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[Alýr (Rayne)]

If I went with Erpheronians, I guess he would be purebred, which is fine.
From the outset, he has to be slightly crazed and think that it is his 'divine responsibility' (or something like that) to develop magic scientifically. As long as this is believable for an Erpheronian, that should work.

When it comes to tribes like the Erpheronian, you have a lot of leeway in terms of behavior and appearance. There's generally the option of having as mixed blood as you like, and Erpheronians are one of Caelereth's largest tribes--in part because their military campaigns have been so successful. The Erpheronian empire was one of the largest until all the territories were consolidated under Santhros.

I think I've solved the problem; I write it like a history book, with excerpts from various journals to describe important points.

Sounds good! 

It's kinda hard to explain, but I'll try.
Long story (very) short, he learns from his father, who is actually using him as a test subject; he leaves home and goes to Ximax, and gets a magic teacher. The teacher tries to 'start over', and has Ryvic un-learn all his magic (he retains the subconscious stuff, though); once Ryvic is level 2, he has to get trained by a different mage, who incorporates air magic with martial arts. Ryvic ::ahem:: sucks at bare-hand martial arts, but is able to do bladed m-arts just fine.

The basic idea is that the teacher's air magic grants him greater speed and lets him illude his opponents.
I was trying to figure out what water magic would do in this situation, be it stealth (like mists and stuff, but those are high-level spells) or just casting some spells on the knife like Ice Touch. He is consciously level 2, subconsciously he has parts of up to level 3-4.

As a technical thing: air magic doesn't exist--the school you mean is that of Wind. It sounds very nitpicky, but it's an important distinction, because it will help you when you think of wind spells. Air is still--in the Ximax system, air is pure 'wind' with earth added. Earth stills. Wind's essential nature is to be in motion.

'Mists' is a complex spell, not really in the Wind school, necessarily.

Most Ximaxian mages are not going to incorporate martial arts into training. Ximax is a fairly 'pure' school in that it really focuses on magic as an offensive and defensive method. I'm not sure what all you want to be able to do, but if you want stealth, I would again suggest Shadowmancy.

Your character can only know one elemental school at a time. The reasoning comes from the vast knowledge involved in learning the element and the time it takes to gain control over that element. You have to know, not only how to identify the specific oun, but understand how it behaves, how it works, where its power comes from. Subconsciously, I'm all right with letting your character know a 'spell' of a different school, but only if it's relatively low-level. I admit, the idea of your character being able to 'splatter enemies across the landscape' makes me a little nervous! But as long as you're careful and use it wisely, I'm all right with it.

If you are thinking of 'Steaming Dagger', I pretty much dropped the idea when you said it would take fire magic or an enchantment.

Is there something more you're looking for, or did I sufficiently answer the question? (I feel I did a pretty poor job...)

I think the "stealth" section should help clear this up, too. I was trying to come up with something that would make the knife easier to cast spells on. I was guessing that extra water ounia might work. If you come up with something better, please tell me.

Wind seems to be more of an element of stealth. I'm still not sure about how water would pertain to stealth aside from 'distract' or 'calm'.

I think some of the high-level stuff was just miscommunication, but I also have a bucketload of weaknesses planned, which should help balance him out.

Understood--but keep in mind that some strengths can't be so easily balanced out. If you can cast earth-shattering spells, being blind and having one-leg still aren't enough. Level 3 is still your cap when it comes to spells and spell effects.

Rayne:
Perhaps chaos is too strong a word. Unpredictability is used often to describe water, and someone with my character's mix of emotions and conflicts would be unpredictable.
My personal preference is water over fire, but I could go with fire, if my character is otherwise unbelievable. A major difficulty for changing elements is his father. I can see even moderate-level water magic being able to help a forest grow, but lighting trees on fire would not. Any ideas?

I think everything made sense, but the Water shaping one didn't exactly address my question. Obviously, it would be easier the more pure and concentrated the water is, but my question was, what is 'levitation'? You apparently can't do it at level 3, and so I was wondering what limitations my character would have.

Posted this a couple days ago. I wasn't sure if you missed it or just didn't have any comments.
Sorry for making it so long

Ah! You're right to bring it up. I missed it entirely.  "Levitation" is wind; the spell involves making things lighter (lightness is a property of Wind; heaviness, of Earth). You can cast it at fairly low levels, depending on what you're casting it on and how long you want the spell to last.

Fire has a number of spiritual effects that may be helpful to your father in trying to create a forest, assuming he's pretty high level. Trees and plants have a spiritual component (after all, they're living things). One of these is determination and passion. I would assume casting spells of this nature on plants would cause them to grow and grow more quickly. Keeping a warm environment, too, with light would likely hasten growth, depending on your location. However, I would not expect the forest to grow remarkably fast; you would have to be a pretty powerful mage to do this.

Let me know if this answers your questions--and certainly don't hesitate if you have more. 

[Ryvic Darkveil]

Thanks for the continued answers/patience.

When it comes to tribes like the Erpheronian, you have a lot of leeway in terms of behavior and appearance. There's generally the option of having as mixed blood as you like, and Erpheronians are one of Caelereth's largest tribes--in part because their military campaigns have been so successful. The Erpheronian empire was one of the largest until all the territories were consolidated under Santhros.

Good.



I'm going to reply to half of the comments, as the posts are getting ridiculously long. When we resolve these, I'll bring up the rest.



For reference, here's a brief outline of Ryvic's training:

1: Ryvic trains with his father (Water-mage).
He learns magic up to level 3. He also gains the SC spell ability.

2: Ryvic trains with his father's previous teacher, Althaniar (Old Water-mage), after Ryvic goes to Ximax for help, and gets
   turned down. Althaniar quits the school, to train him anyway.
Ryvic unlearns most of his earlier training and retrains to level 2. He retains SC spells.

3: Ryvic trains with a friend (independent Wind-mage/M-arts teacher) of Althaniar after Althaniar dies (of old age).
Ryvic learns knife-fighting skills. The SC spells worm their way into those skills.

As a technical thing: air magic doesn't exist--the school you mean is that of Wind. It sounds very nitpicky, but it's an important distinction, because it will help you when you think of wind spells. Air is still--in the Ximax system, air is pure 'wind' with earth added. Earth stills. Wind's essential nature is to be in motion.

I'll keep it in mind. And FYI: Wind magic is only used by his third teacher, not Ryvic himself.

Most Ximaxian mages are not going to incorporate martial arts into training. Ximax is a fairly 'pure' school in that it really focuses on magic as an offensive and defensive method. I'm not sure what all you want to be able to do, but if you want stealth, I would again suggest Shadowmancy.

Ryvic never actually studied at Ximax. (See training outline)

Is there something more you're looking for, or did I sufficiently answer the question? (I feel I did a pretty poor job...)

I said, "The history includes him stealing a special knife his father used for magical sequences at times."

When Ryvic is training with his 3rd teacher, they find he is really bad at bare-hand Martial-arts.
His teacher finds the aforementioned knife, and has Ryvic try it out. He has some talent/skill/experience with knives, so that works out.

I was hoping that the knife could be special in some way, to justify him stealing it from his father. I felt I was already asking a lot without an enchanted weapon, so I tried to come up with something else. High water ounia was my only real idea.

'Mists' is a complex spell, not really in the Wind school, necessarily.

That was supposed to be an example of possible water-based stealth spells; emphasis on example.

FYI#2: I don't care if Ryvic has stealthiness. I needed (still need) to know what sort of enhancements level 2 water magic could give to his knife-fighting. I had thought stealth might fit the bill, but it doesn't. If you can think of what water will do, that would be helpful.


One new, higher priority question: (this is inherently long, so bear with me.)
Near the end of the history, Ryvic kills his father (Spoiler alert!). Mainly to stop his evil, but he also hoped to end the "curse" he partially inherited. (I use quotes because I don't know that curse is the right term.)
After that, there are two choices I've come up with (feel free to add a better one or modify one of them):

The simple one:
[Father] simply messed himself, and any future progeny, up by using magic above his level. This isn't truly a curse, I think, and it also might not be plausible for a level 7-8 Water mage.
Ryvic would currently be studying the SC magic he is 'cursed' with, hoping to remove some of the negative effects, and perhaps teach others.

Less simple:
[Father] angered someone/thing by killing the peasants. Either they cursed him directly (less interesting)
Ooor, they attacked him. He was unable to kill them directly, and had to seal them up somehow. They cursed him from the 'inside'. When [father] dies, the seal breaks, and the curse remains. Ryvic now is obsessed with hunting and killing them.
I had thought they could be demons that his father summoned with the dead bodies, but the only options I could find were Mephguour's (not powerful enough), and Tei'Hai (wouldn't hold a grudge like that.)
This leads to almost an entirely different outlook for Ryvic, vengeance instead of learning. I'm not entirely sure which one I like more.

[Alýr (Rayne)]

The reference to the training you intend helps! Hopefully I can help you find some solutions.

I said, "The history includes him stealing a special knife his father used for magical sequences at times."

When Ryvic is training with his 3rd teacher, they find he is really bad at bare-hand Martial-arts.
His teacher finds the aforementioned knife, and has Ryvic try it out. He has some talent/skill/experience with knives, so that works out.

I was hoping that the knife could be special in some way, to justify him stealing it from his father. I felt I was already asking a lot without an enchanted weapon, so I tried to come up with something else. High water ounia was my only real idea.

Perhaps your character has a special penchant for the knife? The explanation doesn't necessarily need to be magical, though Ximaxian philosophers would naturally try to explain it in terms of car'all and xeua. Let's call it compositional synergy: there are times when a person picks up something for which they have natural affinity. There are young musicians, prodigies, who just seem to be born with a talent for playing a violin or piano. The composition of their car'all synergizes well with that of their chosen instrument; the willpower within the car'all, which determines it's composition, does not regard the car'all of the object as entirely outside of itself. The result is that the willpower exerts force more naturally upon it.

The same might be true for your knife. Your character's father probably had a similar composition as he does, and so if there was a natural affinity for the knife with the father, there is likely some with the son, as well--perhaps more so, depending on the composition of the knife.

If you're looking for the knife to do something special--cast spells or change into an elephant that tramples your character's enemies--that might be more difficult. Is there something special you want the knife to do?

FYI#2: I don't care if Ryvic has stealthiness. I needed (still need) to know what sort of enhancements level 2 water magic could give to his knife-fighting. I had thought stealth might fit the bill, but it doesn't. If you can think of what water will do, that would be helpful.

I can't think of much aside from distraction and calming spells on particular targets. There may be some sort of cloaking 'blur' spell possible. Water, in its pure state, tends to bend and manipulate the passage of light through it, so I assume there may be some way to do this as a water mage. However, it won't actually make your character unseen so much as difficult to locate. If that makes any sense. 

One new, higher priority question: (this is inherently long, so bear with me.)
Near the end of the history, Ryvic kills his father (Spoiler alert!). Mainly to stop his evil, but he also hoped to end the "curse" he partially inherited. (I use quotes because I don't know that curse is the right term.)
After that, there are two choices I've come up with (feel free to add a better one or modify one of them):

The simple one:
[Father] simply messed himself, and any future progeny, up by using magic above his level. This isn't truly a curse, I think, and it also might not be plausible for a level 7-8 Water mage.
Ryvic would currently be studying the SC magic he is 'cursed' with, hoping to remove some of the negative effects, and perhaps teach others.

Less simple:
[Father] angered someone/thing by killing the peasants. Either they cursed him directly (less interesting)
Ooor, they attacked him. He was unable to kill them directly, and had to seal them up somehow. They cursed him from the 'inside'. When [father] dies, the seal breaks, and the curse remains. Ryvic now is obsessed with hunting and killing them.
I had thought they could be demons that his father summoned with the dead bodies, but the only options I could find were Mephguour's (not powerful enough), and Tei'Hai (wouldn't hold a grudge like that.)
This leads to almost an entirely different outlook for Ryvic, vengeance instead of learning. I'm not entirely sure which one I like more.

Demons tend to make life more complicated. Traditionally, we haven't allowed them; however, this doesn't mean you don't have options. Fu has, on the Development side, been working on witches and witchcraft. My suggestion would be to go with a very powerful witch--or, possibly, a very reverent (read: fanatical) cleric. Those who are not associated with Ximax are the most likely to be able to pull off a spell (tech. a type of enchantment generally known as a "tainting") that has the kind of staying power you want.

What is Ryvic actually cursed with?

[Ryvic Darkveil]

Is there something special you want the knife to do?

Nothing specific. With all the mages involved (well, two of them), a magical aid is sort of expected. Your idea sounded good, maybe it's somehow aligned with his father, and thus with him. There is a difficulty, though. His father is very scientific, and very focused on magic. It seems odd for him to have a non-magical fancy knife. It could just be some quirk he has, or maybe a generations-old heirloom.

Maybe it's connected to the curse. You ask later what the curse is, so I'll go in-depth there.

I can't think of much aside from distraction and calming spells on particular targets. There may be some sort of cloaking 'blur' spell possible. Water, in its pure state, tends to bend and manipulate the passage of light through it, so I assume there may be some way to do this as a water mage. However, it won't actually make your character unseen so much as difficult to locate. If that makes any sense.  

Gaah! I don't want to be rude, but I'll be blunt: I couldn't care less about stealth.
That was a silly example.
Any kind of combat aid; blasting them with water, stabbing them with ice, drowning them! What could level 3 magic do in combat? (level 3, because in combat, his SC takes over.) If you already understood this point, that means his SC will be really boring, based on your answers. Also, I'm sorry for yelling. If you didn't understand, I hope that cleared it up.

Demons tend to make life more complicated. Traditionally, we haven't allowed them; however, this doesn't mean you don't have options.

(the following has little effect on the story now)
Other than their inability to hold a grudge (they simply kill whatever they find), the Tei'Hai were seeming pretty sweet.
I was envisioning Ryvic finally facing the demon, and looking straight into its eyes. If you've read the entry, this is a hellish experience.

Staring into those purple orbs of anguish, he saw, in a flash, all the horrors of the hell beneath. He expected, almost hoped, to go insane, raving about for the rest of his life, "the eyes! ... by the gods, the eyes..." If he could lose his mind, he would be free of the curse! As their eyes met, and the underworld revealed itself, Ryvic's innermost mind turned in on itself, forcing its way to the surface, controlling his body. Yes! this is it! freedom! But it was not to be. The very core of his inner self, the most polluted, the most corrupted by the curse, had control. Mimicking those of the dark beast they beheld, Ryvic's own eyes became windows, showing the fiend the horrors of his soul. It was as two warriors clashing on the battlefield; the two masses of abominations fought to touch the other mind with madness. For a moment, there was no clear victor. But the battle was waged quickly, and man pressed hard, crushing the will of the demon; defeating Magic's Bane on his own grounds.
The creature let out an unearthly cry and withered to the ground, its spirit fleeing to the underworld.

Hard. That's hard. Finding out you're more messed up than probably the foulest demon to walk this earth? Well, apparently the curse was here to stay.

I don't think I want the curse to be that strong, though.

Fu has, on the Development side, been working on witches and witchcraft. My suggestion would be to go with a very powerful witch--or, possibly, a very reverent (read: fanatical) cleric. Those who are not associated with Ximax are the most likely to be able to pull off a spell (tech. a type of enchantment generally known as a "tainting") that has the kind of staying power you want.

I actually read about that (tainting), and I meant to ask you if Ryvic's father could have accidentally tainted the forest. He would have been kept there by his guilt (killing those peasants, remember), and Ryvic was later "born of the forest", meaning he himself was tainted.

What is Ryvic actually cursed with?

And here we have the big question.
He has a lot of problems he wants to fix, things you might say he's 'cursed' with. He has the SC spells that he can't forget, even when he tried (second teacher); his mind is very turbulent and confused, from his life in general; and his father was driven mad by a "real" curse, one that he passed on in part to Ryvic.
The SC spells don't really bother him - in fact, he's not aware of all of them - because they do help in a short fight.
He does wish he could balance his mind and get some peace, and he sees the latter two 'curses' lumped together. He had hoped killing his father would help, but it didn't.
Which brings us to the ending dilemma. If it turns out to be some foul being that is cursing him, he will obviously want to kill it. If he's just stuck with it, period, he will learn to live with it and maybe help others. Two very different characters could emerge.


Edit: I think I see why you don't recommend mages for first-time characters, but I've come this far, no sense in turning back now. My hope is to have a very deep, challenging character, and I hope I can play him as well as he deserves.

[Alýr (Rayne)]

Nothing specific. With all the mages involved (well, two of them), a magical aid is sort of expected. Your idea sounded good, maybe it's somehow aligned with his father, and thus with him. There is a difficulty, though. His father is very scientific, and very focused on magic. It seems odd for him to have a non-magical fancy knife. It could just be some quirk he has, or maybe a generations-old heirloom.

If I may make a suggestion: aside from a natural proclivity, perhaps it could aid as a reagent. Reagents often aid spellcasters with their spells, helping them to actually cast, or sometimes cast faster or more effectively. In this case, consider a knife with a handle made of, say, aquamarine. Aquamarine crystals are often used by water mages, but I assume fire mages might have been able to use them, too; perhaps this crystal is aligned toward keeping certain properties of fire repressed--such as heat (as you mentioned before, you want the father to encourage a forest to grow, not set it on fire).

In the hands of a water mage, the effect would be similar. The sword could aid in spells that decrease temperature--perhaps spells like Frost Touch or in creating a frost shield. Is this the kind of effects you're looking for?

Gaah! I don't want to be rude, but I'll be blunt: I couldn't care less about stealth.
That was a silly example.
Any kind of combat aid; blasting them with water, stabbing them with ice, drowning them! What could level 3 magic do in combat? (level 3, because in combat, his SC takes over.) If you already understood this point, that means his SC will be really boring, based on your answers. Also, I'm sorry for yelling. If you didn't understand, I hope that cleared it up.

If you're just looking for enhancements for fighting, I might recommend looking at Ridgen's CD. Unfortunately, at the lower levels, there aren't as many blatantly offensice spells you can do. At higher-level spells, you can create orbs of ice and whatnot, but you'll probably need at least level 5 or 6 for that.

(the following has little effect on the story now)
Other than their inability to hold a grudge (they simply kill whatever they find), the Tei'Hai were seeming pretty sweet.
I was envisioning Ryvic finally facing the demon, and looking straight into its eyes. If you've read the entry, this is a hellish experience.

Staring into those purple orbs of anguish, he saw, in a flash, all the horrors of the hell beneath. He expected, almost hoped, to go insane, raving about for the rest of his life, "the eyes! ... by the gods, the eyes..." If he could lose his mind, he would be free of the curse! As their eyes met, and the underworld revealed itself, Ryvic's innermost mind turned in on itself, forcing its way to the surface, controlling his body. Yes! this is it! freedom! But it was not to be. The very core of his inner self, the most polluted, the most corrupted by the curse, had control. Mimicking those of the dark beast they beheld, Ryvic's own eyes became windows, showing the fiend the horrors of his soul. It was as two warriors clashing on the battlefield; the two masses of abominations fought to touch the other mind with madness. For a moment, there was no clear victor. But the battle was waged quickly, and man pressed hard, crushing the will of the demon; defeating Magic's Bane on his own grounds.
The creature let out an unearthly cry and withered to the ground, its spirit fleeing to the underworld.

Hard. That's hard. Finding out you're more messed up than probably the foulest demon to walk this earth? Well, apparently the curse was here to stay.

I don't think I want the curse to be that strong, though.

I'm not sure I know what you're looking for. I will say that we generally don't allow demons; the one time we accepted them (in Roy's CD) we allowed it because the demon could be assumed to be an illusion--a creation of the character's own mind. If you want to do the same, you may--but if you want an actual demon, I'm not sure that's possible. The best I can offer is a witch or fanatical cleric.

I actually read about that (tainting), and I meant to ask you if Ryvic's father could have accidentally tainted the forest. He would have been kept there by his guilt (killing those peasants, remember), and Ryvic was later "born of the forest", meaning he himself was tainted.

I imagine only the chosen (Mages Level 12) would be able to create taintings. They are extremely hard to pull off, because they require an active and powerful will to constantly be exerting control, not on just one car'all, but all the car'all in an area. Taintings last for a long, long time usually, and typically require the area to experience a thinning in the fabric of the dream so that the dark wills of the creatures and forces of the Netherworld can exert some influence. Thinning the fabric of the dream is not something one mid-level Ximaxian mage can do. Under very special conditions, a VERY powerful witch or cleric may be able to thin the fabric. However, killing the witch or cleric after the tainting has taken place wouldn't end the tainting. To do that, you would likely need an exceptionally powerful mage--probably elven, given their proclivities toward Xeua-esque magics--who could somehow mend the fabrics.

And here we have the big question.
He has a lot of problems he wants to fix, things you might say he's 'cursed' with. He has the SC spells that he can't forget, even when he tried (second teacher); his mind is very turbulent and confused, from his life in general; and his father was driven mad by a "real" curse, one that he passed on in part to Ryvic.
The SC spells don't really bother him - in fact, he's not aware of all of them - because they do help in a short fight.
He does wish he could balance his mind and get some peace, and he sees the latter two 'curses' lumped together. He had hoped killing his father would help, but it didn't.
Which brings us to the ending dilemma. If it turns out to be some foul being that is cursing him, he will obviously want to kill it. If he's just stuck with it, period, he will learn to live with it and maybe help others. Two very different characters could emerge.

Perhaps you could explain this more. What do you mean "confused"? What is he confused about? What are the concrete consequences of the curse? Lack of sleep? Nightmares? Fainting spells? Difficulty with risk management? Easily getting lost in the woods? A curse that keeps him from forgetting powerful spells does not seem like much of a curse to me, though perhaps there is something I missed.[/quote]

Edit: I think I see why you don't recommend mages for first-time characters, but I've come this far, no sense in turning back now. My hope is to have a very deep, challenging character, and I hope I can play him as well as he deserves.

If you're eager to get on the boards and play, keep in mind that you can always start another character while you're working on this one. That option is always open to you, because you're right: mages are very difficult first-time characters. Some of even our most advanced role-players, like Altario, won't make mage characters. But he also hates magic.    I do hope that the discussion thus far is inspiring interest in magic rather than creating acrimony towards it. I like the way you think and view things; once you get your character done and approved, you might consider helping to create some spells on the development board.

[Deklitch Hardin]

I've made a mage character ... but she has mostly focused on her trade (as a metal crafter) and used her fire magic as a way of helping her in that work. I purposefully played down her spell casting abilities as I didn't have a good grasp of magic, I still don't, really.

[Ryvic Darkveil]

Rayne:

There's some I can wrap up right now...

I'm not sure I know what you're looking for. I will say that we generally don't allow demons; the one time we accepted them (in Roy's CD) we allowed it because the demon could be assumed to be an illusion--a creation of the character's own mind. If you want to do the same, you may--but if you want an actual demon, I'm not sure that's possible. The best I can offer is a witch or fanatical cleric.

"(the following has little effect on the story now)"
Perhaps you missed that? I just thought the story bit might be interesting, and as I wasn't going to be able to put it in the CD, I put it here. I wasn't looking for anything with that snippet.

If you're eager to get on the boards and play, keep in mind that you can always start another character while you're working on this one. That option is always open to you, because you're right: mages are very difficult first-time characters. Some of even our most advanced role-players, like Altario, won't make mage characters. But he also hates magic.    I do hope that the discussion thus far is inspiring interest in magic rather than creating acrimony towards it. I like the way you think and view things; once you get your character done and approved, you might consider helping to create some spells on the development board.

I think anything else would be forced; Ryvic is a child of inspiration.
You couldn't deter me from magic if you wanted to. (well, maybe..)
I think I will, and thanks for the complement.

However, killing the witch or cleric after the tainting has taken place wouldn't end the tainting. To do that, you would likely need an exceptionally powerful mage--probably elven, given their proclivities toward Xeua-esque magics--who could somehow mend the fabrics.

Too bad an indigo-eyed elf got a necklace before a conflicted human was born.  
Regardless, the curse is supposed to be one of his Weaknesses. I won't resolve it in the history, and Ryvic doesn't know that revenge won't fix anything.

If I may make a suggestion: aside from a natural proclivity, perhaps it could aid as a reagent.

The sword could aid in spells that decrease temperature--perhaps spells like Frost Touch or in creating a frost shield. Is this the kind of effects you're looking for?

That's exactly what I was looking for, not necessarily those spells, but the concept. However, the entry says that reagents are destroyed; one-time-use. Is this flexible?


The rest deal with magic or his mental state. I don't have time right now to explain those, but when I do I will.



Dek:
My character won't consciously use much magic, but it will come out regardless - especially in fights. That doesn't make it any easier on me, though.

[Alýr (Rayne)]

"(the following has little effect on the story now)"
Perhaps you missed that? I just thought the story bit might be interesting, and as I wasn't going to be able to put it in the CD, I put it here. I wasn't looking for anything with that snippet.

Didn't miss so much as didn't understand how you meant it as a qualification of what sort of answer you were looking for. Even if it has little effect on the story, I assume you brought it up for a reason, that you're asking about it looking for some sort of answer, and that's what I'm seeking to give you.

I think anything else would be forced; Ryvic is a child of inspiration.
You couldn't deter me from magic if you wanted to. (well, maybe..)
I think I will, and thanks for the complement.

I understand; I think most of us know what that's like.

Too bad an indigo-eyed elf got a necklace before a conflicted human was born.  
Regardless, the curse is supposed to be one of his Weaknesses. I won't resolve it in the history, and Ryvic doesn't know that revenge won't fix anything.

You've read my CD..! Wow. Yes, Alyr might be the closest you'll find in terms of a played character that would be able to pull off something like that. But as long as you're good with not having it resolved (at least, not quite yet), no worries.

That's exactly what I was looking for, not necessarily those spells, but the concept. However, the entry says that reagents are destroyed; one-time-use. Is this flexible?

Yes. Perhaps magical item is a better term. Basically, the dagger acts similar to a mage's staff, which helps him or her focus and cast spells.

The rest deal with magic or his mental state. I don't have time right now to explain those, but when I do I will.

Sounds good. Let me know if I can be of any further help.

[Ryvic Darkveil]

Didn't miss so much as didn't understand how you meant it as a qualification of what sort of answer you were looking for. Even if it has little effect on the story, I assume you brought it up for a reason, that you're asking about it looking for some sort of answer, and that's what I'm seeking to give you.

If anything, it was practice for seeing how well I could convey the depth Ryvic should have. If you have input as to how I can improve my writing (not including typos), that would be appreciated.

You've read my CD..! Wow. Yes, Alýr might be the closest you'll find in terms of a played character that would be able to pull off something like that. But as long as you're good with not having it resolved (at least, not quite yet), no worries.

Yes, I read it. I have some comments on it, too.
The episode with Jaedoc seems a little contrived, like you just slipped it in as an afterthought to water down her magic. Maybe a little more build up for him turning evil would help. (I'm talking about the longer history, too)
I noticed that you mention two player-characters at the end. Did you meet them after making you character and add them to the revision?
One more: If I participate in a story, should/could I add it to my history? I'm not sure how much congruency there's supposed to be between stories. For (extreme) example, if Ryvic adopts a younger character as his kid in a story, would that relationship remain in a different story? Is there a rule, or is it up to the players?

Yes. Perhaps magical item is a better term. Basically, the dagger acts similar to a mage's staff, which helps him or her focus and cast spells.

So why doesn't the entry mention focuses? It's counter-productive for the compendium to be inaccurate and outdated. (I know it's a lot of work, don't mean to sound rude. More on this when I talk about Ryvic's magic.)

[Alýr (Rayne)]

If anything, it was practice for seeing how well I could convey the depth Ryvic should have. If you have input as to how I can improve my writing (not including typos), that would be appreciated.

I'll see what I can do; if your CD is ready for comments, I'm sure many of our moderators and mini-moderators will be happy to take a look, as well.

Yes, I read it. I have some comments on it, too.
The episode with Jaedoc seems a little contrived, like you just slipped it in as an afterthought to water down her magic. Maybe a little more build up for him turning evil would help. (I'm talking about the longer history, too)

It is--you're right; I added it as a way of curtailing her power. Regardless of how much I know, I still have to make sure that my character isn't over-powered. I will work on developing it further.

I noticed that you mention two player-characters at the end. Did you meet them after making you character and add them to the revision?

Talia, Artimidor, and Judith are all fellow-Developers. I'm not sure what you mean about 'meeting' (I have only met Talia and Artimidor IRL, but have worked a great deal with all three of them). I wanted to add all of them into my character's history because they are friends, yes, and to work in my developer-self.

One more: If I participate in a story, should/could I add it to my history? I'm not sure how much congruency there's supposed to be between stories. For (extreme) example, if Ryvic adopts a younger character as his kid in a story, would that relationship remain in a different story? Is there a rule, or is it up to the players?

It's up to you. Altario regularly updated his CD to reflect the changes and experiences his character has undergone in stories, including the story-plots his character gets wrapped up in and the relationships he develops. You are able to do the same. There is no requirement either way.

So why doesn't the entry mention focuses? It's counter-productive for the compendium to be inaccurate and outdated. (I know it's a lot of work, don't mean to sound rude. More on this when I talk about Ryvic's magic.)

If it were up to me, I would take down every spell and entry with mistakes, or that doesn't align to the current vision of magic, but I cannot do that, and there has been a great deal of debate over the last few years on the Developer Board about changing/altering/removing the entries of another Developer. (Most dramatically, in my group project concerned with the revision of the city of Ximax). I can't yet been able to find a solution to the issue.

[Ryvic Darkveil]

I'll see what I can do; if your CD is ready for comments, I'm sure many of our moderators and mini-moderators will be happy to take a look, as well.

No, that's not what I meant. I was referring to the Tei-Hai scene I posted. My CD is not ready. If you had comments on my writing style in the green paragraphs I wrote, I would be happy to hear them. Otherwise, it's unimportant.

Talia, Artimidor, and Judith are all fellow-Developers. I'm not sure what you mean about 'meeting' (I have only met Talia and Artimidor IRL, but have worked a great deal with all three of them). I wanted to add all of them into my character's history because they are friends, yes, and to work in my developer-self.

Meet in-story. But the point is moot.

It's up to you. Altario regularly updated his CD to reflect the changes and experiences his character has undergone in stories, including the story-plots his character gets wrapped up in and the relationships he develops. You are able to do the same. There is no requirement either way.

I think I'll end up doing that.

If it were up to me, I would take down every spell and entry with mistakes, or that doesn't align to the current vision of magic, but I cannot do that, and there has been a great deal of debate over the last few years on the Developer Board about changing/altering/removing the entries of another Developer. (Most dramatically, in my group project concerned with the revision of the city of Ximax). I can't yet been able to find a solution to the issue.

Hmm, ok. It would let me ask less questions if I could look it up myself, though.

I probably won't have the magic/mind post up until day after tomorrow, so don't think I disappeared.

[Alýr (Rayne)]

No, that's not what I meant. I was referring to the Tei-Hai scene I posted. My CD is not ready. If you had comments on my writing style in the green paragraphs I wrote, I would be happy to hear them. Otherwise, it's unimportant.

"abominations" might should be singular, but otherwise, it reads all right to me. I'm not a strict stylist, though--at least, not with others. 

Hmm, ok. It would let me ask less questions if I could look it up myself, though.

I know. It's one reason why no one wants to do mages: there is a lot of miscommunications. My attempts at creating something more understandable have failed, mainly because the system is still pretty complicated. The most I can do is offer information, perspective, and advice to players like you and hope that one day you can help me restructure the system. 

I probably won't have the magic/mind post up until day after tomorrow, so don't think I disappeared.

No worries; thanks for the heads-up.

[Ryvic Darkveil]

"abominations" might should be singular, but otherwise, it reads all right to me. I'm not a strict stylist, though--at least, not with others.  :)p

I've been reading An Adventure in Black, and you're pretty good at writing.

I know. It's one reason why no one wants to do mages: there is a lot of miscommunications. My attempts at creating something more understandable have failed, mainly because the system is still pretty complicated. The most I can do is offer information, perspective, and advice to players like you and hope that one day you can help me restructure the system. 

I'll do my best!
If the problem with changing things is that you would have to delete someone's work, maybe you could just add a 'previous theories' section. You may have thought of that before, but can't hurt to suggest.

I probably won't have the magic/mind post up until day after tomorrow, so don't think I disappeared.

Make that Monday. I'm going camping, but I might try to work on it while I'm there.

[Alýr (Rayne)]

I've been reading An Adventure in Black, and you're pretty good at writing.

Thank you for the compliment. Some of my posts are more perfunctory than others. 

I'll do my best!
If the problem with changing things is that you would have to delete someone's work, maybe you could just add a 'previous theories' section. You may have thought of that before, but can't hurt to suggest.

Part of the issue may be trying to decide what entries are outdated, and exactly how outdated an entry need to be to be moved to the 'previous theories' section. I do fear that if we do this, there may be nothing in the 'current theories'! Most of the updated entries are awaiting comments now, and I don't actually write very many spells anymore. 

Make that Monday. I'm going camping, but I might try to work on it while I'm there.

No worries. The board should be here when you get back! 

[Ryvic Darkveil]

Perhaps you could explain this more. What do you mean "confused"? What is he confused about? What are the concrete consequences of the curse? Lack of sleep? Nightmares? Fainting spells? Difficulty with risk management? Easily getting lost in the woods? A curse that keeps him from forgetting powerful spells does not seem like much of a curse to me, though perhaps there is something I missed.

To reiterate/extrapolate:
Ryvic's mind essentially has 3 problems/abnormalities.

1. SC spells.
This is as much a weakness as a strength. Ryvic intentionally forgot all his conscious magic, meaning that any magic he uses will be SC. Nearly all his combat spells are tied to his knife, meaning without it, he is useless in a fight. Also, they are inefficient; using far more energy than is necessary. Not so bad on its own, but then, it isn't on its own.

2. The curse.
I have tentatively settled on the curse affecting his father with bouts of insanity. This carries over to Ryvic in his emotions when he uses magic, giving him near bi-polarism. You may remember that his SC spells are more powerful with more powerful emotions. The curse increases his emotions quite a bit, increasing the energy used in the spells. However, his subconscious gets less efficient with more power.
Outside of combat, the curse is much weaker, since he forgot his conscious magic.

3. General confusion.
All the rest of his mind; regret, guilt, optimism, seeing others as tools (at least at first), and on and on. Basically what gives him his personality. Doesn't have much bearing with the curse and magic. Like I said before, the way the story ends will greatly effect this; it's the difference between a bloodthirsty revenge-seeker, and a knowledgehungry resolution-seeker.




I've always thought of Ryvic as a water mage. I have some reasons below, ordered based on importance and strength as far as I can tell:

1. I image his mind more like a stormy sea, and less like a brilliant flame.

2. Water's different properties, serenity and unpredictability, are near-opposites, allowing more contrast in Ryvic's character.

3. Water seems like a better forest-grower.

III. The Sphere of Evolution
The third sphere is commonly known as the Sphere of Evolution, as this sphere deals with the way a target adapts and changes, develops and evolves. What this means is that, by adding Water cár'áll, a mage can cause something to sprout and flourish

4. Water is cool.

Unfortunately, at the lower levels, there aren't as many blatantly offensive spells you can do. At higher-level spells, you can create orbs of ice and whatnot, but you'll probably need at least level 5 or 6 for that.

The explanations of how magic work are at best confusing, and sometimes contradictory. Here's the impression I have.

From the explanation in the "The Seven Ximaxian Schools Of Magic" entry and the pictures on the right side, it would seem that all three spheres make the element more or less dominant in a Car'all. Sphere I does it by making ounia more or less powerful; Sphere II moves the ounia around in the Car'all, the equivalent of gerrymandering; and Sphere III brings in foreign ounia.

Questions:
I see a lot of talk about making ounia express certain properties of their element more than others. Which sphere is this? Or is it some side-school thingy?
I don't see how you could make something move with the impression I put up there. How does that work?




Moving on, some specific ideas for Ryvic's magic.
I currently have it divided into three sections; Conscious, Subconscious, and Instinct.


Conscious:
Ryvic has intentionally forgotten most, if not all of this magic. It's the magic he consciously controls, and was at level 2 when he faced his father.

   I currently don't think Ryvic will know any spells here.


Subconscious:
A result of the experiments his father did on him. This is, I think, almost a cross between Ximaxian and Clerical magic. He doesn't have to think about using them; they activate based on emotions or states of mind.

   Area Frost - I'm sure you've read the entry on this one. Makes the water ounia around Ryvic express coldness. Activated by cold anger/hate.

   Knife Magic - This depends on what he ends up being able to do with water magic. Freezing the knife as he fights; shooting jets of water off of it; perhaps liquidizing enemy armor as he slices through them. Activated by knife combat.


Instinct:
This is an offshoot of Subconscious. The difference is that this spell is always active, and he only knows the one.

   Intuition - Using the spiritual aspect of water, Ryvic can sense someone's intentions before they move. Less experienced enemies plan their moves very specifically, more experienced ones will leave their options open, making it harder for Ryvic to sense. He will sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, having sensed a supposed threat. Outside of combat, this spell is more of a hindrance than a help. Activated constantly, Ryvic can sometimes control it to sense a particular entity (most often seen in combat).

I imagine only the chosen (Mages Level 12) would be able to create taintings. Under very special conditions, a VERY powerful witch or cleric may be able to thin the fabric.

   Waay up there, I said the curse makes his father go insane at times. In the story, he goes mad at two specific times; when he meets Ryvic's mother, and after he decides to kill her. Also, he was cursed for killing a small family. I'm unsure who would be likely to do this. (that was really short, but I can expand if need be)

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