Metz had plenty of time to sum up every strange and new individual that milled around the throne room as he awaited the beginning of events. He was unsure what to expect of course, fighting in a tournament for the amusement of others was not something he would usually be willing to utilize his skills for. Still, with the fate of his home world perhaps caught in the balance there was really no choice for him, and if he had to fight to bring life back to all he had ever known, he would. He had killed for far less in the past.
Dark thoughts that were not his own ran through his mind, drowning out the compassionate man had the capacity to be and replacing them with the cold efficiency he knew he needed. It was not a pleasant process, knowing that he had to sully himself in order to preserve life, holding onto the heroic idealism that was his ultimate motivation was not enough to completely come to terms with what he had to do. He sighed, looking down at himself, equipped for war without even being aware he was going into it. Who was he really kidding? The war hadn’t ended for him, not in twenty years, but there was a small chance that a few more acts of violence could see it done with. Now that… that was worth fighting for.
His head shot up as the first rounds were announced, the general hubbub resulting in him piecing together who he faced. It was not someone he had picked up on at first, but quite clearly there was some kind of furred humanoid creature in Torm apparel standing among the others, and he was his first opponent. He was armed, firearms by the look of the holsters and the metal on show, two of them. From an initial glance he could already tell they had a more efficient design than his own weapon, potentially valuable equipment if he was allowed to take arms from the fallen. There was however an overall feel about the creature that Metz recognised, so attuned to magic himself (almost painfully so, if he were to be honest, as his body yearned desperately for magical energy) he could feel something similar in the creature. However that assumption was only from a cursory glance, and the effect of the condensed magic all around him as Skallagrim manipulated the webs of the Nexus prevented him from any precise investigation, such an act would require a subtle change to his sight.
“Let’s get on with this.” He said to himself, staring across the throne-room at his enemy of circumstance. With the all too familiar thought of battle in mind, he disappeared.
Like I said I had to reroll IN and Melon twice before I could get another result, then for SnG I rolled for IN to see who he would have gotten . . . Melon. These two are destined to fight.
I've fought IN more times than anyone else at this point, closely followed by Khan. I tend to go back to the people I've fought before though because I know they're reliable and play their characters in ways which interest me.
Ok I have stated in the OOC that if BOTH parties agree you can start today.
I'm not in any hurry but as I said I need this done before I can start regardless.
'could you do the roll for my character's additional two vials? It's roll a 3 sided die, 1 = empty 2 = black mana 3 = pure mana. It's to represent the random nature of what he'd be bringing into a conflict. You'd have to roll twice. I figure it's best for you as the judge to do it.'
Also, question pertaining to the battlefield, what are the platforms made of? Are they earth or stone in the sense that they could be manipulated by my character's spell?
All this potential, every spell memorized after years of painstaking practice and mental exercise, worthless. Without mana, we are nothing.
Metz the Mana-Less Mage
Identity
Name: Metzalaatla Akalikalat
Nicknamed: Metz, Mad Metz, The Manaless Mage, The Pillar Elementalist
Race: Torm (Alternate Human)
Homeworld: Felenr
Age: 47
Personality: Metz has a strange, almost erratic personality. At one time incredibly stern or sombre he can rapidly change to making odd jokes or dark comments. One can only assume Dark Mana has had some degenerative effect on his mind, changing whatever personality the original man had forever
Appearance
Appearing Age: 30
Face: Metz has an angular face, bordering on gaunt, and usually sports a short reddish-brown beard, his eyes are green with a noticeable ring of a lilac coloration around both his pupil and iris. He has an angular scar through his left eye-brow, preventing hair growth in a small area. His teeth are lightly stained and he has noticeably sharp canines, but are otherwise unremarkable.
Hair: Metz has reddish-brown hair which he usually keeps tied back in a short pony-tail with a leather band, it’s long enough to fall over his eyes when loose.
Body Type: Metz has a wiry frame, with lean compact muscle appropriate for a survivor of the apocalypse.
Skin: Metz has very pale skin, despite being exposed to the sun constantly, due to genetics mostly. If one looks very carefully they might notice dark patches, particularly on his fingers and around the skin surrounding his eyes.
Height: 6ft
Weight: 70kg
Biological Properties
Torm are fairly similar to humans in terms of biology, and Metz is a fairly average example save for his natural affinity to utilize mana, which makes him a mage. There are a couple of differences between Torm and Humans however, namely that Torm don’t have an appendix, which is a fairly useless organ and a misstep in human evolution. Their bones are also somewhat more durable, without weighing any more than human bones. They also have a terrible sense of smell, even worse than a humans to the point where their noses are almost exclusively just for breathing.
Up until recently, mana had interacted with every infant born on Felenr and made them physically fitter by speeding the regrowth of torn muscle and reducing recovery time from fatigue. It was essentially a super-drug. Though that mana is now gone, when re-introduced into a Torm’s body who was born when Mana was prevalent twenty years ago, they gain a short burst of super-human capabilities as their bodies greedily use up the mana they absorb. For ordinary Torm this is a welcome but fairly unimportant boost, where-as to mages it is both a blessing and a curse, for they sacrifice precious spell casting energy on running fast and jumping high for a short period of time.
Without mana, Metz physical capabilities are:
Strength: Bench 100kg, lift own body weight fairly capably.
Speed: Run consistently for about five minutes at fifteen miles per hour, speedy acceleration.
Agility: Peak human
Endurance: Capable of maintaining vigorous activity with little decline for about ten minutes non-stop, fairly quick recovery time.
Durability: Naturally more durable than a human of his size, due to stronger bones, still suffers from flesh wounds and the like pretty badly.
Skills
Metz can fight moderately competently with his hands, favouring quick darting strikes rather than directly contesting someone with his strength.
Metz can use firearms, firearms on Felenr bare some similarities to more common Earth weaponry, so his ability is somewhat translatable.
Metz has insanely good precision and accuracy for someone with human characteristics, this is only increased when his body goes into overdrive on mana.
Metz can climb with some significant skill.
Metz has a number of survival-esque skills one would expect from a lone survivor of the apocalypse.
Abilities
PURE MANA: Mana in its most primal and effective form, this can be moulded into any spell developed by the Torm mages so far. It also feeds Metz’ body, allowing him to nearly triple his ordinary physical characteristics for a very short period. (perhaps a minute at most if no spells are used.) This revitalisation of his body also reduces the effects of aging and has a number of other restorative effects, such as combatting poisons and disease. Pure mana can be fairly quickly manipulated into a wide range of spells by the process of casting, which requires specific phrases to be used in conjunction with a specific frame of mind to construct the spell. It is no quicker or slower at becoming any type of spell, unlike Black Mana which is somewhat faster at becoming a destructive spell.
BLACK (Corrupt) MANA: Corrupt mana created from the blood of an organism, though usually the users own. It has a darker influence than the neutrality of pure mana, damaging the users psyche as much as his body. When under its effects the users body undergoes a rapid change, growing slightly more muscled while the skin darkens around the eyes and hands, it increases Metz’ physical capabilities by up to six times. Black mana is limited in that it cannot be used for spells that require a healthy state of mind, such as healing and shielding, but it is useful in that it jumps at the opportunity to become something hurtful or destructive. (Half the casting time for destruction and pain spells, healing and shielding spells are unusable.)
Mana must be used wholly before a different type may be applied, or the differing mana types have a tendency to react unpredictably and can cause the mage significant harm. There is a maximum amount of each type of mana that a Torm can process at one time, consuming any more would just be wasteful. On average, Metz can cast two to three spells using one vial of Mana, or six of his elemental circles. The ultimate spells, Splitting River, Death Hand, and The Chamber and Purge are all one time use per vial of mana.
List of spells: Casting Time
Shielding Spells
Spellbreaker: Three seconds The mage is covered by a transparent shield which blocks an opponent’s supernatural abilities for about fifteen seconds, it can be overcome by the force of an opponent’s spells.
Aegis: Three seconds The mage is covered in a golden glow which repels physical assaults against their person, transferring only a tenth of physical force across their whole body and repelling physical damage and wounding. It can be overcome by immense physical force, and lasts about fifteen seconds.
Splitting River: Five seconds Probably the most powerful defensive spell known to Torm, Splitting River is mostly used to reduce the effect of an opponent’s most powerful ranged attack or spells, it works by meeting the destructive power of an ability or attack and splitting it evenly down the middle, diverting each stream of the attack to either side of the mage, who stands behind the point of the split. This isn’t 100% effective, but it takes the sting off otherwise devastating abilities.
Destructive Spells
Bolt: 2 Seconds Unleashes a bolt of lightning from the user’s hand, may be used with both hands to fire a three-pronged lightning bolt, but the user is thrown backwards upon launching the attack. It dissipates at any range over one hundred feet, or when it hits something.
Death Hand: Two seconds Allows the user to imbue their palm with the essence of death for two seconds, which is essentially parasitic mana, when applied directly to an opponent it quickly numbs the area and begins draining the life from them, after twenty seconds the essence of death explodes with green energy in a tight area, tending to destroy whatever flesh it was applied to. The weakness of the ability is that when casting it the opponent has a deep feeling of foreboding, knowing instantly that they must avoid the essence of death at all costs.
Pillar Elementalist: Metz’ nickname comes from his unique form of utilizing the elements, in something similar to pillars. It works by imbuing a circular area of varied size depending on desired effect, at a distance of up to 100 meters from the man which he can either see or vaguely observe (So although he couldn’t see the top of a building for example, he can observe where the top –would be- and activate his ability). The outline of this circle corresponds to the basic element he is planning to manifest, red for fire, blue for water, white for air, brown/orange for earth.
Fire Pillar: Time Varies Metz imbues the Earth with a red circle, two feet in diameter for every second spent casting, this in turn increases the height of the ability when it’s unleashed by four feet per second. Once the circle is placed it can be activated instantly at any point, causing a gushing torrent of fire that burns at around 1500 degrees Celsius to be unleashed in an upwards pillar corresponding to the cast time. Regardless of the casting time the fire pillar lasts three seconds, and reaches its full height in a second.
Water Pillar: In essence the same as the Fire Pillar, save that the effect causes a torrent of water to blast upwards and then fold in on itself, potentially trapping a foe. This pillar moves at 100 feet per second. The water can be directed to move in different directions, essentially making this ability more of a flexible pillar. Lasts three seconds.
Earth Pillars: Works similarly to the fire pillar, except that the shape of the pillar can be manipulated, into spikes for example. This pillar moves at two hundred feet per second. Remains after activation until the earth is moved back down by the mage or destroyed/moved in some other fashion.
Air Pillar: Unique in that the air actually blasts down from a height of roughly double whatever is caught inside the pillar, moving at two hundred feet per second. It can batter a man to his knees with ease, though it is relatively un-lethal. Lasts three seconds.
The Chamber: Ten Seconds Metz’ unique spell which utilizes all of his Pillars, allowing him to create a structure for capturing and eliminating powerful foes. It combines other spells he knows and can take different shapes.
Healing Spells Veil of Health: Six seconds Allows the user to create a doorway of rejuvenating energy, when passed through it heals minor wounds and gives them a quick burst of energy that wears off after about thirty seconds. It’s essentially the magical form of a second wind.
Stabilize: Two seconds An emergency healing spell, it allows the user to stabilize their own, or someone they’re in contact with, vitals. The immediate effect of this is to cease bleeding from all open wounds, to briefly numb all pain from wounds, to isolate disease or poison, and to essentially give the target a brief period of respite. Its effects last about ten seconds, giving the user time to concentrate on a more extensive healing ability.
Purge: Five seconds A magical ability which negates all foreign entities acting on the user, removing curses, debuffs, poisons, and diseases. It works over the course of a minute, sometimes taking longer to remove more extensive issues. The user is immune to further similar effects while the magic is working, but it drains mana quickly.
Misc Spells
Seeing Eye: Three Seconds Metz manifests a second eye, which allows him to scour through a battlefield with a magical sight which is incredibly difficult to hide from. The only limitation is that it can only see with this increased perception directly in front of him, so sneaking up behind him is still an option. However the sight can see straight through brick walls and the like up to 100 meters.
Disperse: Two Seconds Metz can remove obscuring clouds and smoke and other dangerous elements in the air from his immediate vicinity for up to thirty seconds using this spell.
Levitate: Two Seconds Metz can briefly remove the effects of gravity on his person for ten seconds, also granting him the ability to hover up to ten feet off the ground and over pitfalls etc.
Lift: Two Seconds One of the few utility spells Metz still remembers from when his life wasn’t just about survival and conflict, Lift allows him to essentially raise an intimate object of up to two tonnes off the ground by up to ten feet for ten seconds. It doesn’t lift particularly quickly however.
Mana Condensing: Two Seconds Used to convert Pure Mana from a Felenr well-spring into a liquid form which can be consumed.
Black Mana Ritual: Five seconds Used to turn a vial of blood into a vial of Black Mana.
Equipment
Armour: Metz wears a green woollen jumper with numerous holes in it, with a scrapped together vest over the top made of a material called Dural, which is for all intents and purposes similar to a stab-proof vest. Beneath his jumper is a form fitting underlay called Underpad, it has proven effective at resisting small-arms fire from as close as fifteen feet away, so in conjunction with the Dural vest Metz has significant upper body resistance to fire-arms.
His trousers resemble tough brown cargo pants, and he wears black boots.
Weapons: Metz carries a sharp slightly curved knife called a Shint, it’s made of steel and is roughly fifteen inches from handle to point. He carries it across his chest in a sheath.
He also carries a Fire-Type 2, which is the second model of the original Fire-Type, a pistol variant designed almost eighty years prior. The most recent weaponry on Felenr became useless as it relied on mana, so the Fire-Type is archaic in design. It roughly resembles a match-lock pistol, but with a stubby block on the top of the weapon which almost resembles a magazine. It can be loaded with up to four roughly 9mm equivalent rounds by feeding them into this compartment, but it must be fired with a single-shot action and the hammer has to be pulled back with each shot. Luckily Metz is an exceptional marksman, and the weapon is not as inaccurate as human matchlocks, it’s about as powerful as a matchlock and is accurate up to 100 feet. He carries it in a holster on his right hip.
Metz also has a small backpack with food and drink for a couple of days and a few other survival supplies. He also wears a belt with space for four iron vials, one is always filled with black mana and one with Pure Mana, and the other two are randomly rolled for before a battle begins by a judge. Roll 1, empty, 2, Black Mana, 3 Pure Mana. On this belt is also seven more rounds for his pistol which have to be hand-fed into the weapon.
The Short History of Felenr, his Homeworld
Felenr is a world like our own save for that mana exists as another element in the atmosphere and could be utilized as energy similar to how humanity intends to use hydrogen. It was a supremely efficient fuel, and although the few unique individuals known as mages were able to feel that mana shouldn’t be used for industry the majority of the race were ignorant of the entity. Sometime in the last twenty years however a process which had been happening at a trickle suddenly increased tenfold, mana began to disappear.
Three years after mana’s departure civilisation crumbled and anarchy reigned, governments fell and people died enmasse to war and disease. The magi fought over the remaining reservoirs, areas where such significant mana poured from underground that even with the bleeding effect the substance could still be gained. To the proud Magi mana almost became a drug.
Three years after that, Black Mana was discovered. None of the Magi were prepared for the devestation it caused in the hands of a Dark Mage who quickly grew addicted and mad from its allure. Terrible rituals and sacrifices saw the mana become taboo, but none-the-less Mages were forced to utilize it or go completely unprotected.
In a post-apocalyptic world the remaining Torm struggle for survival, one of them is Metz, the Pillar Elementalist, one of many Mages that still cling to the old ways and resist the maddening effects of Black Mana.
On Magic in Felenr
Magic in Felenr requires a great deal of time and effort to master even at a basic level. Each spell must be learned with painstaking practice and memorized so that it can be utilized in stressful situations. It is rare for any mage to manage to muster more than fifty spells even with their extended life spans.
Metz life before and after the decline Metz’ was always an above average mage, noteworthy but not quite council worthy. He took some work as a field operative in the Magi-rebellion some years prior to the fall of mana, and so had experienced his fair share of war. His unique weaponized Elemental Pillars were a devastating force on the battlefield, and earned him a number of nicknames.
After the fall with mana growing increasingly scarce Metz turned to Black Mana, finding it more powerful than he could ever imagine. As he wandered the fallen ruins of his civilisation he began to wonder, how had mana disappeared almost overnight?
With something of a purpose Metz spent the next fifteen years going from well-spring to well-spring and tracking the bleeding effect of the mana there. Avoiding Black Mana as much as possible, he instead learned to condense mana in the air and place it into vials to be consumed directly when required. After all that time researching he finally thought he had found the source of his people’s woes. Closing in on a nondescript mountain-range somewhere in the far south… he believed he had found a portal to another world, and they had stolen all his damn mana.
Luck of the draw kids. But what the hell it should be a good fight.
The secret is to move, use the swords as cover. The ash should not be a bother. . .but can be if you aren't careful.
Actually I remembered Metz does have a contingency for that, as I suspected harmful agents in the air would be a threat to a mage especially in an apocalypse.
Also, could you do the roll for my character's additional two vials? It's roll a 3 sided die, 1 = empty 2 = black mana 3 = pure mana. It's to represent the random nature of what he'd be bringing into a conflict. You'd have to roll twice. I figure it's best for you as the judge to do it.
Also, DJ, top tip for the NoW is that a lot of fights will be fought to a stalemate, Skallagrim uses a scoring matrix for that eventuality which you can find on the OP I believe, it's worth factoring that in to how you write as it rewards certain things such as going above and beyond on character descriptions and the like.
All this potential, every spell memorized after years of painstaking practice and mental exercise, worthless. Without mana, we are nothing.
Metz the Mana-Less Mage
Identity
Name: Metzalaatla Akalikalat
Nicknamed: Metz, Mad Metz, The Manaless Mage, The Pillar Elementalist
Race: Torm (Alternate Human)
Homeworld: Felenr
Age: 47
Personality: Metz has a strange, almost erratic personality. At one time incredibly stern or sombre he can rapidly change to making odd jokes or dark comments. One can only assume Dark Mana has had some degenerative effect on his mind, changing whatever personality the original man had forever
Appearance
Appearing Age: 30
Face: Metz has an angular face, bordering on gaunt, and usually sports a short reddish-brown beard, his eyes are green with a noticeable ring of a lilac coloration around both his pupil and iris. He has an angular scar through his left eye-brow, preventing hair growth in a small area. His teeth are lightly stained and he has noticeably sharp canines, but are otherwise unremarkable.
Hair: Metz has reddish-brown hair which he usually keeps tied back in a short pony-tail with a leather band, it’s long enough to fall over his eyes when loose.
Body Type: Metz has a wiry frame, with lean compact muscle appropriate for a survivor of the apocalypse.
Skin: Metz has very pale skin, despite being exposed to the sun constantly, due to genetics mostly. If one looks very carefully they might notice dark patches, particularly on his fingers and around the skin surrounding his eyes.
Height: 6ft
Weight: 70kg
Biological Properties
Torm are fairly similar to humans in terms of biology, and Metz is a fairly average example save for his natural affinity to utilize mana, which makes him a mage. There are a couple of differences between Torm and Humans however, namely that Torm don’t have an appendix, which is a fairly useless organ and a misstep in human evolution. Their bones are also somewhat more durable, without weighing any more than human bones. They also have a terrible sense of smell, even worse than a humans to the point where their noses are almost exclusively just for breathing.
Up until recently, mana had interacted with every infant born on Felenr and made them physically fitter by speeding the regrowth of torn muscle and reducing recovery time from fatigue. It was essentially a super-drug. Though that mana is now gone, when re-introduced into a Torm’s body who was born when Mana was prevalent twenty years ago, they gain a short burst of super-human capabilities as their bodies greedily use up the mana they absorb. For ordinary Torm this is a welcome but fairly unimportant boost, where-as to mages it is both a blessing and a curse, for they sacrifice precious spell casting energy on running fast and jumping high for a short period of time.
Without mana, Metz physical capabilities are:
Strength: Bench 100kg, lift own body weight fairly capably.
Speed: Run consistently for about five minutes at fifteen miles per hour, speedy acceleration.
Agility: Peak human
Endurance: Capable of maintaining vigorous activity with little decline for about ten minutes non-stop, fairly quick recovery time.
Durability: Naturally more durable than a human of his size, due to stronger bones, still suffers from flesh wounds and the like pretty badly.
Skills
Metz can fight moderately competently with his hands, favouring quick darting strikes rather than directly contesting someone with his strength.
Metz can use firearms, firearms on Felenr bare some similarities to more common Earth weaponry, so his ability is somewhat translatable.
Metz has insanely good precision and accuracy for someone with human characteristics, this is only increased when his body goes into overdrive on mana.
Metz can climb with some significant skill.
Metz has a number of survival-esque skills one would expect from a lone survivor of the apocalypse.
Abilities
PURE MANA: Mana in its most primal and effective form, this can be moulded into any spell developed by the Torm mages so far. It also feeds Metz’ body, allowing him to nearly triple his ordinary physical characteristics for a very short period. (perhaps a minute at most if no spells are used.) This revitalisation of his body also reduces the effects of aging and has a number of other restorative effects, such as combatting poisons and disease. Pure mana can be fairly quickly manipulated into a wide range of spells by the process of casting, which requires specific phrases to be used in conjunction with a specific frame of mind to construct the spell. It is no quicker or slower at becoming any type of spell, unlike Black Mana which is somewhat faster at becoming a destructive spell.
BLACK (Corrupt) MANA: Corrupt mana created from the blood of an organism, though usually the users own. It has a darker influence than the neutrality of pure mana, damaging the users psyche as much as his body. When under its effects the users body undergoes a rapid change, growing slightly more muscled while the skin darkens around the eyes and hands, it increases Metz’ physical capabilities by up to six times. Black mana is limited in that it cannot be used for spells that require a healthy state of mind, such as healing and shielding, but it is useful in that it jumps at the opportunity to become something hurtful or destructive. (Half the casting time for destruction and pain spells, healing and shielding spells are unusable.)
Mana must be used wholly before a different type may be applied, or the differing mana types have a tendency to react unpredictably and can cause the mage significant harm. There is a maximum amount of each type of mana that a Torm can process at one time, consuming any more would just be wasteful. On average, Metz can cast two to three spells using one vial of Mana, or six of his elemental circles. The ultimate spells, Splitting River, Death Hand, and The Chamber and Purge are all one time use per vial of mana.
List of spells: Casting Time
Shielding Spells
Spellbreaker: Three seconds The mage is covered by a transparent shield which blocks an opponent’s supernatural abilities for about fifteen seconds, it can be overcome by the force of an opponent’s spells.
Aegis: Three seconds The mage is covered in a golden glow which repels physical assaults against their person, transferring only a tenth of physical force across their whole body and repelling physical damage and wounding. It can be overcome by immense physical force, and lasts about fifteen seconds.
Splitting River: Five seconds Probably the most powerful defensive spell known to Torm, Splitting River is mostly used to reduce the effect of an opponent’s most powerful ranged attack or spells, it works by meeting the destructive power of an ability or attack and splitting it evenly down the middle, diverting each stream of the attack to either side of the mage, who stands behind the point of the split. This isn’t 100% effective, but it takes the sting off otherwise devastating abilities.
Destructive Spells
Bolt: 2 Seconds Unleashes a bolt of lightning from the user’s hand, may be used with both hands to fire a three-pronged lightning bolt, but the user is thrown backwards upon launching the attack. It dissipates at any range over one hundred feet, or when it hits something.
Death Hand: Two seconds Allows the user to imbue their palm with the essence of death for two seconds, which is essentially parasitic mana, when applied directly to an opponent it quickly numbs the area and begins draining the life from them, after twenty seconds the essence of death explodes with green energy in a tight area, tending to destroy whatever flesh it was applied to. The weakness of the ability is that when casting it the opponent has a deep feeling of foreboding, knowing instantly that they must avoid the essence of death at all costs.
Pillar Elementalist: Metz’ nickname comes from his unique form of utilizing the elements, in something similar to pillars. It works by imbuing a circular area of varied size depending on desired effect, at a distance of up to 100 meters from the man which he can either see or vaguely observe (So although he couldn’t see the top of a building for example, he can observe where the top –would be- and activate his ability). The outline of this circle corresponds to the basic element he is planning to manifest, red for fire, blue for water, white for air, brown/orange for earth.
Fire Pillar: Time Varies Metz imbues the Earth with a red circle, two feet in diameter for every second spent casting, this in turn increases the height of the ability when it’s unleashed by four feet per second. Once the circle is placed it can be activated instantly at any point, causing a gushing torrent of fire that burns at around 1500 degrees Celsius to be unleashed in an upwards pillar corresponding to the cast time. Regardless of the casting time the fire pillar lasts three seconds, and reaches its full height in a second.
Water Pillar: In essence the same as the Fire Pillar, save that the effect causes a torrent of water to blast upwards and then fold in on itself, potentially trapping a foe. This pillar moves at 100 feet per second. The water can be directed to move in different directions, essentially making this ability more of a flexible pillar. Lasts three seconds.
Earth Pillars: Works similarly to the fire pillar, except that the shape of the pillar can be manipulated, into spikes for example. This pillar moves at two hundred feet per second. Remains after activation until the earth is moved back down by the mage or destroyed/moved in some other fashion.
Air Pillar: Unique in that the air actually blasts down from a height of roughly double whatever is caught inside the pillar, moving at two hundred feet per second. It can batter a man to his knees with ease, though it is relatively un-lethal. Lasts three seconds.
The Chamber: Ten Seconds Metz’ unique spell which utilizes all of his Pillars, allowing him to create a structure for capturing and eliminating powerful foes. It combines other spells he knows and can take different shapes.
Healing Spells Veil of Health: Six seconds Allows the user to create a doorway of rejuvenating energy, when passed through it heals minor wounds and gives them a quick burst of energy that wears off after about thirty seconds. It’s essentially the magical form of a second wind.
Stabilize: Two seconds An emergency healing spell, it allows the user to stabilize their own, or someone they’re in contact with, vitals. The immediate effect of this is to cease bleeding from all open wounds, to briefly numb all pain from wounds, to isolate disease or poison, and to essentially give the target a brief period of respite. Its effects last about ten seconds, giving the user time to concentrate on a more extensive healing ability.
Purge: Five seconds A magical ability which negates all foreign entities acting on the user, removing curses, debuffs, poisons, and diseases. It works over the course of a minute, sometimes taking longer to remove more extensive issues. The user is immune to further similar effects while the magic is working, but it drains mana quickly.
Misc Spells
Seeing Eye: Three Seconds Metz manifests a second eye, which allows him to scour through a battlefield with a magical sight which is incredibly difficult to hide from. The only limitation is that it can only see with this increased perception directly in front of him, so sneaking up behind him is still an option. However the sight can see straight through brick walls and the like up to 100 meters.
Disperse: Two Seconds Metz can remove obscuring clouds and smoke and other dangerous elements in the air from his immediate vicinity for up to thirty seconds using this spell.
Levitate: Two Seconds Metz can briefly remove the effects of gravity on his person for ten seconds, also granting him the ability to hover up to ten feet off the ground and over pitfalls etc.
Lift: Two Seconds One of the few utility spells Metz still remembers from when his life wasn’t just about survival and conflict, Lift allows him to essentially raise an intimate object of up to two tonnes off the ground by up to ten feet for ten seconds. It doesn’t lift particularly quickly however.
Mana Condensing: Two Seconds Used to convert Pure Mana from a Felenr well-spring into a liquid form which can be consumed.
Black Mana Ritual: Five seconds Used to turn a vial of blood into a vial of Black Mana.
Equipment
Armour: Metz wears a green woollen jumper with numerous holes in it, with a scrapped together vest over the top made of a material called Dural, which is for all intents and purposes similar to a stab-proof vest. Beneath his jumper is a form fitting underlay called Underpad, it has proven effective at resisting small-arms fire from as close as fifteen feet away, so in conjunction with the Dural vest Metz has significant upper body resistance to fire-arms.
His trousers resemble tough brown cargo pants, and he wears black boots.
Weapons: Metz carries a sharp slightly curved knife called a Shint, it’s made of steel and is roughly fifteen inches from handle to point. He carries it across his chest in a sheath.
He also carries a Fire-Type 2, which is the second model of the original Fire-Type, a pistol variant designed almost eighty years prior. The most recent weaponry on Felenr became useless as it relied on mana, so the Fire-Type is archaic in design. It roughly resembles a match-lock pistol, but with a stubby block on the top of the weapon which almost resembles a magazine. It can be loaded with up to four roughly 9mm equivalent rounds by feeding them into this compartment, but it must be fired with a single-shot action and the hammer has to be pulled back with each shot. Luckily Metz is an exceptional marksman, and the weapon is not as inaccurate as human matchlocks, it’s about as powerful as a matchlock and is accurate up to 100 feet. He carries it in a holster on his right hip.
Metz also has a small backpack with food and drink for a couple of days and a few other survival supplies. He also wears a belt with space for four iron vials, one is always filled with black mana and one with Pure Mana, and the other two are randomly rolled for before a battle begins by a judge. Roll 1, empty, 2, Black Mana, 3 Pure Mana. On this belt is also seven more rounds for his pistol which have to be hand-fed into the weapon.
The Short History of Felenr, his Homeworld
Felenr is a world like our own save for that mana exists as another element in the atmosphere and could be utilized as energy similar to how humanity intends to use hydrogen. It was a supremely efficient fuel, and although the few unique individuals known as mages were able to feel that mana shouldn’t be used for industry the majority of the race were ignorant of the entity. Sometime in the last twenty years however a process which had been happening at a trickle suddenly increased tenfold, mana began to disappear.
Three years after mana’s departure civilisation crumbled and anarchy reigned, governments fell and people died enmasse to war and disease. The magi fought over the remaining reservoirs, areas where such significant mana poured from underground that even with the bleeding effect the substance could still be gained. To the proud Magi mana almost became a drug.
Three years after that, Black Mana was discovered. None of the Magi were prepared for the devestation it caused in the hands of a Dark Mage who quickly grew addicted and mad from its allure. Terrible rituals and sacrifices saw the mana become taboo, but none-the-less Mages were forced to utilize it or go completely unprotected.
In a post-apocalyptic world the remaining Torm struggle for survival, one of them is Metz, the Pillar Elementalist, one of many Mages that still cling to the old ways and resist the maddening effects of Black Mana.
On Magic in Felenr
Magic in Felenr requires a great deal of time and effort to master even at a basic level. Each spell must be learned with painstaking practice and memorized so that it can be utilized in stressful situations. It is rare for any mage to manage to muster more than fifty spells even with their extended life spans.
Metz life before and after the decline Metz’ was always an above average mage, noteworthy but not quite council worthy. He took some work as a field operative in the Magi-rebellion some years prior to the fall of mana, and so had experienced his fair share of war. His unique weaponized Elemental Pillars were a devastating force on the battlefield, and earned him a number of nicknames.
After the fall with mana growing increasingly scarce Metz turned to Black Mana, finding it more powerful than he could ever imagine. As he wandered the fallen ruins of his civilisation he began to wonder, how had mana disappeared almost overnight?
With something of a purpose Metz spent the next fifteen years going from well-spring to well-spring and tracking the bleeding effect of the mana there. Avoiding Black Mana as much as possible, he instead learned to condense mana in the air and place it into vials to be consumed directly when required. After all that time researching he finally thought he had found the source of his people’s woes. Closing in on a nondescript mountain-range somewhere in the far south… he believed he had found a portal to another world, and they had stolen all his damn mana.
Member
Nytefall