The Magic of Ayrelon: Elementalism

Sometimes known as Primal casting, or Primal Elementalism, this type of magic involves accessing the underlying forces which comprise and govern reality. Few casters attain the ability to sense or interact with these forces. Fewer still survive their first attempt to access them.

These sources of power are unrefined and without limit. Their nature is nearly impossible to understand without experimentation. No spells have ever been written for such primal forces, and so few casters gain mastery of these arts that there are very few tomes which detail the process of using or controlling them.

He opened his mind again, reaching out to the primal essence of water. Leveraging a lifetime of experience with the arts, he focused his mind with a will few could achieve. He’d reached the limits of what wizardry would allow him to achieve, and fate had introduced him to these forces at just the right time. The army that threatened Haern wouldn’t wait for reinforcements to arrive. He had to act now.

As Garfax the Grand, the famed Ice Wizard of the southern isles, touched upon the raw elemental forces, power coursed through him in an uncontrollable stream. Too late did he realize the error of his ways. He screamed as the forces ripped through his mortal frame, rending his flesh as it flowed through the core of his being. It was the last sound that Garfax ever made, and the power of the primal element of water carried that sound across the whole of Haern.

All would remember the day that Garfax saved Haern from the monstrous hordes that threatened to invade. It wasn’t his power that had saved them. He hadn’t laid waste to their enemies in dramatic, magical combat. The horror of his screams had given their enemies pause and sent the weakest of them fleeing. His pain was enough to give Haern’s armies the time they needed to rally and defend the capital city of Amuer.

His name would go down in history, his legend spread by the apprentice who bore witness to the horrid affair. This wasn’t the legend he had envisioned… it was the legend his recklessness had wrought, and his absence assured it would spread.

If one survives the process of accessing the primal elements, their next challenge is wielding them. With no spells, scrolls or tomes for guidance, casters are forced to Weave their magicks (see Spellcasting blog entry). They must also learn to control the flow of energies, and limit them to what they can maintain and manipulate.

Of the few casters who succeed in wielding primal elements, fewer still achieve mastery. The allure of unbridled power draws many to these arts. Once mastered, these powers can be accessed even on worlds devoid of a magical weave.

What types of Elementalism Casters are there?

Elementalist

An Elementalist manipulates the primal elements of Earth, Air, Fire or Water. These are the easiest forces to discover and understand, and are therefore the most commonly accessed or mastered by Wizards and elemental Sorcerers.

Gaian

A Gaian accesses the primal element of Life, gaining control of both life and death. The forces of Life govern the existence of all living, and undead, things. It is the most highly sought power by those who wish to extend their own life. Highly advanced Druids, Shaman, Clerics and Priests are the most common wielders of Gaian Elementalism, though most who succeed in doing so never achieve mastery.

Radiant

A Radiant caster gains access to the forces which govern Electromagnetic Waves, the most common of which is Light. With mastery, a Radiant can use the forces to see through some materials, irradiate living things, and even communicate over long distances.

This is the least sought form of Elementalism, because it is the least understood. In addition, many of the abilities that come naturally for a Radiant, such as Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, damaging flesh or creating Light can all be accomplished more easily with lesser forms of magic.

Timewalker

A Timewalker has access to the forces which govern the passage of Time. Through mastery they learn to slow, hasten, pause or even reverse the effects of Time. From simple effects such as hastening or slowing a target, to creating bubbles of paused time effectively freezing their opponents in place, Timewalkers are some of the most feared of all Elementalism casters.

Time elemental magicks are outlawed in the civilized kingdoms of Ayrelon. The most powerful of Timewalkers are theorized to have the ability to move through time, teleport between locations at will, and manipulate world history. Fear of these things, and the risks they bear, has led to the most powerful casters in the world insisting that such magicks be forbidden by law.

It is said that Melrindia, goddess of magic, shuns the use of Time magicks. For most casters, even studying the element of Time is taboo. Those that pursue it do so in secret.

Enigmist

Enigmists access the primal elemental forces of Paradox. Such forces are unpredictable, twisting reality according to the laws that govern the flow of Time, or rather the breaking of those laws. Not much is known about this volatile source of power. Almost all casters who have attempted to harness it have perished in the trying.

Even for a presumed master of Paradox, using it bears substantial risks to the caster. By its nature, Paradox magic causes unpredictable outcomes that the caster is not always able to control, or resist. There are two cases documented at the school of Fel`Vizsiour in the Kingdom of Arkhania which detail the death of a Paradox caster under the power of their own spells.

Use of Paradox magicks is outlawed in the kingdoms of Ayrelon, much like Time.

Orderian

An Orderian manipulates the forces of natural Law. One caster in the history of Ayrelon has achieved mastery of these powers. Ah`shok the Orderian was High Priest of Galrath, god of justice, early during the First Era of Man. His powers showed an unwavering control and ability to manipulate physics, the laws of nature and even the outcomes of cause and effect.

Ahshok’s life serves as both an example of what is possible, and the risks of accessing such extreme magicks. His efforts helped to establish the Order of Galrath as the most prevalent religion across the continent of Gargoa. However, it was his own magic that ultimately ended his life.

Many priests of Galrath seek to follow in Ah`shok’s footsteps. While some have survived rudimentary access to the primal essence of Law, none have approached his level of mastery.

Timultist

The most violent and destructive of all primal forces is that which the Timultist wields. Their power derives from the elemental forces of Chaos. For everything that terrifies the people of Ayrelon about Paradox, it is at least bound to the strictures of Law and Time. Chaos energies have no such restrictions, and stand in direct opposition to the forces of Law.

Chaos elemental magic is the third of the outlawed magicks of Ayrelon.