Non-Humans R Us Newsletters

Magic and Technology

A while back, I read an item, possibly an official newsletter, which dealt with magic/technology. The example used in it had a traveler using a special gem on their staff to send a message to someone, saying that they’d be at a location at a certain time. Sadly, I can’t find the item, but I do remember some things, such as, don’t over-explain details.

Let’s take this one interactive I’ve been adding to, Family Furs. The basic story is that a 16 year old young man accidently goes through a portal, and finds himself on a world with giant humanoid wolves, to whom humans are the size of insects. The four main wolves consist of a Mother, a Father, a 12 year old (approximate) Son, and a 16 year old (approximate) Daughter. One of them finds the human, and crazy things happen to the young man.

To be honest, this interactive is over ten years old, and plenty of branches had lots of additions; the only thing that had practically nothing was a story branch where the human observed the wolf family, who were in the process of having a picnic, only for him to find out that the wolves like humans KFC-style. Now, unless you’re into vore, which I’ve already talked about, this would turn away most people. I took a look at it and thought, I can work with this, and created a branch, actually, a good-sized limb, where the wolves do indeed eat humans for meals, or snacks, as payment of rent, or, for some, as punishment. Explanation for this; cloning chamber, person dies of anything other than a natural death, they get cloned, with their memories intact. After an encounter with a certain well-known criminal, our hero finds it to be useful.

Now, this cloning chamber looks like one of those pneumatic tubes, like what you could find at drive-through section of a bank. Along with some nano-machines that record memory and such, so long as the person in question had their D.N.A. in the System, they would be cloned, and it would take no more power than turning on a room’s light. Now, I haven’t explained the process, like the exact amount of energy needed, or how one reverts to a Prime fitness/tasty Age, between 20 and 30 years of age, or how one doesn’t remember the five or so seconds before their deaths, but people know that it happens.

Then there’s the communication issue; since the humans would be only a couple inches tall to the wolves, who are like three hundred feet tall to the humans, the wolves wouldn’t be able to hear the humans, except for a high-pitch whistle, and if a wolf were to talk to a human, it would be like being at the base of a Space Shuttle as the thrusters turned on. Now, there are those who have their giant creatures being able to hear tiny humans, and tiny humans being able to handle the volume of these creature’s “normal voices”, but I saw the size between the two as an issue. It was then I chanced a look at my Dragon Speak to Type headset. Now, since you might not be familiar with the Dragon program, the headset looks like a pair of headphones, with an adjustable microphone that can be brought to the user’s mouth. I don’t use it much, as the program doesn’t seem to understand me when I talk into the microphone, but it gave me an idea on how humans talk to wolves; the humans used similar looking devices. The ear section would reduce the wolf’s volume to a comfortable level, and the mic section would boost the human’s voice so that the wolves could hear them. Now, I haven’t figured out if they get their power from light, or a rechargeable battery, but I’m sure that most people understand the concept behind the devices, especially if they play X-box Online, or something similar, and use a similar device to talk to distant friends/allies/clan members.

Now, let’s talk about Magic. In many stories, you’ve got this uber-powerful mage or wizard who can destroy entire towns with but a single phrase, but he rarely does so. No, it’s not because he’s a good wizard, but it’s a matter of practicality. Why destroy the entire place, when you can simply poison the drinking water, and once the villagers are dead, purify the water, and move your forces in. Or better yet, the person promises to cure the sick if they submit to him, and serve in his army. Or better still, instead of poisoning the water, control the leaders of the town.

Let’s take a quick look at the Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini, as well as the Dragon Knight series by Gordon R. Dickson. In both of them, you have a magic user trying to save the world. Eragon, from Paolini’s stories, is limited by his knowledge of the Ancient Language, the language magic is tied to, as well as the energy available to him. James Eckert, from Dickson’s stories, is limited by both his imagination, and the amount of energy in his “magic account”, which can only be replenished by great deeds. Both Heroes are advised to be careful with their magic, to essentially be tightwads with it. However both eventually gain access to vast stores of power, which they control to do their deeds, but to get this, they had to do a lot of difficult things.

Now, how does one explain these limitations? Two simple comparisons are muscle fatigue and money in the bank.

Let’s look at the Muscle Fatigue example and say a big buff man named Arnold S. goes to the gym to pump iron, and lifts a 300lb weight a hundred times, however, when he tries to lift a 50lb dumbbell, his arms give out, and the weight falls to the floor. A skinny little nerd named Rick M. comes up to him, picks up the weight, with some effort, and says to Arnold, “I guess the Schwartz is not with you. Looks like you’ve been terminated by a light weight.” This is Eragon’s problem in the Inheritance series; he can do a lot of things with his magic, but if he goes over his limits, even just a little, the effort would kill him.

Now, let’s look at the Money in the Bank example, and say that a wealthy multi-billionaire named Bill G. goes and buys up a rival computer company for 50 billion dollars. He then goes to a thrift store to buy a chair for thirty dollars, only to find out that his credit card has been declined due to “lack of funds”, and next thing he knows, some part-time minimal-wage janitor has bought the chair he wanted. This is James Eckert’s problem in the Dragon Knight series; he isn’t able to do magic if he empties his magic account. Thankfully for James, his teacher, and certain other magikians, tend to lend him magic from their own accounts, especially if Magikdom is threatened.

As stated earlier, when it comes to magic and technology, don’t go overboard on the details, like I’ve just done. Keep things fairly basic, and you’ll get the job done. Now it’s off the Ford Galaxy in my Winnebago!

Rick M.: Um, we can’t go there.
Me: And why not?
Rick M.: You only put five space bucks worth of fuel in the tank.
Me: And why did you wait until just now to tell me?
Rick M.: Because Darth Helmet and his Assholes are behind us.
Me: (Turns his head over his shoulders.) I hate those ping-pongs.

Now, while I deal with these crazy fellas, I’m reminding you to use magic and technology wisely; don’t crush an ant with a boulder when stabbing it with a sewing needle will accomplish the same end. Have fun in the lands of Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Horror.