DISCOLIQUID

For fifty years, Auriel had walked the surfacelanders world, exposing weak eyes to the radiant spears of the lofted apathetic sun. Cracked leather gloves cupped her gaze often, shielding from the blinding light. Time & again, sunlight drove her back down into the Deep below the surfacelands. Here, as she saw it, was the true top of the world. All beauty fell from the earth's depths, falling far & eventually to sit on the surfaceworld under the hateful glare of the sun. Auriel knew that the whole of the realm was upside down, valuing the bleak brightness of sanitized sunlight, instead of furtive gleams. When she travelled to the bleached lands, her eyes ached & spotted, drove her to nausea, and culminated often in sickening sun spots that stained her vision. And for fifty years, she had stolen whatever she had desired from the surfacers. From pocket change to family heirlooms, there was no qualm. In the shadow of darkness, Auriel's kleptomania had lead her to steal much: prized gems, books of knowledge, rare metals, secrets, religious trinkets. All of it she had brought as offerings to the Low Lord, Grimdugan. His domain was the lowest of the Dwarf Lords, of thieves, beggars, scoundrels, and gem-miners; yet still he also commanded considerable beauty & furtive generosity. For every darkness, another darkness beyond it, on & on wherever the sunlight did not touch. Auriel's gleaming, rust eyes, made out the clear rubies that marked her pathway - picking out details in the subterranean darkness. Upon his obsidian altar, she arranged her criminal liturgies. The Emerald Book taught her four fold of Grimdugan's Low Lessons, and to each of these she made her offerings. In the name of Darkness, she offered an adunic cloak, jet black & nearly invisible upon his altar, where she set her other ritual sacrifices. In the name of Stars, she offered arkenlyte, a secret she had traded for with stolen metals. In the name of Greed, she offered kuila crystal, thieved from the ruins of an Elven city. Next, a clay urn. Broken in a sharp crack In the twinkling depths, where only glowing blue mushrooms offered sapphire light, Auriel took out her moon ink. The kleptomaniac dwarf performed her secluded ablutions, cleansing her hands in invisible ink. The moon ink was attuned to Grimdugan's starry skies & the wanderer's moon, but down here was clear as liar's water. Upon the cave face, she scrawled a secret in this sanctimonious ink. A secret sealed in ink that moonlight would never touch, not once spoken to another, but etched there nonetheless in scripted silence & infinite invisibility. The Doomforged raised high her sacral obsidian dagger. Each of her eyes she robbed of sight, so she might never see the false light of day again. Sleep took her after the low ritual in the sapphiric depths. Auriel took the precious eyes of her family into her hands & laid down upon the altar of Grimdugan. There, she was stolen away. Her prayers reached far, deep into the world's caves, seeking religious restitution from her avaricious God. She imagined falling, falling, falling; down tubes of earth to the heart of the world, wherein she saw only a hollow of grey occlusion. Auriel's dream flashed with surreal chromatic blurs, her wounded eyes lolling wildly in her head. A prayer gone unanswered, she had found only an empty pit... sparkling with gemstones eternally out of reach. She ran, wailing, crying, laughing, pocketing what unowned glimmering treasures she could from the abandoned halls, before she too was robbed into darkness. [Grimdugan's Tome] [FA Link]

Aesthetics are being currently considered, aura is a factor, as are the effects of how a mage looks while casting & how a target looks while being struck. I am also considering the aesthetics of voidstalker, eminent, and artificer spells. Yes, I believe this interpretation is balanced & lends itself to this write. Rather than electricity being a real life copy of a wall socket electrical shock, these voidal lightning bolts focus on disrupting their enemies. This is held up internally by the lore as well, forcing electrical mages to deal with an inability to use potions due to the volatile disruption of their spell's static charge. Your wish is my command, Spark of Life added to the Neutral Spell list for a total of 8. Change Log & formatting now out.

I think it could use another singular powerful spell, but with the current write focusing on crowd control, I worried about a list with both punching power & control. If a balanced spell was suggested, or this was passed as is, the spell can be added later in an addition. It is only 7 spells, a little weak. That's just because the effects are potent though. At least, I think they are.

As I've written it, any CA that can be damaged by Voidal Magic in the first place can be disrupted by Zapped or Stunned, such as ghosts or Darkstalkers. I considered writing in at first that only living creatures could be affected, but I considered it too large of a nerf. I believe it might be logically inconsistent if Undead are electrified (they don't have muscles so yeah) but it would also be logically inconsistent if the entire magic had no effect on a swathe of CAs, whereas all of the other evocations do. If you have some suggestions for balancing, I'd be happy to hear them. I'm not sure of a middleground, given that there are indeed, some logical problems that should be tackled.

This criticism was due. Crowd control is powerful; however, these offensives abilities have several proactive counters. Shields, namely. As well, the reason that the magic is based around crowd control rather than being a more even split of control versus damage is that a hybrid list would provide a single mage too many combat options under one spell list. I agree that CC is impactful, but I hope you can see a hybrid list being ultimately more powergameable. I would also like to point out that while Zap and Stun are indeed gimmicks, they are gimmicks based around the logical Balance default system we play in. Fire evocation can blow your head off of your body. Air evocation can make you explode. If electrical evocation is overpowered, is it overpowered in the timing advantage it gives you to transition to another form of fighting while your opponent is delayed. So, the effects are mediated through an alchemical delay on your own potions, and a charge effect to prevent any one spell from becoming spammable. I agree the spell list might be overtuned, there are many juggling pieces & a few internal pieces of logic (the charge system) that other evocations don't have. I would like community help in removing the extraneous & overpowered elements of the spell list with accurate analysis. Please see my comment on wanting critique to be passed through the LT guidelines. The suggestion that the piece be 'written again' or that 'all other magics be rewritten' ignores the spirit of balance default, which should ideally give us hooks to balance magic around. A major action, a movement, these are qualities of combat as it stands now, and good lore will interact directly with them. On top of that, Zapped and Stunned both allow for proactive and reactive counterplay. A shield, but also choosing the proper use of ones limited major action can prevent you from dropping in the tempo of combat. Then, anyone Zapped or Stunned are immune for 3 turns. From every Ele Evo mage there, not just one. That means that combat redundancy or effect stacking "probably" won't happen. (No promises, I can only balance, not control the lore). I appreciate your comment, I actually think a lot of people here saw Ele Evo & were happy to see a rewrite, but haven't engaged with my desire to understand what parts of the generation may need changing. Thanks for providing a general response, and if you'd like, please check out the LT guidelines linked at the base of my page to offer some more specific critique.

I actually forgot that Scions are limited to Tier 3. I'll reword it.

Non-combat electrical spells can be written after the combat ones are kinda nitpicked, but when casting enchantments, the charge is set into the enchantment. This means when you cast it, you set your charge. So, they're a little weaker. An enchantment with several low level casts of a single positive spell cannot be chain cast. This is how I prefer it, as it prevents people from taking the strongest lower level spells of this evocation and spamming them on cheap enchantments - a problem I find with translocation and earth evocation's lower level spells.

Background & Rediscovery: From Aegisian Undead to Mali'aheral innovation, the evocation of electricity was of keen interest to Magi. The art form has come & gone with various iterations, many of them empowering a great deal of violence from their charged art. Malinorian Necromancers cast spells from treetops, assassinating wayward Elves with bolts of lightning called from the Heavens most high. While the rediscovery of electrical evocation is not as thunderous as previous generations, the ability to manifest lightning comes with great potency. This most recent generation is unable to manifest the stormcalling feats of the past, but can still provide quite the shock to their unprepared foes. Modern electrical evocation operates around a core Arc Theory. A different force than stone or air, electricity is want for a place to go. Should an Evocationist conjure forth raw electricity, it would surely dissipate or shock the caster, having no natural place to disperse. The solution lies in polar mana anchors, similar to Translocation, and some suspect Electrical Evocation may actually be a form of Alteration. By charging their spell focus & a second mana anchor with opposite charges, an Electrical Evocationist may eventually produce an Arc. As these charges grow, a pathway is formed for lightning to travel through. An Arc requires line of sight, and cannot pass through solid material such as a tree or a shield, and often has a notoriously fickle distance. Once their placed mana anchor & the Magus' focus (their hands, a wand, etc) have grown so oppositely charged, only then can they evoke their thunderous element. Branching out from both points, the Arc meets in a near instant, and the Magus' control of mana directs the flow of damaging electricity into their target. It instantly ends their focus on the spell & consumes the mana of the caster. The air burns with the smell of ozone, the Magus' hands tingle with energy, and their target erupts in a spray of sparks. The electricity stays within its target for a short time ([1] or [2] emotes) sustained by the mana anchor, until it certainly vanishes once the anchor is spent. For this reason, a shield or auric oil on their breastplate serves a Knight far better than their reflexes against an Electromancer. Lighting always bears a singular color, determined by the predominant color of the caster's aura, and always appears as arcing electricity. It may not be shaped into thematic forms, such as a lightning dragon. A lightning bolt may be rather thin or aesthetically thick, to no change in the spell's effects. It may crackle, pop, or thunder, again to no effect such as disconnection or deafening. As charge is built, both the caster & their anchor experience static shock, metallic tastes, and the clear sensation of potential energy. When the arc forms, both the caster and the target may cartoonishly flash, freeze up, or twitch around. The general aesthetic effects of Zapped or Stunned are determined by the targets of the spells. Stipulations of electrification ('a target may not move') can be aesthetically subverted, such as a victim leaping & hollering, as long as the core effect of the spell is played out. Magical Overview: Electrical Evocation takes up [1] magic slot. Electrical Evocation can be practiced with a valid MA & learned from a master Electromancer with a TA. Electrical Evocation requires a stable connection to the void. Electrical Evocation requires an understanding of lightning, most often necessitating the direct strike of a storm's fury upon a connecting student at least once. The Properties of Conjured Electricity General Redlines of Electrical Evocation Tier Progression Neutral Spells: Spark of Life - T1 - Instant "Electricity may incapacitate or awaken. With enough of a built up charge, a sleeping ally or unconscious benefactor may be awoken with a shower of sparks. Often the first spell taught to electrical evocationists in their classes, in the hopes that if a student is shocked out cold, they may be quickly awoken to attend their studies." [2 Emotes] [Non-Combat] By pressing one's hands to a target who is unconscious & charging up polar anchors, the sleeping target may be woken up. A bolt of electricity charges their unconscious body, and their eyes open once again as harmless power surges through them. Spark of Life also allows for the shedding of harmless static electricity or small showers of sparks. These can never do damage, and serve an aesthetic use similar to the other evocations' out of combat, general manipulation. The waking effects are comparable to Alchemical Smelling Salts, and can only wake someone up who is naturally unconscious. If they are magically asleep (though not alchemically asleep) they cannot be woken up. This effect cannot heal any wounds or cauterize damage, and should someone be dead without a pulse, they cannot be revived. This spell cannot be used in combat. Discharge - T1 - Instant "The electrical evocationist draws power into their body, preparing their polar anchors at their location & that of another within a short distance. Crackling lightning builds up between them before unleashing in a Zapping bolt that neutralizes the electromancer's charge in a cascade of harmless sparks. The Magus' Positive or Negative charge is consumed to power the lightning fast Arc." [2 Emotes] [Combat] After placing a mana anchor on a target within 5 blocks, & charging one's own focus, Zap the target for [1] or [2]* (T3+) emotes in an arc of lightning. After the spell is cast, the Mage's charge is set to Neutral. A target with a raised shield is immune to the effects. * This spell can be Double Charged, the Caster’s charge is still neutralized. The caster’s charge is dispersed, removing any positive or negative charge. This spell can only be cast when the evocationist has a charge. Negative Spells: Split-Shock - Tier 2 - Instant "By splitting Arc Theory's charged anchors into several smaller anchors, an electrical evocationist can begin to shock with weaker bolts to electrify multiple held objects. Crackling positive anchors are set upon tools within range as the magus begins to amplify their own negative charge. After a moment of focus, branches of lightning split into the air & imbue lasting charges into held tools or combative arms. These arcing positive charges endure for [2] emotes within the armament, forcing combatants to drop an item for that duration." [3 Emotes] [Combat] Within a 10 block range, select [1] or [2]* (T4+) hand-held items. Swords, axes, pole-axes, daggers, etc are allowed, including shields, but not armor, helmets, or anything worn. An electrical arc travels out, striking the held item & imbuing a lasting charge. The hand holding it instantly goes numb & drops the item, and that item cannot be held effectively for [2] emotes. Other weapons or shields can be successfully drawn, the numbness only lasting should the charged tool be ineffectively held. Armor or worn equipment cannot be targeted, only equipment in the hands such as a wooden shield or a metal sword. Alchemical mixtures being held can be targeted, as can enchanted items. If the item is still connected to the Target after it has been Split-Shocked, such as by a chain, it will still numb their hand. They must any break physical connection to the item. Thanhium, Auric Oil, and Null Arcana coated weapons are immune. Boomsteel weapons will NOT ignite from this effect. Ironwood is immune. * If Double Charged, up to [4] targets may be struck, but a target may only be struck once. Numbskull - Tier 3 - Instant "The signature spell of the codex, Numbskull begins with a conducting of negative energy into one's body & positive energy in another's skull. The charges are heightened with gestures of power, before a dazzling Arc links the Magus' spell-focus with the anchor in their target's head. This near instantly Stuns the target & causes the Magus to crackle enduringly with negative energy." [3 Emotes] [Combat] After placing a mana anchor on a target within a 10 block range & intensifying one's own negative anchor, Stun that target for [1] or [2]* (T5) emotes with an arc of lightning. A target with a raised shield is immune. If this spell is cast at Tier 5, it may cost (3) Mana & Stun for [2] emotes. To enchant such an effect requires a Grand Enchantment. * If this spell is Double Charged, the second target is only Zapped. Rebounding Bolt - Tier 5 - Instant "At the peak of their mastery, Arc Theory provides a destructive tool to the curious Magus. By sending a negatively charged mana anchor along with the Arc, they produce an entropic lightning that potentially bounces from its first target to others. Firstly, they must gather a great deal of negative energy into their bodies & set a positive anchor upon their rebounding target. Then, energy must be heightened to its utter maximum potential, before the Magus launches their own negative anchor into the positively charged target, unleashing a Stunning storm of random bolts." [4 Emotes] [Combat] Within a 10 block range, select one target & place a positive anchor upon them. Over the course of four emotes, you begin to charge a negatively charged bolt at this anchor. On the fourth emote a coiling arc of lightning Stuns the target for [2] turns. When the spell is cast, the Mage also rolls out of 6. On a roll greater than a 2 another weaker bolt jumps from the first target to another target within range of the first target. This secondary bolt can only Stun for [1] turn. Targets with shields are immune to the effects of weaker bolts. Because the results past the first target are random, only the first target is identified in the casting emotes. If a spell-casting focus is used, the rebounding bolts after the first may only have a [10] block range. The Magus chooses who is struck, but if a bolt is rolled [>2 out of 6] it must strike a target & must strike a target that has not yet been struck. This may cause random bolts to strike allies or the Magus themselves, if they have rolled more bolts than foes. They may not dissipate unless no new targets can be struck. * If this spell is double-charged, up to three bolts can jump from the first target & only the first target. Only one initial bolt is fired, for a maximum of [4]. * Each requires a roll greater than 2, stopping the chain if this condition is not met. * Electric Ellie double charges a rebounding bolt for 5 emotes against several bandits. Upon striking the first, she rolls a 4, and so the spell produces another bolt. Upon striking the second, she rolls a 1, so her spell ends. Should she have rolled higher, she could have stunned a grand total of [4] bandits. Positive Spells: Scatterspark Field - Tier 2 "The electrical evocationist can charge not only metal & men, but the ground as well. By placing a negative anchor on a surface & slowly expanding it by means of focus, a final positive charge can burst out of the Magus to imbue a lasting field of Zapping energy on the ground. The arcane power of the mana anchor fuels the spell until it fails." [2 Emotes] [Combat] Within a 5 block range, a blast of snapping sparks is shot at the ground, creating a flat [2 x 2] or block zone of dazzling sparks. The sparks last [3] emotes. While creatures are in this field, they are zapped. If the Mage’s charge was negative before they cast Scatterspark Field, affected creatures are also Zapped for [1] turn after leaving the field. The ground the spell will affect alights during the [2] emote casting with energy, signaling that it will soon be unsafe to stand in. Those standing in that field also get the sense they will be shocked. Once the spell has landed, concentration on Scatterspark Field specifically is no longer needed for the [3] emote length, but connection to the Void must be maintained. Only one Scatterspark Field can be conjured at once. Electricity will not travel further along water or wet surfaces. Should Scatterspark be cast on an area with a deployed alchemical potion, extremely rough ground, or other dangerous terrain, it will fail. It requires mostly flat ground & cannot provide additive effects to environmental dangers. * Cannot be duplicated, due to its positive charge. Double Charge - Tier 4 "A surplus of positive energy is brought together in the Magus' body, offering them a potent rush of energy. After this spell is completed, the positive charges settle into an electrical anchor that serves to heighten their next negative spell. Potent lightning is brought around the magus, before they begin their next spell." [+1 Emote to Next Spell] [Combat] By charging up their magic, the next electrical spell cast is cast twice** & costs twice the mana. As with all positive spells, only negative or neutral spells are cast after gaining a positive charge. If the duplicated spell requires a target, all targets must be specified in the first emote of Double Charge. If one Double Charges, and then casts from another spell school (I.E. Translocation), they lose benefit of the spell. Double Charged spells cannot be enchanted into items through Transfiguration. ** - See specific spells for specific duplication effects. I.E., Rebounding Bolt does not produce two separate bolts, rather may produce more random bolts. Lightning Whip - Tier 5 "The culmination of positive entropic energies, the electromancer is capable of manifesting an enduring positive anchor in their hands of sawing, whip-like lightning. They charge themselves with a positive anchor, and then bring forth an arcing, charged whip that is never still. Once the whip is conjured, a selected target need only briefly be negatively charged by an anchor to instantly earn the Whip's Zapping wrath. Such a horrific weapon travels through metal armors, but only inflicts bleeding lacerations." [4+ Emotes] [Combat] Coiling together a rope of charged electricity, an electromancer is capable of conjuring an enduring weapon. On the fourth emote after channeling, the whip is unleashed. The whip makes single emote melee strikes against any target within [8] blocks while the spell is being concentrated on, and does not impact the caster’s movement. These whip attacks inflict lacerations like a whip would, and cause the Zapped condition for [2] emotes. Foes that are armored in metal are slashed as if they are wearing no armor. Against a target with no armor (or metal armor), the lacerations are thin but bleed profusely, causing damage comparable to a mundane whip on bare skin. If the Mage had a Negative charge before casting Lightning Whip, Lightning Whip can make [2] attacks on the unleashing 4th emote, but only this turn & against different targets. A target with a raised shield is immune to the Zapped condition, but not the slicing effect of the whip, which passes through their shield. Armor that is not metal & provides great resistance to slashing attacks nearly negates the entire power of the whip, and targets in such armor are immune to the razor thin lacerations. An example may be a target coated in Wyvern Scale armor. For every emote past the fourth, the Electromancer spends one more point from their mana, allowing for a maximum of eight possible strikes given utterly ideal circumstances. * Cannot be duplicated due to its positive charge. Change Log: 4/1/2023 - #5, Stunlocking, added to general redlines, addressing potential internal logic of alternating between Zapped & Stunned to prolong crowd control effects. 4/1/2023 - Rewrote the relationship between a "Charge" and priming a potion. Before, priming a potion took one extra emote & interacted oddly with the emote count currently in place with post-spellcast priming. Now, evocationists who gain ANY positive or negative charge during combat will no longer be able to prime ANY potions until the entire combat has subsided, and even after a Neutral Charged spell is cast. The static cling of Electrical Evocation is uniquely affective to alchemical potions. This is to outright prevent potential overlap of Stunning with Alchemical deployment, a balance issue I am worried about. 4/1/2023 - First reformatting to bring the post more in line with a final draft mimicking other evocation forum posts. Example emotes to be done, as well as clearer descriptions of spells. 4/7/2023 - Edit & Design Notes added comparing some spells, offering balance ideas & comparison analysis to air Evo. Formatting improved again to offer RP descriptions of each spell. 4/8/2023 - Visual overhaul & spells officially named. Effects worded to be more general & easier to understand. Double charge down to one emote, and no longer reduces the doubled spell cast time by 1 emote. It is now more or less identical to combustion or blue flame, but it cannot be enchanted. Scion Mana smoothed out. 4/25/2023 - Strict emote counts rewritten to take connection emotes into account. All spells are listed without connection emotes, as it is simply assumed one will not be able to cast... without being connected; however, first connection emotes can not be used to charge lightning evocation spells. 5/28/2023 - Comments on "paralysis" and agency added to the General Properties of Conjured Electricity. Scatterspark down to two emotes, and the scaling effect was removed. Edit & Design Notes:

Content with the information she found within her orb, Ibisa began to stalk up on chalk.

took too long to scroll to bottom without reading -1

5 Slot Kani!

Pro server behavior rewarded with minas, minas for skins, minas for guides, minas for builds.

aatronach power creep

This is adding ... 3(8*7)=168 possible recipes... You're talking about a single alchemy piece alone with more than twice as many possible combinations as all the current approved recipes.

I am looking for a player to fill in any number of CA races: Atronachs, anthroparions, animatii, homunculi, corcitura. As well, I am accepting any number of mad scientist assistants while I make these. If you are interested in a change of pace, and want to participate in creature creation RP, medical RP, technomagic RP, I provide all of these. DM me on Discord, DiscoLiquid#9251 if you are interested.

"What is Heaven-Steel?" asks Trader.

A travelling medic purchased a wide, mostly reputable selection of academic tomes pertaining to botany & first aid. "Well worth it," she croaked, in terse appraisal.

Thanks for the grandfather!

Not all alchemy reagents are node plugin based. There are many reagents obtainable in character, such as: blood, the biles, human fingers, elf ears, deer heart, camel guts, newt eye, monkey fists, frog tongue. About half of the Hedgewitch's Healkit doesn't require noded plants. For the most part, all these require for harvest is a few emotes either hunting animals in the woods or negotiating with another character (or their corpse). For this reason, I don't think adding alchemical symbols to honey or honeycomb changes much. These items are not that common, honey farms are accessible, but few people have stacks and stacks of honey blocks. Even if they do, plenty of people have stacks of Goblins Ivy or Paddfoot. I would wager it takes someone longer to harvest a full stack of honey blocks than it does to find 64 paddfoot on the map. I am fine if the storages of honey/beeswax suddenly gain alchemical potency in lore, because we have written this piece to include the research for how they were discovered. The assumption is that others have not engaged in alchemical study of their honey. I am generally unconcerned with the access to these symbols off honey/honeycomb - they were chosen to not be particularly rare symbols or ones that were already hard to get. Going back and retroactively approving honey storage would be far more annoying.

"There has to be something in the honey," insisted manic Ibisa, who demanded Emir boil the mixture for the tenth time. OOC: More reagents for the apothecaries of the world, and those who don't have time to pick herbs. Thanks for including me, Exogens!

A distant doctor, aged & tired, took up her pen to offer a note of assistance to the fledgling clinicians. On dry parchment, her offer contained a list of various medicines or poultices that she might supply to the Adrian Clinic, as well as some literary guides if they might need it. [Contact DiscoLiquid#9251 or Ibisa via bird if interested!]

Hardlight sword, hardlight swords! Reduce enchantment buff from +3 extra on a weapon to just +2. A total of 3 - one Big, Awesome enchantment, and two supporting Lesser enchantments. This abides by the rule of 3, which is well known rule in fantasy.

Thanks for grandfathering me in!