From the personal library of Jerico Bindelton
prepared for publication by Snowman

Magic is a mysterious art, not often seen, never shared and rarely heard. It is this way for a reason. If each of us had the ability to draw forth these energies at will, the gods would fear what the dark queen had to face with Raistlin - possible defeat.

The intricacies of magic are so complex, a myriad of tangled knots; you would have to spend several years of your life just to understand what you are and are not capable of. After that exhaustive training, you must then learn to control these powerful energies.

There are control words & phrases that will capture and harness mystical energies to your bidding. There are also languages, unspoken yet gestured like sign language.

Now you must understand that what I am about to tell you, young one, is for apprentice mages only. Because you have decided to walk along this path, I shall reveal a secret...

The steps in which a spell is cast. We will take the spell "Magic Missile" (MM) as an example.

To cast the spell "MM," you must travel to the mystical plane and locate a mystical being. When you arrive you will know that being, for one must see them to know them. Travel to the mystical plane with your your spell book open and at the ready for the plane has many protections upon it to help keep people out, and to hide itself from the eyes of the untaught. It has safeguards, the likes of which you will have never seen. For instance, as you read the words inscribed in your spell book that transport you to the mystical plane, the words you read are removed from your memory as you read them. The words themselves are intertwined in magic preventing long term rememberance; it is the reason you must have your spell book open and a safeguard of the mystical plane.

To cast the spell in the prime material plane, once access to the mystical plane has been attained, you must use unspoken language to capture one of the mystical beings. Once captured, he will do your bidding but you must return yourself and this being to the prime material plane in order to do so. This happens when the being merges his energies with your life force. You can see how precarious that could be, hmmm? But this must occur to be transported once again to the prime material plane.

Once you have the being within your control, you must always keep active watch over him for he will try to return to the mystical plane. It is a constant battle to maintain control of the being and use his energy to cast the spell.

Now you have gone as far as to travel to the mystical plane, captured the being and joined it with your life force so you can use it when you wish. To do that you simply must say the name of the being and sign the unspoken language of release, after which the being will do as told. He will manifest himself in the form of an energy bolt, travel unerringly to the target you specify and release his energy in the form of a small explosion. The more practiced you are at casting this spell, the bigger and more abundant the beings are for you to use.

Now young apprentice, that is the way a spell of magic missile is cast. What unlearned people perceive as you simply reading spell books at the start of the day is actually an adventure unto itself.

Almost entirely, spells work in this fashion, with a few minor differences here and there. To explain these differences, I will use the spell, Fireball. Its foundation is the same as Magic Missle, the mystical being is bigger and much more powerful with a taste for bat guano. In addition to saying its name and forming the sign of release, you must feed it a small portion of guano to get it to manifest itself, then sprinkle a bit of sulfur on it. It hates sulfur so it motivates him to your bidding. Once in your control, it will travel to the point you specify and release its energy in the form of an explosion upon the desired target.

Now that you know these secrets, it should make the path to greater understanding of your chosen craft easier...

From the chronicles of Jerico Bindelton ~ Master Mage