The Spell of Science

It is the Age of Magic.

The world is ruled by Mages.

They walk among towers and temples, speaking in symbols, drawing power from forces most cannot see. But not all Mages are the same.

There are two great orders: the Sorcerers and the Wizards. One is born to power; the other is forged through pursuit.

The Sorcerers wield the power of appearance. They shape belief, not reality. They conjure visions, spin illusions, whisper prophecy, and bend minds with narrative and awe. Their power is instinctual, inherited. They do not learn the world—they learn people. And through people, they shape worlds.

The Wizards, seekers who craft their own path, study what is. They strive to understand nature’s hidden rhythms—through star-charts, crucibles, lenses, and logic. Their power is precise, reproducible. A spell cast by one can be cast by another. They are not born to magic. They become it.

Though they called themselves Mages alike, their arts diverged more with each century. The Sorcerer’s craft, rooted in inborn talent, was veiled and unteachable—its power dissolved under scrutiny. Their miracles could not be passed on, only performed. The Wizard’s craft, born of relentless study, was transparent and repeatable. One Wizard’s work could be tested, falsified, even improved upon.

The Sorcerer sought influence. The Wizard sought clarity.

For a time, they coexisted. But the Wizards grew weary.

They had built their towers high with truth, only to watch Sorcerers win the hearts of kings with lies. They had tried debate, but the Sorcerers only turned their words into smoke. They had tried alliance, but the Sorcerers twisted truth into legend. So the Wizards gathered in solemn council. And in that gathering, across a hundred towers, under a hundred moons, they cast a spell not on the world—but on knowledge itself.

It was not a flame or a word or a force, but a Game.

A ritual of rules:

• That truth must be testable
• That claims must be transparent
• That every spell must withstand replication
• That no Mage—not even the greatest—could escape the trial of evidence

With this Spell, they drew a line in the dust. They no longer called their work Magic.