Extrapolation & Necessity

When designing Fenestra, I noticed it had no magical universities. I really mean ’noticed’, rather than ‘stipulated’, or ‘invented’.

People think that if anything’s possible at the start, then it’ll all be possible later. Options ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’ are each possible, so perhaps we might select option ‘A’, and later ‘B’. But the fact that ‘A’ is possible, and ‘B’ is possible, does not mean that ‘A & B’ is a possibility.

Writing fiction can feel a little like this, and fantasy probably does better following this trend than any other form of fiction. When detective novels surprise you with a crazy crime, it’s interesting; romances should never go smoothly. But a fantasy novel front-loads the wonder, and then has to cache it out in terms of a real plan. And all this goes doubly for fantasy RPGs, otherwise adventures commit the ultimate crime: ‘because a wizard did it’ , which makes the world cheap.

Fenestra has mostly fallen out of a single question - ‘how would you farm in a world of wandering monsters?’, but other elements were born fully-grown from impure extrapolation.

Mana comes on the wind.

A windy day will bring enough mana for a full conversation with a candle, while staying indoors and drawing the shutters closed will barely let you say ‘hello’ to the darkness. Whatever mana flows through the wind heads towards the largest vacuum. A witch who can store and channel massive amounts of mana will create a massive mana-sink once she casts all she can; all mana on the wind will flow towards her, leaving nothing for anyone else within shouting distance.¹

From this simple idea, we can extrapolate the following:

• Witches have no universities.
• Witches have covens.
• Witches are natural enemies.
• Witches are savages.
• Witch hunters are witches.
• Witchcraft is dangerous.

Witches Have no Universities

Nobody could open a university under these circumstances; every morning the first student to cast would remove all spell-casting potential from the area for the next few hours. So how could a witch possibly teach another?

Witches Have Covens

They must swap knowledge, work together, and teach each other. Even very strange people, doing very strange things, eventually touch on a wider community to learn all they can. So if they must remain together for a while, they would be best doing so in smaller groups.

Witches are Natural Enemies

You enter a town, with the air acrid and dry from the lack of mana. Others can’t feel it, but you know from the dryness on your tongue. You cannot regain your power here.

Of course, once the tiniest flecks of mana return to the wind, any casters in the area will find mana flowing towards them, and whoever used up the mana to cast spells must stop, as they cannot regenerate any. Only one caster at a time can occupy an area and remain effective.

The conclusion comes as certainly as sugar and tooth pain.

“This town ain’tn’t big enough for the both of us.”

Witches are Savages

Cities mean civilization, so witches must remain savage to feel the full potential of mana - the farther from company, the more they have for themselves.²

Witch Hunters are Witches

Nobody could hunt a spell-caster faster than someone who feels every spell cast nearby, from the drain of mana. Of course, knowing that someone nearby has cast a spell doesn’t tell you where they are, but a witch who hunts other witches could narrow down the possibilities in time.

Witchcraft is Dangerous

Mana flows towards the largest vacuum. When a witch has none, she will regain it quickly, but she can never regain her full power until she remains alone, without another spellcaster in the area.

And the same must apply to dragons.³

Any spell cast in a new area holds the possibility of pissing off some ancient and strange creature, who doesn’t want a little witch wandering territory, sucking up all the magic. This goes doubly for the deep forest.