Still Magic

*the school of magic is extended, not through metaphor, but by deeper understanding of the phenomenological nature. Stillness, defined, is not the absence of kinetic motion, but the absence of change in any form...*
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 147: "Good Vibrations"

Still magic allows a mage to greatly reduce or entirely prevent the change of various parameters in a target. Still magic does not require a resource to function, instead operating as long as the caster can focus, with limits imposed by a lack of range and the caster's skill.

A mage gains the ability to use still magic by meditating in the Li'o'te temple for a week. The temple itself is controlled by the Athenaeum of Sound and Silence.

Still magic is extremely useful for defense, being capable of protecting the user from kinetic weaponry (bullets, melee weapons), heat, light, sound, and soul magic- a sufficiently skilled still mage can stand in the center of an explosion and suffer no ill effects. The best ways to kill a still mage are with overwhelming force, void weaponry, chemical or biological attacks, or the right kind of magic.

Offensively, the primary tool we see still mages use is the ability to still a creature’s heart with a touch.  The effect does not always work, as the target can fight back with their own will (nonanima excepted).

Due to their durability and nonlethal abilities, still mages are often employed when a live capture is desired. In civilian operations, still mages can hold heavy items in place for long periods of time.[*speculation*]

## Abilities

A still mage is capable of "stilling" (halting the change of) various parameters of objects in touch-range.

### Position

The most famous and widely-used form of still magic is to still an object in motion. While the magic has a range of touch, the effect can be applied to the entire object simultaneously, causing it to stop without tearing itself apart due to different parts moving at different speeds. A skilled still mage can also intentionally still only part of a moving object in order to damage it.

The effect has a great deal of precision and power, being capable of stopping a bullet as it strikes the mage’s flesh or a cart in its tracks.

With the proper mindset, a still mage can also apparently use position stilling to silence sound and reduce temperature, as both of these effects are based on the motion of small particles.

### Mental Processes

Mental processes can be stilled, but even Uther couldn’t find a use case.

### Entad Connections

Still magic might stop a certain class of connections between an entad and its user, or at least those aspects which are dependent on change, rather than static in their nature.
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 147: "Good Vibrations"

The precise meaning here is unclear, but maybe something like the Red Armor of Arramoor?

### Light

Still magic can stop light, although in practice the touch range leaves it useful against only against light-based attacks.

### Chemical Reactions

Still magic can prevent chemical reactions, as they are mediated by the movement of small particles. A possible use case includes preventing chemical reactions that would be harmful to the caster, such as acid dissolving their skin.[*speculation*]

### Souls

A sufficiently skillful still mage can still their soul. This can be used as a defense against soul magic, as soul magic operates by changing certain pieces of the soul. It can also be used to prevent aging.

## Still Magic in the Game Layer

Still Magic's primary stat is probably mental, as most of the other magics are.[*speculation*]

Still magic has the following virtues:

* **Proportional Halting, 20:**If the change you are attempting to still exceeds your current maximum capacity, the object/force/concept will be stilled proportional to your Still Magic level or to your current maximum capacity, whichever is greater, over the common stilling interval.
* **Instinctive Halting, 40:**  So long as you’re not stilling beyond your capacity, still magic will be applied automatically to any and all effects when it would be beneficial to you. For more information on intent and volition, see LUK rules. This effect applies only when you are conscious.
* **Partial Stilling, 60:**  Removes the penalty for attempting to still a single part of an object. Doubles the damage dealt to objects by stopping or slowing only half of them.
* **Still Soul, 80:**  You can still any changes to your soul, including natural ones. When contesting an entad, roll against its i-level with a multiplier for reasonableness. When contesting a skill use, follow normal contest rules. For other cases, consult your Dungeon Master.
* **Meta Stilling, 100:**  You can still any game effect with a duration.

Meta Stilling can be used to prevent the skill decay caused by Skilled Trade, allowing transferred points to remain until the still mage is unable to maintain concentration.

## Known Practitioners

* Echert Halderson was a still mage employed by Isaac Aumann.
* The Uniquities fireteam sent to apprehend Valencia included a still mage.
* Juniper Smith is a licensed still mage
* Genna Ermaretor is a still magic instructor at the Athanaeum of Sound and Silence, and the author of A Commoner’s Guide to Still Magic.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 still mages limited by range and power not internal well
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 147: "Good Vibrations"
2. ↑ still magic took a mindset, and there were limits to how much pain that mindset could tolerate.
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 102: "The Adventures of Valencia the Red"
3. ↑ Still Magic required visiting a temple and meditating there for a week, which wouldn’t have been too much of a problem, except that the temple was deep underground, and controlled by the Athenaeum of Sound and Silence.
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 106: "The One-Hand Warder"
4. ↑ Velocity mages to dodge the bullets, still mages to stop them...
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 102: "The Adventures of Valencia the Red"
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 It was Uther who extended still magic to the domain of cold, Uther who showed that we could produce silence, and Uther who pioneered the deep meditation of the soul.
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 145: "Freshman"
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Stillness, defined, is not the absence of kinetic motion, but the absence of change in any form. Now, I will grant that many forms of change are reducible to the kinetic movement of elemental particles, whether we consider heat, chemical reactions, or indeed, light.
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 41472254: "Good Vibrations"
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 This was the one that I had highly expected to be the capstone. It was a known ability of a few best-in-their-generation still mages, and allowed not only an effective halt to aging, but immunity from all but the most powerful of soul mages.
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 156: "Mome Rath II"
8. ↑ I rushed over to her, putting my full speed into it, and wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight and desperately stilling both of us with all my might. The explosion wasn’t blinding this time: I could feel the light and heat hitting us, stilled before they could do anything.
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 156: "Mome Rath II"
9. ↑ To kill a still mage required overwhelming force, void weaponry, chemical or biological attacks, or the right kind of magic.
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 102: "The Adventures of Valencia the Red"
10. ↑ I could feel something else, a killing intent from him that was striking at my chest. One of the ways that a still mage could kill was to stop your heart for long enough, but some people could shrug it off, and so far it seemed like I was passing that Save or Die check.
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 32: "Be Still My Heart"
11. ↑ People could fight back against a still mage’s touch, but so far as magic was concerned, she had virtually no will at all.
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 102: " The Adventures of Valencia the Red"
12. ↑ Still mages in particular are often called in for the purposes of capture, rather than strict lethality.
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 145: "Freshman"
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2  When we take the iconic view of the still mage, we think of a speeding cart barrelling down the winding roads of Chisholm, stopped in its tracks with no damage to the passengers or goods
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 147: "Good Vibrations"
14. ↑ Partial Stilling: Removes the penalty for attempting to still a single part of an object. Doubles the damage dealt to objects by stopping or slowing only half of them.
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 156: "Mome Rath II"
15. ↑ Velocity mages to dodge the bullets, still mages to stop them
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 102: "The Adventures of Valencia the Red"
16. ↑ And though I have not yet found practical applications of it, a still mage can stop mental processes.
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 147: "Good Vibrations"
17. ↑ In the battle of Alheim, against the Dread Radiance, Uther was able to use still magic to completely nullify the offense of the Dread Spears and bring an end to the reign of the Hallowed Shards
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 147: "Good Vibrations"
18. ↑ New Virtue: Proportional Halting!
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 154: "Above From Below"
19. ↑ I closed my eyes for three seconds and then went looking at my virtues. I had been busy, but as soon as I had defeated Mome Rath, I should have gone looking for them. I had overloaded Still Magic in order to save Valencia, which would let me know what the remaining virtues were, as well as confirm that Reimer was right about what lay ahead.
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 156: "Mome Rath II"
20. ↑ Instinctive Halting apparently worked with Meta Stilling, and was already holding Still Magic steady. So far as I could tell, I would have Still Magic maxed out for as long as I stayed conscious
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 156: "Mome Rath II"
21. ↑ The still mage, Echert
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 32: "Be Still My Heart"
22. ↑ He wasn’t an ordinary soldier: he was a still mage.
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 102: "The Adventures of Valencia the Red"
23. ↑ “The Athenaeum of Sound and Silence finally got back to me,” he said. “You’re approved for a double, one week at the Li’o’te Temple, one tap from the Rod of Whispers.”
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 141: "Monty Haul"
24. ↑ My first class at the Athenaeum of Sound and Silence was listed as “A Still Magic Primer”. I actually had a passing understanding of my instructor; she was the woman who had written The Commoner’s Guide to Still Magic
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 145: "Freshman"