Exchange Magic

[An announcer sits on stage, a single spotlight on him. To his left and right are two other people still in shadow. The stage is back lit with a soft blue glow. ]

Wayne: Hello, and welcome to “Meet the Characters”. Tonight we are going to be talking to Kaelyn and Daisy, of the still in-progress novel that is awkwardly called Exchange Magic at the moment. I'm Wayne Early, an obvious author stand-in from a previous #NaNoWriMo book, and your interviewer for the evening. Ladies, good evening.

[Spotlights come up, picking out the two women as they are named. The entire stage is then more naturally lit.]

Kaelyn: Good evening!

Daisy: Hello Wayne!

Wayne: So, first off, do either of you even have last names?

Daisy: Huh! Um, yeah, no, don't think so. We don't really use them in our society, I guess.

Kaelyn: Sometimes in my village people refer to one another as, say, Bob, John's Son, but usually that's just extraneous.

Wayne: So no last names, huh? Could this be because the author is kinda lazy and couldn't think up two names per character?

Daisy: [Laughing] I make a point of not mocking people who created me.

Kaelyn: While I can't pretend to know the mind of the author, I feel that there's a certain internal consistency to names in our world. It's generally a title followed by a personal name, and the title is omitted between good friends.

Wayne: Just saying he gave me four names is all. And I probably have yet another name.

Ann Nation: Dad, stop making this about you.

Wayne: Right, quite so. Apologies. So, back to you two. Daisy, how would you describe healing magic?

Daisy: We call it an art, and I think it's appropriate. We spend a lot of time learning the nature of things around us so that we can then use them to cure people who need our cures. But every person is different, and so is every plant if it comes to that. If healing were simple, you could just write it all down and anyone could create salves and tinctures. It'd be like cooking! But it requires more than that; you have to gauge what is needed in every situation individually.

Kaelyn: Yeah, that's why we tend to carry a lot of things in our satchels, and we each pack our own. A healer knows what she will want to use out there, what cures work best for her when she's out visiting. You can't prepare for every situation, but you can prepare in general.

Wayne: Kaelyn, how would you describe the differences between healing magic and wizard magic? The two seem to be able to work together.

Kaelyn: I think really any of the arts can work together, with one obvious exception. Ellis talked about healers who have become priests, healers and druids have a lot of overlap as well. It's all down to the principle of exchange, really. What you put into it is what you get out of it.

Wayne: Daisy, you seem to have found a way around the principle of exchange, more or less invalidating the premise of the novel. What can you tell us about that?

Daisy: Oh, I wouldn't say that, Wayne! I think I found the root of the principle of exchange. Like Kay said, the arts are compatible, if you have the understanding to practice more than one of them, or see how they fit together. I think there are a few, I don't know, potential sources of power in the universe? Like, order is a source, but it doesn't do anything until acted upon by a person.

Wayne: So what about science?

Kaelyn: ...

Daisy: ...

Kaelyn: You mean, like, Alchemy? I know the wizards sometimes study that.

Wayne: No, I mean, the study of natural principles, and the rules that order the universe.

Daisy: That's what we were just talking about.

Wayne: Okay, yes, kind of. But I'm talking about, like, physics. Observing how things move when they're not being acted upon by a person.

Daisy: Except...observing is acting on a thing.

Wayne: Okay, that's actually a good point. Let me give you an example. In our world we don't have magic. Instead of healers, we have doctors. They don't do spells, don't make curse nets, but they use medicine, which is a branch of science. Medicine is a general term for any of a number of chemicals which can be administered to help someone heal.

Kaelyn: O....kay, that sounds a lot like what we do.

Wayne: Yeah, bad example. Okay, here, Airplanes. We have things called airplanes. They are like...coaches, except they fly thousands of feet in the air, and can travel hundreds of miles an hour, and there's no magic involved. They're machines, made entirely according to natural principles. The wings of the airplane provide lift through the action of the air around the curve of the wing, regardless of the will of anyone in the airplane.

Daisy: Wow! So they fly themselves?

Wayne: [Sigh] yeah, some do, but most are flown by a pilot.

Kaelyn: No, Daisy, I see his point now; it's like ships, or pulleys. I don't really understand how a pulley makes things lighter, but someone does, and it clearly works, and a pulley works if you have a human pulling on it, or a donkey, or even...I guess a rock would work.

Wayne: Yes! Like ships or pulleys. A ship can be sailed regardless of the intent of the person sailing it.

Daisy: But they still have to know how sails work, how the wind blows, when to furl their sails or put on more sail... so it's really the same process. But I guess I see the point; you can sail a ship as a pirate or as an officer in the navy. But...doesn't that make it worse? Isn't it better if the exercise of power is tied to an adherence to the principles that govern that power?

Wayne: I'm not entirely comfortable with that question.

Kaelyn: [Laughs]

Daisy: Okay. Next topic!

Wayne: Very well. Kaelyn, how would you describe your relationship with Daisy?

Kaelyn: I love Daisy! But, we're very much like sisters.

Wayne: How is that a “but” conjunction?

Daisy: Do you have any sisters, Wayne?

Wayne: Ah, no.

Kaelyn: Well then you wouldn't really understand. I've had to grow a lot to really understand Daisy, And I know that she put a lot of work into meeting me in the middle, and understanding me as well. And we've fought from time to time, like sisters do. But at the end of the day we're still here for each other, always.

Wayne: Fine, good. Okay, Daisy, how would you describe your relationship with Mason?

Daisy: [Laughs] is there a simple word for “I look forward to being his more-or-less-sister-in-law”? But seriously, Mason is a nice boy, very serious and very kind, and I wholly approve of him and Kaelyn being...whatever they end up being. But he's possibly too serious for me as anything other than a more-or-less-in-law.

Wayne: Well, that about wraps up our time for this episode of Meet the Characters. tune in next time, assuming there ever is a next time. Maybe we'll talk to someone from a book I'm in.