Aelesh

This is particularly pointed at void mages: With shades gone, for the first time in forever, you can RP having a black aura and being an 'evil mage' without having to have some particular dark magic MA. Adding this lore, particularly if you were to do it purely for the aesthetic, would simply lock spookier effects back behind an MA (since people would be forced to assume, or led to assume, you were a shade if your magic looked like that). If this didn't exist, it leaves the door open for mages to just, choose to develop their character into something spookier, maybe even have some massive event change their characters aura colour to black. Natural RP character development vs. getting yet another MA for character development. You don't need to make your characters madness / fall to the dark side more interesting with an MA. In fact, it just detracts from it imo.

holy **** they’re DEAD

The lore was written by a group of people, some of whom wanted this added in. The lore is subject to change. If people really don’t like this (something I totally understand), then it can and will get axed.

Introduction (link) This amendment has two aims in mind: - To greatly improve the powers available to a Herald, turning it into a 5 slot magic that is aimed at supporting draconic religion with a wide range of spells - To generally enhance the cultural and spiritual roleplay available to Heralds and Azdrazi both, mainly by adding the creation of lexicons to dracanium smithing, and the Heart of the World as a dragon themed realm This lore piece makes no change to the existing attributes of Azdrazi, and so makes no mention of them. Rather, it changes the Enrapturements available to them. Much the same can be said of Heralds; they are created as they have always been created, but now have access to a range of new spells, within a new system. On Dragonfire - Dragonfire is the primary fuel and substance of any draconic being. Born originally from the aengudaemonic influence of Dragur, it was breathed into a great mountain and became the first dragon, Azdromoth. - Dragonfire is, like ectoplasm, a confluence of supernatural energies. It is composed of aengudaemonic energy, lifeforce, soul essence, and mana. It replaces the mana pool of draconic entities, performing roughly the same function. It sustains and maintains the draconic soul, providing it with lifeforce and structuring its soul blueprint. - Dragonfire can be focused to muster aengudaemonic influence. The many and varied magical feats of dragons were made possible through this influence. With enough time and study, a dragon may turn their divine influence upon the world in much the same way as their aengudaemonic cousins might, performing feats comparable to other magical disciplines. This influence is comparable to a kind of supernatural gravitas; dragonfire has a weight to it that warps the world around a dragon in accordance with their desires. - Dragonfire has a number of magical properties that differentiate it from mundane fire; - Dragonfire is considered quintessentially magical in nature, and like enchanted items and the spells of mages, it is capable of harming incorporeal beings like ghosts more effectively, or any other creature that is more susceptible to magic. - Dragonfire does not only draw upon mundane sources of energy, like wood or coal, to burn. It will also burn on spells and magical creations, tearing their energies apart. That is to say, when it is unleashed upon, say, an arcane shield, it will stick and burn there, damaging the shield over time. - Dragonfire has a tangible weight to it that mundane fire lacks. This allows an Azdrazi’s breath, for instance, to knock over an exposed target that has not properly braced themselves for the impact. On the Heart of the World - The Heart of the World is a realm produced by the energy breathed into the world by Dragur. It is the natural resting place for the souls of all draconic entities, so that even in death, they may continue to safeguard the mortal realm from invaders. Legend says that, should the time come, the age-old dragons that populate this place may one day walk beneath the Sun of the living world again. - No Sun ever rises in the sky of this world, left to be illuminated by starlight. Perhaps it was envisioned this way to remind dragons of their eternal duty, that they are the lighthouses that might shepherd mortalkind back to the shores of order should chaos ever raise its head again. - The Heart of the World’s geography is comparable to the living world. Besides dragons, nothing else lives here, leaving the stony foundation of the world bare, now illuminated by the quiet light of the stars. It is a cold place, perhaps, again, meant to remind the dragons of their smallness before the threats of the world beyond, reminding them always to be vigilant and cunning. Only dragonfire can ever provide warmth in this place, and even then, only a little. - Many draconic spells call upon this place implicitly, using the souls of dragons as a great library of knowledge from which to draw strength. The memories, magics, skills and insights of every dragon to have ever lived flows through this place, and flows also through both Heralds and Azdrazi. On the Connection of Heralds, and the Birth of Azdrazi - This document proposes no significant changes to the connection of Heralds. They are given High Draconic tattoos, specifically created using UZBODAH (a spell available to Heralds), which act as ‘spiritual antenna’ for their first forays into the secret energies beneath their feet. These tattoos kindle the first sparks of dragonfire in their soul, and are the primary mechanism by which the Herald transforms mana into dragonfire. - This ritual is separate to the usage of UZBODAH. Knowing the spell does not mean you know the required High Draconic to create another Herald. - Heralds are allowed to tattoo these symbols onto their students, allowing them to have TA’s. This can be taught to any T5 Herald. - Azdrazi are created through the use of a wardren, an orb of dracanium. Upon receiving a wardren stoked by the connection of their mentor’s blood alongside their own, a whelping must endure several trials which serve to kindle the dragonfire that is contained within the wardren itself. Upon the completion of these trials, if deemed worthy, a whelpling undergoes the ritual of transference wherein the wardren is destroyed along with their physical form to meld the aspects of mortal and dragonfire together in order to give birth to the new Azdrazi. - Azdrazi must be taught both the methods by which wardren are smithed, as well as the ritual of transference which are separate from one another. - Severance is the process in which an Azdrazi or Herald is forcibly removed from their connection to dragonfire. While it is fundamentally the same process for both parties, the toll it takes is drastically different. Severance is conducted through a ritual known as the Ritual of the Immaculate Blade, wherein four ritualists must carry out the act in unison. Upon invoking the sacred words, an ethereal blade of dragonsfire is conjured not unlike that of the enrapturement EðEON’UZ. The invokers, upon driving the weapon into the heart of the Azdrazi (or Herald) sever the ties which connect them to their own dragonfire or the Ateioth. While this simply causes the markings worn by a herald to vanish rendering their ability to invoke the Ateioth inert, the effects it has on an Azdrazi are much more severe as it snuffs the dragonsfire which burns in their very soul. This leads to mental and physical degradation as their physical form violently reconstitutes itself into a mortal husk, and while it can lead to the death of the former Azdrazi, the process albeit extremely debilitating can be survived. - The ritual requires either two Azdrazi or Heralds who have all been taught the ritual, as well as two supplicants of either to assist in the process. - Severance does not require prerequisite rules to be broken, and while the teachings and presence of the Titan are used as precedent, Azdromoth enforces no specific mandate on his children to that end. - Under no circumstances can the ritual be used to enforce a permakill on any character. Death as a result of the ritual is entirely opt-in based on the recipient’s desires and will otherwise cause them to simply reverse to whatever state of being they were prior to undergoing the Transference. On Heralds and High Draconic - Draconic Heralds were the ancient priest-sorcerers of dragons. Their magic was rediscovered in the modern era thanks to the return of Azdromoth and his Azdrazi. The redevelopment and rediscovery of this magic has continued as Azdromoth has taken more of an interest in his followers. - Heralds are given the ability to transform their mana into portions of dragonfire, using a reflection of the ancient spell once used by Dragur to create and breath dragonfire into the earth. This spell can only be wielded by those who truly and faithfully follow Azdromoth. Mortals are incapable of understanding the higher knowledge required to perform such a spell through any other means. Alignment of purpose and spirit with a dragon is absolutely vital, and to lose such would be to lose the ability to use the spell. Not only is this alignment necessary for the Herald to achieve the correct state of mind, but without such alignment, it would be impossible for them to draw upon the aengudaemonic energies that are necessary for them to generate dragonfire. - The aforementioned aengudaemonic energies are ever present in the earth. It is believed that, when Dragur breathed part of himself into the earth to birth Azdromoth, he also created a fountain of energy within the foundation of the world, slumbering eternally until there was need of it. This fountain of energy grew as he continued to create the first dragaar, and has since been fostered by their eternally burning souls. The energy imbued within the earth is identical to the Heart of the World. - Both Heralds and Azdrazi are capable of calling upon this energy for knowledge and power, though Heralds are more adept at doing so. Being immortal, Azdrazi are less connected to the subtle powers of the mortal world, and find it difficult to conjure powers beyond their own. They find their strength in their personal stores of dragonfire. - The spell used by Heralds is called “Ateioth”, coming from High Draconic, the original language spoken by all dragonkin. The word’s meaning is difficult to translate, but it can be roughly translated as “To awaken/start/begin the holy privilege/authority”. Low Draconic refers to a handful of dialects originally conceived by draconic supplicants and their masters to facilitate communication. These languages had more in common with mortal languages than they did draconic ones, but were of great significance to the dragon worshipping tribes of yore. Low Draconic is not used in the practice of draconic magic. - High Draconic can only be spoken by those with dragonfire burning in their soul, as the language is spoken as much with the tongue as with one's flame. The flame allows communication through kinship, broadcasting thoughts and ideas to all those who can sense and interpret the influence of dragonfire. Where High Draconic requires dragonfire to be spoken and understood, Low Draconic has no such limitation. In modern times, it has been used as a stand in for High Draconic, but with the return of Azdromoth comes the return of High Draconic and the spells that can be sung with it. On Draconic Magic - The casting of any draconic spell by a Herald is broken into two distinct parts; the gathering of dragonfire into the correct areas for the spell to be performed, and the incantation of the spell's name, which sets off the spell and uses up the accumulated dragonfire. - It is implied that in the emotes leading up to this final incantation, the Herald is performing an important process called Ateioth. Ateioth is the ritual chanting of High Draconic, intended to excite one’s draconic powers and transform mana into dragonfire. The Herald will chant personal hymns that reflect important moments from their life that link to the nature of the spell they are performing. Hearthfire spells might draw upon memories of love and affection, where Madfire spells might draw upon moments of personal revelation or realization, such as cresting the final precipice to look down at the world from the top of a mountain, and finally understanding the size of the world. The creation of these personal hymns is integral to the study of draconic magic. - To give an example, imagine a herald casting Tahu’Tamn, a spell in the Madfire section. Tahu’Tamn takes 3 emotes to cast. Over the first 2 emotes, the Herald would chant to themselves, gathering fire into their heart and eyes, beginning to glow in the process (an obvious tell that magic is being cast as they make use of the Ateioth). Upon the 3rd emote, the Herald would then speak the name of the spell, Tahu’Tamn, and finally cast the spell. Its effects would then take place. As a Herald increases in tier, the number of portions of dragonfire that they can produce also increases: Tier 1: 2 Dragonfire, attained at 1 week (1 week) Tier 2: 4 Dragonfire, attained at 3 weeks (2 further weeks) Tier 3: 6 Dragonfire, attained at a month and 3 weeks (a further month) Tier 4: 8 Dragonfire, attained at 2 months and 3 weeks (a further month) Tier 5: 10 Dragonfire, attained at 5 months (a further 2 months and a week) On Azdrazi and Enrapturements - Azdrazi are the chosen knights of Azdromoth. Their name literally translates as “Of the First Dragon”, a name which for linguistic reasons is incredibly boastful. By becoming part of Azdromoth’s dragonflight, the Azdrazi gain the ability to use the holy Enrapturements, powerful spells that draw upon their masterful control of dragonfire. They are however, unable to cast the many draconic spells available to a Herald, and are also unable to share their dragonfire as a Herald can. Being dragons, they do not need to perform the Ateioth to generate dragonfire, and so can cast their spells more easily. - Having draconic souls, Azdrazi naturally harbors much more dragonfire than a Herald could ever produce. Where Heralds can only produce 10 dragonfire, Azdrazi can produce 15 dragonfire. On Redlines - Dragonfire cannot burn where regular fire would not burn. It will not burn underwater, for instance, or where there is no air to fuel the flames. - Some spells do burn hotter than regular fire, being capable of melting metal if said metal is left exposed to the spell. However, unless otherwise stated, dragonfire only ever burns as hot as regular fire. - Dragonfire’s anti-magic attributes are defined entirely by the cast spell. Herald’s cannot produce enough dragonfire to provide any meaningful protection from magic, as their spells describe, and even Azdrazi cannot bend the rules of dragonfire to lend increased protection to spells that do not otherwise specify this protection in their guidelines (unless, said bending is for event purposes, overseen by an ST). - Heralds give up all 5 slots to learn this magic, and cannot learn other magics as a result. They may, however, learn other feats which do not clash with the magic, such as Arcane Displacement, Animii Crafting or Golemancy. - Azdrazi are not capable of learning any other magics, including Kani. They may not be afflicted with a shade parasite, or an ‘afflicted parasite’, since their dragonfire would destroy said parasites before they could establish themselves within the Azdrazi’s soul. They may learn feats that do not clash with their draconic nature, such as Golemancy or Animii Crafting, since they are practices rather than magics in of themselves. - The areas to which an Azdrazi or a Herald channels their dragonfire will always glow before bursting into flames. The caster’s tell should always include mention of these areas glowing/becoming infused with energy. - To be clear, the areas to which the caster channels their dragonfire will also be used by the spell; for example, if the caster channels dragonfire to their hands, they will no doubt need free hands to then use that dragonfire. Thus, the caster should be mindful that the targeted areas are not being used for anything else whilst they are casting, as this can be considered powergaming. They should not be swinging a sword whilst casting a spell from their hands, for instance. On Dralachite and Dracanium - Dralachite is a black, slightly reddish ore that forms from the bone marrow of draconic skeletons. Thanks to the eternal nature of dragons and their close relationship with the mortal world, even in death, some portion of the dragon's soul essence remains trapped within the ore. Dralachite constantly whispers in High Draconic, speaking of that last battle, those final, glorious moments of life; or perhaps, the terrible, tragic betrayal that lead to an untimely death. - Dralachite is totally resistant to heat, just as dragons are. Therefore, dralachite is forged not with heat, but with will. It responds to High Draconic and dragonflame, slowly turning molten as hymns fill the air, and cinders fall upon it from the mouths of living dragonkin. The congealed blood that slumbers within the ore is brought back to life by the touch of flames once so familiar. As it is forged, one can literally see pools of dragon blood flowing within the molten steel, swirling and coagulating into a new form. The whispers slowly become louder and more coherent, singing songs of more than death, now recounting the long tale of a dragon's life. Once the ore’s blood has cooled and coagulated, binding together this new, red-black metal, it will have completed its transformation into dracanium. - Dracanium is slightly stronger than steel, and is quite resistant to general wear and tear. When touched, it is constantly warm with the dragonfire of this strange, second life. Dracanium is capable of slowly healing itself, just as a living body would. Small nicks or chunks will fill themselves in over time, the metals blood flowing into these spaces and cooling to fill the gaps. It is not, however, totally impervious to damage. This mending process takes place over months and years, and will not ever be noticeable in use. Should dracanium be broken significantly, it will suffer a kind of second death that renders it little more than regular steel. Even reforging will not be able to restore its draconic qualities, what little soul essence that was in it now having departed for the other side. - Dracanium arms and armour are receptive to dragonfire. A Herald or Azdrazi can spend dragonfire to set their equipment alight. Regular dracanium equipment burns hot enough to burn exposed flesh or start other fires, but little else. Burning dracanium equipment will not cause significant damage to other metallic items. Burning equipment will also provide minor protection from magic, but this protection is very, very little when compared to the Enrapturements contained within Starfire. The protection is likely to lessen the impact of spells, helping one to keep their balance and composure, but little else. - Depending on the kind of equipment that the Azdrazi or Herald is attempting to infuse, the amount of dragonfire they will have to spend increases: - Melee and ranged weapons, like swords, spears, bows and crossbows require 1 dragonfire - Minor pieces of armour, like gauntlets, grieves, and helmets also require 1 dragonfire - Larger pieces of armour, like a breast plate or chainmail require 2 dragonfire On Lexicons and their Rituals - Lexicons are sorcerous creations that take advantage of dracanium’s nature. Though not all lexicons are made specifically from dracanium, each and every one of them draws power from draconic soul essence. They are strange artefacts, for they represent both the sorrow of a dragon’s passing and the glory of their eternal duty. They are living creations with minds born again through magic. Lexicons are central to the mission of every dragon; to uphold the song of Creation for eternity, to convey the hope of the stars to all mortal kind, and to stand vigilant against the coming Darkness, even if every other soul should forget the name of their oldest, truest foe. They are as much stores of knowledge as they are instruments for the greatest forms of magic available to dragons. - Lexicons can only be forged by those with draconic souls. Only dragons have the ability to naturally intuit the powers of the Heart of the World, and since lexicons draw upon the powers of a deceased dragon, this ability is necessary for their creation. Lexicons are made by drawing the whole of a dragon's soul back into the dralachite it left behind in the mortal world and then forging that soul imbued dralachite into a particularly potent form of dracanium. Lexicons tend to be geometric in design, a physically made soul-blueprint to structure the normally fragile soul of a departed dragon. The lexicon cannot recount any of the dragon’s knowledge unless permitted by an ST and given IRP through an overseen event, since their mind is instead used for the storage of new knowledge rather than the story of an old life. Like other dracanium creations, breaking a lexicon expels the dragon’s soul. - A temple atop a tall mountain, hidden amongst the clouds, studying the movements of the stars for thousands upon thousands of years. A shrine nestled in the heart of an ancient forest, learning the hearts and minds of its denizens, studying the changes of the seasons and the movements of the forest creatures. A sanctuary at the foot of a volcano, a holy spot for villages all around, to which many a pilgrimage has been made to learn if the volcano is close to erupting. These are all possible uses of lexicons, for they are used to study the world over long periods of time, recording the history of the once they have been forged and tasked.

There is a dedicated culture subforum for this purpose. This should be over there. The only part that might be voted on is the ET part, and even then, lore for ET usage doesn’t need to be passed to be used so long as it isn’t way out there.

Fleshrunes, associated with the Doomforge – they were shelved some time ago.

What I’m querying with the Aspects is not that they now have some sway over them. What I’m querying is that Dresdrasil, a great and powerful daemon, is asking nicely for the Aspects to look after her children. If you’re a mother, totally enraptured with the thought of protecting your children, you never ask for anything. You make it happen, because these are your babies, and they will be treated well, they will be looked after. EDIT: And on top of that, surely, being amongst them in the waters herself, she has no good reason to ask the Aspects for anything? What need has she of the Aspects help? She is with her children. She is all the protection they could ever need. You can use whatever would help you, of course.

The realm you have created for her is a city. Why does she live in a city, the antithesis of all that is beastial, all that is natural? What fish, live in cities? Surely it should be a massive coral reef or a light devouring ocean trench? Two of the images you give of her, are human. Only one is of her beastial form. Firstly, surely her beastial form should be at the top – she is the mother of sealife. That is her prime domain, her prime focus. Secondly, why does she have a human form at all? What possible reason could she have to care about a mortal following? When the original Sea Witch lore was written, it was Nerea who reached out to Men, not Dresdrasil herself. I am aware that Nerea is a result of Dresdrasil’s meddling with Men, but, she is the only one. “A brief but impassioned love”. Whatever happened between her and that elf man, Dresdrasil did not deem to stay. Dresdrasil is followed by her sea-dwelling children. There is no reason for her to have any interest in Men, or perhaps more specifically, any more interest in them now. She’s had her dalliances with them. You even talk about her being ‘bored’, that being the main reason for her falling into the mortal plane. She is a timeless entity. A goddess. Why is she ‘bored’? Surely, she is fervently interested in being with her children. Surely, she is driven totally mad by some inescapable desire to be here, in the seas. Deciding to fall because “you’re bored” is just... so human. So unimportant. Why is she “asking” the Aspects to look after her children? You don’t ask others nicely to look after what you believe to be the most important thing in the world, perhaps even the truth of all the world. You tell them to, you command them to, because if you don’t – you’re a DAEMON, you show up, and you pass divine judgement on these fools for not finding importance in what your entire existence is about.

Our argument is not that what you have created is illogical or wrong. Sure, you can take Dresdrasil, and through writing up more background for her you can finangle her into just about any hole you want. Just as you can with any deity. Neither my nor Dingo’s criticism was that you’ve created something that doesn’t make sense – it’s just that what you’ve created, isn’t really the original vision for Dresdrasil. In fact, it’s so far outside of what was intended for her, that it may as well not be her at all. You have, as Dingo said, humanised her, when she was never intended to be human.

Dresdrasil was considered to have filled the sea’s with life when she was created, certainly by the lore writer. There is no reason that patron Mani could not have come along later to shepherd and protect these many species. But that’s besides the point, all I mean to say is that certainly when Dresdrasil was written, she was considered to be the creator of all sea-life. What is done with this information, I really don’t mind, but that was the original intention.

Whilst the deity post itself may have been short, Dresdrasil had a place in the mad machinations of Xionism. She was a symbol of something other than this, which Dingo puts perfectly. She is not meant to be this cookie-cutter sea goddess. If this was some new deity, I wouldn’t have an issue, but this treads on the age old problem of taking someone else’s work and turning it into something it’s not. You either have to respect the source material, or leave other people’s work well enough alone.

Adding onto the above, you could honestly build on this to create a whole slew of body modification/enhancement stuff if you were working it into a full on rewrite. Might be a better idea.

I think it's just the association with it being more durable than gold, so it is assumed that it is more iron than gold. Otherwise you'd expect it to still be fairly soft. What part do you not like in particular, if anything? Is there anything I could do to improve it in your eyes? The idea is for it to be minor and fairly inoffensive, and just to provide some extra flavour for pure smiths who aren't inclined to do magic alongside their smith work. It hearkens back to Tolkiens 'lore' concept, in that elves simply saw magic as a higher understanding of the world. In the same way, this is simply very advanced smithing that creates minor supernatural effects through physical work alone. The point is really to offer an approach to smithing that is mystical, spiritual and supernatural without asking a character to delve into what might be considered eldritch or arcane. Great smiths can aspire to great things through progressing their smithing alone and becoming true masters, without having to rely upon the Void or other more arcane sources of power. And as such, this power is much less than a true magician might be able to offer, but the theme it provides is unique when compared with the again, very pseudo-scientific magic that we currently have.

Yeah I'd agree with you there @Medvekoma, seems like the best route to take. Thanks @Karimir.

Got you, that's probably a good idea! Aaaaaah, I thought magegold had some extra tacked on bits. I did read the gold/magegold lore recently, must have gotten the two muddled up in my head. I could've sworn I remembered regular gold having more than just anti-spook properties. That's fine then, I'll likely make it something like magegold + iron or magegold + silver. Leaning on making it magegold + silver to steer way clear of slayer steel. Don't know which you think would be better?

Gold is known to be a particularly good metal when it comes to storing mana, and necromancers have used it to store life force for a very long time. Slayer steel may not inherit these properties simply because there isn't enough gold in it for it to inherit the more complex magical properties of gold. If Heartsteel is more parts gold than iron when compared with slayer steel, then it would also hold that it inherits more of the capacity to store supernatural energies. However, if you'd prefer, I'm happy to change the lore and make Heartsteel an alloy of gold and silver to prevent any possible confusion with slayer steel. This alloy would be different from electrum, in that electrum has trace amounts of copper amongst other things, which Heartsteel would not. Probably change the name too. I would point out that when it comes to alloys, the composition of the metal in terms of ratios really does make a very large difference in the resulting alloy.

They have a fuel source! Heartsteel stores starlight, which is used to power the effects. Since the stars are supposedly dead aengudaemons by current lore, and aengudaemonic power has been shown to do all of the above things, then that light when woven through Starsteel (which programs that light) can achieve these effects. They are also limited in use, and require time under starlight to be able to regain their charge.

Oh right, yeeeeeah. Gosh I should've thought of that. Well, I'll go and come up with an explanation. Probably something along the lines of there being different quantities of gold. In the same way that different carbon steels have different properties, perhaps this is more gold than slayer steel is gold. I made it such a big deal because I'm very aware of how many people have trouble with mental magic right now, and I wanted to express just how on board I was with the general consensus that mental manipulation should be controlled. Maybe I went a bit too negative, but I just wanted to show agreement with how most people are thinking. Reference the above! Runesmithing as of right now could mimic the ability to produce light from this, and a hammer with runes designed to shape metal and produce fire could likely achieve what a Starhammer can do, and quite likely runes of reinforcement could make more durable weapons and armour, etc. Runesmithing is very specifically designed to work with the elements, and wouldn't produce quite the same effects as above. Likewise, enchanting works with Void magic, and Void magic effects in terms of the elements/transmutation/illusion can't achieve exactly what this achieves. As I have noted in the post, they can do a lot more than this can - this is intended to provide something smaller, simpler, and more specific. My best example of this is the Knot of Wayfarers, which works specifically when travelling. It's much more folklore based, much more traditional fantasy than the more scientific creations of other current magics on the server. I can only say that yes, a lot of this can be achieved with other magics, but this does it in another, interesting flavourful way. If we are once more of the opinion that 'only one magic/supernatural ability should be able to do x thing', then I have no argument that can counter your own. It's just a matter of opinion really.

Star Forging The light of the stars fills the heavens each night. Thousands of eyes gaze up at them in wonder, and thousands more are given hope by the glittering candle flames that ward away absolute darkness. The image of the stars has inspired many a descendant to undertake great deeds, becoming paragons of virtue and justice. Through tireless work, a certain smith has discovered how one might tame the divine light of the heavens and build from it a variety of charms and strange spells. Star Forging relies on the use of two precious alloys named ‘Starsteel’ and ‘Heartsilver’ respectively. Heartsilver is forged from arcarum and silver, and acts as the heart of all Star Forged relics. The glittering cores forged from this alloy accept and store starlight from the heavens whilst left beneath the sky on a starlit night. One night is normally enough to completely fill a core. All star forged relics require starlight to function. If a gemstone is inlaid into a core, it can slightly increase the amount of starlight it can store. Diamonds are generally considered the best gem for this. Starsteel can be pulled into thin wires that act as conduits for starlight to pass through. By twisting these wires into complex knots, Starsmiths can create a variety of supernatural effects. In summary, if the Heartsilver core is the hard drive on which the program is stored, the Starsteel wires describe the program itself. Star Forged relics come in two different varieties. Wards are relatively large medallions, created from a core practically encased in Starsteel wires. These items provide passive effects that can protect the user from a variety of misfortunes. Knots are more complex creations that are woven into larger pieces of equipment or clothing. These are known to possess immediate and useful effects that can be commanded by the wielder. It should be noted that this distinction is informal, and some Knots can possess Ward-like capabilities, and vice versa. The only true distinction is found in the fact that Wards are made from cores encased in knotted Starsteel wires, and Knots are made from items given cores and Knots to provide them with special properties. All Wards and Knots can run out of light if put under serious stress, and either way, will need to be recharged with starlight at least once an IC year. Ward Against Darkness - should the light level drop particularly low, the medallion will begin emitting a bright light that illuminates the space up to fifty feet around the wearer. High level versions of this Ward cause terror in ghosts/shades/daeva/spectral entities, and can lessen the impact of supernatural darkness slightly. Ward Against Cold - should the wearer begin to shiver with cold, the medallion will shroud them in a veil of warm, fire-like light that warms them and protects them from further cold. High level versions of this Ward allow the wearer to ignite nearby fuel sources and cause images to appear in flames. Ward Against Fear - should the wearer begin to feel fear, the medallion will begin to glow and fill the eyes of the caster with silvery sparks. This will dull whatever fear they may be feeling and prevent that fear from growing any further. High level versions of this Ward can help in forming mental wards, and protect all those who touch the wearer. Ward Against Fatigue - should the wearer begin to tire from physical strain, the medallion will fill their veins with a subtle, silvery glow. This light will prevent the fatigue from growing and will slowly reduce whatever fatigue might currently be felt. High level versions of this Ward can lessen the need for sleep, food and water. Ward Against Forgetfulness - the wearer will be capable of recalling even distant memories. When the medallion is in use, the users hair will glow subtly with starlight, causing their hair to move subtly as if a breeze was blowing past them. High level versions of this Ward can prevent the loss of memories through supernatural or physical means, and can allow the wearer to show memories to others by touching their forehead. Knot of Regrowth - should the item into which this Knot is woven be left in starlight, the item will begin to fill with light that pours out of the Knot and mends any damage that might have been done to the item. High level versions of this Knot will increase the speed at which the item can repair itself, and will even allow starlight to improve upon the durability of the item beyond what might have been present when it was first forged. Knot of Endurance - items forged with this knot are resistant to general wear and tear, and are slightly stronger than normal, capable of withstanding more significant trauma. High level versions of this Knot are even more durable and stronger still. Knot of Sympathy - should the wearer touch the item to the forehead of a willing individual, they would be able to at first dull, and then cause a memory to fade entirely from the target. This memory is stored instead in the mind of the wearer. High level versions of this Knot can accept more varied, complex and troublesome memories. This is intended to be used to take on unwanted or painful memories - the target MUST be willing. Knot of Wayfarers - changes depending upon the item into which the Knot is woven. Boots - the wearer finds that they have particularly sure footing when travelling in precarious country. Cowl/hood/helmet - the wearer finds that their vision is no longer impaired by lashing rain, lightning strikes or otherwise. The wearer can see clearly no matter the weather. Cloak/coat - the wearer finds that they can walk easily through even troublesome winds, and do not tire as quickly from having to contend with a squall. Starhammers are intriguing star forged creations that are bound to the soul of a smith. When wielded, they are able to burn with a silver flame that heats and allows the wielder to influence metal with their will. As they strike a particular piece of metal, their thoughts will be able to direct and mold the metal in a very subtle, slow way. This can increase the quality of smithed items, providing extra durability, sharpness, etc. Just as other star forged items must be left beneath starlight to recharge, these hammers must also be allowed to bathe in celestial light to maintain their powers. Starhearts are star forged items with meteorite-steel hearts encased in the usual Heartsilver. They are somewhere between half a meter and a meter in diameter, and appear as glowing orbs that warm the area around them with a gentle light. Spending time near one of these hearts will lull a soul into a thoughtful but keenly aware trance. Each of their thoughts will be clear and easy to comprehend, and a soul will find that negative thoughts and emotions seem to trouble them less. Whilst the trance-like state can only be achieved whilst near one of these hearts, the suppression of negative emotions can become semi-permanent so long as a soul regularly spends time near a Starheart. Starhearts also ward away ghosts and other spectral entities who dislike bright light. Finally, Starhearts can recharge star forged items day or night, though do so no quicker than the stars above. This light can also be woven into an item as it is being forged should the Starheart be nearby, filling it as it is made. Redlines: These items do not protect the wearer as well as more complex magic could. Always bear in mind that whilst their stores of starlight are quite large, and they can last a long time when put under relatively little stress, they can very easily expend all their light if they are used to contend with a powerful threat. Wards that protect against mental effects will crumble relatively quickly against sustained mental magic or illusory magic, wards against cold will quickly break against magically inflicted cold, etc, etc. These are not intended to provide immunity to any serious attack. They are meant to provide subtle, interesting effects when travelling, dealing with other characters in social roleplay, etc. With reference to the above two - be reasonable. These items are not particularly powerful. They are intended for PASSIVE use. If you want powerful combat items look elsewhere. If you try to steal peoples memories with the Knot of Empathy by tricking them or something, you’re scum. DO NOT. I don’t care what reasoning you have. Thus, when you attempt to use this Knot, you must make the target OOC’ly aware of EXACTLY what is going to happen. If you don’t, you get blacklisted. The Ward Against Fatigue will not protect a descendant from significant physical stress, like open combat, lifting very heavy objects and sprinting. It will only protect against low-level, prolonged fatigue, like general farm work, walking, horse-riding and the like. Acting as if the Ward prevents all physical fatigue is incorrect. The Ward Against Fear only helps in forming a mental barrier. It does not magically protect you from mental magic like a transfiguration ward would, it simply gives the wearer a little help when forming their barrier. This barrier is no stronger than a regular mental barrier. All this Ward does, is help someone who might be less than well practiced form a barrier. They must already know how to do this by themselves. The Ward Against Cold is comparable to household magic in its capacity to light fuel sources. It cannot do so in open combat, nor can it be used to light living creatures. The Ward may only be used to light bonfires, hearth-fires, torches, readily cut logs - items that are obviously meant to be burnt. Starhammers cannot be used to manipulate metal in combat, as the process is too slow. The ward against spectral entities, for both the Starheart and the Ward Against Darkness, only causes fear, unease and perhaps a little mental or physical pain - nothing more than a dull ache. They will not forbade an entity from entering a particular area, nor will these entities be immediately pointed out by the light cast by the item. Attempting to identify a spectral entity through one of these items is considered metagaming. A Heartsilver core can easily expend all of its charge in a day of use. These cores will require charging under starlight at least once an IC year if not used at all, and can need charging once a night if in constant use. Star Forging requires a Feat MA to be practised, and thus must be taught. Star Forging is still basically, just smithing. A smith should already be somewhat experienced before they begin learning this. In addition to the above, since this skill is really just a skill and has no complex magical component, characters of 10 or older may learn the art, rather than just the normal 16. Characters that begin learning at 10 will progress very slowly until they reach age 16. (This one is entirely up for discussion. I’m honestly just interested in letting young smith apprentices have a go at this and make some Wards as they progress under whoever their smith master might be. If the community/LT would really prefer that it remain up at 16 thanks to being kinda semi-magical, I’m totally on-board with that and can understand why.) Afterword: This is intended to provide some simple, non-combat focus, heavily roleplay focused smithing roleplay. Yes, it is somewhat supernatural, but the intent is to recreate some of the folklore smith-vibe. Becoming a smith so great that your works have some supernatural properties. Whilst on LOTC that might be magic, the actual roleplay that has to be done is purely smithing focused. There’s no waving your hands, no incantations, just a little extra sparkle on top of your smithing roleplay and some fun, flavourful charms. On the topic of progression, there’s nothing super strict in regards to when you’d be capable of smithing the ‘higher level’ stuff. Your teacher would just have to decide when you were ready to move on, which would all be based on the amount of smithing roleplay you’ve done, the quality of that roleplay, etc. At the slowest, I suppose the standard 3 - 4 months is reasonable. I’m very open to suggestions, feedback, etc, so feel free to PM me or leave a post for me to take a gander at. All of this is designed to help fill the smithing niche that people have been interested in whilst also providing a little fantasy flair, so anything that fits into that general guideline in terms of additions is welcomed. It is also worth noting that this is the fastest I have ever written a piece of lore. Others have taken me weeks, even months. This idea just kind of stewed in my head and then I wrote it down, today. Thus I may well have missed something (though my helper tells me I haven’t), so if you come across something that seems to have an obvious problem, let me know. I guarantee it was unintentional. On the plus side, this is the shortest and most concise piece of lore I’ve written! Hurray! No 8000 word long walls of text! And as always, thank you for reading!

From what I've gathered, it's a purely aesthetic, totally optional addition to your magic. An extra flair with no practical benefit. You're not forced to use it, and using it offers nothing but style points. Thus why this should be a roleplay post.

You could probably reverse a dead body, yeah. Just to make it look a little less decomposed, but sure.

(Not really emotes but, shorten it, cut out the flavour, do it over a couple of hours with other people chiming in, etc, etc. It's a taste anyway.) The sun had risen perhaps an hour ago. Sunlight poured into the room like golden syrup. It spilt over the floor. It rose in waves on the walls. The lens, glistened with the light that ran round and around its many faces, shimmering across edge after edge. He watched this with infinite fascination. He saw each flickering yellow streak as a pathway. A choice. A knot in the pattern of destiny. His eyes fluttered closed, punctuated by a long exhale. His lungs emptied themselves into the room, before his lips welcomed the air once again. The rhythm cleared his mind of clutter. Little by little he was reduced to the nothingness he sought. Light shimmered on his hands as they melted away. Slowly but surely, skin became crystal, bone became glass. The lens continued to glitter with sunlight that filtered into now spectral fingers. He felt his legs lighten, felt them melt away. Beneath the boots, beneath the robes, his footing on reality ebbed and faded to nothing. The light filtered into his heart as his skin turned to amethyst, revealing the organ within for a split second before it too, faded into that ghost-like image. His flaxen hair faded to tubes of glowing gold as the sunlight refracted through them. His eyes were reduced to dead portholes, devoid of their spark. Raising the lens, he focused his numb mind upon the task. Feeling it rise and fall, rise and fall within him. The waters on the shoreline. Seeing the- There was a tower. A township. A child marveled at the silhouette that stood in the sunlight, the eyes that peered in at the world. Then - forest. This world was filled with the sound of birds. Something huge flew overhead, crashing into the westward forest. Another sun poured through the lens, closer than he expected. Warmer. The lens was warm in his hands. Then, stepping rightward through the paths of probability, a road travelling northward. A merchant looked up from his stall, mouth agape at the figure that stood in the sunlight, before it moved on. Before the lens ripped him away. Rightward again, another road that traveled eastward. A dwarf stood over the corpse of his kinsmen. Claw marks scarred the flesh of the corpse. A wolf lay dead in the sunlight, flies writhing in every arrow wound. The dwarf saw the death-god who had come to spirit the soul of his brother away, just for a split second. Glass in the sunlight. Then- The chronomancer recoiled from the lens, flinging it across the room. A world without stars. A world, of tentacle, fang, and hate. Another apocalypse. Another world where things had taken a turn for the worse. A tear rolled down a cheek that once more became mortal. Too many unfortunate ends. Much, much too many.

Suspension requires a lengthy ritual, and thus cannot be used in combat. Freezing things in place during combat would indeed make for a poor magic. If something is found that is frozen in place, lodestones were created specifically so that anyone can unfreeze them by breaking the lodestone, which literally just requires being dropped. If people find a way to circumvent a red line, something that you are not allowed to circumvent, they should be magic blacklisted. If an addition is written that allows these things to be used in combat, it should be denied. Again, you're criticizing something that hasn't been written. I agree with you, one hundred percent, that any of these abilities used in combat would be much too much. Thus, they each take progressively more emotes to even begin casting, and require that you can move easily and carefully to draw your chronomantic marks (which were made with the express purpose of stopping people from using the magic in combat since they are so precise, disallowing any kind of roleplay loophole). If an addition is written that allows this to be used in combat, deny it.