Engineered Magic

37 AL: Grandmother

Dark clouds moved over the open sky. The air in the ruined green was chilled, it was a least ten degrees colder than the air in the structure. It was winter. Grandmother was running late. She meant to be back by late fall.

She watched as the others gave the sky nervous glances. Even Sarah, who clung closer to her sister’s side. It took them two days, after leaving the secure gallery, to reach this point. They spent the nights in long sections of straight hall, where they could see anything that approached easily.

More and more of the lights were off as they made their way west. One of the benefits of traveling into the dark regions was that the animals didn’t like the light. Grandmother taught them the tier zero light spell to turn them on. She was shocked they didn’t already know it. She couldn’t imagine not being able to turn the light on.

Last night was easy, with the lights on at either end of the hall animals avoided them. They stood watches in the night but the main duty was to keep the lights on. Grandmother’s companions were used to the nearly unchanging conditions inside the structure. There were seasons inside the greens but they were very mild.

“This place doesn’t feel right to me,” Todd announced.

“What is wrong with the sky?” Ellen asked.

“Nothing,” Grandmother responded. “This is a ruined green. The ceiling is open to the real sky, beyond the structure. It looks like rain.” She talked to her companions about the ruined green before. She didn’t realize they hadn’t visited one before.

“Why is it so cold?” Alex asked.

“It is winter. Having been raised in the structure you have lost any connection with the seasons. Let's get moving,” Grandmother said. “As a ruined green this is much larger than the green’s you are familiar with. I will tell you about the seasons along the way.”

They walked into the trees. Grandmother told them about seasons and weather as they walked. This open green, while chilly, was not as cold as the winter beyond the walls would be. A couple hours into the walk and it began to rain. At first the young people didn’t react. There was an artificial rain cycle in the enclosed greens which watered the upper story plants. These irrigation rains were too short and light to really soak the soil and provide enough moisture for the trees. Grandmother thought the deep soils were watered from below using a variation of drip irrigation.

Instead of dissipating, the rain kicked up a notch and came down heavier. The young members of the party began to grow nervous at this odd behavior. Grandmother paused in the dry area under the limbs of an especially tall evergreen.

“Nature isn’t on a timer,” Grandmother said to her companions, “but let's wait here for a minute or two and see if it lessens.”

“How long will it last?” Sarah asked.

“It can rain for days,” Grandmother explained, “but usually not at this volume. The clouds can only hold so much water,” she said pointing up at the darkened sky. “If it comes down hard, that usually shortens the length of the rain.”

“Usually?” Ellen asked. Grandmother told them about the planetary water cycle as they waited. She explained that if new moisture was blown into an area fast enough, heavy rain could continue for weeks. On Earth they called the rains caused by those conditions monsoons.

“But that is not the situation here,” Grandmother said, as the rain beyond the tree limbs lightened. “We are far from the sea, high in the mountains. Given the season, it is far more likely this rain turns into snow.”

“What is snow?” Alex asked. Grandmother sighed. She stepped back out into the rain. As she explained snow to Alex, she found herself referring to the animation for ice-bolt. She led them up to the north face where they turned to travel east. There was a slight wind coming from the north high above. It couldn’t reach them here, down within the structure but it pushed the rain to the south, leaving a narrow band along the north face that was dryer.

“I have never seen structure glass broken before,” Todd commented. They were passing by a large section of ‘ruined’ wall. The broken glass was above their heads and showed the contents of rooms two to four stories up. The open rooms were sprouting a variety of plant life that trailed down the face of the northern wall.

“It isn’t broken,” Grandmother explained. “It was made that way. If you examine the broken edges you will find they are not sharp. They are sculptured. Whenever you find a ruined green you are nearing an edge. Things get more and more ‘destroyed’ the closer you get. The animals get smaller and sparser. That is why so many of the lights are out in the halls. After this green all the lights will be dark.”

“Why?” Todd asked.

“It is a buffer zone. The darkness and lack of resources naturally keep most of the animals from wandering closer to the edge. While the empty rooms are a stage for introducing new arrivals to magic.”

“But why is it all broken?” Todd clarified.

“It is just a style of decoration. I don’t know why it was chosen,” Grandmother replied. “Only the structure’s builders could tell you that.”

They ate their midday meal while they walked, stopping only to top of their water when they crossed close to a water feature. As the afternoon aged, Grandmother started keeping an eye out for any sign of an adjacent rest area.

Grandmother was still wearing her old leathers. She still needed to finish sewing her new set. She was nervous about staying in the same place in the ruins for too many days. She felt better traveling. As soon as she finished the leather and enough travel food was prepared, she led them out of the gallery. If she were alone she would spend the night in a tree near the other end of this green. Since she wasn’t alone and she wanted to sew tonight she wanted to stay in a rest, if she could find one.

The east wall of the greenspace was just visible when Grandmother spotted what she was looking for. A section of intact glass wall was broken by a single glass door. The timing was near perfect, since the short winter day was ending overhead. With the sun low in the sky and the heavy clouds the green was poorly illuminated most of the day. Now even that was fading.

“That looks like a rest,” Grandmother commented. “Let’s check it and see if it is good enough for the night.” They carefully looked through the door before opening it. Alex went first. He swept the area behind the glass using only the weak light coming from the green. Grandmother stepped in behind him as he peered around the corner into the almost absolute darkness of the inner hallway. Alex used his off hand to cast light and ignite the ceiling panels down the hall. His choice of igniting the panels far from him allowed him to scout the hall without showing his position. Grandmother was proud of him. She crossed to look down the hall that stretched in the other direction. Her own light spells reached much farther and produced a much higher level of light. She saw a flicker of movement disappear around a turn. It was small enough to be a rat. It didn’t worry her.

She turned to give the possible rest a closer look. The area was covered in dead leaves, twigs, dirt, shed fur, bones and feces. It looked like an animal nest. It was actually too much debris. The glass door was closed before their arrival. Animals did not open them. She thought a walking bear might be able to but she wasn’t going to think about that. She also noticed that it smelled like a forest floor. If this was really an animal nest it would smell much worse. She inspected the walls but saw no sign of vents. She thought the ‘nest’ was staged.

She flicked light spells onto the ceiling of the main area. Ellen and Sarah, followed by Todd, stepped through the door. Ellen held Sarah close and looked at the illuminated dirt with disgust. Grandmother squatted down in a corner and drummed out a quick clean spell on the floor. She flicked the spell away from her in the direction of the hall.

A phantom wind rose up, blowing every loose item away down the hallway. A thin layer of water scrubbed across the surface dissolving stains that disappeared by sinking into the substrate. The room was left nearly spotless. The gray stone floors and walls gleamed. Even the light panels that weren’t lit sparkled. Broken beams of steel still lay on the floor in four separate piles. The rust on them was gone. They looked more like pieces waiting to be assembled rather than the wreckage they first appeared to be. The effect faded as it went down the hallway.

“Can I learn that spell?” Ellen asked.

“You don’t know it?” Grandmother asked. “It is just a tier one cleaning spell. It is a utility spell. As a crafter I thought you would already be using it.”

“No, I don’t recognize it,” Ellen responded.

“Well there will be plenty of opportunities to clean things as we approach the edge, I can teach it to all of you. You have to be a bit careful with it when using it on items. It can have unexpected results, especially on items that aren’t integrated.”

Grandmother looked down at the floor tile revealed by the dirt’s removal. The mosaic cut tiles in the rest area were different from what was laid down in the hall. Mixed in with the zero tiles were tiles that represented one, two and five. Grandmother thought over what that could mean. One, two, five could represent air, earth, fire or sound, force, chemistry or reduce, gather, disperse. There were other possibilities as well but those were the most common. Throwing in that this was a rest, a place that repelled animals below a certain tier, Grandmother decided it was probably something like using a sound to force animals to disperse. Although five could sometimes mean scent and that too could be used to repel animals.

The truth was that the numbers could only give hints to what a spell might do. They didn’t actually cause that effect. The spell designers created the spell using the technology that was available and then assigned a number sequence to it.

“Are we staying here for the night?” Todd asked.

“Yes,” Grandmother replied, “unless anyone finds a problem. I think this is a tier zero rest. Although we can’t be sure unless we find the crystal. Even if we did, anything higher than tier one will probably not be affected. We better set a watch.”

Everyone settled down to relax for the evening. As they ate the evening meal Grandmother and Ellen discussed crafting magic. Ellen knew a fair number of crafting skills. Most of them revolved around spinning, weaving and dyeing. Many of them required a piece of integrated equipment, like a loom, to work. Grandmother was aware of but never really used most of the crafting skills that used equipment. She knew a lot more crafting skills, or spells, that didn’t require equipment, such as the cleaning spell. It was these utility spells, as Grandmother liked to call them, that closed the gap between the crafter’s skill and a wizard's spell and showed they were really the same thing. The utility spells were cast by drumming your fingers in certain patterns on the object of the spell. When integrated equipment was required the spell was tapped out on it.

It was amazing how few spells the two women knew in common. Ellen soaked up everything that Grandmother said. It didn’t take Grandmother long to realize that Ellen didn’t see the commonalities between the skills she knew. She was having a hard time describing how to cast a certain spell, because she didn’t break them down to symbols. She included a lot of description of intent, chants and extra movements that could not be part of the skills.

“Hold on,” Grandmother said, as Ellen struggled. “Let's look at this a different way. Todd, could you run out and fetch me a piece of wood?”

“Yes, of course,” Todd said. He set down his food, jumped to his feet and picked up his spear.

“A stick about this long,” she said as he reached the door. She held her hands out to indicate something about a foot and a half long. Todd checked through the glass door for danger, before stepping out. He approached the nearest tree and picked up a rain soaked piece of dead fall. He carried it back and rejoined them.

Grandmother accepted the wood from him and set it down a little bit in front of her. She held her hand out above the wood.

“Most spells or magic skills begin with a start symbol. The only exception to this is utility spells that only work on an integrated piece of equipment. Since this stick is not a piece of equipment, I first have to tap out a start symbol,” Grandmother tapped each of her fingers in turn, working from pinky to thumb. She followed this by touching her palm against the stick.

“Now if this was a sink and I wanted to make the water hotter, what would I do?” she asked.

“Tap each of your fingers in order,” Alex said.

“Exactly,” Grandmother said. “That is how you signal five or the symbol for fire.” Grandmother started with her pinky and taped each finger again.

“If this was a piece of equipment, like a sink, I would just pull my hand away for the finish. Since this is a random stick, I need a finishing move.” Grandmother tapped all her fingers together and pulled her hand back. There was a puff of smoke and flame erupted out of the stick. It burned merrily away for a few moments before starting to fail. It was really hard to burn a single stick. Without more wood to stack against it the fire would go out shortly.

“The same five symbol that adds heat to water, causes the stick to burn. It is all the same magic.” Grandmother couldn’t resist adding on her new motto. Todd was still holding his spear from his trip out to fetch the wood. He looked down at his hand. Grandmother saw him studying his grip on his weapon and said, “If you replace the tap with a finger squeeze, you should be able to see how this same five symbol translates into burning spear.”

She turned back to Ellen before continuing. “The advantage of the tier zero equipment spells, like activating a water spout and changing its temperature, is that they don’t have to be learned. They work the first time you try. They also tend to not color your magic. Although if you don’t use any other magic, eventually they will.” Grandmother thought this was the reason so many people ended up with either red or blue magic. Although if a lot of crafters were green, they must be triggering a lot of force or two symbol spells. “Tier one utility spells start having to be learned before they can be used.”

“So the start symbol for weapon skills is to shift your grip… only that is really flexing each finger in order, followed by squeezing them all together.” He followed through, making the actions with his main hand that he has spoken aloud. “Then you flex your fingers to represent the five symbol and finish with a thrust forward.” Todd flexed all his fingers in order again and thrust forward, like he was stabbing an invisible enemy. His spear appeared to be coated with flame. It worked even without a target because he already mastered the skill. As he pulled the spear back, the flame vanished.

Todd was shocked. He just flexed his fingers and it was there. He remembered hours of tutoring and weapon drills. He could still hear his trainer. “Gather your intent. Shift your grip. Push your aura into the weapon. Set your grip, visualize the fire and strike!”

“The symbol for ice is three?” Todd asked suddenly, verifying his thoughts.

“Yes,” Grandmother responded.

“So to infuse ice I would need to only flex my first three fingers the second time?” Todd asked.

“Yes,” Alex said, jumping into the conversation. He held his own weapon out and was thinking deeply about what he did when he cast frost blade. “That is how you cast ice sword so easily in the square,” Alex said to Grandmother.

Todd made another thrust forward but nothing happened.

“It is a combat move so you will need an opponent to learn the new skill,” Grandmother explained to Todd. “Since both burning spear and frost blade are tier zero warrior skills, sparring against each other will work.”

The two warriors forgot about the remainder of dinner and jumped up to start pounding on each other. They moved a little way down the corridor for the safety of the observers.

“So on a loom, the spell to tighten the weave is two, two. While loosening the weave is two, five,” Ellen said, after some thought. “Does it really not matter where you tap?”

“I am not a weaver,” Grandmother responded, “so I am not going to give you an absolute answer. Both of those two spells are only tier one so it is highly doubtful. Upper tier spells get far more complicated and I can see how position might matter to them. Next time you weave something, simplify your casting down to the basics and see if it still works.”

“Like Todd just did,” Ellen observed.

“Yes,” Grandmother responded. “Keeping complexity out when you don’t need it helps you master higher level skills. They are complex enough, without the extras.”

Todd and Alex returned after about an hour of sparring. They were both exhausted and pleased with themselves. Ellen and Sarah were already curled up in a corner and fast asleep.

“In what situation should I use ice instead of fire?” Todd asked softly. He picked up the travel bar he was eating for the evening meal and took a bite.

“Ice slows an opponent. So if you are fighting something that is quick, ice is a good choice. Fire continues to do damage over time. It works well with something that is slow but dangerous to get close to. The continuous damage means you can step back to safety between hits and still keep its attention.” This advice was pretty obvious. She was sure Todd was just making conversation. “Some animals are more affected by a certain element,” Grandmother continued. “For instance, the stun effect of lightning works well against squirrels if they are in a tree. They don’t like falling.”

She was working on sewing her new leathers. Her needle was a sliver of boar tusk. The leather was tough, making the process slow. It would be much faster if she used one of the crafting machines. She didn’t use them because somewhere along the way the original leather was replaced by integrated leather. She never bothered to figure out exactly when it happened.

“Lightning,” Alex said thoughtfully. “Can it be imbued onto a weapon?”

“Yes,” Grandmother responded, “but I don’t recommend learning it by sparring. Lightning has a tendency to jump from the weapon into the target. It turns a near miss or a blocked strike into a hit and can be very painful.” Alex made a noncommittal grunt and finished his food.

They settled down for the night, leaving Grandmother on the first watch. Grandmother's thoughts wandered as she worked. Overall she was happy with the young people. They were questioning not just the magic they didn’t know but the magic they did. Since it was all the same system, learning more about any section of it increased proficiency with all of it.

Somewhere along the way humans segmented magic up into different roles and elements. Being a red wizard meant more than your touch turning a protection crystal red. It meant you only cast magic from the fifth or fire tree of magic. Those who made it past tier two must be using magic from different tree’s but that knowledge was kept restricted.

This specialization allowed people to become experts in their fields but it limited them. If a group lost a single specialized member the rest would inevitably die. Grandmother followed the path of a solitary adventurer but that too had its downsides. She progressed slowly through the ruins. She was forced to find and master spells of a higher tier than the animals in a region before she could attempt it. There were many times she almost died of something that a second pair of eyes would have made trivial. As a solitary adventurer at least she didn’t have to deal with other people’s stupid mistakes.