Elemental Magic.

[Draken]

Elemental Magic is one of the most ancient magics known to the world. In a sense all magic is influenced by the elements. I have a char on The Keep. His name is Elem. He has mastered the ancient art of elemental magic. Now there are 4 base elements: Fire, Earth, Water, and Air. Then there are some elements that branch off of the others. Metal is a branch of Earth, all metal is is refined and purer earth, it takes many years to master but it can be done. Next is Lightning, a branch of Fire. This is a dangerous form of magic and can kill the user if they are not extremly careful, that is why it is rarely ever used. A branch of water is ice, it most often comes naturally to the water benders and is easy to control. The branch of Earth is sand, again it usually comes naturally to the Earth benders.

Now to my further exlpination of the 4 base elements. When one has control over one or more of the elements it is commonly know as bending the element or elements. It is extremly rare for one to find a person that can bend more than 2 elements. For those rare few who can bend all 4 elements, they are known as Avatars. Avatars tend to live for extremely long times, the cause is the strength of the elemental magic running throught their blood.

First is Fire. This element is the most dangerous and most associtiated with voilence and anger, but that is not always the case. The first fire benders were beleived to be Dragons, the dragons took pity on the Humans and began to teach them there ways of creating fire from the air. It was considered the most noble bending then because it was taught by the the most Honorable creature known. Lightning was discovered when humans were experimenting with fire, many use fire bending to destroy, but only the honorable use it it protect. Fire bending is believed to work best when the sun is out, because the sun influences a fire benders powers.

Second is Water. This element is known for healing and calmness. It is widley believed that a water benders power grow in strength when there is a full moon. The first water bender was believed to be the Moon. Humans observed how it pushed and pulled the water and began to imitate the motion. Soon they were doing much more than pushing and pulling water. Also, while they experimented they discovered waters healing ability. When weilded by a water bender, it can heal when it is willed to.

Third is Earth. This element is know for its stubborn and unmoving nature. It is beleived that the first earth benders were a strange creature as large as a full grown elephant, they were called Badgermoles. They were blind and used earth bending to see. They used the vibrations that people made to know where things were. Humans tamed these creatures and learned from them learning how to move the earth. After many years of building they discovered that they could control metal very weakly but enough to bend it out of the way.

Fourth is Air. This element is considered to be playful and happy. The first airbenders are still not known, many search for this secret. Air benders are the most wise of the benders and not much is known of them, they travel constantly moving their great citys throught the skies so not to be disturbed.

Well this is my take on Elemental magic, if you dont like it comment me, if you do, still comment me.

[Mesi]

I don't really have any criticisms as that system can work. But it seriously looks like you just watched the Cartoon Avatar and put their Elemental system to work. I suppose it can work if it works for you.

However Magic really isn't a predefined thing. There is no 'set' system even in 'elemental' magics. In several systems there are believed to be five base elements, Fire, Earth, Water, Air, and Spirit for example are typical for pagan. And hence the pentagram.

In other systems based on some draconic lores there are thirteen base elements. It all varies. The definition of magic changes from culture to culture and is often used to define something supernatural or mystical.

And in some systems Asian or even Druid almost everything is an element. The Magics of Solomon were considered the summoning and control of demonic entities for example.

You can't simply lump magic into one category and say it 'this is magic' The definition is too broad. A lot of things are magic, heck to some cultures technology was seen as magic.

Just a general synapse of a supernatural ability a defined system of limits controls and drawbacks can be a magic system. Several people in the RP world invent their own magic system based on studies they may have done or just imagined their own thing. Who's to say it's wrong or not functional. When it comes to Magic I believe it's more an application of common sense of and a system of checks and balances so long as it works and is reasonable.

Just my two cents.

[Draken]

That is well said,...But dont say anything bad about Avatar. lol jk.
But I have done research and the only thing that is really far fetched is the animals. other than that there is no relation to Avatar. The elements intrigued early magic users and got them to experiment with each of the elements. Creating many more in the process. I respect your input.

[Mesi]

I have nothing bad to say about Avatar its a kick a$$ cartoon and I like the series. So don't worry there.

I was just making a general statement about your proposed elemental magic system based on what I've seen.

[tal1n]

You have the origins and best times to use the elemental magics, but you've not mentioned how best to will them to your needs.

First off, never wield fire in anger. It is already the hardest to control, and without a cool head to temper the flames, all you're going to do is go into a berserker 'DBZ Style' power-up rage. And despite what people think, those are bad. You risk hurting any innocents around you, and can cause irreparable damage to yourself. This includes death, of course.

Nextly, while fire is the hardest to control, water is possibly the hardest to master- it's constantly trying to escape you, constantly trying to slip through your fingers (whereas fire is drawn to you, drawn to anything it can consume). Whereas you must keep a firm grasp on fire, you must embrace water. Controlling water is impossible. You can't hold water with a tightened fist, you have to cup out your hands and hold it close.

Air is actually the easiest to manipulate- just the hardest to gauge how much force you put behind it. A single breath can cause a whirlwind if not practiced properly. It takes a lot of forethought- you can't just act, you have to plan out ever movement, every ounce of energy you put out. Of all of the elements, Air takes the most patience.

Earth is quite possibly your best bet if you're going to resort to elementalism- you can get fantastic results with minimal effort. It also allows for a great amount of creativity. You don't just have to toss rocks or shoot up pillars of stone. You can cause the ground to shape itself around your feet, giving you more stability. You can shape a glove of stone around your arm to give a punch a little extra WHAM

[Draken]

Correct. If my Elem did a DBZ style power up using his fire bending. Say good bye to a large area maybe the size of about 15 miles out in any direction. Yes Elem is one powerful old dude.

[Vengeance]

I have a question for everyone here. Its pertaining to an exact Element. Anyone have any good information on how to channel lightning magic, most people use words, symbols or hand gestures. I was hoping that maybe someone here could come up with some fairly original ideas. My guy is actually using a spear, but I don't want the spear to be enhanced with constant electrical charge.

[baane]

Most people actually do not use words, symbols, or gestures of any kind. Most magic you will find in The Keep these days revolves around fickle concepts and fictional all-encompassing forms of universal energy which manifest themselves to produce the desired effect at will with 100% reliability and absolutely zero drawback associated. Or they draw the desired element from a plain of power in which case, again, it's an at-will deal with no form of telegraphing and, frankly, resembles psionic more than it does arcane or divine magic.

So, then, if your character did in fact use material components, arcane incantation, somatic gesture, a focus item, or any combination of the above he would be an extremely unique character in The Keep.

[The Librarian]

An elemental is a mythological being first appearing in the alchemical works of Paracelsus. Traditionally, there are four types:
gnomes, earth elementals
undines, water elementals
sylphs, air elementals
salamanders, fire elementals.
The exact term for each type varies somewhat from source to source, though these four are now the most usual. Most of these beings are found in folklore as well as alchemy; their names are often used interchangeably with similar beings from folklore.The sylph, however, is rarely encountered outside of alchemical contexts.
The basic concept of an elemental refers to the ancient idea of elements as fundamental building blocks of nature. In the system prevailing in the Classical world, there were four elements: fire, earth, air, and water. This paradigm was highly influential in Medieval natural philosophy, and Paracelsus evidently intended to draw a range of mythological beings into this paradigm by identifying them as belonging to one of these four elemental types.
Elementals of Air, Earth, Fire and Water
In mysticism, magic and alchemy, an elemental is a creature (usually a spirit) that is attuned with, or composed of, one of the classical elements: air, earth, fire and water. The elements balance each other out through opposites: water quenches fire, fire boils water, earth contains air, air erodes earth. The concept of elementals seems to have been conceived by Paracelsus in the 16th century, though he did not in fact use the term "elemental" or a German equivalent.[3] Paracelsus gave common names for the elemental types, as well as alternate names, which he seems to have considered somewhat more proper. He also referred to them by purely German terms which are roughly equivalent to "water people," "mountain people," and so on, using all the different forms interchangeably. The Paracelsian elementals were:

Translated Common Name Proper Name Element
Sylph Sylvestris Air
Pygmy Gnomus (gnome) Earth
Salamander Vulcanus Fire
Nymph Undina (undine) Water

Of these names, gnomus, undina, and sylph are all thought to have appeared first in Paracelsus' works, though undina is a fairly obvious Latin derivative. The other names are traditional terms, though the Paracelsian usage is thought to be novel.
He noted that undines are similar to humans in size, while sylphs are rougher, bigger, longer, and stronger. Gnomes are short, while salamanders are long, narrow, and lean.
In his influential De Occulta Philosophia of the same period, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa also wrote of four classes of spirits corresponding to the four elements, though he did not give special names for the classes. Agrippa did however give an extensive list of various mythological beings of this type, although without clarifying which belongs to which elemental class.[4] Like Paracelsus, he did not use the term "elemental spirit" per se.
Elementals are commonly mentioned in grimoires dealing with alchemy and sorcery and are usually "called" by summoning.

[Vengeance]

I have a question, I was thinking of making a new thread for it, but maybe here would work instead. I've recently been looking into Chaos Magick a lot. The effects it would have on it's user and what all could be done with it, Offensively, Defensively and simple to use as a device to give detail to posts when bored and what not. All I've been able to find on the net so far is a bunch of ideals on Chaos and what not. Granted that's great to know, but it's not what I'm searching for. Does anyone know anything about Chaos Magick?

[The Librarian]

Chaos magic has a bunch of different versions. The stuff I usually use is under the Void and Warp threads.

If you want to start a new thread on this though it's a good topic.

[Karaeless]

Lightning is often associated with fire for obvious reasons, but it could also be associated with air. Lightning is caused by a reaction of air, you don't need fire to do it.