Summary
One of the classical elements, fire is a powerful force of change. It is consumption and transformation, taking and giving in the same breath. Wild and uncontrolled, it is boisterous and grand. Fire without limits would consume everything in reach, and so it is an ever perilous mana to deal with. However, if properly tamed, it becomes the beating heart of greatness itself.
As a mana, fire largely lives brief, fleeting existences. When it takes shape, it consumes everything it can in order to fuel itself. One could say tiny sparks aspire toward greatness, and so turn into raging blazes. Yet these mundane, veltrony flames pale in comparison to the Heavenly flames far above. The sun and the vast stars themselves, the greatest furnaces of eternal flames. To their lofty stations do all fires aspire, reaching higher.
In a way, fire simply wishes to grow powerful enough it too will never burn out. It is very mortal-like, in a sense.
Fire's domain necessarily involves energy, of which heat is by product of. Hotter and purer flames gradually produce less heat. Those ascending into divinity are said to become like water, rolling across the skin without leaving a touch behind. Fire, too, can take on a manner of its own, choosing what to consume. The most noble flames are those who, at the cost of their own existences, choose oblivion than consumption. Those who break through reach higher realms that aren't technically 'fire' in a traditional sense. But at that point, the semantics of
energy magic are more for scholars to rabble over.
To wield fire is to understand its nature, and the uncompromising degrees to which it lives by.
Dragonkind and
humanity have long vyed over conceptual 'ownership' of fire. Both embody and utilize it in different ways, giving form to immense civilizations. Their works with fire, in turn, inspired the many
monsterkinds. Or so their histories would say; it's not like they invented fire after all.
It has doubtlessly been the fuel of civilization, a light in the darkness, and a warmth in the home. Through fire all peoples made their dreams real, and so changed the universe.
Magical Arts
As fire represents so many extreme things, the
mages,
cultivators, and others who practice upon it, too, are varied. Many come to take on its bold, larger-than-life powerfulness, explosive temperament, and 'hot headedness'. Skillful mistresses are those those who realize these things are not intrinsically 'fire'. Its essence is transformation, from one state to another.
That means fire itself can be used for a variety of purposes, depending on the nature of 'transformation' desired. By creating say, fire balls, and throwing them, the resulting explosion creates consuming, deadly fire. However, one could use fire to say, burn the rotting flesh out of a wound, using the rot as fuel. The former is a type of attack magic, but the latter could be considered a healing art.
Smithing alongside cooking are two professions that most commonly utilize fire. For smiths, it is the great energy that melts the veltron and metal. They can then shape it, creating marvelous works upon which society grows. Chefs in turn break inedibles upon flames, broiling, searing, boiling, stewing, and so much more. Flavors and heartiness rise up, giving shape to the vital energies and comforts people need to sustain themselves. These arts, common and derided as mundane, can become fantastic with skill and expertise.
After all, even in the Heavens there are great chefs and smiths.
Fire's nature being consumption, as a magical art it can be 'easy to start' but 'hard to handle'. It depends entirely on its provided fuel source, with mundane fuels like coal being easy, and creating it out of thin air as very hard. Once the flame itself is created, the trick is manipulating it as the user desires. This is doubly problematic if one is trying to use fire in a magical fight where opposing forces may strip its fuel out, or extinguish it. While its destructive potential is ridiculously high, actually achieving results is where most people struggle.
Appearance
Fire mana in its pure form takes on a shimmering, nearly invisible appearance as unignited 'heat'. Those who live in deserts like
Sa-kemet have to confront it daily on the sands, for example. It is only when ignition happens does fire's real form appear. Typically it is an orange-and-white core with edges of red and crimson.
However, different colors are possible. Hotter and purer flames gradually morph toward blue colors, and the greatest of divine flames are often green and gold. Other types of flames can appear, such as obisidian black and purple ones. Generally speaking, the orange flames are both mundane and the most common to encounter. Colored flames of different natures are much rarer and exist in fairly exotic conditions to begin with.
Comments