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Post by skati on Oct 17, 2010 18:49:55 GMT
OOC: It's a lot of info, sorry.
Overview
This RP takes place in modern times (in a medium sized city called Elem, NC) where magic exists alongside science. Most people in the world cannot use magic, but it is common enough to where it is just an everyday, accepted part of reality. There are small anti magic and magic only pockets in the world, though most people tend to accept a mix of both science and magic.
In the far distant past, in a time only myths and legends remember, two worlds existed as one: the mortal world and the other world. The mortal world represented the flesh of the planet, the other world represented its spirit. As the two worlds began to come into their own more, they started to separate. Despite the separation, there were still a multitude of gates around the mortal world that would allow access to the other world. It is through these gates that magic spread throughout the planet…and where foolish mortals would lose themselves to the world of spirit.
For thousands of years, the world’s flesh and spirit existed alongside each other like this. Spirits lived alongside their mortal charges, elementals helped keep nature in balance. Goblins, and other mischievous spirits, would prank and otherwise wreak havoc against humans. Despite everything, the balance was always maintained.
Everything changed in 1000 BCE. Though it had always occurred in small doses, war erupted between the spirits of order and the spirits of chaos. This time the war engulfed the planet, raging for 500 years. During the war, most of the supernatural creatures that existed were killed, same for most of humanity. Those that survived in the mortal world did so by sheltering with the surviving humans. They were protected by a small pocket dimension created, too late according to some, by the gods of order.
The majority of the gods, heroes, and monsters that fought died, becoming permanent residents of the other world. When the war ended, the land was desolate. Those few gods remaining, nature deities mainly, beseeched the creator spirit to remake the mortal world and aid the humans in getting on their feet. The creator agreed and with the aid of the remaining gods, as well as remaining nature spirits, remade the world as it was prior to the war.
With help, it took the creator far less time than it took to first create the worlds. The remaining supernatural creatures were given the choice of whether to stay or join their species. Most of them opted to stay with the humans. All creatures that stayed, humans included, had their memories of the war taken. For them, it was as if the war of the gods never happened. They just picked up right where they left off.
After everything was finalized, the remaining deities joined the nature spirits, returning supernatural creatures, and the creator in returning to the other world. It was then sealed away. This action caused the magic of the mortal world to completely disappear. The year was 40 CE.
Since the seal, sporadic battles have been fought throughout the other world by some of the same spirits that fought in the mortal world. These battles have created cracks within the sealed gates. In the year 1300 CE (mortal world time), these cracks became big enough for magic to start seeping back into the physical world. While most of the people that were persecuted during the witch hunts of the time were ordinary humans, some early mages were among them as well. Thus they kept their abilities secret for the time being. Also during this time (though it had started several hundred years prior), the remaining supernatural creatures were hunted to extinction.
As the Age of Enlightenment came into being, mages started to become more open about their power. Some helped to further the scientific ideas of the time, so that the ordinary humans would be closer to equal terms with them (though there were some that vehemently fought against this, both physically and verbally). As the years passed, mages were slowly accepted until the majority of the world treated them no differently than anyone else.
Magic System
The main thing to keep in mind about this system is that it is based off of stamina. The more magic you use in succession, the more you will wear yourself out (just as if you go into a fight doing nothing but wildly swing your arms around). If you try to cast a spell when you no longer have the stamina to handle it, you will end up passing out and the spell will just not work, if not entirely backfire. The general rule of thumb is that the more overpowered/broken a spell is, the (a) more stamina it will take to cast, (b) the harder the spell itself is to do, (c) the longer it takes to cast, and (d) the less likely it will succeed.
The second thing to keep in mind is that everyone, even normal people, has some degree of resistance to magic. This means it may take more energy to enchant a person than it would a different person and vice versa. This also means that it may be harder for certain spells to succeed against certain people, regardless of how much energy is used.
The third thing to keep in mind applies mainly to elemental magic, though it holds true for all forms of magic as well. No one element (nor form of magic) naturally overcomes another. It’s all about the individual mage’s own power in the end. When an elemental creates their element, it is fueled by magic. As such, unless the mage wills it (and it does take a lot of power to make the element act as it normally would), it will not have the same effect on its environment as its natural counterpart. Lava created by magma mages, for instance, will not burn everything in its path like real lava does. There will be damage from both heat and the force of the liquid rock, but it won’t be the same kind of damage natural lava would cause. This particular rule is also why smoke and mist spells are just as capable of beating a magma spell as water and ice.
Lastly, there are two main styles of magic: on the fly and hermetic. Hermetic magic consists largely of magical rituals. However, the term itself refers to any spell that takes a long time to cast, regardless of whether or not it is an actual ritual. These spells typically are the most powerful and involved, but they also take the longest to cast. On the fly magic is the opposite of hermetic. This style is characterized by its quick spell casting. While it’s often not quite as powerful as the hermetic style, it is more useful in direct one on one combat where the mage isn’t able to spend the time needed for a hermetic spell.
Categories of Magic
Below are the ten currently recognized categories of magic in the world. Even the magic used by supernatural creatures falls under these categories. Every one of these has the potential to be pretty overpowered, depending on how it is handled. If you are unsure about something, feel free to ask me in PM, the chat room, or IM.
Life – Life covers all magic related to living creatures. Basically this comes down to healing, plant manipulation, living transmutation (think shapeshifting, stat buffs, and similar magic), creation of biotoxins, and temporary imbuing of life.
Death – Death covers all magic related to death and decay. This category decay and illness spells, manipulation of dead plants, life and soul stealing, and the creation of undead.
Energy – Energy magic covers the manipulation of the different forms of energy in the universe. Transmutation is a big part of this. All forms of energy are here, including magical energy in its raw form. Cold and darkness can be manipulated by taking away heat and light respectively.
Matter – Matter magic manipulates the four states of matter, but only for inorganic creatures. This covers transmutation, shaping matter, and the creation of magical artifacts and potions.
Information – This magic relates to the gathering of information and control of fate. This covers divination, speed reading, information absorption, translating runes and foreign languages, manipulation of chance to slight degrees, and seeing a creature’s/object’s fate (only applies to the one object, only the most likely course of action (which is subject to change at all times), and doesn’t take into account any external factors).
Psychological – This form of magic covers all spells relating to the mind. This consists of charm and compulsion spells, mind reading, influencing/implanting thoughts, clearing minds, telepathy, creating false memories, and psychic attacks.
Illusion – This form of magic covers spells that deceive the senses. Glamour falls under here, as does deceiving senses, taking away senses (by way of making it seem nothing is there), and hallucinations. These hallucinations can be set to damage, but it won’t be as much as the real thing. These attacks would not leave any physical marks on the victim.
Dimensional – This magic covers both time and space. Spells here include the manipulation of time itself, (very) limited time travel, teleportation, colocation (being in multiple places at once), timed spells, teleporting spell effects, and creating/manipulating pocket dimensions.
Ward – Ward covers a variety of defense magic. Your usual protective spells are here, as are barriers and seals. Other spells include, reflectors, dispelling, counter, purification, binding, and banishment.
Summon – As the name implies, summon magic is used to summon creatures. In addition to that, it can be used to summon spirits, food, and items. If a summoned mundane item or creature is killed, you cannot summon it again, ever (if you try, you’ll just get a corpse or the useless destroyed pieces). If a summoned spirit is “killed” in the mortal world, you must wait a good while for it to reform in the other world before you can summon it again.
Types of Mages
Mage
Ordinary mages are the most common of the three types of magic users. They are also the most versatile, able to use everything within the ten categories of magic. They are not restricted to specific elements like the elemental mages, nor do they require a sacrifice like the blood mages. However, they are not able to create anything from nothing (they can summon, but they can’t create). They are only able to manipulate what is already present, or what they have summoned. As an example, say an ordinary mage wanted to create a wall of fire. She would have to use an energy spell to transmute the energy into the area into heat energy (or use an energy spell to increase the amount of heat energy in the area) until a spark of flame occurs naturally. From there, she would use matter magic to manipulate that spark into a wall of fire. If an ordinary mage specializes in one of the categories of magic, she will be known by that name. For instance, if an ordinary mage specializes in life magic, she will be referred to as a Life Mage.
Blood
Blood mages are more similar to ordinary mages than elementals. In fact, they are more or less ordinary mages. The thing is that they have just enough inherent magical ability to use magic, but not enough to use it without a sacrifice of some kind. Usually this sacrifice comes in the form of actual blood (hence their name), though actually sacrificing a life works just as well. The type of blood determines how powerful a spell can be. For instance, freshly drawn blood tends to be more potent that blood stored in a hospital or blood bank (not by much though). Second, blood from certain types of creatures also plays a role. The order is as follows, from least to most potent:
Animal --> ordinary human --> ordinary mages and elementals --> blood mages --> blood mage’s own blood
The amount of blood used plays no part in how powerful the spell is. The more powerful the spell is, the more blood is needed for it to have a chance at success, but the power behind the spell stays the same, regardless of how much is used. As with ordinary mages and elementals, blood mages must have the stamina to cast spells. No amount of blood used will ever replace the stamina that is required for a spell.
The final aspect of blood magic is the ability to manipulate and shape blood for a variety of purposes. As an example, a blood mage can form blood into a type of arrow and have it pierce a target or create a blood wall for protection. Though widely considered to be a form of matter magic, this ability is actually unique to blood mages. Blood can be manipulated by ordinary mages, but it is not anywhere close to the kind of control a blood mage has.
Elemental
Elemental mages are mages that are capable of controlling one or more of the elements that make up the world. Long thought to be ordinary mages that specialized in elemental control, they have recently been acknowledged as a different type of mage altogether. There are two main things that separate elementals from the other types. One is that these mages are restricted to just the elements they wield. You won’t see a water elemental controlling fire, for example. The second feature is that elementals can actually create their elements from nothing. In fact, creation (as well as manipulation) of an element is the basic spell known to all elementals. As an example, a mud mage could be in a sterile lab and still be able to create mud. While most of the mages of the world lump this type of magic under energy magic, elementals have their own name for it: genesis magic. As such, they can do things via genesis magic that ordinary mages cannot do. Light and dark mages are the perfect examples of this.
When it comes to the different categories of magic, there are some differences between elementals and the other mages. For one, any spell that creates a visual effect of some kind, such as magical energy surrounding a healer’s hands, will take the form of the mage’s element. It will only look like the element though, it won’t have the properties. In this example, if the healer was a magma mage, that magical energy would take the form of magma. It won’t, however, harm a creature in anyway. Below is a list of changes to each magical category that are unique to elementals:
Life – no plant control or bio toxin creation. Transmutation only applies to the mage’s elements (think turning to a being of fire, unique to elementals). Imbuing only applies to qualities associated with the mage’s element and the creation of elemental golems.
Death – no undead creation or dead plant control.
Energy – this is entirely replaced by genesis magic. A few mages can control energy related to their elements, but that’s it.
Matter – only the mage’s elements can be manipulated with this category. Unlike the other mages (who can only transmute an element to its different states), the elements can be transmuted to their other aspects (provided the mage has control over the other aspects). Items can only be enchanted with the mage’s elements or qualities associated with the mage’s elements. Potions act the same as they do with the other mages, but keep the same restrictions on magic as the elementals.
Information – divination requires the mage’s element be used as a medium. No manipulation of fate or ability to see immediate future of creature or object.
Psychological – no psychic attacks or implanting false memories.
Illusion – multiple copies can be made, but they are composed of (and disintegrate back into) the mage’s element. All other illusions must have something to do with the mage’s element.
Dimensional – aside from timed spells and actions, elementals cannot manipulate time. Teleportation can be portals formed from the mage’s element or the mage disappearing (and reappearing) with elemental after effects. No bilocation or other space magic.
Ward – all barriers and seals take the form of the mage’s element. Barrier effects can come from any of the elemental’s spells, just like regular mages.
Summon – can only summon creatures or objects related to the mage’s element.
Elementals start out controlling one element. This is usually an aspect of one of the four elements (also called the core elements) earth, fire, water, and air. In some cases, the elemental starts out as an element created from the mixing of two core elements. The different elemental types, broken down by core elements, are as follows:
Earth
Earth – the core earth aspect covers three main categories of earth: rock, mineral, and broken down rock. Minerals include all manner of gems and broken down rock includes everything from sand to dirt.
Metal – the metal aspect of earth covers all metallic material. This includes both solid and liquid metal. They also have a degree of control over magnetism.
Mud – the mud aspect covers all types of mud, be it liquid or semi liquid.
Magma – a mix of the fire and earth elements, this elemental has control over molten rock.
Fire
Fire – the element of heat, elementals of the core fire element can create both heat and actual flames. They can also manipulate cold to the extent ordinary mages can, by way of taking away heat.
Smoke – unlike fire elementals, smoke mages can’t manipulate heat or cold.
Light – covers all light in the visible spectrum. Unlike ordinary mages, light can also be manipulated as if it were matter, such as spells that allow a light attack to feel like a concussive force. Just like ordinary mages, light elementals can manipulate shadow a bit by way of taking away light from an area. However, they do not have the same control of it as dark mages.
Water
Water – elementals of the core water aspect deal with water in its liquid state. While they cannot manipulate heat and cold per say, they are capable of creating both boiling hot and freezing cold water. They just aren’t able to manipulate heat energy itself.
Ice – the element of cold, ice mages make use of solid ice, coldness itself, and snow.
Darkness – Unlike ordinary mages, dark mages can manipulate darkness as if it were matter. For example, some dark mages can create shadow limbs that can physically interact with objects or creatures.
Mist – a mix of the water and air elements, this element deals with clouds, fog, mist, and steam. Like water, it cannot manipulate heat the way ordinary mages can. Instead, they’re control works more like water mages: they can create scalding hot steam or freezing cold mist, not manipulate heat energy itself.
Air
Air – elementals of the core air aspect have the usual wind related abilities. In addition to that, they are able to manipulate and create various poisonous gases as well as oxygen and other beneficial gases. Sound manipulation also falls under this category. Air mages are able to both amplify and suppress sound in a given area.
Lightning – this aspect of the air element actually handles electricity in general in addition to lightning.
Plasma – elementals of this type have control over the superheated gases that make up the stars, as well as neon lights and other more manmade structures.
As the elemental grows in power, they can start creating and controlling other aspects within their elemental group, including the mixed element that is part of its group. For example, a plasma mage can eventually learn to control air, lightning, and mist in addition to his initial element. The mixed elements are capable of this same feature, though they can only move to aspects of one of the two elemental groups that make up their element. Take magma mages as an example. They can eventually learn to create and control earth, metal, and mud or fire, smoke, and light in addition to their initial element. They would not be able to mix and match elements from each elemental group, so there is no way a magma mage could control magma, smoke, metal, and light.
All mages start out controlling one element. There are no exceptions to this rule. It generally takes some time for elementals to start controlling other aspects, depending largely on how much the elemental practices magic. On average, it takes roughly fifteen to twenty years to create and control a new element. For mages that seclude themselves in their homes and do nothing but practice each day, it can take as little as five (at minimum) to ten years. This is naturally.
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