There's something a little alarming in Myr's grin as Simon remarks on the day-ruining properties of that much oil. "Absolutely. And it's flammable as anything," he volunteers, cheerily. "Usual practice is to throw a fireball at it right after."
If Simon were anyone but a templar--that is, someone who knows perfectly well a mage's capacity for destruction already--Myr might reconsider being so frank about his ability to turn a battlefield into a firestorm at a moment's notice. (It's something he'd had ample cause to think about on the way from Hasmal, where the restive civilian populace had been very close to finishing what the rebellion had started themselves.) But it is fun to talk shop, especially when "shop" includes area denial and massive explosions.
It's also fun--in a different way--to have someone who asks worthwhile questions. Myr shifts a little where he's standing as he considers the one implied in Simon's words, wrapping both hands around his staff and leaning on it comfortably. "Honestly, unless it's your area of specialization, you don't think so much about the things you could do with a weaker version of a spell," he says thoughtfully. "Or one you've changed the parameters on so it's less flatly harmful. It's easier to memorize the way it's set out for you so you can carry it off in a fight without a flaw, and forget about what else you could do with it."
At least, for most mages. His grin becomes a little more like a grimace as he thinks about his own deficits in that area, then shrugs it off. Better not to dump all that on a stranger. "As for the hows, it's a matter of dipping into the Fade for the--heh--matter you need, and telling it the shape it's got to be. If I want so much grease," he gestures grandly like he intends to drench their surrounds in the stuff, "I have to grab the unshaped potential of 'grease' out of the Fade, tell it what I want, and tell it where to go, burning up mana for all of that. A set spell is the theoretical most-efficient way to accomplish that task, with--"
He pauses, wrinkling up his nose and chewing on his lower lip as he thinks about how to put it into words. "--It's got the right mental shape to it, let's say. Any time you cast a spell, the first step is forming your initial desire--uh, a velleity in technical terms; why they call it that I don't know--into the right shape for altering the Fade the way you want. Like any other tool--sometimes you need a blade to cut through it, sometimes a spade to dig it up, sometimes a hand to pull it around you. Spells give you that proper shape in a form you can memorize, that won't require so much of your power as beating your head against the Fade would.
"Though that's not the only way there is to explain what we do--it's one theory among many. Another says that magic is searching out through the Fade what could have already happened if the world had gone differently, and making that be so. It's the opposite of what you templars do to stop us, when you make the world be more real."
He looks strangely wistful at that for a fleeting moment--then seems to realize he's lecturing and interrupts himself with a laugh. "Which is very far afield from the point. But there you go; that's how you get grease out of nowhere. I could walk you through the spell itself but without being a mage yourself, I can't really show it to you from the inside."
no subject
If Simon were anyone but a templar--that is, someone who knows perfectly well a mage's capacity for destruction already--Myr might reconsider being so frank about his ability to turn a battlefield into a firestorm at a moment's notice. (It's something he'd had ample cause to think about on the way from Hasmal, where the restive civilian populace had been very close to finishing what the rebellion had started themselves.) But it is fun to talk shop, especially when "shop" includes area denial and massive explosions.
It's also fun--in a different way--to have someone who asks worthwhile questions. Myr shifts a little where he's standing as he considers the one implied in Simon's words, wrapping both hands around his staff and leaning on it comfortably. "Honestly, unless it's your area of specialization, you don't think so much about the things you could do with a weaker version of a spell," he says thoughtfully. "Or one you've changed the parameters on so it's less flatly harmful. It's easier to memorize the way it's set out for you so you can carry it off in a fight without a flaw, and forget about what else you could do with it."
At least, for most mages. His grin becomes a little more like a grimace as he thinks about his own deficits in that area, then shrugs it off. Better not to dump all that on a stranger. "As for the hows, it's a matter of dipping into the Fade for the--heh--matter you need, and telling it the shape it's got to be. If I want so much grease," he gestures grandly like he intends to drench their surrounds in the stuff, "I have to grab the unshaped potential of 'grease' out of the Fade, tell it what I want, and tell it where to go, burning up mana for all of that. A set spell is the theoretical most-efficient way to accomplish that task, with--"
He pauses, wrinkling up his nose and chewing on his lower lip as he thinks about how to put it into words. "--It's got the right mental shape to it, let's say. Any time you cast a spell, the first step is forming your initial desire--uh, a velleity in technical terms; why they call it that I don't know--into the right shape for altering the Fade the way you want. Like any other tool--sometimes you need a blade to cut through it, sometimes a spade to dig it up, sometimes a hand to pull it around you. Spells give you that proper shape in a form you can memorize, that won't require so much of your power as beating your head against the Fade would.
"Though that's not the only way there is to explain what we do--it's one theory among many. Another says that magic is searching out through the Fade what could have already happened if the world had gone differently, and making that be so. It's the opposite of what you templars do to stop us, when you make the world be more real."
He looks strangely wistful at that for a fleeting moment--then seems to realize he's lecturing and interrupts himself with a laugh. "Which is very far afield from the point. But there you go; that's how you get grease out of nowhere. I could walk you through the spell itself but without being a mage yourself, I can't really show it to you from the inside."