Mages, A General Study. Chapter 3: Tomes.
While some might rejoice at an easy fix to their magic, as mentioned in the previous chapter, a mage’s tome seems to be connected to their soul. To delve further into this, I have been able to convince several young magi to participate in an experiment. You may have noted that those who wield the arcane arts are never without their book; I wished to know if this was just a rule or something more.
I asked them each to set the tome down and walk as far away from it as they could. They were quite reluctant to do so, though when I asked to explain why, they could not give any specifics, only that they felt a need to keep it with them.
The times varied between an half an hour to an hour before the mages could put the tomes down, and when they started walking away from them, they all experienced an uncomfortable pressure. It seemed to increase the further away from the book they got. None of them were comfortable with going more than 20 paces from the book for fear of it becoming painful.
I have since concluded that, while practicing magic seem to have the requirement of keeping your tome(s) upon your person at all times, evidence shows that there is more than this simple attachment. The pressure they felt when separated from their books supports my theory that crafting a tome does in fact bind your soul to the book(s).
So, how does one rid yourself of magic, and if you do, what are the consequences of doing so?
I was referred to a local physician, strangely enough. It seems he had the most experience with this, as some young folk that have chosen the path of magic only to find it distasteful, have visited him. The best advice the physician could give for ridding oneself of magic was to neglect the book until it crumbles.
Once a book crumbles into dust, it takes a toll on the mage it belonged to. In the worst case scenarios, it results in death. The best case results in a severe crippling of the mage. The physician was unable to discover any other means of removing the curse.
– An excerpt from an unknown journal