wip for the future reflection au - twinsduo interlude
“You’re going to get yourself killed doing this, y’know.”
Across the campfire, Wilbur lifts his head and glances over. He seems- almost surprised, though Techno can’t quite tell if it’s because of the words themselves or the faint concern underneath them.
The silence hangs in the air, heavy in a way Techno can’t place. Then Wilbur smiles, and for a second it almost looks real.
“I’m aware of the risks. But it’s worth the danger.”
Techno makes a noise, not quite agreement, and continues to study the face of the person across from him. “I mean, sure. But you know we’re not talking hypotheticals. If you go through with this, you’re going to die.”
He doesn’t know why he’s pressing the issue. Since when does he care if people get themselves killed in completely preventable ways? It’s never been his business. Technically it still isn’t, except for the part where he invited himself along on this stupid quest as if that could possibly change the outcome. What business of his is it if this guy with a goal he convinced even Techno to believe in gets himself killed?
“It’s worth the danger.” Wilbur repeats, something almost- fragile in his expression. He looks back at Techno, holding himself stiffly, the same way he looked when they stood across from each other in an empty corridor- one with a hand outstretched, the other lowering their weapon.
Maybe fragile isn’t the right word. Maybe it’s something more dangerous, more resolved. Something splintering at the edges.
Techno shrugs, backing off. Whatever. It’s not his problem. He doesn’t even know this guy, not really.
He pretends not to see how Wilbur relaxes once the topic is dropped. It makes something unpleasant start to twist in his gut, something that if he examined it closer might start to feel a bit like worry, but he’s felt enough of that for a lifetime.
Not my problem, he thinks resolutely, and turns away.
@sootpologist here u go!! behold my extensive work from a couple months ago :D
hearts: a source of magic. it's like a wellspring, and leaks out to cover the surroundings in ambient magic that soaks into everything around from rocks to people. there are three hearts scattered around (earth, sea, and sky), and cutting them off from those surroundings cuts off the magic which is really bad for the area. according to legend, each heart also used to have a guardian, a being who was both part of the magic within and separate from it and whose task was to protect the heart
heart of the sea (past): a giant mirror in the ruins of an underwater city. looking into it will show someone their past, with a focus on revealing hidden truths
heart of the sky (present): a stone platform with a carved circular pattern high on a mountain. within the circle, everything is anchored to the present (this becomes relevant later when time travel enters the picture)
heart of the earth (future): a pond in a cave hidden in a forest. looking into it will show someone their future, but no future is set in stone. it can be changed, but must be done carefully- efforts to change one’s fate are often what bring said fate to pass
magic: defined as the ability to draw on energy and perform impossible feats. there are different categories of magic: natural magic (drawing on ambient energy), summoning magic (binding nonhuman creatures to you to carry out your will), artifact magic (using magic stored in objects), and soul magic (using up your own energy to perform magic)
natural magic: all natural magic comes originally from the hearts. when people are exposed to the general location of the hearts or the ambient magic spilling over for miles for long enough, they and their descendents develop the potential to wield magic themselves. there’s a secondary condition necessary for each individual to activate their magical ability, but what that catalyst is differs widely from person to person.
for example, quackity activated his magical ability of shapechanging sometime after karl’s disappearance as a response to the resulting trauma. his magic responded to his instinctive desire to run, to become anyone else if only it meant he could escape the pain, and he gained the ability to change his appearance
summoning: the practice of following rituals to summon nonhuman creatures and bind them to following your will. you don't necessarily have to have a connection to the hearts or natural magic for this. it can make it easier because you'll be used to the feeling of performing magic, but anyone can do it with practice. lower-level summoners generally summon magical animals called familiars and such, but when sentient nonhumans are summoned the process looks more like a deal/contract- forcibly binding a summon to your will is highly illegal. to maintain the summoning contract also requires that your willpower be stronger than that of the summon in order to keep them anchored to this reality
tubbo is an extradimensional entity summoned by a crime lord named schlatt, who tried to forcibly bind him. unfortunately for schlatt, tubbo’s will was far stronger than his and he escaped, wandering and beginning to slowly fade until he met tommy. tommy made a deal with him, something small and harmless, but enough to stabilize tubbo’s connection to the world and keep him from disappearing
soul magic: illegal and heavily frowned upon, soul magic consumes the user's energy. it's an internal source, which is incredibly dangerous and not sustainable long-term. users of soul magic literally burn themselves up to accomplish whatever they're trying to do- and because there's so much other magic readily available through summoning and artifacts and how common natural magic is, soul magic is generally only ever a last resort for people who want something so badly they'd sacrifice anything for it. the use of soul magic and the strain it puts someone through usually has the effect of causing tunnel vision- someone who uses it will pursue their goal at all costs, even as they forget why it became their goal in the first place. very few have used it more than once and been able to stop, and the more it's used the more it hollows away at what makes someone who they are and replaces them with hunger
giving a specific example would involve spoilers, but the name is literal- you burn up your soul, your conscience, etc, until you just stop caring. if someone uses too much and survives, they’ll eventually become an empty husk of themselves, driven to achieve whatever goal sent them down such a dangerous path in the first place- usually at the cost of themselves and anyone in their way
artifact magic: it's possible for users of natural and soul magic to imbue objects with energy, which can then be utilized by other people. this is generally what nonmagical people use, especially since no one knows where the hearts are anymore to get powers and anyway there's no guarantee someone exposed will even unlock their ability at all. the stronger the person who imbued the object is, the more powerful the object will be. there are people who make a living by building, imbuing, and selling artifacts with capabilities as varied as the objects themselves
sam is a well-known artifact magic user! he creates magic items both on commission and for general use, and is rather famous because instead of simply imbuing regular objects, he’ll often tinker with them and find a way to combine magic and machinery to greater effect than either could achieve alone
artifacts: objects imbued with natural magic, useable by both magical and nonmagical individuals. it used to be that the energy in these objects could be used up, but sometime in the last few decades innovation changed the design so that the objects can essentially recharge themselves by drawing on the natural energy surrounding them so, if someone is in a place with a lot of ambient magic (like, for example, near a heart) the object will recharge faster than in other places. when an artifact is imbued with soul magic instead of natural magic, it recharges by draining its user and builds up energy until it becomes a curse
curses: a soul artifact that has drained enough people to have a significant amount of energy. over time, that energy becomes malevolent and starts draining people even faster than before. curses are incredibly dangerous, especially because once the energy turns dark, whatever the original function of the object is replaced with causing some kind of destruction. soul mages in the past, known for causing destruction and wreaking havoc, generally find and use these to do it because while curses drain them, it's still slower than using soul magic would be and lets them cause more destruction with a lower cost to themselves
nowadays there are very few curses actually in circulation due to strict regulations for the selling of artifacts to ensure everyone's safety, but destroying them would release all of that energy at once and potentially kill whoever did it (generally they're too durable for it to be done remotely) and destroy the area. instead, curses are properly stored and documented in a vault known as the Curse Vault while the energy slowly drains over time until they can be destroyed safely
actually i’ve thought abt it and. i think i’ll give techno a magic that, instead of being something for offense or w/e, augments his willpower. basically what that does is make him even more stubborn that he would’ve been otherwise, but also allows him to form contracts with multiple summons- that way, he can have both carl and steve (and maybe another one later idk yet i was originally planning not to include them but yanno. maybe!)
techno wasn't originally in the au (i'm adding him for soot) so now i'm trying to come up with magic for him sjfbdhd
like i already know what his role is gonna be (a guard at the curse vault) and he'll have either carl or steve as a familiar, but i still need to come up w an ability :''
so. past me made an au with four different categories of magic (sorted by source), one of which doesn't have a source of its own but involves imbuing objects with magic and is therefore divided further depending on the source of the magic you imbue the object with. so that's four categories and three sub-categories and that's just the most fundamental basics it doesn't even go into sources or conditions for use or time travel or any of the rest. foolish can unmake people at a molecular level and is also immortal but that part isn't even the magic it just is. niki is telekinetic. the forest around l'manberg is alive. slimecicle is an ancient unkillable being. so is tubbo just a different flavor. connoreatspants is basically a god and shows up for like 2 seconds in someone's backstory just to die bc he cannot be bothered. What Was I On When I Did This because i want more of it
PAT YOU WORLDBUILD SO WELL HOLY SHIT!!! the stuff you come up with is interesting:0 also in the future reflection au, what are summons generally made to do/ used for? can they do magic of their own and summon their own summons?
thank you!!! <33 and oh boy, i'm glad you like my worldbuilding because you just asked the right question to unlock a Bunch More in the form of summon lore :D (it got Hella long so i'm putting it under a cut)
so first off, there are basically two different levels of summon. the first 90% are called familiars, and they're the ones that (like slime when he was first summoned) don't have the ability to take human form. again using slime as an example, it was able to take human shape (and even then, not a super convincing one) after centuries of gathering power- that should give a vague idea of the difference in power levels between familiars and other summons (known as lords)
lords, aka the remaining like- 10% of summons, are the most powerful. they already have human forms of varying levels of credibility, and are generally known in this world as folklore, myths, etc- think like ppl in our world trying to summon demons and make deals. it's a bit like that, only more socially acceptable!
(as a side note pertaining to tubbo- he'd be classified as a lord, because he already had a human shape when he was summoned, but he unnerves wizards strong enough to tell he's a summon because no one knows shit about him. lords are myths come to life, so how powerful must tubbo be for no one to have heard of anything like him? what other, even more powerful lords might be shrouded in secrecy??)
with classification out of the way, what summons actually do depends on who summoned them. they're hardly an uncommon sight- the requirement is finding some knowledge of summoning to perform the ritual, making a bargain, and having a willpower strong enough to anchor the summon. plenty of people can and do, and the rituals for weaker familiars are public knowledge
LOWER-CLASS: it's not uncommon for someone poor to have a summon in their family acting as a nanny or assisting with their work. you don't really have to pay summons and feeding them is technically optional (some like it, some don't, but they can't starve) so gentle familiars like cat creatures are helpful for watching kids while parents work and that sort of thing
BUILDERS/ARTISANS: a lot of construction work is done by summoners! since summons can be a good deal stronger than humans, they do a lot of heavy lifting (thus reducing workplace injury). in addition, there are also summons suited to fine detail work like jewelry and whatnot, so many craftsman will partner with a familiar to help their business
WIZARDS: depending on the kind of wizard, it's actually pretty normal for them to have a familiar depending on their specialty! for example, wizard scholars could have ones that record information, wizard lawyers might have ones that help them research/plan, wizard guards have ones that compliment their fighting style, etc.
CRIMINALS: familiars summoned here generally act as either spies/scouts or enforcers/bodyguards! their loyalty to their summoner is impossible to sway as long as they're not treated horribly (and very few would, knowing how useful it can be to have a creature dedicated to you), and their inhuman abilities depending on the type of familiar summoned makes them incredibly useful
NOBILITY: i saved this one for last because it's a bit more complicated. see, with nobles (especially wizard nobles) familiars and the rare lord are used primarily as a show of status. because summoning requires a will strong enough to anchor the summon (thus making having more than one pretty rare), the more powerful a summon/the more you have, the more of a living show of power you become and the more status/influence/respect you earn for your family. practically, besides being there to be shown off, these summons also work as personal servants/bodyguards depending on their abilities
and that's the first question! for the second one, i'm going to have to go a bit deeper into the mechanics of summoning. the simple answer is yes, they can do magic just not as we understand it, and no, they cannot summon other familiars :'
so basically, how summoning works is that you use the magic from this world/dimension/plane of existence to yoink a being from another one and drop them in a nice little trap circle until one of three things happens: a) a deal is reached and the summon is bound to you, b) you made a mistake in the ritual and it escapes, potentially murdering you depending on how pissed it is about said yoinking, or c) no agreement is reached so you send it back and end the ritual
in the first option, when a deal is made you use your willpower to take the magic from this world and sort of- tether the summon, to you and to this plane of existence. this is a lot easier if they aren't fighting you on it, especially since the more powerful they are the more willpower they have, and so (not even getting into the morality of it) that's another reason it's better to just release an unwilling summon and try again another time
other than that link that comes from the contract, though, summons are completely alien to this world and disconnected from its magic- they can't use it, it doesn't claim them, all that good stuff. that's why they can't summon- they don't have the tie to this magic that would be necessary to bind another summon.
they can, however, use magic of their own! it doesn't fit with the general understanding of magic, coming from an internal source instead of external yet not harming the user- completely not following the known rules of magic, since it comes from a different dimension
other fun facts:
- while summons can't summon on their own, they can suggest modifications to a ritual to summon friends of theirs/other beings they know in their plane
- the magic summons use is different from soul magic because it stems from willpower, not from burning up someone's soul. technically, summons don't really have souls?? at least not in the way people here understand them
- wizard scholar gem initay recently proposed a theory that having stronger willpower than a summon is not, in fact, strictly necessary unless the contract is being forced. she argues that especially in the case of lords, the only reason any have been bound is because they allowed it out of curiosity or interest in the contract, and actually have much greater willpower than any human
