So there you were reading Arrow of Caid and you noticed that there appeared to be magic in use in a few places. But there was no explanation for it. Below is an explanation of Crystal Magic, its history and uses.
2000 years before the story Arrow of Caid took place women started discovering that certain white crystals brought them good fortune in relation to their home and family. These crystals seemed to perform “household magic”, and indeed many households whose female heads carried these crystals seemed to have fewer illnesses and injuries, more bountiful harvest and livestock, and better beer. Only women were able to use these powers and since they were very faint and difficult to actually prove society accepted their uses. However women everywhere started searching for and carrying these white House Crystals.
The average House Crystal was the size of a small bead. The size did not seem to matter; rather the purity of the crystal was the important factor in strength. In fact, if the crystal had more than 6 flaws it usually was rather useless. Additionally some women seemed to have more of an aptitude then others and this ability to use the crystal was also an important factor in the crystal’s power.
As women discovered more about their abilities with the House Crystals the training moved from the hearth to the schoolroom where the female teachers would help their young charges with their House Crystal abilities. Through trial and error and word of mouth this training was refined and codified. An attempt was made to reach each girl before the age of 12 at so that she could be found and trained, so that she reached her maximum potential.
Fertility — The House Garden is always green.
Healing — Family members rarely get sick..
Fire or Heat — Under correct circumstance will keep something from freezing.
Seer — Can sense things happenings around the house dog or cat when the pet is within 150 feet.
Well Being — Those within 5-10 feet of wearer, experience a feeling of well being.
1000 years later, the uses of four other crystals were discovered. But while every woman could use a House Crystal, it was a much smaller group of women that could use these other crystals.
In fact less than .1% of women out of a population of 15,000,000 could use the new crystals. While this meant that about 5,000 women could possibly use them it took the ability to discover who these women were and to get them trained. An interesting effect that was noticed after a generation or two was that while the average person lived to 50 years old, a Crystal User lived to 75 years old.
The new “Powers” that these Crystal Users had upset society. This was a change in power and in what was perceived as an “illusion” was now shown to be very real. So a very sudden shift in roles started to happen. Women were excluded from roles in government if they had any of the crystals.
Yet, some of the very powers that took them out of Government also involved them in the running of society. As Doctors they were able to diagnose better and even bring about healing faster. They were able to help farmers and bring about better crops due to the cooling of weather. Due to an ability to spot liars they were even used by the courts in difficult cases.
In the area of schooling several classes developed over the years. There were, of course, the beginning classes to get a girl started in the use of any crystal, but now there were also two more classes. One was taught about the time a 11 – 12 year old girls and helped show them their potentials in using other crystals. The other was taught to a few 13 - 15 girls on the use of these new crystals.
| Crystal | Color | Element | Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHALCEDONY | BLUE | WIND (AIR) | KNOWLEDGE, ANIMALS |
| Crystal | Color | Element | Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|
| PRASIOLITE | GREEN | WATER | INTUITION, WISDOM |
| Crystal | Color | Element | Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMYTHYST | PURPLE | EARTH | NURTURE (HEALING), FERTILITY |
| Crystal | Color | Element | Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|
| CITRINE | YELLOW | FIRE | EMOTIONS, DEFENSE |
700 years later the uses of the four crystals once again undergoes a change. It became observable that the powers of the crystals had gone up. Yet it is observable that only about half of the Crystal Users are capable of the new levels of power.
Yet, these very powers also involved them in the running of society. As Doctors they were able to diagnose better, and bring about healing faster. They were able to help farmers and bring about better crops due to control of some weather. Due to an ability to spot liars they were even used by the courts in difficult cases.
In the area of schooling there were now several layers of classes. There were the beginning classes to get a woman started in the use of the House Crystal. A set of classes were taught to women at the age of 10-11. This helped show just what their potential was and how to use the new crystals. When the women were 14-15 they were given several more classes to help them gain even more control of their crystals. These were actually taught at Universities with their own “Campus”.
| Crystal | Color | Element | Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHALCEDONY | BLUE | WIND (AIR) | KNOWLEDGE, ANIMALS |
| Crystal | Color | Element | Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|
| PRASIOLITE | GREEN | WATER | INTUITION, WISDOM |
| Crystal | Color | Element | Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMYTHYST | PURPLE | EARTH | NURTURE (HEALING), FERTILITY |
| Crystal | Color | Element | Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|
| CITRINE | YELLOW | FIRE | EMOTIONS,DEFENSE |
Females that have the affinity to use Magic Crystals can “see” the House Crystals glow. (i.e. all who have Magic Crystal affinity can sense the emanations from the House Crystals.) Thus talent can be discovered early.
House Crystals are white crystals the size of a bead usually with 1-3 flaws in it. It is no larger than the little finger fingernail.
Any Crystal User can Focus through any Focuser, without pre-attuning between the User and Focuser. But the Users must first send a request to the Focuser and he must accept.
Crystal Users can “sense” where Focusers and Crystal Users are. The higher your level, the better your ability to sense. Crystal Magic training teaches Users to “background” this information.
Males that have the affinity to use Focus Crystals can “see” the House Crystals glow. (i.e. all who have Focus Crystal affinity can sense the emanations from the House Crystals.) Thus talent can be discovered early.
Focus Crystals are White Crystals the size of Golf Balls, with no flaws.
Focus Crystals have a low glow when near their attended Focuser, and a higher glow when being used to Focus. The more that’s being Focused, the higher the glow. A Focus request doesn’t cause the Focus Crystal to glow any brighter.
A Focus Crystal must be attuned to a Focuser by a Balanced Circle. And is attuned during their Focus training.
No one knows why Focusers can Focus.
A Focuser’s Crystal has to be pre-attuned by a set of Crystal Users.
A House Crystal User CAN’T channel through a Focuser.
Effect of the Focused Magic happens at the point of the Focuser, not near the Users.
Users have to be within 75 miles of the Focuser.
The Focuser CAN’T do Crystal Magic of any kind, they can only Focus others magic.
The Focuser CAN refuse a Focus request, but can’t (without damage to themselves or their Crystal) stop a Focus in progress.
There is some degradation of quality introduced by the Focuser (1% to 20%).
Society has accepted the Focusers mostly because their mothers are usually Crystal Users and “who wants to get one of them mad at you?”. Focusers born of non-magical mothers have a hard row to hoe, unless quickly put under the protection of Crystal Users.
Society (men) is worried that Focusers are a danger, both to the accepted social order, and personally.
Women (Crystal Users mostly) are worried that Focusers are a danger to their social levels and are harbingers of male Crystal Users.
Society is on the verge of a crisis … with the possibility the men could become Crystal Users and the worry that Focusers could be “doing damage from within” things might change … people are getting uneasy. Will women be given more of a role in government? Will Focusers be banned / killed / prized / excluded from government / what?
Your Turn: What did you think about it? Did you like it? Didn’t like it? Now is the time to because ...
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