Need help with system ideas

[Kayira]

Journey to Giressa

Index:

1 - Background
2 - Magic
3 - Degree of Power and Schooling
4 - Character Options
5 - Characters
6 - Today was the day...  

[Kayira]

1: The Story

Many great Mages have asked or centuries how Magic came to be on this world. As children, their parents tell the censored story to them, if their parents are even aware of their powers.

But… this is our true history:

The first elements of Magic were controlled by the great Elementals, who hailed on our ancient homeland of Giressa, 20,000 years ago.

Air dealt with the domain of the sky. It ushered the winds, or calmed the storm. It gave life to those who could not breathe, and took from those by suffocation. It drove down rocks into sand, and then spread its remains across the world.

Water dealt with the oceans, rivers and lakes of the world. Tides could be quelled and summoned. Streams could be dried up, and new springs could emerge with a gentle nudge of power. It carved canyons out of the earth, and deposited land from leftover earth.

Fire dealt with the rage of the earth, summoning or quelling wildfires and volcanoes. It was also used to create islands from the very ocean floor, by coaxing the magma to the surface. It also fueled the spirits of families needing warmth in the winter, and fires for cooking.

Earth dealt with the rocks beneath, and life upon the planet. It created mountains, valleys, hills, plains, and swamps with a flick of a wrist or the beat of an eye. Life sprouted where it walked, or the earth claimed the living to return once more to the earth.

The elementals shared these powers with the mages, and together they lived in harmony, keeping the world in constant balance. But while these elementals and mages worked together, those of light and darkness constantly fought, and rarely agreed.

Light brought forth order, gave life to the plants that required it's nutrients, and protected the living from fear and desperation. It supported the bold and brave to protect those who they cared about, and inspired acts of kindness. It could heal those they touched, or under the hands from a master, bring back someone from the brink of death.

Darkness however, brought chaos to the world. It supported those plants that brought death, or scared those who ate them, fearing the poison that never came. It lulled the scared into a false sense of safety, egging their dark desires to fruition. It supported the cowards and the sneaky, shielding them from sight, so they could spread fear and terror. It could slowly destroy those it touched, or in the hands of a master, return the bodies of the dead for a given purpose.

From this constant conflict, the elementals created the philosophy, and eventually, the first Synergy Path, to compromise: Balance.

With all things, Balance mixed two feuding powers, to create a world of peace. Rather than one side grabbing power over the other, they shared it equally. The first mages who understood its purpose wielded it responsibly. If a group of animals were hunting another to extinction, they would return the damage onto the hunters, bringing them both onto an equal plane. When exceptional growth happened somewhere, elsewhere, exceptional death happened, balancing the scales. When one side grew over another, there would always be balance.

With the peace brought by Balance mages, soon magic was used in different ways, and the nature of the Elementals gift began to evolve. Synergy magic soon began to appear from birth, where the new populace didn't necessarily have the base magic they needed to continue preserving the balance. Yet, the balance was held.

But, a small group of men began to change their thoughts on how the world worked. Seven men, one of each basic element, and the leader, who was born into balance, led a revolt against the elementals, wanting to become the leaders of the world, and to lead all of the races into higher standards of life, rather than be slaves to traditions set by the elementals. They were:

Selan the Caller (Air)
Niadan the Queller (Water)
Jiriedn the Maker (Earth)
Marak the Destroyer (Fire)
Aelius the Protector (Light)
Helena the Dusk (Darkness)
and Daemni the Judge (Balance)

The revolt lasted a whole year, before the group won the world its freedom… its false freedom.

The betrayal of one of the Seven is one of the most important events to occur in the history of all mages, however, it is also one of the most censored pieces of history, for one reason: to hide the existence of the darkest magic ever to exist. That magic was called Corruption.

On the apex of their victory, the Seven looked down upon the world that they had liberated, and discussed their plans to raise their people to higher levels of knowledge, power, and life. Each of them agreed that it could only be done by working together, and that they were each a part of the plan. However, Daemni asked the others what should be done about the elementals. 'Leaving them,' he said, 'is essential. However, if we leave them be, will they not simply take back what we have freed?' The others considered this, but the Judge knew, that this was all part of his plan.

They debated over this, as it was his plan.
They fought over this, as it was his plan.
They banished each other over this, as it was his plan.
And when Aelius, the last of the other six was left, Daemni corrupted his sense of duty, and turned him into the tyrant, then fading from the view of the world.

Daemni the Betrayer whispered his poison to the ears of the six, and they fell to it, one by one.

The elementals, in this disarray, took back control, and banished the foolish revolutionaries to another world, removing the corruption from their hearts. Leaving them alone on a new world to bring up their followers. They called this land Tirra, meaning “Newlife” in their language.

Tirra became Terra.
Terra became Earth.

We were abandoned by the mundane that hunted us for the ancient power they were descended from.

We were abandoned by our own, who journeyed back home 500 years ago.

We are the exiled, wishing to reunite our worlds.

We… are Mages.  

[Kayira]

2: Magical Paths

There are six original Basic Paths:

Air, Earth, Water, Fire, Light and Darkness

Each of these has in degrees of power (Apprentice, Novice, Master, Grand Master), mages that can manipulate things related to that power. Air can control wind and gases. Fire can control fire, lava, and heat. Water can control tides, water, and ice. Earth can control soil, rock, raw metal, and sands. So on and so forth.

Each element can work with another element to create what is called a Synergy Path. It requires knowledge of those paths that create it, or, the person is born with that natural path. The currently known Synergy Paths are:

Air+Water
- Weather: The control of weather and its associated systems (Jet Stream for example)
Air+Fire
- Lightning/Electricity: Anything from lightning bolts, to electric currents from a running car.
Earth+Fire
- Metals: After metal as been worked by human hands, Metal Mages can freely manipulate its shape and design
Water+Fire
- Steam
Light+Darkness
- Balance

Other new types of magic have begun to emerge from the modern world, or have gone misclassified for years. These are called Special Paths, but are still referred to as “Outer Paths” by other mages. Most people generally scorn their existence as more than a tool. They are:


- Technology: Command over computers and computer like chips. Only one such mage is known to have a high level of power in this path, and he has hidden his magic from the world: William Gates, head of Microsoft. This path has no current Teachers to advance apprentices.
- Spirits: A long-standing path, rumored to have been discovered by the mages among the Native Americans. People with the Path of Spirits can commune with animals, plants, and even native elementals. They are also the only ones who can see the Paths that a person is destined for.
- Body and Mind: Barely called a path by most mages, it has its basis around physical and mental enhancement. “Telepaths” and people said to use “Chi” or “Ki” are actually unconsciously performing Magic. This leads it to be the least understood, and most publicly accepted form of Magic. Increasing one’s strength, or speed, or even self-healing are under the purview of this path.

There is also one last path, and it is spoken in whispers at best. It is also the most misunderstood paths in the history of magic.

Change: This magic is typically referred to as corruption, but is the manifestation of change in all things. Few exist within the world, and of those, few remain alive. Mages of other paths usually kill them before their power can start hiding itself by acting like another power. Change Mages that exist, likely do not know they are one, if they even know that they have magic.  

[Kayira]

3: Degrees of Power and Schooling

There are 4 degrees of Power within the ratings Mages keep:

Apprentice: The lowest level of magic use, this category deals with fledgling mages, as well as those who are being schooled in the basic techniques on magic. Their natural paths that they are born with will appear first, but every mage can learn magic from another path.

Novice: The second level of magic use, the people within this level have some kind of training or experience with magic they have learned, or have been born with. Rarely will a person be born with a natural path at the level of Novice. They have a very difficult time dealing with their power, and it can sometimes result in a noticeable awakening to their power. Novices are usually graduates of a school of magic, or someone who is

Master: The third level of magic is reserved for the few that can obtain it. 20% of all mages have reached this level in one Path, most of who were born with that path. Teachers of any Path must reach this level. 1 out of every 10,000,000 People can be born with a Path at this level. People with this ability have very violent or noticeable awakenings, and some do not survive it.

Grand Masters: Only a handful of Mages ever make it to this level of power. People say that Grand Masters rival the elementals, and that Grand Masters were the first to assist Elementals in the balance of Giressa. Grand Master Mages can bring forth Volcanoes, control the tides of an ocean, or even shift the jet stream.

The major Schools within the World are usually hidden behind the big name colleges:

- NYU
- Cambridge
- Oxford
- Harvard
- Etc.

The time that one spends in school varies with each school, and with the path of magic. All Basic Paths are covered in the first part of schooling, and afterward each person gets taught their specific Path of magic they were born with.

Those that do not have schooling must learn on their own using experience as their guides. Some become novices, and rarely become Masters without some kind of learning.  

[Kayira]

Part 4: Character Options

Each Character can be built with one or two Natural Paths. If there are two natural paths, you must have a good reason (Both parents are masters, Grandfather/Grandmother was a Grand Master, or being a Spiritsoul) within your character background. They do not have to be related paths, but they are usually paired by a Basic/Synergy Path relationship.

Whether you have had schooling or not is up to you as a Mage, but please keep in mind the struggles that untrained Mages face when making that decision.

You do not need to be a Mage! Humans do encounter magic or supernatural beings every once in a while, although society as a whole is still blind to the existence of Mages and Supernatural creatures.

You can also play as a Spiritsoul. A Spiritsoul is the term used for a half-human child: one who has been bred from a supernatural humanoid being and a human. These are exceedingly rare, as many of the supernatural races migrated back to Giressa in the year 1500 A.D. Those that remain are also killed or captured to be studied by governments or other companies. Genetics has revealed these changes as “cancerous” and very few doctors know that it is in fact not cancer. Spiritsouls almost always are born with a Path.  

[Kayira]

Part 5: Characters

The following is the character sheet that I would like you to use. PM me for any questions that you may have.

Gaia Name:
Name:
Gender:
Age:
Spiritsoul: (If it applies)
Birthplace/Nationality:

Natural Path(s):
Trained Path(s):
- (Also list the degree of power you have for each path)

Appearance:
-Physical: (height, hair, eyes, skin, scars, etc)
-Attire: (clothing, accessories...)

Weapons: (includes hand-to-hand; your character does not need to be proficient in anything)
-On person:
-Proficient with:

Skills: (Can be anything from cooking to lock-picking to playing the accordion to drawing cartoons)

Languages Spoken: (Restricted by backstory)

Personality Overview:

Brief History:

Anything else you'd like to add:


Current Character Archive:  

[Kayira]

Part 6: Today was the day…

((The following is the first post for the characters.))

First and foremost, mages don’t exist. They never have.

That’s what you thought.

In the confines of the New York City Public Library, you found the rare book collection. On one of the stands was a book recently recovered from a Middle Eastern dig site. The room was mostly empty, but those in the room seemed to pay no mind to it.

But it called to you.

Ancient Papyrus in the eyes of the others is a lie. You know it is from a tree from the other world. A world that you have never seen, where mages maintain the very essence of everything flashes before you. The language is not your own, but you can feel the connection to it.

Snapped to the real world, your eyes open, and the dreaming ceases. Besides you is a piece of paper. Upon it is written a short question:

Do you want to go home?