Clouds
"No, I don't quite think it's pink. I'd rather say a pale orange. I wouldn't want to mistake pink for orange, but I am pretty sure this is safe. Hey, where are you going?" "Taking cover, stay behind and check the idiom if you wish but I'd rather be indoors when the rain falls."
Since the dawn of civilisation, clouds have played a central role in daily life. Harbingers of plenty, bizarre or doom, they shape the world and people living in it. Carriers of raw and powerful magic, the sight of one always induces caution and sometimes dread. But despite their danger and the numerous life they claim each year, people cannot help but admire these wonders of nature.
The nature of clouds
For a long time, the truth behind the formation of clouds have eluded the Archivist's followers. While they seemed similar to fog, the latter doesn't share any of their magical properties, and the combination of shapes and colour were so many that before proper records-keeping habits, there was no consensus on their nature.
It is now common knowledge that the magic found anywhere in the world originates from the sky, though there is still a debate on whether it is from the upper atmosphere of the cold expanse beyond. Even from the ground, the higher sky is obviously more concentrated in energy while the lower formations are clearer and less potent. However, no current model explains why fog and oceans are devoid of latent magic.
The Archivist's scriptures
The raw magic radiated from the gas giant around which the world revolves can imbue some elements upon entering the atmosphere. While most elements can absorb only a restricted spectre of magic, water mix with almost everything. As it happens, water droplets and ice crystals make most of the particles in the sky and thus are the most exposed to the radiation. As a result, the sky is constantly vibrating with unrefined magic, albeit invisible.
When their environment reaches the dew point, the suspended droplets or crystals aggregate to form a cloud. When that happens, the energy imbued in the individual particles collide and fight for domination over the complex. The different aspects cannot coexist safely, so the cloud's overall element will follow the rule of majority. Due to the chaotic nature of magic, the formation of a cloud releases a lot of static electricity. The more conflict arise between the different kind of power, the more static is released, to the point where some can give birth to ephemeral thunderstorms.
Grounding
Earth and relief acts as a grounding element, which absorbs most of the magic contained in the fog. This is not to say that magic is non-existent in such formations, but it is spread so thin the magical property cannot be expressed. The same phenomenon affect clouds passing through high relief such as mountains, which are often confused with the very dangerous white clouds. Some reactions still occur at the molecular level, thus mists have an unordinary high amount of static electricity.
On the aspects of clouds
While it is believed that the shape of a cloud has an effect on its properties, but the color is a much more credible giveaway. Each magical aspect dyes the cloud in a certain, unique way. The vividness of the clouds indicates the concentration of magic in them, and is directly correlated to their power. The colors are not evenly distributed over the globe, they depend on the climate and the whims of magic, which itself is not uniform.
The Sidorian Royal Archive's Weather Study Department is the main authority on cloud classification. Though their work doesn't reach the entire world and some smaller entities proposed their own, this is the most commonly accepted convention. The name on the right are the translated scientific denomination.
Pink clouds - Sweet Forgetfulness
If amnesia is often associated with pink is mostly due to these clouds. They mostly come as nimbostratus in temperate climate, especially in arboreal areas. While not always precipitation clouds, their simple presence projects a dazzling veil on the ground below. All living beings feel lost and suffer from short-term memory loss paired with a loss of balance.
When the drizzle comes down, they carry the weight of amnesia. Pervasive, each touch erases a memory forever. A mere minute of exposition to the myriad of minuscule droplets is enough to forget a decade of existence, five minutes erase an entire life. There is no end of stories about a hiker surprised by the rain to never be found again or returned to the mental state of a toddler.
Orange clouds - Earth Scorcher
These clouds are heat clouds, mostly present near the equator and in arid areas. They are almost always precipitation clouds, pouring down hot water that reaches the ground warm. When clouds are the most vivid, and the heat nearing the boiling point of water, they form virgas, clouds looking like strands of hair, whose precipitation evaporates at high altitudes. Thus, they are very rarely a danger as only reasonably warm water touch the ground.
In periods of drought however, they can trigger blazes as the shrivelled plants fail to absorb water but are impregnated by the heated essence, causing a spectacular phenomenon known as Burning rain. People living in these areas have learned to watch the sky during drought.
White clouds - Death carriers
White clouds are exceptionally rare, and that is fortunate. Among all the dangerous and potentially lethal formations, none strike a fear as terrible as the white ones. Probably resulting of a perfect equilibrium between all magic essences in a cloud, they testify of the hazard of mixing them carelessly.
They look like ordinary altocumulus clouds, except for their ghostly radiance. If they are a hazard in the air, their precipitation is the real threat. Upon touching any object, the alabaster droplets dissolve it from existence in a mutual annihilation. During a white storm, whole chunk of the world vanish as if they were never there. Countless myths talk about a forest that disappeared overnight, or a town supposedly taken away by an enraged devil leaving only a ditch behind. In most cases, scholars surmise that the real cause is an unnoticed white cloud that left their ancestors flabbergasted.
Fortunately, most big cities have a defense mechanism to prevent white clouds from destroying the hearts of their civilisation. Crude but efficient, they either launch a boulder at the cloud or throw another cloud of small pellets. The idea behind the Dispersion Canon is to force the mutual destruction in the cloud itself before it begins pouring down. Once enough droplets have been dealt with, the cloud cannot maintain its integrity and quickly disperse in the atmosphere.
Shifting hues
During some periods in a day, colors in the sky are not what they seem. At dusk and at dawn, as the faraway sun sets or rise, the sky becomes an ocean of fire that paints everything orange, including the clouds. Thus, some of their original colours are difficult, even impossible to discriminate. This phenomenon hits especially clouds less concentrated, as they are more likely to be see-through. It also means that white clouds are the most treacherous in these times, since they hardly look different from the harmless orange clouds.
Night clouds
For the same reason, the night was historically a period of danger and hiding. If, thanks to the gas giant, the night is rarely fully dark, all clouds become shades of grey. They are no less dangerous though, thus some apparatus have been repurposed to their identification. Malbrought's lens are commonly used mounted on a tripod to easily identify clouds. There is one such installation in every village, and many wealthy households possess one for their own usage.
Notable clouds
Dawn of blood
Every couple years in the Linglas cove at daybreak, the world turns red and blood falls from the sky. The Dawn of Blood, also called Vita's weep, is a unique nimbostratus that appear very rarely, overloaded with the life magic that accumulates in the cove. It takes roughly two years for the phenomenon to reach a breaking point, at which a downpour falls upon the area. The droplets, saturated with life energy, are bright red and slimy just like fresh blood. While very impressive, the phenomenon is mostly harmless save for the occasional drowning, and a great opportunity to harvest large amount of magic.
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