As has been mentioned, in Chapter 2 - The World, Paralogos can aid their owners with various abilities and magics, making them quite desirable to befriend. (Or own, depending on the disposition of the library owner, sadly.) Whifflings cannot command magics in the way Paralogos can, and so they've found other niches within our society. We shall continue our discussion of Paralogos Magic here...
In our description of the world of Lingua, in which these creatures live, we wrote this:
"We, as beings of the world of Lingua, greatly overestimated our amount of natural resources. It seems the Paralogos are the only hope to gain access to some extinct, or simply depleted, objects and lifeforms. Humanity has no capacity for "magic" like the Paralogos do. The only magic humanity has is to call objects and concepts names and words-- which the Paralogos latch onto."
And it is truth. Each Paralogos follows a similar pattern in the mastery of their magical abilities, and it is up to the owner to aid the Paralogos in finally mastering what they may be able to do. Owners who bluntly force these magical abilities from their Paralogos tend not to succeed in reaching the highest levels of magic mastery, but sometimes, Paralogos' books are stolen... and these magics do not discriminate once they are attained. As in, if a Paralogos must find a new home, they take their magic with them. Once a Paralogos has attained a magical skill, they never forget it, unless some other darker craft is undertaken.
Magic is always closely related to the word a Paralogos chooses. For example, Ginkgo's magic would relate to Ginkgo trees, leaves, flowers... while Jellybean's magic would only relate to well, Jellybeans! The more specific the word, the more specific the magic.
But magical progression always follows a pattern for each Paralogos-- and there are what we would call 6 Tiers of Magic.
Any Paralogos will have a basic affinity for their word-- but think of these tiers as a Paralogos "growing up" in a way.
Constant passive or active effect/ability that is always available. Doesn’t cost any sort of energy or effort.
Level 1: Stone = additional strength/sturdiness
Level 2: Flower = charming/always smells very good
Level 3: Bird = can sing beautifully
Predator = can run/sprint extremely fast
Level 4: “Paint” = creativity
“Jingle” = musically
Level 5: “Silence” = never makes a sound
“Zephyr” = movements take no effort, like walking on a breeze
Level 6: “Nyctophilia” = becomes invisible at nighttime.
Can be an active ability/skill or passive/subliminal knowledge.
Costs low to no energy or effort.
Level 1: Stone = Knows when the type of stone is around and where. Knows how to do use the stone in various ways.
Level 2: Flower = Knows when the type of flower is around and where, even if it’s still a seed underground. Has a "green thumb".
Level 3: Animal = Can talk to the type of animal and get them to cooperate, and similar abilities to the two other levels mentioned beforehand.
Level 4: “Paint” or “Jingle” =Is extremely good at painting/jingling
Level 5: “Silence” = Knows the reason of a present silence.
“Zephyr” = Knows when there’s a breeze/wind coming up. Can see breezes in the air.
Level 6: “Nyctophilia” = Can see in the dark.
Costs low to medium amount of energy, depending of the severity of the ‘damage’ and the size of the repaired/healed/fixed entity.
Level 1: Stone = Can remove cracks in the stones or put broken stones back together.
Level 2: Flower = Can heal the flower to a perfectly healthy state.
Level 3: Animal = Can heal the animal to a perfectly healthy state.
Level 4: “Paint” or “Jingle” = Can alter the painting/jingling of others
Level 5: “Silence” = Can minimize the negative emotions relating to the present silence, thus ‘fixing’ the silence
“Zephyr” = Can keep a breeze/wind alive when it’s fading
Level 6: “Nyctophilia” = Can make it completely dark / remove the last bit of light in the darkness
Only controllable if in sight; does not have to be touched.
Manipulation effect is permanent for level 1 or level 2 Paralogos and only temporary for all other levels.
Control effect is always temporary!
Effect can be significantly shortened or cancelled if the entity decides to fight back/struggle.
Costs medium to high amount of energy, and gets more exhausting over time.
Level 1: Stone = can move or (slightly) reform/deform the type of stone
Level 2: Flower = can (slightly) change the appearance of the flower or help it grow
Level 3: Animal = can temporarily mind-control their type of animal
Level 4: “Paint” = creativity
“Jingle” = musically
Level 5: “Silence” = can extend or shorten the duration of a silence and manipulate its related emotions/feelings
“Zephyr” = can change the direction of a breeze/wind and overall move/control breezes
Level 6: “Nyctophilia” = can extend or minimize the size of a dark area as well as its duration and/or strength/darkness-ness.
This magic might be extremely unstable, especially if the word focuses on something alive.
Keeping the entity in existence is exhausting for the Paralogos, the needed willpower is dependent on the created being; the higher the word level, the more strenuous.
This can also be particularly damaging for "imaginary" terms-- dragon, mermaid, etc.
Might fade out of existence if created being/entity fights back.
Use of this type of magic can be extremely dangerous!
Always has the possibility of coming with side-effects / getting out of control.
Costs high to extremely high amount of energy (Para's can lose consciousness from overstraining).
Level 1: Stone = can create stones of its type
Level 2: Flower = can create flowers of its type
Level 3: Animal = can temporarily create an animal of its type
Level 4: “Paint” or “Jingle” = can give other beings the ability/skill related to their word
Level 5: “Silence” = can temporarily force a silence into existence, silencing every noise in a certain area
“Zephyr” = can create a breeze/wind
Level 6: “Nyctophilia” = can temporarily create darkness, like a thick fog
This can both be very abstract magic and very dangerous to use.
Mostly unstable-- try not to request any Paralogos Level 4 and over to attempt this.
Costs extremely high amount of energy (Para can lose consciousness from overstraining).
Usually only used in emergency situations to protect themselves (the Paralogos) or their owner/friends.
Level 1: Stone = can change their texture to their type of stone
Level 2: Flower = can change part of their body to look like parts of their type of flower or just like a whole flower
Level 3: Animal = can morph into their type of animal or exchange parts of their body for the equivalent part of their type of animal
Level 4: “Paint” = can let paint appear on their body or let the colors on their body fluctuate
"Jingle" = can let numerous jingle bells appear on their body
Level 5: “Silence” = can become partially or fully invisible
“Zephyr” = can morph into a breeze/wind or act as a breeze/wind and temporarily gain the ability to hover/fly
Level 6: “Nyctophilia” = can morph into darkness, becoming a thick pure black fog
In order to track the progression of known Paralogos' magical abilities-- please refer to this Annex. It will detail the tasks one must undergo with their Paralogos in order to help them grow their magical abilities to the highest degree.
The Annex also has a feature in which owners may ask what their Paralogos' abilities might be, if they progress up the ladder. Imagine the adventures an owner and a Paralogos might have in this wide world of Lingua!
Go to Annex 2: Magical Progression to learn how to officially aid your Paralogos and upgrade their magical abilities!
However, despite these notes-- a higher "Level" Paralogos, like a Level 5 - think "love", will at core have a sense of stronger ability. This is what makes certain Paralogos "prey" of sorts for those individuals which would like to take advantage of the creatures / world of Lingua.
Will library owners who tend and aid their Paras be able to deal with such individuals?