The World of ZEAL/Keystone

[Symmetry]

Were they? My bad. I clearly remembered wrong then.

Then the element system does work Lightning, Water, Fire, and Shadow.

In anycase, while I'll get around to dealing with Summoning, Sorcery, and Enchantment later tonight - a few more things and an example so there's no confusion.

Zealian magic is very organic in the sense that there aren't spells for every little thing. For example, we don't need a Cure/Cure II/Cure III framework with a different element for each step. Upon realizing s/he needed to heal someone, a Necrologist would simply apply the skill they know (Cure) and expend as much magical energy as needed to do the job, whether that energy be water related or light related.

A Zealian mage's "mental spellbook" wouldn't read Fire/Fire II and so on - it would be more along the lines would to manipulate that energy. S/he would think more in terms of how that power is being used - whether its tossing a fireball, or causing an object to explode from within. Get the drift? Think organic. Or like a colouring book. Zealian arcane theory creates lines on paper - the mage then fills it with colour (elements) as they see fit.

My pardons if I'm just coming across as bitchy. Its just something I've been kicking around since the project came to.

[Leebot]

Well, the Ice/Water point is where a bit of the confusion comes in. Additionally, we can't place healing spells in any of the other elements as it can be seen in the game that elemental resistance/immunity to water or lightning has no effect on healing spells. It's probably best to put them in the non-elemental category in this case. When you said four elements, I thought you were including healing in there, so I'll just move it over to the non-elemental section.

My point in the categories for non-elemental magic isn't to say the magic is innately different in any way; it's just a way to keep it organized. Here's a quick guide to what each category includes:

Basic: Miscellaneous spells that any wizard can use with a little training.

Advanced: Miscellaneous spells that only advanced mages can use.

Necrology: Spells relating to life and death. Any wizard can learn spells in the lower three levels, but only Necrologists can learn the higher-level spells.

Enchantment: Mind-affecting spells generally only learned by those in the school of Enchantment.

Temporal: A small number of spells that only the "Chosen" can use.

[Leebot]

Zealian magic is very organic in the sense that there aren't spells for every little thing. For example, we don't need a Cure/Cure II/Cure III framework with a different element for each step. Upon realizing s/he needed to heal someone, a Necrologist would simply apply the skill they know (Cure) and expend as much magical energy as needed to do the job, whether that energy be water related or light related.

A Zealian mage's "mental spellbook" wouldn't read Fire/Fire II and so on - it would be more along the lines would to manipulate that energy. S/he would think more in terms of how that power is being used - whether its tossing a fireball, or causing an object to explode from within. Get the drift? Think organic. Or like a colouring book. Zealian arcane theory creates lines on paper - the mage then fills it with colour (elements) as they see fit.

My pardons if I'm just coming across as bitchy. Its just something I've been kicking around since the project came to.

Well, even in an "organic" framework, certain agents tend to appear again and again, as these agents are found to be more efficient than those closely similar. Although anything is possible, certain specific combinations tend to work better than others, and will be used more. This is why organic lifeforms tend to differentiate into species, rather than being a continuum of possibility.

In the framework of magic, any specifically named spells are those combinations of magical factors that have been found to work best through extensive experimentation to achieve a certain desired result. For instance, the "Esuna" spell would have exactly the right factors to cure any status ailments from the target. This framework allows for both efficient use of magical energy (as certain combinations will tend to be most efficient) and efficient use of time (its a lot faster to simply cast the predetermined chant for Fira than to judge the enemy's health, guess how much fire energy is needed, set up and say the chant needed for this amount).

I'm basing this off the inference from Zeality mentioning that Sorcerer's needed more time to cast their spells. This leads me to the conclusion that ZEALian spellcasting is more "cast, blast" than "channel energy, keep channeling until enemy is dead."

[V_Translanka]

So far, we know of two types of Summoning (really, it could be argued as just one even): Dalton's Summoning of the Golem.Golem Twins/Golem Boss and the Elemental Summoning in Cross.

Dalton's Summoning seemed rather quick, about as much time as any regular spell...

Elemental Summoning was very extensive and required a certain type of spell(s) to be cast before a Summon could be cast, along with an available Star Level.

For another thing...Were Elements confined merely to El Nido? I don't recall this...I thought it was just that the Dragonians found the power points from which the Elements originated all over the world...Elements are natural, and I don't see why ZEAL wouldn't know about them/use them...Whether or not they are more powerful or not compared to Magic is up in the air if you ask me...

[Leebot]

Well, I'm not sure how elements were actually found, but I'm pretty sure they would never have been found if it weren't for the Dragonians. ZEAL's history is so different that it doesn't have any Dragonians and never explores the surface of the earth, so it is quite likely they never found any elements (remember that in the original timeline, humans never found elements, either).

As for relative power level, the best comparison we have is Luminaire. In CC, it's a level 7 tech, and we know that techs of a given level are generally more powerful than spells of that level, but weaker than summons of that level. So, it's probable that the best CT spells (Luminaire, Flare, Dark Matter) place somewhere between the best CC spells and the CC summons.

[Symmetry]

I'm basing this off the inference from Zeality mentioning that Sorcerer's needed more time to cast their spells. This leads me to the conclusion that ZEALian spellcasting is more "cast, blast" than "channel energy, keep channeling until enemy is dead."

I think that was my comment, actually.

The idea there is that seriously powrful sorcerers & sorceresses are manipulating energies so intense, it takes considerable time and consentration to focus and unleash them. In other words, they don't snap their fingers and boom, Firaga XI owns everything this side of Keystone.

Anyway, as promised. Although I'm tired and will most likely edit this to be more expansive later.

Note that each of the schools is very protective of its knowledge and generally does not share it with outsiders.

Sorcery - As noted before, sorcerers & sorceresses are the undisputed masters of elemental magic. Furthermore, outside the royal family, they are the only citizens of Zeal to be allowed to use shadow magic. A few of the more well-known arcane techniques utilized include:

1. Elemental Imbuing: Sorcerers - while rarely resorting to use a weapon themselves - begin their education by learning to endow an object with a desired elemental property. While this may seem trival, learning how to imbue a sword with fire energy without reducing the weapon to a molten heap - and at the same time allowing for it to still actually be wielded by its user - is actually quite an impressive feat. Sorcerers also use this technique to forge armour and jewelry with elemental properties  - making it not uncommon to see students with surprising amounts of knowledge in the arts of blacksmithing and goldsmithing.

2. Elemental Focusing: In the process of becoming a wizard, students are taught spells in very basic, cut and dry forms. (Ice I. Ice II. And so on.) Generally, the more powerful forms of these spells are less focused and affect numerous targets. As a sorceress becomes more knowledgable, she learns how to focus or disperse her powers more effectively, striking whoever or whatever she likes with increased force. (In other words, think of Marle's Ice II being channeled at one target instead of everyone.)

3. Elemental Form: A truly terrifying sight to behold; sorcerers bursting into flames or transforming their bodies into water in order to obtain a greater measure of control over a desired element. Although these physical alterations require a great deal of focus and quickly become weary on the caster, master sorcerers are capable of maintaining elemental form effortlessly for prolonged periods of time. One must beware, however, for while changing form encreases a given element's potentcy, it also weakens resistance to other opposing elements.

4. Dual-Casting: Perhaps the most well-known trademark of the sorcerer, upon being recognized as an accomplished student, one is revealed the secret of casting multiple spells at the same time. While most sorcerers will spend the rest of their careers perfecting the technique, anyone who can semi-routinely pull off two spells at once takes great pride in being able to do so.

5. Subconscious Casting: Eventually sorcerers become so powerful - their mastery over the elements so complete - that the natural world appears to simply bow to their whim; candles ignite eeriely as they walk into the room, water freezes into ice as they approach a shore, and so on. To these few sorcerers, the elements respond to their thoughts alone - no verbal prompting or anything of the sort is necessary.


Grr. I'm tired and I still have more to do. Expect more on Sorcery tomorrow, as well as important concepts in Summoning and Enchantment.

[1stoftheLast]

I'm curious? How do we write it in to be plausable for the more physical characters to stand up to these guys? It seems like Vtrans' demi human, Zeals' Juan and my Jack would just be punching bags you put on point.  If they run with Sygma then she could (later on) nullify the effects, but could other magic users also team up with them and give them higher resistences?

[V_Translanka]

Just because Zeal doesn't go down to the surface doesn't mean they wouldn't know...and anyways, who says they don't? I mean, what else do they use Skyways for, right? They found large abundances of Dreamstone, and they also found out about Lavos. I think their scientific minds would require them to explore the lower lands...And if nothing else, perhaps Elements exist on the floating continents as well...I also don't think it can be said (with any definance anyways) that humans never originally found Elements...

Also, I heavily dissagree with the Luminare comparisons...They are similar looking, but I do not think they are the same Tech by any means. No more than the Black Hole Element is the same as Magus' Black Hole Tech. They are different magics set on different rules.

Elements come from the earth directly and are refined into usable something or others for people to use in battle & what-not. Magic is absorbed either directly or indirectly from Lavos. Although it can also be said that Magic is a form of deluted or refined energy from the earth, as Lavos get's its energy from the earth.

Whakky, huh?

I say we stay as far away from explaining too many details about Magic & the Elements as possible...Have people use stuff if they want, but by no means do they have to explicitly explain the origins of whatever-the-funk...I imagine Spekkio will be just as vague with these heroes as the others and everything will be hunky-dory.

[Symmetry]

I'm curious? How do we write it in to be plausable for the more physical characters to stand up to these guys? It seems like Vtrans' demi human, Zeals' Juan and my Jack would just be punching bags you put on point.  If they run with Sygma then she could (later on) nullify the effects, but could other magic users also team up with them and give them higher resistences?

I think the comparison of various people within the project is earlier in this thread, if you missed it. The idea is that yes, you are indeed nothing more than a punching bag if placed in a do-or-die situation against some of these Zealians. However - outside of Nanashi, you're not going to be running into many Zealians that have any desire to put their immortal life on the line.

And besides characters growing over the course of the fic, a number of Zealians will join ranks with Gaspar's crew, continuing to make competition against other Zealians more and more viable.

Trust me. Some brute of an Earthbound hunter will be quite an imposing figure to a Zealian that's never really seen combat or raw physical strength before.

say we stay as far away from explaining too many details about Magic & the Elements as possible...Have people use stuff if they want, but by no means do they have to explicitly explain the origins of whatever-the-funk...I imagine Spekkio will be just as vague with these heroes as the others and everything will be hunky-dory.

Yes. This is part of what I'm trying to get at. We can point out key ideas being varying schools of magic and the techniques they employ, but we don't need to spell everything out. It'll be up to the writer to fill in the details as they see fit. Tossing out there some noteable spells adds richness, but we don't need to go to the extreme of mapping out the entire system.

[Leebot]

That sounds alright to me. The reason I wrote up the spells above is to give an idea of typical or famous spells that may be used more commonly than others. The world will be more flavorful if enemy sorcerers cast "Janus' Soul Render" rather than just send out a blast of shadow energy. They can do either, but the named spells are particular combinations of magical building-blocks that have been found to work well, so will often be used because they're tried-and-true. For writers, don't worry about limiting the mages you write to any set of spells. If the nature of what they want to cast is in their school, chances are they can make it happen if they're powerful enough. However, if the purpose is a common one (such as damaging an enemy), they'll probably use one of the named spells.

[Symmetry]

That sounds alright to me. The reason I wrote up the spells above is to give an idea of typical or famous spells that may be used more commonly than others. The world will be more flavorful if enemy sorcerers cast "Janus' Soul Render" rather than just send out a blast of shadow energy. They can do either, but the named spells are particular combinations of magical building-blocks that have been found to work well, so will often be used because they're tried-and-true. For writers, don't worry about limiting the mages you write to any set of spells. If the nature of what they want to cast is in their school, chances are they can make it happen if they're powerful enough. However, if the purpose is a common one (such as damaging an enemy), they'll probably use one of the named spells.

Yes!

Even though I realize I must appear to be waffling more than John Kerry, this is something I had in mind.

"Named spells", like Janus' X & Schala's Y, are for some reason particularly noteable ones. For example - perhaps Schala's Aura of Regeneration isn't just a simple run of the mill healing spell; it works more like a "smart cure", healing oneself whenever injury is incurred.

Something with a creator's name by it must be unique or interesting in some way, right? That's the purpose in naming them and that's how they give our story more depth.

[Leebot]

Good to see we've reached an understanding here. I'll leave the spells I've already posted for reference, but I'll highlight (repost here) the upper level or unique spells, based on the assumption that for particularly potent effects, there are fewer ways to achieve the desired result (ie. there's nothing colder than Absolute Zero), so the "ultimate" spells for each element will be unique.

The following is a slimmed-down list of notable spells. I've kept the same level system just to give a feeling for the relative powers of these spells. Note that the power levels are of exponential order (something like level 2 is three times as powerful as level 1, level 3 is three times as powerful as level 2, etc.). I've also added level 6 spells for Fire, Water, and Lightning, but keep in mind that level 6 is so freakishly powerful that only the royal family and maybe the council have even the potential to cast level 6 spells. I've also changed the spells around a bit.

Fire

Level 4: Corona (enemy plunged into faux star) - Extreme fire damage to one enemy
Level 5: Supernova (enemies exposed to faux supernova) - Penultimate fire damage to all enemies
Level 6: Hypernova (enemies exposed to faux hypernova) - Ultimate fire damage to all enemies

Aside: Yes, those are the correct Astronomical terms. A Supernova is an exploding star that leaves behind a neutron star. A Hypernova is a more massive exploding star that leaves behind a black hole. These terms are sometimes incorrectly labeled as "Nova" and "Supernova" respectively. In actuality a Nova is a phenomenon in which a white dwarf star gets a lot hotter temporarily.

Water

Level 4: A's Freezing Pulse (alternating cold/moderate to increase damage to the body) - Extreme water damage to one enemy
Level 5: Absolute Zero - Penultimate water damage to all enemies
Level 6: Vacuum Freeze (zero temperature, zero pressure; freeze and boil at the same time) - Ultimate water damage to all enemies


Lightning

Level 4: B's Electric Dynamo (mechanism that generates a constant stream of electricity) - Extreme lightning damage to one enemy
Level 5: B's Pulsar Cannon (faux pulsar shot by characters, the intense magnetic field of which causes an extremely powerful electric field) - Penultimate lightning damage to all enemies
Level 6: Grand Unified Theory (strong nuclear and weak nuclear forces within enemies morph into electricity) - Ultimate lightning damage to all enemies

Shadow

Level 4: Janus' Soul Render (Magus' Dark Matter spell) - Extreme shadow damage to all enemies
Level 5: Cry in the Night (screech in pitch black night meant to terrorize enemies) - Penultimate shadow damage to all enemies
Level 6: D's Eternal Damnation (makes enemies believe they've died and gone to hell) - Ultimate shadow damage to all enemies

Necrology

Level 3: Schala's Holy Light - fully cures all allies' health
Level 3: E's Natural Healing - automatic healing of wounds inflicted on ally for a short time (similar to Regen spell)
Level 4: Schala's Divine Blessing - grants immunity to all status ailments to one ally
Level 4: E's Second Chance - automatically revives character when killed
Level 4: C's Life Stealer - kills enemy, revives ally with to full health
Level 5: E's Renewal - brings back all dead allies with full health

Other

Level 3: Schala's Sacred Aura - all of ally's attributes are greatly increased
Level 5: F's Unquestioned Authority (enchantment) - enemy will do anything caster tells it
Level 6: Mind Clone (enchantment) - enemy's mind is overwritten with copy of caster's mind
Level 5: Rewind (temporal) - a few minutes after the spell is cast, the caster can rewind time to the moment the spell was cast, with knowledge of how this future transpired
Level 6: Gate (temporal) - caster opens up a time portal

This just leaves us to come up with names for these spellsmiths. Any suggestions for A-F are welcome.

[Symmetry]

Gru-vay.

More general pricniples held by the schools of magic:

Summoning - Although for the most part, summoners create beings within the properties of their own choosing, there are a few techniques that all summoners learn.

1. Elementaling Summons: While in general, summoners do not call forth pre-existing avatars, the learning curve in creating one's own summons is incredibly difficult. Thus, new students learn to summon one of Rizasu's servants to do their bidding.

2. The Familiar: To demonstrate his competency and earn the orange subfusc, a summoner must permanently call into existence another being to serve as his companion and aide. Every summoner's familiar is unique with its own personality and limited powers. Once birthed, the familiar cannot be unmade, nor can the summoner's link to the familiar be broken - so if one desires to gain any use from his creation, he must treat the familiar with respect.


Enchantment

1. Emotional Manipulation: The first thing an enchantress learns is how to influence the minds of others to their liking, the two most commonly manipulated sentiments being desire and fear. While an enchantress' control over another's emotions is by no means absolute, it is a power that cannot be ignored - especially as one progresses in her studies and her ability to successfully manipulate others increases.

2. Illusionary Magic: Enchantresses are full of unconventional ways to render an opponent powerless and the creation of illusions is another example of this power. As a student becomes more knowledgable, her illusions become more and more convincing. At first they only bring into being a mere image, but in time possessing smells, sounds, and eventually substance.

3. Kobayashian Magic: Unlike sorcerers and summoners, enchantresses rarely ever use elemental power in their spells. As a result, the strength of their elemental magic tends to fade. To counteract this decay, enchantresses combine simple elemental spells with illusions. The result of this combination is a class of magic that actually fools the victim into believing they are in far more pain and sufferring than was actually caused by the elemental spell itself.

4. Possession: The mark of an experienced enchantress, one versed in this art can actually control another's actions outright, easily turning the closest of friends into the most vicious of enemies. While successfully controling the actions of multiple people - the enchantress herself included - is difficult, one eventually learns to control several people at once with only a modest degree of effort.

5. Angelic/Divine Form: While students learn early on how to change their own appearance, incredibly talented enchantresses have been known to shun human form and take on an angelic one - a form both beautiful and terrifying above all comparison.

[Leebot]

Now it seems that we're making this world so detailed that any fanfic we make couldn't do it justice. Might I recommend that after we've finished this fic, we release all the ZEAL data and open it up for anyone to write a fic using this "world"?

[Symmetry]

Heh.

I suppose I like a colourful, detailed world.

ZeaLitY and I were talking about releasing the information here when the project was over as a sort of "travellers guide" the other evening. Originally I figured that most of this would remain hidden, but now I'm quite partial to doing something of that sort.

Definately something worth keeping in mind - although that's probably a good way off.

Expect some other school distinctives in the near future. Because colouring is fun.