The Mechanics of Sympathetic Magic

(In the World of the Kingkiller Chronicle)

With a good link, a sympathist can move two objects by exerting force on only one of them.

In this essay, I attempt to define the rules of sympathy — a hard magic system in the world of Temerant, the setting of one of my favorite fantasy series. I had an absolute joy reading The Name of the Wind (NW) and The Wise Man’s Fear (WMF), two novels by Patrick Rothfuss in what will hopefully become a trilogy called The Kingkiller Chronicle. In the story, we only get “a rough comprehension of how these things work” (NW, ch. 11), but I’ve done my best scouring the pages of the books to uncover a more extensive explanation of the physics of sympathy.

Obviously my findings contain spoilers for NW and WMF so if you have not read either, I encourage you to read them. In any case, check out Tyler’s intriguing review of NW.

Sympathy, also known simply as sympathetic magic, is the science of redirecting energy which is channeled via sympathetic links (NW, ch. 39). To establish a sympathetic link, known as a binding, one must use their Alar, the ability to control one’s own beliefs (ch. 11). Practitioners of sympathy are known as “sympathists” (ch. 39) and most are trained at the University where sympathy is one of the nine fields of study in the Arcanum (ch. 35).

All sympathy consists of linking any two objects together with one of at least ninety bindings (ch. 36). Bindings are executed by saying the proper words and focusing one’s Alar on the belief that the items being bound are connected (ch. 11). A sympathist may establish and maintain multiple bindings simultaneously, though doing so requires a strong Alar because one must split their mind into multiple parts (ch. 39).

The goal of a sympathetic link is to transfer the energy of one object to another; however, because no link is perfect, some of the energy of the first linked object will not be transferred to the other (ch. 11). The efficiency of energy transference increases as the objects being linked increase in similarity. Furthermore, using a piece of one object in the other increases similarity, thereby increasing the efficiency of energy transference (ch. 39).

Malfeasance

Any use of sympathy to cause harm is considered malfeasance and it is expressly forbidden (ch. 40). The most common form of malfeasance involves linking a person to a simulacrum with their hair or blood attached. Without adding hair and blood, the energy transference would be too low for any meaningful effect (ch. 39). For this reason, sympathists avoid giving other people their hair or blood and the Medica has a policy for the disposal of bandages by burning them to keep their patients safe (NW, ch. 40; WMF, ch. 23).

Binder’s Chills

The binder’s chills is a condition induced by using too much of one’s body heat as a source of energy. Because sympathy is the simple act of transferring energy between linked objects, most uses of sympathy require an energy source. Fire is the most common source as it produces a lot of energy quickly and is easily manipulated by sympathy. But body heat is another common source due to its reliability, yet it is also the most dangerous. A rapid decrease in body temperature brings about the binder’s chills: intense shivering, exhaustion, and, in extreme cases, shock and hypothermia (NW, ch. 52).

Thaumic Overfill

Since every link leaks energy during transference and since energy cannot be destroyed, the leaked energy must go somewhere. Thaumic overfill, also known as slippage, occurs when the leaked energy goes into the sympathist’s body. Thermal thaumic overfill increases one’s body temperature, sometimes to fatal levels. Kinetic thaumic overfill rips one’s body apart, resulting in torn off limbs or worse (WMF, ch. 22).

The Mechanics of Sympathy

Three Laws of Sympathy (revealed in the Chronicle)

1. Correspondence: Similarity increases sympathy.
2. Consanguinity: A piece of a thing can represent the whole of a thing.
3. Conservation: Energy cannot be destroyed nor created. (NW, ch. 39)

Fourteen Corollaries of Sympathy (inferred by examples of usage)

1. Primary Sympathetic Bindings: Almost any two different items can be bound to each other by sympathy (ch. 11).
2. Binding Words: A sympathetic binding is established only if the words of a sympathetic binding are spoken (ch. 11).
3. Binding Alar: A sympathetic binding between items is established only if one believes in the connection between them (ch. 11).
4. Similarity: If the similarity between items increases, then the ability to bind them increases.
5. Familiarity: If one’s familiarity with the items increases, then their ability to bind those items increases (ch. 52).
6. Sympathetic Energy Transference: If two items are bound by sympathy, then the energy exerted upon one will affect the other (ch. 11).
7. Control of Energy Transference: With focus and discipline, one can control the amount of energy passing between linked items (WMF, ch. 22).
8. Efficiency of Energy Transference: If the ability to bind items increases, then the amount of energy transference between them increases (NW, ch. 11; WMF, ch. 27).
9. Energy Transference Alar: As the strength of one’s Alar increases, the efficiency of energy transference increases (NW, ch. 40).
10. Destination of Energy Loss: As the energy lost during transference increases, the amount of energy transferred into the air, the linked items, and the sympathist’s body increases (sometimes with catastrophic results, see thaumic overfill above; WMF, ch. 22).
11. Multiple Bindings: As the strength of one’s Alar increases, their ability to establish and maintain multiple sympathetic bindings increases (NW, chs. 10 & 64).
12. Auxiliary Sympathetic Bindings: The energy transference of a primary binding may be supplemented with an auxiliary binding between the primary binding itself and a source of heat (NW, ch. 66; WMF, ch. 91).
13. Physical Strain: As the number of bindings that one performs increases, their stamina decreases (NW, ch. 80).
14. Conflicting Alar: One’s belief that two items are not connected interferes with another’s belief that they are connected (NW, ch. 52).

Mr. Rothfuss, if you have read this, thank you for reading, and thank you for spending the time and effort to package and release your imagination in a way that has so vividly sparked my own. I know you “literally have the math for a lot of these [sympathy] things” so feel free to comment on the accuracy of my analysis. Also, please consider contacting me if you are interested in creating an RPG for the world of Temerant — I would be absolutely thrilled to work on a project like that!

More on similar topics:

A Wonderful Journey to Somewhere

. . . Parts of the book feel like they were written by a beginner, but most of it feels like it was written by a master who had great fun along the way . . .

Deception, God, and Bean Is Smarter Than Everyone

. . . It is this level of respect that Card has for his readers to resolve things in their own minds that made me truly enjoy the storytelling of this book . . .

Project Federalism (Paper 1):

. . . We should look to the first Federalist Paper to remember that by not actually addressing the arguments we disagree with, we are “[disgracing] the cause of truth” . . .