05-14-2018, 01:07 PM
It is hard to imagine any tale of old in which some strange magic of these lands did not feature. In fact, part of what makes Beqanna special is the magic to be found here and the loyalty of the people to its lands and to each other. I believe that when Beqanna imbues its lands and people with the magics, it encourages these loyalties and ties to each other more than the current situation where the only thing that holds a land or people together is the actions of mere mortals. While Beqanna itself still offers magic for the using and the gifting, the impersonal nature of confining this generosity to visits to a neutral land perhaps does more harm than good.
As to my first point, I will remind you of the tales of old, and the fierce loyalties people held to their lands and histories, sometimes above and beyond what they held even for their own families. While these land-ties were not always supported by magical entities and powers imbued within the Kingdoms themselves, they became a major factor as time went on. The lands grew up around an idealogy often supported or underlined by the Kingdom magics, and monarchs and leaders were able to draw upon those entities and magics to help bind their people together. For instance in the Tundra and the Jungle, the Kingdom magics were shaped directly to aid in the oath-taking and marking of the Brotherhood and Sisterhood, giving them visible and concrete evidence of who belonged, and in turn, who had betrayed their oaths. Perhaps this discouraged the joining of the uncertain, but it created incredibly strong bonds within the orders and tied them to their homes. Another example is the healing waters of the Dazzling Waterfalls, where the people's tendency towards true neutrality and offering their home always as a sanctuary to any who did not mean them harm was bolstered by the magic healing properties of their signature feature. This helped them in their mission, as well as giving the people who chose to make the Falls their permanent home a point of pride in the land itself.
But contrast, today's Kingdoms seem to struggle to find a purpose. Often, that purpose changes at the whim of the current ruler, leaving the people forced to adjust to the new world order or up and leave their home and find another. This does not encourage long-term loyalty to any place, and tends towards making Beqanna as a whole a strangely nomadic people. Furthermore, each move divides established friends and breaks up families, which cannot possibly be seen as healthy to the populace as a whole. Beqanna giving the lands themselves some magical properties which will hold a people together even through changes in monarchy would encourage stability and promote the strengthening of familial and fraternal bonds.
My other point is in part related and tied in closely with the first; the current situation where the fae sometimes still gift the people with magic but from the impersonal and impartial mountain stronghold. This is of a benefit to individuals, especially those who choose not to serve a Kingdom, and the fae are gracious to continue this gifting. However, this limiting of magic to only the mountain and their gifting also fails to take into account the bonds amongst the people that are being sacrificed by drawing magic out of the lands themselves. As a punishment for behavior the land and the fae did not approve of, the leeching of magic was certainly effective, but how long are the people to be punished in this way? For surely the continued effect the lack of land-magic has on the nature of the very lives we lead is continued punishment. Surely it would be better for everyone as a whole for the world to settle once more, and for that settling to include the introduction of magics back into the world at large to stabilize each land or Kingdom into a mission or mindset that its people can truly become loyal to.
In conclusion, I believe I have made clear that the benefits of more magic in Beqanna would be greater than any potential drawbacks. Most of the greatest atrocities of our past have been committed by single individuals with too much power, not by the forces of Kingdoms turned into true homes for families and friends alike by the magic that once bound us.
As to my first point, I will remind you of the tales of old, and the fierce loyalties people held to their lands and histories, sometimes above and beyond what they held even for their own families. While these land-ties were not always supported by magical entities and powers imbued within the Kingdoms themselves, they became a major factor as time went on. The lands grew up around an idealogy often supported or underlined by the Kingdom magics, and monarchs and leaders were able to draw upon those entities and magics to help bind their people together. For instance in the Tundra and the Jungle, the Kingdom magics were shaped directly to aid in the oath-taking and marking of the Brotherhood and Sisterhood, giving them visible and concrete evidence of who belonged, and in turn, who had betrayed their oaths. Perhaps this discouraged the joining of the uncertain, but it created incredibly strong bonds within the orders and tied them to their homes. Another example is the healing waters of the Dazzling Waterfalls, where the people's tendency towards true neutrality and offering their home always as a sanctuary to any who did not mean them harm was bolstered by the magic healing properties of their signature feature. This helped them in their mission, as well as giving the people who chose to make the Falls their permanent home a point of pride in the land itself.
But contrast, today's Kingdoms seem to struggle to find a purpose. Often, that purpose changes at the whim of the current ruler, leaving the people forced to adjust to the new world order or up and leave their home and find another. This does not encourage long-term loyalty to any place, and tends towards making Beqanna as a whole a strangely nomadic people. Furthermore, each move divides established friends and breaks up families, which cannot possibly be seen as healthy to the populace as a whole. Beqanna giving the lands themselves some magical properties which will hold a people together even through changes in monarchy would encourage stability and promote the strengthening of familial and fraternal bonds.
My other point is in part related and tied in closely with the first; the current situation where the fae sometimes still gift the people with magic but from the impersonal and impartial mountain stronghold. This is of a benefit to individuals, especially those who choose not to serve a Kingdom, and the fae are gracious to continue this gifting. However, this limiting of magic to only the mountain and their gifting also fails to take into account the bonds amongst the people that are being sacrificed by drawing magic out of the lands themselves. As a punishment for behavior the land and the fae did not approve of, the leeching of magic was certainly effective, but how long are the people to be punished in this way? For surely the continued effect the lack of land-magic has on the nature of the very lives we lead is continued punishment. Surely it would be better for everyone as a whole for the world to settle once more, and for that settling to include the introduction of magics back into the world at large to stabilize each land or Kingdom into a mission or mindset that its people can truly become loyal to.
In conclusion, I believe I have made clear that the benefits of more magic in Beqanna would be greater than any potential drawbacks. Most of the greatest atrocities of our past have been committed by single individuals with too much power, not by the forces of Kingdoms turned into true homes for families and friends alike by the magic that once bound us.