Magic, sometimes known as sorcery, is the act of special powers and abilities that are very rare around the penguin universe. The master of magic/sorcery outside the BoF is Berundugus, who has the most powers available. It is unknown how penguins get magic. Magic can be lent, in a very dangerous way, and penguins can be born with some abilities of magic. Not many know about Magic that aren't magicians themselves. The sorcerers protect themselves from the outside and evil, and are especially wise and are usually not caught out.
Background[]
Magic history goes way back into the 1800s - at the start, strange things happened ... well-behaved penguins would start breaking things and going ballistic, some would go digging up graves and no-one would know who done it... these weird things were all caused by Magic. The BoF reported strange influxes of Wutt Energy coming from the Fourth Wall at that time, which may have caused the anomalies. These things passed into the 1900s and nobody knew anything. In the 1900s, magic began gaining an influence in pop culture and fictional stories. Still, even today, most of the general public does not take it as seriously as it should be.
Description[]
Magic is defined by the BoF as the voluntary manipulation of Wutt Energy by a living being to control and warp reality. It takes great skill and knowledge of the Fourth Wall to be able to manipulate Wutt Energy like this. Most creatures use special devices to conduct and control Wutt Energy, but magic involves direct control of Wutt Energy from the mind. Energy is usually expelled through appendages in the same code that the Fourth Wall uses to write reality. This allows the sorcerer to manipulate reality.
How to use it[]
There are two main methods of using magic: spoken and silent. Spoken magic is generally slightly easier to do, though silent magic has the advantage of stealth. In spoken magic, the spell is activated by speaking the task needed to be done (e.g., "Turn the lamp on!"). In silent magic, the spell is activated by thinking about the task needed to be done. Gestures are usually used for more accuracy or effect. In addition, the appendages of the sorcerer glow bright blue when they are using silent magic.
Some spells are easier than others, and the choice of spoken or silent magic can affect their difficulty. For example, trying to "unburn" a charred log would probably be easier with silent magic, since it may be hard to describe the task done in words.
Other methods[]
A lot of sorcerers use wands to improve the effect of their spells. Wands take out any fuzziness in the string of Wutt Energy pulses to improve the clarity of the spell and amplify its effects. Wandmaking is complicated -- wands are handheld computers that use Wutt Energy instead of electricity and can connect to the Fourth Wall to know what the user is thinking. Because of this, wands are often custom-made for their user.
Another way of using magic is potion-making. Potions are special liquids that can store and preserve spells for a long time. The spell is activated when someone drinks the potion. Potions have to be made with the right ingredients, because each spell requires a different chemical structure to hold it. Once the carrier liquid is mixed, the potion is completed by enchanting the liquid with the desired spell.
Involvement[]
Magic pops up quite a bit in the higher classes of Fourth-Wall-breaking. The BoF employee population has the highest percentage of sorcerers. This is not very surprising, as the BoF is one of the only organizations that have heavily researched magic and its properties. Two out of the five Masters of the Universe are skilled in magic (Mayor McFlapp and Director Benny), as well as many bureaucrats and Department Heads.
Magical research is conducted mainly by the BoF, in the Department of Research's Magic Office. The Department has uncovered many of magic's secrets and is currently trying to find a way to write all of them down as mathematical laws.
Outside of the BoF, magic loses much of its technicality and science. Recipes for various potions and methods for making homemade wands have been handed down for generations in sorcerers' families, with some improvements here and there. Experimenting is shunned, as it could lead to disastrous results.
Spheres[]
The magical community is commonly divided into two groups, or "spheres", as they are called. One is the technical sphere. This group consists of the BoF and prominent Fourth-Wall-breakers, as well as scientists aware of magic. The technical sphere (nicknamed the techs or techies) wants to advance magic into the modern age and turn it into a so-called "hard" science, like physics and chemistry. This would include writing down quantitative formulas to describe the behavior of Wutt Energy, spells, and potions, like there are laws for the motion of objects, as well as experimenting with and observing magical phenomena using the scientific method. Here, researchers tinker with magic and use their experimental data as well as known magical laws and formulas to discover new things about sorcery. The technical sphere believes revolutionizing magic will improve its use and safety. The opponents to this are the traditional sphere (nicknamed the trads), consisting mostly of sorcerers who know little about the Fourth Wall, Wutt Energy, and the physics behind them. The traditional spheres wants sorcery to stay the way it is, with less theory and more hands-on study. Within the traditional sphere, experimenting is shunned as it could lead to dangerous results. Methods for making wands and recipes (not "formulas" as the techs call them) are handed down through family generations with no scientific research as to why they work. Traditional sphere magicians tend to rely more on the "mind and body" to improve their magic rather than scientifically proven methods, such as different wand styles or materials.
The two spheres are very prominent in magic, with debates between representatives being common and sorcerers quickly becoming identified by their choice of sphere. Almost every single bit of everyday discussion between magicians involves the two spheres. They've pretty much become a way of life.
Terminology[]
- Wutt Energy - A strange space-time phenomenon that can be used to alter reality in various ways. The Fourth Wall is the ultimate source of Wutt Energy.
- Sorcerer - Anyone who can use magic at will.
- Spell - A string of Wutt Energy pulses that have various effects on reality. Complicated series of spells are used by the BoF and Fourth Wall to control the entire universe.
- Rollback - A common type of spell used to undo various actions. Rollback spells are unique because they fill the room with a blue light, and the distinct sound of a clock ticking can be heard.
- Wand - A portable, handheld device that can conduct Wutt Energy without being affected itself. These are used for amplifying or better controlling spells.
- Handle - The part of the wand that is held by the sorcerer. It takes in Wutt Energy. This causes the vibration sorcerers feel when holding their wands.
- Core - The part of the wand that filters out the unneeded signals in the spell and amplifies its effects. It uses information from the Fourth Wall to figure out what spell the user is saying or thinking of.
- Nozzle/Tip - The part of the wand that shoots out the filtered spell.
- Potion - A liquid whose chemical structure allows it to store a certain kind of spell. Drinking the potion releases and activates the spell. Potions have an expiration date -- they "go bad" when the Wutt Energy inside them escapes and scatters.
- Carrier liquid - The liquid part of the potion that stores the spell. It usually changes color once it's enchanted and turned into a potion.
- More may come soon!
Trivia[]
- Willy the Penguin has tried to be Berundugus' apprentice, but failed at the attempt.
- Club Penguin exhibits magic at their annual Medieval Party. Among the enchanted objects is a mirror "programmed" to give random answers to questions.