The Skill: An Introduction
Dispatch #6: An Overview of The Skill, The Known World's System of "Magic"
Greetings!
Welcome to The Known World, where I post about the characters, places, and things pertaining to the world setting of the same name, which will eventually be featured in a future book to be titled The Other Side of the Sun.
TL;DR: The 1st in a series of articles about The Skill, or the system of “magic” found in the Known World. We begin here with a brief introduction to two basic components of The Skill:
the Other Sight, the ability to peer into a separate plane of existence called the Ethereal Spectrum; and
Sprites, tiny creatures inhabiting the Ethereal Spectrum that are known to occasionally help people in our own world accomplish extraordinary things, whether they know it or not.
Reading Time: ~ 16 Minutes
Prologue
Oh, hello there! Welcome back to the Known World, where today I am rolling out some entirely new, minty-fresh material my Cherished Readers haven’t laid eyes on before!
Today we will introduce you to The Skill, the Known World’s system of “magic!” (The word magic appears here in sneer quotes for reasons I’ll explain in a moment.)
It will take more than one post to adequately explain what The Skill is, how it works, and what it can (and cannot) do. I have to start somewhere, so I’ve decided to begin by presenting the two most fundamental items one must be able to see and understand in order to become a Mage.
Those two concepts are:
The Other Sight, or the ability for one to see into and perceive the Ethereal Spectrum, a transcendental plane of existence that surrounds our own Terrestrial Plane (the “real world,” which Mages and others refer to as the Prime Material Plane of existence); and
Sprites, also known as the Wee Folk, which are small, asterisk- or butterfly-like creatures dwelling within the Ethereal Spectrum that can be summoned by Mages and other suchlike erudites to perform specific tasks within the terrestrial world, ranging from the curious and unusual to the extraordinary and supernatural.
As we get into the weeds regarding this topic, please bear in mind that I will inevitably make casual reference to some things the Inquisitive Reader might not be at all familiar with. Fear not! Many of those things can and/or will be given greater elucidation in future articles. If I bring up something that you’d like to hear more about, hit the Comment Button below and ask! I will try to explain it to you in a reply and/or add it as a topic in a near future post.
So let us dive in, shall we?
About The Other Sight
In simplest terms, the Other Sight - alternatively known as the Inner Sight, Ethereous Sight, or the Mind’s Eye - is the ability to see beyond the “real world” into the surrounding transcendental range of existence known as the Ethereal Spectrum or the Spectral Range.
Prithee, you may ask, what does this Ethereal Spectrum look like, exactly?
The Ethereal Spectrum is a region of the universe that envelopes and permeates our own terrestrial realm. There are no landforms within it, only clear, vaguely translucent spaces through which otherworldly creatures seem to come and go. These creatures seem to be flying through space while in motion, but appear to be floating or treading water whenever they become stationary. Terrestrial creatures and objects tend to fade into the background as dark gray objects whenever the viewer shifts their focus into the Ethereal Spectrum. All the while, tiny floating specks of bright light appear and disappear randomly and seem to pass directly through whatever terrestrial materials lie within their path.
Far and away the most common beings to be found within the Spectral Range are Sprites - swarms of them, truly - but we’ll remark on them momentarily.
Humans And The Other Sight
Most humans living in the Known World have no idea what the Other Sight is, although they have likely heard about it through folklore. While many folk consider the Other Sight to be either a gift or a form of sorcery, it is really more of an aptitude. Mages are better known as users of the Other Sight as part of practicing their esoteric profession, but in reality any sapient being living on the planet Vadu - or at least those who live in the Known World - can theoretically acquire the Other Sight, once they have learned the core principle that the Ethereal Spectrum must be believed to be seen.
Oddly enough, quite a few humans did previously possess the Other Sight, whether they remember having it or not. A substantial number of human children under the age of seven are able to gaze into the Ethereal Spectrum, but don’t understand what they’re seeing. Oftentimes, their adult caregivers will assume these younglings are merely reacting to something trivial nearby, or perhaps pretending to respond to some imaginary friends. Such early interactions with the Other Sight tend to recede from a child’s consciousness and memory once they reach 10 to 12 years of age, unless someone - perhaps an experienced parent or relative, an observant Mage or a former Mage-Apprentice - intervenes to help them understand what they are experiencing. Nonetheless, more than a few of these gifted children do eventually regain contact with the Other Sight later on in life, usually once they enter their twilight years.
Other Metahumans
As will be discussed in a later post, Manikins discovered the Other Sight about one thousand years ago and learned how to exploit its properties. Nearly all Manikins now seem to innately possess the Other Sight, and usually know how to use it before they have reached adolescence. Historically, Manikins dominated the profession of Mages until the late 200s JE1, when a rising number of humanfolk began to enter the profession in ever increasing numbers.
In addition to the Manikinfolk, Barakins can make ready use of the Other Sight as well, as their parents commonly introduce it to them during their youth.
As well, the other extraterrestrial species living in the Known World - that is, the mysterious Xeradi folk - are well known to have the Other Sight and several of their kind go on to become exceptionally gifted Mages.
By comparison, very few of the Dwurfolk ever acquire the Other Sight, and because of this few Dwurin Mages will be seen wandering about the Known World.
As for the Dandiprats, nobody really knows for sure whether or not they can see into the Ethereal Spectrum. Ask a Dandiprat about the Other Sight and they will simply shrug, grin, and perhaps say something like so si so si (it is what it is) or chi le de sa vê? (who is to know?). Mages who have spent time dwelling among them have said they believe the Dandiprats do possess the Other Sight, but like children seem unable to understand it. This may explain why so many Dandifolk are easily distracted by shiny things and why they seem to have trouble keeping their focus.
Retaining The Other Sight
Once someone has achieved access to the Other Sight, they never completely lose the ability to use it, although it can still become a recessive trait through lack of regular use.
On the other hand, one can make good use of the Other Sight in their daily life, if they receive guidance from someone familiar with how it works. If they gain the opportunity to enter a formal apprenticeship with a Master Mage or Archmage, they can themselves become a Mage in their own right.
What Are Sprites?
Sprites are, essentially, the smallest, indivisible constituent beings found within the Ethereal Spectrum of existence.
Also known as the Wee Folk (Fêno [fay-noh] in the Common Tongue), Sprites are basically the jet fuel that powers The Skill. Without them, it is usually difficult to impossible for a Mage to execute a Beno or Bêno - that is, a Boon or Bane, or in other contexts what one might call an enchantment or a spell.
Physical Appearance
While Sprites are normally used collectively as a powerful force, individually they are actually quite tiny - as small as a ladybug, although some can be as large as a honeybee.
To the uninformed viewer they will appear to be firefly-like beings, very similar to the Emberflies seen buzzing around the forests and fields of the Meldûn Borderlands.
Should one focus more intently on individual Sprites, they may resemble flying asterisks or jacks, possessing an average of 5 extremities, although occasionally a few may have as many as 8 appendages. But to the more focused viewer they will be seen as translucent, luminiferous butterfly-like creatures commonly bearing 2 or more gossamer-like wings.
When Sprites come into contact with a Metahuman's skin in the terrestrial world, that person will either experience a mild itching sensation at the point of contact, or feel as though something kissed them on that spot. This is especially true whenever one’s skin is moist due to sweat, or when a Metahuman experiences “goose bumps,” a sensation that occurs whenever several Sprites touch a person’s skin surface simultaneously.
Broadly speaking, Sprites will be colored in different ways depending on their mood and state of being:
Sprites are at full strength and in a state of good health and disposition will have a very distinct bluish-gold hue.
Sprites that are spent and need to “recharge” will often appear as greyish or monochrome versions of themselves, giving off a sort of foggy grey tinge.
Sprites that are angry or in distress will appear as crimson in color and possess a bright, scarlet red glow about them.
Sprites who have given themselves over to evil - a rare occurrence, it must be said - will manifest themselves in darker shades of blood red, deep maroon, or licorice, and will have no evident glow about them at all.
Cultivation Of Sprites In Service To The Skill
Sprites are always attracted to Metahumans who can see them, and whenever one tunes into the Other Sight several of them will come forward.
If the Other-Sighted person does not summon them to perform a particular task, the Sprites will merely float or buzz around the viewer, sort of stare back at them, or otherwise loiter about the place in a childlike kind of way. They might sit on somebody’s shoulder, lounge about on some nearby piece of furniture, annoy an unsuspecting pet and possibly cause it to sneeze or snort - which is something they love to do to horses, by the way - or go looking around whatever nooks and crannies they find close by in search of interesting things.
Note that if a Sprite exploring nooks and crannies within a building happens upon something of interest - a random button, a coin, a pin, a bit of jewelry or some other small object - they will alert nearby Sprites, who will come to help them nab that object and disappear with it. Sometimes they will simply relocate the object to a spot elsewhere within the same room, drop the object somewhere along the way and then lose interest in it, or actually steal said object.
Thus it should be noted that it’s never good to unduly anger a Sprite...
Unless one wants to simply stare at Sprites or invite them to carry off some their coinage, the wise Mage or other person will use the appropriate amount of concentration and composure to ask their Sprite-friends to perform a useful task on their behalf. This request will typically include a certain glance or wave of the hand towards the desired target or direction, as Sprites are not mind readers. A swarm of Sprites will then stream forth as a single, unifying force to do the Mage’s bidding.
Sprites may come together and form something like a large hand that can push someone down… or morph into a large, bulb-syringe-like object that can inhale water from a nearby source and spew it onto a small fire… or coalesce into an invisible wall or shield of force that can protect the summoner or some third party from an external threat. More often, however, the Sprites will form a nebulous or blurry cloud that nestles upon the specified target and go about their work.
Although Sprites can and do occasionally botch their assignment, the odds of them performing a task correctly generally improves with experience.
What exactly can Sprites do? one might ask… Well, they can do all sorts of things, actually.
I have a list of over 90 specific things that Mages can do while using The Skill. These tasks can range in scope and complexity from dampening a cloth with water, to summoning a tsunami-like wave that can swamp a a fleet of ships.
We’ll discuss what Mages can and cannot do using The Skill in a future post.
Sprites Helping Those Who Lack The Other Sight
While they are most attracted to Metahumans who actively peer into the Ethereal Spectrum, Sprites do occasionally like to congregate around terrestrial folk who are oblivious to their presence as they try to go on about doing things. Other-Sighted folk have watched Sprites follow or swarm around young children while they are at play, have looked on as they accompanied yet another drunk trying to make their way home after a busy night at the local pub, have seen them help people who were earnestly performing feats of great strength and/or endurance, and so on.
Sometimes the Wee Folk will work together to help entice a child or drunk away from some imminent danger, or to push an athlete or worker to try harder and outdo themselves. Some have even been known to “whisper” into someone’s ear as if sharing a secret with Metahumans, who then suddenly seem to receive a moment of inspiration, or perhaps make a very lucky guess.
The ways of the Sprites are somewhat inscrutable, but they do seem to have a symbiotic relationship with Metahuman folk.
We should also note that many Sprites like to be around certain non-sapient creatures, particularly cats, dogs, deer and yes, even horses. Other-sighted folk have reported seeing many a buck or other creature suddenly “spooked” by the Wee Folk into fleeing from a hidden enemy, like hunters and trappers. They also like to play with dogs and cats occasionally, who may bark or meow randomly at thin air or chase their tails for no apparent reason.
Other Ethereal Beings Of Note
While Sprites are the predominant species of beings dwelling in the Ethereal Plane, there are other beings and such to be found wandering about the Spectral Range.
Light Specks
Those specks of bright light I mentioned earlier are not beings at all, nor are they floaters or flashes in one’s eye. They are basically an ethereal version of dust specks. Instead of being carried along by wind or current they simply float along in random directions.
Though they are initially rather cool to look at, users of the Other Sight eventually learn to ignore them and concentrate on more important things.
These light specks are not usually visible within the Terrestrial Plane, except perhaps when sunlight or moonlight happens to strike a water surface in a certain way.
Live Terrestrial Beings And Animals
When one “tunes” into the Other Sight, any living terrestrial creatures, whether Metahuman or animal, will immediately fade and become discrete, shadow-like objects. Such beings are obviously not in the Spectral Range of vision, but simply obstructing one’s view of it with their presence. If the terrestrial creature moves, their silhouette will move as well.
Should someone in the Terrestrial Plane speak or make noise in the presence of someone using the Other Sight, the Other-Sighted person will hear it and they can choose to respond, even though they are peering into the Spectral Range of existence.
It may appear to others that the practitioner is in a slight trance or staring off into space, which might seem peculiar to said other folk.
Sapient terrestrials will appear to emit a vague tinge of light around their silhouettes, while animals and other non-sapient lifeforms will not. This particular capability can bring certain advantages to those gifted with the Other Sight.
If a Mage spots a terrestrial creature they find to be peculiar or interesting in some way, they may intentionally shift their vision into the Spectral Range to “scan” that creature. If a supposedly sapient being emits no glow around their silhouette, that usually means that being is a mirage or some form of animation. If an non-sapient animal does glow, it implies the animal is being manipulated or controlled by another Mage.
We’ll get into this particular spying technique, along with many other Mage-skills, in a future post.
… And yes, someone actively using the Other Sight can still smell and feel things in the terrestrial world, whether they be desirable or disgusting. Just ask any first-year apprentice Mage cloistering in a Chantry…
Luminous Beings
While one does not just wander off into the Ethereal Spectrum, one can use the Spectral Plane as a conveyance or as a means to an end.
Living Metahumans who do this sort of thing will appear to those using the Other Sight as Luminous Beings.
Luminous Beings are living Mages or other folk who have mastered The Skill to the point where they can Project themselves by taking on an amorphous body of light form to “fly” over a certain distance within the Spectral Range while observing the terrestrial world below. Others can go even further and Teleport themselves by becoming a body of light and “flying” across the Spectral Range, then rematerialize themselves in corporeal form at a different location.
As the term body of light should indicate, Luminous Beings will appear within the Ethereal Spectrum as a shimmering yet indistinct, illuminated Metahuman body. Luminous Beings will not be visible within the terrestrial world, as they are literally moving through the Void that is the Spectral Range. On that plane, such beings can be seen soaring through the air as a sort of missile of light headed somewhere else, leaving a light trail behind them as they go. If and when they stop moving, they will take on a more humanoid form, though still indistinct from their “owner”.
While one might possibly be able to identify a Luminous Being because of their terrestrial shape - that is, if one already knows the “owner” of that body of light - the Luminous Being’s face will remain indistinct and obscured by the near-blinding luminosity created by their body of light.
Luminous Beings cannot speak audibly, but they can choose to communicate through other means, usually via telepathy.
It should be noted that terrestrials cannot remain indefinitely within the Spectral Range as Luminous Beings, just as a person swimming underwater must eventually resurface to breathe. At some point, usually within a few hours, the practitioner must rejoin their corporeal body, or risk becoming forever lost in the Void.
Shades
It is said that the spirits of recently deceased sapient beings may be found within the Spectral Range, by and large near the place where they died while on the Prime Material Plane.
Mages refer to such beings as Îdolons [eye-doh-lohns], but they are more commonly known as Wraiths (spelled singular: Rêx - plural: Rêxs) in the Common Tongue) or Shades (spelled singular: Ŝêd; plural: Ŝêds).
Shades manifest themselves within the Spectral Range as nondescript, whitish-hued humanoid beings with a bald, skull-like head with prominent, skeletal-like cheekbones. Their faces bare no resemblance to the person they once were, having no nose, no ears, and only two distinct eye-socket holes. They have no discernible mouth, only a concavity that bends inward, but may appear to move or change shape as if the Shade is speaking, screaming, or laughing.
Normally, Shades will fade out within three days of their passing. There have been, however, extraordinary cases where a Shade has remained manifest for several weeks, months or even years, especially if their death was particularly violent or involved a great injustice.
Please note that mortal beings are unable to communicate with a Shade, even via telepathy. This is because they, too, are transitioning to another plane of existence, which is not safely reachable by living Mages or other mortal folk.
Other Spectral Beings
Lastly, other ethereal beings may be spotted occasionally trekking about the Spectral Range in a variety of forms and shapes. In nearly all such cases these “creatures” are merely large-scale aggregations of Sprites working together in collaboration to achieve some unknown purpose. Whether their collective intent is fair, frivolous, or foul, no one can really say.
Epilogue
That’s all for today!
We’ve touched on what Mages use as fuel to perform supernatural feats - namely, Sprites - and how Mages can access this superpower - which is to say, by using the Other Sight.
In near future Dispatches, we may delve into other aspects of The Skill, including:
How Manikins discovered The Skill and developed it into a coherent system;
How Humankind were introduced to The Skill after they migrated to the Known World;
The connection between the Ethereal Spectrum and Metahuman spirituality; and
Why Mages don’t like to use The Skill around sunset or sunrise, but love to use it during auroras or eclipses.
All of which can wait until another day.
Until then, goodspeed to you, friends!
This concludes today’s Dispatch. Thanks for reading!
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Until next time, safe journeys to you and yours!
— B.E. Turpin
JE means Jaro Establita or Year Established. The year 1 JE - 490 years ago - marks the beginning of the new epoch where humanity lived exclusively on the planet Vadu.