Element Rework/Development

So I thought of a few ideas pertaining to our current problems with the Element system.

The first problem is "How the heck does Fire work?"

The second problem is "What the heck does Storm do?"

I'll attempt to fix these problems and add some other concepts that add further depth to the world.



The first problem, with Fire, is not what it can do. The major problem is in how mages would get it. Mages can take water from a puddle or vapor in the air, can take air from that around them, can take ice from ice and snow, earth and metal from the ground, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to define from what source Fire Elemental Power would yield.

First of all, the core of the planet is made of basically a mixture of fire and earth/metal, the same with volcanoes. If mages had proper access to the core (which would probably mean death for everyone if the core was exposed) or volcanoes (which aren't everywhere so fire magic would be useless everywhere except for at a volcano), then they'd be able to gather Fire Elemental Power from that source. Those sources aren't good enough, so there needs to be another source defined.

So what's an even greater source of Fire? Why, the sun of course. It's a pretty much a giant ball of fire, so large that it gives daylight to the planet. What I'm proposing is that the sun (and other stars) is essentially a large portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire, as well as portals to other Elemental Planes that would make the known (see: reality) composition of the sun make sense, from which Fire Elemental Power would travel with solar rays.

Fire Magic would be easily usable considering you could gather the Elemental Power needed from the air around you. While Fire Magic would be stronger during the day (more readily available Elemental Power), it wouldn't be impossible at night. There would still be a great deal of Fire Elemental Power left in the air, as well as reflected off of the moon.

Here comes the first counter towards an attempt to abuse the system/point out a flaw. If all of this is true, couldn't it be argued that, over time, an infinite amount of Fire Elemental Power would build up? With what's explained so far, yes, but to fix that, I'd say that enough Fire Elemental Power naturally congregates at planet-side portals to the Elemental Plane of Fire to allow the total amount on the planet fluctuate but never approach infinity in the long term.

This fluctuation brings around another idea. During the course of the year, the planet is at different distances to the sun and the sun appears to be at different angles, emphasized with seasons and events such as the solstices and equinoxes. Such things also affect how much Fire Elemental Power saturates the planet as is logical (highest saturation at closest distance to the sun and lowest at farthest, also affected by tilt such as lessened during winter and raised during summer).

By doing this, Fire Magic becomes as accessible as it is perceived, but also has a lot of nuances involved that must be dealt with as a mage.



The other problem that needs to be addressed is "Storm." What is it and how does it work? Isn't it just glorified air? Is there really anything different? Doesn't it also have to have parts of other elements? I will attempt to answer those questions.

Storm is the polar opposite to Metal, which is the most ordered element. That makes Storm the most chaotic element, even more chaotic than Fire and Lightning. This idea will be the foundation on which the rest is built upon.

While Air can move around and is composed of gases and could technically do the same things we imagine Storm to be (hurricanes and tornadoes), Storm is actually all that and more. Storm is so powerful an element, so chaotic in its nature, that it can actually tear away the moisture and electricity from the air and suck in the air itself and force-manifest them in the forms of precipitation, lightning, and gale-force winds. Since Storm is chaotic in nature, it will never want to sit in one place. For these reasons, there are almost never any practices of Storm Magic because it has such lethal potential, especially for anyone trying to use it.

So Storm is air except a lot more powerful/dangerous?

Storm is Air except you can't cause lighting and rain also. Storm Magic is essentially "I have the capacity to use all other elements if I exert enough power."

Hm. Peoples thought?

Am I to understand that Ara'niel planet actually exists in a heliocentric system then?

Given that it was explicitly created to generate conflict by the setting's creator being, I think it might actually make more sense is the planet WAS the center of the system, with the sun being a small, but incredibly bright body orbiting the planet.

GrayWatch wrote:Am I to understand that Ara'niel planet actually exists in a heliocentric system then?

Given that it was explicitly created to generate conflict by the setting's creator being, I think it might actually make more sense is the planet WAS the center of the system, with the sun being a small, but incredibly bright body orbiting the planet.

What made you think that?

Also, I think from the lore it was implied that an elder god had already been through and organized all of the elemental material pouring through into a solar system. Kar'Kaish just later came by it, no one had it claimed, and so she decided to have fun.

Even if that were not the case (and I forget what was said in the lore or mentioned and buried under whatever), a portal to the elemental plane can be anchored to something with enough power exerted (like anchored to a planet), but since the sun is pretty much just a portal that bleeds out, it would make a lot more sense for it to be stationary.

Thoughts, people. I'd like more of them so I can throw this at the Elements system.