The World of Aldain - Immersive! Inspiring! In...need of your help!

The World of Aldain is a project I've been working on for the better part of 14 years. The world has star charts, histories, cultures, languages, and evolutionary histories on how both magical and non-magical creatures and races came to exist. The entire world has been used for several campaigns, short stories, and the novel I am currently working on. It is immense, and I cannot hope to bring all the elements of this world to light on this thread, but I can show the basic elements and properties. Not only that, but I need a fresh pair of eyes to assist me in brainstorming ideas the forces that make up the worlds unique functions.

Project Contributors:

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Welknair, Veklim, WaylanderX, SamBurke, 3SecondCultist, SilverBit, Frathe, Salbazier, DracoDei, LPlate, Amidus Drexel, OhMyGodImOnFire, Dr Bwaa and several non-forum individuals.

Thank you all for your contributions, advice and critiques!

Index:
Magic: The Stuff of Sentience | Fate: The Fabric of Physics | Luck: The Basis of Biology

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The World of Aldain

Crucial to the make up of this world are three basic forces that make up this world, and the races that are connected to them. Magic. Fate. And Luck.

Magic = Sentience, Perception, and Belief
Fate = Physics, the Elements, and Foresight
Luck = Biology, Adaptation, and Evolution

The three forces all cycle into which is in power, as seasons might, though these cycles take much more time than a year to do so. Each transition to a different force marks the start of a new age. Naturally, an age is estimated to be about 500 years, though events can interrupt or extend the period of a cycle as well. When one force is in power, the other two are passive, diminishing or increasing the powers of the races attuned to them respectively.

Think of Luck and Fate as two halves of a battery. Not the positive and negative sides, split the battery right down the middle length-wise. Both halves have the four elements - Fire, Earth, Wind and Water. In fate - we have the elements as individuals working as a whole to create the way things work, a place for life to be able to be, and so on. Then the other half you have the four elements as one cohesive combination, resulting in various forms and walks of life. Both halves have a positive and negative side, as a battery would. Fate's are known as the radicals which represent two sides of a reaction - Hot and Cold, Motion and Stillness, Light and Dark. With Luck, its life and death. Neither positive nor negative are bad, as they are both necessary to the benefit of the overall world. Magic is the stuff inside the battery; the latent energy is derived from the other two's existence.

The three forces interact naturally with each other, complementing or contradicting each other in various ways. Each force has one race that it is attuned to, and so these specific races are able to manipulate and use the forces. Some products of these powers have similar results, and some very unique. Magic interacts well with both Luck and Fate, but Fate and Luck don't mix well together on a power relation. A Luck user cannot make the ground move or create anything inanimate, just as a Fate user cannot directly affect the contents of a living thing.

Meanwhile, Magic bends reality, so can effect both. In a way, Magic cannot exist without the existence of both Luck and Fate, because it is a product of the two.

The Ancients - The Wielders of Magic

Ancients have “the spark”, which gives them the ability to affect reality through magic. In other words, every sentient creature has the power of belief, but only the Ancients can affect reality with that belief. That power to affect reality is what we call ‘Magic’.

Ancient Characteristics:

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The Ancient race is one of the three founding races in Aldain. They are often referred to by the Elvori as "True Men", as they are the ancestors (at least partially) of the "Hewn-men", the race that was born through the coupling of the Ancients and the Elvori. The Ancients used to be one of the leading populace until civil wars and crossbreeding with other races nearly wiped out the race completely. There are currently only a known handful of them left (between one and two hundred).

Ancients do not have a written or spoken language. They communicate by memories. This means when communicating a recount of a recent memory, an Ancient need only transfer the memory to do so. Other more complex things can be communicated through senses, feelings, memories of objects, and even emotions. The Ancients with this ability can sense other Ancients' minds in a close proximity, and custom dictates permission must be asked before one talks to (or rather enters the mind of) another Ancient. A connection can be blocked off at either end in a communication at any time. Connections can be maintained once started over a long distance, but the farther from someone is the more energy it takes to send information. It takes minimal amounts of energy to communicate to someone you are in contact with or in the close vicinity of. Additionally, sleep or unconsciousness ends the link.

The only exception to this rule is in the connections that the Ancients have with their animal companions, called “Creatures of the Bond”. These connections are a sacred bond that each Ancient shares with his or her respective animal, and he or she can communicate over a much longer distance than ancient to ancient. The connection between an Ancient and his or her creature is very similar to the normal connection between two ancients, save that it is more powerful.

Female Ancients have cats of prey like lions, panthers, cougars, jaguars, tigers, and more, while male Ancients have birds of prey, such as eagles, hawks, owls, falcons, and so on. These creatures are sentient companions to these specific genders, though in extremely rare occurrences an Ancient has taken a creature of his or her opposing gender's type. In general, mental bonds with a creature can be disrupted by an external party and can even be magically blocked for a time if one is committed to the task. However, the Ancient-Creature Bond cannot be severed by anything but death.

The Broken Bond – An Ancient that has lost its Creature of the Bond, or a Creature that has lost its Ancient, will never be able to reforge this connection with another. This separation, if left to its own devices, can cause the remaining member of the bond to go mad. To counteract this, most Ancients who have a broken bond are tasked with becoming teachers. Teachers generally train other Ancients in casting, or other tasks in which they are often in contact with other minds, to prevent madness. More information on Magical Education can be found below.

Magic

Magic is a power that functions through belief. It is a tool. It is neither good nor evil, just as an ax can be used to chop down a tree or to kill another. Originally, all peoples believed in magic. When the Ancients existed as a complete race, it was common knowledge that magic existed, and so all believed in it. Now that the Ancients have all but died off, people inherently want to believe in the fantastic, but do not see magic as fact. Therefore, the amount of power of a spell correlates to the amount of belief: the belief of the one casting, and the belief of others that witness or are directly involved in the spell. This causes a phenomenon where a witness directly influences a caster's effectiveness in casting, while the caster influences a witness's ability to perceive. The result of this interaction is a precarious balance of perceptional dominance between the caster and the witness.

The caster is essentially the "igniter" of an effect. Without a caster's spark, belief is just a pile of kindling. To create a spell, a caster uses two different forms of energy to fuel a desired effect. The first type of energy is their own internal energy. This energy is made up of the life force of the caster. As a caster ages, he or she is able to use less of that life force to cast the same thing - similar to how a stronger individual might use less energy to lift heavy things. In fact, the consumption of energy used to lift an object physically is no different than the consumption of energy to cast a spell. The second type of energy is external, and taken from belief – other sentient's.

There are three forms of magic that make up the spectrum of which magic is used: Visual, Mental, and Physical magic. Visual magic draws from internal lightly and external belief heavily, mental magic draws from internal belief and external belief equally, and physical magic draws from internal belief heavily and external belief lightly. A caster can only use one of these three forms of magic; however, this is based on long tradition and strong belief that use of multiple forms is impossible rather than on the laws of nature."

Visual Magic

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Visual Magic is forcibly manifesting your beliefs into an observable phenomenon. Maintaining such a phenomenon draws on a caster's energy. Once the illusion is formed, it draws on the belief of any who observe it to become temporarily real. Because visual magic takes advantage of both internal and external magic, it is often referred to as the most versatile of all three schools of magic. However, it is limited by the fact that visual magic is only temporary - the more powerful a caster is, the longer he or she is capable of maintaining a visual spell, but no visual spell can last forever, not even during an age of Magic. Different strengths of spells have different time limitations, so casters must be aware of these constraints so as not to be relying on the spell when its effect ends.

Unobserved, a visual caster could only cast small spells based on his or her own belief. A spell stops drawing on the energy of the caster when it stabilizes into reality through the belief of an audience. If a caster tries to push too far into conjuring a spell that is not wholly believed, he or she could expend his or her energy quickly and become exhausted. The more believable a spell is, the less energy it takes to cast.

It is easier for an illusion to be cast in a place that this item would characteristically be. An example: One could create the illusion of a cactus in the water, but it would be significantly more accepted by a witness if it were in a sandy area. Other conditions might factor into this as well, such as climate or surrounding area. Some casters use a material aid such as a sketchbook or notebook to assist them in visualizing all the elements of the spell, or visual aids that would assist in convincing a viewer of the spell.

Mental Magic

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Mental Magic is used to forcibly affect the perception of another person. This can be as subtle as observing the perceptions of another person, or more powerful uses could include manipulating the thoughts of an individual, inserting false memories, and forcibly controlling a person. This can extend to encouraging certain emotions in a person or even cause someone to fall asleep or wake. This form of magic can be very effective for individual people, but not as effective for a group of people, unless a leadership role is manipulated to act upon a group, such as making a king decree orders. A material aid of mental magic could be a caster disguising them self as a person of higher status. Some casters use a specific gesture or phrase to assist in focusing the spell, such as pointing at ones temples or saying the phrase “would you kindly”. Some casters prefer to use a personal trinket of some sort such as a pendent or spinning top, to both assist esteem in the caster and focus the subject of the spell into one thought.

Physical Magic

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Physical Magic is to alter your perception of an object (and thus, the object) directly in your field of view. This could be the size of the object, or even the composition. However, this process expends a great amount of energy, and the denser the material, the more time and energy is needed to cast. Physical magic is different from either of the other schools. Since it mainly requires the caster's belief to operate, physical magic relies almost exclusively upon what the caster is able to create. Because the target is inanimate, changes made to an object by physical magic are almost always permanent. Since changing the object means altering one's perceptions of an object, a caster must trick themselves into believing it is already something it really isn't yet. Often mind tricks assist in this process, such as covering one eye to lose depth perception or to close both after studying an object and picture it as the desired size.

In changing the composition of an object, a caster would often have the material they wished to change an object to handy to assist in the casting process. Then both objects can be studied for the spell. Additionally, due to the Third Barrier (see below in the barriers section), it is rare that an object is changed into something that is not of a similar composition or has a relation. An example of an item that is not of similar composition, but has a relation is water to ice. Due to the limitations of this magic, only still or contained liquids can be affected by a spell, as the subject must remain in the field of view. Healing would also fall into this form of magic. It should be noted that, unlike visual magic, the effects of physical spells have no duration. The changed object remains that way until it is changed again with another physical spell.
(Writer’s note: With physical magic, the objects are sent to/pulled from The Ulterior Realm)

Spells have 3 basic stages:

1. Drawing Stage: Caster decides the who, what, where, when, why of the spell. This is the period a spell is planned and crafted. The quality of belief (interior) is determined at this time.

2. Casting Stage: This is the period where the spell is actually cast. During this period, the subject of the spell begins taking on the desired effect, whether this be an illusion, person, or object. The quality of belief (exterior), when applicable, is determined at this time. The spell begins drawing on the energy of the caster at this time.

3. Stabilizing Stage: The spell is completed or dispelled. Concentration and the quality of belief of the spell determine whether a spell stabilizes or not. Once the spell stabilizes, it no longer draws on the caster's energy or an observers belief.

A caster must overcome several basic Barriers in order to successfully cast a spell:

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Barrier 1: Conception-
First, a caster must believe that he or she can cast. Once this is accomplished, a caster is only as powerful as how much he or she believes can be personally achieved. As one grows in knowledge and experience, one grows more confident in his or her abilities. Some casters will have an advantage to this based on their own creativity.

Barrier 2: Comprehension -
People can only believe in the unbelievable until Alderic's Cusp (the point at which the suspension of disbelief collapses). People inherently want to believe in the fantastic, and that is why magic CAN exist, but still, there are some rules that people believe to be true, such as gravity. It is very hard to break these truths without heavily convincing the audience of the act. In this way, it is very difficult to get the subject of mental magic to kill his mother (unless he already harbored a disliking). Often, a subject's intelligence and knowledge influences how much that subject believes a certain spell, especially in specialized areas such as a job class. Further, the more familiar a subject or witness is with a spell may find the occurrence more or less believable as a reality. The mechanics of magic are kept from common knowledge, otherwise magic would never be more than an illusion. "A magician never reveals his secrets."

A small audience that believes in your casting is much better than a large one that is partially convinced. As a result, the more convinced an audience is, the easier it is to cast. The more people that witness the act, the more convincing the illusion needs to be. It should be noted that most observers take what they see for granted, and so objects that are peripherally observed are often automatically accepted to be real.

Barrier 3: Concentration-
Magic automatically sides with the caster's intentions so long as he or she concentrates on the spell before it "stabilizes". If events cause the caster to lose concentration or become distracted, the spell becomes distorted. From this, the spell has two options. The first is that it collapses and has no ill effect other than the dissipation of the spell. The other option is that the spell's intention could spread to that of a witness. To explain, say a caster wanted to fly, so he or she projects the image of them flying over a few people in order to do so. However, the caster then becomes distracted by something, lowering the quality of the illusion. A witness to the illusion looks up and thinks the image is falling, and even calls attention to it. The caster then gets transported into the air like he or she intended, but then plummets to the ground. If the caster did not keep his or her illusion low to the ground, this blundered spell could be the last that caster casts. For mental magic, distorted spells could damage or even backfire on the caster as the subject's mind rejects the spell. In physical magic, distorted spells could make the object take on an undesired and random quality.

Despite these barriers, there are circumstances where these limitations might be surpassed. Casters who are in a state of heightened urgency or emotion, such as in sudden defense of a loved one or when in a rage, become totally engrossed in the task at hand and subsequently forget their limitations. This task often uses much more effort and magic than the task requires and so when the event concludes it leaves the caster vulnerable and exhausted. If a caster is sure of death as the only outcome to the situation, a caster might willingly use a lethal amount of magic for a desired effect and then perish upon completion of the task.

A delusional or mad caster is another example of a caster that might surpass certain barriers. Casters who lack sanity lack reason, and non-exclusively projects their own personal reality. This is a terrifying concept in theory, but it should be remembered that the insane still have an interpretation of reality, just not one that is cohesive to the actual one. So, while one may seem to have no limits in his or her power, a delusional caster is often more limited than the normal caster is. These limitations may not even make sense. An example of this might be that an insane caster can only cast on Tuesdays, or refuses to affect anything that is the color blue. These casters should always be met with caution, as they are vastly unpredictable.

Magical Formula:

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Power = [Interior Belief (Capacity + Experience) + Exterior Belief (quantity of viewers and/or Quality of Belief from viewer)] x Quantity of Casters

Quality of Belief (Interior) = (Execution) + (Capacity) + (Material Aids)
Quality of Belief (Exterior) = (Execution) x (Quality of illusion or suggestion + Material Aids)

Execution = (Charisma) + (Accuracy)
Capacity = Creativity (Imagination and Aptitude) + Study (knowledge of the subject of spell)

Charisma; how influential is the caster to his or her audience?
Accuracy; how convincing or detailed is the subject of the spell.

Magic is limited by what a caster believes he or she is capable of and what his or her ability allows him or her to accomplish. Therefore, Magic is both inherent (through creativity and ingenuity) and scientific (in terms of studying a wide variety of objects that may be used for a spell). The better one understands an object, the more accurate the illusion of the object will become, or manipulated in the case of physical magic. So, the less you know about casting, the less confidence you have in casting. This causes you to be limited in what you are able to cast. Additionally, not studying objects or practicing spells often diminishes the quality and effect of a spell. In essence, power is derived (as the equations say above) from interior and exterior belief. A caster’s interior belief regulates his or her capacity for magic. The less capacity a caster has the more energy it takes to create spells. Further, in visual and mental magic, it also causes maintained spells to have shorter life spans before the caster would need to rekindle it. At lower power, a fly spell could be something akin to a large hop, as it consumes energy at a rapid rate. As a caster gains power, the flights would grow longer and longer in distance, however power will never make a spell unlimited.

A caster that has exhausted themselves casting can recover by means a person would commonly use to recover from normal exhaustion. Casting is like any other activity a body performs, and so the body recovers similarly from it. Over exhaustion could cause hospitalization or even in some cases - death. The body often attempts to stop a caster before he or she reaches the point of exhaustion, and will begin shutting down to avoid mortal exhaustion. Still, a caster can force his or her body to beyond this point. Since the ability to cast derives fundamentally in the belief that you can cast, it is common for a caster who has experienced a traumatizing situation or loss by magical or non-magical means to find themselves unable to cast for a period of time.

Magical Instruction:

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Training begins as soon as possible for an Ancient. At first, the parents are responsible for magical instruction. A child in this stage could exhibit some affinity for a particular form of magic. Once Ancient children show signs for a particular school of magic, they begin to be schooled in that path. As stated earlier, many instructors for magic are Ancients who have had their bonds broken. They take on pupils and work with them at a young age to overcome the barriers of casting.

Each Ancient grasps these principles at widely varying rates, and therefore it can take years or as little as weeks, to train a caster in a specific lesson. The instructors also hone the caster’s talents that would aid them in casting, such as public speaking or persuasive writing, acting, music, or visual art. To become familiar with material components of a spell, Ancients study natural and physical sciences, history and culture. These seemingly rudimentary tasks will greatly aid casters not only with their interactions with people, but with reality in general. The use of magic is considered by the Ancients to be an art form. Each uses their talents in different ways, and so the results of a spell often are dependent on a caster. Think of casting like a fingerprint; each result of a spell is similar, but it doesn’t happen quite the same way. While it is possible for an Ancient to start training after childhood, results vary as to its effectiveness. This is because it is substantially more difficult to change one's beliefs after development than during development.

Dueling:

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When magic was fact, dueling could exist. Today, dueling is much more complex and difficult. Dueling is not at all the scene that one would imagine for two casters who are dueling – spells being cast back and forth at one another as it was when magic was fact. Instead, now that one relies on illusion to facilitate the reality of a spell, casters can no longer directly cast at each other. In fact, now casting takes place in one of two places: in combat or within the mind, sometimes both. Mainly, since magic cannot be used, duels are fought by hand-to-hand combat. The only variation to this is if one caster surprises the other, he or she might be able to cast an offensive spell at the other without the caster realizing it is a spell until after the effect.

If two casters are mental magic users, they could battle as if both could cast. These battles are interpreted differently. These duels are battles of the mind where one caster is attempting to dominate the other’s mind. This battle is conducted in something similar to a dream, and resembles magical dueling of old within the mind. Each attack on the other resembles a spell or weapon, but is in actuality a thrust of will. Each spell is a siege attack on the other’s mind, attempting to break the other’s defenses. A caster must counter spells that could do damage to the defenses, as well as attack to attempt to do the same to the enemy. This dreamlike battle is the way the minds interpret the conflict, and draws on the psyche of both to operate. Once one mind is dominated, the dream collapses as one of its two supports has been cut off. Very rarely, one of esteemed mental capacity could battle within and out of the mind, thus fighting a caster in the midst of a battleground. The rarest form of duel is when two casters fight both within the mind and in hand-to-hand combat.

Cumulative Casting:

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This technique occurs when two or more casters of a similar caliber work together. Commonly, cumulative casting is where several people of different forms of magic work together toward a common goal, each facilitating a different condition of the goal. An example of this might be a mental caster causing someone to be more receptive to an illusion that a visual caster was projecting.

Cumulative casting can also be implemented for casters who are from the same form of magic. In other words, this is two or more people working toward one spell for a common goal. This act decreases the amount of effort it takes to cast the spell, as well as the amount of exterior belief needed. It also aids in extending the length of a spell and often the effect of one. For this type of casting to occur, two casters must link their minds and become one thought or risk the likely failure in casting. This risk is occurs because while two casters may believe they are casting the same thing, even a slight variation or distraction may cause a conflict in the spell, or worse, there could be a dangerous backlash to one or both casters. Due to the nature of cumulative casting, the casters involved must completely shut out the outside world so as to not be distracted. All perception is internal as the casters focus entirely on the task at hand. This causes the casters to be vulnerable to physical attacks and the world around them while casting, and so it is uncommon to begin this technique without certain measures of protection put into place, such as others watching over the casters or casting in a secure location.

Even with both casting with one thought, if an event causes one mind to become separated from the other (such as knocking one unconscious), there could be risk of a rampant spell or an overload where the spell of two rests in one awareness and is too much for one to cast.

Rampant Spells:

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A rampant spell is caused if all the members casting the spell were separated from a casting link simultaneously. Without the guidance and direction from the involved casters, the intended spell is naturally released without any control over its actions. This often causes dangerous and unpredictable results. Instead of an effect of a spell occurring some distance away, it could occur directly on the casting area, or directed at a random target. A spell that was not fully shaped might take on a completely new form. Sometimes these occurrences are harmless, and other times they are incredibly powerful. Often the method that causes the casters to become separated from the spell influences the effects of the spell. The reason the spell does not overload the involved casters' minds as it is released is because there is a sufficient capacity of casters upon the release of the spell, and therefore no negative effects occur mentally from the release (however the spell itself might affect them).

Overloading:

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When an Ancient willingly takes on a spell that is too much for them (over-channeling) or by an interrupted cumulative casting, an overload occurs upon casting. When a spell is too great, the feeling is akin to pressure being built up within the caster's mind. At this point, a caster can attempt to delay casting the spell for as long as he or she can withstand the mounting pressure of the spell. In this time, another caster would be able to attempt restore the link for the spell. After the caster can no longer withstand the pressure, the spell is released and the backlash surges through the caster's mind, rendering them either unconscious or severely disoriented in lesser cases, or in greater cases, the backlash could kill the caster. Some casters suffer from short-term memory loss or complete loss of the memory of the event; others have been known to go mad. Overloading basically causes a caster to lose a portion of his or her grasp of reality. Whether this is temporary or not completely depends on how severe the overload is.

Over-channeling has similar effects to overloading, but often has a lower rate of mortality since a caster is in complete control of the amount he or she cast beyond his or her ability, instead of an interrupted spell between multiple casters. When an Ancient over-channels, it is normally an implement of last resort. The more a caster over-channels a spell, the less believers are need, essentially allowing a single caster to successfully cast a more powerful spell without the need for any exterior belief. Unfortunately this also makes it increasingly hard for a caster to concentrate or stabilize a spell. The less stability a caster has, the more damage he or she does to his or her mind. Due to the hazardous effects of this practice, it is widely taboo to use such techniques. Education on casting mostly focuses on a caster knowing his or her limits, and caution on overstepping an individual's capabilities.

It should be remembered that once a spell is amplified, it is unable to be de-amplified. When the spell is completed, the joined minds release each other. One could cast with any number of people, but each time a person is added, it becomes increasingly difficult for the next to link. Often, spouses and families cast spells together as one mind, because the close relations and emotional bonds aid in connection. Due to the current low population of Ancients, as well as the ratio of each caster in the various forms of magic, linking is not common greater than a pair, perhaps a trio in certain areas of higher population. Small pockets of family groups are the exception to this rule.

Subsumal Magic:

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A form of magic that has been hidden from the knowledge of all remaining Ancients is a thing referred to as Subsumal Magic. Subsumal Magic is where each of the main forms of magic is combined. This combination is directed at a living thing or several living things and transforms them into a new form. This often has unexpected consequences. When this magic was first implemented it was discovered the subjects no longer remembered any of their former life. Because of this, any loyalties a subject had before the spell should not be counted on post transformation.

Another side effect is that the spell is unalterable and irreversible. Additionally, it is often hard to predict what a combination of creatures will become. Some subsumal spells are the alteration of a living thing (such as the Dwarves), while others are the combination of several (such as Merfolk). The first subsumal magic accidentally created the race of Faeries. Many of the original creature(s) capabilities remain after a transformation, even if to a lesser degree. Dwarves are able to use a form of Physical Magic, as they once were Ancients. Centaurs instinctively knew how to walk in their new form when created, despite not ever having taken an actual step. This magic eventually was developed to end wars quickly. If a war could be ended by incapacitating the leader or an entire section of an army, it was felt to be an acceptable technique. This tactic became a leading factor in the downfall of the Ancient race when civil war nearly annihilated them, and nearly ripped the world asunder. It was the decision of the remaining Ancients and other prominent races to erase all knowledge of this magic.

The Elvori - The Arbiters of Fate

The Elvori have a living connection to the force of Fate, which gives them the ability to interact with world of Aldain. Everything is affected by the ways of the world, but only the Elvori have the power to communicate with those ways. Those ways are what we call "Fate".

Elvori Characteristics: (under construction)

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<The elvori (or elves) is one of the three founding races in Aldain. Has pointed ears, variety of pigmentations in all 4 factions, look physically different depending on the element they control. Elements were once thought to be hereditary, but are actually by choice. >

Fate

Fate is a force that functions through reactions. To control Fate is to have a power to manipulate and understand these reactions, and in doing so - predict what future reactions might be. These are evidenced by the two forms of interaction with Fate which the Elvori possess. Immediate Fate, which compromises basic physical laws such as thermodynamics, mass and inertia (to name a few), and Ultimate Fate, in which predictions can be made for future events. Fate is made up by the four primal elements that the world is comprised of (Fire, Earth, Water, and Wind), and these elements are crucial for both Immediate and Ultimate Fate function.

The Radicals of Fate

Fate in the end is a duality – it has a positive side and negative side. Some destinies lead fate toward one of these radicals, other destinies lead toward the other. It is important to note that the Radicals of Fate are not in the alignments of "good" or "bad" as might be believed. Positive and Negative Fate are two terms for states of existence, not morality. This is similar to how positive and negative could be two different charges of a magnet, or more accurately two extremes in states of matter: Moving or Resting, Hot or Cold, Light and Dark, so on.

Living things typically thrive in cases where these extremes are balanced, and similarly, Aldain is habitable because the Radicals are balanced. This is what the Elvori strive for: "The Calm". The Calm lies in between the radicals, and is what enables Aldain to survive as a planet capable of sustaining life. Some even hypothesize that the balance of the Radicals is what causes the planet to spin on its axis, perhaps it even causes the three forces of Aldain to maintain their cycle. Still, there are those that subscribe to Positive or Negative Fate exclusively. These people are known as "Radicalists". Radicalists do not care about balancing Fate, only in furthering the world toward their particular radical. Different factions within these groups justify this philosophy in various ways.

The Elements

Fate is made up of the four elements - Water, Wind, Fire, and Earth.

-	Water	Wind	Fire	Earth
Matter	Liquid	Gas	Plasma	Solid
Property	Cooling	Motion	Heating	Still
Radical	Positive Tendency	Negative	Negative Tendency	Positive

It should be understood that Water, Wind, Fire, and Earth are not truly the elements themselves but rather are strong representatives of these four states of matter. They are nonetheless still strongly analogous of the elemental forces and embody the spirit of the elements as closely as physically possible on this plane of existence. Thus if one wishes to study the element of water, then learning about water is essential to become more strongly tied to the element, but other liquids will expand and refine that knowledge. In other words, each representation of each element is the root aspect to begin study, but does not make up the entirety of the element by any means.

This also suggests why there are some exceptions to the rule - some liquids, like mercury, are not attuned to the water element, just as not all solids, like ice, are earth. Still in general terms one will find a general consistency with states of matter being attuned to one of the four elements.

Radical Influences:

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Positive fate represents the tendency for atoms, particles, and so on to come toward each other, become denser and become stagnant. This would cause earth to be the element most sided with Positive Fate, but water, dealing with cooling, and removing energy from the subject, would lean toward Positive Fate as well.

Conversely, Negative Fate represents things drifting away from each other, becoming less dense, and expanding. This causes Wind to be the element that most sides with Negative Fate, though fire, dealing with heating, and moving energy into a subject, would lean toward Negative Fate as well.

Still, it must be remembered that Positive and Negative Fate aren't exclusive to any particular element, just the tendencies of them. For example, manipulating an element is generally using the element in a way it normally does not act, so doing so is using the opposite fate upon it. To expand - if I am manipulating earth, I am using Negative Fate to move it around. Conversely, if I wanted to slow air, I'd use Positive Fate to do so.

Since Fire and Water are more neutral elements, they do not react so exclusively. If I use Negative Fate on liquids, it doesn't mean that it will heat up, but I could redirect a flow or cause it to move in uncharacteristic ways. Fire similarly doesn't mean I can cool plasma when I use Negative Fate on it, but I can cause lightning to be confined and directed, instead of chaotic and unrefined.

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Immediate Fate

Immediate fate represents the Physical laws, which are all things that react and happen in predictable ways, and is the most common form of Fate. This kind of Fate can be summarized by any natural and non-living reaction or combination (chemical or physical). An example of this could be - a ball is dropped, and gravity dictates it will fall to the ground. The Elements that Fate is made up of represent these reactions, whether by themselves by states of matter (solid, liquid, gas, and plasma), thermodynamics (heating and cooling) or kinetics (motion and resting), or by combinations of the elements as listed in the graph below.

Physical Term	Water	Wind	Fire	Earth
Weather	x	x	-	-
Tectonics	-	-	x	x
Thermodynamics	x	-	x	-
Kinetics	-	x	-	x
Gravity	x	-	-	x
Buoyancy	-	x	x	-
Light	-	x	x	-
Reflect/Refract	x	-	-	x
Magnetism	-	x	-	x
Electromagnetism	-	x	x	-

Elemental Manipulation

While Immediate fate is composed of these natural tendencies of Fate within the world, elemental manipulation deals with the ability the Elvori have to manipulate these reactions. It should be noted that elemental manipulation cannot directly affect another living thing. While living things are made up by the elements as well, the combination is too complex for the Elvori to alter. This means an Elvori attuned to the wind element, or a wind seer, could not manipulate the air another's lungs, nor could an earth seer make a tree grow any faster (though they could make the soil more fertile). Along the same lines, a water seer could not manipulate blood or saliva.

Even when a living thing dies, it takes time for that thing to decompose, and revert back to the separate elements. When it has, those element could be manipulated, but not before that point. Waste matter produced by living things have already been broken down into the elements by the living creature, so is able to be manipulated.

Attunement

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As an adolescent Elvori begins to experience and learn about the world, they come into contact with various natural concentrations and combinations of the elements. Weather, gravity, the seasons - nearly everything they experience applies to the elements. In addition, through their studies of the elements as well as observing seers that are already attuned, they see examples of how these natural elements can be manipulated.

Eventually, every young Elvori must make the choice of which element they will attune. When this occurs, they then are known as a seer of their element. This choice can be based on many factors - desire, talent, social pressure, or even a calling - a feeling of being drawn by the element itself. For some, the choice is obvious. For others, it may take years for the choice to be reached. Even so, the studies of a young seer cover all the basic features of all four elements, to give a greater knowledge to how the world works, and how the elements interact with each other.

Tempering

Upon choosing a specific element, the body of an Elvori begins to go through a set of changes, known as "Tempering".

The change begins with a chemical reaction that causes a mental awakening, where a seer can now have advanced interactions with the element they have chosen. Tempering also causes a specific hormone to be released into the seer's body. The element a seer chooses dictates which hormones are released, and what physical changes the hormone will cause. Every Elvori has the capability to attune, and so each of the four hormone glands is present within their bodies. Attuning activates the necessary glands, while the others remain dormant.

For a Water Seer, tempering causes their tongue to fork and their nose to flatten some, both of which improve the seer's taste and smell. For a Wind Seer, tempering causes their ears to become longer, and given the ability to be turned some, both of which improve the seer's sense of hearing. For a Fire Seer, tempering causes their eyes to grow larger, and the pupils to change slightly, both of which allow the seer to see in infrared if it chooses, but also allows for a better overall sense of vision. Last, for an Earth Seer, tempering causes their body to grow small, opaque, whisker-like hairs all over their body, which give the seer a heightened sense of touch.

Tempering also triggers a seer's body to begin changing into an adult, and allow the seer to begin to develop reproductively. Tempering lasts for six to seven years, and when an Elvori has fully matured into an adult, each of the four glands stop functioning, or have the capacity to function.

Elvori who Fail to Attune

A high percentage of the Elvori attune to an element, yet for various reasons there are those that fail to do so. This could be a situation they are forced into, such as they were unable to decide which element to take, medically were stunted, or perhaps an individual with malicious intent might prevent an Elvori from attuning. Finally, this situation might be of an Elvori's own volition, and has chosen not to attune for a higher purpose - to become a Scribe. This will be detailed more in the Ultimate Fate section.

When an Elvori fails to attune, they bodily have severe drawbacks when compared to one that has attuned. First, the unattuned cannot go through their tempering stage, and thus are denied any heightening of senses. They also gain a shorter lifespan, generally only living a mere tenth of a normal Elvori's life span. It is as if the intimate connection to the Elements (which these unattuned Elvori are denied) causes the usual Elvori to live longer. Finally, the unattuned are unable to reproduce, as their bodies have not gone through the changes necessary to do so.

With such disadvantages, one would wonder why any sane Elvori would choose not to attune. While it is a huge cost, an unattuned Elvori can manipulate, move, and destroy Premonition Sites, where no attuned Elvori could. This phenomenon suggests that Elvori who do not attune to a specific element, have a much more intimate tie to Fate itself, however fleeting this tie is.

Secondary Attunement

Commonly, a seer only attunes to one element, but under certain conditions, two attunements can be attained. The force of Fate must be in power for someone to have multiple attunements, because during this time, a seer's connection to the elements is closer, and capable of more. As a note, Ultimate Fate can only be accomplished in an Age of Fate as well.

If a seer chooses to attune to multiple elements, they must first be already attuned to an element. This is because the process of attunement is a dedicated and complex process. Trying to do two at once would be to counteract the efforts that must be involved. Due to the relationship a seer has with their element, a secondary attunement cannot be an opposite element. So, if a seer was attuned to water, they could choose for a secondary element earth or wind, but they could not attune to fire. This rule is also why a seer could not attune to a third element, because any other element after the first two attunements would be an opposing element.

A seer who has accomplished two attunements has the same amount of power as someone who is only attuned to one, which means they must divide this power between the two. A seer can choose to have both of their elements a similar level of power with each other (1/2 and 1/2), or have one compliment the other (1/4 vs. 3/4). It should be noted that a seer must choose their second attunement before they reach adulthood, or they will not be able to do so.

Area of Interaction

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When a seer attunes to an element, they begin growing more accustomed to the element in which they are connected to. At first, this interaction is at a personal range. This means a seer can only interact with or manipulate an element by direct contact with the intended element. However, as a seer progresses in their powers and becomes better attuned, this range extends out to encompass an area of distance around the seer. It should be remembered that a seer can still manipulate things by physical touch in addition to now being able to manipulate at a range.

As the area of interaction of the seer expands past physical touch, a seer gains insight of the elements in which they are attuned to within this sphere. Also, since a seer can now sense the element within a certain range, they can also manipulate the element within that area. A seer can also focus on the area they interact with to identify which specific kinds of their attuned element are within their area if interaction, as well as the amount. A seer can then use this information to aid them in their manipulations. For example, if a water seer had an area of interaction that was 60 feet in diameter, they could sense what specific liquids were around them in a 30 foot radius, and where they were. This ability would prove especially useful for the seer if they were trying to detect a liquid underground or behind a wall, as other elements do not interfere with this ability.

Elemental Encounters

Against Water -
Earth absorbs/impedes Water
Wind blows Water
Fire evaporates Water

Against Wind -
Earth impedes Wind
Water impedes Wind
Fire consumes Wind

Against Fire -
Earth smothers Fire
Water cools Fire
Wind extinguishes Fire

Against Earth -
Water erodes Earth
Wind erodes Earth
Fire breaks down Earth

One would notice this list shows that all elements affect each other by beating each of the elements in some way, or by also in turn being beaten by them. Thus, no element is truly superior to another. The winning result of an interaction is dependent on which element is more strongly represented. For example, in one interaction between Fire and Water, Fire could be represented in more capacity than Water, thus causing Water to boil and evaporate. On the other hand, there could be more Water in the interaction, causing the Fire to be extinguished.

Progression and Energy

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Power = Progression Level / Amount of Elements Attuned
Caliber of Manipulation = (Ability + Skill)

Progression Level = (Age x Experience)
Ability = (Sensitivity + Precision) x Progression Level
Skill = Creativity(Imagination and Aptitude) + Study (knowledge of elements)

Sensitivity; which user can more accurately interpret what they're sensing to pinpoint that underground water, or sense smaller amounts?
Precision; when it comes to actually manipulating the element(s), which user has finer control?
Progression Level; how much energy can I excert toward manipulation.

Progressive Power

As a seer ages and grows more experienced with their element, the area immediately around them takes on more and more the appearance of their attuned element. This is mainly a visual representation of the increasing amount of energy a seer is able to gather as they age. This "bubble of energy" is the energy that is stored for elemental manipulation. For earth, this could be an aura of dust or stillness, while fire might cause a ripple in the air or heat. Water may cause the air around a seer to be damp or cool, and an air seer would seem to always have a breeze around them. These characteristics increase as they age. When a seer of some notable power uses this energy, the effect can appear to be their figure clothed in the element they are attuned.

Elemental Energy

While the a seer has an increased capacity of energy they can gather as they progress, the element still must be drawn from a seer's environment. Each element acts differently, and so, each seer must be conscious of their element's fluctuations so that they can plan to use their element the most during times or areas in which they have the opportunity to replenish their energy. For example, if a fire seer was traveling through a frigid area, it would not be wise for them to expend all their energy quickly, since conditions would not be optimal for gathering more energy in such a climate.

Earth - Always a steady source of energy, never fluctuating. Comes in a constant stream. Absorbing energy from this element smooths out areas of terrain over time, creating flatter areas, or gradual slopes instead of rocky and rough terrain.

Water - A source of energy that accumulates, akin to a basin being filled with liquid. The energy within this basin can be tapped anytime while it is filling, and will continue to fill until it is at capacity. Any tapped energy while filling just sets back the accumulation. Absorbing energy from this element might make freezing areas a little more comfortable, or make tidal patterns calmer.

Wind - Always a fluctuating source of energy, never steady. Comes in a varying stream. Absorbing energy from this element might calm winds, or be protected from harsh winds.

Fire - A source of energy that dissipates, akin to fuel being burned away. The fuel will continue to burn away until it is burned out, and then new energy must be accumulated. Unlike water, energy cannot be tapped when it is being replenished with fire. Absorbing energy from this element might make searing hot areas cooler and more comfortable, or make active volcanoes calmer.

The Embrace

After a seer reaches a certain age, they gain enough latent energy to perform an act known as "The Embrace". The Embrace is when a seer who is at full elemental charge unites with the energy around them. The aura around them consolidates to cover a seer's body, and they take on a form resembling a creature consisting totally of the attuned element. When in this form, a seer receives major advances to the capacity at which they can manipulate their element.

Wielding this power is no easy feat, however. Merging with the elements in this way is addictive, and can have destructive consequences for repeated use. A seer that is not careful within this state could lose control. If this happens while actively manipulating an element, there may be unexpected affects, such as causing bodily harm to the seer within the embrace, or even to others nearby. It could even have explosive consequences, such as creating a localized disaster, such as flooding, wind storms, flash fires, or landslides. If one is killed during an Embrace, or by the negative affects of an Embrace that has gotten out of control, they are devoured by the element. The Embrace will rip them apart and leave no trace behind.

Further, the more addicted a seer becomes to the Embrace, the more that seer's personality begins to embody that of their element. Earth seers become increasingly stubborn and unrelenting. Fire seer's tend to become increasingly easy to anger. Air seers become unfocused and easily distracted.
Water seers become more apathetic, calm, and disinterested. These are certainly not sudden occurrences, and wear off over extended periods of resisting embrace.

These negative affects do not cause Embracing to become taboo in the Elvori society. Embracing is often a necessary task. A seer's education impresses moderation for this sacred technique.

The Final Embrace

At the end of a seer's life, a seer with enough energy can perform an act known as the "Final Embrace" where they become one with their element of attunement. It is essentially merging with the Elemental Expanse.

Elemental Capabilities

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Fire

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• Heating
  
  • Evaporate
  • Cook
  • Sterilize
  • Heat Other Element
    
    • Crack Solids
    • Harden
    • Melt
    • Boil
    • Burn
    • Forge/Weld
    • Create Glass
    • Make Air Hotter
  • Start/Create Fire
• Flame Manipulation
  
  • Fire Balls
  • Fire Wall
  • Ray of Fire
• Lightning
  
  • Electrical Manipulation
  • Blinding Flash
  • Shock
  • Intimidation
• Light
• ??

Earth

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• Earth Changing
  
  • Fertile soil
  • Stone to sand
  • sand to stone
• Earth Manipulation
  
  • Movement of Earth
    
    • Shaking Earth
    • Shaping Earth
  • Movement with Earth
    
    • Pushing with Rock
    • Move through Earth
    • Boosting vertically
• Friction
• Metal
  
  • Remove Impurities
• Weight - Increase
  
  • Delayed weight gain
• ??

Water

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• Cool/Slow Particles/Increase Density
  
  • Freeze Water
    
    • Snow
    • Ice
  • Walk on Water
  • Slow Flow
• Water Manipulation
  
  • Water Balls
  • Water Wall
  • Water Lash
  • Water Purification
  • Remove Water
• Cloud Summoning
• Darkness
• Volume
• ??

Wind

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• Sound
  
  • Alarm
  • Whistle
  • Carry Sound
  • Sound Dampening
• Air Manipulation
  
  • Gusts/Pushing
    
    • Blow Out Fire
    • Fill Sails
    • Change Flow of Wind
    • Push things away
  • Suction/Pulling
    
    • Pull things Toward
  • Air Bubble
  • Cyclone
  • Improve Aim
  • Flight
• Friction
  
  • Improve Speed
• Light
  
  • Mirage
• Buoyancy - Decrease Weight
• ??

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Ultimate Fate

While Immediate Fate centers on reactions that occur in the present, Ultimate Fate centers on the prediction of future events by way of the knowledge and connection that Elvori have to the elements. This can be in the basic physical Prediction, which predicts future physical reactions that may occur in the future, or by Premonition, which predicts possible futures outside of those reactions.

In both of these types of prediction, a seer must be in a meditative state to connect with this ability. The more complete a meditation, the better quality the prediction might be. Some Elvori accomplish this by focusing on an element with as many of their senses as possible. A seer might seek out a peaceful or perfect location that can achieve this, called a sanctum. A sanctum might be an isolated place where one can focus on a fire, a natural place with the abundance of the element, or a place constructed to allow the best conditions for a seer’s meditation. Often the sense of their attunement is the main contributor to a meditative state, but the others senses assist in focusing a seers full mind on the task.

In times where a sanctum is not available, a seer might choose a different method to attain the conditions of meditation - hallucination. This usually takes more of a physical toll on the body, but has the advantage of being done in any location. Due to this, seers generally only use this method for premonitions. Usually these are achieved by inhalants and intoxicants, but this method was originally discovered by seers that were close to death. Seers who nearly suffocated or drowned, had heat exhaustion or delirium tended to have visions of the future pass before their eyes, and were sometimes able to recount them if they recovered. Fortunately, the Elvori have found more reliable and less dangerous methods of achieving this. Consequently, the Elvori take careful effort to ensure other races do not have knowledge of this, as it could mean that one with enough power who wishes to know the future might try to abduct a seer and torture them to near death in order to attain that knowledge.

Anchors

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At a sanctum, if a seer has a premonition, this prediction leaves an imprint of that premonition on that location. This imprint takes on the form of the element in some variety of ways. Some examples might be an inexplicable pool of water, geometric formation, ever burning flame, or a gusty place on a still day. The physical marks may vary, but their purpose is identical, they exist as a physical link to the premonition. If this representation is not made, the premonition only exists in the memory of that seer and can then only share the premonition through other, less reliable means from an unreliable source - a memory. Any seer attuned to the element that the anchor is aligned with can view the premonition it contains, but can do little else to it. Anchors show the full premonition as it appeared to the original seer, and holds no value on specific details that a seer retelling a premonition might. Anchors, as the name might suggest, cannot be transported from their location. However, there is one exception - one of the few abilities that a scribe possesses is to be able to harbor an anchor. Anchors can also be destroyed with enough effort, or from a natural catastrophe.

Prediction of Future Events

While in a meditative state, a prediction on the future might take on various forms. Sometimes these predictions are in the form of a feeling, whereas other times it might be the form of a vision. Visions can sometimes be symbolic, and while others might be a direct viewpoint of the event, as if the seer was there.

Predictions
Similar to how one who studies the weather might make predictions based on this knowledge, certain reactions in the world can be predicted through a seer’s elemental bond. A seer that has attuned to water, wind, or both, could predict a future storm or weather pattern; an earth seer might predict a rockslide or earthquake; fire seers might foresee a dry season or heat wave, etc.

Premonitions
Through their connection to the four elements of Fate, some Elvori have the talent to sense possibilities of the future and how these possibilities touch an individual or the world as a whole. Only the Elvori can sense these possibilities, and how they affect things. Fate is commonly believed to be the power that dictates the events that need to occur to maintain the existence of the world, though this is incorrect. Fate isn’t partial to an entity, the same as the fact that a boulder is impartial to the things it falls on.
Think of the overall concept of premonitions as different members of Elvori factions all predicting possible futures that affect their overall element’s future in some way shape or form. Generally, these futures gravitate toward advancing either the radicals of positive or negative fate, though it is not always clear. Depending on what these predictions foretell, a seer (or forum of seers) can choose to do one of three things: attempt to ensure that a prediction comes to pass, ensure that it does not, or take no action either way. It should be noted that a seer does not have the ability to see a pivotal point in the future, only smaller events that may lead to it. They can only do this through immediate fate. Elves can see the future, but can only touch the present. So ultimately, seers from each elemental group work toward securing a pivotal point that benefits their element by working with or against other factions. Because of this, the Elvori have a reputation for being interested in accomplishing seemingly insignificant things like making sure a door is open (or shut) on a certain date, or making sure two persons meet (or never meet).

Pivotal Points

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A pivotal point is a significant future event that will happen in the future. To the Elvori, a pivotal point is similar to looking into space with a telescope and seeing a black hole. You don’t actually see the black hole itself, you see the evidence of it by the reactions around it. In the same way, when studying premonitions of the future, pivotal points are clarified by the predictions leading up to and after the moment. Once a pivotal point has occurred, it becomes a fixed point, and the predictions centering around the discarded possible futures attached to it fade away. You can not go back and change a choice already made. The flow of fate faces forward - always.

Roles within Ultimate Fate

Forums

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Foremost, the Elvori are all joined intrinsically with one another as being the Custodians of Fate, and in that they are of one mind. They have the single unified purpose of maintaining balance through their abilities to manipulate fate. However, it is inevitable that seers will form like-minded groups who work together to achieve a specific goal, and these groups are called Forums. Usually the goal a forum has is to affect a pivotal point or a grouping of possible futures. Multiple forums usually emerge whenever a pivotal point is clarified, some working toward that point, and some working against it. Forums can emerge before a pivotal point is realized, but these are generally smaller and consist of older seers who prefer the ever-mercurial long game to the fast-paced reactionary approach of the younger elves.

Since premonitions are not always clear which radical is benefited, much of the start of a forum is spent studying the predictions in question, and attempting to see the possibilities and outcomes that form from it. From there, discussion begins in earnest as to the best action to take, and debate tends to deal with what needs to be done to improve the chances of the forum’s goal.

These forums do not have to be Elvori of the same element, though most often they are. Due to the nature of things, forums tend to be stronger when there are more than one type of elemental representation because they can see more possibilities and a greater range of predictions, but generally this leads to less action and more debate.

It is worth noting that whereas a well appointed forum can see very accurately into a single outcome of an event, the bigger picture is often lost when you have many seers focusing on one event. As a result, forums not only oppose and/or support each other depending on their motives, but are also unable to deal with larger and further-reaching issues of the present, and so the number of seers across an area who are involved in a forum never tends to rise above about 30% (exceptional circumstances may see more).

Scribes

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When an Elvori chooses to remain unattuned, it is to become a scribe. Scribes have no connection to the elements, and yet, still hold a connection to Fate itself. Without the distraction of elemental attunement, scribes have a greater understanding of predictions and how they relate. Since scribes only live 50 or so years and can't reproduce, they essentially are removed from having a future of their own, making them the perfect impartial caretaker for possible futures.

Scribes have the ability to handle, view, modify, protect and destroy Anchors, which allows them to gather them and protect them in a place known as “The Archives”. Many scribes will travel across the land to gather these Anchors and bring them to the archives, and then group them with like premonitions.

Scribes will never join a forum, and rarely discuss predictions until they have been observed for some time, then considered carefully. Once this has been done, debate and study of related predictions take up most of a scribe's time. Sometimes a scribe or two will enlist a forum which they have a vested interest in, sponsoring their study with information gleaned from the archives. In such cases the consequences of the event in question are usually important enough to warrant the attention of a significant number of seers, and large schisms have been known to form within Elvori society for the duration of such events.

World Reception

The ability to predict future events often creates controversy for the rest of the world. Questions such as is there freedom of choice if people can see the future and know what we will do? On the other hand, does the existence of multiple futures dissolve the idea of destiny? In the end, this is a topic of much debate. Some argue that despite multiple futures, whatever path ends up occurring is the Fated path.

The existence of the Elvori and their ability to affect the future creates the concept of multiple futures. If seers did not exist, the future would be linear - everything would just happen without variables. However, it is worth noting that those multiple futures DO still exist, it's just that no one would have the knowledge of them to act upon. Choices matter both with and without the Elvori, and whether the knowledge that the Elvori have produces a positive or negative effect on the world as a whole is a matter of debate.

Due to the fact that there are multiple futures, the concept of a paradox (telling someone a prediction about them makes that prediction occur) is an invented term by those who are not happy with the outcome of their choice. By knowing a future, one can always choose to act, not act, or act against that knowledge, just as the Elvori have that same set of paths when they make a prediction.

Some people actively seek to find out what their future holds, while others actively hold contempt for the ability. Others are ambivalent to the ability, and still others consider the ability to be a lie and that the Elvori only use this lie to assist in pushing their own agendas. Some might view the ability as grand one moment, and when life takes a turn for the worse might curse it. The ability to make predictions creates animosity toward the Elvori, who are blamed by those who do not understand the simple concept that the world does not revolve around an individual. An arrow let fly will hit whatever is in its way - child, thief or king.

Dragons - The Wielders of Luck

(under construction)

Dragon Characteristics:

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Some, maybe many of the dragons in my world are omnivores, though some are particularly predators. Magical properties of dragons are all but non existant - some don't even have flying capabilities or wings! There are only two types of dragon that have a breath weapon and flying capabilities (as these are hard to genetically accomplish), the rest vary greatly between large lizard looking ones, to sea monsters, to something akin to a wyvern. One even has the capabilities of a flying squerriel. In a word, these aren't your typical dragons. The omnivore races are generally sentient and have cultures, though one or two are still wild creatures. They could be played as a race, perhaps. I've thrown out the ideas of chromatic and metalic. They're now classified by some thing that conatates their adapted enviornment. Dragons lay eggs and have long life spans, so I've controlled the populous a bit by extending the span of time the eggs take to hatch (24 months). Perhaps if I also slowed development? I don't really like the idea of sleeping long periods of time, but it could be possible for some dragons to hibernate in the winter, similar to how bears and some others act. The cultured ones would likely evolved into handling this different ways.

Most dragons aren't encountered very often. They're off on their own continent away from everyone else (think Australia) with only a few groups that have wandered from the continent one way or another, or in the societal setting, dragons that were banished for giving into their wild natures. These later dragons are the most common harassers, and since individuals or pairs, would be far more easier to sustain in the rest of the world, as they can eat pretty much sentients and wildlife alike.

Luck

Saving for other creatures

Places in Aldain

Continents - Arteria, Othainia, Salgethet, Devren, Manicova, Vorenai, Draeden

Work space:

Notes:

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Subsumal Magic - Does this mean that Dwarves and Centaurs, etc., can never be transformed, or would that only apply to the ancestors of the race (who were created with magic; the rest are the result of natural reproduction)?

Natural Magic - Since I have natural Fate, and natural Luck, where as the manipulation of these two things is "artifical". So there in some degree or another, must have natural Magic...

Unless that's actually belief in the first place. Like sentient thought IS magic occuring naturally. And manipulating it is the "artifical" side of it.

Sensory deficiencies and Drugs in Magic - Drugs aid in changing ones perception, and going blind or deaf might severely hamper a caster or receptor.

Enchanted Items - ...the current theory I have is that enchanted items are worked upon by one of each force (magic, luck, fate). So in order to make a enchanted item, an elf, a dragon, and an Ancient must all work on it. The specific items have one force that is more dominant on it than the other two. So you could have a lucky rabits foot, or a wand of illusion, or so on.

Could Magic items store energy for a force? Is it affected by the change in force?

Ulterior Realm - What is it? I've always imagined it as "a universal dumping ground". So think of it as - if someone "harms" someone else in a universe (even this one), that "material" is then sent to the Ulterior Realm. Then others can pull that "material" out. The only thing that I've found similar to it is full metal alchemist's explanation as to where alchemy resonates from. Basically, anything that gets sucked into a black hole goes into the Ulterior Realm. There's all kinds of matter within it. Or at least, that's how I imagined it. I'm not exactly very far with the imagining for this.

Ancients and their Telepathy - Ancients telepathically can mentally communicate with each other, and their creatures. Mental magic users can mentally influence other races. We've established that any Ancient can cast mentally (that's mainly what telepathy is), but they can't because they don't believe they can, or aren't very good, or what not. So that means Ancients can communicate with/influence any race mentally, but some are able to do so better, and that's mental magic. It's much easier with others who are able to do so.


Magnetics in Fate - Magnetism could be Earth and Wind then. And I'll explain why. The E.M. Spectrum is so named because light is formed by the orthogonal (perpendicular) interaction of a magnetic wave and and electric wave. Since that requires the non-stable parts of both principles, and light isn't "solid", it mades sense that we can ditch earth when the two systems interact to make light.

Magnetic Attraction could be earth elemental, bringing things to a stable state. While Magnetic Repulsion could be wind elemental, putting things in motion.

And induction (generating electricity with magnetism and vice-versa) could be another interaction between the two systems with earth still part of it (providing the resistance necessary and a stable material to act upon)

Final Embrace Problems - What happens when a significant amount of one element reach the final embrace, while the other's do not?

Abilities to Powers -

Magic = Charisma/Dexterity
Fate = Wisdom/Strength
Luck = Intelligence/Constitution

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Changelog -
7-25-20 -
Fate - Ported over from the Fate thread, just about complete! We are moving over again.

9-6-13 -
Magic -

• [Minor] spelling corrections,
• [Changed] 5 Barriers to 3, combining 1 with 2, and 3 with 4. 5 stayed the same.
• [Changed] Barrier 2 (which used to be 3) to be named - Comprehension
• [Removed] conflicting wording within whole of text.

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Related Projects -

Fate - Nearing completion - will be moved over soon for final review.
Things needed to complete for it to be done:

• Elvori Characteristics
• Ultimate Fate
  
  • Divination
  • Foresight
  • Premonition Points
  • Scribes

Luck - Started - Still in brainstorming stage.

Hellooooooo!

Dead fish dude, anyhows...apologies for crazy-busy work/private life issues, I'm not gonna say anything about 'things easing off' coz every time I do, something else happens, but none-the-less I have a few musings for you on the subject of overloading. It is in the form of a semi-coherant rant, you have been warned!!!

[rant]
Magic, at least the powers which create it, are both infinite and abundant (at least until someone does something super-drastic...) and so the amount of available background or inherant magic should be at least huge, correct? Therefore, an Ancient is like a capacitor, accumulating this background hum and moulding it into physical (or mental) effects. This is an issue because everyone knows (or at least should know) what happens when you overload a capacitor (if you don't know, just hook up a cap to a 9v battery and stand back, it's bl**dy hilarious, and it's SCIENCE!). Overloading magic should not immediately do this, because nobody would overload otherwise, unless in the most dire and horrific of circumstances anyhow.

My suggestion is simple enough, instead of blowing out the mage's body (head-pop stylee) it should blow out his grasp on reality. Every time you overchannel, you lose a tiny portion of your sanity. For some resilient and unorthodox mages this is not too much of a problem, a little here and there means a bit of self-indulgence and rest after the fact, to regain your composure. Repeated overchanneling however, could do more damage to your sanity than you could claw back, bringing you to a critical threshold where you lose your grip altogether. This is not mere madness though, as it affects the way you perceive the world, it also effects what your illusions are like, how you present yourself, and therefore ultimately affects your magic too. On top of this, it gives a kind of near-death experience type of rush for the mage, like overdosing on a drug, which encourages the mage to overchannel more and more often, hastening their own demise.

In light of this, overchanneling should be taboo, one of the first things an Ancient learns as they develop their magical potential is how to assess their capacitance limit, and never to go beyond it. Those few survivors of overchanneling addiction are either stark-raving mad or almost entirely catatonic, but either way they lose their control over magic entirely. Some manage to maintain a few small tricks here and there, but most of these are the ones lucky enough to break their addiction before it got too late, and they try to avoid using even the little control of magic which they have retained, for fear of relapse.

What's that, imaginary expositional voice?
'But if this is what happens, then why would ANYONE overchannel?'
Good question, disembodied sign of my mental breakdown!

Ancients overchannel when they feel there is no other choice. The more you overchannel a spell, the less believers you need, essentially allowing a lone mage to make something 'real' with his magic without the need for any outside help at all. Unfortunately it also becomes increasingly hard to concentrate on or stabilise a spell. Overchanneled spells which become rampant do more damage to your sanity than those which just fizzle, but either way you pay a hefty price if you can't keep an overchannel under control.
[/rant]


Hope that helps a little!! :smallbiggrin:

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Originally Posted by Veklim

Hellooooooo!

[rant]

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I like it. This helps me organize my thoughts a LOT. I've had similar ideas, without a process to think of them as. Thank you. I agree it wouldn't be a physical pop, but a mental one. Hmmmm....this description reminds me heavily of a concussion. Memory loss, grasp on reality affected. Abilities to process things damaged, possibly permanently. More susceptible to the problem again from similar trauma. Basically - overloading causes your brain to swell. The greater the overload, the more damage. Taboo is an acceptable term. Sometimes it is recoverable, sometimes not. I'll make sure to add over channelling to the magical instruction section.

I find the addiction to overchannelling fascinating. I'll have to think on that a bit. It would be interesting for a character, even the main, to have this issue.

Purposeful overloading then is suicidal terrorism or heroism, depending on the intended goal. A drastic last resort method. Perhaps some can't even accomplish overloading. Or when they get to that brink they pass out, like a safe guard. Though the more talented you are or powerful, the more your magical ability navigates around these natural safeguards and tendencies. Only the talented or more experienced can otherwise I could see overloading become rampant in suicidal causes, wreeking havoc on the world.

I think you just assisted me in tying up overloads, veklim! Thank you!

Now to turn my attentions to the other two forces....Fate and Luck. :small frown: Did you have any ideas there based on our previous conversations (which I'm beginning to import to here).

[rant]
Luck and Destiny are two ends of the same energy, like the poles of a magnet. The mortal realm sits between these two places, where Luck (what may be) and Destiny (what must be) collide with material, emitting the magic which created the world we see. If one side or the other gain too much power, the material plane could shift, with disastrous consequences. As such, the keepers of Luck and Destiny have a common goal for the most part; avoid Atrophy (too much Destiny) or Anarchy (too much Luck). Despite this general consensus, there are those who truly wish one or other of these 'end times' to come about. They may be a small proportion, but they are a large minority which should not be ignored. This is not to say there is no animosity between Dragons and Elvori, in fact they have been locked in a near eternal petty squabble over the correct definition of 'balance' which has been known to claim the lives of several members of each species when words became insufficient to communicate their differences.

Luck is pretty easy to explain, everyone experiences it at some point in their lives, and underneath no end of dogma and superstition, no matter the creed, faith or social structure, every sentient creature (and many besides) has experienced Luck, be it good or bad. What most people do not realise is that certain old and powerful superstitions based around Luck are more than just fancy dressing for common sense, or fear of an unexplained phenomenon. Dragons understand these little practices and oddities in behaviour to be ways to control the flow of Luck, increasing their own and decreasing that of their opponents. Hunting becomes easier if your prey always trips on the roots, and your first bite always finds the target. Luck is the flow of energies which allow the possibility of almost infinite outcomes to actions, and a skilled Luck user can twist it to lead a charmed life. Most Luck users are afforded the 'gift of the gab' as a result, the ability to talk their way out of (and into) just about anything.

Destiny, in contrast, is remarkably hard to pin down. Although every person, creature and object in the world has a link to Destiny, not many will ever even know it was there. It is a subtle force, permeating existence and creating order, making sure the fruits in the trees always fall downwards, rivers flow towards the sea, night gives way to day and day to night, it ensures the seasons pass as they should, and that something done the same way carefully a hundred times will produce the same result in the vast majority of cases. Many people have the beginnings of the concept, calling it physical science, but few beyond the Elvori have the deeper knowledge which runs beneath. Destiny is mutable, changeable, an entirely fluid thing. With enough care and practice, an Elvori may render themselves almost impervious to outside harm, curse someone to a terrible and unavoidable fate or maybe just speed up and make safer a construction project like a road or a palace. The trick is to convince the Destiny being shaped that the form you wish is one it should take, and as such most Elvori are consummate diplomats in addition to consummate Destiny shapers.

[/rant]
Figured I'd tidy up my interpretation for you :smallbiggrin:

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Originally Posted by Veklim

[rant]
Luck and Destiny are two ends of the same energy, like the poles of a magnet. The mortal realm sits between these two places, where Luck (what may be) and Destiny (what must be) collide with material, emitting the magic which created the world we see. If one side or the other gain too much power, the material plane could shift, with disastrous consequences. As such, the keepers of Luck and Destiny have a common goal for the most part; avoid Atrophy (too much Destiny) or Anarchy (too much Luck). Despite this general consensus, there are those who truly wish one or other of these 'end times' to come about. They may be a small proportion, but they are a large minority which should not be ignored. This is not to say there is no animosity between Dragons and Elvori, in fact they have been locked in a near eternal petty squabble over the correct definition of 'balance' which has been known to claim the lives of several members of each species when words became insufficient to communicate their differences.

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Basically what we've come up with is the idea of Seasons of Energy. You've got the waxing and waning of Destiny and Luck. I actually had a thought. Well a few thoughts. I like the fact the Magic is a product of these two forces. This however leads me two questions. First, Would magic have its own cycle where it would be in power, or would it be in power during the transition period between the two? I'd say based on how we've described the two it would be more of the second, but it sort of throws off the whole balance between the three racial cycles. Thoughts?

Second, if Luck and Destiny were to balance instead of fluctuating power between one and the other, wouldn't that end the existence of magic (similar to how this world currently functions)? It would be an interesting device for the story (since the ultimate goal has been hinted - the question of magic's destruction or survival and how the world is affected in either sense). I'm not sure about fluctuating planes, but it might create and interesting turn of events...perhaps the splintering of reality into alternate dimensions? Maybe the event creates the other planes?

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Luck is pretty easy to explain, Destiny, in contrast, is remarkably hard to pin down.

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Very well put. I like that luck is quantifiable, and destiny is existential. If Destiny also represents science, then that might be able to justify how elves (elvori) have power over certain elements (depending on which you talk to), which certainly helps things. However, this power must be a tertiary thing compared to their power over destiny, because this doesn't fluctuate the way the rest of their power does, much like the fact that ancient's telepathy doesn't wax and wane.

I'm not sure if anyone would earnestly consider ending the world to be a good idea without being at least partially mad, so bringing on the end times might not be the motivation, but putting an end to certain powers or people might be. And sometimes these things could possibly end the world, but they didn't know they would. Semantics, yes, but I think it's worth mentioning. :smallbiggrin:

You're take is pretty accurate! I'm glad we're on the same page. This makes further discussion a lot simpler. Let me know what questions you have! Answering them helps me!

Well, I was thinking that if magic is created by the meeting of Luck and Destiny, then it would be at it's fullest when L&D are roughly equal. This would essentially give you a magical equinox twice per cycle, but these would be shorter than the L&D solstices. If L&D were to stay in balance for too long, the magical fallout would be disastrous though, lemme explain:

Magic happens all the time, to a greater or lesser extent, and although only Ancients can control it consciously, all living things help shape it's effect on the world. This means that if it stays in the ascendant for too long a period of time, all manner of accidental magics would occur as more and more people unintentionally shape and manifest random fears, urges, thoughts, etc.

With Destiny being tied to elemental forces in one way or another, it's fairly easy to fluff through an explanation. The Elvori ability to control an element is as a result of being able to perceive the strands of Destiny permeating that force. This in turn allows them to predict and therefore channel, change, quash or intensify any particular 'reaction' that element may go through in the immediate vicinity. The scientific laws and principles which are slowly being developed by the younger races are simply a far lesser version of this, since they cannot see or change Destiny itself, but can see and use the results of it.

You're right about the 'must be mad to bring on the apocalypse' thing, I agree that their goals wouldn't likely be utter destruction, but would ultimately result in bad joojoo! Of course, there will always be the odd mad one here and there! :smallbiggrin:

Have a few questions about Luck, but shall wait until they have been pondered sufficiently to make much sense! :smalltongue:

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Originally Posted by Veklim

Well, I was thinking that if magic is created by the meeting of Luck and Destiny, then it would be at it's fullest when L&D are roughly equal. This would essentially give you a magical equinox twice per cycle, but these would be shorter than the L&D solstices. If L&D were to stay in balance for too long, the magical fallout would be disastrous though, lemme explain:

Magic happens all the time, to a greater or lesser extent, and although only Ancients can control it consciously, all living things help shape it's effect on the world. This means that if it stays in the ascendant for too long a period of time, all manner of accidental magics would occur as more and more people unintentionally shape and manifest random fears, urges, thoughts, etc.

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Hmmm...I guess the question lies in where magic comes from. Is it the product of the combination of luck and destiny, or merely magic exists because they do, as in a natural biproduct of their existance. Or is it a force that works to balance the two. Or several other possibilities. We should keep coming up with theories, because I'd like to think that philosophers in the world of Aldain would think of most of these as possibilities, and debate over them. I guess the biggest key to this is looking at the ways magic acts - through perception. It's very dependent on...hmmmmm...what if Magic is...life? It connects and divides Luck and Destiny. It can influence both in it's own way, the way L & D can't each other. I'd like to think that

Magic could be similar to global warming in idea to some. Something that exists that not everyone believes in...but is slowly affecting the world in sometimes perceptive or non perceptive ways, often thought to be irreversible. I kinda like the parallel...

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With Destiny being tied to elemental forces in one way or another, it's fairly easy to fluff through an explanation. The Elvori ability to control an element is as a result of being able to perceive the strands of Destiny permeating that force. This in turn allows them to predict and therefore channel, change, quash or intensify any particular 'reaction' that element may go through in the immediate vicinity. The scientific laws and principles which are slowly being developed by the younger races are simply a far lesser version of this, since they cannot see or change Destiny itself, but can see and use the results of it.

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I've always viewed elemental powers as the natural element entrusting the Elvori in using it's power. So with the Water Elves, they have power over water, increasing as they age. The Ember Elves are an exception have the most power entrusted at birth, and it diminishes as they grow older. I guess the elves elemental power is similar to that of the powers in Avatar: the last airbender...though this idea is far from original, the elvori have had this since their conception. It would be nice to swing it in a new way, however.

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Have a few questions about Luck, but shall wait until they have been pondered sufficiently to make much sense! :smalltongue:

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Well when you're ready, ask away. Often when people ask me questions they are on things I'd never even considered, and that helps me flesh out my system more.

Edit: I think your description of Magic getting to be too...powerful? potent?...is actually incorrect, as magic is an always abundent, unlimited thing. I also know that the only reason for its lack of power "now" is the lack of belief/people able to cast it. I assume it would exist even if no one believed it could be cast. It's a manipulation of something that's always there that classifies it as magic, otherwise it's just latent energy.

What I notice first off is that it's very long and doesn't tell me anything much. It seems too long, rambling and textwally, and... well, yes it says how magic is formed and what you need to do, and some history... but it just seems to say so much and yet tell so little. I'd get to fixing that.

Also, paragraphs! The return key is your friend!

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Originally Posted by Jormengand

What I notice first off is that it's very long and doesn't tell me anything much. It seems too long, rambling and textwally, and... well, yes it says how magic is formed and what you need to do, and some history... but it just seems to say so much and yet tell so little. I'd get to fixing that.

Also, paragraphs! The return key is your friend!

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What are you looking for me to say exactly?

This reponse would be better summed up if you said TL:DR. I have broken it up in to paragraphs, but I guess I'll get into that a little more. Any opinion on the material in general aside from setup? Or were you too daunted by the quantity to read much?

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Originally Posted by TheWombatOfDoom

What are you looking for me to say exactly?

This reponse would be better summed up if you said TL:DR. I have broken it up in to paragraphs, but I guess I'll get into that a little more. Any opinion on the material in general aside from setup? Or were you too daunted by the quantity to read much?

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Reading into it a little more, it does look good. I like the idea of the ancients, though you could tell us a bit about who these "Hewn men" are apart from part-ancients.

The magic-belief system is a good idea, but confusing me a little. Is it affected by the beliefs of witnesses, or isn't it?

Three types, visual/mental/physical, very nice. What's this Ulterior realm, though?

Stages of magic, okay, I guess. What happens if the caster gives up on a spell in stage 3? From the description of stage 2, the spell happens in stage 2 and then unhappens in stage 3 - I wouldn't like to face a fireball and a freezing nega-figeball.

Barriers, surely 1 is part of 2? Otherwise, good.

Magic being unlimited is the next thing that strikes me. Guy is told that he has unlimited power by parents when very young. Guy now has unlimited power (save the last three barriers, but they're a little bit meh).

I don't like the duels, if I wanted to make an epic duel in this setting... then it wouldn't be as climactic. I like the cumulative casting and its drawbacks, although I'm not sure what would cause a rampant spell. Subsumal spells look good as well, very easy plot device.

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Originally Posted by Jormengand

Reading into it a little more, it does look good. I like the idea of the ancients, though you could tell us a bit about who these "Hewn men" are apart from part-ancients.

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Hewn men = human. I'll be going into that in a different section. :smallcool:

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The magic-belief system is a good idea, but confusing me a little. Is it affected by the beliefs of witnesses, or isn't it?

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Depends on the type. Visual and mental are mostly based off of the witness. Physical is based of the caster.

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Three types, visual/mental/physical, very nice. What's this Ulterior realm, though?

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Basically a parallel world. Still working on that. It's more of a note for me to develop. Still working on ideas and thoughts for other realms.

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Stages of magic, okay, I guess. What happens if the caster gives up on a spell in stage 3? From the description of stage 2, the spell happens in stage 2 and then unhappens in stage 3 - I wouldn't like to face a fireball and a freezing nega-figeball.

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1 is thinking out the spell, 2 is beginning the spell, 3 is finishing the spell. Spells that do not get enough belief fizzle. Once stage 2 happens, a caster can't "give up". Stage 3 is basically the result of 2. It's only to signify the spell ends and ends the energy connection with the caster.

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Barriers, surely 1 is part of 2? Otherwise, good.

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1 is separated from two because its the first step to get to 2. All the barriers tie into each other, but believing you can defy reality is no easy task, and so I felt it stands on its own.

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Magic being unlimited is the next thing that strikes me. Guy is told that he has unlimited power by parents when very young. Guy now has unlimited power (save the last three barriers, but they're a little bit meh).

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Magic is unlimited. We are not. Technically anyone who casts has an unlimited source of magic, however they are limited by their creativity, intuition, intelligence...so on...and the belief others have in the magic they created. We all are capable of anything in this world, but some of us are more talented than others in certain aspects. Just because I can write a book, doesn't mean it would be a very GOOD book. Same with casting. Just because an ancient can cast mean they're all particularly good at it.

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I don't like the duels, if I wanted to make an epic duel in this setting... then it wouldn't be as climactic. I like the cumulative casting and its drawbacks, although I'm not sure what would cause a rampant spell. Subsumal spells look good as well, very easy plot device.

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Any advice as to how you would improve duels?

Rampant spells are a fairly new thing that I'm still working on. I'm aware it's slightly contradictory of the basic idea of magic, and I'm attempting to wrap it around these concepts a little more neatly. Good catch.

Yoyo Miester Wombat-mon,

I has read thyne Magic System and I shallz comment on iet.

First of all, Very Nice Work! I really like the "Believe in me, who believes in you!" approach to magic. Kind off remembers me off some childrens book I read a looong time ago. The fluff of the Rampant and Overload conditions are also good, but I have 1 question: If you cast in a group and 1 person from within the group wants to sabotage the spell so it becomes rampant, is that possible?
I mean, every society has saboteurs, so why not this one :P.

Second, how does this magic interact with mindless and/or animal-intelligence like creatures? Do they take it for granted or does it have no or less effect?

Thirdly, Just some nitpicking: I think the formula for power should be: (Internal+External)xQuantity. Without the brackets you multiply the exterior and the quantity and add to that the internal, which doesnt make sense at all (imo). I can't find any other thingies in the rest of the formulae, it all makes kinda sense.

About dueling, isn't it possible for a caster to, for instance, use his opponents greatest fear or just something he doesn't know and may take for real, to outsmart and maybe mentally damage his opponent? As I read it, you can't use this illusion magic in combat, but in fact, because people are already pumped up with adrenaline and react more then think it over, they would be quite the succeptible audience. Instead, maybe casters can still go toe to toe, but can gain minor advantages by creating small distractions for the enemy, just thinking out loud here.

If I understand it right, all magic is present in the mind and can only effect the outside world through the mind, and only if enough people believe it is real. What happens if you concentrate on a spell, which enough people believed at first, and then lose faith. Does it fizzle? Does it Rampage? Or does it just go on, because enough people believed at first?

Now some clearification points before I can make a statement about these:

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People can only believe in the unbelievable until Alderic's Cusp,

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What is this "Alderic's Cusp"?

Spoiler

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When an Ancient takes on a spell that is too much for them willingly (overchannelling) or by an interrupted cumulative casting, an overload occurs upon casting. When an a spell is too great, the feeling is akin to pressure being built up within the caster's mind. At this point, a caster can attempt to delay casting the spell for as long as they can withstand the mounting pressure of the spell. In this time, another caster would be able to attempt restore the link for the spell. After the caster can no longer withstand the pressure, the spell is released and the backlash surges through the casters mind, rendering them either unconcious or severly disoriented in lesser cases, or in greater cases, the backlash could kill the caster. Some casters suffer from short term memory loss or complete loss of the memory of the event, others have been known to go mad. Overloading basically causes a caster to lose a portion of their grasp of reality. Whether this is temporary or not completely depends on how severe the overload is.

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When you cast with 3 people, and 1 disconnects, do both the other casters get the negative effect or is it all piled up on 1?

This is all I can find for now, if you want to have some help brainstorming and/or thinking up some mechanics, let me know, I'll be happy to assist. I believe I have you in my Skype list somewhere from the G&G project, so I'll give you a PM :smallbiggrin:.

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Originally Posted by WaylanderX

First of all, Very Nice Work! I really like the "Believe in me, who believes in you!" approach to magic. Kind of reminds me off some childrens book I read a looong time ago. The fluff of the Rampant and Overload conditions are also good, but I have 1 question: If you cast in a group and 1 person from within the group wants to sabotage the spell so it becomes rampant, is that possible?
I mean, every society has saboteurs, so why not this one :P.

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Once one enters a spell link like that, it is not easy to drop out of. That's why the condition of removal was something like being knocked out or severe pain. The only way a spell becomes rampant at this moment is if no one controls the spell. That is if all casters are removed. To sabatage a spell, one would have to be on the outside of the spell.

Thinking on it, if two casters were casting a spell together, they basically open their minds to each other to connect. I'm not sure someone who had ill intentions in mind would be able to do that...hmmmm...I guess the low and the short is I'm not sure. Based on what there is, do you have any thoughts one way or the other?

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Second, how does this magic interact with mindless and/or animal-intelligence like creatures? Do they take it for granted or does it have no or less effect?

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They wouldn't influence magic as much as other more sentient beings, but they'd still have an effect on it, especially if they were the target. Say you wanted to scare away a bear. You might be able to scare off a bear or confuse the bear in some way.

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Thirdly, Just some nitpicking: I think the formula for power should be: (Internal+External)xQuantity. Without the brackets you multiply the exterior and the quantity and add to that the internal, which doesnt make sense at all (imo). I can't find any other thingies in the rest of the formulae, it all makes kinda sense.

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Good catch. Will fix.

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About dueling, isn't it possible for a caster to, for instance, use his opponents greatest fear or just something he doesn't know and may take for real, to outsmart and maybe mentally damage his opponent? As I read it, you can't use this illusion magic in combat, but in fact, because people are already pumped up with adrenaline and react more then think it over, they would be quite the succeptible audience. Instead, maybe casters can still go toe to toe, but can gain minor advantages by creating small distractions for the enemy, just thinking out loud here.

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True. Such as say one sword was real and one was an illusion and I wielded both, or distractions in other places or if others were attacking the other caster while dueling. I'll think on wording and add that.

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If I understand it right, all magic is present in the mind and can only effect the outside world through the mind, and only if enough people believe it is real. What happens if you concentrate on a spell, which enough people believed at first, and then lose faith. Does it fizzle? Does it Rampage? Or does it just go on, because enough people believed at first?

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I think this significantly depends on timing. If it's during the time the spell is still being cast, the spell would fizzle. If it's after the spell is completed, it would keep going until it naturally ended. Though if another caster caused an illusion that something else were happening instread of the spell the first caster cast, one could potentially counter a spell. I'm still trying to pin down the exact characteristics of rampant spells, because I think its described two different ways in OP, and thats not good. As it stands, its as I said earlier: Rampancy only happens when no one controls a spell...like a balloon when someone lets go of it while inflating. Overloading is when that balloon bursts while inflating it. (i actually really like that analogy...)

Now some clearification points before I can make a statement about these:

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What is this "Alderic's Cusp"?

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Alderic's Cusp = the point at which the suspension of disbelief collapses.

the "or the" that came right after it was "in other words". I'll put it in parenthesis to avoid confusion. Sorry bout that.

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When you cast with 3 people, and 1 disconnects, do both the other casters get the negative effect or is it all piled up on 1?

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The other 2 feel the strain of the disconnected person, but still might manage to maintain the spell at a greater cost of energy. If they can't handle it, the spell overload would effect them both. That's why its very risky to link, and often when linked in greater numbers, they catiously use aplification.

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This is all I can find for now, if you want to have some help brainstorming and/or thinking up some mechanics, let me know, I'll be happy to assist. I believe I have you in my Skype list somewhere from the G&G project, so I'll give you a PM :smallbiggrin:.

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Sounds good! I'm currently overloaded (nonmagically of course) with holiday activities and old friends in town, but things should be more toward a normal frame of mind come new years. :smallbiggrin:

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Power = [Interior Belief (knowledge and experience create esteem) + Exterior Belief (quantity of viewer and/or quality of belief from viewer)] x Quantity of Casters
Quality of Belief (Exterior) = (Inherent belief of magic) x (Quality of Illusion or Suggestion) + Material Components
Quality of Belief (Interior) = (Ability) x (Experience) + Material Components
Ability = Creativity (Imagination and knowledge of casting) + Study (knowledge of object used in illusion)

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Sounds a little too Maths-y to me, but I'd be willing to give it a try if you provided some examples.


And the fluff is simply excellent - I love the Barriers the most!

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Originally Posted by Zireael

Sounds a little too Maths-y to me, but I'd be willing to give it a try if you provided some examples.


And the fluff is simply excellent - I love the Barriers the most!

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Thanks for the read! The math is really just a demonstration of how things relate to each other, and work. As in, it's a logical way of explaining some of the information I've provided in a quick and easy way. Plus, if it ever gets more crunchy, I have that to work with. :smallsmile: There's really no crunch in terms of game mechanics. This is purely a setting based magic system. This means I'm looking at the hard details of the fluff as its crunch, and looking to see if the reader finds flaws with the work, confusion in the explaination, or ideas for things within the system.

I'm glad you like the barriers! What do you like about them? What kind of magic user would you be in this system?

This is a really cool, unique system. As was said previously, the belief-based magic system is reminiscent of a childhood fairytale story, yet the execution is, in my opinion, far from childish. I like it! I have a hard time seeing how it might play out mechanically, however, and I can see that it will certainly be difficult to create the crunch. If you decide to flesh the crunch out a little more, I would be willing to pitch in however possible, though I can't promise that I would be of much use. In conclusion, this is an awesome setting that is clearly well thought-out, and I am anxious to see some more cool stuff, both with your magic system and with anything else you've thought up!

So, something I've noticed is a lack of attention to Dragons. If they're omnivores and gave into their primal ambitions and whatnot. Are there some who didn't "fall"? What's the lifespan o'these critters? Are some intelligent enough to use magic? And what if dragons hibernated 1 year out of every ten or something due to a significant celestial event, you said you had star charts, right? You could even call that year something like the "Dragon's Winter" and then the other years based on dragon hibernation cycle. Not saying to give them front stage, just saying that a year without dragons would have to be pretty widely celebrated.

Anyways, looking fine. I think I'll continue to drop in whenever I get a new idea!

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Originally Posted by killer_monk

So, something I've noticed is a lack of attention to Dragons. If they're omnivores and gave into their primal ambitions and whatnot. Are there some who didn't "fall"? What's the lifespan o'these critters? Are some intelligent enough to use magic? And what if dragons hibernated 1 year out of every ten or something due to a significant celestial event, you said you had star charts, right? You could even call that year something like the "Dragon's Winter" and then the other years based on dragon hibernation cycle. Not saying to give them front stage, just saying that a year without dragons would have to be pretty widely celebrated.

Anyways, looking fine. I think I'll continue to drop in whenever I get a new idea!

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While I'm not focusing on dragons right now, I have put up some details so I guess I had this coming. I'll answer what I can, but if you could review magic for now, that would be much appreciated.

Anywho, some dragons are sentient, some are wild. Some sentients have reverted back to becoming wild.

Either way, while not getting into describing each dragon kind in detail (i have eleven kinds) know that there are many different ones, and only two are firebreathing and fly. The rest are different than traditional dragons. Lifespan is around 3 to 5 hundred years. No dragon can use magic. In fact, no one can use magic but the Ancients. Sentient creatures can influence magic, but only the Ancients can use it.

Dragons use Luck, though in the wild ones it's more of a area of effect, where sentient dragons can wield it.

I have many ways I'm controlling dragon population. Predators, disease, hibernation, longer gestation for eggs, smaller amount of eggs hatched. Luck takes an active role in keeping the population of Dragons controlled so that they don't kill themselves off. Things like evolving quickly to suit new biomes or migration or some of the things I mentioned earlier.

*Whistles*

And I thought I'd put a lot of work into my setting...

Won't pretend I read all of that, though I liked what I did read- I always enjoy it when someone comes up with an actually consistent model for magic, and it seems like you have a cool one.

Not 100% certain I read the "Visual" stuff right - on my first read, it looked like Visual magic could only be used to create illusions, Mental magic could only be used to influence the thoughts of others, and any material effects would require Physical magic. Is that the case, or is it something more like "If you can convince people the illusion is real, it becomes real" for visual magic?

Also, minor question. You mentioned star charts - does this setting span multiple planets?

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Originally Posted by FreakyCheeseMan

*Whistles*

And I thought I'd put a lot of work into my setting...

Won't pretend I read all of that, though I liked what I did read- I always enjoy it when someone comes up with an actually consistent model for magic, and it seems like you have a cool one.

Not 100% certain I read the "Visual" stuff right - on my first read, it looked like Visual magic could only be used to create illusions, Mental magic could only be used to influence the thoughts of others, and any material effects would require Physical magic. Is that the case, or is it something more like "If you can convince people the illusion is real, it becomes real" for visual magic?

Also, minor question. You mentioned star charts - does this setting span multiple planets?

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:smallsmile: Thanks for the interest! It's an interesting read if you'd like to take the time. I understand there's a lot, though. It's about to get a bit bigger still, once I get luck and destiny powers up along with their respective races.

Visual becomes real through external belief, but fades over time. Physical is changing something that is real in some way. So making it appear a wound is healed to make someone believe they are healed and thus, alleviate the affects of the wound for a time is Visual. During that time, that person will not have that injury. Though when the spell wares, it will be back to where they started.

Physical would actually heal the wound.

So you have it right on your later idea.

On the other worlds part, the setting doesn't involve other planets, but star charts helped me form things for cultures and races and so on. They're actual accurate charts of what the stars would look like from another planet located in this galaxy, which I enjoy.

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Originally Posted by TheWombatOfDoom

:smallsmile: Thanks for the interest! It's an interesting read if you'd like to take the time. I understand there's a lot, though. It's about to get a bit bigger still, once I get luck and destiny powers up along with their respective races.

Visual becomes real through external belief, but fades over time. Physical is changing something that is real in some way. So making it appear a wound is healed to make someone believe they are healed and thus, alleviate the affects of the wound for a time is Visual. During that time, that person will not have that injury. Though when the spell wares, it will be back to where they started.

Physical would actually heal the wound.

So you have it right on your later idea.

On the other worlds part, the setting doesn't involve other planets, but star charts helped me form things for cultures and races and so on. They're actual accurate charts of what the stars would look like from another planet located in this galaxy, which I enjoy.

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Gotcha. I've got a fantasy universe that's been kicking around in my head for a few years, in the process of trying to get it all written up for the forums... it is a lot of typing.

I like the bit about the star charts. Sooner or later I'm going to have to map out the stars in mine, but I'm putting that off as long as I can... I don't even know where to start, for building a real 3D map.

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Originally Posted by FreakyCheeseMan

Gotcha. I've got a fantasy universe that's been kicking around in my head for a few years, in the process of trying to get it all written up for the forums... it is a lot of typing.

I like the bit about the star charts. Sooner or later I'm going to have to map out the stars in mine, but I'm putting that off as long as I can... I don't even know where to start, for building a real 3D map.

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I took some astronomy classes in college that assisted me in that, though now I'd say a persual of google will help you find what you need. It's basically like making a flat map of the world, in reverse.

Other worlds that I have in my D and D campaigns typically are part of my universe. Even earth is from my D20 things. I like to think that they all tie into each other. :)

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Originally Posted by TheWombatOfDoom

I took some astronomy classes in college that assisted me in that, though now I'd say a persual of google will help you find what you need. It's basically like making a flat map of the world, in reverse.

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Well, my universe has a weird arrangement of stars (Sort of a gem-type arrangement, but it has seven points, so it can't be regular), and interplanetary travel and combat is a big part of things.

I may decide to move it back to a more traditional galactic disk, for a few reasons... one of the reasons I'm stalling about making the map is that I want to keep things like that open.

A thought. Do drugs exist in this universe, and if so, are they used by mages? It seems like they could be useful (raise confidence, lower suspension of disbelief, provoke hallucinations.) Not sure if it'd fit with your flavor, of course.