Archmage_Bael's Library of Ideas

Yes I agree ^_^

So I have the general idea for this type of magic, but I was unsure how to word it, so I just started writing.
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Conditional Magic

The idea behind this is 'sacrificing one benefit for another'. Someone backed against a wall facing many enemies can sacrifice speed for strength. The person will find it physically demanding to move at all, but their ability to pick things up, the force of which they swing a sword will be amplified. On many instances, even strategically speaking this idea can be utilized, but it wont happen on such a natural or innate level as conditional magic. The origins for the ability to use this style of magic are unclear, but it can be vaguely related to several other fields.

There are two ways to access this ability; one way would be to use one's innate magic, ley magic, or even thaumaturgical magic (for demon-influenced magic could amplify it's potency). In this way one would access their "abilities" and simply choose one to sacrifice, and one to amplify. The other way is the considered the more true way to use Conditional Magic. The caster would search within them-self, and find the core of their abilities, and essentially use it like a power source and "power it down" and use the extra energy gained to fuel the effects, all this magic happens within the core of the caster's own body, being its own internal source except for an external one. This magic will react favorably to those who would go to great lengths to sacrifice their abilities and even possibly permanently harming their own bodies with an intense surge of magical power focused on strength, speed, magical efficiency, or even a feeling, like the ability to resist hunger. The greater the sacrifice, the stronger the enhanced ability becomes. Note: sacrificing your life wont let you gain immortality.

To study this magic, one needs to understand the flow of life in Felarya, the direction it goes, like a river that starts at the top of a mountain, going down a waterfall, through a river out into the sea. Or life and death, how one decision affects another. Understanding these flows make it much easier to channel this type of magic. Contrary to Primordial Magic, the caster is not focusing on threads of magic weaving throughout Felarya, but the flow of the land, its energies, even down to the core of your own body, and then using your own body as the power source to sacrifice something within yourself, and amplifying another ability, or possibly feeling.
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I know it may still sound like it's Primoridal Magic, but its really not. It doesn't focus on pre-existing threads. You can read it like "chi" in our world, or in Fullmetal Alchemist's "Alkahestry" the "Flow of the Dragon" so to speak. It's kind of difficult for me to explain, but I hope you guys get the general idea. It can be a very dangerous magic, both to yourself, and others around you, which is why (normally) if you know this kind of magic, you'd use it in a last ditch effort.

About the note: I imagine those people who have led bad lives that would warrant an eternity in hell might gain heaven's favor if they use the magic to sacrifice their own life for a friend who would otherwise die. Like the ultimate sacrifice, but put into magic.

Any thoughts at all? Kinda makes it hard to know how to improve, or if any idea is a good one when no one leaves a comment. Any sort of comment would be nice.

Like I said, this lack of comments is stupid, so here I go!

I think it's an interesting idea. The concept of giving up one strength to improve another seems pretty sound, though what you haven't said is whether or not the process is reversible. It also seems a little too RPG-ish for Felarya, which, as far as I know, doesn't run on stats like that, but that could just be me.

Thanks for the comment!

I really didn't intend on it being RPGish, surely it'd be easily adaptable, but if you give up your strength for speed (just an example, there's many possibilities) then it'll be physically hard for you to pick stuff up, or deal much physical damage, but you'll be really fast. Its not like: on activate: -2 str, +2 dex or anything like that.

And my other point?

Alright, then, since you're so interested.

I'm generally distrustful of abilities that allow you to sacrifice a number of things for something else, specially when the enhancement is as generally applicable as this. It's only personal preference, though, so here's a different approach you could take. How about making it instead of conditional magic, some sort of self-powered discipline? The ability to burn yourself out for abilities, as in cast from HP, only worse. You could add an addendum that most of its practitioners know how to use this discipline to magnify their own abilities, merely by reversing the mechanism where it concerns said ability.

In fact, I'd say that you could make it work like the psionic focus in the XPH. You could have it be used also to store a (relatively) small amount of energy that can be expended at a later moment to power some sort of great feat, as its basic application, with advanced practitioners being able to divert energy in real time from their bodily systems, and some of the most masochistic practitioners being able to divert more energy than they should if they want to stay in one piece for the rest of a life meant to last more than the next five minutes.

I think that'd be a lot simpler.

@Nyaha: yeah, the process would be reversible Nyaha

@Stabs: Seems fascinating, at a more convenient time, maybe we should talk about developing this a little more, what do you say?

Oh, and btw; I'm always interested ;3

I edited the description a bit, let me know if it makes more sense now.

Conditional Magic Edited :

I had this idea to say that whatever you power could not be immaterial, the exception being the ability to use more magic, as long as that magic can be accessed within yourself, like mana. If you use Ley magic, since Ley magic relies on the flows of energy outside your body, you could not "amplify" it (for lack of a better term). So, for example you sacrifice the ability for your blood to clot if you get wounded, and you get some magic from that, you could use the magic directly as a power source, but you cannot use that to preserve your memories if, say some succubus or Psionic creature tries to wipe your mind with Psionics. You could only do that if you could find the source of Psionics within yourself, and were Psionic in the first place.

I don't know if this makes things more confusing or not. Though I just wanted to make it clear that this can be more versatile than just powering up and down muscles and stuff. As long as you find a core of some ability within your body, it can be manipulated with this magic. Immaterial abilities not included, magic excepted.

I'd like to request any additional opinions, especially on the edited work I did on Conditional Magic in an attempt to further develop it into something worthy of canon material, please.

I still think it's a strange idea, at least in how it's worded. Like in the sentence, 'they'd find it physically demanding to move at all'. I think you're still thinking too much in terms of RPG stats. I think it'd work better if it was to sacrifice things like natural healing ability, vision sharpness, coordination, skin toughness (maybe not), oxygen intake rate, physical strength, stamina - basically things that aren't measured as a typical gaming abstract, but rather other physical skills, abilities and bodily functions in order to increase things like those same areas I just mentioned.

I also think you should work on your grammar here, it's very confusing. D: "all this magic happens within the core of the caster's own body, being its own internal source except for an external one." What does that even mean? T.T

Somehow it all seems a little too complicated. I don't know if that's just me or if it's the way you described it, maybe having gone a little overboard in detail. "To study this magic, one needs to understand the flow of life in Felarya, the direction it goes, like a river that starts at the top of a mountain, going down a waterfall, through a river out into the sea." This just strikes me as confusing and completely unnecessary. D: Either it's not necessary, it's worded strangely, or I'm just slow (which is entirely a possibility, make sure to get a second opinion).

Nyaha wrote:

I still think it's a strange idea, at least in how it's worded. Like in the sentence, 'they'd find it physically demanding to move at all'. I think you're still thinking too much in terms of RPG stats. I think it'd work better if it was to sacrifice things like natural healing ability, vision sharpness, coordination, skin toughness (maybe not), oxygen intake rate, physical strength, stamina - basically things that aren't measured as a typical gaming abstract, but rather other physical skills, abilities and bodily functions in order to increase things like those same areas I just mentioned

You can already do that, Nyaha. I just gave examples in terms people are more used to. You can do it to anything except stuff like memories, and the way you think about stuff, but you can do it to most things physical, even going insofar as to affect the rate you go to the bathroom if you wanted to get silly about it.

Though I had thoughts, that normal magic, if considered a "cousin" because you sacrifice mana for an ability, this is more intense than that. Where as normally buffing said ability by sacrificing mana, it'd be like a x2 power to the ability, instead when using this ability, you'd get maybe a x4, or even a x6. It's way more potent.

Also, I think I'm just bad at being clear. This is when I need someone like aether, shady knight, or french snack to reword this for me so it makes more sense.

Thanks for your input though, I guess I need to be more clear!

mhh It's an interesting idea ^^ Although I would more see it as a kind of discipline rather than a whole new type of magic i think. Like Nyaha pointed, there is a danger to make it too much like altering stats in a game or something like that, but the base idea clearly have merit.
I could imagine a situation in a duel between two mages where one gets a surge by using this technique and the other try to guess what was the price they paid for it ( and thus their potential weakness )

I think the place to start in reworking it so it makes sense would be to remove that part about sacrificing speed for strength which would give them massive power but make it hard to move, because that part just makes absolutely zero sense. ^^; If you had a lot of physical strength, your body would be able to move much more than just itself, after all.

Nyaha, that was an example. For the third time.

Well it's a bad one. 3X

XD yeah, guess so

Wailing Weeds
Threat: Very Low
Location: Imoreith Tundra, Frost Peak
Size: 6 ft

This is a rather unique plant that thrives in the cold areas of the Imoreith Tundra, unlike most other plants. It's leaves are very rough on the surfaces, catching frost and winds along the surface which is patterned with tiny smooth holes. Each leaf is rather thick, and has a thick vein running through to a bulbous center just below the fan of leaves, and what look like roots that stretch from the bulb and go into the ground. The bulb has slits in it and glows barely enough to see through a mildly strong storm. When the wind passes along the slits, it carries off a sound that sounds like someone wailing in pain.

The bulbous center to it has a gland-like function-and somehow seems to convert the ice and snow into warmth in the center, possibly due to the slimy contents inside the bulb, which when harvested and manufactured right, creates a very useful layer that can serve as protection against the cold.

When left untouched, they can continue to grow as long as there is sufficiently cold weather, each reaching peak heights varying in sizes larger than humans.

Flat Back Frost Turtle
Threat: Medium to Very High
Location: Imoreith Tundra
Size: 100' long, 40' tall

As the name suggests, the shell of this "Turtle" looks like a large thick slab of ground covered in frost with really tough scales on the sides and belly. It is a large lumbering creature often around 70 feet long and 30 feet high. It walks slowly on it's six muscular legs, and has a long neck that can stretch easily with a head whose skull is rimmed with horns. Rumor has it, that under the flat slab is a tender back with gems that are ingrained between the flesh and the shell.

It likes to hide on the ground with its back posing as regular ground and when prey walks over either it's head or tail, antennae on either end detect the movements, and it stands up. Often the prey is stuck on the large flat surface when it exposes itself, and it stretches its neck, twisting it around to catch prey sliding down its back into its mouth. It sleeps often, but the antennae serve as vital functioning parts of its body that operate during it's sleep cycle which cause to wake up when prey is overhead...

It often swallows man size prey whole, but is not against eating larger prey as well which it can kill by ramming or head butting. Food takes an extremely long time to fully digest and has an efficient metabolism.

Floating Flower
Location: Imoreith Tundra
Threat Level: Moderate
Size: 3ft above surface, varies below surface

Various ponds in the Imoreith Tundra are riddled with these flowers that float, pretending to be a small little island in a lake, or a lonesome flower over
a frozen lake. In either case, it's flowers have a bulb in the center with three leaves that extend outwards, groups of flowers on the plant are also in threes.

When someone is nearby, the surface of the land (often dirt or snow) next to it turns rapidly into an expertly disguised frosted - over quicksand like pit with the flower in the middle. When in the pit too deep, little roots latch onto the prey and continue to drag it down. Obviously this plant is much bigger beneath the surface than it appears above it. For this reason, when coming into sight with this plant it is best to stay away.

The plant seems to keep its prey for a while, and when there is no food to eat, it seems to live off Felarya's healing magic. It may starve to death though if there's not enough to eat, in which case it may be a dud when seen. When it dies, spores fly out in all directions.

Frost Badger
Threat Level: Medium in groups, Low alone
Location: Imoreith Tundra, Frost Peak
Size: 4 ft

It looks like a badger, yet with oddly shaped wings that curl as it protrudes out of the shoulder and along the back, designed to catch the winds and keep it floating in mid air, hovering for long periods of time. It's claws and teeth are hard as steel, and when it burrows, it dives to the ground and quickly dives underneath to find warmth. It also has extremely thick fur meant to weather the cold.

It grows only few feet tall though, and are often in quartets. They are particularly dangerous to humans and other human sized prey who don't see them, but they will eat literally everything and anything that can fit in the mouth. Getting hunted by ones aren't pleasant.

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Okay I know we need more stuff for the Tundra, so I just decided I'd try to brain storm while I logged on and write whatever came to mind. This is what I came up with. I wanted some plants, but its tricky finding ways to make them live in cold areas like the Imoreith Tundra. Personally the Floating Flower seems a bit wonky to me, but I really like the Wailing Weeds. So named so they are easy to remember. I know its really archaic naming style .

Actually, I rather like those, specially the frost badgers ('cause badger badger badger) and the frost flower ('cause duds are funny). Just a thing. Why would anyone be stuck on the FBFT's back?

It will often stand up when people are on it's back, and I doubt jumping 30+ ft onto an icy ground would be good for your legs.

Thanks for the compliments ^_^

More nice and creative ideas, Bael. Though, I think it might be good to put average/max-min heights for the animals in the information box thingies under the titles, to make imagining them a tad easier.

Thanks Nyaha, did that.

I've been comparing sizes on 3DS Max, and I've had some trouble trying to come up with a good size for the Flat Back Frost Turtle, since 70 long with tail seems a bit short to me. 40 ft seems about the right height I guess, but...the longer I make the creature, the taller I want to make it, and then it becomes too big. >.>

I could always try to make a simple model of it, but that requires time I do not have on my computer...

Philosopher's Stone
Rarity: Medium

The Philosopher's stone is a mix between some of Felarya's best magical attributes stuffed into a common rock, or in some cases pretty jewels or ores. However, its only mildly useful even as a healing salve since its ability to prevent someone from aging is neutralized almost entirely by Felarya's soil - which is a vital component - meaning that taking this stone outside Felarya results in it's quick decay into just a normal rock.

It's most often used as a joke, or pretty present. There's some instances where purifying the stone with certain magical ores and gems can amplify it's healing properties, but for the most part its nearly entirely useless save its ability to keep someone on the edge of life.

Cost is the only reason why this stone isn't classified as "common". It is cheaper than Dryad Amber, which does most of the same effects - further showing its uselessness. However, there's rumors that the stone refinement process used in ordinary stones sold in markets throughout Negav has a more perfected version which also allows for the transmutation of objects into Gold, age regression, doesn't leak a magical aura to preds, and doesn't die lasts far far longer off world than Dryad Amber, along with a number of other urban legends. An adventurer getting their hands on one would take a lot of coin, and would have to be bought in illegals markets - if it exists.

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Was kind of unsure how to phrase/write it. Though you get the idea. Thought it'd be funny to have considering Felarya is one giant philosopher's stone, except a bunch of people on it try to eat each other

edit: I'm going to add in the ability to transmute stuff at some point.

Hehe Frost badger of doom XP

Those are great ideas
The Flat Back Frost Turtle must be a pretty darn impressive sight. Very unique way of eating too ^^
For the floating flowers though I'm just a little confused.. you say they float in ponds, pretending to be small islands and yet when a prey walk nearby, you mention the snow/dirt next to them changing into that quicksand-like pit ?
But nice job! They definitely could fit well in Imoreith :3

Yeah think of the flower like an ice berg, its much bigger below the surface, but just appears as a flower above surface. The tentacles drag prey down into the plant.

Now for some more ideas!


Ice Wyvern
Length: 85 ft
Threat: High

The Ice Wyvern is a long serpent that flies through the sky without wings. It has three glowing "fins" that run along the whole length of its body to the tail and past it where it makes a beautiful tri-tail fin. These fins are what it uses to fly like a VTOL craft - meaning it can float in place if it desires. Constant magic courses through these fins and into the Serpent which uses it on an instinct-will based function. It mostly wields strong, basic ice elemental magic to catch prey that is tougher to eat. The Ice Wyvern is very rare, and very intelligent, but if seen it is extremely dangerous. It will go after anything!

Snow Pantaur
Snow Pantaurs are the Tundra version of the wingless sphynx subspecies known as Pantaurs. Except the Snow Pantaurs have more of a lion body with a Leopard tail and really long fur. The human-like half seems to be able to deal with the cold equally well despite not having fur. They have great agility to deal with the Tundra's cliffs and formations, and great endurance beyond that of a normal feline. Like other Pantaurs, they enjoy company, and will hunt in groups. Pantaurs despite being feline and having a predisposition for being a loner, are also quite social. Snow Pantaurs enjoy playing with prey from the outside realms, listening to stories, and playing with them. They'll play and talk with their prey for knowledge and fun, but to them intelligence doesn't mean personhood, and they'll still eat just the same. Befriending a Snow Pantaur is really difficult, as they tend to stick to their own kind for friends far above anything else.

Crystal Caverns
In the southern areas of the Imoreith Tundra a series of caves all link to one large underground snaking hallways and rooms full of large crystal stalagmites and stalactites. It's also warmer in the cave than up above ground, so various areas of the Crystal Caverns are inhabited by other creatures.

The Crystals exude an aura through the caverns that make people feel more aggressive for some reason, and unlike most objects and places in Felarya, it actually rejects the magic as well. People residing inside, or visiting the Crystal Caverns will feel a sense of dryness. Though since these caverns are designed for the normal giant-sized predators, and it rejects magic, it is easy to feel afraid or intimidated.
It is also easy to get lost due to the confusing caverns' twisted paths, elevated cliffs within the caverns, and circling paths that make one feel like they're going in wide circles.

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Three more on the way.