As I finished working on The Blitz Spirit (available here for
download), I recognized I left out an important part: the Magic. Don’t worry,
it’s coming. During this series, we’ll explore how magic changed in the
preceding 90 years, what new spells rose up, and where all the Nazi mystical
power came from.
The Day Science Conquered Magic
In ancient Greece it was Aether- the substance breathed in
by the gods as man breathes air. The Hindus believe in Prana- the life force in all
things living and inanimate. For alchemists of the Middle Ages through the time
of Queen Victoria, it was Quintessence-
the substance of the heavens. All cultures identified substance connecting them
to the universal magical power. Thaumaturgists, conjurors, and other magicians
manipulate this connection to alter reality through will. Now the concept of
Quintessence is gone, swept away when mankind’s reason cracked open the inner
workings of the universe and peered inside.
In 1916, Ernest Rutherford performed a number of
experiments testing whether magical sources of light emitted alpha particles.
By igniting a block of wood with a thaumaturgical spell and encasing that block
in a lead box with a single hole, he was able to detect minute fluctuations
emanating from the hole reflected by a sheet of Cold Iron. Rutherford theorized
these fluctuations were caused by stray magical particles released during
magical reactions and named these particles “Vril” after the eponymous mystical
energy described in Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s book, Vril, the Power of the Coming
Century. Further experiments revealed the Vril detected by Rutherford’s
experiments was in fact Quintessence, detected solely by scientific apparatus
for the first time. Later work by Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn pioneered the
containment of Vril fields using ferrous metals and magnetic fields. In
1931, Walther Müller invented the Vrillometer, a device capable of detecting and quantifying a Vril field’s
strength.
But even as science began to peel away the mystery
of Vril, it also measured the power’s loss. Scientists and guild magicians
across the world compared experimental results through the 1930s tracking the
global weakening of magical ability and its acceleration. For centuries
magicians noticed magic’s power waning from its antediluvian strength. Miracles
devolved to spells practiced only by a learned few, as the industrial
revolution spread across the world. By the 1930s radio, automobiles,
telephones, electric lights, airplanes, and other conveniences took magic’s
place. Now science quantifies and predicts the Vril field’s decay.
Mathematician Arnfreid Froelich (for whom the decay is named) calculated
mankind would be unable to perform magic by the end of the 20th Century.
Through the Great Depression and into the start of
the war in Europe, scientists, mystics, and priests strive to rediscover and
recapture magic’s lost might, some by welding magical formula with modern
scientific theories (such as Albert Einstein), and others by embracing tabooed
occult practices (such as Alistair Crowley). Now war brings extra desperation
to their attempts. Worried by the Axis war machine’s magical superiority,
Allied forces try to close the gap. Magical practices previously dismissed by
the Guild, such as conjuration, became the subjects of careful study.
Scientists and hermeticists exiled from their overrun countries (such as
Froelich) added their expertise to the war effort. The Guild strives to harness
Britain’s few magical resources and discover powerful treasures long lost. Some
groups, such as the Ancient Order of Druids (of which Prime Minister Winston
Churchill is a member), hope for a miracle from the past.
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