After the War of the Gods, the remaining gods turned to their centuries-long debate about what powers and knowledge they should allow their creations to have, now with a mind to prevent another era of bloody holy wars. As always, some gods said various ways of using magic should be taken away. What follows is in regards to Gifted mortals and/or mortals/beings, that are not the direct representatives of the gods, using magic in various ways. The rules for how the direct representatives (prophets/clerics and paladins/Tasked et al) of the gods can use the power they have been granted will be discussed in the section “The Chosen of the Gods“.
The gods turned their collective attention to four categories of magical use:
Mass Destruction – which was never clearly defined;
Charms – as they can diminish or take away the sovereignty of a mortal’s mind;
Divination – where one god helps their follower spy on the followers of other gods;
Necromancy – that allow mortals to cheat death and control the dead.
Magics of Mass Destruction
Some was used defensively.
Should we limit our creations because they followed the example we set? Should we toy with the magic of the universe not knowing what the effect may be? Perhaps it is enough that we make peace amongst ourselves and thus our followers will as well.
Peace may not last.
If we take this from them they may create something similar or worse.
They used these powers against one another before our War and we allowed this. Why did we do nothing before?
Because we could not come to a consensus before.
Because there had never been killing on this scale before.
But there was enough killing that we allowed.
Those that committed said killing were punished.
Small comfort to the countless innocent that died needlessly and before their times.
We gave them sentience and with it the ability to make their own decisions – to choose from creation or destruction. Should we take this away and turn them into beings that do only what we say and thus limit their ability to imagine and create?
As we learn from our errors let them learn from theirs.
Should we send representatives to dissuade the use of such power?
That may push some mortals to want to use these powers more.
Let us come to what consensus we can and let the mortals do the same. They are not without reason and pain can be a great teacher. Already most are coming to agreements with one another.
But not all will follow those agreements and those that do not can cause great harm.
Unfortunately there will always be those that can cause great harm in some form or another. The ability to create is a double-edged sword.
Perhaps we should start over and make mortals differently.
And what would be the result of that?
If the knowledge and power to do these things exists they will always be found and done. Again, they followed our example, so let us set a new example and see what the result shall be.
Then what shall our consensus be?
Consensus – The gods would not alter the magic of the universe for fear of unknown results. The gods would not alter or make mortals anew for fear of unknown results. The gods would not alter or make mortals anew to unduly punish mortals for following the example the gods had set.
Before the War of the Gods some of the gods banned their followers from using magic in some specific ways, but not all gods did.
The bans remained, but a ban simply means you do not have permission to do something, the ability to do the something may exist.
Mostly the individual gods reserved the right to do to their own followers as they saw fit.
Here are some further solutions proposed and taken up by various gods:
Prophets and Tasked would have the limited-use ability to bind the magical powers of a specific Gifted individual that used magic in a way contrary to the wishes of the Gifted individual’s god. Binding could last the whole of the mortal’s life.
As the gods do not want the chosen of other gods to target their followers simply for being the followers of another god and thus start holy wars, groups of gods came together and agreed that amongst them their representatives (Prophets and/or Tasked) could bind if necessary said Gifted followers of the other gods in that specific group or Compact. For some gods only their representatives would be allowed to bind their Gifted followers if necessary.
Some of the more authoritarian gods punished their Gifted followers that used magic in a way contrary to the wishes of that god by making that Gifted follower into an object lesson of sorts. This include anything such as turning the Gifted follower to stone, turning them into some fell creature, and/or curse the Gifted follower with immortality and have them stand as a living reminder of the god’s punishment. An example of this could be a somewhat animate, wailing tree that is broken over and partly petrified.
The gods knew that they and their Divine Assistants, Divine Agents, and Chosen mortals would not be able to catch every possible instance of some Gifted mortal attempting to cause mass destruction or other mass harm, but the above mentioned agreements and prescriptions should significantly cut down on acts of massive damage that Gifted mortals could do. At least that was the hope. But what about Gifted individuals that were not the followers of any god? If the Gifted is not a follower of any god, or stopped being a follower of some god, the agents of some god of justice or magic may be sent to notify and potentially deal with them – that is if some god or gods finds out about the out-of-control, non-believing Gifted somehow. The gods in my realm are not all-knowing, and there are ways to shield one’s self from even the prying eyes of the divine.
Magic that Charms
Using magic to charm mortals diminishes the sovereignty of a mortal’s mind, turning the mortal into more of a thing and thus, by some fair number of gods, this use of magic is seen as a terrible sin. This was somewhat countered by the fact that plants, mushrooms, alcohol, etc also diminish the sovereignty of a mortal’s mind.
But the Gift should not be used this way.
Some ways of charming are defensive. Some are offensive. Should we then ban the use of swords and spears? Anyone can use a sword or spear, only a few can use magic.
As with the use of magic in general each god or Compact of gods will have different rules on how their Gifted followers may use magic for charms. Amongst the more benevolent gods so long as the charming of a mortal being does not cause harm to said being then the charming is usually allowable.
Amongst mortals, those that use the Gift to charm others, even if only for simple, silly things, are typically looked down upon and therefore the use of the Gift to charm others tends to not be tolerated in most mortal societies (cases of defense, or to ascertain the truth may be allowable). Some charmers/tricksters have been kicked out of their towns, cities, and even nations. Using the Gift to charm for reasons other than defense or some benign and useful way is seen by most non-Gifted as a waste, petty, offensive, immoral, insulting.
Ways to use magic to somewhat make up for the lack of charms: Illusions are acceptable. Using magic to modify the ambience of a location– scents, temperature, background noises, in an effort to indirectly put a mortal in a certain state of mind are acceptable. Using magic to make one’s appearance (or appearance of others) and/or general presentation (odor, voice) more acceptable to a target or targets is generally allowable.
Divination
In regards to using magic for divination the debate continues back and forth:
This may change a mortal’s course of action rather than having the mortal rely on their wits and ability to gather incomplete information and use it wisely.
This may save many mortal lives and help ascertain the truth.
This change in course of action after seeing the future may not be what the mortal would have honestly done. Example. One man wants to a kill another, thinking they may get away with it, or perhaps so angry they did not care. This murderer-to-be then catches a glimpse of the future and sees himself hanging for the murder or otherwise punished and due to this glimpse of the future the man decides not to kill another – not because murder causes instability in society, but because they fear punishment. Or conversely, they see themselves getting away with the murder and become more resolute in their decision, again not caring that murder causes instability in society and thus only being concerned with their outcome, not the outcome for the murdered individual or society at large.
If the man does not murder because of what they see then a life is saved, if they do murder they will be judged by mortals and the gods and nothing has changed as they had originally planned to murder.
Mostly in regards to divination few gods want their colleagues to be used to spy on their followers. Unless for their own Prophets and Tasked, it is very rare for a god to assist a follower in finding someone or thing – and then only if said person or thing is not of or connected to another god (unless the two gods are allied/Compact partners and even then this action can be rare).
Using magic to see inside a mortal’s mind is not allowed if a god must assist their Gifted follower to do this to a follower of a different god (unless the two gods are allied/Compact partners).
Using magic to cause psychic damage is allowed as it is damage a kin to a strike to the head rather than control of the individual.
Using magic to make up for lack of divination (as thru a god) such as enhanced sensory perception or some other type of enhanced data collection method are acceptable.
Magic can be used to find some being or thing if the caster has something of the target – again no god helping you the caster find something connected to another god unless the gods are allies/Compact.
Using magic for basic telepathy is acceptable as long as the receiver is willing.
From D & D the spells Sending and Message are generally acceptable.
Seerers
It is rare, but the gift of foresight is held by some mortals. As part of the Treaty of the Divine Plane the gods allow this as it is naturally occurring. Some of the gods of Malice were against this as seerers may undo their propaganda war efforts, but they were outvoted. The argument being that even amongst seers the ability to clearly view the future and do so at will is truly legendary and only a handful of mortals have been able to do both. The gift of foresight may come in pieces sporadically and involuntarily; the seerer may will themselves into some state and catch impressions and/or glimpses of things in some figurative way.
Necromancy
Something the gods did not foresee in their creation of mortals is how and what mortals can do with their souls should they find a way to do something with them.
In dealing with making undead things, willingly turning oneself or another undead/lichdom, cloning self or other, putting a soul elsewhere (self or other); the acceptability of these practices comes down to the why and how, and what was done after the why and how. Where that soul that toyed with necromancy goes when it does eventually reach the afterlife is, as agreed upon by a majority of the gods, up to Court of Appeals. Gods differ on their views of the undead and the individual gods tell their own followers if a practice is banned or not. As per the Treaty, the chosen of the gods of Malice and the Gifted followers of the gods of Malice are banned from using some applications of necromancy (see the section on how the gods of Malice reward their followers in the Second Age).
During the War of the Gods armies of the dead had been raised in the Mortal Plane by mortals for their holy wars. This was seen as using magic for purposes of mass destruction. Could be used for defense or offense. Again, the gods did not want to toy with the fundamental workings of magic or mortals. What to do?
Ban of course
Court of Appeals to decided what to do with the soul of the caster.
The gods may send their prophets and tasked to intervene and deal with the Gifted follower/caster that seeks to raise armies of the dead again.
What of animating a few corpses? Banned by most gods, let the dead sleep. Still happens.
Power to make self or something undead or put a soul into something (yours or someone else’s). Banned by most gods, still happens.
The soul will find it’s way to the afterlife eventually – this is simply prolonging the inevitable. As usual, the gods have mixed views.
If the lich/undead causes malice then a Tasked or Prophet may be sent to deal with said undead. No god can send their representatives to kill/harm followers of other gods simply because they are the follower of other gods, so the needle has to be thread carefully.
Becoming undead does happen seemingly naturally and sporadically.
THE UNDEAD ARE NOT INHERENLTY EVIL, NOR ARE GHOSTS.
Some gods ban using magic to use the dead or undead as weapons – only use magic or divine power to control the undead or ghost to have them go to rest and/or be destroyed.
Resurrection: Refer to the section on how the gods of Malice reward their followers in the Second Age.
Acceptability of cloning – based on the view of the particular god; left to the Court of Appeals to decide the caster’s fate. One view – could be allowed for medical purposes so long as the soul is free to travel to the afterlife (let the person die of natural causes) after what would have been that person’s average life expectancy based on their race.
Banned/prohibited = the magic is not taken away, it still exists. If magic is used in the banned way and the caster knew this was prohibited this action can be a direct ticket to the Gray Waste upon the caster’s death. Do beings still knowingly use magic in prohibited ways – of course. There may be mortal consequences for this as this way of using magic may break both religious and civil laws and thereby come with fines and any variety of punishments including imprisonment, deportation, etc.
In general in regards to the banning of particular uses of magic the gods were trying to find a way to strike a balance between limiting further massive bloodshed and not unnecessarily infringing upon the free will of their creations to find their own paths.
Magic is a tool and if we limit that tool too much to limit destruction we also risk limiting acts of creation.
All of these uses of magic we are concerned about had been going on long before this era of holy wars. In some cases to even more extreme and far reaching ends. Had it not been for our War these things still would have taken place and we would still have let them.
So we should continue to let this occur?
We should be measured and ask why we let this all occur before this era?
Because we wanted to let mortals find their own paths.
And so we did and they followed the bloody paths of their gods, so who should we limit – ourselves, or our creations?
We must be tempered.
Yes.
