Magic through illness?

[Amanita]

What do you think about the idea that the onset of magic causes the person who has it to become ill?
Marion Zimmer-Bradley uses it in her Darkover novels and I quite like the idea because it fits well with my magical system. On the other hand I'm not really sure how readers would react to a main character who first falls ill at the beginning of the story. It's not a very "heroic" start to say at least and it might come off as a cheap way of gaining sympathy for the character and gives her more pity than respect among the readers.

 

[Philip Overby]

I think variations of illness work well with magic. Magic is powerful so I think it should have some side effect. The idea of a wizard sneezing because he threw a fireball or catching pneumonia for summoning a demon could provide other explanations for the spread of disease rather than just biological reasons.

I wouldn't make the illness the sole focus of the character. Maybe make it background information. She is struggling with massive weight loss, her eye-sight is fading, stuff like that. As long as you aren't ham-fisted with it, it can be a good characteristic.

 

[Amanita]

Oh, she isn't ill all the time. It's only happening while the magic surfaces, as soon as the person has survived this, they won't have these magic-related problems anymore. (Then it might attack the mind. ) The problem is, that this is happening at the beginning of the story, because her magic kicks the story into motion. An alternative might be to have her alreday recovered from the illness at the beginning and trying to find out what's going on with her, but at the moment the other version feels better.

 

[Kelise]

I have a few series like that - mostly where the person is basically 'drained' of their life because of their magic, so they have to either use it carefully, or balance it in a different way.

I think if her attitude is right, then it won't come across as a cheap way of gaining sympathy. It's really the way the character responds to their situation which can annoy the audience - or make them adore her. So no pressure, or anything!

 

[Telcontar]

I played a game of some sort where this was true. It was actually a lot of fun. Made the really powerful users of that kind of magic all the more impressive. The novices were just sort of pale, the mid-power ones were all worm-eaten and rotting, but the really powerful ones more or less had to master sickness and death in order to stay alive.

I guess something like this also happens in Wheel of Time, at least for the dudes, what with the 'taint' on the male side of magic.

To address your own story, I think it could build lots of sympathy - somebody who pays a large price for the power of magic won't use it as much. This makes it far more telling to her character in those instances she decides the sacrifice is worth it.

 

[Ravana]

I'm not really sure how readers would react to a main character who first falls ill at the beginning of the story. It's not a very "heroic" start

Don't see why it should be a problem. How "heroic" were Bilbo and Frodo at the outset of their stories? Besides, struggling through illness is widely regarded as one of the most "heroic" accomplishments one can manage these days… not too many people hear the words "cancer survivor" and think "wuss".…

 

[Telcontar]

not too many people hear the words "cancer survivor" and think "wuss".…

Well said, well said indeed.

 

[srg]

I think everyone else has touched on the whole "magic drains energy" type of thing. I guess you can think of it sort of like having "Magic HP"?

 

[Dragonsooth]

I think variations of illness work well with magic.

I think it's a wonderful idea! Try to keep it creative, (I would personally nix her suddenly 'getting over it' later, but you don't have to listen to me) and the reader certainly won't any reason to doubt your reasoning for her sickness.

 

[Amanita]

Thank you for your thoughts.
She's not getting over it "suddenly". The way my magic works, the person has to adapt to it. They either manage and get better again or they don't and die. If she had to run through the entire story the way she is at the beginning she wouldn't be in a state to get much story happening anyway.

If they try to do too much at once it will make them ill again but it's once again possible to overcome that with help. The main danger when the magic has manifested is mental illness. The elemental power changes the user's personality and if it does so too much, they're in danger of losing what is commonly called "their humanity".

 

[Mdnight Falling]

I think it's a great idea too. It never dawned on me to even consider that so kudos to you Amanita >^.^< I've told you over and over I love things I haven't read before and since I'm not a fan of Zimmer-Bradley... though that author I DO know... This would be a first for me... So when you get published let me know so I can be one of the first to get your book >^.^<

 

[Dragonsooth]

Sounds like fun...I would love to read it and see how you work it all in!

 

[Ravana]

Just out of curiosity… what happens to those who attempt to reject their nascent abilities? The answer to that could play as important a role in the story as adapting to them does.

 

[Amanita]

What happens to those who attempt to reject their nascent abilities?

The body tries to get the magic out like germs or poison. Coughing, vomitting, fever that gets higher and higher... If the potential magician keeps rececting his or her abilities consciously and subconsciously these symptoms won't stop till they're dead. There are also neurological problems strong mental effects, hallucinations, nightmares, reliving of memories from other people who used to have the same element but these usually aren't deadly. They might pose severe problems as well however, because an alkali metal person for example often believes that water will burn him or her and therefore refuses to drink.
Of course, not everyone suffers from all of the above, it depends on the element and on the person in question.
If it's possible to avoid the element in question the person might recover if he or she manages to keep away from it, but if it's something essential to life in any form they can't keep in inside their body.

In rare cases people manage to reject the magic successfully and get healthy again but for that they need to have prepared beforehand and this usually doesn't happen.

 

[Ravana]

Good–glad you put some thought into the question already. I would probably have chosen a different route–say, chronic medical conditions, mental disabilities, a "gremlin effect" (accidentally manifesting uncontrolled, small-scale magic), simply because that would give me more to play with; all are valid approaches. Death certainly provides a strong motivation to work through it.…

 

[Amanita]

Death certainly provides a strong motivation to work through it

Yes, and she needs a strong one or else she wouldn't be very likely to do what she has to for the plot.

I would probably have chosen a different route—[...]mental disabilities, a "gremlin effect" (accidentally manifesting uncontrolled, small-scale magic)

These things still might happen if the person isn't trained properly. Some of them even suffer them if they are trained but start using their abilities the wrong way. (It's not that easy to find out what the wrong way is.) The more reactive the element, the more dangerous the abilities. They aren't even safe from being killed by their magic after having developed it.
In one of my stories the "evil side" is trying to train young wielders of certain elements with the sole purposes of getting cold-blooded killers for the war. They either get killed by their magic or by the secret police because they don't obey the orders. (Or, in case of the narrator and his sister, escape.) The people in power don't really understand what they're doing wrong however because they're too blinded by their ideologies and don't know too much about elemental powers.
At the same time, someone on the "good" (yes, well) side, manages to be a cold-blooded killer without any severe problems at all, because he has been trained properly before.

 

[At Dusk I Reign]

...not too many people hear the words "cancer survivor" and think "wuss".…

Probably because of the terms the disease is couched in. Everyone 'battles' cancer, don't they? No-one ever just plain suffers it. And then, of course, there are those who lose the 'battle', somehow indicating that if they'd just tried harder they could've beaten it: all it requires is will-power, after all, and moral fortitude.

 

[Amorus]

What do you think about the idea that the onset of magic causes the person who has it to become ill?
Marion Zimmer-Bradley uses it in her Darkover novels and I quite like the idea because it fits well with my magical system. On the other hand I'm not really sure how readers would react to a main character who first falls ill at the beginning of the story. It's not a very "heroic" start to say at least and it might come off as a cheap way of gaining sympathy for the character and gives her more pity than respect among the readers.

Hi Amanita,
Thought I would share my opinion with you. Take it as you will. Don't forget how powerful "telling" your story can be. If your story starts with your main character falling ill, well.......that is exactly how your story should start. I think you will find a mix among your audience regarding their response to this. I'm of the mind to stay true to the character and story. The decision you make here at the beginning could bend and shape things differently than first though. Best of luck to you. Sounds wonderful so far.

 

[Kevin O. McLaughlin]

What if, when the magic is triggered the person becomes horribly ill? Only a few people ever discover the mental disciplines to control their magic (and thus, fix the illness) on their own. Groups of wizards could then control magic by only aiding those afflicted that they wanted to, allowing the others to die.

More horrific, what if the reason for the illness is that the magic in their soul burns away at their life force when it comes into bloom, eating away at their life and health? What if the "cure" is to siphon off bits of life from the other people around them, continuously, and it's teaching those spells that is the closest guarded secret of the wizard groups?

Another what if - what if magic in this world is tuned to autism? People with autism have magical powers. The amount of power varies with their place on the autistic spectrum. The more intensely impacted a person is by autism, the more powerful their magic. What sort of world would that give birth to?

The illness idea is a neat one, lots of ways to play with it.

 

[Amanita]

Kevin, the first thing your suggesting is very true in my world. And it's a reason for many of the conflicts. For example, some elements are considered "bad" or "evil" by some groups of people (usually due to their last famous user) and they don't go to great length to safe those. This in turn makes the surviving users of those elements very bitter, leading to a vicious circle.

The others don't apply to my world but could surely work well in other stories. My magicians don't have to use their own life force but can use magic contained in the elements, the problem is that body and mind object to being touched by the element's magic at the beginning.