i don't know how to word this, so i'm just gonna say
sammy. breaking the rules. <- that stuff. please elaborate if there is any coherence in this request
I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ACTUALLY SENT AN ASK!!!
(people actually do that for non-ask posts???)
Okay, to be completely honest, I think we had a misunderstanding! (I was exhausted when typing that up and was just about to sleep--) I meant that you could/should ask about Sammy, but I wouldn't answer about his magic... but I've done some thinking.
I'll tell you a bit about his magic. 👀
Fair warning: long post!!!
The Way Magic Works™
So, magic. I'll definitely give a much more in-depth explanation one day--I know @honeybewrites REALLY wants one 😂--but I need to give a bit of an explanation here for you to be able to understand why Sammy is Special™.
In my writing, there's technically four different kinds of magic. I describe them as such:
Existential (all-encompassing and literal)
Axiomatic (abstract and "type-casted")
Faerie (abstract and encompassing)
Runic (wizards hurrr durrr)
Each "kind" of magic is named, appropriately, by its source--Existential magic comes from the Existential gods, Axiomatic magic comes from axiom, Faerie magic (or "pure" magic) comes from the Faewildes and is typically associated with faeries, and runic magic originated from the runes non-magical people used in an attempt to match the power of the others.
(I mean, technically runic magic itself is a combination of axiomatic and faerie magic, but--)
Essence Is Equivalent
The one thing all kinds of magic have in common is their shared resource--essence. No matter what kind of magic you use, you're always using up essence in order to do it. The same magical tasks always cost the same amount of essence, meaning the only way to "advance" in magic-casting is to grow your mana pool.
Except for runic magic, but we'll get into that later--
(I hop between using "essence" and "mana" for this explanation, but in-universe it's always called "essence". As a fan of DnD and fantasy games, sometimes using the word "mana" makes more sense to me, haha. Idk if that understanding applies to everyone, but. Essence is essentially just "magical energy".)
Long story short--let's say we have four different people, each with their magic coming from one of each of the different sources. Except, they all have Water magic.
Existential user lifts 1 gram of water. It takes x amount of essence
Axiomatic user lifts 1 gram of water. It takes x essence
Faerie/Pure user lifts 1 gram of water. It takes x essence
Runic user lifts 1 gram of water. It takes .5x essence
Wait, what? Okay, let's try that again--
A different Runic user lifts 1 gram of water. It takes 1.7x essence
A third Runic user lifts 1 gram of water. It takes x essence
What??? What's the deal with that???
Well, this isn't the time to explain Runic magic in-depth, but long story short? Let's just say it's because they're not doing magic "normally". The other kinds of magic users will always use the same amount of essence, so we'll just stop including the variety for now. Just know it'll be the same amount by default. Except... you won't often run into "default" with runic users. Regardless!
Existential user lifts 1 kg of water. It takes 1000x essence
Axiomatic user lifts 1 kg of water. It takes 1000x essence
Faerie/Pure user lifts 1 kg of water. It takes 1000x essence
The first Runic user lifts 1 kg of water. It takes 500x essence
As you can see, it's all equivalent. Both across "types" of magic and in effort-to-gain ratio. So none of them have any sort of advantage!... except literally all of them do.
Similarly, since they're all drawing from essence as their source, there's no "backup" magic system one can use if they run out. If they're out of essence, they're out--nothing they can do.
Actually, wait. I lied.
(aka Essence Banks)
There's a way to store essence for later use--essence banks! Basically, they're just magical items infused with essence. They can be literally everything. Except, they aren't everything.
Confused?
Essence Banks were a runic invention and have to be engraved with appropriate runes to be able to contain essence. Some have actually been commodified and turned into "temporary conduits" (aka, items that allow a non-magic user to wield magic like a mage) through people infusing them with their essence.
This is a case where "pure" magic technically separates from a faerie's magic. Pure magic can be used for literally anything, but faeries... well, it's complicated. Regardless, pure magic originates from the Faewildes, but is different from a faerie's magic.
Pure essence can be used for anything, but an individual's essence can only be used for their respective magic type. (Like, elemental / conceptual, not Existential / Axiomatic and such. That explanation's for another day, though.) Pure magic can only be gotten from the Faewildes through the use of runic magic.
People have turned essence banks into commodities by giving them to others who don't have their magic and allowing them to use it. However, as you can probably imagine, essence banks and conduits of both kinds (permanent and temporary) are expennnnnsive!!! Most who have them use them for themselves, to store their own essence to use later.
Just know--there is no way to just "create" essence! It all comes from SOMEWHERE!
The most common places are from one's self or from the Faewildes.
Essence Banks Do Not Cross "Types" Of Magic
If someone with fire magic got their hands on an essence bank with essence from someone with water magic in it, they wouldn't be able to utilize it for fire magic--only water magic.
Except... not really.
The fire user could use the essence, it would just cost a lot more of the water essence to instead use fire magic.
Why does this sound familiar...?
Hm. Anyway!
I bet you've been wondering--how does any of this relate to Sammy?
Sammy Breaks The Rules of Magic™
So, now that you have an understanding of how magic works in my stories, you can better appreciate Sammy.
Remember what I just said?
Y'know, about how magic all always costs the same amount of essence, how "types" of essence don't translate well to others, and how essence can't just be created?
Well, Sammy heard that, laughed, and said "I'm built different."
"Amplification" doesn't exist in the world of my stories. There's simply no concept of it because of how inherent the idea of "essence is always equivalent" is to magic.
Except... Sammy is an amplifier.
So what does that mean in the universe of my stories?
He's able to make others' magic use less essence. He's able to enhance their abilities, let them do things they couldn't otherwise do. And it doesn't matter what kind of magic either of them have.
Oh! And since he's the amplifier?
His other magic is also always amplified.
Yeah, long story short? He's OP af. Both as an individual, and as a support character.
CONCLUSION!
I actually can't say any more about amplifying because, omfg, it's actually such a spoiler! As I said to you (almost) yesterday, I plan out the series I write to build up to things I'm going to eventually write! Amplifiers are suuuuper important for a number of reasons and, as I said, they basically don't exist! There's only two others wandering about at the time of Rising From the Ashes (the story Sammy's in)! And one of them is a complete hermit who 99.99% of people have no idea exists!
The other... well. He's actually an avatar. An agent of one of the gods. Who knows if/when he'll ever show up? 👀
If you're curious, the (albeit vague) Overarching Goals™ of the series are as follows:
The Arcane Rifts: explores the Faewildes and some of how they've impacted the world. Specifically explores in-universe political relations of Jhandar and Glavnran; the Existential War; the Existence of Magic; and how the Existential gods mess with the world.
Oh... and is Gene's origin story. 😉😘
Sun and Shadow: strongly explores the Faewildes' impact on "the Real World" through their patchworking Lynsmouth into the city it is today. Hints towards plots in RFtA and tCC. Explores faeries themselves through the Major Faerie Characters and the highlights the role of magic in society. Is intended to be an introduction into my weird worldbuilding tbh, haha.
Hints at Existential War and is also where a HUGE worldwide-plot event occurs. Thanks, Quinn! 😈
Rising From the Ashes: explores in-universe political relations, more directly builds on the worldbuilding through the character of Kieran Caron and his school, does some more planting in info about the Existential War, and showcases people in-universe trying to experiment with magic and expand on its capabilities.
The Calamity Crew (name to change): lots of worldbuilding through the literal crew of a merchant ship sailing across the world; builds up in-universe local Axiomatic gods; showcases the literal birth of a lesser god and explores the powers and abilities of gods; showcases people in-universe trying to experiment with magic and expand on its capabilities.
I plan to somehow make stories on the Existential gods' avatars, but don't know how I'll go about that, haha. Also intend to probably make some stories REALLY early in the in-universe timeline completely taking place within the Faewildes. Might merge those ideas together, idk.
If you can't tell, the Existential gods are super important to the overarching story I plan on writing, haha. Part of how I'm planning to build them out is through the very fact that they appear everywhere.
Yknow--because they are!
They're the puppeteers manipulating the entire world in their little game. Their Existential War.
To anyone who read through this all--congrats and omfg, thank you so much???
I know this is a lot and not all of it is exactly easy to understand, haha. I wanted to create a magic system that felt magical, but also was planted in "real" stuff like conservation of matter, haha. I want there to be, like, a limit to it, but also for things to have those good 'ole fashioned "fairy tale"/"gods rule over us all" vibes. Hopefully I've done a good job!
