Ice mages

Ice mages are a rare type of Elemental Mages that have the ability to create, control and manipulate ice, frost, and other frozen water derivatives. They have an innate resistance to cold temperatures. Many consider them to be a sub-type of the much more common Tidemage, who control liquid water.

Anatomy

Average Physique

Ice mages tend to be slimer than the average elemental mage and non-magic humans, as their abilities use a lot of Mana, and creating this mana uses a lot of energy, which prevents their bodies from storing energy in the form of fat.

Ear shape

Like all elemental mages, ice mages have a very distinctive feature that diferences them from Humans, which is their ears. As they grow up, especialy during their teenage years, their ears will start to elongate, become pointier and taking on a shape distinctly not human.

Eye colour

Much like the shape of their ears, which goes through some changes as they become an adult, their eyes colour will also gradualy change over time. In the case of a ice mage, they will take on a similar blue colour as the eyes of Tidemages do. The similar colour is theorised to be caused by the fact that ice and water, while been classified as two different elements, are actualy one in the same, only in different forms. This form difference may explain why ice mages tend to have darker eyes than water mages, but this is speculation. This colour changing process accelerates the more they use their abilities.

Mana core

Like all other elemental mages, ice mages are born with a small special organ located just above the heart, called a mana core, which generates, absorb and stores mana energy which is then consumed when using their abilities. Ice mages are unique in that their namesake element doesn't contain much mana, if any at all, but they are able to absorb wild mana from liquid water, which can contain very large amounts of it. However, because they are ice mages, their cores aren't built for that quantity of mana, so a lot of practice is required for them to efficiently absorb it, but once they do, they become much more powerful than the average ice mage. The core is also connected to their soul, which is what allows the organ to transform the body's energy into Mana and regenerate itself.

Basic Information

Growth Rate & Stages

Biological

Ice mages grow up at the same rate as a regular human and reach adulthood at 16 years old in most Hysalian cultures. While the growth of their magical abilies is rather slow compared to other elemental mages, it nonetheless affects their bodies's physical appearance, specificaly their ears and eyes, which grow to become disctinct from normal humans between the ages 15-25, but those changes can begin or end a bit sooner or later.

Magical

Ice mages tend to exibit their magical powers quite late in their childhood. This may be due to the element's lack of wild mana, but scholars aren't sure what the cause for the delay realy is. In some rare cases, that magic ability doesn't appear until puberty, in which case it usualy manifest itself quite suddently and strongly. However, most ice mages began exhibiting signs of their magical abilities around 5 years old, but it truly only begins to be usable during early puberty, where their abilities will slowly become stronger over the years, until they reach around 15 years old, where the rate of growth increases a lot until about age 20, where it then begins to slow down again before stopping at age 25, where they finaly reach their full baseline strenght. They will keep that level until about 70 years old, where it will begin to steadely decline until death.

Civilization and Culture

Beauty Ideals

Like the vast majority of Elemental Mages, ice mages like their distinguishing traits. Bluer, darker eyes and longer ears are a sign of strenght and power, and are thus valued greatly amongst them.

Common Dress Code

A popular fashion piece in the Confederation of Ru'mensh for ice mages are hand crafted ice crowns. These crowns are made to accentuate the perceived natural beauty of their ears and eyes. Other elemental mages in Rumalia do have similar fashions pieces, but ice mages usualy have the most extravagant ones.

Common Myths and Legends

In the continent of Osian, many of the icemages now living in the land of the wildmen originaly came from Nan-Tao further south. In that country, it is believed that dragons originaly descended from heaven to teach humans they deemed pure of heart and soul the art of elemental magic, and then stayed around to watch over humanity. Thus, icemages in that reagion believe they are being watched over by these incredible beings and thus volontarly addere to a strict code of conduct, much like other elemental mages in Nan-Tao do aswell.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Humans

Lifespan

Around 90 years

Related Materials

• Frostite

Geographic Distribution

Unlike their close magical relatives in the Water mages, which can be found in nearly every region of the world with relative abundance, ice mages are a much rarer type of elemental mages. In fact, before Shadow mages went extinct, they were the third rarest elemental mage type, but now, only Light mages are rarer than them. Ice mages are concentrated in two main regions: Rumalia, the vast northern region of the continent of Arros as well as the north of the continent of Osian, in a region called the Land of the Wildmen, where a sizable population of icemages cohabits peacefuly with a largely shapeshifter local population. Some ice mages can also be found amongst the highland tribes of northern Enask, as well as in communities in the Arrosian kingdoms of Paxolia and the kingdom of North-Shorai, located just south of Rumalia.

Major Organisations

Like all elemental mages, ice mages are frequently members of mercenary guilds. In Arros, most of them come from the Rumalian principalities, but also from the kingdoms of Paxolia and Shorai, both of which have small, but prosperous communities of ice mages. Many ice mages are also part of their respective country's armies. North-Shorai's army contains a sizable number of them. This is also the norm in Enask, where mercenary guilds are somewhat less popular since the collapse of The Esnian Empire..