Concerning Wartime Magic

Unfortunately, even were all the agents of E.I.D.O.L.O.N. to focus their efforts on a single country, it is unlikely that they would be able to, even through force, bring about peace. Although there are a significant number of practitioners who have joined relief efforts, E.I.D.O.L.O.N. in general warns the magical community away from such areas without special training.

This is for a variety of reasons. Certainly, it is unsafe for anyone to be in a war-torn area. For practitioners, however, the burn-out rate is especially high. Due to the 'belief' aspect of magic, as practitioners realize how little impact their efforts are making, they begin to lose faith in their abilities and finally in magic altogether, which results in the gradual decline and often abrupt cut-off of their magical abilities.

The general atmosphere of the land and people also affects the usability of magic in such areas. As most practitioners are more empathically sensitive than the average human, the strive focused in the country causes intense emotional fatigue. The atmosphere also tends to disrupt magical workings in general, sometimes causing failure in the even most basic of spells. This phenomenon is most noticeable in places where wars have occurred consistently over a great many years. The only magic not hampered, and often, unfortunately, aided, by this is black/dark magic. The best E.I.D.O.L.O.N. has been able to do for these locations is to dampen the usability of black/dark magic.

The final issue in these situations is that, for most wartime purposes, technology has most certainly outstripped magic. When humans still fought their wars with staffs and swords, having a mage on your side was a distinct advantage. Against the weapons of today, however, a practitioner can be very easily defeated if he/she is not constantly vigilant. A shielding spell can only cover so much area for so long, depending on the practitioner's limits. Because of these factors, the lifespan of magic users in warring areas tends to be significantly short, and magical efforts have had little impact on war outcomes.