Eternium sages

[Prince of Ravens he/him]

I need critics on my little magic system I have been working on and off for a year and half.

 

Before history humans faught the enemy. Nothing is known about those times, only that we were losing. Than we discovered universe travel. But nothing is simple and everything is simple in comparison to dimension travel. When you open a hole in fabric of space you travel through realm of eternium and once hole is opened you can only travel one way. Like a water leaking through crack. Even more, hole can be open only once and never again to the same universe. So would-be travelers would be traped in brand new world with no way back. One group of humans landed on the world of Zelenkar. What this explorers didn't know is that by their passage they connected that world with space inbetween universes, with the realm of eternium. Their organic nature and complexity of their brains left impression on that medium leaving some kind of projecting. Every human had it's "shadow" or "astral projection" or "mirror image" of them selfs in the eternium. It took many millennia for humans to discover their new connection to the "else", "nothing in between", "eternium", "ethernium", "void".

 

Allright, this is just short explanation of how humans got their powers. Not all of them could tap their image in the eternium. You needed years of practice to open "3rd eye" or "spiritual vision" or w/e else people came up to name it. Dimensinal hole that brought humans to Zelenkar was closed at the point of their entry but not at the point of their exit. So Zelenkar became connected to that realm and many eternium particals kept coming in to the world.

 

Something happend ( I will not elaborated because it is somewhat connected to amaturish book I am writting ) and culture collapsed, history lost etc, etc. You know the drill on lost civilizations and precursers and mistiqe about lost glories. Cliche but still effective. So new people need to discovere their powers to defend world from evil hurr durr.

 

Anyway, what I wanted is to create system which will make every humans magic uniqe but still have rules to govern them and limit their abilities. I wanted to leave mistery and wonder of discovery but still retain some sort of guide lines.

 

Sooo, eternium image is projection of human body. Every organ has uniqe property but you can't connect every materium organ with it's eternium counterpart. You awaken your heart, brain and stomach for example. Heart is pump for blood but when it connects with eternium counterpart it changes blood in one way  and gives you ability run longer, closes wounds faster by speeding up coagulation etc. But if you awakend liver instade of heart it would change blood differently. Enhanced stomach will give you ability to metabolise everything, rocks, earth or something like that. And brain works faster like computer, calculating movment of arrows and bolts or something similar. You can throw coin to ricocheting few times and hitting bowmans finger. This are just examples.

 

Every awakend practitioner of "vetrosek" (only one name for art of using eternium power) has it's skin, bones and muscles connected to it's eternium counterpart just by opening it's 3rd eye.

 

Long story short. What kind of mischief can you think of in such setting? What kind of way can it be exploited? I don't really want omnipotency just add spice to the world. Thoughts, critiques, suggestions? Anything can help.

[Bunnyburn he/him]

You have a really good idea here. I feel a little confused about the rules regarding linking between materium and eternium. (Why can't you link your entire being to the counterpart?)

Also, does eternium contain a mirror of only the physical person, or perhaps emotions, personality, or memory as well?

If I could connect with my eternium self, I would likely use my enhanced abilities to be some kind of vigilante. But that would be dependant on how easy it was to link and unlink, or to switch what part I am linked with rapidly and on-the-fly. Otherwise, it may not be AS useful in a combat setting, because it would require preparation and planning into what enhancements would be the most useful in a given situation.

I truly like your idea, but I feel your explanation is lacking in clarity, so I cannot really determine how I would personally use Vetrosek.

[Prince of Ravens he/him]

Hah, funny thing is one of the characters in my novel did just that. Used her new found abilities to become vigilenty.

 

Look at it this way. Your eternium self is you in the mirror, it is not some clone of you, just your reflection. But if you would connect every materium organ to it's eternium counterpart you would shift in to eternium plane and leave normal space. Sort of like making impression in the sand by lieing down. If you want your entire body to leave impression you need to submerge your self in the sand ... so to speak. Not the best analogy?

 

I was hoping to leave most of interpretation to you guys. I have my idea of rules but if I tell you everything I will color your perspective with my own.

[Bunnyburn he/him]

I think I am beginning to understand. You say travel through eternium is one-way. What would be the effect of total "immersing yourself in the sand; so to speak?" Being drawn into eternium, unable to return; since you don't have anything firmly rooted in materium? Or is it simply impossible within the mechanics of Vetrosek?

Sorry if I am misunderstanding you, but I am really interested in what ways links could be made and used to perform different tasks.

Edited July 22, 2014 by Bunnyburn

[Swimmingly he/him]

I feel like the heart thing should come with a risk - higher blood pressure, maybe, so you bleed more if you're injured. It might strengthen the circulatory system, but I'd make it more "energy and speed" then healing. If fact, I'd make healing the domain of the bones - they produce blood cells after all, and making them resistant to fracture would be very useful. Skin could be a more sensory thing - you can turn your entire body into an ear, sense pressure waves, even light patterns, stuff like that. Liver sounds like knocking out toxins in your blood stream - maybe a little underpowered, so maybe you can consciously manufacture drugs and hormones for your bloodstream as well, and it takes less power but more subtlety? A careful liver user could mimic the effects of most other organs, but more weakly, and chemically rather than magically. I can also see energy level as an issue in this setting, if your capabilities are enhanced but not the supply to them. You might have to eat a lot. In that case, it would be a real advantage to use careful application of drugs to boost yourself rather than gobbling up your energy reserves with a blast of muscle-power. The stomach thing could offset that, but with only human reserves, it could be fun to see people carefully balancing their systems, conserving energy and operating only a bit above human normal. Then, something happens, and someone cuts loose - they chug some protein smoothy and smash in a wall with muscles, bone, and brain blazing. Probably with some opiates from their liver, because even calculating the exact amount of force needed to take down the wall and super-tough bones, that's going to hurt until the healing kicks in.

[Prince of Ravens he/him]

I think I am beginning to understand. You say travel through eternium is one-way. What would be the effect of total "immersing yourself in the sand; so to speak?" Being drawn into eternium, unable to return; since you don't have anything firmly rooted in materium? Or is it simply impossible within the mechanics of Vetrosek?

Sorry if I am misunderstanding you, but I am really interested in what ways links could be made and used to perform different tasks.

 

Misunderstandings are awesome. They bring conflict or enlightenment, from both we learn   And gives me reason to explain more.

 

Point of human entery in to the world is still open. Scholars called it The Great Gap (a lot of jokes were made about that name ). For some reason eternium particals keep coming but not in the huge waves but in tiny streams. They flow around the world like tiny invisible snakes. Many well versed vetrosek users use their skin to turn them selves in to eternium and use those flows for travel. But that is painful since they comprese their materium organs. Staying longer than few seconds will make them turn permenently which is like dying ... well it is dying. So if you somehow find a way to connect your self with your eternium image you simply go all the way in to eternium plane where only your thoughts sustain you. But that is losing battle, one second of unconscious and you are gone, just few more new eternium particles. For a short time you can do it, but what is the point? Maybe as risky way to get away? Go to eternium plane for a few seconds to dodge the attack? Risk destruction but avoiding certain death. Small chance better than none and all of that.

 

Long story short, you can "blink" a short distance along the eternium corridors (streams which leak in to the normal space from The Great Gap).

 

I feel like the heart thing should come with a risk - higher blood pressure, maybe, so you bleed more if you're injured. It might strengthen the circulatory system, but I'd make it more "energy and speed" then healing. If fact, I'd make healing the domain of the bones - they produce blood cells after all, and making them resistant to fracture would be very useful. Skin could be a more sensory thing - you can turn your entire body into an ear, sense pressure waves, even light patterns, stuff like that. Liver sounds like knocking out toxins in your blood stream - maybe a little underpowered, so maybe you can consciously manufacture drugs and hormones for your bloodstream as well, and it takes less power but more subtlety? A careful liver user could mimic the effects of most other organs, but more weakly, and chemically rather than magically. I can also see energy level as an issue in this setting, if your capabilities are enhanced but not the supply to them. You might have to eat a lot. In that case, it would be a real advantage to use careful application of drugs to boost yourself rather than gobbling up your energy reserves with a blast of muscle-power. The stomach thing could offset that, but with only human reserves, it could be fun to see people carefully balancing their systems, conserving energy and operating only a bit above human normal. Then, something happens, and someone cuts loose - they chug some protein smoothy and smash in a wall with muscles, bone, and brain blazing. Probably with some opiates from their liver, because even calculating the exact amount of force needed to take down the wall and super-tough bones, that's going to hurt until the healing kicks in.

That is mostly what I imagined. Skin, muscles and bones are defult 3 organs when people open their 3rd eye. I was thinking that other than those three later they gain three more. Which three depends on that persons personality. Intelectuals will go for brain but I was thinking brain is a little bit big concept, maybe certain parts of brain? I really like your suggestion. I guess I should go research human anathomy now.

 

Oh, one of lost techs is crizglass. That is transparent material which has some eternium properties. Kinda like fusion of materium and eternium. Because of that it can exist even in eternium plane unchanged so some of practitioners use it as storage for their weapons.

 

Wow guys I got cold on this idea for a while but I am brainstorming now. Thanks, I needed that. Even if it's still lackluster. I need to add more meat to this.

[Swimmingly he/him]

You could definitely stick some interesting anatomical tidbits in there. Question, is there a limit on how many of the organs can be boosted at a time?

[Bunnyburn he/him]

So this crizglass, could you forge it into a blade, and somehow sever a persons connection to their eternium image? (Shardblades anyone?)

I like your idea about conecting to parts of the brain, instead of the whole brain. Perhaps you could connect to your eternium hippocampus, and either enhance memory, or use it to store memories away in your eternium-brain? (Coppermind status?)

Also, do you have in-world terminology for linking or connecting to your eternium-image? And terminology for the eternium-image itself? I've caught myself using several different terms and would prefer to be consistent.

Edited July 22, 2014 by Bunnyburn

[Swimmingly he/him]

A thought on the system - the human body is a balanced thing, and upsets to that balance can be dangerous in the long term. For example, say that boosting bones increases white blood cell count and coagulation. That makes you heal faster, but thickens your blood and makes clots more likely. To prevent that, you could boost the heart - a higher blood pressure will break down clots before they're an issue. Unfortunately, that makes you easier to injure, as cutting you sprays blood everywhere. The coagulation we will help with that, but it's best to toughen your skin up. However, tougher skin restricts your movements - you'll need to boost muscles in order to get the same range of motion. None of these effects on their own are a problem, really, but if you don't keep everything balanced carefully, running a power for too long will have effects on your health. Add energy cost to that, and you find that the only sustainable way to keep yourself boosted is to boost just about everything. Even boosting your eyes might give you a headache without extra brainpower to process the information.

[Prince of Ravens he/him]

 

You could definitely stick some interesting anatomical tidbits in there. Question, is there a limit on how many of the organs can be boosted at a time?

 
Still developing.My first idea was to keep to  six, three defult which are same for everyone and three others to make uniqe style. But at this stage nothing is written in stone.
 

So this crizglass, could you forge it into a blade, and somehow sever a persons connection to their eternium image? (Shardblade's anyone?)

I like your idea about conecting to parts of the brain, instead of the whole brain. Perhaps you could connect to your eternium hippocampus, and either enhance memory, or use it to store memories away in your eternium-brain? (Coppermind status?)

 
There are blades and weapons made from that material but they can affect only one realm. If they are in materium (physical realm) they are just like every mundane weapon all tho absurdly sharp. Not so absurdly to cut stones and metal with just one swing but still superier to steel. But if some how you could use it while in eternium plane you could really sever persons connection to their eternium image   But I already stated restriction on visits to eternium, so technically possible but hardly unlikely. (love it how I speak of this thing as it is real:rolleyes: )
 
People can leave such weapons in eternium plane with no ill efect to it until summened. Belive me if you can but summing blades is a thing I was dreaming about since I was six years old. I blame video games for that, not on some hidden psychosis. So I am not entirely inspired by shardblades  
 
Oh and since crizglass is only inorganic thing which has dual nature (it exist in both materium and eternium) only way to destroy such weapon is to destroy both physical version of it and it's image in eternium.
 

A thought on the system - the human body is a balanced thing, and upsets to that balance can be dangerous in the long term. For example, say that boosting bones increases white blood cell count and coagulation. That makes you heal faster, but thickens your blood and makes clots more likely. To prevent that, you could boost the heart - a higher blood pressure will break down clots before they're an issue. Unfortunately, that makes you easier to injure, as cutting you sprays blood everywhere. The coagulation we will help with that, but it's best to toughen your skin up. However, tougher skin restricts your movements - you'll need to boost muscles in order to get the same range of motion. None of these effects on their own are a problem, really, but if you don't keep everything balanced carefully, running a power for too long will have effects on your health. Add energy cost to that, and you find that the only sustainable way to keep yourself boosted is to boost just about everything. Even boosting your eyes might give you a headache without extra brainpower to process the information.

That would be great but such system would be better with no restrictions to number of organs. Well only all of them would be restricated. It would be double edged sword to use. With every power gain you get debilitations as well. It would force people to find balance like you said. In the end only imagination of the user would be the limit. It would make self training hard with a lot of room for deadly mistakes. Turning your blood into jelly because of inattention could be possible result. And that would work just fine in to my story so far. Since one of the new vetrosek users is interested in to forbiden kind of medicine. Laws for cutting dead humans is in effect everywhere, enforced by church mostly. Medicine is advancing but slowly, pharmaceutics is more advanced than surgery. One of the first shows of something wrong is her shrugging off poison which should have killed her. She unconsciously counteracted it with her ... "organ bending" (term which just came to me and which I definitly will never use again )

Edited July 22, 2014 by Prince of Ravens