[X] Head for an outpost. One of the trading outposts isn't too far from here, and better yet, it's in a southwest direction. If you hurry you might make it in time before the storm catches up…you think.
[X] Read the second half of Magical Primer (Elstead).
[X] Read about the Izolak.
No need to make a plan when we dont know what we have to work with.
[X] Head for an outpost. One of the trading outposts isn't too far from here, and better yet, it's in a southwest direction. If you hurry you might make it in time before the storm catches up…you think.
[X] Make Plans. You've kind of been following the path that was laid out for you…maybe you should fix that. (If this is chosen, I will provide more detail about the state of the world in general, and call for a vote on long term plans and goals.)
[X] Make Camp here. Your tent is probably rated for weather like this, and you really want to finish this book! (Upon examining the tent, you find a note: "Usually there's a machine to pack this back up, but it would just break down on you. But hey, maybe you could do it with magic?") (Pick one additional Camp Action)
[X] Seek Shelter. Maybe you could find a cave in those hills over to the northeast? Sure you'd be walking towards the storm, but a good cave would provide the best protection you'll find around here.
Theory: King Avon is surely a mage himself, and breaks the laws of physics to ensure Elstead is possible. Other mages by their existence contest his alternative physics, and so unfortunately must be kicked out.
Theory: King Avon is surely a mage himself, and breaks the laws of physics to ensure Elstead is possible. Other mages by their existence contest his alternative physics, and so unfortunately must be kicked out.
I can't tell you how awesome it is to have someone theorizing about this story! As for this, I won't comment except to clarify that King Avon is dead and has been for centuries.
Interestingly for Elstead, it really does need it's isolation. If a hostile mage (or mages) waltzed in, military technology would fail in addition to societal collapse happening. It's a lot more fragile that it looks.
e: Although it seems that some technology works in the presence of a mage. Probably depends on how delicate they are.
Winning Vote
[X] Head for an outpost
[X] Read the second half of Magical Primer (Elstead)
[X] Read about the Izolak
Although you spend a few moments considering your options, you decide against gambling on finding a cave in those hills to the north, and you're not entirely confident that your tent will provide sufficient protection.
The only logical option then, is to seek shelter at the trading outpost.
Packing your things up as quickly as you can, you orient yourself using a compass and the map, then set off in what you hope to be the right direction. The rocky terrain is fairly flat, but there's enough variation that you can't see the outpost from your outcropping, and those clouds have already moved an alarming amount closer in the sky.
Your quick pace is tiring. You've always been fit, but you were never a long distance runner, and you expect you'll be making large improvements to your stamina in coming weeks. Still, despite your racing heartbeat, you keep up the pace. You don't want to die in the first blizzard to cross your path, you haven't even gotten to use any magic yet.
The temperature continues to drop, and you're beginning to feel cold even in your warm weather clothes when you top a hill and spot the outpost. You know it's the right one, because there's a massive sign over it.
Elstead Trading Post
Unfortunately, it's some distance away, and that's when the storm hits.
Trying to find your footing down a rocky hill while the snow hides it from view, whilst also making everything slippery is less than ideal. By the time you reach the bottom, you can't even see the outpost anymore, and everything around you is covered in white.
It's really quite beautiful, and despite the fact that you've seen snow before (usually through a window) you almost want to stop and stare at it all for a while.
But you realize that the longer this goes on the harder it's going to get to see, so you set off on a jog in the direction you think the outpost was in.
"…the wrong way…"
You slow for a moment. You hadn't even realized it but the storm brought with it some howling winds that have been filling your ears slowly over the last twenty minutes. But that almost sounded like someone was calling for you…
"…over here…"
You definitely heard someone that time, and as you glance off to your left, the falling curtains of snow part in such a way that you just barely spot the outpost, before it vanishes once more into the blizzard. You blanch for a moment as you realize you were running to your death, before reorienting yourself and heading towards the outpost.
There's a few heart pounding moments where you're sure you've missed it, nothing but the white snow and howling winds all about you, but then there's a large shadow looming right before you, and the outpost is in view.
Making your way to the entrance, which is closed tight against the weather, you pound it with your fist, shouting to be heard over the wind.
"Open up!"
After a good thirty seconds the door slides open to the left, and you find yourself face to face with a man who looks like he's eaten something sour.
"Get in." He curtly demands with a jerk of his head. After you rush to obey, he closes the door behind you, then storms off while shaking his head.
The room you've just entered looks something like a bar from one of those films your brother loved to watch. the ones with guns and horses. It's all made of wood, with a bar lining the back wall, and tables and chairs filling the rest of the room. The lighting flickers like it comes from candles or oil lamps, and there's a dusty, quiet feeling to the atmosphere.
Although perhaps that's just the sudden absence of the wind.
"Hello there." A friendly voice calls from somewhere to your left. You glance over to take in the smiling face of a dwarf. "Sorry about him. His relief is two days late, you see."
"His relief?" You repeat.
"Yeah," the dwarf nods. "And he's been out here nine whole months, can you believe it? It's enough to get any man's ire up." He shakes his head, then seems to realize you're covered in snow. "Sorry, where are my manners. Come in, come in. Take a seat by the fire over there."
The dwarf points you over to one of the two fire places burning away in the corners of the room. You head for the one indicated, even as you notice a man dressed in heavy furs nursing some kind of drink over by the other one. Other than the three of you, and mister sour face, the room is completely empty.
The dwarf takes your pack from you so smoothly that you hardly think to protest before he sets it down next to your intended seat. Shaking the snow off your head even as you take off your coat, you settle into the seat and think back to that voice you heard in the storm.
"Were you the one who called me over here then?" You ask him. The dwarf gives you a confused look.
"I'm sorry?"
"Out there," You gesture towards the blizzard. "I thought I heard someone calling out to me."
"Well it can't have been me." The dwarf replies. "I was closing all the upstairs windows. It might have been Fin. I can ask him if you like…" He trails off as he looks to the sour man who answered the door. By now the man seems to have settled himself by the counter, nursing what looks like a fine bottle of wine.
"No, that's alright." You stop him. "It doesn't matter."
"Right then." The dwarf nods. "I'm Perry by the way. Can I get you something to eat?"
"That would be fantastic," You respond with a smile. "and my name's Elric."
It's not long after this that Perry promises you a warm meal and drinks, then retreats to finish off whatever it is he was doing before you showed up. Since neither of the other two occupants of the room seem inclined to acknowledge your presence anytime soon, and it's still only the middle of the day, you pull out your books to do a little more reading. Starting with your sister's collected research on magic.
You managed to skim through the essays in the first half of the book before you were so rudely interrupted by the weather, so you open up the book to the second half, which seems to consist of anecdotes recorded by and about the "test subjects", or your predecessors in magic.
Apparently, every mage discovered their magic in response to some kind of need. One mage was trapped under an avalanche while he was out skiing. Turning all the snow above him into water got him out of that quite nicely, although a bit soggily. Another mage halted a falling air-car midair. Another one was really, really, late: until he found himself exactly where he needed to be.
The point being that every mage who came to the researchers seemed to be able to do completely different things (at least at first), and the researchers had spent half their time trying to classify the magic they saw into various categories.
Your sister helpfully organized the data this way too.
So now you had a decision to make. Did you want to focus your studies on any particular kind of magic? You could of course focus your efforts on any number of categories, but there was no telling how soon you might need to be able to defend yourself. Hell, you're fairly sure you could have walked through that blizzard without a care in the world, if you had already known the magic necessary to do so.
So how do you approach this? (We're going to do Plan voting for this, for reasons that shall soon become obvious.)
[ ] Survivalist. You're going to pick and choose magic that might help you to survive the frozen wastes and any hostile animals or people you encounter out there. (It would be best to suggest what type of magic you think would suit this approach. Use your imagination! ) (Pick anywhere from 1-7 Classes.)
[ ] Specialist. You'll probably be best served by digging in to one or two classes and finding out what they can really do. Once you've got a little more experience and a safer place to stay, then you'll find the time to dig in to the others. (Pick 1-3 Classes to focus on.)
[X] Generalist. You don't want to overlook anything useful, so you'll start off with a little bit of everything. Later on you can decide to specialize if something catches your interest. (Studies all Classes before we vote on this again…or something forces our hand. Whichever comes first.)
[ ] Mixture. That one story really caught your eye, but you don't want to neglect the others. You'll split your time between it and all the other classes fifty-fifty. (Pick one class to specialize in, be generalist in all the others.)
[ ] Write-in. You may have something else in mind…
Classes of Magic
Conjuration - Almost every mage has displayed the ability to conjure fire. Several of them also displayed the ability to conjure water, rocks, lightning, force fields, light, and even moving images and audio. The inexplicable creation of mass ex nihilo drove a bunch of scientists up the wall until the mages revealed the existence of mana.
Enchantment - All attempts to make technology work with magic failed, but one of the mages accidentally discovered that he could imbue an object with a magical effect. Creating a stick that threw lightning bolts was pretty popular, but it seemed to run out of juice very quickly, and the experiment was abandoned. Perhaps you could find another use for this…
Transfiguration - Aside from conjuration, the second most common magic involved transforming matter that already existed into something else. Lead to gold was ridiculously popular, and of course, there was that man who escaped the avalanche.
Summoning - One of the most peculiar mages appeared to have created a magical pet. The floating blue ball of fire was capable of independent action while the mage was sleeping, as well as capable of passing information to him from a separate chamber. Unfortunately, this particular mage was rather tight-lipped, and soon vanished from the test facilities.
Banishment - The seeming opposite of conjuration. Mages displayed the ability to put out fires, vanish large rocks, and vanish other mass into seeming thin air. At first, confused with transfiguration, the scientists were eventually able to confirm that there is a difference. Where this mass goes, is anyone's guess.
Healing - Although several mages claimed to be able to heal, and one volunteer even demonstrated using carefully controlled self-inflicted wounds, none were ever able to heal non-magical volunteers with light injuries. The phenomena was considered unimportant, due to the vast advances in medical technology that rendered the question moot.
Esoterica - Despite all efforts, the researchers ultimately were forced to admit that some magic defied classification. The man who teleported. The woman who made herself understood in a different language. The mage who turned himself insubstantial. None of these made any sense, nor could they. Reading about this topic actually reminds you of your own first experience of magic…that time when you had felt everything slow down around you. You had thought it was just your imagination, but perhaps…
A/N: I intended to get through both books during this update, but as you can see, the magic vote is rather a big one. Next update we'll interact more with the occupants of the trade outpost, learn more about the Izolak, and then finally hold a vote on some new stuff. Let me know how the pacing feels. I love feedback.
Regarding the dwarf: yes, there are other fantasy races in this world. They haven't come up yet because; Doylistically I hadn't decided yet, and Watsonianly there's no racism to speak of in Elstead. I'm sorry if you wish you were something other than human, but I can assure you that it won't make a difference moving forward.
[X] Generalist. You don't want to overlook anything useful, so you'll start off with a little bit of everything. Later on you can decide to specialize if something catches your interest. (Studies all Classes before we vote on this again…or something forces our hand. Whichever comes first.)
Interestingly for Elstead, it really does need it's isolation. If a hostile mage (or mages) waltzed in, military technology would fail in addition to societal collapse happening. It's a lot more fragile that it looks.
e: Although it seems that some technology works in the presence of a mage. Probably depends on how delicate they are.
Elstead is well aware of this. Luckily for them, mages are not quite common or powerful enough to swamp the defenses they've built up, especially not since they've been prepared with this in mind.
That being said, it's been a long time since anyone made the attempt...
[X] Specialist. You'll probably be best served by digging in to one or two classes and finding out what they can really do. Once you've got a little more experience and a safer place to stay, then you'll find the time to dig in to the others. (Pick 1-3 Classes to focus on.)
-[X] Enchantment
I'm thinking Conjuration first, as it has the most broad and obvious applications - Although Summoning's ability to do protect us while we are sleeping is also very useful (especially if we go survivalist). Enchantment is excellent if we decide to stay here, and okay if we leave. Healing is a prevent-bad-things school, which we should try to learn at least the basics of, although the more advanced bits probably aren't needed. Banishment doesn't seem nowhere as useful as Conjuration, and Esoterica is Esoterica. And our Esoterica seems to be time control.
I probably could have structured this vote better, so to clarify, please mark which one-to-three classes you are suggesting. Something like this should do:
Healing - Although several mages claimed to be able to heal, and one volunteer even demonstrated using carefully controlled self-inflicted wounds, none were ever able to heal non-magical volunteers with light injuries. The phenomena was considered unimportant, due to the vast advances in medical technology that rendered the question moot.
Focusing heavily on one type of magic will let us reach the high levels of that magic much quicker. Using half of our effort on specialising in a single area will make us quite powerful with that magic.
( I've pick Conjuration because it seems more immediately useful, but am willing to change)
But some situations will better suit other forms of magic, so spending half our effort on being a generalist appears valuable.
[X] Generalist. You don't want to overlook anything useful, so you'll start off with a little bit of everything. Later on you can decide to specialize if something catches your interest. (Studies all Classes before we vote on this again…or something forces our hand. Whichever comes first.)
its already been stated that mana cost is relative to all people. Maybe this way, we can see which schools we have affinity towards.
[X] Generalist. You don't want to overlook anything useful, so you'll start off with a little bit of everything. Later on you can decide to specialize if something catches your interest. (Studies all Classes before we vote on this again…or something forces our hand. Whichever comes first.)
[X] Survivalist. You're going to pick and choose magic that might help you to survive the frozen wastes and any hostile animals or people you encounter out there. (It would be best to suggest what type of magic you think would suit this approach. Use your imagination! ) (Pick anywhere from 1-7 Classes.)
-[X] Conjuration - for self-defense & hunting
-[X] Enchantment - for basic amenities, everyday conveniences and the time when your resources from elstead run dry
-[X] Transfiguration - for surviving, manipulating and mastering the environment as well as the acquisition of resources
Mostly in order to to survive the environment we are in, without having to rely on somebody else, which should be our first priority, given the inherit every day dangers we will face
That way we can avoid hopefully some worst case scenario's
Once we have taken care of that I wouldn't be against doing the generalist in order to find out what we are good at
However first we should ensure that we are fit to survive this white hell
[X] Generalist. You don't want to overlook anything useful, so you'll start off with a little bit of everything. Later on you can decide to specialize if something catches your interest. (Studies all Classes before we vote on this again…or something forces our hand. Whichever comes first.)
Alright, I'm closing the vote. It appears that Generalist is the winner.
Unfortunately, I'm not going to be available to write the next post for a little while, as my schedule today and tomorrow are packed. I think I should be able to have something out in 36 hours, but definitely not before then. So, in order to make use of this time, I want to ask for a vote on something I'm sure will interest you:
Given that we'll be taking the generalist approach, you'll get to see where the character's talents lie. I'm not at the moment committed to anything so I'd like your input. What do you think you should be good at? What do you want to be good at?
I'm not going to commit to anything yet, as I'd rather make decisions based on what will make a good story/how the worldbuilding works, but there's always a little wiggle room in there for the audience. Tell me what you'd be interested in seeing, think would be cool, think would make sense, or just plain want to see happen. Who knows? You just might get to.
) (Pick anywhere from 1-7 Classes.)
