Magic System - Blog Posts

the feminine urge to create a magic system for something you’ll never write

Feel like in any magic world where any form of counterspell exists it should be comically overpowered, but it isn’t

Like I wanna see a manga or show or something that’s “evil villain rules, the world because he exclusively use his counter magic”

Gwen’s !!!

okay so in this au/continuation Gwen is a sorceress not an alien. The way magic works is that every magic user has a magical aura and each aura is a different colour. Auras are passed down from one person to another regardless of whether they’re related or not. Gwen ben and sunny were all supposed to get magic from grandma Verodona but the omnitrix prevented bens magic from manifesting leaving the aura stunted. Every magic user also has a speciality in the magical field for Gwen its energy/mana manipulation which is why lux thought she was an anodite while charmcasters specialty is reanimation and while someone like sunny can also learn reanimation because her aura is a deep purple it will never be as powerful as when charmcaster does it because your specialty is your most powerful magic. the auras also determine the types of magic you can learn and use depending on hue for example purpler hues can learn things more associated with witchcraft and bluer and greener hues are capable of weather magic etc. the reason Gwen is more powerful than the average magic user is actually because she has 2 auras( also why her magic has two different colours) the reason for this is because in change of face a part of charmcasters aura was left inside of Gwen but nothing from Gwen was left in charmcaster because Gwen’s aura was still manifesting at the time unlike charmcaster who’s manifestion stage is complete.

The fundamentals of Magic

I finally got around to writing a guideline for my magic system. As this was for my own use, i didn't put much effort into formatting or story-writing, but i thought i would share regardless.

General Concept:

Magic exists as an energy found in the "Third Realm," a shadow-like domain composed entirely of magical energy.

The First Realm is the physical world, and the Second Realm is the immaterial realm of the gods. The Third Realm is a non-physical shadow of the physical world composed entirely of magical energy.

All living creatures in the First Realm have a faint connection to the Third Realm, naturally drawing a small amount of magic into the physical world.

The "gods" of the second realm exist by the energy of the third realm, but exist as a sort of undefined halfway point between the first and third realms. Their domains are composed of magic with the illusion of physicality. The existence of the dead in this realm pose major questions on the nature of the soul that I honestly don't feel like trying to explain.

more on this later i think.

See [[Realms]]

Mechanics:

Larger creatures can channel more magic due to their greater connection to the Third Realm.

This is tied to a creature's volume, but has a small effect. Humans and Dragons have far more magic than one might expect from their size.

Dragons are something of a special case that will be expanded on later.

A large and small human will have a negligible difference in access to magic.

A ant will have less access to magic than a deer. etc.

Animals generally have far less accessible magic than sentient races, but special cases have been known to surface.

plants have almost no perceivable magic, this is thought to be a result of not having a soul or blood.

Magic in living beings is more stable and "pure" compared to the chaotic energy found directly in the Third Realm. Magic is "filtered" when it is pulled between realms by a living force, although the mechanism behind this is not understood.

Using magic depends greatly on what medium is used to control it.

Ember magic must be used by channeling magic from the Third Realm into the physical world without drawing it into one's own body, otherwise you risk mana sickness.

Dragon Magic uses dragon bone as either an amplifier or a battery for magic, allowing one to slowly accumulate large stores of magic which can be unleashed without loss.

"natural" magic is magic drawn directly from the user's body. This method must be used as a sort of signal current to activate and use other types of magic. It is the most widespread form, and also the weakest on its own, as humans have a very limited amount of natural magic at any given time. Think of it like blood, when you run low, you make more. You can't lose very much without feeling some serious effects.

When using Ember magic, natural magic is channeled from the user to maintain the connection to the third realm, and to direct the flow of the raw or chaotic third realm magic. This imposes a hard limit on how long an Embermancer can operate.

In draconic casting, raw magic is used to "break the seal" an unleash what is stored, but is otherwise preserved, making this an extremely efficient way to use large amounts of magic.

When casting without a medium, magic may flow from any part of the body, but most commonly the hands. Running low on internal magic will cause exhaustion and may bring similar symptoms to complete bodily exhaustion such as hallucinations, unconsciousness and cardiac arrest. If you run completely out of internal magic, you will die, although most will fall unconscious before this point, similar to how you will pass out and begin to breathe again if you hold your breath too long. If magic is being continually drawn from you, by a formulated spell or Ember channeling, for example, your body will rapidly breakdown to generate the deficit energy drawn from you. This is known as "Burnout".

Special Materials:

Dragon bone is prized for its ability to hold and amplify magic, allowing spellcasters to channel larger spells.

Ember acts as a conduit for magic. It allows magicians to draw vast amounts of energy from the Third Realm with minimal personal expenditure, but with significant risks. When in use, Ember generates a significant amount of heat. Ember takes the form of a black, basalt-like material interspersed with brilliant orange luminous crystals. The crystal formations are the actual Ember, with the black material being similar to a dross.

Ember prisms, cut from higher-grade Ember, are coveted for their increased effectiveness and reduced heat buildup. However, overheated Ember prisms can be extremely dangerous to the user. Despite their name, Prisms are not a specific shape. Ember is often found in pentagonal prism form in small samples, but very large masses can have a wide range of crystal forms. Ember can be cut to any shape. It is traditionally cut to 2-6" rods and used in a similar fashion to a wand. They are often shaped to maximize skin contact to reduce the effects of Ember-burn.

Overheated Prisms can cause serious burns, and have a chance to explode when overheated. Larger masses have the potential to run away while under heavy use, creating a huge spike in heat as the Ember begins drawing magic by it's own power. This almost always leads to the violent destruction of of the prism and the surrounding area. The only way to stop a runaway reaction is to quickly cool the mass below the critical threshold.

Runaway spells are not true spells. The original spell usually falls apart near instantly as the stone switches from a controlled stream of magic into an overflow of raw energy. This uncontrolled flood of energy usually ignites anything nearby within seconds. See [[The Helebrost Incident]].

Risks and Side Effects:

Drawing raw magic from the Third Realm into one's body, rather than expelling it directly into the world can cause "mana sickness," which manifests as nausea, muscle cramps, seizures, coma, spontaneous bleeding, and even death if overexposed. the condition generally lasts about 24 hours, while your body quickly attempts to prevent breakdown from the influx of chaotic magic.

"Burnout" occurs when a magician's body is destroyed by excess "dirty" magic drawn directly from the Third Realm, or is reduced directly into energy while overcasting, leading to violent immolation or explosion.

Ember-Specific Risks:

Prolonged use of Ember can cause mundane heat burns, and "Ember-burn"; a mostly harmless condition where the stone seeps into the user's skin, causing dark scars, patterns, itching, occasional numbness, and other irritating effects. In very extreme cases, Ember will begin to crystalize directly on, in, or even under the user's skin, sometimes causing frostbite-like damage and intense pain.

Magicians using Ember typically channel magic directly through it into the world, avoiding the chaotic energy's harmful effects on their bodies. See "Burnout"

Historical Context -- to be expanded

Horus Tobb discovered Ember magic but died from burnout while demonstrating its use to the Magician's guild in Tarbrind. This tragedy led to a global increase in interest for magical research.

The rediscovery of Magnus Helderon's Divine Theory provided a deeper understanding of the nature and mechanics of magic. See [[Magic and the Second Realm - Ember and Bone]]

The Helebrost Incident - the first recoded runaway of an Ember Prism. A 33" diameter Ember Sphere used for conducting research at the Helebrost University entered a meltdown state after a research team attempted to transmute a mass of pig iron directly into gold. The resulting inferno burned down nearly 3.5 square miles (9 square km) of the the surrounding city in a blaze which lasted nearly a week.

New Species for my World-Building Project Species Name: Aleysians

Classification: Sub-Magic Wielder Ranking: B- (case to case basis tho) Powers: Aura reading, slight increased healing Explanation: Their abilities are passed down from the Elisier in their blood line so potency of their magic (and in retrospect strength of their powers) depends on how far down the bloodline they are. If the magic is still potent enough or awakened somehow, they are tend to manifest weak clairvoyancy. In truth, their abilities tend to be aura reading that with training can be used to determine potential futures through reading emotions and energies of people and locations.

Background Info: A sub-species of Elisiers and humans technically as the small amount of Elisiers mean that Elisier couples are basically impossible. Direct Aleysians are born from the reproduction of Elisiers with a mortal counterpart (making them a less common sub-species), however, generational Aleysians are more often found around (some even unaware of the fact they are one.

New Species for my World-Building Project Species Name: Elisiers

Classification: Sub-Magic Wielder Ranking: S+ Powers: Rapid healing, Clairvoyance Power Explanation: The power they are most well known for is clairvoyance, essentially being able to predict the future. However, what makes this species especially unique is the fact that there is no set way in how they predict it. Some known methods are through dreams, visions, emotions, however, not a lot of information is known about them or the specifics...

Background Info: They are born from stardust, which is what grants them their abilities, due to star dust being magical residue. With it thriving within their very beings, they tend to be incredibly powerful beings. As a result, they are an extremely rare species, very few exist at the same time.

Characters having assumptions about the world that are fundamentally incorrect, but correct enough. Too often I see people create extremely elaborate magic systems, and then make all the characters automatically have a clear grasp on how the system works.

There is nothing wrong with intricate magic systems, I love them too! However, the secrecy and mystery of unknown magic shouldn't be limited to only the very rare and powerful, because here's the thing: We have no idea what gravity is. Gravity, the most common and observed *thing* in all of science. Is it a particle? A curve of space-time? A force?

Guess what? Curves and particles and forces are all made up by people. They are concepts that we use to try to understand how the world works. They are never fully accurate, but they are accurate enough for what we need them for. The universe is chaos, and we apply rules to it to simplify reality. Reality exists beyond these rules, though. It is a sphere of undefinable complexity.

Here's an example: Magic Missile, the most common and used spell of all evocations. Is it caused by a sudden rise in local portent? Or maybe it is an extension of the caster's arcane properties? A sigil?

Guess what? Sigils and poetent and incantation are all made up by wizards. They are concepts that magic wielders use to try to understand how magic works. They are never fully accurate, but they are accurate enough for what they need them for. Magic is chaos, and we apply rules to it to simplify spellcasting. Magic exists beyond these rules, though. It is a sphere of undefinable weird.

Tldr; Magic=Physics, Wizards=Scientists. Nothing is certain, and we exist only in the amorphous bubble of theory

What are some world-building ideas or tropes that you want to see more of? I enjoy world-building but want something new or exciting or out of the ordinary to help get the juices flowing again

I was designing a little magic system for a game project I'm planning once I finish Brawlmentum and I had some trouble with telekinesis: how do I make it not overpowered? It's one of those powers where even as a kid watching superhero movies or reading comics I always had in the back of my mind things like "why don't they just telekinetically grab the guy's heart and rip it out of his chest" and whatnot. So to that my solution is "it's just not that precise and you kind of have to intuit a general area of what you want to grab; but then the other problem: how to limit the weight of what can be picked up in a way that doesn't seem entirely arbitrary? So I deliberated on that for a bit and came up with what I think is an easy solution and even kind of doesn't break physics as hard as usual telekinesis does: whatever force you apply to the object gets applied in reverse to you, spread over your whole body or parts of it so you can lift up a small rock no problem, it's just gonna feel a bit heavy on your arm - but if you try to lift up a boulder, it's either not gonna work at all or you'll collapse into a puddle. Which in turn also means that I have a good excuse to have incredibly jacked up wizards - the stronger you are physically, the more you can lift with magic, too

Man how do people make interesting magic systems look so easy ive been struggling to remake one for a project i already have guiding foundations for

Day 26 (35 in base 7) of re-writing my novel

I finished Part Two today! I will celebrate tomorrow (somehow). It is ~21,000 words.

The very end of Part Two explores what it is like to exist as a body without magic. Check out the following excerpt. Keep in mind, there are a TON of spoilers right here.

I blinked again, and Dolgof was on the ground.

I staggered back, clawing for Hota's arm, pulling them back as well as I stared at the Hero of Life's limp body, laying up against the lemon tree. Behind her stood the Hero of Earth. She gripped a syringe with white knuckles.

"What did you do," I shouted, "you killed her!"

Fangs bared, she kicked the Hero of Life. "Go on, tell him your dirty lie," she growled.

"Come," Dolgof whispered. "She won't hurt you."

Against my better judgment, I knelt down beside her. Her breathing slowed. Her hand laid over her stomach. Her cheeks drooped with fatigue. She was barely alive now, and she wouldn't be for much longer.

"I hid so much from you," she continued. "I hid myself from you for eighteen years. Only now-" she coughed "-only now do I tell you that, In Iziser."

She struggled for a breath. I lifted her head up. "What, what," I cried. My body shook, tears forming behind my eyes. "What is it?"

"You're my son."

No.

"I'm  your mother, Izi."

I gasped and staggered back, hands covering my mouth until I fell hard on the ground. Hota picked me up. Still wielding her syringe, I begged the Hero of Earth, "what did you do to her?""I took her magic," she snarled. "I took the Hero of Language's, too. I'm going to combine them all, myself, and save Meiste. That's the easiest-no, only-way."

A body without magic is, too, aimless and stumbling through existence. An existence without the magic that fundamentally makes people people in Meiste is a painful one. Dolgof, once the Hero of Life, will remain a vegetable until the end of the novel, once they're able to reunite her and her magic.

Day 25 (34 in base 7) of re-writing my novel

Today I explored one of two very important concepts in my novel: what does magic look like without a body to bind to it? Read ahead to learn more, but there are technically spoilers here.

"No," I decided. "It's-" A foul stench slashed at my nose, popping my eyes open. "What the hell?" I stood and plugged my nose, sticking out my hand. "I don't smell it." Hota stood beside me, hands in their pockets while they looked around. From the forest came a rotting buck the size of a semi truck. I could see its skull from beneath the skin that had fallen away, and only one eye remained on it. "I don't see that." Hota gulped and stood behind me. The buck wasn't real, I realized. The buck was made of magic. This was the consequence of failing to restore magical balance quickly enough. This putrid thing, made from unguided magic, wandering aimlessly in a world where it couldn't interact. Had I failed? Would Meiste soon perish?

Magic without a body is aimless. It is undead. It has no will nor way, rhyme nor reason, nothing like that. In fact, the perception of that magic is what caused it to take a form in the first place. It is only putrid-smelling because Izi perceived it that way, and it only looks like a rotting deer because that's what Izi saw.

Overpowered Magic in Meiste I:

Perlocutionary Language Magic

In a later post I will explain magic in my conworld, Meiste, but one form of magic is Language magic. An overpowered ability some language magicians hold is the power to turn locutionary actions into perlocutionary results.

J. L. Austin was a philosopher interested in language, and he coined the terms "locutionary," "illocutionary," and "perlocutionary" to refer to sentences which invoke actions and the result thereof. Locution is literal meaning, but illocution refers to what an utterance has done, and perlocution refers to what happened thereafter.

For example, when you say "have a good day," you invoke perlocution to enforce that the person to whom you spoke should have a good day. When you say "please pass the salt," perlocution involves somebody passing the salt.

It's not hard to see why this is overpowered, then. If a perlocutionary language magician says "damn you!" then you may or may not be damned, depending on the magic behind it. Or if they say "bless you!" you may literally be blessed.

This may even be extended to sentences like "give me money," where now somebody may give the person who spoke money.

This is definitely overpowered, but I argue definitely not as overpowered as most Earth magic.

Sci-fi and fantasy need to be combined more often, and here's what I want to see more of:

Mythical space creatures. Give me cryptids and not just big scary monsters. Odd little guys like platypuses and fun pets like parrots or monkeys. Give me space moray eels that hide in black holes and poke their heads out at passing ships.

Magic. Besides Star Wars, I feel like sci-fi and magic aren't things that are combines a lot. You could argue Voltron has a bit of that, but most of the time it's technology based (hints the name science-fiction, crazy I know). Give me space wizards, space apothecaries, and healers that use the magic of planets in their daily lives. Give me technology and vehicles run on magic-based sources.

Old ruins. Lots of sci-fi stuff is new and shiny - give me technology that is outdated, robots that don't function anymore. Old buildings that used to be the pinnacle of innovation now abandoned and overrun.

Give me a mix of both very clean planets and very dirty. Sci-fi can be super grungy or super clean - the world has a mix of these things. Have a sprawling city of perfection with low slums and muck.

Prosthetics! Cyborgs and mechanical arms and legs. Electronic eyes that see heat signatures. Exchangeable parts! Ones that glow and light up like those light-up sneakers!

Pretty space food! Infuse pancakes with glowing berries that ooze out of a fluffy cake. Magical teas that heal or give immunity. Magic-infused coffee that gives resistance and energy! Skewers of alien meats grilled to perfection.

Jet lag. Give me characters who get exhausted on another planet because the days last 8 hours longer than they do on their home planet. Characters who stay up until 3 a.m. because their old home had 30 hour days and this new planet has 10 hour days.

I have more, but a lot of these things are in my sci-fi/fantasy story I'm writing right now. I love space and I just think there's so much more we can do with the sci-fi genre.

magic-related fun facts

here are a few fun facts about magic and magic users on my planet, Kirotar.

terms like "witch" and "wizard" are not gender-specific, and instead used to describe magic users of different skill levels.

a magician: general term for any and all magic users of any skill level or discipline a witch: term for magic users who are self-taught or learned from friends and family, not professionally educated, have a non-scholarly understanding of magic a wizard: term for magic users who are educated professionally, studied magic at least to a basic level, have a scholarly understanding of magic, learned through curriculum a warlock: specialized and skilled magic users with years of dedicated professional study, sought to learn magic in higher levels of education, masters of magic a magus: magical scientists, those who study, research, and experiment with magic as a career; they are often magicians, but not always

2. people from different places have different styles of performing magic, based on the way they were taught, and each one is unique.

people from Safimatet (the east) typically perform magic with movements of the open palms to direct their magic. people from Besilyon (the south) usually perform magic by making different hand signs, with different positions of the fingers. people from Tovapikus (the west) also perform magic by moving their hands, but they use closed fists instead of open palms. people from Ramocesin (the north) regularly preform magic with dance-like motions of the hands, wrists, and fingers all at once. the thing about this is: each of these styles are equivalent! it's different methods of doing the same thing. it can be compared to drawing with a pencil versus drawing with a pen; it looks different, but the product is essentially the same/very similar. also, these things aren't necessary for performing the actual magic, it's more to assist the user. it's like using a ruler; if a person hasn't practiced drawing straight lines on their own, they'd usually use a ruler, because if they don't, then their lines are a little wobbly and imperfect. the ruler just helps them to get it right.

3. some people on Kirotar perform magic as a job. because it's so highly specialized, people will hire experts to use magic they can't use themselves. for example, builders might hire a warlock of motion magic to help them move heavy materials that they either couldn't lift or would have extreme difficultly lifting otherwise.

4. magic is something that scientists theorize about constantly. there is a lot of magic that could be possible, but it would take too much energy or skill to perform, so they can't test if it would actually work. this doesn't stop them from writing out long equations and coming up with complicated hypotheses about it, though. 5. there is a magical code of conduct which is widely accepted across the planet that dictates what kind of magic can legally be performed. depending on the area, breaking this code of conduct can be a very serious offense. one example of a magical crime would be necromancy/using magic to revive a human being.

that's all for now. there was going to be a drawing with this post (as there has been in the others so far) but I haven't had the motivation to doodle as of late, so I'm just going to post this anyway. hope the facts are actually fun

magic system on Kirotar (2 of 2)

now that I've explained magical energy (see this post) I'm going to explain what you can actually do with magic, how they classify different types of magic, and how it's used by the people living on Kirotar...

(the person in the drawing is one of my characters, whose name is Robbie.)

with Kirotaran magic, the possibilities are unfortunately not endless, but this is not to say that there isn't an extremely wide range of things you can do with it. the humans on Kirotar have a generally accepted magic classification system which details the different types of magical acts that can be performed, but it's important to note that there are no actual different types of magical energy itself; these distinctions are purely artificial, social constructs, if you will.

there are three overall categories of magic, with three subcategories each. here is what I typically call The Tree of Magical Classification:

1. MECHANICAL MAGIC

1a. motion magic, such as: moving matter without contact, manipulating matter's speed, moving matter through solids 1b. force magic, such as: manipulating gravity's intensity, manipulating friction or tension, generating "force fields" 1c. acoustic magic, such as: manipulating a sound's pitch, volume, or direction, generating a specific sound

2. ELECTROMAGNETIC MAGIC

2a. electricity magic, such as: manipulating electrical fields, currents, and charges, generating electricity 2b. light magic, such as: manipulating the intensity or color of light, passing light through matter or reflecting light off of matter 2c. thermal magic, such as: transferring heat between matter, absorbing heat, radiating heat, manipulating the state of matter

3. CHEMICAL MAGIC

3a. bonds magic, such as: manipulating molecular bonds between matter, breaking one object apart, joining two objects together 3b. mass magic, such as: manipulating density, volume, or both, affecting size and/or weight of matter 3c. transmutation magic, such as: changing an element/molecule into another element/molecule, manipulating its properties

the examples listed here are not the only things that can be done with magic, they're just meant to create an idea of what the category entails. everything has a very vague "scientific" explanation based on my limited education on the sciences, and it's meant to mostly obey laws of the universe, like "matter can't be created or destroyed."

now, the second component of magic, aside from magical energy: skill. in order to preform any kind of magic, a person needs to have skill. it's the same as any other talent or activity, and can very easily be compared to something like drawing. sure, most everyone can put a pencil to paper and draw a shape, but in order to create something unique, detailed, and interesting, people have to study and practice for years to develop that skill. magic is the same way.

because magic is so varied and needs a lot of practice to perform, people are rarely good at all of it. often, a person will be an expert in a single subcategory of magic, while barely knowing any magic in any of the other categories. other times, a person can be decent at magic from multiple subcategories within the same category, although learning two subcategories that belong to different categories is more uncommon. magics within categories are similar, though not the same. it's sort of like a guitarist learning to play the ukulele (same category) versus learning to play the flute (different categories). a person could choose to learn some magic from nearly every category, but they wouldn't be very good at any of it.

another note is that the amount of skill it takes to do something and the amount of magical energy it takes are proportional. the more complicated something is, the more skill it takes, the more energy it uses. for example, using motion magic to make a puddle of water float in the air is relatively easy, but attempting to lift up all the water in the ocean at the same time is practically impossible because of the sheer amount of skill and energy it would require.

last thing for this post: magic is for everyone. on Kirotar, magic is something anyone can do if they choose to, and while not everyone does, the majority of people do. it's something people use in their everyday lives as a helpful tool, to make things easier, as a convenience. never, ever is it used as a weapon (more on that later). it's something people learn from their grandparents, something people go to school to study, something people experiment with. the study of magic is considered a branch of science on Kirotar, the same as biology or chemistry. it is more or less an integral part of the world and the daily life of the people who live there, even if they don't use magic often.

anyway, this isn't everything I have to say, but this post is longer than my last one, so I think I'll cut it off here. next post will maybe just be some fun facts.

magic system on Kirotar (1 of 2)

my fictional planet called Kirotar features the existence of magic, and I've created a unique system for how it works and how it's used by the people living there. here's one of two posts I'll make about it, where I'll first talk about what facilitates the existence of magic...

(by the way, the person in the drawing is a character of mine named Fabian.)

on Kirotar, there exists another form of energy called magical energy (creative, I know). it exists in and can be possessed by all living things, and it is one of the two components needed to perform acts of magic.

there are also two kinds of magical energy: inherent magical energy and foreign magical energy. they have a few differences in the way they're used and interacted with.

inherent magical energy is just that: inherent. every living thing (plants, animals, fungi, etc.) is born or otherwise begins its existence with at least some magical energy. the amount of energy varies from species to species and individual to individual; for example, plants generally have a lot less inherent energy than humans do, but one human may have marginally more or less energy than another human. it is a fixed amount that doesn't change (excepting some specific circumstances).

when inherent energy is being used, it isn't expelled/depleted. I think the best way to explain this is to imagine it like it's a dial that goes from 0-100% of someone's magical energy. if someone is doing something that uses 50% of their energy, they can do something else that uses 50% of their energy, and the dial is turned up to 100%. the moment they stop, they're not using any energy, it's turned back to 0%, and they can use it for something else. it "replenishes" itself, in a sense, and it can be sustained indefinitely.

when magical energy is transferred between beings, it becomes foreign energy in whatever is receiving it. once inherent energy is transferred from one thing to another, it is no longer replenished, and the fixed amount of inherent energy in the being it came from decreases. if person A has high energy and gives some of it to person B, who has low energy, this results in person A now having a medium amount of energy and person B also having a medium amount of energy, until the energy from person A is used.

unlike inherent energy, foreign energy does not work like a dial. it works more like mana in video games; it is a finite resource. as a person uses it for magic, it is depleted, and they can only sustain the magic for as long as they have more energy to use up. once they run out of energy, they stop.

in order to get more energy, it must be taken from other living things. eating regular meals does not give people magical energy, because even though they're eating plants and animals, by the time they're doing so, the plants and animals are dead. commonly, the people of Kirotar will eat seeds in order to gain energy, because those are alive, even if the amount of energy they gain is small.

since this post is already pretty long, I'll talk about what people can actually do with magic in the next one. hope this explanation makes sense so far. I'd absolutely love to answer any questions about it.

>bored from indulging in the deeper ends of the magic system I am making

>Why not experiment with something more simpler?

>make a rough new system and wrote a POC around it.

>Reread just for fun... It follows a hard magic system...

Fuck...

--

Welp, here's what I wrote... If you are reading anything below this point then know that I wank a lot of words. You are warned.

Oh and it's intended to be the first chapter of sorts...

--

Maya closed the old worn tomb on her lap, 'Basics of herb mixing' - Soul Herbologist, Stevle. Maya sighed... Not at exhausting the last book from the tiny orphanage library... Maybe a bit from the endless puns the author sneaked into the entire lexicon... but more at the boring enlightenment spark she had finally observed last night... Maya stood up to return the book, It was a short way to the library, just a flight of stairs above from her room infact.

Maya walked the wooden creeks of her corridor, that she had haunted like a greedy serpentine gremlin for all of her whole 16 years of life, she had lived in the orphanage... She passed the wooden board from which she often took jobs... Or more specifically the various jobs that she would come to find specialization in... ofcourse! All due to the also boring soul trait she had... which she had proudly isolated when she was 12 years old! But as soon as Maya had done scanning through all available documentation of her soul trait in the measly library and the warden's head... Words could not define how bummed out she was...

Maya's soul trait was... 'trait-less', a simple soul trait, she cursed her own internal language for the trait-lessness of her soul... Her greed for cool shit had seeped into all of the neural netwoking she had aquired in her life... If everything she learns becomes clearly defined and outlined by study... Her venomous fantasy was never satiated... She had fimiliarised herself with every label she was acquainted with... Defining all words that helped one simulate the world in a more comminucatable objective fashion... It wasn't surprising that her neural network was quirkless... Why would her soul trait be anything other than... Trait-less.

Soul traits are what allows soul spiritualists to manifest metaphysical arcane abilities into reality. Every being has one... It's an emergent behaviour inherent to all intelligent beings.

Simpler soul traits form because the wielders inherently have less bias in their language... Therefore making scientific methodology a very synergetic life path the practitioner walked on.

But Maya? She had the simplest... The simplest in all of Permutation the universe allowed... And the same? was her undoing. Maya was never going to have a manifestable arcane ability due to the trait-lessness of her soul... Let alone the cool shit she always dreamed about...

It was a long way to the library, Maya recalled the many jobs she took from the board. It was necessary for everyone who had isolated their soul trait in the orphanage, to contribute to the orphanage.

But that wasn't why Maya took those many jobs... It was either to keep her pockets flowing... or otherwise to indulge in her never-ending quest to find and possibly unlock cool shit... She collected rare herbs, she had once helped a craftsman to make the design blueprint model of his soul puppet more ergonomic, despite her extremely limited expertise in the subject... She even helped a zoologist identify a specific hare he wanted to study! that could hop for a larger distance because it had a unique epigenetic expression... Sad and truly boring old times... But Maya smirked nonetheless... It was fun.

Maya turned the book in, to the librarian's trained hands, waving her a final, still smug, sayonara. She had already packed her things, which wasn't much to begin with... All practical stuff for travelling and some tools she knew would need, the small marsh green travel sack waited outside the warden's room.

Maya walked into the warden's room. The warden eyed her through his old dotting glasses, oddly sharp for the otherwise wrinkled skin behind it. "hmm... hmm... Are you sure about this dear Maya?", Zanish asked, The old bag of bones clutching her letter, that advocated that the holder has isolated their soul trait and has observed an enlightenment spark, everything needed to persue soul spiritualism.

"Why... Why Creed of Thought?”, the old warden asked, knowing that unorthodox academy was a hassle, for all its students.

Maya smirked, "Yes, Mr. Zanish", she replied. "I am certain that it is the best for me... You know me already, don't you?", she said with thick pretentious posh oozing from her tongue.

Zanish nodded, "yes yes... another hustler added to the Labrinth of hustling, They will let you in... It's not like they stop anyone anyway."

Maya giggled at the old man's habit of repeating the first word of his speech... She wasn't sure if she would miss him, but... it was always fun whenever she was caught sneaking out of her room after the 14th out of 16 fractions of the day.

Zanish signed the document hesitantly, Creed of Thoughts was an academy that didn't teach... Atleast in term of orthodox education... They merely traded resources for information. All promising soul spiritualists would trade by showcasing their, any and all, acquired synergy between their soul trait and enlightenment spark... for credits. Credits that the Creed awarded for getting to document that emergent synergetic behaviour showcased, they would award more for any questions they ask, ofcourse.

And it is these credits that were used to exchange resources, that the Creed traded. Money, textbooks, research material, arcane tools, a lecture on a topic of interest, physical demonstration, beast essence, usage of the many workshops and its facilities, herbs and much more! You name it! For the right credit? They trade it! Some even got a chance to enter the whispy archive of dreams, just for a limited period ofcourse.

It didn't matter that the Creed was originally formed by a malevolent faction... Their system for education was fair, that is all that mattered. The begrudging Benevolent Factions never got any excuse to scrutinise them... For the academy itself wasn't making any combat force for itself like every other faction was...

But the biggest problem for Maya, in Zanish's perspective, was that she had observed the Whispers of the Void as her enlightenment spark... The slowest of all enlightenment sparks.

Enlightenment spark is a signal observed by a being in their neural circuitry... The specific conditions that triggered the spark, basically a matching of a neural signal to a perfected contradiction-less neural circuitry called 'enlightenment', was unknown...

Enlightenment spark serves to shape and therefore dictate the how's and why's of one's soul trait is manifested... And the whispers of the void? It had a torturous pace... It requires one to align their neural signalling with the Void itself... The now aligned signals would become the Void's whispers... The whispers broke chunks out of one's soul form and then worked as a solvent to glue the pieces in any Permutation... Repeat the process to ad nauseum, and the soul gets granular and granular each iteration... Basically making one's soul, clay like... which can be molded in any manner...

What this enlightenment spark gave in versatility of manifesting one's soul trait... It also came with the drag of refinement and the inevitable analysis paralysis of doing actual intelligent design without a fixed end shape... The Whispers of the void was well documented! It allowed for a better accuracy of manifestations but it brought nothing unique the other myriad enlightenment sparks synergising with the various soul traits brought.

Zanish also knew Maya's soul trait was traitless... and knowing that brought him the burden of knowledge that Maya wasn't going to manifest anything metaphysical, Period. For there had been no recorded metaphysical arcane abilities acquired by a trait less soul spiritualist, except ofcourse... They were precise with whatever they did.

Precision and efficiency of a trait less soul... Accuracy and versatility from the whispers of the void... That is all Maya had... Oh and also that smug annoying want for the 'cool shit' she had always claimed she was gonna manifest, ringing in the old man's ears since the age her innocence turned into greed... Zanish sighed... The probability of having both a traitless soul and the Whispers of the void enlightenment spark must be the last plack fraction away from zero... For this Permutation has never been documented in all of his old wisdom... No known example for Maya to follow...

Zanish handed the letter to Maya, "here... here... you better don't disappoint me, lad. Or... Or I am gonna punish you next for never breaking any rules this time around", Maya knew he meant that as a challenge, to find an actual manifestable metaphysical arcane ability out of her hand of cards.

Maya pulled her eyelid down and taunted with her tongue out, bleah. Even if this is a good bye, she wasn't not going to be a brat.

Maya took her small travel sack, now resting on her shoulder, as she set off to Yana, where the Mystical Labyrinth of the Creed of Thought slumbered.

The Creed of Thought was carved into the heart of a literal giant, a stone monolith otherwise. Dreaming in its grey granite mass. What made the stone mountain move? all slow in the plains of Yana... going nowhere... No one knew...

Maya caught up to her friend, Rundra. A fluffy dog for a man, tall and lean, yet built like a rectangle, warm yet rigid as the earth beneath him... they were from the same orphanage... Rundra was also a promising soul spiritualists... his soul trait was 'vigor', it gave him irrational will power and a slightly accelerated self healing capacity due to an unique epigenetic expression... he also had glimpsed the enlightenment spark, 'path of indifference'... Maya never figured out why the synergy bummed him... it sounded cool as shit! 'Indifferent Vigor!', A famous previous wielder of both had manifested Weapon Egos into all her blades... its path never bargained with anyone! but Rundra doesn't seem very excited about it...

Maya thinks Rundra decided to start academy because of her... but why did he choose Creed of Thought too? Little did she know it was Zanish that pestered him to go out and experience his life... He chose Creed of Thought simply because Maya was confident it was gonna be a ride.

"hey, ready to leave?", Maya asked

"I would have long been gone if I didn't wait for you to finish the last few pages of that book", Rundra said with a stearn face... but Maya knew he was wagging his imaginary tail already in excitement.

It was going to be a long journey... Longer because Maya was hell bent on hitch hiking her way there... Spending money on travelling a well travelled path? Especially with a lot of traffic? What is this... A scam? Maya grinned, soon she got a lift on an two oxen pulled carriage... The animals looked well worked... Well feed too! looking at the slush it pulled, logged in the carriage... Maybe its epigenetic expression would be worthy of study... Maybe its beastial essence can be extracted?

Maya closed her eyes long after Rundra, the oxen's beast essence wasn't going to offer an epigenetic suggestion for her body to mimic, especially in any kind that would lead to cool shit...

And with that, Maya turned to the brilliant moon, she could swear it was dim before... But it's not long before a snot bubble starts to inflate and deflate from her nose, as Maya drowsed away into sweat slumber.

I stan this idea very much

Warming. Contains info hazardous bias.

--

The beast of instinct.

It is a class of design concepts in my delusion magic system, in the bronze age world. There have been a lot of these beasts in this time period, that's just an excuse to slowly introduce the concept and therefore slowly brainwash readers to like my ideas, the magic of Mystique...

tl;dr of the Delusion magic system is that all ideas in your head, that have no contradiction in your entire neural circuitry... Are made manifest. The only limit of abilities is that no one here can violate the conservation of information.

The beast of instinct serves as an equal to its opposite concept in the magic system, to the various demons of reason.

--

When an intelligent creature is rid of delusion. It's inefficient neural pathways that sustain its own narrative is burned away... in order to perfect its sensory input to the motor reaction output loop...

That is the beast of instinct. A creature of pure emergent function of their respective chain of chemical reactions that sustain them. Just biology. Nothing 'alive' in it...

The beast of instinct is actually an evolution line from the 'artsy' type of poke- ahem... characters... Because all their senses converge into one level of Gestalt like act of observation...

They have reduced their craft to mere hardwired instinct. Art without interpretation. Art is in the interpretation, they cannot hold higher thought. There is no interpretation. Distilled objective sensory observation.

This act of observation and reaction loop causes neural synergy. Their movement becomes choreographed, a dance set on the rhythm of information continuity... a markov chain stitching its path only in eternal now

Think of it like your body moving in a deep flow state... You don't need to justify any action, there is no action, you just are... imagine how flight or flight works.

--

Their nervous system become more hardwired, the input signal moves to the Permutations of nerve cells that lead to motor output. No lag, no higher processing that can take them out of their contradiction free observation of reality.

--

What do they do!!!???

Well, I have some examples...

--

There was a wild 'notorious' tiger that had perfected its art, the hunt.

THE SHADOW.

Its targets could never track it while simultaneously recognising the contours of its shape, 'camouflaged'. Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle flavoured.

Basically if you see it still? then it has already left the field of your active vision... And if it is tried to track? Its patterns become 'blurrier'

Scary camouflaged danger cat be real sneaky!

--

Another is, hehe boi, this shit is why I do all these

THE DEAD MAN WALKING

A malevolent bag of matter and energy performing emergent behaviour.

It's a he... I am sorry... it is an unorthodox villain character so it's fine. He 'bad boy' hot!! ... Atleast ...

This being has burned away everything. All neural pathways that are deemed inefficient.

In transcendental rage... (revenge subplot but the spicier version, powerless human on a quest for revenge, and in his hit list are some protagonists... and he's Machiavellian but unga bunga version. Bronze age min maxed sweaty ape ass.) His body has burned everything away inside it that could stop itself anymore... it began with the symptoms of never stopping, even though he's clearly spent... and the ones on his hit list are sometimes delusion magic wielders... and his condition is kinda okay but still bad... even chemically resource starved sometimes...

Think of this man moving like a Fourier transform of the music this man runs on

Or better think of it like the collapsing wave function. Its curvature flowing, being dictated as observed by objective reality.

An animated squiggly line. Extrapolate that squiggly line to 3 dimensions and you can see my boi animate in every frame of the causal reality he observe... Its slow... It's only biological ofcourse... Give it some time... Speed up the animation frame rate to our scale bruh!

++

Retrograde amnesia, Anterograde amnesia, aphantasia, there is simply nothing left in this man that can hold higher thought. Not even recognition of its own geodesical individuality. There is no separation of 'me' from the larger universe in him left.

It has all been burned away.

A martial indifference walking in perfected malevolent instinct.

++

Much like Clive Wearing, a real dude! Look him up!

Music allowed Clive to stitch his distorted continuity for a suprising good length... Otherwise, he couldn't recall his memories and cannot make new memories... long term and short term memory loss.

That is because of the 'Musicality' of our systems, a very well oiled part of circuitry in your cranium, the thing that creates meaning from pattern-ed sequence of sound... is so connected with out voluntary motor functions that we can't help but vibe. Fact! the taping of your feet!? That vibe? Craving for Chris Christodoulo synthwave? it's hardcoded!!

And Clive was a brilliant musician!! so the music part of his neural circuitry was still going good!!

Continuity in motor function? Better sense continuity of reality! All because Music moves us... quite literally.

++

Copy that shit one to one shamelessly, exaggerate, and slap it to the Dead Man Walking. Add some more too.

Aphantasia so he can't voluntarily simulate shapes in his prefrontal cortex.

Synesthesia because his reduced neural circuitry sustains the seamless sensory information convergence into a Musicality led rhythm. We all have it, it's just not required and therefore it's unique neural paths are not strengthened (unless you do have Synesthesia, in its numerous variations, my boi here has the complete one... Brain less fibry dense as normal? Remaining fibers circuitry are taken as new normal, strengthened and are then is more 'hardwired')

Since normal symbolic context driven language is not possible for its mind... Think of the music as a language his circuitry runs on... that labels all levels of raw sensory information in one neat, low mental level, yet surprisingly rational, compressed packet...

And this Musicality stitched rhythm is what keeps it in this continuity of the eternal now. A malevolent algorithm, an else-if ladder.

++

Its shitty 'machete on a good stick' glaive is a sight to behold. Not for it's crude, flavorless... Yet surprisingly ergonomic?!... Makeshift design... That is... Only if your body has a similarly chiseled epigenetic expression to his...

Its path never meets resistance. Eviceration itself left behind its tail wind. Not because its blade end is impossibly sharp, or is a 1024 times folded katana... but because its path is never allowed to meet a material that could resist its cleave... (Maybe the blade end is a 'foraged' Damascus made, short fat, Ramdao... It is in fact from the harappa side of things)

Only after he has completely 'understands' what it is fighting... is. and 'is' as in objective reality... think of it like him starting from the 0 of understanding of hiss opponent's unique induviduality... all potential behaviour and bias in shape and permutation of material... It takes time... Maybe less every other opponent that makes him reach the weapon's full 100% smooth path...

The crude weapon's sheer girth is used to balance his borderline animated smooth wonky posture... Imagine he pushes the waxy stick blade first forward while in air... It's mass and acceleration pulling his surprisingly light body, for a surprising amount of centimetes in that direction... Oh and he's also is on a very strict... very Surprisingly varied, forager diet... Only take enough resources that are recognised to 'continue efficient function' type diet... Unga bunga variant.

Shit like this happens with many different weapon flavours since he gets bland fast...

His fighting style is anything that works as long as he is the one who survives in the end. Getting better and better to the point if there is even a fraction of a chance a human of his build and calibre can win... He wins and his opponent mostly dies... Getting more efficient with each iteration of causal action, that is the speed cap of his limit.

++

The events that lead this man to this pokevolution are truly some edgy sad offscreen dark souls lore... and anime ass hell fights!

His art is the art of malevolent survival. Sad artist stuff I know...

He actually is made to go even lower from this state of being a beast of instinct... That's a secret for now!

--

Wait a minute!

If a beast of instinct runs on a sense of self expression put in continuity of motion, in reaction to obervation of objective reality... Basically doing Art without interpretation...

Does that mean art is a true emergent behaviour of the universe? Not just something one does in their cranium... Not just in their subjective simulated reality in their prefrontal cortex...

Since the nature of the beast is reduced to mere biology functioning... And biology is already a true emergent property... Duh

So is art... Real?

I mean this in terms of functioning, labeled as art... And functioning is real...

That matters more to my narrative in retrospective... because I have a concept of 'true lies' somewhere in the story...

Agni!

I will be exploring the design of this character in this post!!

The title is just a place holder... for a fire elemental character I made, in my Delusion magic system world.

Simplification of the Magic system, all beliefs of a person that they hold absolutely no contradiction for, to that idea, in themself, is somehow made manifest in my bronze age based world!!! The only limit is they cannot break the law of conservation of information.

--

Agni was one of the first to perfect his delusion.

His delusion? That fire is chaos...

These kinda ideas cannot really be contradicted cause chaos can mean whatever... A malleable abstract idea... Cause I don't think fire has an empirical information called chaos... So it's a delusional idea (chaos) being labeled in reality with the medium of a real thing (fire)...

--

The back story for this delirius character is that he lost something or someone important to fire... And his life has been a constant struggle where he is working towards something, but always meets setbacks due to unforeseen factors which overwhelms him and/or induces PTSD for plot reasons...

--

So, whenever his brain goes nuts, failing to create cohesive thoughts...

HE LEAKS PURE PLASMA.

--

If Fire = chaos. Chaotic state of mind makes him see the world in a chaotic fashion, which means his simulation of the world in his prefrontal cortex will introduce the simulation of fire in this chaotic state... Delusion manifesting... Superimpose the mentally simulated fire onto the narrative! Fire!

Not all Delusion are manifested... Most people just experience extra sensory stuff... Or are skilled artisans with wisdom of first hand experience (experience in terms of mental circuitry, making the act instinctual)... You guys can see my first magic system in my profile for another example of a system of delusion magic...

--

Going back to the state of his brain, specifically his current loss of cohesive thought...

This state can be caused by so many things... From Lack of necessary resources like sodium ions, to excessive blood loss, to just being, boring ol' reliable, shocked enough from confusion or concussion... To just analyze paralysis caused by being overwhelmed...

--

In this state, if he's not knocked out cold...

He will leak FIRE!!!

From his epidemic lining....

Assume its like sweating but instead of sweat beads, it's tongues of outward slithering fire!!

--

The energy has to come from somewhere... So for now lets go with the chemical energy stored in his body...

And its obviously also burns him... Hmm... Maybe the tongues of flame SURROUNDS him... rather than come directly from his skin... So its just heat at first that he generates and has to somehow tolerate...

But that also means he breaths in a lot of Carbon monoxide... Hmm... He just has to live with it I guess...

And he could probably choose where it leaks from? That would need some concentration... Hmm... Concentration while his minds all gone haywire?? Maybe could be related to mastery?

BUT MASTERY IS BORING AS FUCK

Maybe I could somehow teach him that fire is not an all consuming kind of chaos somehow... A punishment for his character arc going stagnant? Maybe with love?

Maybe show him the warmth fire brings?

Hell ya!

So he falls in love with someone who was received warmness by his flame rather than burn from it! Sounds fun!

--

Anyway, since he now knows fire can also bring warmth, thats effectively unlocking passive healing and shit

HIS IDEA OF 'CHAOS' CHANGES!!!

Remember! Abstract ideas are infinitely Malleable!!!

Chaos doesn't just mean destruction and death... At the end of the day, it just an antonym for order! Rest is whatever bullshit you add to it...

Maybe his current understanding of the term 'chaos' can be something less painful and more as something that is now actively helping him grow internally...

This character is a sad forged in the flames of chaos type, a dude who has been through shit and you respect where he is now...

THE TRIGGER WONT CHANGE CAUSE HIS IDEA IS STILL FIRE IS CHAOS... ITS HIS LOSS OF COHESIVE THOUGHTS...

but maybe he can work around it... If he wants to achieve a lack of cohesive thought... (after obviously identifying and isolating this trigger first, that a epiphany he has in a cornered scenario... Throw in drama and up the stakes and begin the self talk to monologue sequence)

Maybe he just needs to somehow silence him own thoughts i guess...

NO THOUGHTS ALSO MEANS NO COHESIVE THOUGHTS!!! AM I RIGHT???

Hehe, So now bro can try calming down a little and keep his head all quiet... Then he can concentrate while still activating the trigger!!!

HE CAN NOW DIRECT THE TONGUES OF FLAME!!!

INSTEAD OF JUST LEAKING FIRE! BRO IS NOW CONTROLLING IT!!!

It starts out by him first making smalls gaps in the fire around him in key zones like his face and joints... And then slowly concentrate them to specific zones like just his fists... Training and rising that flow state up!

He can keep his thoughts cohersive and going when he doesn't need to release flames... Distracted, unga bunga vibing with the sunset, or just busy analysing his situation, and the terrain and factors, what armor the enemy is wearing, or, some shit... And when he wants to make contact... Still his mind... And Boom!!!

Fire!

--

If I have to make a logic behind how the release can be concentrated to some body parts and not all... Let's go with nerve ending!!!

AREA OF BODY THAT HAVE A HIGHER SUPERFICIAL DENSITY OF NERVE ENDING CAN BE THE KEY!!!

Imagine the humunculus... Bigger exaggerated regions have higher nerve ending...

Maybe he can select a threshold by his concentration that says fire will leak from a set minimum value of nerve ending density areas only...

And then from there, its road to mastery of quantifying and dictating how much fire... At least to the point I can still portray the flame as a leak from his body, and not boring old creation of flames...

I am fine with this mastery... Doesn't sound boring... Maybe he's an older character already... with his history sprinkled here and there rather than showing his journey closely...

This makes the chemical potential energy in his body sustain longer since its kinda in his control when he wants the flame or not... It makes efficiency better too... Less energy being wasted...

And since he can also master the amount of energy to release...

HE CAN DICTATE HOW IMPACTFUL THE COMBUSTION SPARK IS!!! AKA, *DRUM ROLL* THE BOOM BOOM...

++

Consider the fact that the tongue has amazing nerve ending superficial density...

BREATHING OUT FIRE?? HELL YA!!!

--

If I had to explain the specific of why this shit happens... Maybe it has to do with the flying away of electrons in the air surrounding his skin... Causing instantaneous Plasma matter zones in air...

Like his body is doing something that makes his skin facilitate that... And the nerve endings on his skin manifest that outside his body...

I mean its about his thoughts right, thoght = brain activity = nerves are involved = chaos leaking from its ends on tbe skin...

Maybe the blood flow has been changed somehow, and in its perfect rhythm and ionic saturation.... creating a magnetic field and also ionising the air somehow?

To the point you can see flames rather than just heating air atleast... (Cute electric coil-esque hands sometime in the story?)

Idk bruh... it's Delusional magic.... I will have to break some constraints of our reality... Design liberty type stuff... To make the Delusion make sense I have to deploy some strategic ignorance...

〜⁠(⁠꒪⁠꒳⁠꒪⁠)⁠〜

--

FLAME ELEMENTAL

AGNI!

Wave Riders!!

I will be exploring the consequences of a magic system I previously posted.

---

Summary of the said ability,

Short version, Non Euclidian movement by being caught up in a current, like a wave of water, gust of wind or Seismic Vibrations

...

Long verison, Expert Surfers delude themselves into thinking that they don't move on the waves of the water... The surface beneath them itself distorts... Various cureent as if vibrations on still water... They merely predict and maneuver these distortions, choosing to ride the waves that would transport them as desired.

After a key event, Delusion starts leaking into reality, ONLY if the belief isn't contradicted within self...

Stuff happens

Younger generations assume the wind also does the same... And with this idea taking hold... It actually start happening so!!! They experience being moved by the wind itself!! Even on land!

Some even assume their own motion, that is walking or any movement, adds to these distortions... Until they learn to ride their own induced vibrations on the environment around them.

Like leaping further with seismic vibrations from their strides, or turning faster as they now maneuver a gust of wind.

Basically Non Euclidian movement.

---

Consequences!

Recognising any type of vibration as a wave means the user is forced to maneuver it... Be it as simple as the rustling of leaves minutely changing...

If they fail to maneuver it, the wave 'splashes' over them... The area of the body that got 'splashed' fails to be recognised by the nervous system... Temporarily ofcourse!

The effect is like a local neural information packet loss... They lose sensation over that area. If the area is big enough... The user experiences motor function loss, like an induced phantom limb... The limb or patch of skin is still there... They just aren't in sync with the users locomotive functions. Causing dissonance.

---

After a given time, could be second or minutes, the effected area's neural information 'snaps' back... giving a glitch like effect to the user.

Wave Riders!!!

This is a magic system I thought up today... It's a subset of many such, that I wish to explore in my current just conceptual world

tl;dr - Non Euclidian movement by being caught up in a current, like a wave of water, gust of wind or Seismic Vibrations

---

The oceanic people used their surfboard to ride waves, and travel between island

They predict the waves and expertly maneuver them with intention. The experienced folk describe their craft not just as moving on the surface of water... Instead, they say it's as if their position on the surface of water beneath then has shifted...

Imagine standing still, and the oceans itself below your legs... moves!!! And these people have learnt to maneuver its distortions!

This analogy is purely mental... as for now that is.

---

A key event happens in the story... After which, it is now possible for one's mental subjective simulations to leak into reality... But only when he truly believes in the idea, and has no contradictions within him for it.

---

The newer generation of the oceanic people, hearing legends of such surfboard experts... Claim to have felt as if the wind also influences this movement... Like it's another factor that influences their position in these distorted waters...

Is it a placebo? Is it true but almost negligible? Is it confirmation bias? Or is it the small sample space? Or is this Cherry Picking Data? Hystaria?

Anyway, as the idea spreads and grows more stories, the idea taking root and form, it starts happening.

They slowly start experiencing the wind carry them, start maneuvering it, predicting it, even when not on the surface of water.

...

At some point seismic vibrations too, and tapping of their feet also makes a vibration which they experience. Using it to run faster in large leaps, accelerate faster, turn sharper, dodge instantaneously.

---

Adding more with the ocean theme, I can explore their surfboard being riddled with ocean parasites, barnacle layering could be then perceived as a symbol of acknowledgement or idk... Status and experience?

Shells, washed up minerals, opaque or transparent rocks, transparent rocks? What if they make makeshift glasses!!! if the lens have curvature, they might feel their field of view being stretched... Maybe start using them too? Alongside their strides... To leaps even longer?

---

So ya, thats it, as for now, I haven't fleshed it out, cause I didnt have much ideas converging or overlapping...

Wave Riders!!!