Dresden Files

 

The Basics: 

The most important thing for a wizard is his mindset and will. You have to want something to happen; believe that you can make it happen. You also have to have a clear image of what you're doing in your mind. Then a wizard puts his will and his energy into the spell to make it happen. That's the most basic part of magic. There are a few different applications of magical energy.

 

Name:  A being's Name can be used to create a thaumaturgical link to that being. When using a Name in a spell, a practitioner must pronounce it in exactly the same way in which the Name's owner does.  In order for a Name to be magically useful, the correct pronunciation must ultimately have been learned from the Name's owner.

 

Circles: A circle drawn in the sand, made of bronze, drawn in chalk, etc and infused with a bit of will can be a formidable barrier to magic, and it doesn't have to be made by a wizard to be effective. It cuts magic off from both sides of the circle, nothing gets in or out. Physically though, it does nothing at all. A person can just mow you down just fine with a regular gun if you’re in a circle.

 

Foci: Foci are mainly used for evocations. They assist wizards that are unable to summon enough will to control the magic. While it is possible to use magic without a focus, it is unadvised. Foci are items designed to help focus power. The wizard channels his power through the necessary focus when using one. Probably the most common type of focus that is used is the staff.

 

Types of Foci:

• Staff: The most common focus used. It is used to control general energies and is not specialized. They are usually wooden staffs, long pieces of wood engraved with runes.

• Blasting Rod: A combat focus. One of the most inherently violent of the wizard's tools, the blasting rod is used to quickly and efficiently focus one's will into a spell. Typically engraved with runes and sigils, the blasting rod, if carried into a delicate situation, is as subtle as a magnum handgun.

• Bracelet: Can store energy or be used to focus magical energies for the desired effect, such as a shield.

• Sword: Can be used to store, focus, and direct energies, or used in a spell for the desired effect.

• Rings: Can be used to store or project energy.

• Wand: Much like the staff an blasting rod it is a wooden tool, usually carved with runes or sigils, and used by a practitioner to focus magical energies.

 

Blood in Magic: Blood has some very particular applications in magic, some benevolent, others not so much. Blood can be used to track someone, or it can be used to enact powerful curses. It is tricky to use because once it dries it loses its magical properties (for many spells, practitioners find it easier to use hair or nail clippings, or another part of the target's body). The amount of blood needed depends on the efficiency and skill level of the magic user and -how- much energy is required: the more energy being sent, the more blood is needed. If for a simple tracking spell, not much is needed. If for making a targets heart explode, a lot is needed.

 

Physical Samples: When a piece of an object is removed from the main mass of that object, the piece retains a thaumaturgic link to it. A bit of hair, nail clippings, or fresh blood can be used to aim a thaumaturgic spell at the person it was taken from.  The principle works with inanimate objects as well, such as bits of clay taken from the same large mass.

 

Homunculus: A homunculus is an object used as a temporary vessel for a spirit incapable of manifesting a physical form of its own.  Some practitioners use fresh corpses, but this isn't required, any facsimile of a human (like a doll for example) will suffice.

 

Mirrors: many things can use mirrors as windows and doors.

 

The Sight:

For a wizard (or other practitioners), the third eye isn't merely a metaphysical concept. It's a very real thing, a part of his ability to look at the world and see what's really there, gliding beneath the surface. In our world, perceived by our mundane senses, the supernatural can hide in plain sight, a shadow rippling beneath the ocean of reality unseen, perhaps felt, but rarely fully revealed. With training, people can open their third eye using what is called the Sight and dip below to see full force what is really there, no matter what it is.

 

There's just one problem: the human mind isn't all that good at handling what it sees when the third eye is open. What exactly does it see? Simply, the world but at a level that most of us are insulated from naturally. When someone looks at the magical world with the Sight, the trickle of information the mind normally takes in via the other five senses suddenly becomes a great crashing wave drowning the third eye.

 

The metaphorical and phantasmagorical become visual. Emotions and relationships shine like webs. Energy pulses.  Dreams and nightmares boil into the air. The past, present, and future have a little hoedown right in front of you. It's hard to make any sense of it.

And these images get burned into the memory of the beholder never forgotten, always vivid. This can be a problem (i.e., consequences).

 

Worse, it can be pretty hard to shut your third eye once you've opened it imagine trying to close a door against an invading tidal wave, and you'll have some understanding of why this is the case.

 

So why use the Sight at all? Well, some things simply cannot be perceived without it. Horrors that walk the mundane world with little more than a chill down someone's spine may be seen clearly (though that's always unpleasant). Other times, its the shortest path between mystery and truth with a price, certainly, but if the stakes are high, it may be the only way to get a handle on what's really going on. The effects of spells laid upon a victim can be seen as well as visions of the past and the future, the true nature of things, lingering psychic stains, troubled shades Assuming, of course, that you can figure out how to make sense of what you're seeing and avoid going mad in the process.

 

Soulgazes

The first time (and first time only) someone with the Soulgaze ability meets the gaze of someone else with a mortal soul for more than a few moments, they enter a state called soulgazing. Generally, this can't happen unless both parties want to make eye contact. However, one might trick the other into holding the gaze. All soulgazing must be done in person. (No soulgazes via webcam!)

 

When it comes right down to it, a soulgaze is a narrow, focused, specific application of the Sight using the Sight to See one person, with the dials turned up to eleven. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to look past the outer surface and into the very heart of who a person is, what's going on with him, and who he might become. Unfortunately, the target of a soulgaze also gains this sort of insight into the gazer even if that target is a vanilla mortal.

 

Of course, it's not as simple as all that. Because soulgazes are a facet of the Sight, metaphor jumbles up the results for each party. You're barking up the wrong tree if you think a soulgaze is asking a question about another person.

 

The answer is going to make as much nonsense as it makes sense. Beyond that, a soulgaze is tough on both parties. Its a lot like opening up your third eye without the filters in place to keep you from getting knocked flat. Because a soulgaze is so focused, and because it goes deep into the core of who each person is, it's very potent. It's not uncommon for untrained people to pass out when they're hit with a glimpse of someone else's soul even trained wizards can walk away with a hell of a headache and a disquieted mind.

 

Types Of Magic and Their Forms:

Evocation: the spur of the moment use of energy. Most commonly used in combat of some form, it is one of the most difficult to master. You have to be able to concentrate on the spell under situations that are distracting, to say the least. That added to the fact that gathering ones will quickly is not an easy thing to learn and it can be a very difficult and sloppy form of magic.

 

Thaumaturgy: One of the more common forms of magic. Basically, it allows a wizard to take his time with a spell and use smaller, more controlled amounts of energy. Usually accomplished with the use of a focus, an object resembling/related to what you want to work magic on. Think Voodoo doll style magic. If you're trying to work magic on a person you'll need a piece of hair, some blood, or their Name. Capitol N for a reason, see Names.

 

Enchanting/Warding: something requires you have an anchor for the spell. An enchantment or ward without one needs a LOT of power to last long. Usually, an item is enchanted or warded by a wizard pouring energy into a spell and basically giving it a magical battery if it won't be going anywhere, or giving it the ability to take a slight pull on a wizard's will if it will be traveling with the wizard.

 

Ritual Magic: The only magic that does not require a wizard to perform. Anyone can do it if you know what to do. Basically, you perform a specific ritual to call on a spiritual force from inside the Nevernever and it does the magical heavy lifting. A wizarding ritual does not have to call on a spirit of the Nevernever, it can just be a way for a wizard to concentrate completely on a spell that is usually too complex or powerful for the wizard to perform.

 

Summoning: Beings of the Nevernever can be summoned with their true name or a ritual. Usually, it's a good idea to have a circle set up to keep the spirit from attacking the summoner, which happens on occasion.

 

Divination: Magic employed to gain information, usually directed at the future.

 

Some of the Different Forms of Magic: Otherwise known as 'specializations' in a specific kind of magic.

• Aeromancy: Using magic to manipulate air; also pertains to magical flight.

• Alchemy: Creates magical potions of many uses. There are many types of potions which can break the Laws of Magic.

• Anthropomancy: Divine the future or gain information by reading human entrails. Breaks the First and Sixth Law of Magic.

• Ectomancy: Magic concerned with controlling, seeing, and speaking to ghosts.

• Ferromancy: Manipulation of minerals.

• Holomancy: Creates visual images by manipulating light waves. Different from Verisimilomancy in that the image appears physically.

• Hydromancy: Magic used to manipulate water; note this is an extremely difficult magic to master, due to magic's relation with water.

• Kinetomancy: Using magic to move and manipulate objects; magically-induced telekinesis.

• Necromancy: Animate corpses, control ghosts, extract information from a corpse's brain, switch bodies. Breaks the Fifth Law of Magic.

• Neuromancy: Art of mind reading, mind-altering, and other mental tricks. Breaks the Third Law of Magic.

• Psychomancy: Concerned with controlling someone's mind. Breaks the Third and Fourth Law of Magic.

• Phonoturgy: Magic that blocks sound.

• Pyromancy: Magic used to manipulate fire.

• Terramancy: Magic used to manipulate the ground; also pertains to terrestrial forces like gravity.

• Thaumaturgy: Creates magical links between an object and a target; used as tracking spells; needs a part of the target. (See Above.)

• Transmogrification: Changes living creatures into other living creatures. Breaks the Second Law of Magic when used on others.

• Verisimilomancy: Creates phantasms in the mind. Different from Holomancy in that the image is only in the target's mind.

• Vulcanomancy: Specifically deals with magma.

 

The Laws of Magic

The information on the laws of Magic can be found with a simple web search, so I won't go into extensive detail here, but I will list the basics for you. It is generally accepted that these Laws only apply to mortals, not supernatural creatures of the Nevernever.

 

1. Never take a life with magic.

2. Never transform another.

3. Never Invade the Thoughts of Another.

4. Never Enthrall another.

5. Never reach beyond the borders of life.

6. Never Swim Against the Currents of Time

7. Never Seek Knowledge and Power from Beyond the Outer Gates.

 

White Council of Wizards, and the Enforcers of the Laws of Magic.

The White Council is a large worldwide organization of human wizards and is seen as their governing body. It is controlled by the Senior Council. The goal of the White Council is to protect mankind from the abuses of magic as outlined in the Seven Laws of Magic.

 

The Gatekeeper

As much as the Gatekeeper watches over the flow of time and those who would meddle with it, these actions are really a side project, related but separate from his main duties (as you might guess from his title).

 

The Gatekeeper is our first line of defense against the Outsiders, performing perhaps the most important job in all of Creation. At the very least, he maintains the alarm spells that shriek when the Gates budge. Spends the lions share of his time walking the Nevernever looking for signs and portents, and perhaps even acts as an off the books emissary for the White Council with the major realms of the Nevernever. While the Merlin leads the White Council, to the view of many supernatural creatures it is the Gatekeeper who truly speaks on the Councils behalf and commands the greatest respect.

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The Wardens of the White Council

The Wardens are the White Council's version of cops. Wardens can be identified by their grey cloaks and swords, which they use to execute those found in violation of the Laws of Magic, so as not to violate the Laws themselves. Because of the former, they are also known as the Order of the Grey Cloak.

 

Responsibilities

Their responsibilities include protecting both the Senior Council and other White Council members from attacks by other bodies, including the Vampire Courts, the Fae, and Warlocks. Also, serving as judge, jury, and executioner when in the field against those who commit infractions against the Seven Laws of Magic. Many warlocks are killed resisting arrest, or apprehended after their crimes have earned them a death sentence. Hearings before the Senior Council are rare.

 

Notes

• Blood does not stain their cloaks.

• For Wardens, fire is the weapon of choice in combat situations, though it is taxing on the will and physical stamina, it gets a lot of energy out. Also, it illuminates the darkness, which is always an advantage to a wizard, and it has a purifying effect when fighting dark magic.

 

Duties

• Executing warlocks/offenders who have broken any of the Laws of Magic.

• Enforcing the laws of magic.

• Military operations for the White Council.

• Protecting mortals from the perils of the magical realm.

 

The Unseelie Accords

The Unseelie Accords are a set of agreements (like the Geneva Conventions) that govern behavior between its signatories, who are the major. powers of the magical world. The Accords include protocols for etiquette, hospitality, formal duels, and neutral ground, among other things.

 

McAnally's pub is Accorded Neutral Ground, a place where all signatories theoretically agree to refrain from violence, thus serving as a good place to meet and conduct negotiations.

 

The following are known portions of the Accords:

• There is no spirit of the law, only the letter of the law.

• Beings have the license to deliver and receive messages and to have safe passage granted them so long as they do not instigate violence.

• Part of a pledge of safe passport or conduct is a promise to not drug any offered food or drink.

• Should a member of one faction wrong another faction, the aggrieved party has the right to challenge their enemy to single combat.

 

The dueling laws are based on the Code Duello:

• The organizations that represent the duelers pick an emissary from the list of neutral emissaries.

• The chosen emissary decides on a list of available weapons, such as magic or will.

• The challenged picks the weapons, and the challenger picks the time and location.

• The available weapons are not necessarily restricted to those usable by both parties. If the challenger can't use the weapon the challenged chose, they can force the challenged to take their second choice.

• Each party must have a second.

• The seconds collaborate with the emissary to work out the terms of the duel.

 

Certain places can be signed on as Accorded Neutral Territory. This means that signatories of the Accords do not start any conflict on the premises, and are bound by their honor to take any fights outside.

 

An individual can sign onto the Accords as a freeholding lord:

• The signatory is entitled to rights under the Accords, such as the right of challenge.

• The signatory must have three current members of the Accords vouch for them for them to be able to sign on.

• There aren't many freeholding lords. Some known ones are two dragons, the original Drakul, the Archive, the CEO of Monoc Securities, and some kind of semi-immortal shapeshifter guru in the Ukraine.

 

Known Signatories

the Archive

the Denarians

Donar Vadderung, CEO of Monoc Securities

both Faerie Courts

the Fomor

the Vampire Courts