20 More Things MD Could Be

 

 

With thanks to Sylvanas of The Red Lantern for asking what MD actually are. Sometimes you've just gotta make a list of things. 

The 6 I already posted in the GLOG server, for archival purposes:

1. Bits of your soul that you've shaped into gambling chips to wager for demonic abilities.
2. Witch organs that grow in your chest cavity as you progress as a MU, which can channel an unpredictable amount of power each day before succumbing to spiritual poison.
3. Generally-applicable magic formulae you prepare each day, like magic squares or ABRAXAS or whatever, that can interact unpredictably with each other or leak from your memory after being used too many times.
4. Magic knucklebones given to you by the first devil you made a pact with.
5. Imps hidden in your shadow, which return to hell when they get tired or bored.
6. Precautions you've taken to prevent the entities you deal with from eating you, like a protective amulet or really horrible-tasting herbs. There are {max possible MD} workable methods in the setting, and each time you gain an MD it represents getting the hang of a new one.

And 20 more for the road:

1. Clots of magic in your brain.
2. Stars smiling upon you.
3. False identities the universe unmakes in your place, when it catches up with you.
4. Wizardly devices you macgyver and hide about your person.
5. Mouths to speak incantations with (after the first they appear on your forehead, the backs of your hands, etc. If you expend all your MD you are silenced).
6. Inconsequential memories burnt as fuel; your max MD is the number of memories you can expend each day before giving yourself dementia.
7. Bottled mouse souls.
8. Lightning bolts bound to your staff. (Lightning is wily, and to do this you must outsmart it or bargain with it).
9. Toadstones you've swallowed.
10. Magically potent feathers/scales/etc from your familiar.
11. Birthmarks forming a constellation on your arm, which fade as you lose MD and reappear as you regenerate them.
12. Coupons snipped out of extradimensional junk mail. To become a wizard you have to reach a higher plane of consciousness just long enough for someone to sell your contact information.
13. Fireflies perched on your magic ring, which dim as you expend its power.
14. Higher-dimensional strings you pull taut when casting.
15. Distinct colors in your aura.
16. Shrines you've made a pilgrimage to.
17. Wishes purchased from a well.
18. Sealed boxes of pure quintessence.
19. Favors owed to you by beings of elemental air/earth/water/fire for performing the proper rites each dawn (but don't offend them by demanding too much at once).
20. Nightmares trapped in your dream catcher.