[Art/Writing] Jairus: Merry Christmas

[Jairus]

Okay, let's see if I can get this right...
As people might have discovered after reading some of my posts, I am currently working on creating a fantasy universe for a book (technically a few of them, but let's not split hairs). Rather than waste everyone's time elsewhere in the forum, I figure that one place for all of my concepts/designs/species/races/legends/characters/world-building exercises would not only allow me to stop cluttering up unrelated topics, but also help me get some criticism and assistance in fleshing out and finalizing The Rules. If I do end up going off on a tangent, I'll try to finish it in here rather than out there. I guess you could consider this a glimpse into a project that I am going to finish someday soon (hopefully). And at some point I'll get around to posting the laws towards breeding that I mentioned in my introductory thread.
Basically, this is going to be a dumping spot for concepts and random ideas that have somehow coalesced into a coherent thought capable of being shown to the world. I actually have quite a few ideas (I want to be thorough about this world), so I'm not going to be posting them all at once. And I want people to ask questions, to find flaws in my ideas, to point out something that I might have missed, and to delve deeper than I could possibly do on my own.
Also, my ideas do have a tendency of reshuffling in order to somehow make them fit better. Consider anything like that posted. Occasionally, stuff might get a little random, but I will try to answer questions as they're asked.
Um, sorry for making you read through my rambling thoughts just to get to the important stuff. Now, onto something slightly more interesting! (I hope.)

And since this is a fantasy world I'm working on, I might as well start with one of the most important topics: magic.

What is magic in my universe? In short, no one is really certain. It is known to be a kind of omnipresent energy, and it is known to be controllable by various means. The exact source of magical energy is also unknown: some mages theorize that it is somehow created or refined by life, but evidence for this is mostly circumstantial at best. A lot of higher-level magical researchers consider magical energy to simply be another aspect of the various universes, such as thermal or electrical energy: this may be closer to the right answer.
A magic-wielder, or "mage," is able to collect, absorb, and release this energy in a controlled fashion through different means. When it comes to mages, two terms that must be remembered are "wizards" and "sorcerers." A wizard is essentially a natural-born mage who inherits the capability to perform magic from their parents. A sorcerer is a mage who - through study and research and training - has achieved the ability to perform magic despite not having been born with the talent. All other types of mages - alchemist, shaman, paladin, necromancer, invoker, summoner, etc - somehow derive their energy and abilities from one of these sources.

Next, I'll hopefully talk about how spells work and more of the differences between wizards and sorcerers. And I might get into what witches and warlocks are (or at least what they are currently) and why the term "energeia" is so important.

All right, now you wolves can move in. And, um, sorry this got a little long.

[Ren Gaulen]

Sounds interesting. I am looking forward to learn more about the universe you are working on (though I am more into sci-fi (or, rather, techno-fantasy, as I like to call it) than fantasy). So far I don't have any comments, since everything looks logical to me (and I won't try to compare it to D&D ).

[Pagan]

Seems good to me. I'm looking forward to see where this goes, Jay.
"Energia"? Hadn't heard that term yet.

[Jairus]

      All right, today we're going to talk about spells. Spells are the primary means of controlling magic, and are designed to shape magical energy to produce an effect of some kind. There are basically three types of spells: Arcane, Modern, and Wild.
      Wild magic is basically the oldest (and technically most powerful) kind of magic. Wild magic works on the principle of belief, and how if enough people believe in something their combined mental energy acts like a rudimentary spell, focusing dormant magical energy to produce an effect of some kind. As an example of the power of belief, in our world the Bermuda Triangle might actually have a portal to another dimension. Gods and other members of the Divine race are "born" through enough believe in them, and are supported and kept alive by it. To give an example of the kind of power belief has, take our legend of "the seventh son of a seventh son shall be born a wizard." On the Discworld, this is "the eight son of an eight son shall be a wizard, while the eight son of an eighth son of an eighth son shall be a sourcerer." On the world of Terra (where this story is set), the belief is "the seventh child of a seventh child." All of these are true, for the worlds they appear on. And since they are such a big part of folklore, any child who fits the standards will inherit wizard power (except in certain rare circumstances: wait until I talk about Nicodemus Cidney). Interestingly, aside from the obvious cases of stories where people inherit permanent powers (7x7=wizard), most Wild magics will only work on that world, due to beliefs being different on other worlds.
      Arcane spells are basically the kind of spells we're used to: they run on folklore and belief and the limited scientific knowledge of the time that they were created. They were the next step up from Wild magic, and could be considered the earliest examples of controlled spells. For example, a lot of Arcane spells perform magic through the four (or five) elements, depending on the beliefs of that particular world. They are usually performed through some kind of magic language (for Western culture on our word, spells would probably be cast in Latin or Greek, though each region would have it's own special language). Much like Wild magic, Arcane spells are fairly unique to each world they appear on, though there are a handful of similar elements across them, and sufficient examination will reveal a lot of parallels. Basically, each world's Arcane magic is unique to them, and slightly lose their effectiveness on other worlds, though a sufficiently skilled mage can "retune" them to work better.
      The Modern Magic system is a bit of a misnomer. In some cases, it is far older than most Arcane magic, and the system itself might be at least 200 million years old (some species have been around longer than us: that is all I shall say for now). The reason it is referred to as the Modern magic system is because it has been designed around the laws of physics and the rules that govern reality. For example, a spell to create fire - designed around the Modern magic system - is built around the knowledge that you need oxygen, a fuel supply, and an ignition source to make a fire: a modern spell can take the place of all of those various needed elements. Rather than performing magic through various elements, most modern spells are more focused on having an elemental affinity rather than working through the elements. There are numerous advantages to these spells, including that they can be cast in any language, they can work equally well on all worlds, they are easily updated to fit new scientific understanding, and they are far safer and more controllable than other spells. As for disadvantages... I can't really think of any. It is worth noting, however, that Wild magic and Arcane magic commonly have far more power backing them up, while Modern magic doesn't really need any belief to work.

To give an idea of the difference in safety and reliability of these spells, allow me to paraphrase a comment that will be made by the aforementioned Nicodemus Cidney. Wild magic is about as reliable as an early gunpowder missile: lots of power, but difficult to focus and control and indeed the kind of control where the best you can do is point and hope that it works. Arcane magic is a bit like a cross between an early firearm and a musket or blunderbuss: the understanding of magic's mechanics has grown, and the process is a little safer, but it's still dangerous and difficult to use (to those of you who have read the Discworld, the magic that wizards and witches use is basically Arcana magic, which gives you an idea of how bad this can be). Modern magic is a 20th century semi-automatic pistol, easily reloaded and repaired, easy to aim and use, anyone can use it, and not prone to backfiring on you somehow. Incidentally, this also kinda reveals the relative complexity of the various spells.

Okay, there's some stuff about spells. I don't feel like getting into wizards/sorcerers/witches/warlocks quite yet, so I'll leave you with this for now.
As for the similarities to DnD, I actually have never played DnD in my life. Most of my exposure to DnD was through Irregular Webcomics (if you read it you know what I mean). I actually didn't learn about DnD's magic mechanics until after I had solidified the basics of magic and was starting to branch out from there. Don't worry about the coincidences, either. I'm just trying to come up with something that works, and sometimes parallels come up. The aforementioned (I use that word way too much) Nicodemus in particular got it rough... but then again he's meant to be a deconstruction of the myth of a seventh child of a seventh child, so he needed six older siblings and a vast hoard of uncles and aunts and cousins in order for his character to work: when I first came up with him a year ago I just thought it would be kind of funny if he had six older sisters instead of six older brothers (since everyone does that). Imagine my surprise when I met Jyrras. Then it got really really really weird.
As for "energeia," it's an old greek word that eventually evolved into our concept of energy. In this universe, energeia goes by many names, but the one that you would all perhaps best recognize is "chi."

And that one got a little long too. On the plus side, now that I'm writing this, it's a lot easier to see how the parts fit together. Oy, I've got a headache.

[Pagan]

Hoooo boy. That's a huge block o' text. Odd thing is, I didn't get distracted once.
Very interesting, just one question. If Modern Magic is a lot more controlled and malleable, couldn't someone of significant power and expertise create the spell equivalent of an atomic bomb?

Or has the magic Manhatten Project yet to occure on Terra?

[Jairus]

Hoooo boy. That's a huge block o' text. Odd thing is, I didn't get distracted once.
Very interesting, just one question. If Modern Magic is a lot more controlled and malleable, couldn't someone of significant power and expertise create the spell equivalent of an atomic bomb?

Or has the magic Manhatten Project yet to occure on Terra?

What makes you think that someone hasn't created the magical equivalent of an atomic bomb yet?

Okay, you've got a few choices. On the one hand, there are spells that have destructive power to rival an atomic weapon, but these are all high-level spells that take a long time to charge up and need a lot of magical energy. On the other hand, some magitek artifacts are capable of emitting bursts of power similar in scale to atomic weaponry. Some civilizations (on other worlds, mind you) have the technological level to construct (and use) nuclear weaponry. Merlin himself did some experiments with nuclear arsenals, one of which added an early Anti-Magic field for use against magical shields and defenses, and he has a tendency of arming his ships with them as a backup weapon (yes he's still alive: I'll get to talking about him eventually even though he never shows up - or is mentioned to have existed - on Terra). Merlin is among the magical researchers and scientists who invent the spells that everyone else uses: Merlin's ability to create up to ten spells every century is what marks him as a remarkably skilled mage. Um, the complexity of modern spells is such that it takes a lot more effort to build them. Kind of like how almost any one can create an early rocket and with the right gear you could make an early firearm in your garage, but it takes a bit more to build a modern pistol.

As for Terra's technological level, most firearms and similar weapons fall somewhere between the American Civil War and WWI since magic kind of relegated firearms to secondary status, though some inventors and scientists (Nick among them) have done some serious work on raising the overall technological level of the world, and more modern weaponry is available in cities and other such places. They do have computers (laptops and supercomputers exist, as does a version of the internet) and game systems (at about the N64 level, and Nick has built a prototype portable version of that system for the company that makes them) but they never developed nuclear weaponry or reactors (well, beyond experimental reactors, but those were never viable as a source of power): most of the world uses fossil fuels or renewable energy (wind and water, some places even use primitive solar generation techniques). Nick himself has been working on a reactor that converts magical energy to electricity (and something else...) in order to run his lab and his technology, and is currently working on the Mark IV version of his TF (Thauma Furnace) Reactor.

[Pagan]

Ah. I was just asking about the tradeoff in Modern to Arcane and Wild magic. It kinda sounded as though Modern had a loss of force by gaining stability and control.

Another question. You keep referencing "worlds" and the way you use it makes it seem as though our world, Terra, perhaps even Discworld or Furrae exist in your universe, but in another plane or something. Almost like different territories. Got flumes?

[Fragmaster01]

Well, the general problem with the idea of more control is that there IS more control. Say you want to shapeshift:
Wild: Through will, you shapeshift into a form familiar to you by concentrating on the magical makeup of that form.
Arcane: By providing a general polymorph formula, you can shift with much less power and difficulty, though the spell must be modified to suit the form you wish, rather than chosen at time of casting.
Modern: You have to provide competent understanding of the DNA of the form, as well as the ability to speed the cell reproduction of the form while offsetting the age difference with time magic...

Aka, Wild magic is much better at being general with a failing at being precise, whereas Modern offers much more control over the finer details at the cost of needing to control every single detail. For a flipside example, Modern, if played with enough, could produce literally any form, while Wild would be limited to forms that already exist in the world.

[Jairus]

In terms of Modern magic, it does lose a bit of force, but only in the sense that a baseball going ninety miles an hour hurts less than one going a hundred miles an hour. Plus, what with modern magic being slightly more focused and controlled, you can actually get that slightly-less force to hit a bit harder, if that makes sense. Sort of like shooting a baseball out of an air-cannon fired at slightly below maximum human arm strength verses someone throwing a baseball at maximum human arm strength.

Okay, three important terms are needed for the next bit. Parallel, Parasite, and Pocket. Those refer to the three types of universe that we work with. They all kind of float within something called the Abyss, which is just a fancy term for the multiverse that connects them. In order to travel between worlds, you need either a special kind of magic, the inherent physical ability to do so, a specially-designed vehicle, or you need to somehow fall into the Abyss and hope that it drops you off before you go insane. Good luck with that. The exact origins of the multiverse are unknown, but what is known is that before the multiverse came into existence you needed to use very rare and powerful magic to travel between worlds. Most people and worlds are unaware of the existence of other universes (Terra is one of the few exceptions, and travelers from other universes popping in is rare but not unheard of).
Essentially, there are thousands upon thousands of parallel universes, each with their own world (some have worlds, though these are rare (um, worlds as in planets with life)) and lifeforms, though those lifeforms tend to follow the same general designs and genes (a human from one universe can breed with a human from another universe, a dog from one universe can breed with a dog from another universe, etc etc). Due to different beliefs and stuff of that nature, the means of controlling magic differ from one world to another: also, some worlds exist in areas so high in magic that some crazy stuff can happen - like a disc-shaped world atop four giant elephants atop a giant flying space turtle or the very laws of physics can start breaking down.
A parasite universe is one that is attached to one or more parallel universes, and allows travel between them. The Faerie Kingdom is a parasite universe, Draconis is another (Draconis is the name given to what is believed to be the High Dragon's home world, or rather what's left of it). A parasite universe is basically a small-scale version of the multiverse. Incidentally, the Faerie Kingdom is the largest parasite universe in existence, since it is believe to be connected to every world that is in existence.
A pocket universe is basically what it sounds like. It's essentially a portable parasite universe that you can take with you. Bags of Holding are small pocket universes. To create your own pocket universe is a mark of exceptional skill and power, though they pop up in wild magic with some small amount of frequency. You really really do not want to mess with the Wild versions.

So, basically, yeah. Each world/universe is its own little solid part of the greater multiverse. There used to be an order of Knights whose job was to protect each universe, but they were wiped out about 9,500 years ago, and there are only a few hundred of them left. The dragons also frequently travel between worlds, as do the Faerie. Travel between worlds has steadily been dropping off, and only a handful of beings and creatures still do it. And as a joke of mine, one of my characters mentions having been to a world on the back of a turtle, but it might not be the Discworld. And for the record, I think Nicky and Jyrras would hit it off if they ever actually met. Perhaps a little too well... *hatches an idea for a cameo of some kind*

And as for you, Fragmaster01... let me think for a second. You've kind of hit on the reason why Modern magic is so complicated. And it's not like these are three completely separate and incompatible spells systems. A lot of modern spells (well, at least the older modern spells) are simply Arcane spells that were modified by mages with superior knowledge of how things fit together. Think of modern spells as specifying the generalities of older spells while also building in extra redundancies to make them safer. And much like modern engineering and physics, sometimes corners have to be cut...

As for Wild magic's multiple problems, think of the Butterfly effect in chaos theory: a butterfly flaps its wings in Peking and in New York they get rain instead of sunlight. There are so many variables in Wild Magic that at best you can make a general prediction of what will happen. This is part of the reason why scientists (and mages) like Nick don't bother with wild magic outside of the general stuff: they know that no matter what they do, they can never accurately predict what will happen. Let's continue to use Nick as an example, since he's a fairly major player. He is the seventh child of two seventh children, so by the "rules" of wild magic he should be a wizard. However, his mom Justine is a major player in being/creature relations, and has many friends on both sides of the game who have... shall we say... made sure that she'll be around for a few decades longer than she would be normally, so she's got some magic (but not much) in her veins. His dad Elian is a retired adventurer and low-rank sorcerer who has a great understanding of magic and spent a lot of time around magical energy, all of which usually leads to children inheriting some wizarding talent. But if you add the three of these together, you have stacked so many variables on top of one another that ultimately the issue of whether Nick is a wizard or comes down down to his choice in the matter, and no matter how much the "world" says he should be something it can't override his wishes. And considering that both of his parents encouraged his logical viewpoint towards the world from a young age, factored in with the fact that he knows Wild magic is a fickle thing that shouldn't be trusted, he subconsciously chose from a young age to reject those powers. Not only that, but even with his excellent understanding of magic and science, he's actually a fairly poor sorcerer who needs backup to perform anything beyond simple healing spells. Of course, he's spent so much time experimenting with magical energies that any child of his is guaranteed to inherit some skill at magic...

And... dang... I was just trying to reply to one thing and I got all of that out. I LOVE YOU PEOPLE!!!!!

[Pagan]

Down! Do I have to get the hose?

Sounds like Wild magic was something that I was playing with in one of my worlds. I liked to thing of chance as a possible element of magic. Very random, bad things can happen as well as good. That sort of thing.

Dragons? Fae(ries)? Is that Furrae style or your own making?

And jeez... you're really making me think about settling down and making my own thread.

[Ren Gaulen]

Quite interesting magical system, Jay. I think I'll add something more constructive a bit later.

And jeez... you're really making me think about settling down and making my own thread.

Same here. I have my own techno-fantasy setting called "Shades of Grey" (which I mentioned in my art thread a few times), so I'll probably start a thread devoted to it tomorrow.

[Jairus]

Dragons? Fae(ries)? Is that Furrae style or your own making?

My Faeries are based off of the old European style of fairies: they're jerks and psychopaths at best. Intensely magical (and practically living Wild Magic in and of themselves, and are easily a match for the most powerful of gods), practically immortal (the only way to kill off a faerie once and for all is for it to basically commit suicide), and capable of performing deeds in a heartbeat that most magical being could never do in a lifetime. Fortunately, they have a number of weaknesses (which I'll get into later), so anyone who has access to the right knowledge and can properly plan ahead (say, a certain non-wizard adventurer named Elian "Cid" Cidney) is capable of permanently killing off a Faerie. As for the archaic spelling, I think that they'd prefer it that way, especially since it just looks cooler. Plus, they can hear you spell it "Fairy" when you say it out loud, and if there's one thing you don't want to do it's piss off a Faerie...
Actually, it's one of five things you don't want to do. I actually wrote a little poem some time ago about the things you don't want to do... (albeit, some of this is no longer canon, but it's still a catchy little nursery rhyme):
Never threaten Elven honor,
Nor insult a dwarven mother.
Never harm the human heart,
Nor a fight with a dragon start.

Unfortunately, Amber also seems to have "called" the designations for Beings and Creatures, which is unfortunate as those are so perfect that after months of trying to classify non-sentient animals, sentient animals, and expressly magical sentient animals, the best that I could come up with on my own includes two of her designations (for the record, the designations are Beasts, Beings, and Creatures). As for the dragons... that's genuinely a topic for another day. The High Dragons are basically my own design, but they've always known shapeshifting magic (how else do I explain Dragon Hybrids?) and they've always been powerful, and they've always been nigh-immortal. In fact, it is believed that High Dragons were the creators of the Modern Magic system, but there's no real way to be certain. Again, another day.

And the reason I love you guys is that you're forcing me to finally write this all out. You have no idea how long I've been trying to do that. And thanks for planning to add something, Ren.

[Pagan]

Seeing old Faeries is awesome. I do have to agree with you on designations. Amber chose very good words there. I just wanted to clear any confusion.

[Jairus]

Well, the general problem with the idea of more control is that there IS more control. Say you want to shapeshift:
Wild: Through will, you shapeshift into a form familiar to you by concentrating on the magical makeup of that form.
Arcane: By providing a general polymorph formula, you can shift with much less power and difficulty, though the spell must be modified to suit the form you wish, rather than chosen at time of casting.
Modern: You have to provide competent understanding of the DNA of the form, as well as the ability to speed the cell reproduction of the form while offsetting the age difference with time magic...

Okay, I'm about to disappear for three or four hours because I have to drive back home for the weekend, but this suddenly hit me and I felt the need to clarify slightly. Wild magic cannot be controlled through one person. It takes dozens, if not hundreds or thousands of people, to produce a noticeable effect. Arcane and Modern produce controllable effects, but Wild really doesn't. Now, there are some wild-magic effects that can be controlled, but the magic itself cannot be. And any form of natural shapeshifting (see Wer-folk, Lazerai, and Dragons when I get that far) have shapeshifting as a natural ability that kind of follows the pattern of Arcane magic (though there are some beings and creatures who have natural magical abilities that follow Modern magic: see Warlocks when I get that far). Wild magic is really really tricky.

[Pagan]

Alright, you've discussed the three types of magics and universes. You once mentioned Angels and Demons in one of your nighttime ramblings. Could you describe those a bit?

[Jairus]

I'm going to get into this eventually when I start talking about races and species, but I guess a little preview won't hurt. I'm still working on this, mind you. Hopefully I'll have it finished up by the time I post the concise/complete info.

      Okay, angels and demons are cousin creature races (much like humans, elves, and dwarves are cousin being races [Anthri and a handful of other races are more like second or third cousins]). End of story. I don't care what any angel or demon says, they're descended of a common ancestor (some scientists believe that not only are they descended of a common ancestor, that common ancestor was a Demon-like species) and are practically the same species. One theory states that the two evolved in the Abyss, but to be quite blunt both of them have been around for longer than the Abyss has existed (not that they know that). Ignore stories about fallen angels: there's no such thing, those who become corrupted by power not-withstanding. Ignore stories about rebellions against gods: some angels have in fact created gods through careful manipulation of belief. Also ignore any claims to divinity: only angels or demons who have aligned themselves to members of the Divine race have any power of that sort. Aside from the wings and a few physical differences and a few differences in magical abilities, they are almost identical: they can also breed with other races, but then again so can a lot of others. If I had to sum up angels and demons in one word, it would basically be "lawful" and "chaotic" respectively. Neither race is wholly (hah, nearly wrote "holy") good or evil. A half-breed member is only considered "half-breed" until their powers really kick in somewhere in adulthood. Both races are physically powerful and have longer lives than most beings. If you have to piss one off, piss off a demon, since the demon will only kill you, while the angel might just kill you and your family.
      The most apparent physical difference between an angel and a demon is their wings. I guess you can already speculate which group has which kind of wings. Demons also tend to have horns growing from their heads, though these vary in size and shape. Angels and demons (in their Creature form, at least) are also incredibly beautiful: think Greco-Roman gods, and then apply it to basically any kind of animal that the two can breed with. It is notable that both groups are incapable of hiding their wings through normal means (unlike their Lazerai cousins), and so must secure other means of blending in. Demons tend to also have sharp teeth and claws, though for the most part their claws are retractable. They are both physically fit races who are capable of matching many opponents in straight battle, and all members of the angel and demon race possess absolute mastery of one type of magic (light and dark respectively) as well as mastery of normal non-elemental magic: when it comes to being able to perform other kinds of magic (i.e. like wizards), the ratio's about the same as it is for other races. As for weaknesses... well, much like pretty much anything, hit 'em too hard with something and eventually they'll go down. Neither can use black magic for some reason (White and Black magic are different from Light and Dark magic). Few members use ?Modern magic, and prefer either Arcane or manipulating Wild magic (see the afore-mentioned manipulation of belief: incidentally, few demons care for that). Angels are manipulative, Demons are fairly straightforward. If you need one or the other on your side, go for a demon, since you know that at least they're on your side for the time being: you generally have no idea what an angel really wants.
      Incidentally, as a hint to exactly how "good" angels really are, the only true instant kill spell (ala Avada Kedavra) is a light magic spell.

I'll get into much more detail when I start posting that kind of information, but in the meantime does this help out a little bit? Hopefully, I'll talk a bit more about Wizardry/Witchcraft/Sorcery/Warlockry next. After I talk about magic some more, I want to get a few breeding rules thrown out there (incidentally, a half-breed is technically called a Hybrid: Nicodemus Cydney is a Hybrid Elf/Human. Do not call a Hybrid a halfling: this is the rough equivalent of the "N" word in the world today, except worse). But before the breeding rules, I should probably get some races thrown out... I'm insane for trying to do all of this.

[shadowterm]

To think you did this because I have WABS, and wanted to give me something to do. BTW I waited too. I get points at my next Web Comic-aholics anonymous meeting.

("Hi, my name is zack, and I'm a WC-aholic" group:"Hi Zack.)

[Jairus]

To think you did this because I have WABS, and wanted to give me something to do. BTW I waited too. I get points at my next Web Comic-aholics anonymous meeting.

("Hi, my name is zack, and I'm a WC-aholic" group:"Hi Zack.{/i])

If it makes you feel better, I've been waiting for a point where I can't NOT write this stuff out: your WABS was enough to get me started on finally getting some constructive criticism. Basically, I've been trying to get all of this stuff out of my head and onto paper (or at least in some form) and now I'm finally doing it. Yes, all of this is in my head and scattered throughout about three or four notebooks (but those are basically hard-copy backups). And yes, that's a double negative in my first sentence, but it kind of helps the message.

[shadowterm]

I have lot lot of ideas floating around too, but none so refined. I should probably work on it more seeing as I hope to develop it into either a story or comic some time in the future. (Way, way out there in the future. See that, that tiny little speck so far off in the distance you can't see it? There's my goal.)

[Pagan]

Shadowterm, never forget the lesson of this comic! http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_852.php
None of us are ever fully prepared, but at least when you dive in, you're swimming now.

[Jairus]

Shadowterm, never forget the lesson of this comic! http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_852.php
None of us are ever fully prepared, but at least when you dive in, you're swimming now.

Ah, thank you for finding that. I guess you could say that I'm finally taking her advice. Go Amber.

Next up on Jairus' Fantasy World-Building and Other Insane Stuff, Witchcraft, Energeia, Mana, Techniques, and White magic vs. Black magic. Hopefully.

[shadowterm]

Shadowterm, never forget the lesson of this comic! http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_852.php
None of us are ever fully prepared, but at least when you dive in, you're swimming now.

For the record, I'd rather make something original and of good quality then to just start making a web-comic with stick figures and no plot beyond lame video game references. Just because I said my goal was far off doesn't mean I meant in time, but rather work.

[shadowterm]

Sorry to double post, but I was writing down some of my ideas, and came up with some disturbing parallels with yours. There's no magic, but dimensional travel was a big player in the plot. I figured that if you're already doing it, I might want to come up with something else. It was going to be called Zero Fold, basically a computer would divide a mathematical expression by zero, and depending on the expression used it would tear a hole to a certain dimension. (If you've seen the pic with the house that imploded and says "I divided by zero!" at the bottom, it's like that.)

[Jairus]

Sorry to double post, but I was writing down some of my ideas, and came up with some disturbing parallels with yours. There's no magic, but dimensional travel was a big player in the plot. I figured that if you're already doing it, I might want to come up with something else. It was going to be called Zero Fold, basically a computer would divide a mathematical expression by zero, and depending on the expression used it would tear a hole to a certain dimension. (If you've seen the pic with the house that imploded and says "I divided by zero!" at the bottom, it's like that.)

Dimensional travel really isn't important anymore and yet. Keep your dimensional traveling: you don't need to drop something just because someone else used it. Your system is a bit different from my magitek drives. Besides, the traveling isn't as important as the characters making the journey and their destinations at the other end.
For the record, the main drive that allows trans-universe travel is referred to as a STAR drive (incidentally, it's inventor didn't make up an acronym for it: he thought it would be funny if people kept trying to figure out what it meant) and it basically was designed to make a "bubble" in space-time between one universe and the Abyss, and then between the Abyss and the universe you want to go to... but you still kind of have to move around in the Abyss because the Abyss translates the multi-dimensional nature of the multiverse into a 3-d concept that can actually be comprehended: it's like moving around on a map to get where you need to get. More advanced (and recent) designs - referred to as Warp cores - actually fold your location, the Abyss, and your destination into a single bubble around your ship that instantly moves you across the multiverse when it opens, though this type is far rarer.
Another system is basically like an interdimensional train station that links together multiple stations to transit you from one location to another: this is mostly designed for inter-world travel, though it can be linked up to trans-dimensional switching stations to travel to other worlds. It's a bit like long-distance calling, or even better bouncing a normal telephone signal off of a satellite to connect to a telephone system halfway across the world. However, this system has fallen into disuse, and there's not many of them left (for the record, Nick has one of the old transit crystals that he recovered and is currently reverse-engineering to make interdimensional travel easier. He's not having much luck so far).
Alternative trans-dimensional travel methods include the aforementioned parasite universes, which basically have isolated portals (like stormy areas, mountains, and old forests) that connect a parallel universe to a parasite universe and then to another parallel universe: there's really not much variety, though artificial parasite universes have been invented to make transit easier, and basically act like a switching station. Dragons prefer this method of travel.
And of course, you could just somehow randomly fall into the Abyss (or, even better, one of the Channels) and hope that you fall back out. Then again, the only way to do this is to either be a... um... just call them two very special races and forget that I mentioned them... or you could cause your world to collapse into absolute chaos and phase out of reality and become a world in a constant state of flux between existence and non-existence with those poor inhabitants and lifeforms frozen in a deep dreamless state while they are still aware of the passing of time in nonexistence... you know what, the ship or the parasite crossroads are just a better method. As for the Channels, they're basically stable "currents" or "slipstreams" within the Abyss that tie worlds together. A really skilled traveler can basically "surf" the currents of the Abyss to get where they need to go... which is why a lot of old inter-dimensional vessels actually had sail-like constructs on them: they weren't able to catch the currents any other way.

And yes, I love that "divided by zero" house.

Um, to sum up, don't worry. And don't talk to me about disturbing parallels: there are also a few disturbing parallels between me and Jyrras, so I have an idea weird parallels. And besides, aside from the Faerie Kingdom and a school or two, none of the main characters do much dimension skipping... well, not yet anyway...

Ah, bugger, I did it again. Okay, next time... the stuff I promised last time!

[shadowterm]

I actually wear a vest with tons of pockets and goggles to school, and did so before even hearing about Jyrras. Thems some creepy parallels. I've identified with a lot of characters that are geeky. Then the writer decides to make them gay, and my world turns upside down as I try to re-assure myself that a pattern isn't developing.

[Jairus]

I actually wear a vest with tons of pockets and goggles to school, and did so before even hearing about Jyrras. Thems some creepy parallels. I've identified with a lot of characters that are geeky. Then the writer decides to make them gay, and my world turns upside down as I try to re-assure myself that a pattern isn't developing.

...

Oh God, you really do freaking understand. GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!

*looks around at all the staring people*

Um, real update next time. I promise.

[shadowterm]

"Understand?" If I didn't top you with that, I guess there really is someone out there as weird as me. Also, my favorite definition for Originality: "Not caring what other people think." It describes how I act in public so well, I should put it in my sig.

But I digress, Back to the threads topic.

[Jairus]

Next up on Jairus' Fantasy World-Building and Other Insane Stuff, Witchcraft, Energeia, Mana, Techniques, and White magic vs. Black magic. Hopefully.

Okay, if I don't post something here today, I'll feel like I let my three viewers down. And we can't have that. So the topic for today's post is Energeia, Mana, Witchcraft, and Techniques. Black magic vs. White magic will be later. Onward ho!

      Okay, Energeia is essentially physical energy, and it is something that all lifeforms (and some Constructs) possess. The closest phrase in our world would be "Chi." Similar to magical energy (hereafter referred to as "mana") the amount of Energeia that a person can wield can grow and expand as they train and practice with their powers. Energeia is controlled through the art known as Witchcraft, partially named because witches are in essence crafting energy through very individual means rather than the channeling and casting of magic. While mana is released through spells, energeia is released through abilities called "techniques." Most techniques resemble - and are in fact descended from - martial arts techniques or meditation skills, which is a given that energeia needs very specific control in order to be released, and the precise mental control of martial arts and meditation is needed to properly craft energeia. Witches are able to use their energeia to influence for good or ill the energeia of others, enhance their bodies, or even release it in the form of a specialized attack. Mid-to-high-level witches are able to use energeia to manipulate magic in the environment around them, allowing them to perform magic-like attacks against opponents by controlling the various elements around them. Mid-level witches are usually only capable of controlling one element, though high-level witches can craft pretty much any element.
      Witchcraft itself is very fluid and ever-changing, and in fact no two witches will have completely identical means of control, though the various schools of the craft have their own particular moves and mentalities. Just as an example, Nicodemus Cydney learned a small amount of witchcraft from his father Elian, and never had much success until he applied a logical mindset to the affair and began to achieve control of his energeia. His older sister Artemis - an adventurer like their father - uses a much more fluid dance-like style to control her energeia. Neither of these two methods really worked for the other, yet both are equally effective. The ultimate lesson of witchcraft is arguably that no two people are exactly alike.
      The exact history of witchcraft is unknown, but it is believed to predate - or at least coincide with - the earliest forms of Arcane magic. Witches have existed for as long as history has been recorded, and witchcraft itself may have represented some of the earliest forms of healing abilities. Some researchers believe that witchcraft had it's origin towards the beginning of Arcane magic, and might have grown from attempts to control magic in some method. Details, unfortunately, are extremely sketchy. Pretty much every world has some form of witchcraft, even worlds that do not have much natural magic. Some individuals may even be performing witchcraft without knowing it, and certain individuals are capable of some impressive abilities without any training whatsoever. These, however, are rare, and usually only performed in life or death circumstances, if then.
      It is important to note that usage of energeia disrupts the usage of mana, and vice-versa: it is believed that this is caused through the opposite types of control that both use (i.e. mana is channeled through the body from the universe, while energeia is charged and released), though the exact reasons are unknown. In short, witchcraft and wizardry/sorcery cannot be used simultaneously. This does not stop wizards/sorcerers from learning witchcraft or witches from picking up some sorcery (or might even be full wizards themselves), since one of the advantages of energeia is that it is not disrupted by anti-magic spells or effects of that nature, though it can be disrupted by dealing specific kind of damage to the body.
      Much like sorcery, witchcraft is an art that anyone can learn, given time. It does take a lot of effort, and is both physically and mentally demanding. Witches usually train physically in order to amplify their abilities, and constant repetition of techniques is another training method. Again, though, methods are different for every witch.
      It is through the forced combination of mana and energeia that black magic is formed: this is a topic for another post.

Next time, White magic and Black magic, followed by some special terms and artifacts and then maybe some stuff about spells themselves, rather than just some basic information. I also want to post some stuff about Nick's inventions, and at some point I have to talk about races/species and the characters. Please point out problems that you catch while they're here at the solidifying stage: it makes it easier to fix things. Thanks again!

[Pagan]

Alright, now I certainly understand energia and the difference between it and mana (do I get a gold star?). I've a question about witchcraft though, and casting in general.

Your description of witchcraft, that it descends from martial arts made me picture Avatar-style casting: using the body and martial arts combat techniques to cast. Is that the case in Terra? Which also makes me question if there's a difference in the physical casting between witches and wizards/sorcerors-- and warlocks, as well, perhaps? Like hand/body usage, words, thought process, etc. Would make sense though, if they're using different sources and different casting methodologies.
Did that even make sense?

[Jairus]

Oh boy. Okay, I'll try to keep this relatively short. *snrk*

      Okay, first let me note that at the highest levels of magic and related skills, there is very little difference between them. High-level witches can control the world on the scale of wizards, and wizards are effortlessly able to cast powerful spells without a single word. Of course, they differ in the fine details and somewhat differ in their methodology, but to the layman's eye (and the eyes of someone who's about to get their butt handed to them), they're practically identical. Okay, now that we've got that settled...
      The whole concept of energeia being controlled through martial arts is basically ripped right off of the idea of chi and physical energy being tapped into through training. The thing about techniques is that they are basically designed to help focus and release energeia in a somewhat controlled fashion. For example, it would be relatively difficult to release a burst of energy without some way of focusing it - like a punch or a kick, for example. Techniques by and large are physical moves, even if they are minor ones. No technique is voice activated, although some witches do use short phrases (Kiya! or Haiya!... something like that) to help focus the mind on the effect you want your energeia to create: the motion is the primary external focusing element. Witchcraft is very much a mental skill (in fact, it is sometimes referred to as the Art of Wisdom), and half of witchcraft isn't about fighting at all. It's basically a way of life and a way of control, and most witches rarely do more outside of healing and simple elemental techniques... mainly because they really don't need to. Much like how a lot of martial arts is knowing when to use it and when not to use it, so to does witchcraft focus on those essential skills. And witches do not "cast:" they "craft." Spells are cast, and techniques craft. Most of the physical training that witches do is to refine their control of their techniques through repetition, which makes it easier for them to perform them at a thought and motion. The ability to move is essential for all but the most powerful of witches. So, basically, witchcraft is much like martial arts (I don't know if you ever learned anything, but I did karate for a few years and most of this stuff is a little hard to explain). And yes, high-level witches do somewhat resemble the benders of Avatar, though there's a lot less focus on specific forms of martial arts for each element.
      Okay, spells. Spells are cast through a number of "triggers," which are basically activation switches that make spells work. Motions, words, and thoughts are the biggest and most obvious of triggers. Thought is the most important, since a mage is essentially calling up a spell in their mind: the motion they make and the words they say are part of the activation process. Whereas witchcraft techniques basically are basically the movements themselves, for spells movement is only one of the parts of the process. For example, let us say that you knew a Wind-Melee-Attack spell (I'll talk about designations at some point) called "Wind Scar." The mental trigger is obvious, the verbal trigger is calling the spell's name out (which really just helps you focus on what spell you want to perform, since it's kind of hard for most people to be saying one thing and genuinely thinking something else), while the motion trigger would be bringing the sword down in a slash: all of these triggers help to activate the spell while you offer up some of your channeled and stored power to charge and release the spell. As mages become more powerful, they gradually lose the need to use triggers. Often the first trigger to not be used is the verbal trigger (since shouting your attacks out to an enemy trying to kill you is a big no-no), while physical triggers can only very rarely be not used. Sufficient training actually allows a mage to completely skip the mental trigger and perform a spell reflexively (a shielding spell is a very useful one to get to that point), or allow them to trigger a spell simply by performing the proper motion and wanting to do that spell (activating a flight spell by kicking off of the ground). Again, though, most mages are fairly different. Some clever mages spend time learning how to say one spell and perform another, which really confuses your opponents. There are also mages (though these are rare), who can perform a spell simply by thinking it. This is perhaps one of the most psychologically powerful weapons in a mage's arsenal - imagine facing an opponent who keeps casting magic missiles at you without a word and without moving...
      As for Warlocks... in short, they are basically witches, except they use magic instead of energeia and can only perform one type of magic which they inherit like wizards from their parents and depend on sorcery to perform any other kind of magic. They're kind of complicated. I guess I'll talk about these guys before I talk about White and Black magic, if that's what you want to know a little bit more about. I'll also talk about a few more differences between sorcerers and wizards. And since it's almost 1 AM, I think that I'm going to retire.

Oh, and I guess a gold star for you. Wee.