Magic

This article details the concept of Magic both in the fictional Runiverse and the meta-concept that empowers the cult.

Within the Runiverse

From the original Book of Lore entry:

Magic, aka The Arcane Arts, is a powerful force that weaves its way through the lands. Most Wizards came into the world already specializing in a form of magic, such as hydromancers, pyromancers, and necromancers. Some conduct their wizardry through magical items and staves, and some Wizards don't seem to know any magic at all.

Magical talent is varied across Wizards - from hilariously amateur, to perilously threatening. Some use magic for virtuous altruism, and some for appalling cataclysm. The minds of the most powerful magic users often border on sanity, absurdity, mania and derangement, for there seems to be a trade-off every magic user must confront: Mastery of the Arcane Arts often comes at the cost of one's humanity.

How magic came into this world is a question of serious inquiry, but one thing is certain, it is a dominant force in the world, and colors all aspects of daily life, culture, and politics.

Magic as a meta-concept

The conceptualization of the overarching Forgotten Runes collection began with the idea of magic, a magic that crosses the chasm between real and imagined, between our experienced lives and virtual lives, and one that bridges the past to the future. The concept of magic is explored in one of the first Wizard Wednesdays, the cult's weekly meeting, where co-creator Elf details the idea that generated the original project:

What does the Forgotten Runes actually mean? Who forgot them? What are the Runes about? To that I would say, it is not the Wizards who forgot, it's actually the rest of the world and it is the Wizard's job to remind them about the Runes.

And so then, what is the Runes? To me, it is a broader concept. It represents some sort of esoteric information that sits in the ether. The Runes are about taking large indescribable concepts and presenting them to the world in a new way. For example, I tell Dotta that he himself is a Wizard, because what is he doing? He is using strange, abstract, coded characters to create something; he didn't write a smart contract, he basically wrote a spellbook. He wrote a spellbook that literally summons wizards.

I think that artists are also Wizards themselves; they're alchemists. They take really base materials like paint and paper and pixels and they transform it into something that is beautiful and valuable. The same can be said for poets and writers. They're actually bards and spellsingers. They use words to transcend the banality of common speech.

And that's what these Wizards are. They are the conduits to the Wizard inside you.

You summoned Wizards, and now these Wizards are going to summon you. Because this is what a Wizard does. He puts his mark on the world, he puts his Rune on the door.