I have written previously regarding my thoughts on world-building. I don't believe in simply depositing magic into a historical society, as it then becomes an ahistorical society (please excuse the word creation, I can't think of any other term that fits). Magic will change the course of history and of cultural growth. Institutes, morals and mores will all be created in response to the existence of magic. So then, how does one infuse magic into a society?

It's difficult and it's time consuming, but I have recently read a book that has helped me to consider the ramifications of magic on a society's growth. Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond is an amazing synthesis of a lot of different disciplines. Mr. Diamond attempts to answer the question of why Europe dominated recent history. He takes no easy routes to this answer, and it has nothing to do with biology or, really, culture, but rather considers access to various resources, including livestock, and lines of communication for trade or the infusion of knowledge, have affected the development of human societies. It's fascinating stuff. There are points I'd love to take him to task on, but overall, this is an excellent work.

Now, all that one need do is consider the society one is creating in light of Mr. Diamond's theories of societal evolution and one can hypothesis how magic would change a society, when one considers it as a resource. Of course, magic would not act in a vacuum, and so Mr. Diamond's theories--regarding resources and continental axes (the plural of axis, not the tool/weapon)--have an effect on magic, just as magic would have an effect on them.

The first question one must answer is: how does one access magic? If anyone can, if it is a natural skill that any individual of average development can use, then all cultures would have equal access to it. This is like speaking. There is no tribe or people on this planet that have not developed a spoken language. However, if magic is learned, if it is something discovered, like metallurgy or writing, some groups will have access to it and some won't.

If this is a natural skill, one must consider how it originally manifested itself. If one uses a division of magic, such as is evident in the d20 fantasy role-playing system between arcane and divine magic, or a division into schools or disciplines such as in Barbara Hambly's Sister's of the Raven, then perhaps some types are more easily accessed than others. These would commonly be found in even the most primitive of societies. One would also need to decide how groups then move on to other sources of magic. Perhaps when reaching a certain level of competency, one has access to another school or system. It also becomes necessary to be prepared with viable explanations why a certain group does not have access to any magic at all. Can you imagine the discourse that would follow finding a tribe somewhere that did not have a spoken language? Can you imagine trying to figure out how this could happen?

If magic is like metallurgy or even farming, in that it is a skill that is easily learned though not universally discovered, one must then consider the method this knowledge is transmitted. This is where Mr. Diamond's theory of continental axis comes into effect. How easy is it for knowledge to travel? Is it like Eurasia, which has an almost natural east to west pathway, or is it like America, that has a bottleneck, which is worsened by a range of mountains that effectively cuts off trade and transmission of knowledge? How quickly and easily will this skill pass on? This allows for a much easier explanation of groups without access to magic, though as soon as magic is introduced to such groups, they would most likely quickly adopt it.

In fantasy, there is also the question of genetics and races to consider. While in a homogenous setting, one with only humans for example, it would be quite difficult to assert how magic appeared in one group but not another. One could use the divine, a gift from the gods, as a reason, but a reason is necessary. Contrary to this, the fact that elves can work magic but dwarves can't needs little explanation. These are different species rather than superficially, visually distinct peoples, like the various 'races' of humans.

How would magic affect a society's access to resources? I imagine, depending upon the level of magic in one's campaign, it would affect such access remarkably. Simply being unerringly and easily able to find water would drastically alter a desert society. Healing diseases and injuries would increase life expectancy. The Black Plague in fourteenth century Europe changed the course of that area's development for arguably two or three centuries. How would Europe have changed had the population not been reduced so horribly?

Societies rely on more than simply water and manpower. If magic can help crop growth and thereby increase crop yields, the creation of a leisure class, who do not need to toil in the fields, would happen much earlier. This, in itself, might explain ancient magical empires that covered massive areas. If magic were something learned, that could be contained by an elite class, one would then find magocracies (to use a term I learned from 1E AD&D).

Consider, also, magic's possible effect on the resources themselves. What if a wizard could turn lead into gold? Quite simply, if there were enough wizards doing this, it would drive the value of gold down, perhaps ending its dominance of the economy, perhaps replaced by another metal, which the wizards then replicate, and on it goes. If this ability is held by a single nation or group, it would allow them, for however long, to rise to dominance. Spain's acquisition of South America's gold made it a dominant power in Europe while that gold lasted.

Finally, how would magic affect the transmission of these resources? For centuries, people have gazed at Stonehenge or the Egyptian pyramids and wondered how they could have been built? How did an ancient people move these massive blocks? Magic makes that much easier. It might also allow for the quick movement of food, to combat famine. Also, it might be used to help preserve food, allowing huge stockpiles to be prepared against possible disasters. In ancient times, famine could topple empires, draining them of manpower and soldiers. If nature no longer had this weapon against an empire, how long might it last?

For the transmission of knowledge, even simple knowledge like farming, a continent's axis is very important. Magic could alter this impact. Magic could overcome natural barriers, such as mountains, deserts, even oceans. Increased trading and cultural exchange has always seemed to strengthen societies, so the affect of magic in this area could be as important as its affect on crops and gold.

Furthermore, a continent's axis determines the usefulness of crop movement. If knowledge of crops moves east to west, those crops remain in an area of similar climate, seasons and daylight hours, while movements north and south drastically alter all of these. Magic could alleviate this to some degree, creating artificial environments (such as we have now done with technology) to allow, for example, tropical crops to grow in a temperate climate.

Finally, we have seen what affect global communications has had on our modern society. With magic, fellow Canadian Marshall McLuhan's global village could exist much sooner and create a much more cosmopolitan, and perhaps tolerant society. It could also, however, whet a dictator's appetite for conquest. The Senate might see the lush fields of 'Overthereland' and decide to send the legionnaires in, ably supported by its corps of war-wizards.

From the very infancy of societies, magic would change everything. How it changes it and to what degree is, as always, the author's prerogative. I must say, though, that it offers up such fascinating possibilities. I cannot imagine being satisfied, as a reader or author, with simply postulating that magic changes nothing, other than creating another job at the king's court. The question becomes, would feudalism even have developed the way it had? Would anything have developed into recognizable forms?

A lot of work, perhaps too much, but even considering these problems will allow an author to create a fuller, richer world, a world that allows a glimpse of something far more fabulous than a few simple parlour tricks.