I want to thank everyone for their patience! I do hope you all enjoy this book as much as I had writing it!
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Thursday, May 29, 2014
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Get Caught Up!
In celebration of Spellscribed Tales: First Refrain's publication this week, I am going to give readers a chance to get caught up to the series!
From the 27th until the 30th, you can get Spellscribed Provenance and Spellscribed Ascension on sale for 2.99!
... That's... really all I had to say I guess.
READ ON!
Reaching Beyond, a guide to Elemental Calling Magic
The elements are everywhere. They compose everything that is the world.
Elementalism users, most commonly elves, discovered that among the elements that they manipulated were some form of 'vital' essence of the element. It seemed to reside in the purest form of the element that was being sampled, an essence that had a form of consciousness, but no ability to move or act of their own volition. Even more strangely, it was discovered that the consciousness split as easily as the material it inhabited did, becoming smaller, less aware, bits of the whole that could become one the moment they were reconnected.
Elven theory generated over thousands of years of research and religious development believes that when the first word was spoken and the world came into being, the will that brought the world into its form was broken up into the materials that constructed it. There they continued to reside, countless millennium later, dormant and waiting to be called to action again. It still left many questions unanswered.
An Elemental Calling connects the mage to that elemental essence, and provides the elemental essence with power. In doing so gives the consciousness the energy needed to animate the element it is inhabiting, bringing it to life. The power is expended at a constant rate, dependant only on the factors of the size of the consciousness and the purity of the substance that it inhabits. A small elemental the size of a cat could take a small investment of power and remain operable for weeks, while an elemental of the same purity but the size of a house could only operate for minutes at best on the same amount of power.
Different elementals have different purity concerns. Water, earth, and fire elementals are concerned of the purity of their base material, or the material being burned in the case of fire elementals. Air and life elementals have notably less purity dependant requirements to be used. The elements presence is usually all that's required, but each comes with their own limitations that separate them from the other three. Air is usually completely connected to the air around it, so there have been no elementalism users who have successfully conjured a full sized air elemental since it would require more power than could be easily concieved of. Life is difficuult in that it worries not about purity, but can only animate 'thoughtless' forms of life. Trees, grass, flowers, many plants and some simple life forms, but never a living thing capable of moving of their own volition. A living, moving creature is already possessed with a will and ability to move of its own. There have been fables of ancient life elementalists calling elementals of pure life energy, but this has never been confirmed.
Elementals are interesting beings of purpose. When conjured, they possess a will of their own, personalities can vary but invariably they are pliable to the instructions of the one who gave them form. They follow commands given absolutely, with no flexibility or creative license to adjust to changes in a situation. They do not comprehend nuanced orders and will take the most obvious, direct interpretation of said orders. If not able to understand them, the elemental instead does nothing. This has led to several small disasters or even deaths due to inexperienced Elementalists. Imagine if you will an earth elemental commanded "Don't let anyone into my tower". Since the mage said anyone, the elemental would also attempt to bar the mage's path should he return.
On this end there are members of Elven family trees who devote their Pursuits to designing commands to the specifications of the Elementalist's desires. Similar to human Lawyers, these elves figure out how to phrase a command to an elemental to do exactly what the Elementalist desires, including contingencies and response actions during certain situations. Many elves who dedicate their entire life to Elementalism start off spending a few decades in this Pursuit before practicing Elementalism so they can manage on their own.
Elementals form a serious part of Elven culture, though the Suo'hdi are far better suited to the process than their dark-adopting Sha'hdi. Even so, Sha'hdi use of elementalism far outstrips human use of the art. Humans have little of the research and understanding that the elves do on the subject, and most of what they do have is barely enough to enable an experienced mage to conjure a small elemental for a few days at best. Elves use elementals for their cleaning, sewage systems, regrowing forests damaged by wildfires, preserving food supplies, personal security and much more.
Elementalism users, most commonly elves, discovered that among the elements that they manipulated were some form of 'vital' essence of the element. It seemed to reside in the purest form of the element that was being sampled, an essence that had a form of consciousness, but no ability to move or act of their own volition. Even more strangely, it was discovered that the consciousness split as easily as the material it inhabited did, becoming smaller, less aware, bits of the whole that could become one the moment they were reconnected.
Elven theory generated over thousands of years of research and religious development believes that when the first word was spoken and the world came into being, the will that brought the world into its form was broken up into the materials that constructed it. There they continued to reside, countless millennium later, dormant and waiting to be called to action again. It still left many questions unanswered.
An Elemental Calling connects the mage to that elemental essence, and provides the elemental essence with power. In doing so gives the consciousness the energy needed to animate the element it is inhabiting, bringing it to life. The power is expended at a constant rate, dependant only on the factors of the size of the consciousness and the purity of the substance that it inhabits. A small elemental the size of a cat could take a small investment of power and remain operable for weeks, while an elemental of the same purity but the size of a house could only operate for minutes at best on the same amount of power.
Different elementals have different purity concerns. Water, earth, and fire elementals are concerned of the purity of their base material, or the material being burned in the case of fire elementals. Air and life elementals have notably less purity dependant requirements to be used. The elements presence is usually all that's required, but each comes with their own limitations that separate them from the other three. Air is usually completely connected to the air around it, so there have been no elementalism users who have successfully conjured a full sized air elemental since it would require more power than could be easily concieved of. Life is difficuult in that it worries not about purity, but can only animate 'thoughtless' forms of life. Trees, grass, flowers, many plants and some simple life forms, but never a living thing capable of moving of their own volition. A living, moving creature is already possessed with a will and ability to move of its own. There have been fables of ancient life elementalists calling elementals of pure life energy, but this has never been confirmed.
Elementals are interesting beings of purpose. When conjured, they possess a will of their own, personalities can vary but invariably they are pliable to the instructions of the one who gave them form. They follow commands given absolutely, with no flexibility or creative license to adjust to changes in a situation. They do not comprehend nuanced orders and will take the most obvious, direct interpretation of said orders. If not able to understand them, the elemental instead does nothing. This has led to several small disasters or even deaths due to inexperienced Elementalists. Imagine if you will an earth elemental commanded "Don't let anyone into my tower". Since the mage said anyone, the elemental would also attempt to bar the mage's path should he return.
On this end there are members of Elven family trees who devote their Pursuits to designing commands to the specifications of the Elementalist's desires. Similar to human Lawyers, these elves figure out how to phrase a command to an elemental to do exactly what the Elementalist desires, including contingencies and response actions during certain situations. Many elves who dedicate their entire life to Elementalism start off spending a few decades in this Pursuit before practicing Elementalism so they can manage on their own.
Elementals form a serious part of Elven culture, though the Suo'hdi are far better suited to the process than their dark-adopting Sha'hdi. Even so, Sha'hdi use of elementalism far outstrips human use of the art. Humans have little of the research and understanding that the elves do on the subject, and most of what they do have is barely enough to enable an experienced mage to conjure a small elemental for a few days at best. Elves use elementals for their cleaning, sewage systems, regrowing forests damaged by wildfires, preserving food supplies, personal security and much more.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Elven Magic
The magic of the Elves is one much older and primal than the magic of the humans. While all magic seeks to attain the same ends (Completing the Spell form), how it is attained and what ends that are sought can vary greatly between sources.
Thousands of years ago the elves still lived in their homeland, a country that had no spoken name, but was understood as a concept by any elf no matter their age or disposition. The elves back then were more deeply connected to nature and the flows of magic than they are at present, taking on traits associated with different forms and elements of magic. Even more interesting was that they could only use elemental magic of the element they were aligned with at the time.
Their resonance was almost chaotic, changing many times over the course of an elf's lifetime. This meant that their forms were more mutable, more unstable. As time passed the elves found their magic tied deeply with the core concepts of the five elements: Air, Water, Life, Earth, and Fire. Light and Dark existed, but were outside the reach of the elves. So unstable were their connections to the elements that an elf experiencing a strong mood swing could trigger a change.
For millenia, things remained as they were. Their homeland existed in a shifting pattern of elemental chaos, until a pair of twins named Sha'hdi and Suo'hdi fought against the changing natures of the elves. They believed that their ephemeral existences were too much dependant on emotions and the elements too dangerous to let rule over their lives so fully. They sought something that none of the other elves had ever attained: to forge a connection between light and darkness, for all elements existed within those two concepts.
While the connection to the elements may seem trivial, it was greatly different from what the humans would eventualy learn to harness. Human magic harnesses the elements, but focused more on making an effect happen regardless of the elements involved, and some of their spells have no real elemental connection. Time magic and sensory magics have no associated elements. (Save for perhaps the element of time or space, if they could be measured)
When Suo'hdi and Sha'hdi managed to connect to Light and Darkness, They forever altered the course of hundreds of elves. Those who followed them on their quest similarly aligned with either the Light or the Darkness, loosing almost all but a tenuous connection to the primal elements.
An unexpected result of this realignment also changed their lives forever. Their land, the home of such elemental fluidity, became foreign to them. No longer did the concept of it's name remain in their minds as it rejected their presence. Driven away, the followers of Sha'hdi and Suo'hdi were ejected from their homelands.
It landed them on Salthimere. The land was strange to them, the soil foreign, the name didn't come to them for decades as they tried to find a way to live in a new land rife with dangers.
It was in Salthimere they discovered their method of spellcasting had changed to what the elves know of today.
Their connection to the primal elements were far weaker than before, but it afforded them a degree of flexibility. While they may have a preference for one element or another, no longer were they constrained to the element of their aligning. Not only did they have their now innate powers of Light and Darkness, the elves (referred to among their kind as the 'hdi) could also cast elemental magics of any element they desired.
For elves who are magical by nature, spellcasting differs in some ways but the fundamental purpose is the same: The completion of a spell form to make an effect happen. The elves' bodies were able to easily handle the power flowing through them; in fact it was a small part of their physical forms in the first place. As such, they stored their power for spellcasting in their bodies, not their aura. The body was a much more efficient storage medium, and had two other benefits that humans have never been able to understand. An aura used to store power could hold a large quantity of it, but had limitations. Power naturally recovered slowly in a person's aura, but faster in the body. The reason behind it was simple, the rate of recovery was the same for either, but the aura was not self-contained and 'seeped' power slowly. Some of the power recovered merely kept up with the amount lost. That is the first benefit of internal storage: Faster recovery.
The second benifit is a little more abstract. Continued storage of power within the body and awareness of the power's presence led elves to become extremely adept at manipulating power internally. The elves don't need to use hand gestures or words of power to utilize their spells, as they could make the spell forms entirely internally. While it requires no movements or words, they still need to concentrate and mentally process the spells, which requires time similar to the amount that humans need. This reliance on purely mental process means it can be more readily interrupted by stray thoughts or distractions.
For all the advantages of Elven spellcasting over Human casters, there are notably less dedicated Elven 'mages' than the Humans do. This is in part because of how natural magic comes to Elves, and how difficult it is to teach new magic to an elf who learns their spells intuitively. This means that while the average elf has much more magic than an average human, a human mage could grow in power much more quickly than an elf, since they have a tried and true method of educating themselves and their lessers into magic. Most elves just develop the magic talents that they feel inclined toward, with elder elves having more just because of the amount of time they've lived.
Thousands of years ago the elves still lived in their homeland, a country that had no spoken name, but was understood as a concept by any elf no matter their age or disposition. The elves back then were more deeply connected to nature and the flows of magic than they are at present, taking on traits associated with different forms and elements of magic. Even more interesting was that they could only use elemental magic of the element they were aligned with at the time.
Their resonance was almost chaotic, changing many times over the course of an elf's lifetime. This meant that their forms were more mutable, more unstable. As time passed the elves found their magic tied deeply with the core concepts of the five elements: Air, Water, Life, Earth, and Fire. Light and Dark existed, but were outside the reach of the elves. So unstable were their connections to the elements that an elf experiencing a strong mood swing could trigger a change.
For millenia, things remained as they were. Their homeland existed in a shifting pattern of elemental chaos, until a pair of twins named Sha'hdi and Suo'hdi fought against the changing natures of the elves. They believed that their ephemeral existences were too much dependant on emotions and the elements too dangerous to let rule over their lives so fully. They sought something that none of the other elves had ever attained: to forge a connection between light and darkness, for all elements existed within those two concepts.
While the connection to the elements may seem trivial, it was greatly different from what the humans would eventualy learn to harness. Human magic harnesses the elements, but focused more on making an effect happen regardless of the elements involved, and some of their spells have no real elemental connection. Time magic and sensory magics have no associated elements. (Save for perhaps the element of time or space, if they could be measured)
When Suo'hdi and Sha'hdi managed to connect to Light and Darkness, They forever altered the course of hundreds of elves. Those who followed them on their quest similarly aligned with either the Light or the Darkness, loosing almost all but a tenuous connection to the primal elements.
An unexpected result of this realignment also changed their lives forever. Their land, the home of such elemental fluidity, became foreign to them. No longer did the concept of it's name remain in their minds as it rejected their presence. Driven away, the followers of Sha'hdi and Suo'hdi were ejected from their homelands.
It landed them on Salthimere. The land was strange to them, the soil foreign, the name didn't come to them for decades as they tried to find a way to live in a new land rife with dangers.
It was in Salthimere they discovered their method of spellcasting had changed to what the elves know of today.
Their connection to the primal elements were far weaker than before, but it afforded them a degree of flexibility. While they may have a preference for one element or another, no longer were they constrained to the element of their aligning. Not only did they have their now innate powers of Light and Darkness, the elves (referred to among their kind as the 'hdi) could also cast elemental magics of any element they desired.
For elves who are magical by nature, spellcasting differs in some ways but the fundamental purpose is the same: The completion of a spell form to make an effect happen. The elves' bodies were able to easily handle the power flowing through them; in fact it was a small part of their physical forms in the first place. As such, they stored their power for spellcasting in their bodies, not their aura. The body was a much more efficient storage medium, and had two other benefits that humans have never been able to understand. An aura used to store power could hold a large quantity of it, but had limitations. Power naturally recovered slowly in a person's aura, but faster in the body. The reason behind it was simple, the rate of recovery was the same for either, but the aura was not self-contained and 'seeped' power slowly. Some of the power recovered merely kept up with the amount lost. That is the first benefit of internal storage: Faster recovery.
The second benifit is a little more abstract. Continued storage of power within the body and awareness of the power's presence led elves to become extremely adept at manipulating power internally. The elves don't need to use hand gestures or words of power to utilize their spells, as they could make the spell forms entirely internally. While it requires no movements or words, they still need to concentrate and mentally process the spells, which requires time similar to the amount that humans need. This reliance on purely mental process means it can be more readily interrupted by stray thoughts or distractions.
For all the advantages of Elven spellcasting over Human casters, there are notably less dedicated Elven 'mages' than the Humans do. This is in part because of how natural magic comes to Elves, and how difficult it is to teach new magic to an elf who learns their spells intuitively. This means that while the average elf has much more magic than an average human, a human mage could grow in power much more quickly than an elf, since they have a tried and true method of educating themselves and their lessers into magic. Most elves just develop the magic talents that they feel inclined toward, with elder elves having more just because of the amount of time they've lived.
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