Look at the adorable doggies!!! *Unmanly squee noises* Okay sorry for that.
No, sadly we don't own any pets. Most of our neighbores have a lot cats though, my aunt has a dog and my grandma used to have one too.(Sweetest. Dog. Ever. But god damn big if you're like 5.)
Powers: Mana magic The first fact about mana magic is that everything that is born, grows, lives and dies is a Mana Well. A Mana Well serves 2 purposes. It is so far the only container for Mana, storing the quantity decided by how old, significant and physically big a creature is. For example, massive trees would have loads of Mana stored in them. Mana cannot be stored in inanimate objects like metal, stone, or anything else.
The second purpose is that it Mana Wells can replenish their stored Mana, over time. Again, Mana Wheels are the only source of Mana so far. Plant-life has a slower Mana recharge rate than animal-life.
Normal beings, when completely emptied of their mana, might feel just a tiny bit fatigued. As mana plays not a single role in their lives, most don’t even feel it. Trees continue to grow and animals keep on running around. For those with the ability to manipulate Mana, being drained of it leaves them completely exhausted and very vulnerable.
Mana in its purest form cannot exist outside the body of a Mana Wheel for over 30 seconds. It is also pretty useless in that state. It often looks like a blue, glowing liquid. It evaporates extremely fast and once it has turned to gas, it is useless. So most ‘Mages’ turn Mana inside their body in Arcana.
Arcana is pure, moldable energy. It looks like purple glass and can be shaped into spheres, beams and shields. Arcana takes the desired shape projected by a mage, but there are detailed. For example, certain shapes, runes and spoken words can alter a shield’s property. (The shapes and runes have to be envisioned on the shield on the right, specific place for it to work. Those runes might change the shield so it can absorb heat too. Or be stronger against physical objects. However, they can also weaken the Arcana. For example, the same rune that would absorb heat would make the shield shatter once it touches water. Polar opposite runes or shapes (for example, a rune that protects water and a shape that protects against fire) will cancel each other out in a somewhat violent implosion of Arcana. Some mages might have noted down some shapes in a grimoire. Though such books would be extremely rare and well-guarded. If anything, most of those who can manipulate Mana and Arcana just think up these shapes and experiment with them. With various degrees of success.
Be careful with Arcana though. Runes, shapes and chants consume more Arcana. Would a mage dare use too much Arcana too soon, too fast, they burn out. Resulting in an Arcana implosion and a Mage left without Mana. Which often means their death in most situations.
A final note about Arcana: as said, the runes and shapes need to be envisioned on a very specific place on the arcana when used for a specific purpose. The closer they are to their required spot, the better they will work. Words don’t alter properties of the Arcana itself but instead alter its intensity. Long, specific chants can be said to enhance low level ‘spells’.
Aether is what you get when you mix Mana with human blood. Most of those who use Mana see Aether as corrupted, impure and dangerous. They are correct that it is unpredictable. But so far, adding human blood to Mana is the only way to balance it out and render it useable. Aether magic, often referred to as Blood magic, can only be used in rituals. Rituals are inherently dangerous due to the unpredictability of Aether. The chanting, specific position of candles and signs drawn with chalk made with the same blood within the Aether are only there to ‘suggest’ a certain reaction.
Aether is not without its uses though. The effect of the ritual is extremely strong (though always temporary). It can for example increase ones Mana recharge rate dramatically, or pull all mana from all nearby sources into you and increasing caster’s total Mana capacity.
The less desire effects are bodily harm, mental torment and physical destruction all around you.
So far, Alex will somewhat know how to 'make' Arcana and know that there is a link between it and some shapes he sees in his dreams. So he is experimenting with it. He knows nothing about the existence of chants nor Aether.
Weapons: None Bio: Alex was born with the ability to manipulate Mana. But he only discovered that when he was 14. Before that, he lived a quiet little life. His parents were part of the upper middle class so he had a pretty comfortable life. Untouched by any weird events. Until one fateful day. During PE classes. They were to play basketball and one of the kids threw a rather hard pass towards Alex. Who held out both of his hands hoping to stop it. A small flash of purple appeared and the ball bounced away, without ever having touched Alex's fingers.
His class reaction was not to care and just continue playing, which somewhat surprised Alex. Back in his room he started to experiment by throwing things up the air and holding out his hands in an attempt to stop them. Through observation he started to understand a little what was going on, and so he started to understand Arcana.
A little bit further in time and Alex has gained a form of control on how to make an Arcana shield but also discovered you can keep Arcana in an orb-like shape. From there on, things started to go wrong. You see, power corrupts. And that is exactly what happened with Alex. He started to act like somewhat of douche. Overconfident knowing that nobody could actually harm him. Until someone did. Chad Bower, captain of the American Football team of his school, saw Alex talk up his girlfriend. In a surprise attack, he hit Alex in the bowls. Alex never had time enough to make a shield, so he collapsed in pain. This all happened at someone's house party when Alex was 18. Out of rage he started to throw his orbs around. Shattering walls and destroying furniture.
That quickly became his end. The house was ravaged and surrounded with police. Luckily for him, he didn't kill people, but there were lots of wounded. Struck with guilt he handed himself over to the police without any trouble. The judge quickly declared him a danger to public safety and send him off to Miss. Dawson's Home.
Dreams/Wishes: In short term, to repent for what he did at the house party so the guilt would go away. In the longer term, he will often tell that he wants the best for those who have powers and for those who don't. A classic answer, though he's a bit afraid to what he really dreams for in his future. Power. Lots of power. Power to be used for good, yes. But after everything, he still craves power.
Evil, Good, Walking the line: Good in a way that he wants the best for those he loves, likes and live around him. He wants what is best for his environment. But would, if the cause was important enough, resort to maybe somewhat immoral actions. For the greater good.
Siblings: 2 brothers. A younger and an older. The older is currently over sea in Europe studying History. The Youngest just finished middle school.
I'm sort of planning a power that would work pretty much like some magic system. But to what extend can I keep it mysterious? Do I have to explain the source of the power and all that and detail every single thing he can do or can I leave some 'moves' in the dark the power can grow with my character?
<Snipped quote by Legion02>Both Google and Wikipedia can help you massively in that, no need for anything else. Pardon me for responding this late but our mention didn't show up as an alert. Anyways, I think it'd be a bit too much to ask people to pick places which are well-suited for mining. I mean given the limited Moon landings not even scientists working with the space program should know this exactly.
Oh and AFAIK if you want "cheap" Helium-3 you gotta visit the Jupiter. That's why I have a small installation over there with the Carpathian Union.
I didn't know Jupiter had an abundance of helium-3, thank you! Though concidering the size and available manpower my faction has, I doubt it would be able to make a fully functional colony so far away. So I'll be sticking with the moon for now.
I'd like to reserve the island of Sardinia if that's okay with everyone. Oh and @Willy Vereb, would it happen you know a website where I can get a good overview of the moon at its named regions? I want to get a Helium-3 colony on the moon.
Lord Zee
Vec
Rekkuza
Iwannabeyours
princess
Cmmelody
Necrodancer
ActRaiserTheReturned
Timemaster