Magical-Casting Fun Times

[malik_caesar]

Who: Zelda, Duke, Malik
When: Mid-Afternoon, Wednesday Nov 28th
Where: The Island
Status: Closed

[Having spoken with Ky about fishing a few days ago, Malik had increased his own desire to do some. He arrived a few hours early in order to try his hand at some sea fishing. Those had flown by with little success. Perhaps Ky was right in turning it down. Sometimes it could be kind of boring.

Malik wasn't giving up, but it was time to meet Zelda and her friend. Their agenda promised to be far more entertaining than the fishing. He packed up his fishing pole and bait, slung his bladerang onto his back and walked back to the elevator, hoping to find the others on his way.]

Comments

[malik_caesar]

[Malik blinks once or twice but complies. Isn't she supposed to be the studious type?

He casts his spell again, small voids swirling into existence on the ground and then disappearing.]

[zelda_hylia]

[It's because she's that type that the display distracted her! She pays closer attention this time.]

Interesting. You both seem to absorb a small amount of the ambient mana while channeling it to cast spells regardless of the element... is it purposeful?

[Zelda doesn't really do that. Most of her magic is internal or simply manipulating the external, it's a great deal of the reason why she's so limited when it comes to attack spells and certain elements. Considering the source she has to draw on, though, she doesn't tire out too easily.]

[radiantwingedone]

.... To restore what already hold, yes. Could... not do so, but would tire quicker.

[ As it is, he tends to get 'tired' of simply doing magic, rather than running out of available mana. ]

[malik_caesar]

Technically, yes, although it's more of a habit by now.

Duke's right. I suppose I could use the eleth in me but that poses a few problems.

The first is that I don't have an abundance of any one type. It all evens out. Using up one type in a spell could cause some damage, especially if there wasn't any around to restore it.

The second is that you can cast much stronger spells by using external eleth. Living things contain enough eleth to survive, but you can achieve much higher concentrations of it through cryas crystals or proximity to the valkines.

[zelda_hylia]

That is true. My spells are mostly internal with a bit of manipulation of the external, but the combat applications are certainly limited.

[Her "internal" spells are drawing greatly on the Triforce of Wisdom and her own heritage as Hylia's reincarnation, though. Though that does make her wonder...]

Are there any gods or goddesses on your worlds? That would be something that could account for the similarities in casting.

[radiantwingedone]

...... Once, the Entelexeia were revered as such. Few temples and shrines still exist. Otherwise, the Empire has a Goddess, which, of my opinion, is a way to tie divine right into the choosing of emperor, merged with half-forgotten history. Only statue have seen is of a young woman, winged, with Dein Nomos.

[ Which means as far as Duke is aware, there's a fake one, and people worshiping 'intelligent monsters', which he knows aren't gods, even if they are rather powerful. And often big.

But on the topic of eleth and mana- ]

Eleth is held within elements, then. Already sorted. Would make for difficulties in ... replenishing water cast, in a dry area.

[malik_caesar]

[Malik nods in response to Duke.]

There is one region on our world that concentrates water eleth. The entire surrounding land is a desert. In my home country, we have a large valkines crystal that is filled with fire eleth. It snows almost all the time.

[Back to Zelda's question.]

We have no gods or goddesses. There was once a race of people that had far more control and engineering ability of eleth than we currently do, but they have long since died out.

[zelda_hylia]

Maybe it's the Entelexeia, then... you mentioned something about sentient creatures inside the Valkines, didn't you Malik? I've seen one of Zelos's friends mentioning "summon spirits" too - large creatures that are essentially made of the elements. That could be the connection.

[Scribbling down notes, she glances up at them.]

Is it possible to deplete an element entirely in one area, you think?

[It did sound like that was the case with Valkines. How strange...]

[radiantwingedone]

Entelexeia are... not... [ Actually, from what he knew, they were born of the Aer and nothing else, which could make sense. ]

... they are the what summon spirits come from in my world. After they die. [ And this is where Duke is done with a topic on magic without going to much into it. ]

One element, unknown, all ambient aer? the Sands of Kogorh are such a place. Desert.

Aaand I'm back! Sorry for the break!

[malik_caesar]

There were enormous guardian dragons that seemed to be made or living in each of the Valkines, that's true.

They said they existed to prevent misuse of the eleth.

[As to the elimination of eleth...]

There was a being who was able to absorb all the eleth from the Valkines. They became dead and lifeless.

Left uninterrupted, that being may have been able to absorb all eleth in the planet.

[zelda_hylia]

[When they die... Zelda latches on to the possible topic change abruptly, even if it means she's mostly addressing Malik. She can talk about the dragons later with Malik, but this is exactly the subject she wants Duke to not focus on right now.]

How would one being be able to sustain itself if it absorbed the life of a whole planet? That seems nearly impossible.

[radiantwingedone]

... The Adephagos intended to. What it would do post consumption of the planet, would not know.

[ Giant space octopus. :| ]

[malik_caesar]

Does it? [He looks to Zelda.] If eleth is the basis of life, why couldn't a life force contain all eleth?

[He looks to Duke. He has no idea what Duke's history is, but he begins to explain what would have happened on Ephinea, had the plan succeeded.]

This being, Lambda, was made from the eleth core at the center of the planet. He wanted to become the core. By doing so, he would have control of all eleth. He wanted to purge all pain and suffering by destroying all of humanity.

[zelda_hylia]

We're 70% water as well, but too much water and a person will simply drown. Of course, not everyone has the same physiology.

[Zelda glances to Duke. She's heard about the Adephagos before, though only briefly. Most of their studies focused on things that could be manipulated, not something like that. Malik's conclusion draws her attention again.

Destroy humanity.

Why was it that so many other races wanted to do that? Were humans really so terrible?]

I see. I wonder if the Adephagos had similar goals. Do you know if it was sentient, Duke?

[radiantwingedone]

[ Because humans, when they get into a group, become huge assholes, Zelda.

Duke sort-of shrugs. 'Lambda' seemed to have sound reasoning to Duke... ]

It was born of the tainted Aer, and sought to consume it. This is what was shared from the last occurrence, although may have been Entelexeia not wishing to share that ingesting too much Aer - which would be produced because of the imbalance caused by blastia - caused them to go mad and become the parts of the Adephagos. Think it is... mindless interest in eating.

[malik_caesar]

Blastia, I take it are ways of storing aer?

Entelexeia are beings made of aer, but I'm not sure what the Adephagos is. How can aer be tainted?

[zelda_hylia]

[It's not her field of expertise (though she has discussed it on some level with Duke before), so Zelda looks to Duke to answer. Hopefully the subject matter won't upset him too terribly. If he doesn't look well, she'll try to shift it again.]

[radiantwingedone]

Blastia are a variety of things; house-heating, water-pumps, lighting, barriers, weapons, and ability for those not of the Children of the Moon to use magic. [ Or those who don't know the Rizomata formula. ]

They are... a fraction of condensed aer, created by killing an Entelexeia and shattering the crystal that is left, and inscribing one of many formula upon it. Blastia does not... return, as much aer to the world as stable as it takes it in. Aer is... less stable, than mana, and from what I can tell, Eleth. Blastia ... tilts it a little to less so, which requires Entelexeia to come and consume it.

... It is also of the aer, but it seeks to consume it.

[malik_caesar]

[Malik rubs his chin with his eyes closed, absorbing the information. Or at least trying to.

He opens them again.]

I think I got most of that.

[zelda_hylia]

[Zelda listens to the refresher quietly, unsurprised when Malik looks a bit confused. Translating from hermit to socialite is something she does frequently.]

Blastia are remains, essentially. In life an Entelexeia acts as somewhat of a filter for the aer. Because of this, a blastia contains a lot of aer. If glyphs are inscribed on it, this aer can be utilized, but it's not the natural cycle of things and can cause the energy to go out of control. Since aer is unstable to begin with, accumulation alone can be enough to cause trouble - or that is my understanding of it, at least. I think it is because of that instability that magic on Terca Lumireis was developed in such a formulaic way.

[Magic on Malik's world is fairly formulaic as well, but not quite as much as Duke's.]

Eleth requires regulation as well, doesn't it? The Valkines keep it in circulation, and disruptions cause disaster.

[malik_caesar]

That's correct.

Fire eleth is especially vulnerable to disruptions. Even tiny amounts can cause very large explosions.

[radiantwingedone]

[ That explanation is close enough for Duke to not be that interested in attempting to correct anything. Perhaps because this... also isn't a comfortable topic. ]

... sounds like fire.

[zelda_hylia]

[His expression doesn't change much, but Zelda can tell he's uncomfortable anyway.]

Would you both mind doing a small fire spell? I'd like to see if there are any instabilities in a place like Vatheon.

[malik_caesar]

Of course.

[Malik takes a few steps to position himself, lines up a spot on the ground about 40 meters in front of them and begins casting.

A few seconds later, a fireball five-feet in diameter crackles to life and quickly rushes forward. It explodes on contact with the ground leaving a small crater and the black smoke from the incinerated ground covering.]

[radiantwingedone]

[ The problem is that Duke's smallest fire spell is no longer... quite so small. Curse the adaptability of his magic. He could try to cut it off early, but if he wished to match the fire ball with his own fireball(s)... ]

... The spell adapts. [ So there is his explanation for why rather than one, or three, smaller fireballs leaving the fire his spell spawns before him, there's a good half dozen. They move fairly linearly, and while none are quite as explosive individually, they do hit one after another. ]