Thoughts on new vs old wardens

[Sanctaphrax]

Another thing to keep in mind is that "tribalism" didn't become "racism" until around three or four hundred years ago, possibly even more recently (with the advent of Darwinism and stuff). During the Roman Empire, Roman citizens were the "tribe" and it didn't matter what your race or ethnicity was. Non-Roman citizens were the folks that got stomped on and abused and enslaved. During the Crusades, professed members of the Church were the "tribe" and as long as you were one of them or decided to become one of them, you were all good. Pagans and heathens were not members of the "tribe" and so they got the short end of the stick. During WWII members of the Nazi party were the "tribe" and anyone outside the party (especially fellow Germans) were targeted for subjugation and extermination.

Sorry, this was off the Warden topic, I just felt like I should chime in. When I read history books and stories, the mention of race is rare and people seem to be primarily concerned with "can we get along with these outsiders," regardless of where they come from and what they look like.

So maybe they are really bigoted, against non-Wizards.

That would actually make sense, since Wizards are in many ways a distinct subspecies of humanity. They breed true, mostly, and powerful ones tend to have powerful children.

That could lead to some nasty blood purity stuff.

[InFerrumVeritas]

So maybe they are really bigoted, against non-Wizards.

That would actually make sense, since Wizards are in many ways a distinct subspecies of humanity. They breed true, mostly, and powerful ones tend to have powerful children.

That could lead to some nasty blood purity stuff.

I actually have a feeling that Jim was going in that direction in the initial inception phase, until Harry Potter came out.  One wizard named Harry with a series that deals with magical racism between wizards and non wizards, family purity, etc. is one thing.  If that other, less popular wizard named Harry starts doing the same...you get the idea.

[PirateJack]

So maybe they are really bigoted, against non-Wizards.

That would actually make sense, since Wizards are in many ways a distinct subspecies of humanity. They breed true, mostly, and powerful ones tend to have powerful children.

That could lead to some nasty blood purity stuff.

Not really. The only canon examples we have are the McCoy line. Martha Liberty has multitudes of great-great-grandchildren, but I can't recall if any of them are magical. Luccio looks over her family but she doesn't mention any that have shown talent.

[Sanctaphrax]

Martha's family and Luccio's family are never shown "on-screen", IIRC. So we don't know how strong they are.

But the McCoy line is full of powerful Wizards, and Molly's mother Charity was also a spellcaster. We don't have many examples of spellcaster procreation, but the ones we have indicate that power is partially inherited.

[narphoenix]

Martha's family and Luccio's family are never shown "on-screen", IIRC. So we don't know how strong they are.

But the McCoy line is full of powerful Wizards, and Molly's mother Charity was also a spellcaster. We don't have many examples of spellcaster procreation, but the ones we have indicate that power is partially inherited.

Hence WN.

[ReaderAt2046]

Yeah, this would probably have prevented them from slipping really severely into racism.

What I really want to know is, how did the White Council transition from the strongly Eurocentric thing it's hinted to have been till fairly "recently" (in wizard-lifespan terms) to the current fairly multicultural Senior Council? Did they "absorb" pre-existing Asian, Native American, etc. wizard-organizations? Did Listens-to-Wind and Ancient Mai start their wizarding career as members of one of those other organizations? (Rashid probably did, if he's as old as hinted... though the Middle East is maybe within the Council's 'original area of influence', given that the Roman Empire controlled parts the Middle East.)

I suspect that magical civilization simply followed mundane. In other words, LTW and his traditions were absorbed into the White Council around the same time and in the same way that Native American culture was absorbed into the European-American culture of the United States as a whole.

[Troy]

So maybe they are really bigoted, against non-Wizards.

That would actually make sense, since Wizards are in many ways a distinct subspecies of humanity. They breed true, mostly, and powerful ones tend to have powerful children.

That could lead to some nasty blood purity stuff.

This is exactly the sort of conclusion I've come to when trying to read up in Our World and Your Story about what makes a wizard a Wizard. I've also asked my partners in crime on ragnarok.gamingsandbox.com who are much more familiar with the novels than I.

And that's pretty much it. You're only a wizard if the White Council says you're a wizard. Even if you can do everything a wizard can do (or more). If you're not acknowledged as a wizard by the White Council, they tend to see you as a dangerous element that needs to be watched or controlled. They call you a sorcerer, applying negative connotations to that word when they use it. It's almost as derogatory as calling a practitioner a warlock.

Yeah, so, if you have the training, education, and bloodline AND the White Council acknowledges this after you pass their tests -- you're a Wizard. If you have the training, education, and bloodline and the White Council does NOT acknowledge this and you haven't taken or have failed their tests (some people do that on purpose) -- you're not a Wizard!

[blackstaff67]

Another favorite Aspect: "NOT a White Council Wizard!"