I'm into astrology. I'm nowhere near an expert but I'm super interested in it (I actually have a Scorpio page on facebook), so if you need help with Zodiac stuffs I can provide some of that help. (^_^)
I appreciate the offer, but I think I'm pretty solid on what I want to do with the Zodiac by now. ^^
And on the subject of both 1 and 2, I noticed the zodiac stuff for the deities. Is there a reason you chose certain ones to be certain gods or elements or seasons? The main reason I'm asking this is because I saw that Diana was water, and for Cancer and Gemini, the former which is a water sign and the latter which is not (i think it's air?). Also I don't think either of those signs are winter signs. I'm not saying you're wrong for choosing what you did, I just want to know your reasons for these combinations, just so I can understand them.
Basically, I tried to align signs with gods that had matching personalities and stood for similar things. This means that I kind of had to ignore the elements that these signs are normally associated with, because I wouldn't make everything fit together nicely, otherwise.
That being said, it's obvious that, in the case of most of the gods, one of the signs matches that god's personality a lot better than the other sign. Again, using Diana as an example, Cancer is pretty much
spot on to be connected to Diana -- at least based on my research -- while Gemini... not as much.
So, I'm thinking that what'll happen is that each god has a "primary sign" and a "secondary sign". The primary signs would have a much closer connection to that god, while the secondary signs (which I'm thinking of calling "lost signs" in general) have a weaker connection, based on only secondary attributes of that god or sign. For example, Gemini seemed to have a lot to do with balance and pairs and all that, and Diana serves as a necessary opposite to Apollo, which is where that connection came from. It's a stretch, sure, but I wouldn't have been able to evenly divide 12 signs among 6 gods (minus Eterna) otherwise. And besides, at least I'm working on a way to make that sort of thing work in the actual lore. XD
Question: is it possible for someone to have two different elements in terms of magic? Like, maybe they are a Pyran and have SOME fire magic, but one or both of their parents happen to both be water users so they also have SOME water magic? And by extension of that question, would elements be hereditary, or is it just random or based on chance/destiny/whatever?
No, a person only has one type of raw magic. They can try to balance themselves out by learning spells that relate to a different element, but it'll be more difficult for them to master.
Also, elements can't be inherited. It's all up to chance.
And on that note, would there be any sort of social or personal consequences of being a certain element if you are a certain race, whether positive or negative or neutral. Like, if you are an Aquan but you know fire stuff, would that be an inconvenience or looked down upon, or vice-versa? Or is diversity of elements common enough--despite there being a majority element--for people to not really care? (Some individuals might be dicks about it, but i'm asking in terms of the society as a whole).
That depends on the race in particular and their culture, I think. There'll be more on that later. In general, though, I don't think being a non-dominant
element will make
too much of a difference, positive or negative. What will
really create problems is being of a non-dominant
persuasion, as that means that your way of thinking is very different from that of the norm. It would be like having political opinions that are the opposite of that of your parents, for example -- it's bound to create some friction. I mean, imagine being a Pyran but your persuasion is cups -- the sensitive, emotion-driven persuasion likely isn't going to get along well with such a traditionally masculine culture. And, likewise, an Aquan of wands would probably be seen as overly-aggressive and insensitive in such a traditionally feminine culture. :P
In fact, demi-humans of non-dominant persuasions are the most likely to leave the places they grew up in and to become more integrated into human society, in search of like-minded people. :D
On the term "element-locked" spells, perhaps you can replace it with "element-exclusive" if you're trying to get across the idea that while they may be a spell use a certain element it is NOT exclusive to only beings of that element. (I know you don't play but an analogy I think of is that in Wizard 101 certain items have stats that benefit a certain school but can be equipped by students not in that school, because any student of any school can learn most of the spells from any other school.)
:/ I feel like "element-exclusive" still conveys the idea that it can be used only by people of a certain element, hence why I didn't use the term.
For the demi-humans, what does each of them look like? Are they all similar in appearance (aside from coloring, i assume), or are there some groups that look different? For example, do all Aquans have the same general fin design, or will some have fins that look like different sea creatures (like sharks, eels, dolphins, etc)? And will all Avians have similar-looking bird-like features or will they have wings and feathers of different shapes and sizes?
There'll be more on this later. I'll try to provide sketches for the
average appearances for the males and females of each race, but, like with humans, I'm sure there's some room for some variation in features.
As for the Avians in particular, though, they're specifically based off of crows and ravens (much like Corvenus), so there won't be much variation in that department. In fact, now that I think about it, they're probably the most uniform-looking of all the demi-humans -- although the size and shape of wings could be
slightly varied. The others, yes, will have more room for deviation.
I just thought of a thing. You said that the earth element has more to do with nature and well being than rocks and dirt. Well what if there was stuff each element could do with a certain aspect of the element that is different from the norm. Kinda like how it is in A:TLA each element has a special ability. Examples/suggestions: for fire it might be light, for water it might be
I think you forgot to finish this sentence.
And just me going off on a tangent (i don't expect you to take this train of thought anywhere), but maybe each element also has a sub-element that is closely related to it. I can see fire being death, air as being light, earth as being dark, water as being life. just some thought rambles~
Eh... I don't really see any of those sub-elements as matching up very well in the first place. :/ Fire has much more to do with
energy than death. And, if anything, I suppose air would relate to death the best if we're tying it all back to Corvenus. And earth I certainly don't see as dark at all. I'm not even really sure where that came from. :/
If anything, these more
abstract concepts seem to connect better to
persuasions than elements anyway, so... yeah.
ooohh but maybe an idea you CAN incorporate, which probably will be incorporated anyway if people get creative, but using elements together to do a thing. Like using fire magic to boil (not evaporate water), then using water magic to make the boiling water snake its way towards a foe to burn them from a distance or get under armor or through a crack in a wall, or using earth magic to make a plant grow lots of fruit quickly then using air magic to shake the plant and knock all the fruit off. Again, that idea will probably be a thing anyway if people are creative with their abilities and ideas, but it's just a thing I wanted to bring up for the sake of acknowledging it.
Hah, yeah, I'm sure that'll be a thing that can happen.
As far as the magic goes...the abilities explained under "Raw Magic" seem unbalanced. Fire doesn't really have much explanation, but water has a lot of raw abilities. Though this may just be the nature of the elements themselves. Or the way you explained them. But it also could be my lack of understanding.
So my question is, what exactly is the nature of "Raw" magic? Is it raw in the sense that it is basic abilities for each element, or is it just the rawest FORM of that element, or is it more just that only users born with that element can use those specific abilities from that element?
In any of these cases, the way you explained it is kind of confusing, misleading, and unbalanced. After reading the whole post again (several times) I've come to understand that Raw magic is just element-specific abilities that can be used however, but spells are specific processes (not necessarily of a particular element) that lead to a particular end goal. Is that correct? So raw Fire magic would be creating a flame then lighting a candle with it, but a fire Spell would be one that specifically lights all candles in a room? And raw air magic might be blowing something over but a spell that seems like air magic but isn't could be a force aimed at someone to knock them backwards?
Either way, I think that part should be reworded. At first it seems like raw magic is something basic, but then you give examples and mention "higher levels". And also fire isn't explained enough. There's more about the weakness of its power rather than about the potential uses it has. Fire needs more love
"Raw" comes from the way that it's used. It means
raw magical energy. And it's "basic" in the way that it's unrefined. Even if it's a more powerful use of raw magic, it still doesn't have the same precision to it that spellcasting does.
As for this bit,
So raw Fire magic would be creating a flame then lighting a candle with it, but a fire Spell would be one that specifically lights all candles in a room?
I'd say that's a
spot-on way to tell the difference. :D
I'll try to take a closer look at this blog post later and see what exactly about it you think is unbalanced or poorly explained.
And one last thing before I end this post and go do something else while I wait for your reply (lol sorry for all the things at once). This one is just an idea though. Could it also be a thing that supposed "dark magic" has a place in society for certain people, such as certain government-approved professions and even secretly some of the leaders in whatever society. Kinda like Noah's KOL game (idk if you ever played it), mind magic is STRICTLY forbidden unless you are an approved and certified psychologist, and using it if you are not one such person will get you in serious trouble and even killed on the spot. In this case maybe such "dark magic" is used to punish criminals, or like in Noah's game only by certain approved people that use it for a specific public good? Or even as a secret healing technique (hypnosis is good for getting rid of phobias, if done extremely well). Just a suggestion~
Hmm. Maybe. I'll have to think on it.
