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[swordsmith04]

I was wondering how you were gonna react to that.


Besides what Xantalos said above, magic sometimes has a focus, such as a wand, a staff, scrolls, or runes. Those usually coincide with the idea that raw magic is too wild or powerful to control.
Sometimes magic requires a cost, items rare or expensive that have to be sacrificed or used in a certain way to create the desired effect. Magical potions, for example.

There's also wild magic, magic that isn't used or created specifically by humans or any other sentient races that may exist in a setting, bar druids or elves or something. Wild magic usually permeates a specific location, and does stuff to people or animals that enter it. Will o' wisps in bogs or marshes luring travelers off paths, animals growing smarter, or larger and meaner than their non-magical cousins, even outright magical creatures that don't exist elsewhere, like fairies, djinni/genies, leprechauns, etc. These magical creatures are almost always more powerful than human/mortal magic users.

Sometimes magic is freeform, ie; magic users can do anything within the limits of their imagination, if they have enough magical power or fortitude to do so; other times, magic has constraints or limits placed upon it, like specific words, runes, or spells that have to be used to create the desired effect. Sometimes magic has specific "schools", like elementalism, necromancy, summoning, divination, enchantments, healing, etc. in which magic users have varying degrees of proficiency, or are outright locked into or out of. Other distinctions might be placed upon magic users, like "holy" magic/clerics, whose magic comes from gods, while other mages generally just learn to use magic.

Older magic is generally more powerful than newer magic; such as the wild magic mentioned above, or magical/divine artifacts.

[Beirus]

"Yeah, I'll stick with her. Better than sitting around here all day. If some of Shark-tooth's boys show up, it could get fun."

Look for a concealable weapon to take with me, then lead Mel away while trying to remember a safe place I could take her.

[piecewise]

"...Right. I'll go look for Jhn; you need to get out of here, away from Shen." Hasala looks at the other man caught in this... vision, or dream, or whatever it was. "Can you go with her?"
Say the above, but with appropriate accent.

Consider whether I'd need some sort of ID to get into the docks. If so, look for/take it. Either way, head down to the docks. Make sure I take that screwdriver with me, in a pocket or something. If I can't conceal it, don't take it. If there's a better concealable weapon in the room, take that instead.

On the way down to the docks, try to remember as much about Mel, Jhn, Shen, and the island as I can. If I do have ID, check it for what my name is. If not, try to remember that too.

You slip the screwdriver into your pocket and head out into the cramped hallway beyond your front door. As you navigate the metal hive of a building, getting lost amongst seemingly random side tunnels and stairways and ladders, all clearly built some time in the past when this structure was significantly smaller, and better planned then the rusty ratmaze it is now, you think about the situation. Mel and Jhn are your friends. They're both in debt to Sharktooth Shen  because of something they did before you met them. Something they haven't told you about. They've just called it a "Stupid mistake." Jhn is hard working and nice but fairly dim as things go. Mel is Friendly and out going but raised on a superliner so her knowledge of how the real world works is iffy at best.

Shen; you've never seen him personally, lucky, but he's some crime boss that supposedly sharpened his own teeth; or was born with sharpened teeth, or was half shark, depending on who you ask and how afraid of him they are. You've even heard people say he's one of the hybrid soldiers left over from the wars 'fore the Red March ate the mainland. But you don't believe that; it would make him older then your grandfather, and you're not willing to believe anyone could possibly be older then that.

You finally get out of the building, emerging onto a metal catwalk suspended on poles driving straight into the rock of a seaside cliff. The entire building, a messy lump of metal cubes and boxes, a 3d tetris lump of old shipping containers welded together along with sections of metal ship hulls, is anchored to the cliff wall as well, clinging to it through a huge assembly of metal beams both into the stone and supporting it from the bottom like hundreds of thin, irregular spider legs sunk down into the surf below. The Docks are toward the north, out of this distinct, a shanty town of other buildings like this one, and through the market district up to the north west tip of the island, hidden in a stubby peninsula of bare rocks. You have two choices, as you see it; head straight through the market or follow the beach, once you can get down to it. The sun is starting to swing low, casting the first flood of sunset reds and purples, and most people will be getting off work now. The market will be busy.

"Yeah, I'll stick with her. Better than sitting around here all day. If some of Shark-tooth's boys show up, it could get fun."

Look for a concealable weapon to take with me, then lead Mel away while trying to remember a safe place I could take her.

Safe is relative, you realize. About the best you can do; if you really want to be safe, is to hide. The question is, should you try to hide by getting away from everyone; like in the Dust over on the east  end of the island, or should you try to slip away into one of the busy places, like the market or even Shoreline, up in the Northeast, too nice a place for some flotsam like you and Mel to be; at least thats what you'd hope his reasoning was. Or you could try to find an empty room here, in the Rust. It's a maze in these tenement buildings; if you and Mel hid in a room that was supposed to be unoccupied, you could stay near by but be perfectly hidden. If they really go looking for her, they'll probably find out about you and your roomie and this house of yours, but they can't search the whole building, surely?

(feel free to respond to Xan's questions as well, by the way. You seem more in depth than him anyways.)

((CHALLENGE ACCEPTED))

Magic is/would be/was/etc the creation/manipulation/destruction of anything and/or everything via some sort of ritual, which for me right now is a fancy word for 'process'. Most times it takes the form of summoning and manipulating several 'classical' elements, ie fire, water, lightning, etc, but can also take the form of pretty much any supernatural ability: magical shapeshifting where the initiator of the ritual, or 'caster of the spell' transforms into another species very quickly, usually in under half a minute, yet retains their human intelligence despite having no human brain to house it in; various magical curses such as lycanthropy which at predetermined times, ie nights of the full moon, transform the afflicted into an animal ie a wolf or a monstrous form of said animal ie werewolf or something else entirely; summoning rituals/spells/etc that usually call forth residents of another dimension. Most common are demons/angels from the current caster's Heaven or Hell, but various other species are summoned as well, ie fairies, fae, etc, tentacled horrors from the Dungeon Dimensions, or pretty much anything that the caster imagines, as some of these spells summon some magical substance, ie ectoplasm, and shapes it into the shape of the desired creature. I could go on for forever about the various effects that can be seen as magic, but pretty much any effect that is labeled as supernatural is magic. A lot of these magical effects are contained in the form of spells, short rituals and such directed by the craster's willpower, but they can also be in various other forms when 'cast' - words, thoughts, motion, emotional states, pretty much anything really, just depends on the type of magic. There's also magic in the world/that makes up the world that is usually stronger than 'cast' magic. There are additionally various magical creatures like dragons, unicorns, etc. There are also various sentient magical creatures such as vampires, gnomes, etc, but at the higher end of the power spectrum, there are spirits, gods, etc. Depending on the world, it might end up being made out of our type of matter, or magic, or something entirely different. There're also various magical substances like warpstone, lyrium, etc. These are usually made up of solidified magic, usually of another dimension's make. This dimension is usually thr source of magic if that's the case, such as the Fade, the Warp, etc. This dimension may or may not occasionally invade the neighbouring dimension where the players'/readers'/etc perspective comes from. This usually takes the form of demonic incursions, etc. Additionally, with magic comes the concept of souls, an abstract concept, a thing that contains the memories/vital essence/etc of a person and usually goes to another dimension or afterlife after bodily death, or as in the case of Dark Souls, they're more an effect produced by animate creatures that can be consumed when the creature is killed and used to increase one's own soul power, which usually translates into an increase in physical abilities.
There's also more science-themed magic, such as the outright reality warping of the manips in ER, but since it's usually explained through technobabble, it's referred to as 'space magic'. There's also very advanced science in works of fiction that usually is outright magic just disguised as science. This can be seen in Total Annihilation with the nanolathes/etc. These effects aren't more classical magic like fireballs and such, but more esoteric stuff that'd be impossible to do in physics as we understand it.
There's ALSO cases in which magic is a sentient/semisentient force in the universe that it's casters more channel through themselves than actually cast, such as the Force from Star Wars.
To sum up, basically anything that is impossible by our current knowledge of physics could be classified as magic, but it can also be more explicitly labeled as 'magical' forces, such as the aforementioned summoning fore las from nowhere.
Any supernatural effect/entity/etc.

What are the negative side effects of magic?

[swordsmith04]

Go through the market district. Keep an eye out for Shen's men, but don't be obvious about it.

What is: My name, the Red March, and a superliner?


(Xantalos is probably going to miss the turn, so I'll just go ahead and answer.)
The negative effects of magic can be a lot of things. If a rune or potion or something is made incorrectly, it might not have the intended effect. A spell might backfire, affecting the caster rather than the target, or simply making the intended outcome harder to achieve, such as a lockpicking spell causing the lock to jam and not work even if the proper key is used; a healing spell might instead injure the target further. Or maybe the magic becomes wild and unpredictable, doing something completely unrelated to the original spell/rune/etc. This might have longterm effects on the area itself, the caster, anyone unlucky enough to be nearby, or some combination of the three.

The use of magic, even successfully cast magic, might have a corrupting effect on the user's mind, body, or both, if used too often and/or too much. The physical corruption might take the form of mutations, or dead pinky fingers, etc. Trying to undo the magical corruption with magic would probably end poorly. Mental corruption can take a few forms, from influencing the caster towards typically "evil" magic (which may or may not be more corrupting than other magics), to reducing the caster to a baser, animalistic intelligence.
Depending on how dark the setting is, the corruption might slowly reverse itself, or be permanent. It might also be inevitable, with every use of magic no matter how small contributing to the caster's corruption, or partially avoidable, with only extensive use of magic causing the corruption.

A magic user's corruption might also start to affect their surroundings, corrupting nearby people and places. This might even be how the magic user's corruption "drains", out of the user and into their environment.

A magic user's magical capability might be based on their mental state. If the caster is tired, sick, dizzy (possibly from blood loss), etc. their magic might have a higher chance of misfiring and/or corrupting. Other magic systems might base magical capability on the user's "energy level", with difficult or excessive magic leaving the user too weak to run or even stand. Comas or even death might occur if the magic user goes too far.

[Xantalos]

What are the negative effects of magic?

Oh dear.
I have to go to work in an hour or two, so I'm not sure I can get my full answer up in time, but I can sum it up with 'anything and everything'. My next post will explain more fully.

[Beirus]

Grab an improvised weapon and take Mel to one of the unoccupied rooms in the Rust to hide. Make sure the room isn't slated for demolition or something.

[Harry Baldman]

((Hey, PW, if my current character permadies, can I just move to this thread and pick up where I left off with Little Timmy?

Aside from that, magic talk is too tempting to pass up, so might as well mention something about it while I'm here: magic is any of a number of methods we use to change the world that we do not understand, only knowing that it works. Magic is a black box, nothing more. And the obvious negative side effect of magic, the one that's most important of all, is the fact that it changes the rules of the game of our existence to something we have no basic understanding of - free, unquestioning usage of magic makes us ignorant, often willfully, of its underpinnings and renders us vulnerable in the long term to forces we do not comprehend.))

[piecewise]

What are the negative effects of magic?

Oh dear.
I have to go to work in an hour or two, so I'm not sure I can get my full answer up in time, but I can sum it up with 'anything and everything'. My next post will explain more fully.

OI XAN HURRY UP.

Go through the market district. Keep an eye out for Shen's men, but don't be obvious about it.

What is: My name, the Red March, and a superliner?


(Xantalos is probably going to miss the turn, so I'll just go ahead and answer.)
The negative effects of magic can be a lot of things. If a rune or potion or something is made incorrectly, it might not have the intended effect. A spell might backfire, affecting the caster rather than the target, or simply making the intended outcome harder to achieve, such as a lockpicking spell causing the lock to jam and not work even if the proper key is used; a healing spell might instead injure the target further. Or maybe the magic becomes wild and unpredictable, doing something completely unrelated to the original spell/rune/etc. This might have longterm effects on the area itself, the caster, anyone unlucky enough to be nearby, or some combination of the three.

The use of magic, even successfully cast magic, might have a corrupting effect on the user's mind, body, or both, if used too often and/or too much. The physical corruption might take the form of mutations, or dead pinky fingers, etc. Trying to undo the magical corruption with magic would probably end poorly. Mental corruption can take a few forms, from influencing the caster towards typically "evil" magic (which may or may not be more corrupting than other magics), to reducing the caster to a baser, animalistic intelligence.
Depending on how dark the setting is, the corruption might slowly reverse itself, or be permanent. It might also be inevitable, with every use of magic no matter how small contributing to the caster's corruption, or partially avoidable, with only extensive use of magic causing the corruption.

A magic user's corruption might also start to affect their surroundings, corrupting nearby people and places. This might even be how the magic user's corruption "drains", out of the user and into their environment.

A magic user's magical capability might be based on their mental state. If the caster is tired, sick, dizzy (possibly from blood loss), etc. their magic might have a higher chance of misfiring and/or corrupting. Other magic systems might base magical capability on the user's "energy level", with difficult or excessive magic leaving the user too weak to run or even stand. Comas or even death might occur if the magic user goes too far.

You head down toward the market district, which is just starting to light the lanterns as night moves in. As you walk down the path, ignoring the other workers walking the opposite way, back toward their cliffside homes, you think.

Your name. It's Shan. You're pretty sure about that.

The Red March...that is hazy even in his head. It's something that happened a long time ago, in your grandfather's time, back when men lived for hundreds of years, on the main land, when there was no hunger and they molded flesh like clay. At least thats what your grandfather said. The Red March was some sort of illness, something unintentional birthed of the godlabs or from one of the construct creatures in response to a bioweapon, an immunity gone wrong. It spread  quickly, wiped out much of humanity, except for those that fled to the ocean aboard the superliners, floating cities. Or was it some creature that did it; a warbeast which went feral? You can't remember. Your granfather's stories were sometimes conflicting; he was supposed to be something like 400 years old at the time, shrunken and tiny, a ball of wrinkles and glass bones, with blind machine eyes and teeth that clinked and clanked when he talked.

You get to the edge of market and start moving through it, keeping your eyes on the ground as you pass the wooden stands that have cropped up on the edge of the market proper, staffed by men not unlike yourself, workers with some sideline to get extra cash. You and Jel repair things; these people grow fruit or scavenge or beach comb. You have an option here: cut straight through the market, or skirt around its edge, staying out of the busier section.

Grab an improvised weapon and take Mel to one of the unoccupied rooms in the Rust to hide. Make sure the room isn't slated for demolition or something.

The only weapon you've got is a large wrench, so you grab it and then take Mel by the wrist and lead her out of the room. She protests, wanting to wait for Jhn, but you give her a harsh look and press your finger against your lips. Neighbors can hear, and Sharktooth might be willing to offer a reward for information....

You head down several levels and quietly try a few doors before finding one that is unlocked. It's empty inside, not much more then a large closet made of corrugated steel. There's a large hole in one of the corners, a gaping rust wound which gives you a clear view of the surf 30 feet below.

((Hey, PW, if my current character permadies, can I just move to this thread and pick up where I left off with Little Timmy?

Aside from that, magic talk is too tempting to pass up, so might as well mention something about it while I'm here: magic is any of a number of methods we use to change the world that we do not understand, only knowing that it works. Magic is a black box, nothing more. And the obvious negative side effect of magic, the one that's most important of all, is the fact that it changes the rules of the game of our existence to something we have no basic understanding of - free, unquestioning usage of magic makes us ignorant, often willfully, of its underpinnings and renders us vulnerable in the long term to forces we do not comprehend.))

Not sure what you mean by that.

But anyone can respond to my questions, if they feel like it, even the non-dead. You just can't play any of the other things in here.

[swordsmith04]

If Jhn had been one the of people I passed, would I have noticed?

Are there still people coming from the docks? If so, go through the market. If not, skirt around it.

Start thinking about an excuse that could get me into the docks if I'm stopped.

[Beirus]

Wait quietly and try to remember more details about my (Jel's) life.

[Xantalos]

Give me two and a half hours
Scratch that more time needed

[Harry Baldman]

((I mean take over Timmy, who's stuck in the void forever, exploring his own mind and experiencing reruns of what he remembers of sitcoms.))

[piecewise]

If Jhn had been one the of people I passed, would I have noticed?

Are there still people coming from the docks? If so, go through the market. If not, skirt around it.

Start thinking about an excuse that could get me into the docks if I'm stopped.

You're pretty sure you'd recognize him. You're pretty sure. He's got...piercings...family markers. Three of them.

People are still coming from the docks, and they'll keep coming for hours, even as the night shift goes to work. You head into the market, blending into the crowd as best you can. You make it maybe a quarter mile into the dense mass of people, shouldering your way slowly down the avenue, ancient storefronts leaning in over you, windows glaring intently and glittering with the reflections of dull halogen lights and strings of colored bulbs which crisscross the avenue between the buildings like a festive spider's web.  You notice them at a restaurant, 3 of them, sitting at a table. Sharktooth's men, done up in blue and white, with that rough triangular tattoo on their arm or their cheek, a tooth drawn by someone with limited knowledge of both sharks and art.

Wait quietly and try to remember more details about my (Jel's) life.

You were born here. Parents worked on the docks, as you do now. Father's missing, mother is living elsewhere in the rust, a bit better place, on solid land rather then a cliff face. You work on some of the more ancient parts of the superliners; not welding or scraping barnacles, but on their electric brains and their glowing hearts. Most people don't want to do it. Electric brains are frustrating, and often inscrutable, and the poison light from the heart of a superliner makes people sick. But you're good at your job. The brains are easy, and you know to stay out of the light if you can help it. And they pay you well for it, even though most of that money goes to your mother, who squirrels most of it away somewhere.

Give me two and a half hours
Scratch that more time needed

:|

((I mean take over Timmy, who's stuck in the void forever, exploring his own mind and experiencing reruns of what he remembers of sitcoms.))

sure, if thats how you want to spend your time.

[swordsmith04]

Continue down street. Don't look at them, and try to act normal. Don't give them any reason to think I'm not just another night shift worker headed down to the docks.

Who's my boss, at the docks?

[Beirus]

Go look at the water through that hole in the wall. Also, listen to sounds coming from outside the room. Anything interesting going on?