“Can anyone tell me the difference between a red rupee and a common ruby?”
“One is spelled R-U-B-Y and the other is spelled R-U-P-E-E”
“Har, Har, Har. It seems we have an expert in the audience today. Ar-thul would you like to come up to the front here and take over the lecture.”
“….sorry Scholar….please continue.”
“Alright let’s try this again. Here is a common ruby and here is a red rupee. And a special thanks to Guildmeister Narune for letting me borrow this precious Treasure. Now friends, how would you tell the difference between the ruby and the rupee?”
“The Shape!”
“The Glow!”
“Yes thank you, Evelin and Gregor. This is the most straightforward way to tell a red rupee from a common ruby. Rupees always carry this distinctive shape which cannot be altered, whereas rubies can be cut and polished into a number of forms. This comes from their material make up. Rubies and their cousins, sapphires, are forms of the mineral Corundum. In contrast, all forms of rupees are actually not minerals at all but rather a very potent form of crystallized Magic. This highly concentrated magic also gives the rupees their red glow. However, these signs are not full proof. A clever artisan could create a false rupee in the correct shape and emitting a similar glow... And in so doing could swindle you out of a great deal of money… I’m not talking from experience of course.”
[giggles and a few laughs]
“So how would you distinguish a red rupee from a fo-rupee?”
[silence]
"Anyone? I'll wait until the thinking starts."
“….the feeling from holding it?”
“That’s very astute Gi-Liu. Are you Magic attuned?”
“Yes Scholar.”
“Very good, yes. For those of you who are Magic attuned you will generally feel a sense of freedom or passion emanating from a red rupee. Similarly, feelings of stillness and calm are generally associated with blue rupees, while a feeling of balance or harmony is commonly associated with green rupees. BUT! It is important to consider that not everyone is so sensitive and even if you are, you could always make a mistake. It is also poor practice to attune your feelings too tightly to a red rupee. In many cases is better to rely on a more quantitative measure. Tell me, what else distinguishes a red rupee from a common ruby?”
[prolonged silence]
“Anyone…? I’ll give you a hint. Why are emeralds and diamonds included among the great Treasures, but not common rubies or sapphires?”
“They react to Magic Scholar.”
“Excellent Ar-thul. They react to Magic! And I might I might add, they also react to other treasures. Devicemeister Kortan has been kind enough to let me borrow one of his devices. Let me just.. get it set up… here.. there we go. This particular device will set up a Magic cross flow across the table top. Let me just…there.”
[oohhs and aahhs]
“Yes! See the red rupee is floating quite nicely on this flow of Magic while the red ruby is sitting their lifelessly. And if I take this emerald…. See. I can direct the movement of the red rupee around the table.”
“Wow.”
“That’s amazing.”
“I encourage you all to think about this interplay between Magic and Treasures. They are intricately connected. Often in fascinating and wondrous ways. A true master of the crafts understands that Treasures are Magic and that Magic is Treasure.”
