PRESIDING AUTHOR: Quentine Coatile Zaelus
Editorial role taken by DROA-499
FOREWORD FROM EDITOR
Due to this subject matter presenting an interplay between the arcane and the industrial, Q.C Zaelus and I have made an effort to split work between us. She understands the metaphysics far better than I, and as these are more relevant to the discussion than my angle, she's taken up the role of primary author. However, I am to offer my own edits, opinion/clarification notes, and so forth as I see fit.
The first of these I should note, then, is that "Technology" is a very vague term in this context- or, rather, a fallaciously specific one. It tends to be used to refer to the products of a long line of incremental, evolutionary improvement, infrastructure, and expertise in the construction of nonmagical machinery, and indeed I'd consider "machinery" the more proper word here. Magic is itself a long line of incremental, evolutionary improvement, infrastructure, and expertise in the creation of the arcane. It fits the more formal, broader definition of a Technology, and this blurred line is not helped by the existence of mechanical and electronic devices that do operate on magical principles- after all, even a sword is a form of simple machine, that being a wedge, and the fine clockwork of Homunculi is often hard to distinguish from the cybernetics of Robots. As such, we must (and to my dismay wrongly) consider Technology to strictly refer to the line of industrial, mundane development that has led to my own birth if we want to keep the snazzy naming scheme we have going here- "Tech" must be, fallaciously, considered to be a tangible set of objects, rather than an institution developed in the now-closed absence of its counterpart.
Many seem to see Technology and Magic as opposed forces, but no matter how much I clash with my editor (hi!) (hello), this is not true. They have much in common, even if they are mutually exclusive. With my editor having handled the similarity between the two above, this document will cover the physics and metaphysics of their incompatibility, ways in which they may resolve and imitate each other, and what we know of the case(s) where this rule seems to have been utterly broken.
Interference: Why the Magical cannot use the Mechanical
You may have noticed I am typing this on a computer. Other than the numerous tweaks that have been required to make a Harpy-compatible keyboard and mouse (the latter of which is on the floor), this works perfectly fine. So what is to stop a great magical warrior from simply stepping into a fighter jet? Well, the fighter jet.
This may not have been an issue before, but with the advent of neural interfacing- and arguably even as far back as Fly-By-Wire controls (ed. note: you got that very wrong the first time through)- it has simply become impractical, and before, it wouldn't have been worth it. It still isn't really worth it. We have our own power, after all, and yes, it does let us go blow-for-blow with a tank.
The reason for the current outright incompatibility, however, is harshly physical. Neural interfaces require precise, fine wiring that the pulses of energy in a magical being simply DEVOUR. Even noninvasive neuronic devices will short and break down almost immediately- the installation of more sophisticated implant or prosthesis systems would result in a violent enough failure to probably kill the recipient, the device, the doctor, and quite possibly the intern down the hall- granted with how durable certain magical species are, mine included, I reason that the recipient has the best odds of scraping themselves up off the floor.
Magic pulses imperceptibly through one's very being. It is inherent, irremovable, and exists in a flux state that makes it downright unobservable. We have our toes dipped outside of spacetime, and operate on mechanisms that are selectively extant. Technology, by contrast, is a composite of physical devices forged from the particles of this universe, pursuing ever-increasing demands for energy and computational density. If you try and surgically unite the two, all you will have done is made a rather shoddy attempt at reinventing the bomb- or, best case scenario, heavy metal poisoning once the insulation breaks and stuff starts leaching.
There is a footnote to put here for how this can be partially worked around- it's possible to build devices that filter all this out. However, this would nullify any chances of magic making it through that gap. When you factor in that most magical people are perfectly comfortable with their own capabilities, on top of the fact that no one's going to be able to use magic through cybernetic prosthesis or a combat vehicle, there's simply no interest for most users. Second to communication and entertainment devices and transportation, the most prominent niche of nonmagical technology used by Magic are self-defense weapons used by people who cannot focus their magic for spells or improved strength, who will most often pick up technological firearms.
Decay: Why the Mechanical cannot use the Magical
The reverse situation is also true, to an extent, albeit far more subtly. Say you are a firearms manufacturer, and you decide that for improved wear resistance, you would like to use an Orichalcum firing pin and barrel lining. This would work amazingly for the first two firing cycles, after which you'd come to realize the material has entirely transformed into Indium. A radiologically active isotope of Indium...
Magical materials- our metals, stones, gems, potions, even organic leather, wood, bone, and fur or feathers, and not to mention our very flesh (living or otherwise)- exhibit enormously improved physical properties for exactly as long as they can stay magical. After this point, they start to decay into mundane elements, and often extremely undesirable ones at that. In extreme cases, this leads to magical people disintegrating into dust upon death, but this is somewhat rare as magical organics at least have the dignity to decay into mundane organics. This process is essentially a result of the structure of a "magical" atom- a few unique particle types inserted into the nucleus and electron cloud can rearrange a vast array of material properties. However, whenever the bond energies are put to the test- that is to say, a wear cycle, be it mechanical, thermal, electrical, or chemical- effected atoms suddenly may suddenly have these particles blink out of existence. The predominant exception to this rule is if the device is being held by something that generates magical energy- but even this is easily interfered with.
There's a reason why any attempt to introduce moving parts to a magical device quickly turns into superficial clockwork. A lot of fine, internal systems, as are needed even in automatic small-arms weapons, let alone engines and electronics, result in a steeper "contact gradient." That rifle running on direct impingement isn't going to have its bolt face, firing pin, and barrel lining in range, and these critical, load-bearing wear components will become extremely prone to wear after even a few rounds. We have thus far created four ways to get around this limitation.
First, the device is alive- at least chemically. This is commonly applied to potion flasks and cartridge-based ammunition. We have long been able to effectively inscribe DNA and RNA with magical "code," and inserting this into a microbe or fungus provides a long-lasting, anaerobic, self-replicating, and non-photosynthetic magical generator. But, obviously, good luck lining your firearm with mushrooms- these cultures can't even boast particular resistance to the extreme environments of a weapon, as they don't yield truly magical organisms, just organisms that produce magic. They're not on our level of pseudo-invincibility- and the shelf-life can be limited. We tend to avoid detachable box magazines for this reason, for instance- ammunition either loaded a round at a time or held in open-sided moon or stripper clips. Really, considering some of these are for consumption, the germs not being jacked is probably for the best.
Second is to work off of that caveat, and produce an actual magical organism, either using raw unliving material (Elementals operating off of similar but less artificial principles- there is a minor "Machine" Element) or yet another culture of preexisting organisms (usually plants). This requires a soul, and therefore this being is going to essentially be a person. This applies mostly to magical Constructs- Golems and Homunculi- and arguably to the Undead. Provided they maintain a simple structure able to be thoroughly innervated by these effects, they can self-sustain and perpetually maintain magical physical properties. However, if you were to just put winding circuitry or a combustion engine into them, magic would not carry over. They are more open to integrating pieces of technology into themselves, but there'd be an obvious cutoff point of any magical benefits. A Homunculus and Robot can in theory swap parts without damaging each other, but there'd be no benefit to doing so. (well, it is fun).
Third, we learn to design devices that offer mechanical functionality without a steep contact gradient. These are still often restricted to certain users- the ability of a wielder to cope with a given gradient is variable, which is one of several prerequisites to using not only very long swords where even a mild gradient would result in an unenchanted tip for most users. However, by using large, chunky, externalized mechanisms- essentially clockwork, simple piping, furnaces, steam or very simple combustion engines, lead-acid batteries, bulky power coils and so forth- a contact gradient can be made less steep for a similarly complex device. This is crucial to a great deal of "Magitech" devices- automatic firearms, chainsaws, engines and generators, Gatling-type weapons, forging devices, and prosthesis all use this clockwork principle to maintain a shallow contact gradient for what they are. Hulking contraptions of rust and brass and steam, they're quite impressive to see in action.
Which, of course, leads directly into the fourth method, to simply reduce complexity or size. This is almost an inevitable requirement even with a user of great aptitude for coping with a contact gradient, and even if they did, these compromises would have advantages in allowing more magical functionality- it gives that area of magical devices that seem technological a decidedly dated feel. Cartridge firearms most typically feed from internal magazines, loaded by hand with at best a stripper clip. Non-cartridge firearms are common, and especially primitive types (such as matchlocks) may have decisive advantages for through-weapon casting. You get the picture, we have to be hands-on.
Once a magical item has decayed, contact with a magical individual might restore it. However, it's likely to have broken into many pieces by then, and obviously fingering a firearm breech every three rounds isn't exactly practical- still, there's many a great story of a warrior at long last reunited with their blade, glinting back to life in their grasp.
Noted Exceptions
You might have spent the last several paragraphs screaming at the screen, so let's discuss some apparent exceptions to these rules.
The first is World magic. This school deals with evolution itself, and this seems to include the development of technology rather than strictly of lifeforms- the very nature of beings to change and overcome. As such, they have in their ranks many entities that are clearly magical but appear to integrate all manner of not only clockwork, but analog and digital technology. However, on closer inspection, they seem to count mostly as living material. They have circuitboard brains and wiring running through their bodies, all of which behaves as the respective material of its technological counterpart and will decay to it after death, but ultimately seem to be flesh-and-blood for the purposes of producing and conducting Magic. Essentially, living copper and silicon- no different from how the materials of Elementals are inherently animate, but organized in a more technological way. As the complex arrangements have their own magic supply, they dodge the contact gradient issue entirely- and this gives them a route to utilize and exploit electronic devices, with mind-altering abilities that work on computers as much as creatures.
The second, then, are an assortment of magic-wielding aliens. Simply put, I don't know how this works (and neither do i). They seem to have developed ways to reduce the contact gradient, but even then, avoid particularly advanced technology best left to the non-magical alien powers of the BSA and MWC- most notably using the old gates of pre-Human magic instead of FTL tech. Moreover, I take it they're not particularly willing to come to the table and talk about it with us, given their, well...
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