Magic is...magic.

You have to understand that the magic in my world is not the same as the magic in your world. In your world, magic means impressions, beauty, and more, but in my world magic is real. It exists. It isn't tangible - you can't hold it in your hand - but the effects of it are...well, real. It's always been there (according to our histories), even though not everyone can use it - or control it. There are people who just have no magic at all. They try, but nothing ever happens. We have young people, from the youngest at age seven, to the oldest at age seventy four, who start to use magic, with mixed results. We have experts (who usually get elected to the Guild) and we have people who can barely rub two sticks together. There are stories, spoken about quietly, of those who showed promise and then went..well, they went nuts. They lost the plot of magic, and became a threat, to their own safety and the safety of everyone around them. Everyone. The Council has been in place now for centuries and they look after magic, and the people who use it. You might call it a Guild, I suppose, but it is a very small group of people who look after the day to day effects of real magic, and try to stop anyone going mad and wrecking the town - or worse. There is a story - admittedly, it's very old, centuries - of one of the first people to try to 'own' magic. It didn't work out too well for anyone, and it is only because of the Guild that we are all here today to talk about it. Even if we do talk about it in hushed voices.