Happy Worldbuilding Wednesday! What's something your magic system CAN'T do?
Happy WBW to you, too, Raev!!! Thank you for the ask!!!
So, one of my favorite things about the Ehlverse is that it’s kind of become a way for me to work on my magic system building, and as a result, there are a bunch of magic systems that interact and fuck with each other all over the place!! So really, it depends on what magic you’re using!
For Elementalism, which is the most prominent magic system in Firebreathers, it mostly depends on how awake/energetic you are, and the borders between different elements! As a Fire Mage, if you’re too tired, you won’t be able to light your fireplace from across the room--though it might be easier if you’re touching the logs. But, as a Fire Mage, no matter how awake you are, you won’t be able to manipulate something like, say, magma, unless you are super skilled and also 100% sure it hasn’t started cooling! (Or, in the case that it has, that you’re working really well with an equally skilled Stone Mage)
And sometimes, with magics like Calling, it depends on which type you’re using, and how you’re trying to communicate!
While L-type Calling can magically translate any language to your own, it depends on you knowing that form of your language - so if you speak Mae, and someone is trying to talk to you in Rill, that will work, but unless you know your own form of sign language, you won’t be able to understand anyone else’s. Same goes for reading and braille.
M-type Calling is a kind of mild mind control - kind of like casting “suggestion” in D&D. For one thing, if you’re not subtle about it, it’s not going to work on anyone, regardless of their magical leaning or lack thereof. However, it also won’t work on: - Mind Mages - Sorcerers - other Callers - or, for whatever reason, Goblins
And with U-type Calling, while it may have brought about a Common Language, an interesting caveat to it is that it only works on Ehl. Which, y’know, most people won’t ever need to worry about, but it’s certainly something that will need to be figured out if anyone ever goes to space ;)
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Thank you again for the ask!!! I could go on and on about this stuff, but I’m also working on worldbuilding posts relating to the magic systems of Ehl currently, so I want to have at least some of those be a surprise!!
