Insolent Dirt: the Earth Element

We move from a contender for the title of 'most exotic' to, perhaps, the most familiar (and maybe even boring?) of the elements. Still, somebody's gotta be the straight man, right? I mean, could the Aqua Teens work without Frylock?

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Color: Yellow
Sin: Pride
Virtue: Integrity

  Nature and Applications: Earth holds dominion over most of the terrestrial solids. If it's not wood, bone, stalk, or flesh, then it is likely one of the minerals or metals of the earth element. These substances are often known for their rigidity, a trait that reflects the earth's strong sense of identity. It craves respect, which is why it so often shapes itself into the mountains humans associate with reverence.

  Where other wizards seem to command their elements, earth mages must make humble suggestions, ask for favors, or beg for help in order to achieve the results they desire. Boulders can crumble into dust to clear paths, desert dunes might shift and harden to become shelter, and iron can volunteer to forge the proper bonds and shape itself to become a warrior's steel.

  Earth sorcery is fundamentally about shape, at least when it's used exclusively. Novices can make fields plow themselves in a day, intermediates can open sinkholes or bridge a canyon, and masters can have a mountain carve itself into a palace.

  There is much a clever specialist can accomplish on their own, and there are obvious synergies to be had with the other elements. Earth can be shaped to help water reach places it would struggle to on its own, and metal is essential for the generation and transmission of electricity. Should sufficient heat be achieved, magma allows for even more versatility in an earth magician's arsenal. Like water and air, control of the earth is not lost once a substance changes state.

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Pretty straightforward so far, and I don't feel a ton of need to reinvent the wheel on this one. I would like to expand on the kinds of things we've seen rocks and dirt do in previous fantasy, but it can retain that earthy flavor. If ya don't like it, nobody forced ya to put it in your mouth...

Plus, I mean, I could tap into that ginormous Edward Elric fangirl demographic on the weapon possibilities alone. I mean, that's what they see in him, right?

What do you mean by that "You don't understand what women want!" comment? Isn't this gif his entire appeal?

Jokes aside, there's still a lot of room for innovation here. I mean, a whole lot of that Periodic Table of Elements is made up of stuff that falls into the 'earth' category. Are there any fun reactions (of the naturally-occurring elements, preferably) you'd like to see used? Maybe some of them metals that make those special fire extinguishers necessary? Further, I feel like I haven't given as much thought to inter-element activity on this one, how might we combine earth with some of the other elements? I've got a cool idea for a sword that also takes on the properties of electricity, and when ya swing it, it can strike like lightning, simultaneously slicing and shocking. A pretty high-level artifact, though, and one that needs to be charged...

The Ultimate Layabout: the Dark Element

A return to the eight-week formula. I wanted to give ya'll a longer break, but I'm shaking up my work schedule, and with how temperamental I am about these things, I suppose it's a miracle I even stayed on task.

Darkness is (obviously) on the opposite end of the spectrum from the light element. Like light, it will often be misunderstood as being a literal manifestation of morality (light is good and dark is evil), but both will actually be morally neutral. However, my current impressions are that this won't be super-relevant anyway, because darkness is a hard club to get in to, largely because my dark element is supposed to encompass some of the things we don't understand about real-world physics.

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Color: Black
Sin: Sloth
Virtue: Patience

  Nature and Applications: Darkness is such an obscure element that many scholars are unaware it even exists. A majority of magic communities don't acknowledge it in their records, either because of its dangerous nature or because they're simply oblivious to its existence.

  It has, by far, the smallest representation of earthbound elements, but as darkness is the purest of the physical magics, it is also the most prevalent throughout the universe. The fact that the world exists in a minority of the universe - where darkness isn't dominant - has led many to believe it is an enemy to life. This is a misunderstanding, however; life makes use of the dark element as it does any other, though the doses are so much smaller that they are essentially imperceptible.

  Darkness got its name from the absence of light, but the element itself is rarely the reason for an actual lack of light. Darkness is so-called because its status as the purest physical magic causes it to be hyper-absorbent. None of the energy elements can escape its gravity; light, heat, electricity, and even life will be permanently captured by any darkness these elements are exposed to. If that energy is ever released, it will only be because the darkness permitted it.

  This makes the darkness very difficult to study. Since all light is absorbed, it cannot be seen, and since physical contact with any perceptible amount can be lethal, it is difficult to determine whether it is solid, liquid, gas, or some new, unknown state of matter. The best way to study it is by studying its effect on its surroundings, which has made progress understandably slow.

  What is known is that it retains all the energy it constantly absorbs and its capacity seems massively disproportionate to its concentration; it can retain exponentially more than a piece of earth of the same size. The few who claim to be able to communicate with the darkness say it has little interest in absorbing all the energy it does; that the energy actually seeks the darkness like a shelter. Whatever the case, it can make use of this energy to alter its position in space. If the universe were drawings on a page, then darkness is able to fold the page enough to make the face touch itself, travelling to a new spot on the paper by folding the universe so that its starting point is touching its destination.

  As darkness is a lazy element, it is reluctant to even communicate. If a sorcerer can manage it, however, they can harness its insane density to strengthen other materials or enhance their conductivity. Intermediate users can make use of its space-"folding" properties to travel vast distances in an instant - though if they expend too much energy from the darkness in themselves, it will consume too much of their heat, electricity, light, or life to survive the trip.

  Masters can temporarily fold larger quantities into the world from the void beyond. Collections the size of a fist will exert more gravity on their surroundings than the entire planet, causing unsecured people and objects to "fall" towards the darkness. Further, if they touch the substance, their energies will be siphoned and whichever body part touched the darkness will be mangled by the force of its gravity.

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So if ya hadn't guessed, darkness is a cheap and liberal interpretation of dark matter - so-called because we don't really know what it is, we just know there must be some type of matter out there we haven't been able to classify. The known elements don't exist in enough quantities to be exerting enough gravity for the universe to be doin' what it's doin', so dark matter is the 'x' they use to make the unified theory of physics work until they figure out exactly what it is. At least, that's how it was explained to me.

Because it's fiction and fantasy and magic, I felt like I have the privilege of assigning properties to it, and some of the common perceptions regarding black holes and warp drive and wormholes and whatnot seemed like natural properties to assign. Plus, since it's the least-understood element, we can introduce new applications as we go. Fun!

How have other writers handled darkness in fiction? Most of the time, it seems so abstract; it's always tied to demons and evil and corruption. It's hard to imagine how darkness could really harm a person in combat. Like, shadowbolts in Warcraft obviously cause damage, but what kind of pain do you feel when it hits you? I won't lie, the way I'm using it has been influenced by things like the Dark Dark fruit in One Piece, but writing has always been a derivative thing. Drawing influence from other people is fine, so who else has used darkness in a way that makes some degree of sense? What properties was it assigned, how did sorcerers use it other than to make good people do bad things, from whence was it sourced (if we don't include the underworld or Hell)? Most importantly, how would you interpret it as an element; what properties would you assign, in my position?

On Beginnings

We takin' a break from the elements today. They're startin' to go all prima donna on me.

On the topic of writing, the most common question is probably "where do we start?" In my explorations, I've come to the conclusion that the answer isn't often "at the beginning." The first page of a novel has become an industry; seriously, there are services devoted wholly to critiquing only the first page.

We all know the internet feeds our collective attention deficit disorder. There's a whole lot of free entertainment out there, so if you want people to see your stuff (and especially if you want them to pay for the privilege), you need to have something exceptional from the beginning. They have plenty other places to turn, so you've gotta give them a good reason not to.

We all love Tolkien, but the Hobbit never would have been published in this age. It fails every 'first page test' ever devised. How can that be, when he's the flagbearer for the entire fantasy genre? Well, as impressed as we all are with the inventor of the wheel, it's hard to claim he perfected the thing.

Progress is a pain. A day in the life of a halfling was plenty-entertaining when there weren't any alternatives, but as that saying in Stephen King's Gunslinger goes, "The world has moved on." We can't really ease into the climax anymore, can't start anywhere near mundane. We've come to the point where we can assume the audience knows how to swim, and therefore, they prefer to enter the pool at the deep end. Things need to be different, dangerous, and intriguing right from the start.

This is why I say you don't start at the beginning, and this is where I need your help! I need the stories to read nothing like my blog, all the technical details need to stay out. We want to break any new ground we can, but we can do that while taking cues from successful people.

Game of Thrones began with a ranging and a White Walker. We didn't know anything about the Wall or the Black Brothers or Winter, but from the way the rangers interacted and cues in their conversation, we knew they were a practiced, capable military force that didn't spook easily. Yet they were spooked. George didn't take long to show us they had a damn good reason to be scared.

The survivor of that encounter was executed for desertion by Ned Stark, Ned Stark takes his boys back to Winterfell, and only then are we introduced to the normalcy of life in Westeros. Martin began with the sort of scene you might expect to find closer to the climax, with danger and intrigue and horror, then eased us into the mundane rituals of a day in Winterfell. Learning the relatively boring details of life in Winterfell and the goings-on of the kingdom and the petty family drama were all much more interesting when we know it's all in danger at the hands of them white prune-zombies. After all, the head of the house just executed the guy who saw them up close and personal, so the threat can't be far away.

Because the Song of Ice and Fire started in the deep end of the pool with the White Walker prologue, the shallow end stays interesting long enough to see us through to Bran's fateful climb up Cersei's tower window, and after that, no amount of tedium is going to keep us from watching Westeros slowly spiral into war.

Game of Thrones isn't even the best example of how to hook people right away, probably not by a long shot. It's just a clean demonstration of how to start anywhere but at the beginning.

Watchmen began with the Comedian getting brutally murdered. We had no real idea who this clown was, but that didn't make it any less interesting. Indeed, if your story contains any element of mystery or intrigue, it probably oughta start with the crime-in-progress or somebody stumbling upon the body. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy begins by destroying the Earth. Mass Effect begins in a troop transport en route to a battlefield, the only exposition to a rather robust universe being given in the mission briefing. Star Wars started with laser fire between a space cruiser and a Star Destroyer. Pulp Fiction begins with philosophical mobsters on their way up to whack some skimmers. Ya hit hard before ya deliver the softer punches.

We can probably get away with more than what we initially believe when it comes to the first scene. It may seem natural to start out peaceful and mundane to help the reader understand, and even as a way to ease into your own story before you know the plot details of what will happen later, but it turns out you probably want to know where you're going before you start. You need enough of an idea of what will happen later in order to open with a desperate situation, one that's relevant to the larger conflict you'll get to later.

Saxton Hale does a wonderful job of explaining why exposition sucks and why you should resort to Explosition! instead. Take a look:

Stick around long enough for Saxton Hale to "fix reading" (it was clearly broken).

So lead me by example, friends. Which franchises grabbed you right from the start? Which stories made you wonder "how'd they come up with this stuff?!" by throwing you into the grinder then sorting it out afterward? Books, comics, TV shows, games, movies... they all start with writers, so they're all relevant. Who employs the best technique when it comes to keeping the audience in their seats until the story ends?

Git Ya One: the Life Element

So we've finally come to one of the more exotic and unfamiliar of the elements. Sure, we've got the 'nature' school of magic, like what shamans and druids in Warcraft use, but that's probably the closest analog. The biggest setback to living in any fantasy universe would probably be their lack of medical science. Since magic is science in the world of Arbiter, we can't just leave the void of pharmaceuticals unfilled. That's where the life element comes in!

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Color: Green
Sin: None. Well, more like 'all.'
Virtue: Ditto

Nature and applications: Unlike the other elements, life doesn't have a narrow personality. Different forms of life have different demeanors, and even different individuals in a particular species can have wildly variant personalities. However, one thing is certain: users of the life element are known to be domineering. The ability to dominate is essential for any life mage.

  Life is a transformative energy. If earth is exposed to life magic, it becomes flesh or wood or something of the like. Water becomes blood or sap or honey, and air becomes breath. Life is the missing variable between the basic elements and the crops, beasts, and people of the world. If any substance is outside the control of a sorcerer of the physical schools, it's probably because life transformed it into something new.

  Though many healers only wield the light element, the best menders use life. Light only fuels and accelerates a patient's ability to heal itself, while life can correct the problems the body can't correct on its own. For instance, a blind man might see if a life mage uses their own eyes and brain as a template to teach their patient's body to rewire itself into a seeing configuration. Life leaves no scars, won't let a broken bone mend crookedly, doesn't create rogue cells that consume its host body. Increased efficacy requires increased resources, however; unlike light, life requires more materials than just the patient's body. As no sorcerer is able to conjure something from nothing, they require some sort of meat or fiber if they hope to mend someone's flesh and tissue.After all, life is an energy, not a material.

  A novice might correct a scrape, an intermediate might save a dying soldier, but there's no telling what a master can accomplish. Life mages can take a human and make them into something more. Bull horns, eagle wings, cat eyes, chitin, bark, fins; some cultures worship life mages as gods, and others shun them as abominations, but there's no denying their potency. These wizards can incorporate the ecosystem into their own being, absorbing the material of any flora and fauna they've dominated into their own bodies. As long as they have a subservient life-form available, there are few limits to the ways they can alter their bodies.

  As evidenced by their propensity to heal, this control isn't limited to their own bodies. Life users can cause individual blades of grass to combine and grow into vines to constrict an enemy, command a herd of buffalo like a personal army, or even create a new species of bird from an existing egg. The only limit is the ability to dominate the life of whatever they wish to manipulate.As such, there are no known records of a person being manipulated against their will.

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So hopefully this gives you an idea of what life is, why it's an energy magic and not a physical one, and why it's the only element that doesn't have a personality. It's supposed to really play into the idea that 'to live is to be a magician,' because life is a magical element and to live is to wield oneself. Just like the other elements are conscious and can be appealed to, we too are an element that can be appealed to. While electricity is closely tied to intelligence and thought, life is tied to individuality and soul. The life element in Arbiter is sort of the proof of a soul, something we don't necessarily have in the real world. Still, the soul is a resource, just like the water, earth, and air are resources the soul uses to create and maintain its body.

So basically, life users steal souls. The Shang Tsungs of wizards!

And just like Shang Tsung, I doubt we'll have anybody be able to harvest another person's soul unless they're basically dead anyway.

Life opens up the possibility for shapeshifters, for variations on humans like giants, orcs, goblins, minotaurs, or werewolves (we can do better than that, though: weregerbils, for instance!), and a much greater variety of wildlife (dragons, wyverns, griffins).

And, again, it fills the void left by a lack of genetic and medical research. This provides an alternative for the sorts of things you might find in sci-fi: splicing, bionic limbs, augmentation. Maybe you can even prevent or reverse aging with it. Probably couldn't cure my baldness, though, because that (and ONLY that) is too good to be believable!

This element could get really fun with hybrids, too. Modify the body in a way that generates charge that can be stored in some kind of electric gland (maybe by harvesting electric eels), make yourself an extra bladder in your tummy so you can shoot water bullets (learn from the archer fish), integrate metal into your skeleton and maybe even your skin; at this point, I'd wager I've made life seem super strong, but maybe the social consequences help make up for any disparity in power?

So. How would you like to see life used? To phrase it another way, how would you augment yourself or your minions with a power like this? Anybody wanna comment on some more technical applications, like how we might explain any of these transformations to someone with a background in biology? I apologize if this one seems more robust than some of the others, but again, this one seems new and exotic compared to the more classical ones. Make your voices heard, m'friends!