Benedict Jacka

From: Nepene

I’ve really enjoyed reading your answers, so for whenever you do it I have a few more questions. I’d appreciate any answers. 

1. Would you say most Dark mages are murderous psychopaths? I know that being a Light mage doesn’t make you good and many are corrupted by power at the top, but it seems to me from the tales that most Dark mages seem to be socialized with torture and mental control to view murder and thievery as acceptable, with the only exceptions being those who escape like Verus.

Umm.  Tricky one.  

Honestly, I’d say the answer’s no.  Some are, yes, but not all.  I’ve met Dark mages who don’t come across as murderous or crazy at all – sometimes they even get put in the apprentice program (makes the class a lot more exciting, I can tell you).  And I’ve had chats with Dark apprentices that have gone well enough.  Not all Dark mages are total psychos – it’s just that the ones that are total psychos are really noticeable.

They’re definitely more violent than Light mages or independents, and you have to be careful when you’re dealing with them, but in a weird way they’re actually more up-front about things than Light mages are.  I get lied to by Light mages a lot more than I do by Dark ones.

2. Magic depends on your personality, your inner character. If you change, does your magic change? I’d imagine the torture and abuse common with Dark mages would shift people’s personalities and values a lot, hence the question.

Kind of, but not that much.  Your magic can develop in different ways, and you can push into one aspect of it at the expense of the others, but I’ve never heard of someone’s magic type changing completely.  We’re getting into psychological stuff here, but the way I understand it there’s only so much your personality can change.  By the time you get to the point where you can use your magic effectively you’re probably 20+ years old and your core personality’s more or less set.  You just learn to apply it in different ways.  

3. Any idea where the magical energy for magic comes from? Can people run out of magic, if only temporarily?

Thank you, it’s been fun.

First question:  no clue.  I think there’s some metaphysics class in the apprentice program that’s supposed to cover that sort of thing, but I skipped it.  

As for running out, I don’t think so.  That’d be like a fire refusing to light because someone was burning too much stuff next door – mages can’t run out of magic any more than the world can run out of fire.  (They can get too tired to keep using it, though.)

From: Dan

Hey Luna are there any types of Mages that can make heads explode?

What.

From: Flummox

Hi!

I have a few questions, if you don’t mind! Hopefully you haven’t heard them before; I’ve been through previous Q&As to check for repeats, but I should have gone to bed hours ago and am not especially attentive when sleep deprived! 

1) To what extent have you heard of mages engage in non-magical professions, yet use their magic covertly on the job? For example, a police inspector who has proper qualifications and surreptitiously uses magic to obtain leads, or a doctor who “just somehow” saves patients who should have died by modern medical standards.  

It’s actually more common for adepts than for mages, because it takes mages years to get good with their powers, and it’s kind of hard to do that and the student thing at the same time.  I also get the feeling that by the time a mage hits journeyman level and has all the wealth and power and contacts that go with it, they don’t have much motivation to go into an entry-level job and take orders from normals.  

Adepts do it more often, because of the whole “halfway house” thing – they’re not quite in the magical world or the normal one.

2) Are apprentices encouraged to share details of their abilities with their families, and if not, is consent for training minors ever an issue in the magical community? 

I’ve heard of it going both ways.  Usually the parents find out one way or another (if they’re normals, that conversation gets interesting really fast) but some keep it secret.  There’s one girl I know from apprentice classes whose parents think she’s doing her A-levels at a private school in Cheltenham.  Wouldn’t want to be her when they find out . . .

3)Are there any careers in magical propaganda? Perhaps facilitating publication of works like Harry Potter to divert public attention toward misconceptions and away from real magic?  

That’s hilarious.  No, I don’t think J. K. Rowling is secretly being employed by the Council (though I’d laugh my head off if she was).  There are mages from the Council and the Order of the Cloak who do that kind of cover-up stuff, but I think they deal with blatant stuff rather than doing propaganda.  Then again, I guess if they were doing subtle propaganda, they wouldn’t tell us, would they?

4) Is there a noticeable geographical distribution of mage types, with, say, more ice mages being born in Canada and more heat mages in Bali? Or is it completely random? I guess this question comes down to whether or not environmental factors play a role in determining mage types. 

Interesting one.  Yes, mage distribution does vary, or at least that was what I was told in class.  Not sure if it’s based on climate, but it’s definitely not the same everywhere.

5) Finally, how are apprentice mages graded in class? Are there pass-fail, move-ahead-when-you-attain- mastery-of-a-skill levels of classes or does one tend to graduate with the same peer group with which they began? 

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer some or all of my questions!

Apprentices start out on a year-group system – by default you’re placed into the same class as students who’ve been in the apprentice program for roughly the same amount of time that you have, give or take a few months.  In theory there’s supposed to be a “tree” that you move up, but if you’re good enough (or if your master’s got enough pull) you can skip a few classes.  Over time the faster learners get promoted ahead and the slower ones get held back, so there’s a sort of gradual cycle effect.  I’ve been in the apprentice program for coming up on two years now and only a few of my classmates are the same ones that I joined with.  

 Got a bunch more questions queued up, so I’ll post another lot next week.

From: Dan

What’s a matter Mage? are they like earth Mages?

Sort of. They’re what you get if you take the earth and stone manipulation of an earth mage and strip out the shields and direct combat abilities – they’re great at manipulating solid inanimate objects but they can’t really do anything else. They’re pretty rare as far as I know – I haven’t met any my age. Supposed to be really good crafters.

From: Erin

So just between us girls (and possibly the rest of he internet) have you ever had a thing for Alex

Ah . . . Okay, answering that between us girls is one thing. Posting it up on this website where it can be read by anyone who knows how to work a browser . . . no thanks. (Not least because I’ve got a sneaking suspicion Alex reads this column to check up on me.) Send me a private message or something.

From: Orion

Dear Luna, its mentioned in the Earth Magic entry that earth magic is one of the primary types of magic specialising in engineering, what is the other kind of magic and what can it do?

It’s called matter magic, and see question 1.

From: Orion

Dear Luna, various characters have been shown to have glowing eyes when using magic, what causes this? and does it have anything to do with the amount of power that mage has?

It’s just a visual effect as far as I know. You sometimes get it when a mage overchannels, usually when their control’s off for some reason. If you see it it’s usually a smart move to get out of the way.

From: Orion

Again?

Dear Luna, maybe a strange question but can you get half-human hybrids from the more human like magical creature and humans?

You’ve been reading too many paranormal romance novels.

From: Orion

Seriously?

Dear Luna, what is the Gate Rune? and what determines how strong ones magic is? is a mages power static but they learn better control? or can they develop their strength further?

I don’t think those questions have anything to do with each other . . .

The Gate Rune was the doodad the factions were fighting over in the Gate Rune War. I think a group of Dark mages had it but couldn’t use it properly, so they had to attack the Council to get the bits they needed (or it might have been the other way around, can’t remember). Then there were different factions and it all overlapped with what was going on in World War II. It’s kind of confusing.

Magic strength is really complicated, so I’m not going to get into that here.

From: Orion

Okay, you’re starting to push your luck now.

Dear Luna, a persons magic is linked to their personality right? have you ever heard of someone’s magic changing? for example someone loses there memory from a head injury and wakes up with a different personality. or someone who was once overweight but loses it and changes their mentality in the process?

I . . . what? What does being overweight have to do with changing your mentality? And waking up with a different personality . . . why are you even asking this stuff?

Look, these questions of yours are just getting too weird.

From: Amba

Dear Luna
Do you think there will ever be a cross over story with both Alex and Harry Dresden? Ie a collaboration piece between the 2 authors? It would be fantastic to see how these characters interact. thank you!

I don’t actually know who this Harry Dresden guy is. People keep writing in about him assuming I do, though. (If anyone DOES know who he is and why everyone assumes I’d know him, feel free to write in and tell me.) So . . . maybe, I guess? I honestly have no clue about the answer to this one, sorry.

From: sam

Can you give some information on magical creatures like where they come, and what world’s can they travel to.

Uh . . . I’m guessing you meant to ask where they come from? Some were created by mages, but most weren’t. I think the very old stories say they came from some other world, but I wasn’t really paying attention in that class.

As for what worlds they can travel to, anywhere a human can go, I think.

From: Dan

Hey I was just wondering about Mage types, and shouldn’t force and space Mages basically be able to do some of the same things like manipulate gravity/magnetism and also control light possibly to make someone blind or to make themselves invisible.

Force mages can’t do any of those things, unless you count telekinesis as manipulating gravity. Force magic doesn’t really do ‘subtle’ – it’s good at breaking stuff and throwing stuff around, not hiding or messing with people’s senses.

Space mages can’t manipulate gravity or magnetism as far as I know, though I suppose they might be doing it at some really fine level – it’s not like I’d be able to tell. They do have an invisibility trick they can pull which basically teleports light in a radius around their body so that it goes from one side of them to another without touching them. Makes them really hard to see, but since the light doesn’t reach their eyes it means THEY can’t see anything either.

From: Dan

There seems to be a type of Mage for everything that you can think of, everything from Space manipulation to Shapeshifting and from Magnetism to Chance. I was wondering if there was anything that CANT be manipulated by magic.

I think pretty much everything in the world falls under at least some type of magic. Inanimate objects can be affected by elementalists, living things come under the dominion of living family mages, and universalists cover the edge cases.

I mean, there are things that are specific enough that they don’t have a magic type devoted to them – I’ve never heard of a plastic mage, for instance – but that doesn’t mean that they can’t be manipulated (matter mages can handle plastic just fine, and fire mages can manipulate it too, if by ‘manipulate’ you mean ‘melt’).

From: C. Renkema

Is there any chance of an Alex Verus movie?

Why do people expect me to know this stuff?

From: Apollo

Hi Luna. These questions are going to be a little bit long-winded but I think overall worth it. Feel free to split them up.

Is there an opposite and middle for most Mage types? E.g light, darkness and perhaps a hybrid like shadow between the two?

Quite a few rare mages have been mentioned. Are they so uncommon because they are a perfect mix on the spectrum or because they simply don’t last long. Or both, like Shape shifters who are not only rare but lose their personalities while changing.

Can you create a Encyclopaedia entry for the really rare types? Magnetism and electricity would be interesting. Light and its facets seem popular too.

Last question. Is sound magic similar to the enchanting songs a siren sings or can it control vibrations and change matter states e.g. turning gasses into solids, subliming solids into gasses. Or is that “vibration”/ “state magic?

P.S. I lied about the last question. Can you use the examples used?

Okay, from the top:

1) No. There are some that are sort of opposites, like fire and ice, but there are plenty more like time, space, and mind magic that don’t really have any kind of counterpart. (I don’t really know what the opposite of time magic would be. Timeless magic? Not-in-time magic? Out-of-time magic?)

2) I think rare mages are mostly rare because there are fewer of them to begin with. There just aren’t as many shifter mages as there are fire mages. The attrition rate does have something to do with it, though – I’ve heard those same stories of shapeshifters losing their minds in another form, so it’s probably a mixture of both.

3) For all the rare types? You have any idea how many types of magic there are? Shapeshifting, magnetism, electricity, light, illusion, gravity, metal, wood . . . Fine, fine, I’ll see what I can dig up. No promises though.

4) I only understood about half that paragraph. Sound magic just creates sounds, as far as I know – loud sounds, quiet sounds, sonic attacks, that kind of thing. Siren songs are almost definitely enchantment. I don’t know what subliming is.

5) Look, I’m a chance adept, not a mind-reader. I have no idea what “use the examples used” is supposed to mean. If you guys want me to answer this stuff you have to make it clear enough that I actually understand what you’re talking about.

From: Claud

When are the audiobooks coming???

No idea.  

From: Nepene

Heya Luna. I have a few questions if you don’t mind.

First, you’ve shown us a few ways that normals can gain magical powers. They can use imbued items (with some negative consequences), harvest humans or magical creatures (evil), be bitten by vampires (dead, also evil) or be cursed by a witch (rare, many side effects). I was wondering if there were any other ways for normals to gain magical powers you’d heard about? Any magical creatures or rituals that can empower humans?

Second, you’ve also talked a fair bit about rituals and various general spells like tracking spells that a lot of people can use. I was wondering, are those universal spells? People seem to be using rituals that I wouldn’t expect to fit in with their type. 

And third, a more moralistic question. I understand that the directors are likely more interested in mages than humans, but would you say the power mages have over society in general has been good or bad for humans in general? From what you’ve heard.

Thank you for any answers.

Huh, those are interesting ones.  

You’ve covered most of the ways I know of normals/sensitives gaining magic:  take it, be given it, or get hold of an item/creature that can use it for you.  There are stories of normal humans training their way up to adept or mage status but most mages claim that anyone who does that must have been a latent mage anyway.  It’s possible to bind a spell onto someone so that it runs off their own energy, too, but you obviously know about that already.

Ritual magic can do stuff outside a mage’s speciality, yeah – the tradeoff is that it takes a lot more time and usually needs a bunch of focuses.  General spells are a little different – they’re ones that have been worked out and simplified over the years so that a lot of different types of mages can use them.  

For your last question . . . well, depends who you ask, doesn’t it?  Most mages would probably say good.  If you’re asking me personally, I’d say bad.  Not VERY bad, not ‘oppressive dictatorship’ bad, just a lot of small things that add up.  You have this small group of people who have so much power over the rest of humanity, and it’s really easy for them to abuse it.  From what Alex says I think mages used to protect people a lot more than they do now, so maybe it’s changed.

From: Jemma

Hi there. This question is short & may seem pointless. But it will make a difference, so please, could you tell me how old Alex is?

He’s 30.  

. . . ‘it will make a difference’?  What exactly are you thinking of doing?

From: Bill

Hi Luna,

I don’t know if this has been asked or covered. But how do Mages recognise each other as mages. If there is a method of doing that. Like reading Aura’s ,feeling magical energy or something like that.  Also a slightly related question how do you tell the difference between an adapt and a mage right away. Since there have been times where Alex does just identify a group of people as Adepts without much interaction. Though i guess that can be explained by his precognitive abilities. 

They can’t, and you don’t.  It’s like trying to pick up radio waves from a radio that’s turned off.  If someone isn’t actually using magic there’s no way of knowing if they can do it (and with some magic types even that isn’t much of a guarantee).  There are a lot of mages who are really careful not to let anyone know that they’re a mage until it suits them. 

But just because you can’t cast a spell and magically know the answer doesn’t mean you can’t figure it out some other way.  I mean, most mages have spent their whole lives knowing they’re more powerful than 99.9% of everyone they’ll ever meet.  Leaves a bit of a mark on their personality, trust me.  After you’ve been around magical society a while, you start to get a pretty good sense just from looking at someone of what they’re likely to be. 

From: Bill

Hi Luna,

Not a terribly serious question, but so far in your experiences in the magical community and being apprenticed to Alex, what has been your favourite type of magic to witness?

The spells you get from light magic (as in light mages, not Light mages) can be really beautiful – I’ve seen a couple of demonstration shows and they were amazing.  Fire magic is pretty fun to watch too, as long as you don’t get too close.