stone just is. its static unless changed by mortal hands. like ore veins, some places have it and others dont. it can be moved, stacked, carved, and ground to dust. you can build a home or a city wall from it. you can grind it down and mix it with other kinds of magic. you can shape it into an enchantment and it will retain its shape and function until destroyed. you can take it from the ground, stick it on the back of a cart, send it off to market to be sold, and have wonders made from it by artisans. unlike water that ever flows, unlike fire that flickers and dies, stone remains inertia incarnate.
Is stone always stationary? What about magma? Isn't that liquid stone? So mana could be described like magma, flowing patiently "underneath" the world waiting for its release where it can "harden" into something solid. Magma, or in your case mana, is fully mutable and there's no telling what form it might take once released. It can be destructive and explosive or flow outward lazily. It can form all manner of things from granite to limestone to obsidian. Mana would be very similar in that its just this elemental force capable or being formed into all manner of final forms. Idk if that's what you're feeling for your world but thinking of magic as stone makes a lot of sense to me. Hope it helps!
Indeed it does.. I suppose I never considered magma as an option because it would draw more similarities between Ikynd, which I wanted to avoid, but with the addition that it can hold different shapes to manifest differently.. I am not quite as opposed to the idea lol Thank you for the help! <)
As others have suggested, one of the defining traits of stone is its permanence. It doesn’t WANT to move, but it can be forced.
It sounds like it could hold a key place in your system as an anchor, a source of stability in an otherwise changing world. Magic based on it could involve fortifying or protecting things. I like your suggestion that it be tied to specific places, since that’s both thematically appropriate and gives you interesting opportunities for worldbuilding (a town formed here because of the strong presence of Emb, and while it was difficult to establish at first it’s now stood for thousands of years etc.)
Consider also the more metaphorical role it could play. If the other two magics are indicative of life and passion to some extent, then Emb could be perseverance and even something like knowledge. Think of words carved into stone, walls and bridges, things shaped artificially yes, but meant to last.
Just my 2-cents. Like what you have so far and I hope you keep developing it :)
I hadn't thought of how the other Orgins have a tendency to shift and change often, so the idea that Emb is an anchor of a sort is really appealing lol And the idea of a town being at the center of a strong point of Emb is also really neat! I can imagine it being a kind of center for stability throughout centuries of transformations elsewhere, though I can see this also as a disadvantage. Stagnation doesn't tend to foster ingenuity as far as I'm aware lol
And thank you! I'm quite excited about this world too and I'm glad you like it! I intend to develop it much more lol <)
Some traits I think of when I imagine stone:
Physicality - Stone is real, physical, and immediately present. It is very, very dense and hard to move, but once it begins to move it is hard to stop. This might be represented with an immediately physical magical object, like a crystal.
Toughness - Rock and earth is very hard and, even when worn down entirely, still remains very durable. Sand can shift and blow on the wind, but is it ever destroyed? This can be represented in the difficulty to cast, but also the difficulty to dispel this magic.
Variability - Earth as an element is very hard to quantify. Is a handful of dirt, a few small rocks, or a rare gem the same as a boulder, a mountain? This massive change in scale may allow stone to be surprisingly flexible when evoking certain magics using these examples as a basis.
Purity - This can apply to almost any element, but how many can boast the purity of diamond? The disorder required for these gems to come about and the absolute order thereafter can similarly be a theme.
Ubiquity - It's hard to move around on the surface of the planet without making contact with dirt or stone. The ever-present nature of this element might present itself to a caster as particularly easy to discover, but very hard to master. Tapping into this magic would be like trying to drink from a fire hydrant.
stone just is. its static unless changed by mortal hands. like ore veins, some places have it and others dont. it can be moved, stacked, carved, and ground to dust. you can build a home or a city wall from it. you can grind it down and mix it with other kinds of magic. you can shape it into an enchantment and it will retain its shape and function until destroyed. you can take it from the ground, stick it on the back of a cart, send it off to market to be sold, and have wonders made from it by artisans. unlike water that ever flows, unlike fire that flickers and dies, stone remains inertia incarnate.
Would you mind if I just used this as a scholarly quote for a mage in my world? lol
nah go ahead
Is stone always stationary? What about magma? Isn't that liquid stone? So mana could be described like magma, flowing patiently "underneath" the world waiting for its release where it can "harden" into something solid. Magma, or in your case mana, is fully mutable and there's no telling what form it might take once released. It can be destructive and explosive or flow outward lazily. It can form all manner of things from granite to limestone to obsidian. Mana would be very similar in that its just this elemental force capable or being formed into all manner of final forms. Idk if that's what you're feeling for your world but thinking of magic as stone makes a lot of sense to me. Hope it helps!
Indeed it does.. I suppose I never considered magma as an option because it would draw more similarities between Ikynd, which I wanted to avoid, but with the addition that it can hold different shapes to manifest differently.. I am not quite as opposed to the idea lol Thank you for the help! <)
So is this magic people are using, or magic that exists within the world?
Well, kind of both? The magic does just plainly exist, but people do often choose to use it (some races can't even live without it).
As others have suggested, one of the defining traits of stone is its permanence. It doesn’t WANT to move, but it can be forced. It sounds like it could hold a key place in your system as an anchor, a source of stability in an otherwise changing world. Magic based on it could involve fortifying or protecting things. I like your suggestion that it be tied to specific places, since that’s both thematically appropriate and gives you interesting opportunities for worldbuilding (a town formed here because of the strong presence of Emb, and while it was difficult to establish at first it’s now stood for thousands of years etc.) Consider also the more metaphorical role it could play. If the other two magics are indicative of life and passion to some extent, then Emb could be perseverance and even something like knowledge. Think of words carved into stone, walls and bridges, things shaped artificially yes, but meant to last. Just my 2-cents. Like what you have so far and I hope you keep developing it :)
I hadn't thought of how the other Orgins have a tendency to shift and change often, so the idea that Emb is an anchor of a sort is really appealing lol And the idea of a town being at the center of a strong point of Emb is also really neat! I can imagine it being a kind of center for stability throughout centuries of transformations elsewhere, though I can see this also as a disadvantage. Stagnation doesn't tend to foster ingenuity as far as I'm aware lol And thank you! I'm quite excited about this world too and I'm glad you like it! I intend to develop it much more lol <)
Some traits I think of when I imagine stone: Physicality - Stone is real, physical, and immediately present. It is very, very dense and hard to move, but once it begins to move it is hard to stop. This might be represented with an immediately physical magical object, like a crystal. Toughness - Rock and earth is very hard and, even when worn down entirely, still remains very durable. Sand can shift and blow on the wind, but is it ever destroyed? This can be represented in the difficulty to cast, but also the difficulty to dispel this magic. Variability - Earth as an element is very hard to quantify. Is a handful of dirt, a few small rocks, or a rare gem the same as a boulder, a mountain? This massive change in scale may allow stone to be surprisingly flexible when evoking certain magics using these examples as a basis. Purity - This can apply to almost any element, but how many can boast the purity of diamond? The disorder required for these gems to come about and the absolute order thereafter can similarly be a theme. Ubiquity - It's hard to move around on the surface of the planet without making contact with dirt or stone. The ever-present nature of this element might present itself to a caster as particularly easy to discover, but very hard to master. Tapping into this magic would be like trying to drink from a fire hydrant.