All murafu share the same basic personality traits - they're all social and friendly with each other, treat each other as both friends and family, and generally get on well and don't do the things that other species do such as fight/kill each other, say nasty things about each other, steal, that kind of thing. Those murafu who discover/choose to use magic aren't really thought of any differently by their fellows - it's acknowledged but that's about it. Well, since most murafu magic-users focus on stuff like healing (and anything else that can be useful and doesn't involve hurting/controlling people), if a situation comes up in which their magic can be useful, they'll probably both be called upon to use it
and offer it themselves anyway. Like if a predator attacked and injured someone, everyone (well, maybe not
everyone, because that would just overcrowd the patient and probably do more harm than good
) would try to help the best they could, but if there was a magic-user about, someone would specifically go to them and tell them what had happened (if said magic-user didn't already know, and they probably would). Whether the magic-user already knew about it or not, they'd then just probably come straight over and do their thing on the injured murafu.
Anyway...with regards to how their healing magic works, I'd just been thinking about it because I figured all murafu casters are technically mages rather than priests, because they don't have beliefs about gods (well, High Lords in this case) like other races do, so their power can't come from there, surely, because they never ask (pray) for it. And they don't use flasks so wouldn't be able to make potions that way. But most Wizard spells seem to be offensive (apart from the odd one or two like Open Door and Zokathra, obviously), which is something murafu never go near. I don't think murafu casters think of themselves by any kind of title - they're just murafu who can/have chosen to start fiddling about with this here magic stuff which can do things you can't do physically.
I suppose if murafu were, in general, less content with their existence, more of them would look into using magic to do stuff for them (you know, magically enhancing your senses would do wonders for keeping an eye out for any nearby predators or signs that one had recently passed by), but they know (those that have thought about it in the past) that then they might end up becoming reliant on magic rather than their own senses, and might start to miss things. They think dependence on magic would ultimately do more harm than good, so it's more used as a utility, a tool equipped by those who've chosen to use it. I imagine some murafu are maybe born with some innate kind of magic and sort of discover it within themselves at some point and go from there, while others learn of the stuff in their travels and interactions with other races, and then start investigating to see whether they can do it.
As for my ideas on their potion-making, I sort of made that up based on the "mechanic" you invented for how potions work in the RPG - you said the potion forms in the air inside the flask and then condenses and runs down the sides to pool in the bottom or something, right? So I figured that the murafu just touches the injury (or the area around it, or just holds their paw(s) in the air close to it) and conjures the potion in the air (whether they know this is what's happening, I'm not yet sure) which then basically does a kind of "static cling" to the nearest surface - in this case, the injury (murafu paws pushing the magic in that direction so it doesn't just stick to them or something), whereby it immediately makes contact with the wounded flesh and therefore does its stuff.
I suppose murafu use of runes is one that could be tricky. I gather that other mages/clerics (eg Falkor and Westian) sort of picture the runes in their heads and they come together and channel through the magic in the caster's body, using some of it up in the process, before manifesting themselves in the form of whatever spell has just been cast, meanwhile speaking the runes out loud is just a way of enhancing focus. As in the three steps of spellcasting mastery - Incantation, Gesture, and Thought - the first is where you speak the words to cast the spell because you need to say them out loud in order to concentrate your will sufficiently to cast the spell. The second is where you've got better at it, enough that you only need to make a gesture with your hands in order to focus yourself - gesture depends on spell being cast. And the third is where you're so good that youonly ned to
think of the spell you want to cast and it happens.
But aaaanyway, I'm sidetracking myself (no surprises there
). What was I saying? Oh yeah, murafu and runes. I imagine a lot of murafu casters (meaning the majority of those who cast - compared to the number of murafu in existence right now, there aren't a great number of them who actively use magic) don't know about, or haven't learnt, all the names of the runes or maybe that they even exist. So maybe they sort of picture the effect they want in a different way. I mean, since Vi is the rune for "Water", technically all a Priest is doing when he/she casts it is picturing some water, just in a different, more symbolic form which happens to trigger a release of mana from him/her in the form of the Healing Potion spell. I mean, runes were probably only invented by some mage person at some point, anyway, or a High Lord. Mages and priests use them differently, so why don't murafu have their own way to summon up magic too? Even if ultimately it turns out that they
are using runes but have come up with yet another way to access them (ie one which doesn't even require knowledge that such runes even exist, just enough will and the ability to channel magic in order to actually cast a spell). Meh, I don't know.
Anyway...yes...Ameena, what about her...well, if she did ever manage to do magic, she'd probably be somewhat surprised. If she did it by accident, she wouldn't ever be able to live with herself if the spell she cast was a harmful one (well, mainly if it actually hurt someone - if she just accidentally managed to randomly cast a Fireball at a distant wall, she'd probably be just be rather shocked and never do it again), but I imagine (well, I hope) that magic doesn't quite work like that, at least among murafu - if they don't know about runes, then they can't accidentally cast "Ful Ir" (for example) because they wouldn't know how. They probably do it more by "Oh no, that person is hurt...ohh it's really bad, I wish there was something I could do...hey, I feel all weird and tingly inside...hey something's trying to get out...I think...I think...hey what's happening?!? I...oooooooohhhhh...he's cured! Did
I do that? Wow..." or words to that effect
. But I don't think Ameena would ever specifically try to use magic herself, not because she's scared of it or anything - she knows murafu can cast spells (it's come up in her thoughts a few times over the RPG, though whether or not she's actually said anything out loud I can't remember) and will have met some of them during her time. It's more a case that she wouldn't really think to
try casting a spell. She might have some innate magic hiding down there somewhere which she's never even considered tapping into because she doesn't know it's there. Actually, I suppose technically
everyone must have that to some extent (or at least, the capacity to
store magic), otherwise no-one would ever be able to gain any Wizard or Priest levels
. Like most murafu, she knows she can get by perfectly well as she is so has never seen any reason to try and gain any other abilities like that. If she ever uses magic, it'll most likely be by accident, and presumably she will currently have a mana score of zero (like, say, Halk) so would need to be holding/wearing something which imbues the wearer/user with some mana in order to even
try to cast a spell.
Wooo, this must be my longest post for a while - see, this is what happens when you (sort of) ask for some info about the Murafu (or, well, anything I've created or know lots about, really
). I have been thinking about these things, you know - I have plenty more info on all kinds of aspects of their lives which will probably never come up but they're there, still, so I know what they're all about and stuff - adds to character background/personality etc, doesn't it
.