Ohayo! Template time!

[Rolling…Quentin Coldwater successfully acquired.]

Ooooh! Magic!

[Roland Cooper

Active Template: Quentin Coldwater

Completed Template: Mystique, Luke Skywalker 

Active Abilities: Wellspring-Enhanced Magician- Magic Manipulation

Stored Abilities: Metamorph- (expand), Force Powers (Control, Sense, Alter)

Shop: $1300

Inventory: practice lightsaber, Luke’s (/Anakin’s/Rey’s) lightsaber]

‘Alright, let’s see what I remember.’

Quentin Coldwater was a sad, lonely boy who read a fairy tale(Fillory) and wished he could be magical. One day, when applying for a mysterious college, he found out he was a Magician. He joined the school, learned magic, and, uh-oh, what’s that? A villain attacks and he nearly dies. Then he finds out that Fillory is real. And the villain? Well, that’s a surprise.

Anyway…Magic!

Humans, in the series, like Quentin, channel magic from the Wellspring (a source located in Fillory, created by the Old Gods). Magic is defined as a craft. Not a religion or art. It takes time, dedication, intelligence, and often obsession. But, even then, with all the right tools, persistence, and knowledge, a spell can still fail. 

The theme of the books/show and magic itself is: Pain. More Pain equals greater control. 

‘It’s ironic that I need to have pain to learn magic and also need to learn about the dark side of the Force still. You’d think this was planned.’

Anyway, magic, yes? For the world of The Magicians, magic could be anything from illusions, conjuration, elementalism, telekinesis, psychometry, and so on. 

However to perform magic one was required to know the Circumstances needed. There are four: Major, Minor, Tertiary, and Quaternary, and each tier has several exceptions, irregularities, and special cases that Magicians must account for to successfully cast a spell.

As an example, for tertiary there are five circumstances: Altitude, Age, Position of the Pleiades, Phase of the Moon, and Nearest Body of Water. 

Maybe some of these are important for a spell, or all of them, or none. 

After memorizing the four tiers of Circumstances, Magicians must then memorize the hundreds of Corollaries and Exceptions that must be accounted for in any given situation.

But not to worry, there are Disciplines that decide what a magician has a natural affinity for. This will narrow down the spell list one can perform. And while it’s not 100% that the Discipline decides what spells they can cast, it is a guide to learn from. 

Examples of Disciplines are: Physical Magic- the ability to manipulate the nature and properties of matter and energy; Psychic Magic- telepathic, empathic, and prophetic abilities; llusions- create, shape and manipulate illusions that affect the senses; Healing- credited with creating some of medicine’s greatest advancements such as the cures for polio and smallpox vaccines, erectile dysfunction medication, and the invention of x­ray technology; Knowledge- a combination of Physical and Psychic disciplines, and involve exploring magical theory; Natural Magic- the manipulation and development of the environment through the use of magic. 

Quentin was a Physical Kid, so I guess I’ll start with that.

[That’s nice and all, but I’m gonna change things up a bit.]

“Wait, what?” I couldn’t help but ask. 

A large, shimmering, orange portal opens up next to my bed. Before I can even blink I am pulled into the portal. 

Tumbling along a hard floor, I quickly orient myself to lying on my back. The world spins a bit before my eyes focus on a bald woman wearing orange robes. 

“Ancient One?” I ask.

“Hello, Roland. Nice of you to drop by,” she says casually. 

“What-” I sit up, “What am I doing here?”

“Well, I saw you were about to blow yourself up, so I thought I’d help.”

“Blow myself up?”

“Yes, quite spectacularly so.”

I didn’t know why that would happen, but instead of asking her I called upon a higher power. 

‘Oi, Cee, what’s going on?’ 

[It’s like she said, you were going to blow yourself up, so she dragged you here.]

‘Yes, but why? Why would I get blown up?’

[You were going to cast a spell, right?]

‘Yes.’

[You thought you had all the Circumstances down, right?]

‘Yes?’

[But you forgot about where you are.]

‘I did?’

[Yes, you idiot. You’re in Marvel!]

‘Oh. Ooooooh.’

[There you go.]

‘Wait, is it because the Earth is different or because there’s already magic here?’

[Both.]

‘Right, yeah, that makes sense.’

“Are you done ‘thinking’ to yourself?” the Ancient One asks. 

I look at her. “Uh, yeah. So, I guess I should thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she says, holding out her hand, palm up. 

Not knowing what she wants, I reach out to take it. 

She pulls her hand back. “No. I require compensation.” 

‘???’ 

“What?”

“And do not think I mean paltry payments of currency. I am talking about knowledge, Mr. Cooper. Books.”

“I-I don’t have any books.”

“Oh, but you do, Mr. Cooper. In fact, you have an omniverse of them.”

She stares me down, knowing that I know she knows time magic and can see the future. 

‘Damn spying baldies.’ I sigh.

“Okay, fine, but can you at least teach me sorcery?”

“Of course. In fact I’ll goes as far as to say that you can only learn ‘sorcery’ first before learning your ‘wellspring magic.’”

“Why?”

“Why do you think?”

“Um, I guess some of it could be wrong?”

“Or dangerous, yes.”

I nod. ‘Makes sense.’

“So, what all do you want?” I ask, searching through the shop.

“All of it.”

“A-All of it?”

“Yes, anything that originated from ‘The Magicians’ including the original trilogy.”

“Okay, just a second.”

‘This is gonna bankrupt me, isn’t it?’

[As there are 1291 books that she is requesting? Yes. Yes it will.]

My shop suddenly goes to checkout with all the books in it.

I sigh. “Alright. Where do you want them?”

She smirks. “Follow me.”

===

After going to the library and depositing all the books, I was led to my new room where I’d be staying until I learned how to control the sling ring.

So, I called Xavier’s and told them I’d found a new place to stay and wouldn’t be able to visit. Naturally, they were shocked and worried about me. Especially since we were just on a mission about a mutant hating villain. But, I told them I had a secret that I couldn’t share and it would be best if they weren’t around someone who didn’t share with them. 

The irony of course is that I know Xavier has done something fishy. In most iterations of him, he has. But I didn’t know what it was and I probably wouldn’t throw him under the bus unless it was devilish. 

But, the following days were spent learning magic.