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Rambling about Ralph Stokesey
Dec. 30th, 2019 08:10 pmSo when I was looking through the text about Stokesey the other day, I could not help enjoying immensely his antics.
From what I read, Stokesey seemed to be the only magicians out of three great magicians of the Golden Age (Godbless, Catherine of Winchester, Stokesey) to not have been mentioned to be a pupil of John Uskglass at some point. It is possible that he was a student of John Uskglass but I like the idea that he was not. He was also the one that did not have a story in which he showed admiration for John Uskglass (Catherine wrote a paragraph that showed her admiration for John Uskglass in the Ladies of Grace Adieu, Godbless showed his admiration by making a spell to cause the entire English landscape bow toward the King*). I don't think there was a story about Stokesey and John Uskglass's interactions with each other. Stokesey might have started out being taught by other magicians but unlike Godbless, who was self-taught and received some tutelage under John Uskglass, it is possible that Stokesey was not taught by John Uskglass in a later point in his life. It was probably due to the fact that Stokesey seemed like a very wild person with great fairy resemblances. It is my headcanon that Stokesey did not feel inclined to be taught by the Raven King because from the story about the duel between Stokesey and Scottish magician, he seemed to be pretty proud and headstrong. I can also imagine the Raven King disliked teaching Stokesey for all those reasons because of their fairylike similarities or maybe felt a kind of amusement for all Stokesey's antics.
But Stokesey's life seems to be so interesting. He could read and write but never bothered to leave any writing about magic. The story of how he procured Col Tom Blue's service, while probably wildly exaggerated and incorrect, is dramatic and shows some ideas about what kind of reckless person he was. Ralph Stokesey fought with two or three magicians, including a very powerful magician of Athodel. He also consulted with madmen to learn more about magic. These all feel very reckless, very wild. He was also the person who made the spell Animam Evocare, which was the spell Strange almost used to kill a soldier and a horse. Stokesey's Vitrification, a spell to change things and people into glass, was created by him. Those two spells illustrated that Stokesey had some fairylike cruelty in him.
*For some reasons, I keep feeling that Godbless might be the one closest to John Uskglass out of the three magicians. Certainly, Godbless was the only one who had a story in which the King showed a reaction to him. The spell that he made for John Uskglass showed that he understood John Uskglass to a degree, revered and cared about him. He was the one who made the King smiled after his illness while none other could do it and I feel Uskglass had to be fond of him, especially after that spell was cast.
From what I read, Stokesey seemed to be the only magicians out of three great magicians of the Golden Age (Godbless, Catherine of Winchester, Stokesey) to not have been mentioned to be a pupil of John Uskglass at some point. It is possible that he was a student of John Uskglass but I like the idea that he was not. He was also the one that did not have a story in which he showed admiration for John Uskglass (Catherine wrote a paragraph that showed her admiration for John Uskglass in the Ladies of Grace Adieu, Godbless showed his admiration by making a spell to cause the entire English landscape bow toward the King*). I don't think there was a story about Stokesey and John Uskglass's interactions with each other. Stokesey might have started out being taught by other magicians but unlike Godbless, who was self-taught and received some tutelage under John Uskglass, it is possible that Stokesey was not taught by John Uskglass in a later point in his life. It was probably due to the fact that Stokesey seemed like a very wild person with great fairy resemblances. It is my headcanon that Stokesey did not feel inclined to be taught by the Raven King because from the story about the duel between Stokesey and Scottish magician, he seemed to be pretty proud and headstrong. I can also imagine the Raven King disliked teaching Stokesey for all those reasons because of their fairylike similarities or maybe felt a kind of amusement for all Stokesey's antics.
But Stokesey's life seems to be so interesting. He could read and write but never bothered to leave any writing about magic. The story of how he procured Col Tom Blue's service, while probably wildly exaggerated and incorrect, is dramatic and shows some ideas about what kind of reckless person he was. Ralph Stokesey fought with two or three magicians, including a very powerful magician of Athodel. He also consulted with madmen to learn more about magic. These all feel very reckless, very wild. He was also the person who made the spell Animam Evocare, which was the spell Strange almost used to kill a soldier and a horse. Stokesey's Vitrification, a spell to change things and people into glass, was created by him. Those two spells illustrated that Stokesey had some fairylike cruelty in him.
*For some reasons, I keep feeling that Godbless might be the one closest to John Uskglass out of the three magicians. Certainly, Godbless was the only one who had a story in which the King showed a reaction to him. The spell that he made for John Uskglass showed that he understood John Uskglass to a degree, revered and cared about him. He was the one who made the King smiled after his illness while none other could do it and I feel Uskglass had to be fond of him, especially after that spell was cast.
