Magical World

The World Basics page gives an overview of life in general, but the world of Dragon Eye is also a magical world. The presence of magic changes many aspects of life, for some more and for some less. This page outlines how it affects life:

Healing Magic

Diseases of all kinds were often fatal in the middle ages, especially for young children. Around half of all children born didn't reach adulthood, and many of them succumbed to diseases and illness. Magic can cure most diseases with relative ease. However, it requires either the presence of a mage with the appropriate knowledge, or of magic potions, scrolls or artifacts that can accomplish it.

While most kings and high nobility and some of the richest commoners have both mages in their entourage and an emergency kit of healing and curing potions or scrolls stored, lesser people cannot afford such expenses. Still, for most somewhat wealthy commoners who live in or near a larger town or city, it is often possible to get hold of healing magic in an emergency.

Assassination by poison still happens, and nobles are still afraid of being poisoned, especially since no reliable general "Detect Poison" spell exists. It is possible to magically detect specific poisons, but not any and all poisons in any quantity. Most herbal and mineral poisons are just highly concentrated and are present in much lower quantities in everyday food or spices. Cyanide, for example, occurs in low concentration naturally in apple seeds, cherry pits and peach pits.

However, thanks to magic, it is much more likely to survive a poisoning and the strategies of poisoners are changed. Instead of targetting one indvidual, a poisoner will try to take out a group of targets, such as the entire royal family, in the hopes of overwhelming the Cure Poison potions available and the casting abilities of the court mage. With a good timing, he might even ensure that minor targets are helped first, exhausting the resources, before anyone realizes that the main target was also poisoned. Or he might apply different poisons to secondary and primary targets, hoping that in the heat of the moment the primary target is given an inefficient treatment and dies before anyone realizes the mistake.

Diseases allow for more time to react and more attempts at healing, so high nobility only rarely succumbs to diseases unless they take out the court mage first. Only kings generally afford multiple healing mages on staff, other high nobles might have two or three court mages, but only one of them will have advanced healing magic knowledge.

Same same holds true for wounds and accidents. Infection and festering wounds are a major killer in a world that has no knowledge of microbes and whose standards of hygiene are based on religious customs if they exist at all. The ability to magically heal wounds dramatically reduces the probability of such complications. But again, battlefield healing magic is available only to the high nobility, with lower nobility sometimes getting basic treatment, especially when in an organized army with enough resources.

Only among the high-magic realms such as Palan and most elven realms is magical healing available to most troops, and the capacity is always limited and will be overwhelmed if too many wounded pour into the field hospital. Most soldiers do not carry healing potions as they are expensive and deteriorate over time. Those who carry potions also realize that you need to be able to drink them which is unlikely when you are being cut down - which is why if a soldier carries a potion, he will do so visibly so that his comrades know about it and can pour it into his mouth when he is down. An unwritten law within most militaries states that a soldier's healing potion is for him, unless he willingly uses it on someone else. Like everything in war, of course, that law is not always obeyed.

Protection Magic

Long before healing, protection spells are a game-changer in a world with magic. Most high nobles can afford to have a protection spell cast on them before they ride into battle. Magic enhances existing armor, and it requires high-level spells to equal the protective value of a chain mail or plate armor. Most importantly, though, magic protection can be dispelled. For all these reasons, knights still ride into armour with a full set of heavy armour, and enhance it with magical protection.

Protection spells, especially against ranged weapons, are also extremely popular when a king or high noble must make a public appearance in a hostile area or has other reasons to worry about an assassination attempt. It may not stop a bolt or thrown knife completely, but it can well make the difference between a painful wound and death.

With long-duration spells being very costly, even the highest mages and kings are not under magic protection around the clock. As assassins already try to hit their targets when they are relaxed and not expecting trouble, not much has changed in these matters.