Rhys Owens (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thewanderer) wrote2012-06-19 02:36 am
thewanderer) wrote2012-06-19 02:36 am
The World- Brands and Bargains
Magic in the Wanderer's world is divided into two subtypes- aethereal magic and elemental magic. Whatever kind of magic you've learned, it's marked on you somewhere- traditionally your lower left arm, but it can vary with a different tattoo (usually referred to as a brand). Four brands are for elemental magic and three are for aethereal. Only one person has all seven.
The elements are easy, comparatively. Sure, you have to learn to control them and use them effectively, but compared to the twistiness of aethereal magic, they're simple. You get the tattoo and you gain the ability to control one of the classical elements- fire, earth, air, or water.
Of course, there are a few interesting facets. You can almost never have more than two brands, because you can almost never have elements that oppose each other. Fire and water never mix, nor do air and earth. The conflicting forces will tear you apart physically or mentally, unless you've bargained with an aethereal spirit to cancel that conflict. The prices for that are heavy and it's rare that you'll find a spirit to do it.
It's very easy to get an elemental brand- you draw the pattern on your arm and attempt to control whichever element you've chosen. If it works, the brand appears and is impossible to remove. Some cultures have ceremonies and traditional methods of determining which brand is most suitable for you- it can be easier to control the brand closest to your own nature- but picking one you like is just as viable.
Additionally, while you affect the elements, the elements affect you. Those with an air brand can find themselves becoming more distant or flighty, while those with an earth brand can be impossibly stubborn and slow to change. This will be expanded on further in the separate elemental sections.
Elemental brands also render you immune to damage from the element.
AIR
With air, you can control the winds and parts of the weather- you can dance with lightning and send tornados after your enemies. You can call storms from miles away on the wind, but you can't create them yourself unless you also have the water brand.
Air-Branded have the ability to move faster than most- some people have reported Air-Branded breaking the sound barrier, though that's often considered to be a myth. Extremely powerful air users are able to fly.
Air is often considered to be the least destructive element, but anyone who's seen the aftermath of a tornado might disagree. It's also a very good support element- thunderstorms or the way a wildfire can move with a wind behind it are excellent examples of what you can do by combining air with fire or water. In a desert, even a sandstorm, the combination of earth and air, can be devastating.
Air-Branded are often seen as lacking emotional depth, whether it's because they're flaky space cases, shallow as puddles, or are distant and intellectual. This may or may not be true of all of them, especially those that also bear another brand. They do prefer white-collar jobs and pursuits to anything more physical or practical.
FIRE
Fire-Branded control the power of the INFERNO, MWAHAHAHA. Or to put it in actual sensible terms, they can light fires or extinguish them as well as manipulate heat. They have a frightening amount of destructive capability, though there are gentler uses for their power- incubating eggs or baking a perfect cake.
Unsurprisingly, they have a reputation for being hotheads. They tend to get angry- and the other elements aren't steadying influences. Someone branded with both air and fire tends to flicker in and out of bad tempers very easily, while combining earth and fire leaves you with someone who can hold a grudge to the end of forever. If they get angry enough or are forced into dangerous situations, a Fire-Branded can lose control of themselves entirely and go berserk. In the old days, this often meant that those with a fire brand were kept as frontline troops rather than generals. This did not sit well with many of them.
Fire-Branded can consume anything for energy. They could live entirely on tacks- and no matter what they eat, they don't gain weight. In fact, they have to eat a lot, which probably explains their strange habits.
Some of the Fire-Branded reputation for being cranky bastards is probably undeserved. However, it is true that they are the most destructive, and if their power goes out of control (as it might in an inexperienced user) the consequences can be very bad. This has earned fire users a dangerous reputation that not all of them mind.
EARTH
WATER
The elements are easy, comparatively. Sure, you have to learn to control them and use them effectively, but compared to the twistiness of aethereal magic, they're simple. You get the tattoo and you gain the ability to control one of the classical elements- fire, earth, air, or water.
Of course, there are a few interesting facets. You can almost never have more than two brands, because you can almost never have elements that oppose each other. Fire and water never mix, nor do air and earth. The conflicting forces will tear you apart physically or mentally, unless you've bargained with an aethereal spirit to cancel that conflict. The prices for that are heavy and it's rare that you'll find a spirit to do it.
It's very easy to get an elemental brand- you draw the pattern on your arm and attempt to control whichever element you've chosen. If it works, the brand appears and is impossible to remove. Some cultures have ceremonies and traditional methods of determining which brand is most suitable for you- it can be easier to control the brand closest to your own nature- but picking one you like is just as viable.
Additionally, while you affect the elements, the elements affect you. Those with an air brand can find themselves becoming more distant or flighty, while those with an earth brand can be impossibly stubborn and slow to change. This will be expanded on further in the separate elemental sections.
Elemental brands also render you immune to damage from the element.
AIR
With air, you can control the winds and parts of the weather- you can dance with lightning and send tornados after your enemies. You can call storms from miles away on the wind, but you can't create them yourself unless you also have the water brand.
Air-Branded have the ability to move faster than most- some people have reported Air-Branded breaking the sound barrier, though that's often considered to be a myth. Extremely powerful air users are able to fly.
Air is often considered to be the least destructive element, but anyone who's seen the aftermath of a tornado might disagree. It's also a very good support element- thunderstorms or the way a wildfire can move with a wind behind it are excellent examples of what you can do by combining air with fire or water. In a desert, even a sandstorm, the combination of earth and air, can be devastating.
Air-Branded are often seen as lacking emotional depth, whether it's because they're flaky space cases, shallow as puddles, or are distant and intellectual. This may or may not be true of all of them, especially those that also bear another brand. They do prefer white-collar jobs and pursuits to anything more physical or practical.
FIRE
Fire-Branded control the power of the INFERNO, MWAHAHAHA. Or to put it in actual sensible terms, they can light fires or extinguish them as well as manipulate heat. They have a frightening amount of destructive capability, though there are gentler uses for their power- incubating eggs or baking a perfect cake.
Unsurprisingly, they have a reputation for being hotheads. They tend to get angry- and the other elements aren't steadying influences. Someone branded with both air and fire tends to flicker in and out of bad tempers very easily, while combining earth and fire leaves you with someone who can hold a grudge to the end of forever. If they get angry enough or are forced into dangerous situations, a Fire-Branded can lose control of themselves entirely and go berserk. In the old days, this often meant that those with a fire brand were kept as frontline troops rather than generals. This did not sit well with many of them.
Fire-Branded can consume anything for energy. They could live entirely on tacks- and no matter what they eat, they don't gain weight. In fact, they have to eat a lot, which probably explains their strange habits.
Some of the Fire-Branded reputation for being cranky bastards is probably undeserved. However, it is true that they are the most destructive, and if their power goes out of control (as it might in an inexperienced user) the consequences can be very bad. This has earned fire users a dangerous reputation that not all of them mind.
EARTH
WATER