Strictly speaking, this might not be Strange’s problem — not his circus, not his monkeys — but no one here’s going to care much about the technicalities of the difference between a sorcerer and a mage, and if it weren’t for that shard in his palm, he’d be considered one just the same. And people look at rifters with much the same dubious mistrust; he’d heard some of the arguments for giving them the same treatingment after the war. Their fates might be more intertwined than he’d like.
It’s no surprise, then, that he identifies as a mage himself, and finds himself invested in the problem. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…
“The other risk,” Strange says, “is that you wouldn’t want to accidentally recreate the Circles all over again, just under a different name. History repeating itself. One would want it to be better than what came before. We might have too much on our plate already to tackle this too, but we’re also uniquely-situated by having so many free mages publicly organised under one roof, and so we might be positioned to think about alternatives. And presumably having some option available somewhere on the continent is better than having no options at all: staying at home or being turned out on the street.”
Or worse. He wonders how bad it gets in the even less tolerant villages, finding a child’s manifested as a mage.
Probably bad. Let’s not ask.
maybe wrap up for now but circle back to this potential idea in a thread closer to the present?
"There is that," Julius agrees, quietly. "I used to think reform was the better way forward, for ... there were reasons, some lack of information, others lack of context. But I know the tendency well enough. There are mages who are rightly wary that anything too similar to the Circles would slide back into being the Circles with minimal prodding. That said..."
A sigh. It's a problem he's been turning over for a long time, and he truly does appreciate the fresh perspective. That said, it's a large tangle to try to tease apart and it hasn't gotten any smaller in the past few years.
"I think it was good. Seeing Kamar-Taj. Thinking about ... the training, the chance to talk with other mages, or sorcerers rather. That there were some good things we might be able to build a different way." He hadn't fully expected it to be so affecting, in the moment, but it's clear Julius has thought about it since.
"If you're interested in getting involved, native mage politics are messy, but you've raised an excellent point about children. If you haven't, you might want to talk to Mme de Cedoux, some. She has an interesting perspective as another rifter who can use magic, and she's gotten more fully involved with our efforts here. Obviously," with a wry little smile, "we're all here for Riftwatch, and that's the more immediate priority. But what happens to mages, now and later, is a thing some of us have been working on simultaneously. And history shows that rifters are likely to be lumped in with us. Even the ones who can't do magic." Much less those who could.
“A good idea.” As if they don’t already have enough on their endless to-do lists, but, “Between being a rifter and a magic-user, I’ve always felt you and I are more in the same boat than not. I’ll talk to her and hear what she thinks.”
It’s a sunny day, warm and a little drowsy with the daylight trickling in through the windows. Strange has been working too long, pent-up with these Sashamiri reports, and could probably do with a break. Nothing like stretching one's legs after dealing with weighty philosophical conversations about the fate of an entire people.
“Y’know what, let’s go for a walk,” he says, sweeping his paperwork back into a tidier pile. “I’d like some fresh air.”
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portalling) wrote2022-04-02 01:17 pm
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It’s no surprise, then, that he identifies as a mage himself, and finds himself invested in the problem. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…
“The other risk,” Strange says, “is that you wouldn’t want to accidentally recreate the Circles all over again, just under a different name. History repeating itself. One would want it to be better than what came before. We might have too much on our plate already to tackle this too, but we’re also uniquely-situated by having so many free mages publicly organised under one roof, and so we might be positioned to think about alternatives. And presumably having some option available somewhere on the continent is better than having no options at all: staying at home or being turned out on the street.”
Or worse. He wonders how bad it gets in the even less tolerant villages, finding a child’s manifested as a mage.
Probably bad. Let’s not ask.
maybe wrap up for now but circle back to this potential idea in a thread closer to the present?
A sigh. It's a problem he's been turning over for a long time, and he truly does appreciate the fresh perspective. That said, it's a large tangle to try to tease apart and it hasn't gotten any smaller in the past few years.
"I think it was good. Seeing Kamar-Taj. Thinking about ... the training, the chance to talk with other mages, or sorcerers rather. That there were some good things we might be able to build a different way." He hadn't fully expected it to be so affecting, in the moment, but it's clear Julius has thought about it since.
"If you're interested in getting involved, native mage politics are messy, but you've raised an excellent point about children. If you haven't, you might want to talk to Mme de Cedoux, some. She has an interesting perspective as another rifter who can use magic, and she's gotten more fully involved with our efforts here. Obviously," with a wry little smile, "we're all here for Riftwatch, and that's the more immediate priority. But what happens to mages, now and later, is a thing some of us have been working on simultaneously. And history shows that rifters are likely to be lumped in with us. Even the ones who can't do magic." Much less those who could.
👍 slaps a bow on it
It’s a sunny day, warm and a little drowsy with the daylight trickling in through the windows. Strange has been working too long, pent-up with these Sashamiri reports, and could probably do with a break. Nothing like stretching one's legs after dealing with weighty philosophical conversations about the fate of an entire people.
“Y’know what, let’s go for a walk,” he says, sweeping his paperwork back into a tidier pile. “I’d like some fresh air.”