What happens in the library stays in the library. Unless it's demons

[freedom_is_grey]

Ysalwen is seated at a table in the library, tomes and scrolls spread out before her. There's also the remains of at least two plates of sandwiches next to her elbow, and two empty glasses of water. There is one half-empty glass, too.

Liranan, seated at her side, seems to be watching that half-empty glass as if his life depends on it.

Time continues to pass.

Comments

[freedom_is_grey]

Her brow furrows, very slightly.

"How many others were hurt or killed in the meantime?"

It seems like the answer might be 'a lot'.

[yinyangwizard]

Seimei sighs. "He killed some of my household guards, before I secured the alliance of the heavenly foo dogs." It is, obviously, something he still regrets. "I did not kill any of his servants, or even those who were working with him. As things escalated, some of them started attempting spells that were beyond their skills, and they were either killed or lost their minds."

Seimei turns a page in the book. There is a picture of a courtyard, surrounded by some buildings that had obviously seen recent (and severe) damage. The intimidating man from the divination contest is there, looking more demonic than before. His robes and hair are disheveled, and he brandishes a bloodstained sword in one hand. Seimei, apparently untouched by the destruction around him, brandishes a handful of prayer slips in his direction.

"Ashiya Doman grew increasingly frustrated as I foiled his schemes. Increasingly desperate, too. He started to slip up. People whispered about the evil spells he had cast. There was a rumor that he'd killed some of his household servants in a fit of rage - actually, it was a blood sacrifice - and Fujiwara Kane'ie, once his patron, was trying to disassociate himself from Ashiya. He was, so I understood, advising the Emperor to exile him to Tsukushi or have him executed."

Seimei taps the picture of the disheveled, evil-looking Ashiya Doman.

"He had gathered up all the power he could - the bad kind, so by that time he really did look demonic. He stormed the palace, intending to kill me, Fujiwara Kane'ie, possibly the Emperor, and everyone who got between him and us."

[freedom_is_grey]

"Of course it was blood sacrifice."

She sounds very tired.

"How badly did his attempt go?"

[yinyangwizard]

"He killed six of the palace guards on the way in and threw my friend Minamoto no Hiromasa over the stables, breaking his arm," Seimei says. "Everyone else, fortunately, had the good sense to get out of this way. Except me, of course, but who else could have stopped him?"

Really, Seimei should have stopped him sooner.

"I wish I came through it looking at pristine as I did in this picture. But actually, he threw me through a couple of walls and burned off half my hair." Seimei shakes his head. "I put up a good fight, using every trick at my disposal, but by the end he had the best of me. The only reason I survived is that he wanted the pleasure of throttling me to death. And I was able to grab a roof tile and hit him with it."

Seimei smacks the side of his head with the heel of his hand for emphasis.

"He was stunned, and I was able to put a binding spell on him. I promptly fainted away. While I was, ahem, preoccupied, the Emperor had him dragged off the Palace grounds and put to death."

Not so neat as it is in all the stories.

[freedom_is_grey]

"Luck can be kind that way," she allows, quietly. "Except when it isn't."

Planning can only do so much.

"Did he have apprentices or co-conspirators that tried to continue his work, after that?"

[yinyangwizard]

"Well, after I was sufficiently recovered, the Emperor made me head of the Divination Bureau, and I put the fear of Fudō-sama into those of his allies who were left." Pause. "Sorry. Fudō-sama, Buddhist guardian deity. I never had any trouble with them after that."

And Seimei kept an eye on them with shikigami spies, just to make sure.

[freedom_is_grey]

"Destroying a leader tends to do that. What was the divination bureau responsible for? All magic, or just the divination part, or -- "

She's curious. Very, very curious.

[yinyangwizard]

"Divination primarily, but also protecting the Capital, the Palace, and the person of the Emperor from evil magics." So, really, Ashiya Doman had not been doing his job very well at all. "There were other kinds of magics, but they were more explicitly religious. Not that we really made much of a distinction in those days."

[freedom_is_grey]

"But you make it now? What's -- if I can ask, what's the difference? The source, or the incantations, or -- "

The Chantry doesn't do magic. Or miracles. So she wonders how it works elsewhere.

[yinyangwizard]

"There isn't a difference," Seimei answers, his tone surprisingly curt. He takes a deep breath, drags his hand down his face, and bows apologetically. "Please forgive me, Ysalwen, I did not mean to snap at you. But this touches on a matter of great concern for me."

'Concern' is an understatement.

"Every religion has certain esoteric knowledge and practices, not just for propitiating the gods but for calling on them to do specific things, or reading their will in natural phenomena. These esoteric practices would usually be performed by people with proper credentials - priests, monks, shamans...or onmyoji. And such practices were magic. They were not acts of worship, but belonged to religion nonetheless."

[freedom_is_grey]

She huffs out a breath, sharp and quick, her expression gone closed.

"Did they start arresting people without the proper credentials that chose to practice any kind of magic? Because that seems like a next step that a lot of people take. Religious people, I mean."

[yinyangwizard]

"It varies by society, religion, and time period," Seimei says. "Japan has been, for much of its history, very hospitable to what you might call 'hedge mages.' As long as they were not frauds, fakes, agitators, or bent on doing harm through magic, official institutions had no quarrel with them."

Well, most of the time.

"Other countries and their religious institutions were a lot more picky about that sort of thing."

[freedom_is_grey]

"Of course they were. And are."

It's not a surprise in the least.

"What made Japan different?"

[yinyangwizard]

"Well, the official line is that we are a very special country," Seimei says with a cheeky grin. "But unofficially, Shinto - our native faith - is by its nature a very disorganized religion. Some of our people would even argue against calling it a 'religion.' It's a cultural practice, or just part of the way the world works."

[freedom_is_grey]

"Huh."

It sounds -- interesting.

"How do you mean, cultural practice?"

[yinyangwizard]

"I cannot speak to that generally," Seimei says, "but as far as Shinto is concerned, it's a cultural practice in the sense that one does it because one is Japanese, and can't imagine not doing it."

There really isn't a better way of explaining it than that.

"There are certain things that a Shinto priest or shrine maiden might do that, say, a Christian would label as 'magic' if they had not been previously informed that Shinto was a religion. Or if they were a particularly obnoxious sort of Christian, they might call it magic anyway."

[freedom_is_grey]

"Can't anything be both?"

It's a --

Well.

One day it might be a useful question to ask back home, as well. Later.

[yinyangwizard]

"Yes! And that's exactly what I mean!" Seimei's emphatic agreement is accompanied by a similarly emphatic gesture. "But many people no longer see it that way. If one asks a deity to do something - say, heal the sick, or bring the rain - and leaves it in their hands, it's religion. But if one uses one's own spiritual powers to do the same things, with or without the aid of gods, it's magic, and somehow a lesser thing."

Seimei's not even going to get into the issue of how many people in his world simply don't believe in magic anymore. That's a more recent development.

"They may make some allowances if such magic is done by a cleric, and involves powers and rites recognized by their own religion. But otherwise, it's magic. Or, well, heresy. Sometimes the two are used interchangeably."

[freedom_is_grey]

"Because magic is randomly bestowed and religious powers come from gods that ostensibly love them?"

She's guessing.

[yinyangwizard]

"It's more that religious institutions don't want the competition, but the uneven distribution of magical talent is certainly part of it. Although it is not actually random: it's an inherited capacity sometimes triggered by environmental..." Seimei stops short and blinks, as if trying to clear the cobwebs. "Wait. Do you have a general understanding of genetics, or dominant and recessive traits?"

If Ysalwen knows about those things, good. If not, she is probably very confused right now.

[freedom_is_grey]

"I'd say very general, but yes. It -- doesn't always have much to do with my world and magic there, but -- so it goes."

Elven traits never randomly reappear in the population, for instance.

[yinyangwizard]

Seimei nods. "All right. So in your world, magical talent may be random. In my world, it does come up spontaneously from time to time, but often it is inherited, usually through the mother's line. We are not sure, yet, which combination of genes bestows magical talent. Or if genes are even involved at all."

While Seimei is inclined to believe that they aren't, he wouldn't bet money on it.

"Sometimes the talent manifests on its own, usually at an early age. Most of the time, some kind of environmental trigger is required."

[freedom_is_grey]

"Huh. Changing seasons, or some kind of emotional stress?"

What? It's a reasonable question.

[yinyangwizard]

Given the potential meanings of "environmental trigger," it is a perfectly reasonable question.

"If by 'emotional stress' you mean 'intense trauma' or 'near-death experience,' then yes," Seimei says. "There are other ways. Sometimes an experience with psychotropic drugs will do the trick. Sometimes a religious or spiritual epiphany - which is how my tradition prefers to awaken magical talent."

[freedom_is_grey]

She raises an eyebrow.

"Drugs? I've heard of people using them to try to suppress magic, but not -- make it show up."

Huh.