the “Gift” – the innate ability to tap into the magical energies of the universe.
Only a small percentage of the population can wield magic – a bit less than five percent, some might say closer to one percent. And just because one has the Gift this does not mean one will have an opportunity to develop it, or develop it fully. Usually those that are able to develop the Gift to impressive and/or highly productive levels are those that have a great amount of time to devote to this endeavor, and live in some type of stable society where teachers and/or places of learning can be found. For the elves and dwarves this is relatively easy, for humans this can be challenging as humans make settlements of all kinds everywhere, and are the most war-hungry and thereby political unstable of the races. For those humans in wilderness settlements and/or remote areas those with the Gift probably may not be able to develop it the same as those in even rural farming areas that are part of some stable political territory. This does not mean that a human in a remote area cannot become a powerful magic user – some fair number that lived in remote areas the whole of their lives have gone on to become some of the most talented of the Gifted that have ever lived. It just means it is less likely.
There seems to be very little in determining who will be Gifted. Just because one parent or both parents are Gifted does not mean the offspring will be. There is only a statistically slightly better chance of becoming Gifted if a person had one or both parents that were Gifted compared to having parents that were not Gifted. Some say specific areas of world have more Gifted than others. The elves say they have the highest percentage of Gifted (may be propaganda to deter invasion from humans and/or feed into their campaign of hindering humanity’s magical prowess). Magic is somewhat fickle or wild. No one can control magic or completely bend it to their will the same way they can mold clay or shape iron. The best one can hope to do is work with the magical energies of the universe and put the odds of success in your favor.
Lessanda, the god of magic, herself says she does not rule, control, or govern magic as much as she represents it and acts as a guide for the Gifted. (During the War of the Gods Lessanda was neutral and attempted to achieve a peace in the Divine Plane).
How does one know they have the Gift? For most mortals the Gift manifests itself sometime around late adolescence to early adulthood, ages 16 to 25 or so for most humans. During this time the individual may start, usually unwittingly, performing cantrips or parts of cantrips/cantrip-like effects.
How does one develop the Gift? Many ways: meditation; listening to one’s intuition; trial and error; direct tutelage; book learning (spells); harnessing emotion; some act of expression/creativity that may be born of some higher intellectual pursuit, linked to emotion, or both. The “old way” is intuitive/meditative plus trial and error and direct tutelage to hear or feel the magical energies of the universe. This method can take decades for an individual to develop the Gift. Humans, not having many decades, came up with a shortcut called “spells” – formulas, equations, recipes, what have you.
Up Next: The Two Paths
