infocom/shipped-documentation/enchanter.txt

A Brief History Of Magic
By Gustar Woomax

Copied right in 927 GUE. All rights reversed.
A POPULAR ENCHANTING book.

The history of magic can be broken down into four distinct periods: the
Empirical Age, the Scientific Age, the Industrial Age, and the Age of
Guilds. Each of these will be explored in some depth in order to give
the reader a sense of the course of events which has shaped the use of
magic in today's society.

The Empirical Age

  Primitive cultures had naturally assumed that the disorderly nature of
our world was due to such supernatural causes as magic. With the
founding of the "natural" sciences, however, nature was increasingly
viewed as being orderly. As the sciences progressed, the knowledge and
lore of magic largely disappeared. As early as the 5th century GUE
(Great Underground Empire), however, such students of the mystic arts as
Bizboz and Dinbar thoroughly examined ancient writings on the subject.
Bizboz himself wrote what became the seminal work in Thaumaturgy, "On
the Presence of Incredibly Weird Stuff Going On," in 473 GUE, in which
he claimed to have discovered "for-the-most-part Natural Rules" by which
this "Weird Stuff" is ordered.
  This work was ridiculed by the leading scholars of the time, leading
to Bizboz's removal from the faculty at the Galepath University, and,
eventually, to his tragic suicide in 475 GUE. His work, however,
encouraged others in the pursuit of magical knowledge, with mixed
results. Charlatans, claiming to have created magical potions and
powders, regularly fooled the gullible population into buying potions
which claimed to do such things as "reverse hair loss" and "draw Trebled
Fromps in Double Fanucci." Such appeals to public ignorance led King
Duncanthrax in 672 GUE to write the Unnatural Acts, which provided stiff
penalties for those convicted of selling "Unnatural or Supernatural
substances."

The Scientific Age

  While the charlatans were at work, serious students took up the cause
of magic, attempting to explain the natural world as a byproduct of the
interrelated workings of the sciences of Physics, Medicine, Chemistry,
Mathematics, and Thaumaturgy. Their success in demonstrating the
so-called first principles of Thaumaturgy, namely Presence, Incantation,
and Unusual Effect, led to a loosening of the Unnatural Acts to allow
what became known as Scientific Thaumaturgy. During this period, the
first chapter of the Guild of Enchanters was founded at the tiny hamlet
of Accardi-by-the-Sea by the great thaumaturge, Vilboz.
  During the reign of Frobwit the Flatter (701-727 GUE), the art and
science of Thaumaturgy flourished. The first reliable Incantation
Device, known to scholars as the Hyperbolic Incantation Concentrator,
was produced at the Thaumaturgical Institute in 723 GUE. The long, thin,
portable device, nicknamed the "magic wand" by the lay press, became an
instant sensation among the populace, and gained a certain measure of
respect for the fledgling science.
  A major advance in Thaumaturgy occurred when Davmar, working in
newly-crowned King Mumberthrax Flathead's laboratory, discovered a means
by which Incantation could be stored on special Presence-imbued paper.
These so-called scrolls were found, however, to be destroyed during the
spells' Incantation. Nonetheless, scrolls soon replaced the
temperamental and poorly-understood "wand" as the primary means of
Incantation.
  The problem of imbuing Presence became a deterrent to the rapid growth
of magical science. The creation of a single powerful scroll could take
literally months for even the most creative and productive thaumaturge.
This roadblock prevented the widespread use of magic for generations.

The Industrial Age

  The Industrial Age dawned in 769 GUE with a discovery by a
little-known thaumaturge named Berzio. Berzio, working for years in his
own self-made workshop and often going for days without food, drink, or
sleep, created the means by which Presence could be transferred from a
scroll to a specially impregnated paper by use of a simple spell, which
he named after his dog, Gnusto. This paper, in turn, held the Presence
even after the Incantation had been finished, solving the major problem
in spell production. The euphoria which greeted this discovery was
tempered by the finding that very powerful spells could not be
transferred in this way. Nevertheless, spell "books," which were capable
of holding dozens of spells, were produced in great number, leading to
the founding of a new industry.
  Another advance in Thaumaturgy occurred with the finding that certain
liquids and powders could be imbued with the magical Presence. Such
potions are of great interest, although their limitations have prevented
them from supplanting scrolls as the primary method of Incantation. The
first of these potions, which obviates the need for food and drink, was
given the name BERZIO, in honor of the great thaumaturge.

The Age of Guilds

  As the use of magic became more prevalent, so did the problems
inherent in its use. Since magic had become available to people in all
professions, conflicts arose. One famous issue involved the question of
whether the plumber's FIZMO spell ("cause stopped-up pipes to unclog")
could be sold as a digestive aid by physicians. The issue came to a head
in the aftermath of the Endless Fire of 773 GUE, so named because it
burned for 4 weeks after destroying the city of Mareilon. It was later
found to have been started by a civil servant who thought he was casting
the ZEMDOR spell ("turn original into triplicate") but who, instead,
cast the ZIMBOR spell ("turn one really big city into lots of tiny,
little ashes").
  This led Lord Dimwit Flathead (the Excessive) to issue a series of
5,521 edicts over the following few weeks, which had the effect of
severely limiting access to magic (and, incidentally, lawyers).
Henceforth, all magic was entrusted to the various Guilds of Enchanters,
which by now existed in many small communities. Each Guild, whose elders
comprised the so-called Circle of Enchanters, was empowered to form
schools for the training of new Enchanters. This official sanctioning of
the Guilds led to the formation of numerous other chapters, with
membership in the various Guilds in excess of 2,000 by the year 800 GUE.
Despite the fall of the Great Underground Empire in 883 GUE under the
feeble-minded reign of Wurb Flathead, the Guild of Enchanters remains
virtually unchanged in character today.

Today's Enchanter

  Since the fall of the Empire, magic has again become a mysterious art,
practiced primarily by trained Sorcerers, although a few spells, such as
UMBOZ ("obviate need for dusting") and NERZO ("balance checkbook"), have
been approved for over-the-counter sale. Upon graduation from an
accredited Thaumaturgical College, an Enchanter is given a spell book
with a few spells, none of which has great power. As an Enchanter
continues his or her studies, new spells may be obtained; these may be
copied into a spell book for use whenever the occasion warrants.
  The Enchanter's job is not as easy as is commonly thought. An
Enchanter must memorize a spell written in a spell book before casting
it. (Spells on scrolls and those which have been permanently etched in
the memory by training needn't be memorized.) Moreover, if an Enchanter
needs to use a particular spell twice, it must be memorized twice, since
the effort of casting it makes it a jumble in one's memory. In fact,
even a night's sleep will make an Enchanter forget any memorized spells.
But, in spite of the rigors of spell casting, the personal rewards are
great, and the job of Enchanter remains a popular and well-respected
vocation.

An Afterthought

  The most fitting words regarding the history of magic were written
over a century ago by the renowned historian Ozmar in 821 GUE. He wrote:
"The greatest irony is this: that the ancients of our kind were nearer
to knowing the truth about Science than those who called themselves
Scientists. Science has taught us much and given us new words for old
mysteries. But beneath these words are mysteries, and beneath them more
mysteries. The pursuit of Magic has given these mysteries meaning and
provided for our people great benefits unrealized as yet by Science. One
day, perhaps, a great union will be formed between Magic and Science,
and the final mysteries will be solved."