Magister Misplaced
There are a lot of ways I would have rather been introduced to the reality magic, and to the existence of parallel worlds. In fact, I can think of a dozen other ways that would have been better. A letter in the mail… A visit from a wizard… A two way communication mirror…
Bro… You’re starting to go off topic again! You’re supposed to be explaining things, not making them more complicated.
Oh, sorry, sorry… *Ahem*
This is a story of a single man, unaware of how his fate is about to change, and what destinies lay waiting at the end of his-
Bro!
Fine, fine. I’m Noah Springfield, and this is the story of how my life turned upside down.
I would admit; I had been torn over the decision. I had steadfastly resolved to go to the convention in costume. The hard part was picking one. There were just so many awesome works of fiction. In the end, I brought my top three ideas to my pal who was actually going to be making the costume for me, and asked her which one she wanted to tackle, based on what materials she had. Of course, she was kind-hearted enough that she said it didn’t matter, forcing me to pick anyway.
That’s how I ended up strutting through the convention dressed as Negi Springfield, technically; the Fake-Nagi Negi at the height of the Festival Tournament. Considering we shared the name Springfield, and I actually had relatives living in UK, it should have been a no brainer. There was something quite empowering about the mixed fantasy/modern garb get up, particularly the hooded cloak that billowed behind me if I kept my pace brisk.
Of course, the details were important. A white stuffed weasel I got in a dollar store was pinned to the cloak’s shoulder. I had a small thigh pouch between my black pants and the over legging (fantasy outfits; odd, but awesome looking), and it matched the tan colour decently enough. It held a container with coloured candy and few plastic tubes of coloured water and coloured powers standing in for ‘esoteric reagents.’ All in all; it wasn’t too bad for a guy cosplaying for the first time. True, the Nagi guise didn’t wear glass, but I didn’t have prescription contacts.
I had some time before the next panel I wanted to attend, so I spent it perusing the booths, hoping to claim some of the legendary convention ‘swag’ while I was there. True, I did see a lot of interesting things, but nothing really grabbed my interest, no ‘I must have it’ item.
“Well made garb,” one of the vendors greeted me. “Custom job, from the looks of it.”
I tossed a grin over my shoulder. The next booth over was in what seemed like a bad spot. That, or he didn’t want attention. His booth was deeper than it was wide, snuck in a weird bend of the aisle, and I probably would have completely missed it if he hadn’t called out to me.
“Yep. A close friend of mine is a former dressmaker and experienced overall at tailoring,” I responded, crossing over to take a look at what he had. There was a hand written sign with the calligraphy ‘Merchant’s Wares’ perched on the back corner. And yes; calligraphy. For all the sign’s plainness, the handwriting was exceptional.
His table was covered in props and toys from a range of magic themed media. A blasting rod and pentacle that matched the description from Jim Butcher’s works, wands from Harry Potter, the standby forms of a few of the devices from Nanoha, a couple medallions from the web comic Skin Deep, a scroll headed with ‘Tenser’s Floating Disk’ among other things.
“They did good work,” the merchant nodded, the cloth he wore over his face jostling lightly. Considering his trench coat and gloves, I supposed that even vendors wanted to dress up at times.
“I’ll let them know it got compliments,” I said with a slow smile. Cocking my head slightly to one side, I pointed to what looked like a cellphone. “Is that a morpher from Mystic Force?”
His voice was slightly raspy as he answered. “Aye, that it is. But that’s not what you need. You’re costume’s missing a few things.”
“The staff? I know,” I shrugged a bit hopelessly. “I had a stick back home that sorta looked like it, but...”
The merchant grinned, as far as I could tell by the movement of his mask. It could have been a grimace for all I know. “Maybe I can help you there. You’re looking for some interesting memorabilia, aren’t you?”
“Well sure,” I said, hiding my own grin as the vendor got his sales pitch ready. “Got anything I might be interested in?”
He waved his hand over the table. “My stock is from wizards and sorcerers from all many worlds and lives. All of them special in their own way. Surely I can pique your interest.”
“True, but you did say my outfit was incomplete,” I hinted. The merchant smiled. At least, I think he did. The look of his eyes hinted at it. Coloured contacts.
“Fair enough, fair enough.” He reached below his table and rummaged for a bit before coming up with a few things. A waist bag (no, it wasn’t a fanny pack, shame on you for thinking that)and an attached thigh pouch was next, the improperly clasped flap for the main pocket half-exposing covered containers, the grips of what might be magic gun models, other less immediately recognizable items fitted inside. A hand sized case followed, quickly joined by a book. The last item he produced was a near perfect replica of Negi’s staff.
“The staff you should know. The belt is a mage’s typical tool set. You’ll find a lot of the items from the series represented. The book is a copy of A Mage’s Educational Manual, which is a compilation of information from the extras, magazines and interviews with Ken Akamatsu.” The merchant expounded the worth of his wares with what I swore was a hidden smile under his mask.
For my part; I stared at the swag with as much neutrality as I could muster. In one sense; I was a lot like Negi. I liked collecting stuff. I had some a couple dozen Yugioh and Pokemon cards just sitting at home in a drawer doing nothing more than being owned and occasionally flipped through. I still had all my old cell phones, and a few of my parent’s old ones when they were changing them, including a relic of a Nokia that I could probably use to kill a man. That was a lot of cool stuff he was offering to sell me.
The merchant was good at reading people though. He pushed the case towards me and tapped it for emphasis. “This one is a bit special. Take a look, eh?”
“Colour me skepti-” My words died on my lips as I opened it. Several gleaming Ala Alba badges rested on the velvet. In the center was a perfect replica of Negi’s activation ring, right down to the inscriptions on the inner edge and the layered metal design. After a moment, my aborted sentence managed to complete itself, “-ical…”
“Ah, so you are interested,” the merchant coyly commented. “Shall we discuss prices? I can give a discount if you get it as a set…”
I sighed, already hearing hundreds of dollars cry out in pain, knowing they are about to be silenced. But he played his cards well. At least I had already resolved myself to spend a lot of money on the trip. “How much?”
My wallet was still mourning the loss alongside the part of me that managed the finances as I happily headed to off to the room my panel was to be held. In a way, being freed of the oppressive weight of that much money was a blessing. Now the merchant was the one who’d have to deal with the obligations of…
Yeah, I wasn’t fooling anyone. It cost me most of my cash. I would actually have to hit one of the ATMs if I intended to so much more spending here. Still, the wrapped wood of the staff almost felt natural in my grip. I was twirling it slightly when all hell broke loose.
The floor glowed brilliantly and a roar filled the air. Spell circles snapped into being, forming a ring around me. Even more formed in the air, the complex forms of multi-circle patterns. The roar developed a curious echo as energy built.
“Wait, wait, wait... is this that-?” I started screaming like a little girl. Gravity seemed to fail, the ground falling away and my cloak billowing upwards as some unseen force washed over me. It seemed like a bit of an overreaction as the whole thing flared to eye searing levels before it abruptly ended, the sudden silence disorienting.
It was dark on the other side of that port spell. I hung suspended high above a frozen and snowy landscape, the sky darkened and coved in thick clouds, the lingering effects of the spell denied gravity it’s rightful hold.
I started screaming again when gravity returned with a vengence and I started plummeting.
“Bro! Do something!” a voice yelled in my ear.
“Do what!” I demanded, flailing about in the frigid air, to panicked to even question who was talking.
“You’re the guy with the wizard cloak!” they yelled back, sounding just as terrified as I was. “Make with the magic!”
“Why the hell would I-” A solution popped into my head. I had no idea were it came from, and was rather concerned about the feeling of certainty I had that it would work, but considering it was ‘splat’ even if I didn’t try it...
I had started falling from just high enough for that little discussion to eat up most of the distance. With seconds to spare before impact, I swung my staff and aimed it at the ground. “Ventus Nos!”
Using magic was an amazing feeling. A burst of air rushed downwards, faster and with more force than I was falling, blasting away snow and ice and dirt, laying nude the rocky ground that had been hidden beneath it. The plume of air was like a cushion, holding me aloof and allowing me to gently drift the last few feet to the ground.
It was still freezing, likely in the double digits below zero, Celsius, I still had no clue as to where I was or what was going on, but I was stoked. Stoked and running on the adrenaline rush of falling about five stories and surviving.
“Holy... That just happened... that just happened!” I said, said, fear chuckles bubbling up. I plopped to the ground and clutched at the staff as if it were a lifeline.
“Bro! You okay?”
“Y-yeah,” I said a little shakily, a faint grin on my face as I turned to face the speaker. “I’m fiiiiii-eeermine..?”
The white furred stoat on my shoulder cocked his head curiously to the side. “What?”
“So... you’re saying that you’re the same weasel-”
“Ermine,” he corrected.
“-Stoat,” I said steadfastly, choosing to ignore his persistent terminology, “that I let out of that trap two summers ago? The same one that I kept seeing around the house since then?”
“I am. Alfred Chamomile,” he nodded, puffing his chest with pride. “And you’re my Big Bro!”
“What?” I deadpanned. As heart racing as it might be, being introduced to a concept in such a dramatic manner did do wonders for shattering mental walls of denial. Being in subzero conditions with only the possibility of magic to protect you helped break whatever else was left. The cloak I had was too thin to serve as any real protection.
Al (I decided that I wouldn’t use Chamo as a nickname) and I were protected under a layer of magic energy, keeping us warm and warding off the worse of the wind’s cutting chill. My staff was our transportation as we headed towards the pink dome he had seen while we were taking free sky diving lessons. I wasn’t flying high or all that fast. My willingness to believe and trust in mysterious magic didn’t quite extend to taking that much risk.
While I kept a portion of my attention on steering, and another on the conversation with Al, my head was otherwise reeling. There was a lot of magic knowledge in my head. As in practical ‘I did this is school’ knowledge. All of it matched and explained the magic from the manga. Hell, even this situation... The only reason I had let the weas- Al out in the first place was the humorous thought that maybe I could get my own Ermine Fairy Sidekick out of it...
“Ever since you saved me, I’ve been following you around in my spare time, you know, when I wasn’t looking for food or stuff,” Al said a bit sheepishly.
Well, let’s see how close the parallels ran... “You know, there were all those rumours about an animal in the women’s locker rooms and dorms on campus...”
“I needed things to line my burrow,” Al snuffed. “Women’s underwear is warm and heat retentive.”
“You little weasel!” I groaned, exasperated. This was getting creepily reflective now.
“Anyway, I hid in your bags when you headed to the convention. Don’t know how we got here though.”
“No, that would be too convenient. Suspiciously so,” I sighed, looking down at my hand, skin colour one or two grades lower than it used to be, and smaller at that. My hair was close to Negi’s hair at the moment, if not identical. Speaking of suspicious... that Merchant... Ten to one this was all his fault. Paralleling coincidences or no paralleling councidences. “Okay, why are we heading to that pink dome again?”
“Apart from it being the only think as far as we could see?” Al quipped.
“Aside from that,” I rolled my eyes.
“Well, I don’t know how to explain it, but...” Al shifted from my right shoulder to my left, staring at the dome as we approached. “I sense something from it... like a powerful kindred spirit...”
“Oh, that’s reassuring, coming from the weasel that stole underwear and stalked me for two years,” I muttered. I drew to a stop a couple feet from the dome and landed. It wasn’t a pretty landing, and I might have eaten a faceful of snow on the dismount, but I landed. “I can feel a lot of magic coming off this thing...”
“Hmmah, hmmah,” Al murmured scurring and sniffing back and forth along a few feet of the barrier, his whiskers twitching. “It feels like love magic...”
“And how do you know about love magic?”
“I’m an ermine fairy!” Al said resolutely. His expression shifted to the leecherous grin zone. “A fairy of love...”
“And why shou-” I started to retort.
“You rode here on a flying staff,” Al countered with a wicked smirk.
“Ah... ga- fine,” I relented. There were enough things wrong with what was going on to fill a book anyway. “Is it safe?”
“I’m still working that out,” he said, going back to his examinations.
I sat on the ground and let him work. I figured it would take him a couple minutes to come up with a concrete response, and I had nothing better to do than sit and wait. After a few moments, I let my thoughts wander over that ‘magic’ I mysteriously picked up. The ‘memories’ and ‘knowledge’ felt natural, like old friends.
The chill in the air changed. It was no longer born of the temperature, but had a more malevolent feel to it. I whirled, half rising, staff in my right hand, left hand, the one bearing the stupid ring that tempted me, extended. I didn’t see anything in the darkness that would warrant the prickling on my senses. But som-
Darkness? A dark mist was drifting down from the clouds.
“Oh, no...” I muttered.
“Sup, bro?” Al asked from behind me.
“You might want to work faster... there’s something out here, and I don’t think it’s friendly,” I swallowed. No point in not being proactive. Dark mists were, about 80% of the time, bad things. I snapped my hand out and called out the enchantment. “Ventus Nos!”
In truth, it was little more than controlling wind with will, the spell translating to ‘protect us wind’, roughly, but I was hoping. A power gust rushed out and blasted the mist, forcing it back and dispersing it somewhat. But only somewhat. It reformed within moments. The mist billowed from the sky, pooling in dark roiling clouds.
“I don’t think it’s friendly either,” Al whimpered.
A faint laugh issued from the clouds as a portion detached partially, a pair of red eyes set in green scleras leering out at us, purple mists, maybe miasma might be a better term, trailing from it.
“Flans Saltatio Puverea!” I yelled. It was a more powerful version of ‘Ventus Nos’, and actually combat spell. It did little but push the mists back, the eyes cringing shut. They seemed to smirk when the spell petered out, a pleased and smug growl coming from it. Shapes started moving within it, figures seeming to march towards us.
“Nope,” I managed, staring up at the leering form. I turned and ran full out at the dome.
“Wait! I still don’t know if it’s dangerous!” Al yelped when he realized my intentions.
“Well, that cloud definitely is!” I snagged him and charged into the barrier, closing my eyes against the brilliance of the pink light.
“Honey... You aren’t really helping anything by pacing like that,” the woman seated on the dias smiled weakly. Her hair was well groomed, flowing in multicoloured locks; violet, rose and pale gold, styled so one side hung longer than the other. Her gown was conservative, but lovely, her crown resting just behind the long horn that grew from her forehead, encased in a steady light blue glow, hands trembling slightly as they rested on the arms of her throne. Her pink coat hinted at her state, the short fur laying a bit ragged in places, but it was her eyes, and the deep bags that hung from them, that truly gave away her state.
The stallion that had, until that point, been pacing the width of the throne room, forced his hooves to remain planted, his tail flicking with a trace of shame. He placed a hand on his chest and exhaled, forcing himself to relax. He carefully walked over and knelt before his wife, placing his hands on one of her her own. “Sorry, Cadance. It’s just... this whole thing is stressful.”
“Oh, it’s not that bad, Shining” Princess Cadance smiled, more genuine this time. “You and your stallions have to periodically blast the golems that he sets on the shield. I just have to sit here, and hold... the sky up.”
Shining Armour ducked his head, a soft chuckle his response. “That one was horrible, Cadance.” His voice broke a little. “My Love Song... I wish I could help you more, but...”
“You goof. Your soldiers are busy right now making sure the shield doesn’t get too much strain,” Cadance said softly, pulling her husband into an embrace. “You are here, keeping my spirits up with your love and presence, ready to put up your own shield if mine falters, even though yours wouldn’t be able to stand up to the corrupting effects. We just have to wait for-”
Cadence stopped, eyes widening as she sense something affect the magic she was sustaining. Her husband looked up at her, a faint worry tinting his expression. “Shiny... some... thing just came through the barrier. I’m not sure what it is, but...”
Shining didn't wait to hear any more. He ran out of the throne room at a full gallop. If Sombra managed to get something inside, then it wouldn’t matter if help arrived. It might already be too late by that point.
Charging blind lent itself to stumbling and falling. The barrier, whatever it was, tingled something fierce as Al and I barreled through it, my body going numb, leaving to my tripping over my own feet and crashing to the ground on the other side. I groaned and rolled over, trying to find a better position to wait out the somewhat crippling numbness.
“Wow... this place is pretty sweet,” Al marveled, standing on his hindlegs on my chest.
I slowly opened my eyes, and stared up with bemusement at the blue sky, graced here and there with a few clouds. I tilted my head enough to peer at where the light was coming from, confusion increasing when it revealed itself to be a glow from the tip of, well, a fancy tower that looked like it was made of crystals. In fact, all the buildings clustered around its base seemed to be made of something more crystal like than simply stone like.
“Why did I expect things to start making sense?” I muttered, covering my face with my hands. “Talking weasel-”
“Ermine,” Al said, stomping a little on my chest. I ignored him.
“- magic powers, mist with eyes, random arrival in the middle of someplace’s winter...” I sighed. “What next? Pixies?”
“You! Leave the staff on the ground and get on your hooves!”
“Right... the authorities,” I grumbled. Struggling a bit with my still stiff limbs, I got up. “Of course, officeeeerrs?”
A trio of mostly identical... somethings were closing in on me. There were in armour, armour with a distinctly fantasy/medieval flair to it. Considering my own fantasy garb, I wasn’t complaining too much about that. I was more concerned about what they were. White fur covered them, as far as I could tell from the exposed areas. Their legs were hoofed. They had muzzles. One held a hammer ready. Another had a horn growing for his forehead, a horn with a golden glow around it. The third held a spear and hovered in the air, white wings flapping.
“You! Who and what are you?” the horned one asked. Demanded might be a better word.
“Wait a minute, I think it’s a foal,” the winged one cautioned, landing before the other two. He gave me one of those ‘don’t worry kid’ smiles. “Hey there, what are you doing out here? Where are your parents?”
Foals were young horses, so these were horse people? With horns and wings? Unicorn men and Pegasi folk? Right, the foal/kid comment? I started at the convention around six feet and in my twenties. I’d been avoiding thinking about it, but that ‘foal’ and ‘kid’ comment sealed it. I got Negi’s staff. I got most of Negi’s knowledge. I got Negi’s magic. I even got his plucky magic weasel side kick.
Apparently, I got his size and age too.
I ground my (presumably) ten year old teeth for a moment before looking up at them from my four feet and some change perspective and giving them a smile. “Hi. I’m Noah Springfield. Pretty sure I'm a mage. Nice to meet you.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.028 seconds
Total duration
976 users online
1,261,609 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Me--a long time veteran of the whole LoHAV fad.
This story--an offshoot product of LoHAV-ish type of subclass known as Displaced.
I shall review this story later.
Nice job man. Can't wait to see more
OK, this story looks great. I'll fav it.
In the short description
get rid of one of those "is"'s, if you get rid of the first one, then it's more certain.
getting rid of the second one will result in a more questioning tone.
Oh I like this a lot. More story please.
5744665 Many thanks. That last 'is' slipped in from the first draft.
I like it can't wait for more
Um... how human are the "ponies" here? Are they like Satyr's?
I want more.
Also, if we have a crossover, Lecila and Flynn will hug him. Luke will probably just talk about magic with him.
5744745 Hoofed legs, hands, muzzles, full fur coat, tails, horns and wings (as the case may be).
5744789 Okay, good. I have this thing against full-human ponies. This kind of Anthro may push it at times, but it shouldn't be an issue.
this is really cool ^_^ i hope there's a good amount of adventure :D
This seems promising enough. I just hope that you won't make ponies be assholes just for the sake of being assholes. Sadly it's far too common with HiE fics.
EDIT: Tracking for now.
Alright I'm in. What's next?
This is interesting but I don't get the reference sorry!
5746595 There are a few.
The little intro has a call out to Gurren Lagann and Fresh Prince of Bel Air in it.
The wares on display from assorted shows, books and Manga:
The Blasting Rod and Pentacle are from The Dresden Files (the books, not the TV Show), a cop/detective urban fantasy series by Jim Butcher (read it, it's amazing)
i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp245/MDSnowman/Dresden-SF01_cvr.jpg
The Harry Potter wands are from Harry Potter (also read it if you haven't.)
img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090426161313/harrypotter/images/8/83/1584639.jpg
The Devices are from the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha series. Worth watching. None standard magical girl fair. The main character is often called a Gundam.
dist.loveshrine.com/test/var/albums/Types/Extras/Nanoha%20Devices.jpg?m=1301563016
The Medallions are from the webcomic Skin Deep. Pretty decent read.
vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/skindeep/images/4/4c/5_medallions.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width/340?cb=20110203182042
The Morpher is from Power Rangers Mystic Force (which I admit I never got around to watching.)
rangercentral.com/database/2006_mysticforce/images/prmf-ar-mysticmorph.jpg
5746595
It's an anime called Negi Magister. Although i could be spelling the second bit wrong, i think thats the name. It's been a long time since Ive watched it.
5747027
How did I forget the most important one?
i imagine that the pactio contract is going to be a thing in this fic
if so, do you have an idea of the abilities the character may gain?
i would like it if Shining Armor and Cadence formed one, since they are maried and all.
though i have no idea on the kind of ability Shining or Cadence woud gain.
5747161 img.pandawhale.com/38964-spoilers-gif-doctor-who-UpJf.gif
I can PM you my thoughts if you're really interested though.
5747098
When do you think there will be an update??? I've yet to read a fic with this cross over and im SUPER excited lol
5747238
I think i´ll wait for when the chapter comes out.
Don´t want to spoil the story by knowing stuf ahead of time
huh a negima story didn't honestly see that one coming... really should have. Not really sure why your bothering to change the name to much but please continue.
Well, despite me avoiding Anthro stories this interests me. It helps that you are keeping Negi's lighthearted attitude with Noah. Surprisingly you don't see enough Japanese-isms ("eeeeh?!") in MLP stories.
How familiar is Noah with MLP? I'm guessing very little. Then again even if he was the Anthro nature would take anyone by surprise.
Looking forward to more!
5746812
5747027 Thank you both for your information!
By the way this story is really good I can't wait for the next chapter!
Ok. Totally gonna follow this.
Love the first chapter but i got a question : Is the crossover with the manga or the anime adaptation ?
Anyway, keep up with the good work !
5747238 I am glad that some one is doing a Negima/MLP crossover because it seams that there is only 5 of them on the internet, not including this one (I should know I have been looking all through out the internet for them), and it seams like such a good series to combine with MLP.
Even though I don't usually like this type of crossover I just love the Negima series so much that I just have to read it, although if this is using the Negima Neo series instead of the original I will just drop this story because Negima Neo was crap by comparison.
5747027 don't watch it read it. The anime only covers the first arc accurately and rushes through the second arc before creating a rushed BS ending. then there is the OAD episodes which covers part of the last arc where it goes slowly through the parts that are not very important and rushes through the important parts before ending during one of the biggest parts of that arc.
In summery read "Mahou Sensei Negima"
5748537 5748709 This is based on the Manga. I tried the anime. Didn't work for me. The Ala Alba OVA is good though even if it's only based on the summer vacation transition chapters between the major arcs.
5748832 I also liked the OVA but it was just to short and didn't cover the fight with Jack Rakan
5748832
Ok. Can't hide it : I'm relived. ;)
That picture, it means...
This crossover is...
OhgodIfoundaNegimacrossoverthatlooksgoodholycrap
5747027
Read it, don't watch it. The anime doesn't even approach what the manga is. If I were to make a comparison, I would call the anime the Star Wars Holiday Special to the manga's Episodes IV-VI.
Alright, so that might be a little bit harsh, but the point remains.
A small bit of logic-ing and research I did for my ff.net Negima fic, regarding ermine fairies and just wtf they are supposed to be. It mostly comes from British folklore about the animals, and involves a bit of connection to cait sidhe from what Chamo said in his introduction. I don't suppose it would be of much story help, but it might be useful if you delve further into what an ermine fairy is supposed to be:
5748728
Thanks I will.
Hmm, interesting, but why anthro?
5750333 For sexy times in the future, can't have negi without boobies!
5751830 i hate how right you are
5751830
Not necessarily...
5752294 were talking about a class of 31 students whose idea of having a good time is playing strip poker, half of which have bodies that a 15 year old has no right having.
Yeah Negima = Boobies.
5750333 5753447 Negima is the troop namer for Marshmallow Hell.
Also; don't forget Strip English Lesson.
But Pactio is part of the reason, Chamo (Al) is another, just because it always one, there's also the fact that I wanted to write an anthro-equestria story, and to be honest, when I envisioned this, I saw him standing before an anthro cast.
Same for me... and my moms old phone from like 2006
5748054 Totally forgot to respond to this. You're right when you say very little. It did exist, but he was never exposed to it. Maybe a few commercials and ads, but no real knowledge of it.
I love it so far, can't wait for more
Though the insurance on 'em is terrible.
Ah, well... I suppose even with wizards and chaos merchants, you still get what you pay for...