrines are distributed throughout any given community, with younger acolytes taking news and items and supplies back and forth between them, and the neighborhood shrine is a place where the kids go to learn to read and write, where messages and packages are left, and where people trade stories. Clerical magic can often tell truth from lie, so if you hear a tale from the mouth of your local cleric, it's bound to be more accurate, even if the information is incomplete. People feel more comfortable around clerics, knowing they can't get out of control or the gods themselves will exact punishment, so the Orders rarely feel the same kind of social isolation that the Guild gets. But that doesn't mean there aren't all different kinds of clerics. They may not devote themselves to one god at a time, but their personalities may be more suited to some than others, and not always the positive aspects. Within the letter and spirit of their oaths, they can do or act any way they please, and while they are limited in the kind of magic they can learn and practice, they are perfectly capable of doing whatever else they want. The Guild tends to be more the institute of higher learning they devote themselves not only to magic but also all other kinds of education as well. After all, magic helps drive technology in this world, so it makes sense that enchanters, spellcasters, and engineers would be closely allied in the halls of the Guild. It could be useful to imagine the Guild as a university whose staff can be hired out for special expert jobs throughout the community. They cannot count on community support as the Orders can, so therefore they must support themselves by charging for their services. On the other hand, as the gods don't have a direct say in what they can and can't do, they are free to learn any form of magic they so desire. The problem, of course, is self-control. With no other practical control but other Guild wizards, combined with the social alienation that fear of their power creates within a community, it's a serious risk for wizards to develop a kind of megalomania. Which is why the Guild has to be fairly involved and self-policing. Many see the Guild as intrusive and controlling, but fewer realize how necessary that is. Most wizards have dealt with the Guild practices their whole magical life, so many have learned to just deal with it, and beyond keeping tabs on what each wizard is doing, the Guild doesn't actually try and force its members to do all that much. But it IS definitely authoritative, and different people have different reactions to authority. Therefore you'll get conformists and rebels, you'll get those who operate well and those who have difficulty. And each wizard's focus is different, as well some aren't interested in developing their power all that much, which the Guild doesn't mind thinks it's a waste, but doesn't mind, so long as they're still controlled in how they use the power they have. Others are more interested in research or teaching younger wizards, and so forth. There's all kinds of personalities in the Guild, as well, so just because the Guild hierarchy is as much of a presence in a wizard's life as the gods are a presence in a cleric's life, that doesn't mean the Guild has to dictate everything the wizard does. Different people have different reactions and find different ways to cope within the letter and spirit of the Guild rules, they can do or act any way they please, and while they are required to bear the marks and identification of the Guild and deal with the public by Guild methods, they are perfectly capable of doing whatever else they want. So, just because you want to play a magic user doesn't mean you have to be limited to a particular type of personality. You can still do whatever you like. It's just that the power of magic comes with a price, and so whatever character you play, you're going to have to deal with that price. You can still be friendlyunfriendlyobedientrebelliousseriouslight-heartedwhatever, you just have to be able to cope with the other duties imposed on you by your choice to be able to cast spells. And as plotlines will prove, even that can be a source of drama in and of itself.