Magic (Vandarei)

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The *Vandarei* novel series by Joy Chant contains different forms of magic. (The information here comes from the first novel in the series, *Red Moon and Black Mountain*.)

> *"There were the Star Enchanters, many of them; and the masters of other powers, the Khentor magicians of the Wild Magic, earth witches, wielders of white witch-magic, and less definable persons—men and women with tokens of power or the gift of prophecy, sybils and seers and sages." (Red Moon and Black Mountain, Joy Chant.)*
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The most defined magics are listed as follows:

* Star Magic
* Earth Magic
* Wild Magic
* Black Magic

## Star Magic

The Star Magic is wielded by the Star Enchanters. They are born to the power, and all belong to an extended royal/noble family.

It is stated that 'Every star in the sky has a name of its own: and every star is the star of an enchanter, be he living, dead, or unborn. The name of our star is our name, and our greatest secret. Never will an enchanter tell his star-name; or never while he retains his wits. Who knows our name can call us; they can compel us. To discover them is our enemies' constant labour; their successes serve as warnings. We do not, not, reveal our star-names.'

'If a man or a woman has practised the magic and served it well, when they die their star shines on. Their power goes back as you might say into the pool. If they have fallen, like Fendarl, that star is a demon's eye—a spy, a bad apple. We have to try to destroy it—a fearful task.'

'If by some cause, we never come to the Magic… or if for some reason an enchanter or an enchantress renounces the magic; then her power is lost and her star goes out. It dies. It is a terrible thing, Li'vanh, for a star to die.'

It is stated that the Star Enchanters were made for the Star Magic by their gods, to contain the magic at a time when it was running free over their world, rather than that the magic was made by or for the enchanters as some people believe. A Star Enchanter desribes to the protagonist how 'the One' (God) long ago created 'the Seven' as his servants. One of them rebelled and fell (directly described and even named as being the same as Lucifer from Christianity), and his power was taken from him. Most of it was divided among the remaining Six servants. Part of the leftover power became the Star Magic.

Star Enchanters make use of Star Magic to act against evil and the fallen one. The magic is very strong, but comes with a clear danger. Since the Star Magic remembers its original master, it can easily be turned to him, and Star Enchanters must remain ever vigilant against corruption and choosing evil, depriving them of ease of mind. In addition, one Star Enchanter states that 'Our price is warmth and comfort, the small joys of common men.'

> *'We walk a precipice. One slip and we are lost. We dare not stray an inch from our path; we dare not yield a step to evil. Our fall is never farther from us than is our shadow. The other magics have not this fear. They are blunt weapons, hard powers to control, but not so sharp to wound the wielder.'*
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## Earth Magic

> *'Blood will have blood and life will have death, as always, King Kiron.'*
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There are witches who practices Earth Magic. 'We are troubled: this enemy of yours, King Kiron, is too far from the earth for us to reach; but if we can help we will. But our help may be small—maybe only to heal and help those who fight with you. Our magic is not like yours, not a weapon to be wielded, but a well to be plumbed, and its workings are slow.' It is implied to be a ritualistic form of magic, that can involve sacrifice of blood or even life, morally grey as it is not evil but not good either. The novel implies that it can be used for healing and to interact with old powers of the earth. It was used to bind an old power that had been let loose by the main conflict back into the earth through the sacrifice of a life.

## Wild Magic

Wild Magic is not described in detail in the novel. A Wild Magician states, 'We of the Wild Magic, we are not weapon-wielders either. We bear a power—if we can. It is a chancy ally; but an unpredictable enemy also. We can say no more than that we are with you, for what we are worth.' - implying that Wild Magic is by nature unpredictable and chaotic. A Star Enchanter describes it as different from both Star Magic and Earth Magic, but that 'those gifted with that never know peace again.' During the battle against the army of the main antagonist, it is described that the Wild Magicians rode in, unarmed but possessed by their magic, 'that power which is hardly to be endured by those who serve it, and cannot be withstood. When they who bore that power unleashed it, even those towers of the Dark Host were swept away in ruin, and the madness which is the curse of the Wild Rider fell on the lesser things.'

## Black Magic

Not much is said about Black Magic. The main antagonist of the first novel apparently used it to make himself undying (he couldn't die from aging) and make it so that nothing in their world could kill him. When the protagonist asked a Star Enchanter what the price of the Black Magic was, they answered that it was 'Too dreadful to speak of.' Later, when the protagonist (a young man from Earth and thus not of the antagonist's world) gave the main antagonist a deadly wound with a knife from Earth (again, thus not of the antagonist's world), he spend their last few moments in reflection, and the book states that 'to win protection from this [death] he had sold all of himself that could have survived it [death].' Though not stated outright in the novel, this implies that the price of the Black Magic is the practioner's own immortal soul. (And that the main antagonist had relinquished in an ultimately failed effort to make himself fully immortal and unkillable.)

## External Links

* *Red Moon and Black Mountain* on Wikipedia