Speaking of arcana, I have the magic outline done. The next update is going to involve timeskip to gloss over the learning in-game, probably 10 cycles or so? Whole lot of energy to consider there, whole lot of information and hunting for animals small enough to convey down to them to get through, when I don't really need to explain it twice over, heh. Feel free to ask about stuff not directly covered here, its not a 'we can only do this' guide. Anyway, as told in the Arcane Guidelight (Alternate Edition XXIV) heres how the magic is divided as understood and known by the proxians (It might, as rolepgeek mentioned, not include things deep underground, or other areas a reasonably smart proxian would avoid going to without help. It also includes preliminary notes/ideas by our friend the core crystalline in brackets):
Flame, Destroyer. Ignis Arcana. Fiery, offensively-attuned spellcasting, demands for light, or just spells by too many angry arcanists in one place, can be improved with copious amounts of fire nearby. The more the better. Collateral damage from the fire is usually expected and should be considered by any reasonable arcanist intentionally invoking ignis arcana. If the flames speak back it happens very rarely, as there is no findings that survived the spellcasting that produced them; most alleged claims of a voice in the fire are from arcanists who have nearly died as a result of losing control of their significant amounts of fire, and probably were someone shouting at them from the other side of the burning material to get it back under control. Ignis arcana however is not simply all-destroying flames, as accomplished arcanists have managed to produce spectacular sky-bursts in combination with artisans for special occasions, and almost any arcanist with enough experience or control can use free-floating flame spheres as a source of light (flame spheres are banned in the Great Library of Alterna however, along with an extensive list of other things.) For the more primal and unrestrained sort of power than the fires of Ignis, see the section on Solfire, and bring both your best protective clothing and your second best set. [Perhaps with our precise hand, a 'flame ray' could be produced from a modified beam crystal? The arcanists scoff at such precision, some claiming Ignis does not need the weight of precision and careful planning that plagues Terra, some claiming it would be impossible to direct flame in such fashion, some assuming we are more of an apprentice than they thought. Hmpf.]
Liquos, Transformer. Aqua arcana. Unlike Ignis, copious amounts of water or other liquids do not help, they just cause a mess. A great big drenched mess that soil robes and cause grumbling among any of your nearby companions. It is however particularly practical in its number of uses, and generally only steam-based spells are offensively oriented. The arctic varieties are generally only considered worthwhile where it is already cold, unless the arcanist asking has extensive Aether knowledge to keep the ice solidified and the air around it cooled down at the same time. Adding a liquid component to spells generally has transformative properties, or allows simpler combination of discrete components. Most healing magic draws either from here (for urgent danger, or for medicinal concoction), or from Terra arcana (for vital but not urgent injuries, or for precise and long-term healing) Query of the Depths is the most recent, and most common Speaker for Aqua arcana, but is more likely to ignore both large groups and overexcited apprentices for some reason when spoken to. More details on the different divisions of this arcana is later the tome set. [The arcanists most interested in this field were split among four lines: The ones who hated Ignis arcana for a reason, the medical ones who were the most helpful with questions, the ones insistant that steam could be more than a last-ditch offense and that it could power machines (not far off actually, but steam power is too much effort for not enough output when compared to refined clusters), and lastly the arctic specialists. Assuming we can get a proper link into the unstable but powerful mana crystals and some further exploration into Aether arcana, ice magic shouldn't be as big as issue as they claim.]
Sky, Wonder Expanse. Aether arcana. Excited Swirl, the newest Speaker (...of sorts) for Aether arcana, is not especially helpful in learning more about it, and little that has not already been done in the field of Assisted Aeronautics has been expanded on, mainly due to the high near-death rate on experiments in the field discouraging pretty much everyone for pushing forward in it if/when they survive their attempt at the Glorious future of the Way Extensively documented but horribly failing study into using magic to fly with the birds. It also can be used for other, more practical things, like levitation of objects and environmental manipulation, though the latter is sacrifice-heavy due to its immense power requirements to do more than the smallest things. [This arcana was useless to us. Half of it is broken attempts at aeronautics missing key ideas like lift or feasible thrust-weight ratios, the rest conficts with itself as if the air spirits were intentionally tricking the ground dwellers through a generations-long prank. The few that taught it looked more akin to rubble than survivors of attempts to miss hitting the ground. They would be nearly incomprehensible if they spoke faster than a pebble rolls that a very shallow hill. Still, it might be an interesting puzzle to unscramble someday when we've got little else to focus on, and it led to a couple minor advances in wireless research as some of the core research crystals rewrote the equations the proxians described as they slowly and enthusiastically described their many attempts to fly so far. Rewrote internally and without mention to them of course, and possibly incorrectly as it was based on fragments of old memories from the Prime Crystal. Two factions with flight potential is one too many than we already have to deal with.]
Erthys, Traditional Safety. Terra arcana. The most understood and widespread of the known arcana, it lacks in potential use only to the dimensional arcana, Virixon. It is the core of Proxian magic, as the magical source within the green crystals deep underground awoke the first arcanists to their powers after their accidental discovery upon the surface, near where now is the capital of the known world. Determinor of Continents, along with the Emissary of Crystal make up the Speakers for Terra arcana, but are often unanswering when called, as they are perhaps called a bit too often in some places. There are too many well-known uses to be described in such an relatively small set of tomes, it is a matter better suited to specialized materials. [Too many! There is too many things they claim is possible with enough mana crystals in one area! Couldn't get more than the basics from them them without constant sidetracks, and Zov takes every opportunity to send the discussion towards one when he's involved to spite us for temporarily killing him, like how allegedly the capital palace's basement is entirely built out of the material, just so that they never run out of energy for general-purpose castle duties and such. Seems a bit farfetched to me, more likely they built the palace atop the biggest vein of it they could find and rumors spread. Unfortunately, this will probably require our own research, or the 'acquisition' of books from them on the subject.]
Virixon, The Other. Dimensional or Fifth arcana. In some arcanist circles, Virixon is considered the root of evil, considering how it warps results when added haphazardly and brings forth Things Not Meant To Be onto Prox. They aren't exactly wrong, this branch of mana can cause more problems than it solves. But when used correctly, it holds the secrets to teleportation, the key to Absolute Victory over all Outsiders in The Chained, and allows for messaging faster than by courier golem at a price. As this arcana spans all known and unknown other dimensions it would be foolish to deem one Speaker or another the one to speak for all, and in the humble opinion of the author, is too complex a group of spells to be covered sufficiently in this set of tomes. [This is the one. Unless a superior alternative is found among the Alterin technologies, this arcana will be key to regain contact with the Prime Crystal until we rediscover and rebuild the proper Crystalline way of contacting it. Also brings up the idea of possibly drawing energy from other dimensions as well as from the one we are comfortably seated in on this planet, among many other things like significant advances in research into The Chained's as well the the Darkflyme's makeup, as well as teleportation research, but also halting other areas of progress as we wouldn't be pulling the crystal with us as the tech currently stands, making it a one-way warp.]
Solfire, Power Unrestrained. Technically, Solfire is a major division of Ignis arcana, as it causes extensive and in almost all cases unavoidable collateral damage and has yet to find a peaceful use outside of ending conflict within a single night of horror. But to the arcanist with common sense, Solfire is not simply fire imbued with the power of the sun, nor (as the more theological-focused would put it) the lethal guardian of the powers over creation and unmaking. The one with common sense looks at Solfire and sees raw force, not even focused yet into mana through the elements, kept from collapsing into a force of all-unmaking only by an unknown power's unbreakable grip on it. Indeed, it can be conjured into existence in a relatively peaceful state, given a replacement container every hour. Yes, it can be directed when it is conjured. Verily, it can be extinguished with great effort if it has spread over an entire enemy encampment instead of simply killing the command group and their command center. But only the most powerful of Master Arcanists dare claim to control Solfire, and few who are challenged on this point survive the attempt regardless of their extensive experience, nor does the building involved in it. Solfire is its own category because putting it anywhere else endangers those who are not cautious enough to treat it like an always-prepared high explosive. [Yes, plasma can be dangerous. But they've constructed a nearly-religiously enforced set of rules for even considering manifesting it. Most of the teaching involved once they were convinced I was not going to immolate them with it has been heavily edited down to the actual facts; they seem to have a surprisingly good understanding of the substance for a species that still relies on medieval weaponry once you throw out all the paranoid tiptoeing they ramble through. Will be no issue to produce as needed, assuming free energy and a modified arms or blast crystal to fire from, though sustained fire will bring up heat dispersal issues.]
Runes, while a very important part of the Arcanist's tools, are not exactly something that can be described in a mere guide. They are a very big topic and subject to heavy debate on how to do them most effectively for the mana spent per objective; not to forget the eternal war between the arcanists who insist on clonevival for the sake of their sanity (or are just too interested in staying themselves and too afraid of dying to not prepare one) vs the ones who do not care who they end up as or how possible they might lose sanity in the transfer as long as they've marked at least one person in the town with spiritswap runes. Look elsewhere, to a different book set. [They seem rather...unwilling to budge on not teaching this subject, considering they've taught at least something of everything else. Perhaps they realize what could happen with a sentient crystal engraved with runes of power? This course may require more direct force to gain, or a less intelligent target...]
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Topic: Crystalline - Cycle 84 (Read 84655 times)