[quote=@Polybius]

I disagree. I think magic is a great tool to make the world interesting, more vibrant and readible. The 'cool' factor if you will. Writing a world that is just renamed real-world pseudo-cultures doesn't exactly appeal to me (or anyone else reading it for that matter) what we need are hooks and plotlines just like any good novel. Instead I think we should all agree on a set rule of law for magic. 

[/quote]

I strongly agree with this. I'm considering the options, but again, this depends somewhat on the level of development...Can these people read? Can they write? If not, they certainly aren't sitting in libraries studying. Is magic learned or inherited? Where does it come from? If we agree that it exists at all....In an early civilization, if magic was to be taught, it would be an oral tradition, I should think. But it still had to come from somewhere in the first place, which is, I think, the point of writing a history...to answer these questions. And if I've just confused everyone else as thoroughly as I have myself, then it's going to be one of those days!