MagicWord

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OrsonScottCard? does a ScienceFiction convention workshop where the participants collectively come up with a 'price of magic' by answering a series of questions.

A common theory of how magic might work seems to be 'true speech'. The theory that there is some language in which things have their correct name, and if you use this language to tell reality what to do, reality listens. Or if you use this language to speak the the ancient ones / demons / elementals etc, they can understand you and you can bargain with them or command them.

Or alternatively, magic words are some sort of sonic key, and require absolutely spot on pronunciation (and probably gestures too).

This got touched on recently, at WednesdayAnime, where it was suggested that if you could rename yourself to use a glyph or particular scent, rather than a verbally pronouncable ascii string, it would make it a lot safer for you in the sort of universe that Hastur or Lord Voldemort live in.

Ideally, you specify that the name has only been correctly pronounced if verbalised at a specific lethal volume or frequency. --Pallando

epu-Solayna-SOMATKA!
obidie-Veldua-ALDAT!
...according to NeverwinterNights, anyway

CategoryBooks CategoryMadScience?
See also Magic/HowItWorks
CategoryVoices