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--- magic_its_sources_and_its_applications [2022/11/14 17:55] – bearglyph
+++ magic_its_sources_and_its_applications [2024/04/27 14:14] (current) – bearglyph
@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 === Leylines ===
-Leylines are the safest and most readily accessible source of inner power for a magic user. If you are within a leyline's area of coverage, it is almost always safe to use magic, as far as your own physical health is concerned. Understanding the significance of an area (that is, **why** there is a leyline there) will make magic cast in that area more potent. A deeper understanding of that significance will result in higher magical potency. Gains of this sort are of course primarily applicable in a specific area, but gains in any leyline's area will slightly improve one's potency in all other leyline areas. The highest possible magical potency derived from this sort of understanding is only possible for the fey folk whose leyline it is, followed by the draconic who initially generated that leyline, followed by those who have heard firsthand from the draconic or the nature spirit of the area's significance.
+Leylines are the safest and most readily accessible source of inner power for a magic user. If you are within a leyline's area of coverage, it is almost always safe to use magic, as far as your own physical health is concerned. Understanding the significance of an area (that is, **why** there is a leyline there) will make magic cast in that area more potent. A deeper understanding of that significance will result in higher magical potency. Gains of this sort are of course primarily applicable in a specific area, but gains in any leyline's area will slightly improve one's potency in all other leyline areas. The highest possible magical potency derived from this sort of understanding is only possible for the fae folk whose leyline it is, followed by the draconic who initially generated that leyline, followed by those who have heard firsthand from the draconic or the nature spirit of the area's significance.
 === Information Energy ===
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 ===== Section Two =====
-Internal and External magic are the two domains of magic. A magic user is born an internal magic user, but at any point in their life, can become an external magic user by completing the [[open manaflow]] ritual.
+Internal and External magic are the two domains of magic. No one is a born magic user, but at any point in their life, anyone can become an external magic user by completing the intermediate [[opening of manaflow]] ritual.
+===Internal Magic===
+Internal magic is magic that affects you, yourself. There's a common misconception that it's just plain weaker than external magic, but that isn't the case at all. Internal magic users come in all kinds, and the strongest among them can go toe-to-toe with the strongest external magic user.
+Do you want to become strong enough to rip a tree out of the ground? Internal magic. Do you want to grow to be twenty feet tall? Internal magic. Do you want to become immune to electricity? Internal magic. Do you want to move so quickly that you exceed the limits of human vision? Internal magic.
+So many magic users think that the first step to becoming a powerful mage is the full open mana ritual. But jumping straight to that without exploring the other possibilities, and whether internal magic might suit your needs better, is just foolish. You like the thought of hurling lightning and ice spikes at your enemies, you can certainly do the full open mana ritual. But you do that at the expense of ever being able to use magic to heal your own body or improve your physical characteristics ever again.
+The Oracle of Tainar who I mentioned earlier? She's an internal magic user, but she's also regarded as one of the greatest mages who has ever lived. Are you going to become as renowned as her? Probably not. But that's what's possible with internal magic.
+===External Magic===
+Surely, you'd expect me to dunk on external magic, given that I was certainly talking up a storm against it just now. But I'm not going to do that. You see, I myself went through the open mana ritual. Do I regret it? Not at all. I only said it isn't right for everybody. Some people, it's just the thing they need to really realize their potential.
+Yes, ripping a tree out of the ground is great. But so is chopping it down with a blade made of wind. Yes, growing to be twenty feet tall is great. But so is making a twenty-foot golem out of stone and dirt. Yes, becoming immune to electricity is great. But so is hurling lightning like a spear. Yes, moving so quickly you exceed human vision is great. But you know what else is great? Stopping someone **else** from moving, instantly, with raw kinesis.
+If you perform the open mana ritual, your body is never going to be as strong as the body of an internal magic user. If you find yourself out of potentia, you can't use willpower for a burst of physical strength anymore. There are going to be times when you wish you'd never gone through the open mana ritual. But if this path is right for you, there'll be plenty of times when you'll feel like you could never possibly regret it.
+And, of course, gaining an inditech is a pretty good incentive if you're on the fence.