Video: The Basics of Magic, Part 1 (Three W's)
The video opens in a wide, desert-like area. Just sand and rocks as far as the eyes can see. In it stands a man wearing casual clothes.
"Hello, friends, and a warm welcome to all newcomers. I'm Jordan, but you probably know me better as @NeWizard. For those who don't know me, I am a Mage.....Influencer, I guess? I mostly just try to explain certain details of Mage culture that may seem....odd, maybe obscure to outsiders."
He scratches his short beard.
"I just think it's a shame how much we isolate ourselves from the non-magical word. It sucks. So I try my best to bridge the gap a bit."
He claps his hands together.
"Enough preamble. The biggest culture shock I had was finding out how little people know about even the basics of magic, so I'm here to fix that. Let me go over the structure of this series for a bit. There are many different types of mages. In every video, I will do my best to explain two or three. This time I chose the three most well-known types of mages, probably because they make up the vast majority of the arcane population by far: Also known as the three W's, it's Wizards, Witches, and Warlocks!"
He turns to the side and discreetly coughs into his hand.
"Now, you may be wondering why I don't just go through all of them in one video. And the answer is simple. There are many vids online just reading off a Wiki article or something, conveying information that they don't really understand themselves. I hate that shi..stuff. But that's what I would have to do if I were to just explain everything myself. I may know a lot more about the different types of magic than an outsider, but I really only have context for my specific type of magic. So, to remedy that I will have every type of magic be explained by an actual practitioner of that type of magic. For this video, I have two guests here with me. I myself am a Wizard, so I'll be taking over teaching duty for that. But also joining me are the wonderful Aloette, a Warlock from the Bay Area..."
He points to his left and a woman dressed in mostly black with a wide-brimmed sun hat enters the frame. She gives a little wave to the camera. "Hey there."
"...and the wickedly talented Brendan, a genuine Salem Witch."
He points to the right and a pale young man with sunglasses walks into view. He wears very light and airy clothing that otherwise looks perfectly normal. "What's up?"
"Now, before we go into specifics, let's start with the most basic of basics. Some of you may be wondering how it is determined who becomes what type of mage. Are Wizards born Wizards? Do you study to become a Witch, kind of like a job? Is it determined for you? The answer to all of these is no. Well, technically you are born a mage, just not a specific type. When you have arcane potential, the doors to every kind of magic are wide open for you. You can cast any spell you want, from any type of magic."
After finishing the sentence he waits for a good minute before he turns to the Warlock and whispers "Goddammit, Al, we practiced this shit!"
She visibly cringes and apologizes before saying "But Jordan, if all mages can use all types of magic, why do all of them specialize?" in a very listless and monotone manner.
"That's a good question Al, but things are a bit more complicated than that. You see, the moment you cast your first spell, you are locked into that type of magic forever. You lose the ability to cast spells of a different type and are forced into your niche. And the reason the three W's are so numerous is because it's really, really, really damn easy to accidentally cast one of their spells as a dumb clueless child. It occurs a bit less nowadays, but it still happens a lot. Case in point, us three."
The other two nod in agreement.
"So, now that we have covered the basics, let's get myself out of the way first. Technically the kind of magic we Wizards use is called General Magic, but most of us just call it Wizardry. And luckily for me, it is probably one of the least restrictive types of magic. The thing with Wizards is that we can do almost anything....as long as it's not too complex. For example, a Wizard can make themselves completely silent, so that even stomping around in heavy boots makes no sound. They can turn themselves invisible, to cameras and the naked eye....but they can't do all of that with one spell. No sound, no cameras, and invisibility, all different spells that have to be mastered separately to be of any use. Basically, as long as a spell only does one simple thing, a Wizard can probably learn it. And you are seeing one right now. "
He points at the camera and wags his finger in a circle. The camera turns around showing more desert and a car until it loops back around to him.
"No cameraman. That thing is held up by magic. Now, I'm kind of a lazy guy, and mastering Wizardry takes anywhere from hours to years of intense training and study depending on the spell, so I focused on convenience. You know, making things levitate, pushing buttons from afar."
He lifts his hands up and starts hovering slightly above the ground.
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"Floating, you know, stuff like that. But I can show off a few more visually interesting things. Now, every Wizard who received any kind of magic education can do the very basic elemental spells."
He lifts his left pointer finger and a small flame appears.
"Very useful for smokers, but that's about all I can do with fire. I can heat things up via touch, but that doesn't really look all that impressive. Now basic wind is useful on a hot day."
He lowers himself back on the ground and starts frantically fanning himself. Nothing out of the ordinary happens. After a few seconds, he stops, smiles, and fans himself slowly and deliberately. After every wave of his hand, a visible gust of wind washes over his face.
"Who needs fans, am I right? But just for this video, I have spent the last couple of months in the library and a variety of training rooms to show you some neat offensive magic."
He gestures toward himself and the camera floats closer until he picks it up and aims it at his left hand. Nothing happens for a minute until sparks start forming around it. The sparks increase in intensity until he aims at a nearby rock with two fingers. A massive bolt of lightning shoots out of his hand and hits the rock, causing a loud boom and a cloud of sand to be thrown up into the air. When it settles the rock comes back into view, now split open. The other two mages clap.
"Thank you. Real masters can do much worse with basically no charge-up time, but that requires an insane amount of discipline and dedication, two virtues that I sadly lack. So I'll stay with my convenience spells. That's more my style. But that was it, I think. Basic Wizard sh-stuff. Let's give it up for Aloette and Brandon."
He turns the camera toward the other two. The woman smiles, but the man doesn't.
"Hey there, I'm Aloette Pierce, I run a Dispell and Decurse shop in San Fran, you can find me online at @Warlocked979. I'm excited to be here. I always thought mundies should be clued in a bit more to what's going on with us. I'm glad to contribute."
"I'm Brandon, part of the coven The Salem Resurgence. Find out about us on TheSalemResurgence.mag or catch us @SalemResurgence. If you want to hear my thoughts for whatever reason follow me @SalReBrandon, but I mostly post about inter-coven politics, so it may not be that interesting for non-Witches."
.
Jordan laughs.
"Okay guys, now that the plugs are out of the way, why don't you tell us about your kinds of magic. Brandon?"
"Sure. Witchcraft is all about improving lives. We have spells for just about anything. Want to have more stamina? Pack on muscles more easily? Be less nervous when speaking in public? Be a better cook? Witchcraft can do that for you."
"So what's the catch?" Jordan prompts. Brandon sighs in response.
"The catch is that nothing in life is free. And I don't mean the money we charge. If you want to be bewitched, you have to understand that every improvement comes with a drawback, and while some spells always produce the same drawback, most are more or less random, within the confines of the spell. What I mean by that is that if you get bewitched to become a better cook, you may find yourself losing your sense of taste, or become suddenly more clumsy in all areas besides cooking, or you develop several common food allergies. Stuff like that. The greater the enhancement, the greater the drawback."
"So why would anyone want to be bewitched?"
"Because firstly, all bewitchments are temporary. And when the benefit vanishes, the drawback does too. And secondly, they are very useful in a pinch. We get Marathon runners, students before a big exam, salarymen who have a backlog of work to get through, artists with creative blocks, and many more. I agree that it's often not worth it in a casual setting, but when you need to get things done then there is no better aid than a certified Witch. At the Salem Resurgence, we offer a 20% discount for first-time customers and a whopping 50% off for long-time regulars. You can visit our website for more information."
"Sure, sure. " Jordan says, sounding a bit annoyed. "But Witches are most well known for another thing, aren't they?"
Brandon nods.
"Right. Potions. While Potionists are Witches, it is really a different skill set. I myself am one. You rarely see someone who excels at brewing and bewitching. The good thing about Potions is that they are uniform. If they are correctly brewed that is. Every recipe has the same duration, the same effect, and the same drawback. However, they are also much more limited in use. You can have yourself be bewitched to be good at juggling or riding an unicycle or something, but potions are much more generalized. And just to set the record straight, we don't use bat wings or newt eyes or any of that nonsense. All of our ingredients are simple, clean and commercially available. High-end potion ingredients are very expensive, but it's nothing weird like that. If you want to test it out for yourself, the first basic potion is free for all first-time customers at any Salem Resurgence location. Please visit our website for a list of Resurgence stores in your area."
"Right, that's enough out of you. Aloette, if you would."
She nods.
"We Warlocks are basically the other side of the Witch-coin. We use curses, and they are basically what the name implies. Think of a witch's drawback without the benefit. The main difference with us is that we are highly customizable. Let's say your father gambles his paycheck away every month, so you want to curse him to be clumsy to the extent that he actually hurts himself whenever he tries to do anything. We can do that. But oh, you don't want him to suffer all the time, only when he's gambling. As a little deterrent. We can do that. We can make it so the curse only activates at the end of the month when he gets his paycheck. Or only when he's in a gambling hall or casino. Or maybe your mom has a drinking problem. We can make her have constant piercing headaches, but we can restrict it so it only happens while she is drunk."
"That all sounds highly illegal."
A sly smile appears on her face.
"Of course it is. The only Warlocks who can legally use curses are those hired by the authorities to curse wanted criminals or other things that I'm not at liberty to say. But that doesn't stop the more unscrupulous among us from offering their services in secret to anyone who has the cash. That's where people like me come in. The only one who can dispel a Warlock's curse is another Warlock. It's a very difficult and draining procedure, especially with the more complex curses, but because of that, it pays very well. I have been in the business for 8 years now and if I wanted to I could retire already. But I do love my job, so I doubt I'll hang up the robe anytime soon."
"Interesting. Can you make potions too?"
"Oh no, Warlocks can't do that. But our thing is that we are not limited to just cursing humans. We can curse pretty much anything. An object, a place, a song, a job position, anything. However, cursing these things usually requires a lot of master Warlocks applying the curse in unison. Everyone knows that the ballad A Somber Tale of Magic Lost is cursed, but what most aren't aware of is that it took a rotating cast of 35 high-level Warlocks cursing the thing 24/7 for 3 whole years to pull it off. They worked in shifts and stayed in a hut in the middle of nowhere so they wouldn't be interrupted. That's what it takes. A ton of effort."
"It worked though, right? Everyone who plays or sings the ballad...you know...commits unalive shortly after."
She is silent for a moment.
"Yeah, it worked, but with the amount of effort and time something like that takes, coupled with the fact that one interruption is enough to tank the whole thing, I think the fearmongering over cursed concepts is totally overblown. It could happen, but it won't. It just won't."
"Right. That's that. Before we stop, can you two demonstrate your types of magic for the audience?"
Brandon grins and takes out a little vial.
"Armor Solution. Self-brewed."
He chugs it and then pulls something else out of his pocket. A gun. He holds it up to his temple and fires. The crushed bullet falls harmlessly to the ground after making contact with his skin.
"Here's a classic." he says, this time aiming at his open eye. Again, the bullet is crushed and falls down, leaving Brandon undamaged.
"That's amazing." Jordan says and aims the camera at Aloette, who hands him a coin.
"Try calling it."
Jordan takes it. "That's fun. Heads."
He flips the coin and it comes out tails. Without hesitation he repeats the process ten times, always calling heads. It always comes out tails.
"Alright. Tails." he says and flips for a final time. When it shows heads he laughs out loud. "This coin is great. Can I keep it?"
Aloette shrugs. "Sure, why not."
Jordan aims the camera back at his face.
"Alright, guys, looks like the cam is almost out of charge. So let's end this video here. Next time I'll be filming from Maine, so look forward to that. Don't forget to like and su..."
The video abruptly ends.