World of Aspects

This is as good as it is going to get.

This is a map of the old world that existed before the goddesses disappeared, the only issue is that it is a map from the only beings old enough to remember it.

 

I'm sorry I haven't been adding anything really new lately, summer classes began about 2 weeks ago and I'm still looking for a new job. I am currently working on finishing up the creation story, the rules of magic, and the more current map. I have the map of the New World sketched up but I am not happy with the way that the archipelagos turned out, so I'm researching what real archipelagos look like and how the form as inspiration. With the exception of the archipelagos and Area 12, I like where everything else is. I can also slip one thing about the magic system; people are able to store magical energy within their bodies and use it to cast magic because the people of this world's blood is highly conductive to magical energy. At least that is what I am going with right now.

 

1. Both Stronger and More Numerous Spells, but not both. Think of stored energy like a mana pool.
2. Yes, spending mag... I am getting tired of saying magical energy. The line between energy and magical energy is increasingly blurring in my mind and I can either merge them now or separate them.
2. Oh yeah, casting spells does make the caster tired. Casting too many spells for too long will cause the caster to become exhausted. I guess I am almost merging stamina and mana at this point.
3. The limit is the caster's ability to store mana (damnit), the energy they have stored in crystals, and the energy that is available in their environment.

On a side note; Have I discussed the debacle between physical mending and magical mending yet? I don't want healing to bee too op and leave doctoring in the dust. Healers are wonderful and all but so are doctors. With this fatigue feature in place, a healer can only heal as long as they can stay standing. Healed wounds using magic tend to be very fragile as magic tends to cause cells to enter a state of hyper regeneration but new cells are very weak. Exercising these wounds will only cause them to open back up. With hyper regeneration, it is possible to grow limbs back, but depending on how much was lost, it will take many sessions with a healer, some medication from a doctor, and of course rest. A finger may take a few sessions while a whole arm will take a month or more. There are many kinds of spells generally of different aspects of magic, life, water, and light being the best at healing. Salamanders have a form of healing called Phoenix Regeneration that is much faster than the healing of other races but is described as massively painful. People slowly absorb energy from their environment, but this is my conflict with stamina and mana as I don't want people to feel like they just ate a meal sitting in a place they like. I also want to introduce magic effectiveness; when certain aspects of magic are strongest, what they are strong against, and what they are weak against.

 

I'm sorry I haven't published anything new as of recently. Classes, job searching, and my late-running starbound 1.3 review have been occupying my time. I want to finish up the prologue but it still needs work, but I did, however, make this cute hex-tile map in 2 variants.

Political Map Mode: http://imgur.com/nt7KetJ
BTW: Inkarnate when I made these is still garbage, so you all know.

The remaining issues with the prologue are that I wrote Heima as having buggered off into area 7, then during the creation of mortality she is all of a sudden back for the gift session. I need to insert somewhere that some goddesses actually don't like each other, examples being how Lux likes her fellow Divine sisters but is hostile toward the Malum, and Vita mainly nods and agrees with Lux and maintains a very consumer-based relationship with the other Divines except Ignis and believes that the Malum and Ignis are dangerous. These personal feuds will be passed down to the mortals as they choose sides and follow certain goddesses. After the goddesses have passed down their gifts they will leave the care of the Garden to them as they rest for one last time, leading to the first dark age. The first dark age is my version of our ancient age or pre-classical age and will be a result of; the goddesses' relative disappearance, the mortals fighting a losing battle with the monster hoards, and the destabilization of the natural balance of the Garden.

The prologue ends after the goddesses go to their own corners of the world and create their own personal pocket dimensions to help them recuperate their energy. The mortals try to follow them but the presence of the goddesses is just too much for them to bear, so they settle for as close as they can get. The dimensional holes that lead to the goddesses personal realms become known as nodes, which act as gateways for the goddesses into the mortal world but they never really leave. The nodes leak out the magical energy that the goddesses radiate in their pocket dimensions and enjoy bathing in those energies. This is what I have so far in my reasoning as to where the magical energies come from, which, like everything else, is subject to change given the right reasons. The first light age would come, parodying our classical age, when the goddesses eventually return and bath the mortals in their light, but then quickly become non-interventionist armchair deities like the greek olympians. Basically the relationship between goddesses and mortals becomes prayer/praise in exchange for favor/blessing. Eventually mortality would throw itself into the second dark age, parodying our medieval age, as it rips itself apart with wars, skirmishing monster attacks, and an ever increasing cult following of Voro'avi. Each of the generations of heroes mentioned already belong to one of these ages; Jake of the Frostfang Clan appearing at the near end of the first dark age, Mr. Ihaventrenamedhimyet in the middle of the first light age, Percy Starite helping to clear away the fog of the second dark age, and Hope Starite after the birth of the second light age. Each of these heroes fought off different threats to mortality, with the earlier ages being more concerned with the rampant monster problem and the later ages being more concerned with the growing 'traitor' problem. Jake of the Frostfang clan was most known in legend as the first champion of Sophi'avi for slaying the titans; the Lord of the Sky, the Lord of Darkness, and the Lord of the Earth the groundy thing.

I am also still in conflict about races, as I have not thought up of a name for the wood elves and blood elves that I like yet. I want them to be something that makes reference to myths and legends like I did with angels, imps, mermaids/merfolk, gnomes, etc. I have also been running skin tones and other traits, like how I don't really think red skin on red hair would look great at all but instead maybe combinations of brown and red, and maybe I should give all of the children of Malum horns. Horns on 'snowmen' may not be a bad look, but I am concerned for a theme clash with the harpies, but I am meh on the idea with 'mercanaries'. I am, however, in pretty strong support of the idea that the less pure a person's blood is, the less pointy their ears are, making them easier to single out. Percy Starite, the third champion of Sophi'avi, was a 4-race mutt who alongside his sister in their travels of the world had to remain hidden and cloaked in public because they would always get singled out for incrimination. Elizabeth Greater, an Angel-half-Gnome was able to get away with it because it is forgivable to have two races bloods, especially two races with good relations, and the similarity of the two races appearances making her look like a taller-than-normal Gnome or a shorter-than-normal Angel. It could also explain as to why Percy, having few racial strengths and weaknesses, was a very adaptable and versatile fighter and how Elizabeth had both strong muscles and a talent for healing.

Am I missing anything? Maybe in regards to magic. I don't want healing spells to be OP, maybe acting as accelerated regeneration, but quickly grown flesh is raw and delicate, and the material and energy needed to regrow quickly needs to come from somewhere. If spending lots of mana is to be tied with fatigue, which is a system I like but am struggling to explain logically, then magical energy needs to be the same as normal energy you could get from food, or at least similar? If that were the case, however, then sitting in an energy-rich area would feel filing which I do not want, and then there are the complications of what kind of energies would food provide. Balancing magic and stamina is proving to be one of the most difficult parts of writing this.

 

I thought you already were, with those Tales of Mortia Rilly.

 

I made a new map that details the movement of peoples and cultures supposedly at the end of the first dark age.

Predicted Time Period: Between 1st Dark Age and 1st Light Age.
Key: Vanilla paper colored territory is disputed, conflicted, unaligned, uncolonized, and otherwise flagless. Colored territories are firmly held and developed. Larger territories are generally less developed. Sorry not sorry snowmen :/

During the 1st Dark age, mortality stayed on the western holy continent, huddled and cowering in their encampments and villages. Terrible beasts, the children of Voro'avi, stalk the land during the night and hide away during the day. Only when the goddesses reappeared and cast their light on the mortals did the 1st Dark age end, and the 1st Light age begin. When the goddesses reemerged from their secret hideaways the mortals prospered and built kingdoms to exalt their deities. The goddesses guided the mortals and they flourished under their nurturing watch, but the goddesses still harbored their resentment for each other, and held their own ideas of what the Garden should be like. The goddesses were forbidden by Sophi'avi from directly harming each other or their creations, so with the hate that they held for each other, they turned their followers into the instruments of their wrath, pitting the mortals against each other in holy wars and crusades. The mortals ,as asked by their deities, went to war with each other in the promise of favor and new territory for attacking their goddesses' enemies. The goddesses set their children upon each other, and after the dust and cinders settle from the battles and razed villages, the 2nd Dark age begins...

To actually talk about the movements now, the Imps were the first to settle the eastern continent, seeking refuge on the island chain of [Area 18} when fleeing from the Angelic Crusades. These crusades are what cause the Imps to be really good at hiding their hidden villages in the dark woods and underground cities. The culture on [Area 18] has evolved to be more open about their settlements, but their night life is still their main stay. The Blood Elves were also forced to flee at the hands of the children of the Divines and they were exiled to Labya [Area 9]. The Iron Citadels of the Metal Elves at [Area 8] stood strong against the crusades and they allowed the Blood Elves to pass through their territory into Labya. The Snowmen, protected from the crusades by the cold winters, set out for more land to colonize and found a large island continent south east of them but it was even colder and more barren than their home of [Area 7].

With the crusades and exiling over, the Angels tried to expand laterally but was met with Harpy and Imp resistance. Because of this, they and the Wood Elves set out in search of land elsewhere using the Eastern Archipelago as guidance and landed in [Area 17] but tried their luck and continued heading farther east. With the help of the Imps, the Harpies followed suit and locked them in settling the mountains of [Area 17]. The Metal and Blood Elves, looking for better living conditions, sent colonists to Area 12 at the same time as the Salamanders, but did not find better conditions. It was still hot, but this didn't bother the Salamanders one bit, and the Blood Elves were getting used to heat at this point. The Mermaids, realizing that the Eastern Archipelago was such high traffic, colonized it rather quickly. With the help of the Angels and Wood Elves, the Gnomes set off going underneath [Area 12] and establishing colonies in [Area 14] going through the channel. The Snowmen, using the southern wastes as a jumping point, punched through the Mermaid occupation of the Central Archipelago looking for territory in the north.

In short, let me summarize this in something closer to an even log.
Imps colonized Area 18! Blood Elves colonized Area 9! Snowmen colonized technically Area 7! Angels lost some wars! Angels colonized Area 11! Wood Elves colonized Area 15! Harpies colonized Area 17! Salamanders, Blood Elves, and Metal Elves colonized Area 12! Mermaids colonized Area 13? Gnomes colonized 14! Mermaids failed to block the Snowmen! Snowmen colonized Area 16!

 

Updated the movement map to include the Metal Elves and the Area number in a bubble, as well as the stories regarding them.

In other news, I think I have settled on whether Harpies should have horns or not. I am just going to have it to where all children of Malum have horns and tails. This works best on Imps, "Exiled", and Snowmen, which will look more like yetis now with their Frost Form. I am meh with the Snowmen and Metal Elves regarding their new horns and tails, but it does not change them on the inside. I also am reverting the children of Mercura back to cool-name-less status as I am going to make Mercanary someone who lived in the Iron Citadel Mercanara in the providence of Mercena. When Mercanara fell to the sieges of monster hordes, the Metal Elves in the West became wanderers, getting by however they could. Metal Elf hirelings became known as Mercenaries. If I am going to be naming the western collective of blood elves Labythia in the Labyathan, then the western Angels area will be named Athonia. What kind of adjectives I want to throw onto Athonia I don't know yet. Kingdom of Athonia? Holy Kingdom of Athonia? I do know they really love to exalt their goddess, and they love love love marble.

 

I am going to retract some of the ideas in my last post involving the Metal Elves. I want them to still be nick named and essentially coin Mercenaries, but I am finally going to let go of Mercanary, as I can't even remember where that comes from besides from appearing in the 1st Light Era during the Red Desert War. I can't think of too much for historical and mythological names for Metal Elves, so I was considering naming them Tinkers or something of the like, but Tinker is a name that I feel can be given to anybody that tinkers with things. What I need is a name for Metal Elves that they and only they can own, like the Flame Elves' Salamander or the Snow Elves' Snowmer. As for where they lived, I can either name the Iron Citadel Merces, Mercenara, or Italia. This still needs working on some.

With regards to Blood Elves, I have combed through several undead themes for their name but with almost all of them I feel that I can't name the Blood Elves after them because it would make them sound too monstrous. I have actually become quite attached to called the Blood Elves by Exiled, as to their history is does fit them but to me it only describes their history, not their composition. The one name that I picked up from my searches on undead creatures and beings is Wight, which hails from the same region as Revenant and tickles me as it is pronouced white and the Blood Elves are white as @#%$. I would call them wights, but it doesn't slide out of my mouth comfortably and I don't know if I could keep calling them that. I like Wight, it doesn't sound too monstrous, but I am also fond of Exiled.

I am also playing with ideas regarding the Champion system, the individuals who are noticed by the goddesses themselves for their deeds and acts of valor and are bestowed more advanced transformations that allow them to survive in extreme environments. Yes I am talking about advanced transformations and blessings. I rediscovered Selkies, sort of seal mermaids that I believe live in colder waters and I would like to make them an advanced blessing, but the internal question came up... would Selkies be a blessing from Undine, or Heima? I am distracted right now, I will continue building on these things.

 

Trying to rewrite the the third act of the prologue in a sensical manner. In other news, for lack of better names I am going to name the wood elves Nymphs and the Blood Elves Wights and Exiled, exiled being their slang name but wight being their proper name. I doubt I will find anything mythos for Metal Elves so I will have to give them something close to a synonym for inventor, but it needs to be a name that can apply only to them and not anything anybody else can become, say a genius or inventor. Tinker sounds like it might due if it weren't susceptible to the same argument. Selkies, I have decided, will be an alternate transformation for the Snowmen, their main being Yeti, and Selkie form will give the snowmen another advantage over mermaids, a sort of counter to same playing field that is like the harpy-angel rivalry. Except in reverse, because harpies get to fly earlier as do mermaids, but snowmen beat mermaids normally. Again, that whole effectiveness triangle I have going between salamanders, mermaids, and snowmen which is fun in its own right and explains why none of them can get anywhere.

I want to talk more about the traitor-kin, or Fallen if you prefer, or cultists, void bound, corrupted, witches, which ever pleases you. These are those that willingly choose to follow or are corrupted by Voro'avi, the goddess of nothingness and emptiness in case you forgot her. Mortals usually worship her as a means to gain something, such as escape from death, lust for power, or desire for just about anything. Those that especially gain the notice of Voro'avi herself through dark rituals and sacrifices, self or other, are allowed to become her champions and wish for one thing. Depending on what the champion wishes for, there are several classes of what the chosen can become if they do not wish for possessions. If the chosen wishes for infinite power (magical), then she can turn them into a lich, a powerful undying individual with great strength in the magical arts. If the chosen wishes eternal youth, then she can turn them into a vampire, a powerful undying individual that is strong with the arcane arts but must maintain themselves by draining the essence out of mortals. There is not much difference between a lich and a vampire besides appearance, and those that have their essence depleted will die and their corpses becoming shriveled like a mummy... or something. If the chosen wishes for infinite strength (physical), then she can turn them into a lycanthrope, a powerful and dangerous individual with the ability to transform into a beastly and monstrous form featuring a boat load of muscle, copious amounts of fur, tough hide, and razor sharp teeth and claws. Like the vampire and prolly the lich, the lycanthrope must prey on mortals, but the lycanthrope is much less subtle about it, needing to consume the flesh from the corpses of their "prey". If the chosen wishes for eternal allure, then she can turn them into a succubus, an overwhelmingly beautiful individual with the ability to magically charm mortals into joining their lewd, and sometimes bloody, orgies and harems forming underground trafficking networks with cult worship of Voro'avi. Mortals that fall victim to the succubi's charm will fall into a lewd dream and never wake up, only ever ending with their sacrifice on an alter or magic circle. Our dear hero Elizabeth almost fell victim to a Succubi's captivation, but luckily she had friends to bail her out and they cleared out the Succubi den. Unfortunately, however, the thralls that the succubi had created, could not be cured easily. I say this as I haven't made a cure for enthrallment yet. I have briefly talked about these corrupted before, but I bring it up now to introduce a new fallen, the Ghoul. When an individual during their parting moments begs Voro'avi to spare their life and otherwise deny death, she will turn them into a Ghoul, an monstrous shell of their former self that must feast on the flesh of mortals in order to sustain themselves. The only thing that a Ghoul retains from their previous life are their hatreds and their fear of dying.

So which do you guys think sounds the most dangerous? Liches, Vampires, Lycanthropes, Succubi, or Ghouls?

 

I have been playing with a few sketches, just to see how they look, and I have a few things to add.
In regards to appearance, all of the malum will have horns and tails. Each malum race will have different tails, but I have not made a pattern for the horns, and I am not sure if I want there to be one. Percy and Riley are twins but they have different horns. I also want all races to have pointed ears, excluding the mutts, but I want sacer races to have the sort of classic fantasy vertical pointed ears while the malum races to have the sort of new horizontal ears. So basically 7 vs >. For the horned races, I have had no limit as to what type of horns besides no centrally located horns. No unicorns here.

Wights were Exiled to Labya, a large peninsula consisting mostly of wastelands, savannas, marshes, and an unusual number of volcanoes. Food does not really grow in the dry, barren soil, and eruptions make the idea of cultivating under volcanoes unappealing, so the Wights mainly live a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle. I want their appearance, besides the physical given whiter than white skin, charcoal black hair, warm colored eyes, horns, and lion tail, to reflect hunters and gatherers by wearing lots of furs and pelts, usually being a large source of clothing, but not limited to. I would think maybe tribal/native american/aboriginal vibe but no feathers or dream catchers. So pelts, simple clothing, headbands and a few other things to really get the tribal vibe going.

The feathers, however, go to the harpies which adore them. Harpies, I don't know if I have explained this here yet or not, I want to be very greedy. I want them to be like pack rats in regards to treasure, or to be better described, like birds and shinies. They don't really care if its useful, just that it is shiny. Angels I want to have a very British/Ancient Greek vibe going for them, really in regards to structure. They will still be a theocratic monarchy, but I want them to go nuts with the marble, but in a british architectural fashion. Basically marble with wood. Maybe I should just describe them as really being like high elves?

Oh, and, about that Prologue... its kinda done now.

 

Before I even attempt to write out the Laws of Magic, I feel that a rough draft is in order as I am not comfortable with anything more official and even I only have questions as to how certain principles would work. First of all, I should collect everything I have stated that I liked that is magic related.

I think that a good start is building off of the current statement.

I think that a good base of understanding for "instructions" is the spell crafting system of the Minecraft mod Ars Magica 2, if you are familiar with it, where the player crafts spells using simple arcane words that describe how the spell behaves. Putting my Minecraft days back in the box, my vision is very similar, where the "instructions" are written in simple arcane words in the old language of the gods that describe how the energy behaves. Arcane circles are the instructions that energy follow, constructed using arcane runes and symbols, which are the old language of the gods. Each rune/symbol has a different meaning in the god's old language and their combination allows for a rather modular system where different combinations of runes and symbols have different effects, but of course working combinations is a different matter. If two arcane words contradict each other in a magic circle, then it gets messy, volatile being a better word, as the energy is still being channeled only for its flow to be interrupted. There is a safety word in the arcane language, however, if the caster wishes to bail out of the incantation mid-channel which will diffuse the energy into the air. Even then, the energy is still present, it is just in the air, with the equivalent being releasing flammable gas into the air. Energy that is diffused into the air will either dissipate given time or will enhance the next spell's power if compatible, but this also applies to misfires.

Magic circles are composed of a few different types components; a "verb" or to be more specific where the energy goes, "adjectives" which describe how the energy behaves, and the types of energy which will be consumed. Magic circles themselves channel and contain the energy like water flowing through a maze. As the energy enters new runes it gains that rune's described traits, but it is imperative that the energy flow only has one route or path to follow. If the energy flow branches anywhere, then the energy will split its intensity and the branching energy flows will only gain the traits of runes that it passes through leading to multiple points of escape and other issues described later. Energy flows better and more easily through more conductive materials, like minerals, metal, and as established earlier, blood. The more conductive the writing material the less energy that is lost. The same goes for having an insulated base material which the arcane circle is written on as it will stop the diffusion of energy into the base, such as wood, fabric, or soil.

A source of energy is also required in order to cast a spell. Energy can either be pulled directly from the environment or from a storage body, either a shard or a caster. Remember that certain environments are more abundant in certain energies, such as deserts being abundant in fire energy and oceans with water energy. It is possible to miscast from a lack of required energy, but it is not as dangerous as a smudge in the arcane circle as the output and the potential explosion will just be underwhelming. Shards naturally form in the ground when energy compacts in soil, with shards growing larger if energy continues being abundant and soil is pressed against the surface of the shard. Shards are crystalline structures that are the color of the energy that they correlate with, and shine more brightly the more energy is inside. A shard can be emptied of its energy but it can only be refilled by passive absorption of the energy from its environment. An empty shard, however, is dull, white in color, and brittle, but can absorb any energy type that can push its way inside. Another neat thing about shards is that they can also absorb spells, given enough space of course, and the traits of the energy absorbed will be imprinted in the shard, meaning that a magic circle is no longer required. Just know that a shard, even though becomes stronger and more durable the more energy is inside, is still vulnerable to shattering, and as stated above, if the shard shattered had a spell imprinted in it then it the shard will explode releasing one last spell, and the smaller surviving fragment shards will be devoid of imprints.

Lastly, after the magic circle is written and energy is available, a spell requires the caster to read aloud the runes in order as the energy flows through them in the old language of the gods. Just know that spells are very picky about pronunciation, a great example to think back on is in the first Harry Potter movie with Hermione "It's Leviosa, not Leviosaw". Incorrect pronunciation can lead to a misfire essentially like missing a note in guitar hero but if you miss a note then the guitar explodes. Lastly, a spell is finished with the "verb" as it describes where the energy goes, examples being forward as in a projectile, augmentation of the hand or held item, or or the caster's body. Also, with all factors accounted for, some factors can lead to spells being more powerful, and also consuming more energy at the same time; larger magic circles, wider conductive mediums (thicker lines), abundance of energy (percentage), and louder chanting.

I will go further into this, mainly revisiting curses and prayers, energy and stamina, and how magical healing affects the body, but I really should go get some sleeep.

 

I might need to do away with curses and prayers in regards to posture as this new magic system already has enough etiquettes. I think I will make it to where the projectile spells will fly in the direction that the palm of the hand is facing so it would be logical to not point it toward yourself if harm is intended. Bending your arm and keeping your hand close to your chest would be efficient for self effecting spells while reaching out would be more effective for touch and shooting spells. Spells that do harm will still be called curses with the sub-variant of debuffing spells being called hexes and spells that help will still be called prayers with the sub-variant of buffing spells being called blessings. I am just severing the connection between curses and prayers and the hands being close and reaching.

I am thinking I will merge stamina and mana as it is all just energy inside of the body. All living creatures store magical energy inside their blood which transports it to each muscle and organ which expends the energy. Muscles and organs can take any energy type, but certain muscles and organs are more efficient with certain energies, depending on the creature's structure of course. Each race is structured differently in both blood and body and is tailored to handling certain energies more effectively, an example being a Salamander can handle fire energy more easily and effectively than other races. Certain energies have different effects on a creature's body, like fire energy makes the muscles stronger, gale energy makes them faster, earth energy makes them durable, etc. Living creatures are mainly composed of Life energy and energy is gained by eating other creatures, yes including plants, passive osmosis from pressure, or specialized organs dedicated to the collection of certain energies.

Energy can be converted into different types of energy, with my current excuse being when two energies of the same type attach to a single energy of a different type forcefully converting it. The more energy of a certain type the more converting it does. I am playing with this concept and am trying to work a system of energy strength making it easier or harder to be converted. Energy concepts, yo, they are difficult.

Anyways, healing. Cells multiply to either grow the body or repair it. Magic can be used to speed up the reproductive process of cells but certain methods can have different effects and side effects. Rapid regeneration can let a wound heal quickly but it will leave the rapidly regenerated cells weak and fragile. Certain energies are more effective at healing, those being, in order of most effective, are life, light, water, earth, and lastly fire. The other energies are ineffective in regards to healing, those being gale, ice, metal, death, and dark. The body cannot really use death energies, but it is associated with the "soul" of a being, and Wights are especially in-tuned with souls. The soul of a being is essentially their consciousnesses, their memories, their identity, and if the body is too damaged to be able to contain the soul then it escapes.

I want to make magic to be difficult to use and marginal in effect just so it feels like an alternative to traditional methods instead of a straight upgrade. Again as I have already said, I want physical means to be legitimate and not primitive in comparison to magic, just an alternative, but only so much that magic is still worth it even as a shortcut.

 

I'm not exactly sure where you got that from that quote, but yes I think it would be a possibility, but I think it would be more effective to just drain the energy out of somebody.

Certain magical elements are effective or have advantages over other elements. There is the effectiveness triangle where water douses fire, fire melts ice, and ice freezes water. There is also the perpetual rivals light and dark, but neither has a defined advantage over the other, instead, light magic is more powerful the more sunlight there is, while dark magic is more powerful the less sunlight there is. Ground stops water, life breaks ground, and fire burns life. There are other advantages that aren't as significant as these, but it goes along the lines of; water sinks metal, metal breaks ground, ground buries death, death chokes life, and the only thing that counters gale is more gale.