The Heart's Inquiry

Deep in the valley, just before the ruin whose builders had not waited for history to begin before they retired, the man at last found the sage.
"I praise the sacred mountain and all its denizens by whose power alone I succeeded," the pious man made sure to say before he addressed the sage. "I have come to ask my one question according to the law."
"No," the sage said without a glance at the petitioner.
"I have," the man insisted. "How may the looming disaster be averted? That is my question."
"No. That is the world's question. I am not bound to answer that. Only your own."
"Oh." The man thought to argue, but he knew what the sage said to be true. Defeated, he asked this. "Who is responsible for bees? They're odd in every way, from how they look to where they keep the honey, saying nothing about why they make it in the first place."
The sage transfixed the man with an intense gaze. "It was the wizards of Gitki Parst who, foreseeing their prowess would never be greater, commenced a grand project to create the incomparable device, the Pur Konva Karm. Such was the power of their enchantments that all around was warped so that bees are far different from what they were then, and much else too. The bee of today has no reason to it but only chance. To learn more of the wondrous capacities of Pur Konva Karm, seek it in Imvada's mausoleum. For it to overcome a calamity is nothing unthinkable."
The man was later regarded as a hero by all the world and as a wealthy seller of honey beside, for both the Pur Konva Karm and its power of affecting bees for the better he returned to mankind's store.
Finis

Addendum

Deciduous tree monsters look like warriors in summer and wizards in winter, but they're actually rogues. They're just limited in their opportunities.

Addendum

The secret is that I just wanted to roll out "thaumatocracy."

Against Thaumatocracy

Given that being capable of magic is better than being incapable, what are some reasons mages might not be in charge?

- There aren't enough of them
-- It requires innate talent which few have
-- It takes too long to learn
-- They keep dying
-- Numbers are limited by the need for some external resource. For example a mage has to bathe in dragon's blood or make a contract with a manticore
- There are too many of them. Being a mage isn't a big deal, and hiring some is less of one.
- Magic isn't that good
- The kinds of people who learn magic are bad at maintaining political power
-- They're too busy with magical studies
-- Magic is linked to certain characteristics such as lack of ambition or gullibility
-- Magic alters mages, for example removing the need for food and replacing it with an insatiable urge to visit places of power
-- Magical expenditure requires long periods of isolation or hibernation
- The kinds of people who learn magic don't want to maintain political power
-- Magical talent isn't hereditary. Ensuring your family will be passed over for some genius discovered in a village is distasteful.
- The kinds of people who learn magic can't maintain political power
-- The gods who give them power forbid it
-- The terms of their contracts forbid it
-- The dragons who rule the world forbid it, and they do check regularly
-- Magic circulates through the bonds between people, so that the more subordinates one has, the more his magic is divided among them - The rulers are capable of preventing it
-- They aren't mages, but they have magic
--- Divine sanction
--- The approval of the land itself
--- Contracts with manticores
--- A store of artifacts
--- Hereditary talents
--- They're the source of magic
-- They're above magic
--- Gods rule directly
--- Dragons/manticores/basilisks etc. rule directly
--- Aliens rule directly (they came to research magic)

There are a few reasons. As for how mages might become an oppressed minority, they can't, cut that out, your allegory stinks.

Addendum

I'm not saying wizards aren't real, but if I can pretend to raise a dog, reality is demonstrably no bar.

The Age of Videogames Is Ended

Now that we know what the next generation's prices are going to be, people will finally realize that instead of paying $500 to pretend to race, they should spend $20 to pretend wizards are real. Let's just hope they never find out they can pay $0 to read a history of Cuba written in 1920.

Some Science Fiction to Fantasy Conversions

Ship -> Spaceship
Deadly forest -> Asteroid belt
Dragon -> Evil corporation
Cleric -> Clerk
Magic sword -> Prototype
Intelligent talking familiar -> Robot buddy
Wizard -> Space wizard

Inexhaustible Virtue and Its Rewards

Once, a man bent over with age dragged himself by his stick from house to house, begging for shelter for the night. Everyone rejected his plea. "We don't have room for you," they said, or, "You smell weird," or, "What are you talking about? You're that wizard who lives in the tower out that way." No matter how many times he told them he wasn't, they still turned him away.
In the end he came to the house of a humble sign painter who gave him a space on the floor and half his supper, which was "too much for me anyway." The next day, when the old man made to leave, he straightened and summoned his customary attire emblazoned with arcane symbols.
"Humble sign painter! I am in fact the wizard who lives in that tower over there! Because you are the only hospitable man in this town, I leave you this gift. It is a bow with the wondrous quality that it supplies its own arrows. Behold."
The sign painter watched the wizard stretch the string whereupon an arrow appeared, already nocked. "Amazing! But I only have one arm. I cannot draw it."
"So what? It's not as if you would have gotten any use out of it anyway. What did you think I wanted you to do, shoot paint arrows? Sell this as a novelty to a rich collector of curiosities, you dunderhead. 'I cannot draw it.' Come on."
And the sign painter did just that. The money enabled him to retire, though he did not. He liked the work.
Finis

Addendum

There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who think "wizard" is a dumb word and those who haven't thought about it.

Don't Get Left Behind

OUT: Wizard
ALL ABOUT: Magic-haver

Speaking of Fantasy Happening on Other Planets

What do you think they're up to on Jupiter? Obviously nothing good, but what in particular? Is there a single wizard-king in his fell citadel or a metropolis which forces the rest of the planet to bend to its will? I bet it's the latter, and people on far continents think it's a holy place, for they are no better in truth.

Nomenclature Gap

All mech properties know you need to call your mechs something different, whether mobile suits, arm slaves, or cataphracts. The rest of us are falling behind. Shouldn't your knights be dragon breakers and your wizards be elemsplays? No, but you see what I'm getting at. At what I am getting.

Lesson of the Wizard-Saint

An exclusive interview with Rodelon the Wizard-Saint! Mr. Wizard-Saint, how did you attain that exalted position of both wizard and saint?
"The wizard part was just the same as for anyone. Study, more study, expeditions to strange realms, and more study after that. I wasn't very ambitious. Just the one title was enough for me. After I achieved it though, I had so much free time. I wasn't used to that, I can tell you. I decided to try a bit of gardening.
"I can't do anything by half-measures. I spent more and more of my time and attention on my garden. Yes, soon I put all my soul into it."
That's fascinating! Can we see your garden?
"Certainly. It's known as the Blackdread Mire today. That was when I realized my soul needed as much work as my wizard skills, and here we are."
Wow! Any advice for our readers?
"Few of you will become wizards, but look to your soul even so."
Finis

The Fable of the Magic Jar

Once upon a time, a peasant came back from an adventure with a magic jar. He poured water in it, closed the lid, shook it, and opened the lid to pour out ice. He showed it to the villagers and turned their grain into bread, their beer into good beer, and their sand into glass. He showed it to the merchants and turned their ore into ingots and their dross into gems. He showed it to the king and turned his gold into a magnificent crown that the other monarchs soon would envy.
"Well then, why don't we crack it open and see how it works?" A suggestion from a king is nothing less than an order, and so the peasant smashed his magic jar on the palace's tiled floor. Among the shards, there was a tiny little wizard who instantly grew back to his full size.
"Thanks for getting me out of there, fellas!" the wizard exclaimed. "I accidentally trapped myself in there when I made it. Now I can show your magicians how to make jars just like mine." He did just that and ensured the prosperity of the kingdom forever.
Moral: If something's good, break it and see how it works; otherwise, how will you know?
Finis