Post by frankthetriviaman on Dec 2, 2019 22:13:43 GMT -5
In the era before the Colorfolk, the 8 elemental factions of Ordos were the primary magic users of the island. The purpose of this story is two-fold: to offer a glimpse of what life was like on Ordos prior to the arrival of the Colorfolk, and to offer a look into one of the many... incidents that mired Dark Magic's reputation on Ordos.
......
CASTLE ORDOS, MAIN MEETING HALL
The King of Ordos had summoned the heads of the eight magic factions to his castle. They had gathered around a special map; charmed to "reflect the state Ordos was in" nearly 1/5 of the map was covered in a bright orange-red hue; not even 12 hours prior a forest fire had started on the island and it was spreading rapidly; everyone in the room was either nervous or afraid.
"How could something like this have happened? It was you, wasn't it?!" An air mage fumed at the fire mages.
"Hey! As a matter of practice we don't conduct magic experiments when its so dry like this!" a fire mage shot back.
"Look! It doesn't matter if anyone started the fire at this point!" The King stated, trying to restore order. "We have had 2 very dry years, and I have no doubt that lightning storm from 2 nights ago had something to do with it" The King reasoned. "But back to the matter at hand: my subjects are doing what they can, but there is only so much they can do to help, that is why I have summoned all of you to come aid in this dark hour. Surely in your great powers there is something that can be done" he pleaded.
All the mages nodded and then proceeded to discuss among themselves. The leader of each faction had brought with him or her an entourage of 4 mages, and thus, within each of these eight groups of five discussions began taking place as the king looked on.
"We can fight the fire directly; we shall do what we can to at the very least stop the spread" the head of the water magic faction declared, as his fellow water mages nodded, and subsequently left.
"...each faction has approximately 500 members, so 500 water mages fighting the fire directly should make a difference" The King sighed with relief. "But I expect the remaining 3500 mages to do something in this crisis. Have any of you any ideas?" The King asked.
"It's counter-intuitive your majesty, but I have reason to believe we can fight fire with fire" the head of the fire magic faction said as everyone else starred in disbelief. "Just hear me out: The dry years have resulted in dry vegetation in the forests, and all over the island. If we can start a series of small, controlled fires, or "burns" as we will call them to distinguish them from the main fire here... I believe we can start burns in certain areas, let them go for a set amount of time, and then once we feel the burn has done its job, we work with the locals and water mages to extinguish the burns. In theory, with the dry plants and matter all burned, that area itself becomes a buffer to prevent the spread of fire, or at the very least, slows it down" he finished.
The King thought it over, and came to understand the reasoning. "And I trust you are certain with this conviction?" he asked.
"Certainly; we've done small scale experiments in the past and have reason to believe that they will work in this situation too" the fire mage assured.
"Very well; communicate with the water mages and try to prioritize putting these buffers to protect populated areas" The King ordered.
"At once" and the fire mages left.
"Ice is just frozen water" the head of the ice faction brought up. "I reckon that if we can erect pillars and walls of ice in certain areas, maybe... maybe it won't extinguish the fire, but we can certainly slow down the spread of the fire; the ice melts into water, and the water keeps the fire from spreading too much" she finished.
"I fear the water mages may become stretched thin... yes, work with them as best you can; your two factions are our best hope of fighting the fire directly" The King decreed, as the ice mages left.
"Many people will have injuries and become sick from the smoke as a result of this fire; my faction shall set up small emergency hospitals where we can to alleviate the load of the village doctors" the head of the light magic faction stated. A simple nod from the King was all he needed before the light mages left.
"It seems that the winds are the predominant factor in the spread of the fire; air mages are more than capable of manipulating them as necessary, so we shall watch the winds, and as necessary, "correct" them to prevent the fires from spreading to quickly" the head of the air magic faction declared.
"Excellent; best of luck to you" the King acknowledged as the air mages left. Now it was just the earth, lightning and dark mages. They were still talking among themselves, and the King was nervous; was there nothing these three could do? Fortunately, his anxiety was relieved as the earth mages spoke up, "we can manipulate the ground itself to form long, deep trenches; in case the fire factions burns are not enough, we can form trenches in the earth that should further strengthen any buffers we "erect" around the island. Furthermore, on relatively smaller fires we can create these sort of... "blankets of earth" and smother the flames. Won't be as effective as water in some cases, but should be helpful"
"I like your thinking; go and mobilize your faction at once" The King ordered. The lightning and dark mages continued talking for another half an hour; the King uncertain as to if he should speak up. Fortunately, the head of the lightning mages spoke up first, "I don't think we can fight the fire directly. But we may have an idea that will be of great assistance to the other factions. If your majesty permits, we would like to begin experimenting right away to see if it is viable" the mage requested.
"I don't know if time is on our side... but I would rather be safe than sorry. So be it; proceed with your experiments, and implement them as soon as you can" The King ordered, as the lighting magic faction left.
Now, it was just the dark mages. The King of Ordos, concerned about their lack of contribution to the meeting overall, asked directly, "is there anything you can do to help?"
"Your majesty, you will have to forgive us, but we have yet to determine how we can be of assistance in this crisis" the head of the faction explained.
"Perhaps some information will help me: what exactly is this "dark magic" you use?" The King asked.
"Well, you see, there is this energy that exists in the world around us" The head dark mage explained as he manifested a ball of it in his hand, "We call it "The Darkness" because of its color; Dark Magic is the manipulation of this force in question."
"I see... can you use this "darkness" to put out fires?" The King asked.
"Well... no. You see, the thing about The Darkness is... it's really only good for damage and destruction. See, if I were to shoot a ball of dark magic at your fireplace right now, if it was lit" he explained, gesturing towards the empty fireplace with a couple burned out logs, "it would basically make the log explode and flaming embers would go everywhere, spreading fire" he explained.
"I see. What about trying to imitate what the other factions are doing? Perhaps using the force of the blasts to make trenches" The King proposed.
"Too much risk; if we shoot a ball of dark magic at soft ground, it would just create a crater; even if we focused the energy and tried to make a trench, we would cause such a violent displacement of earth matter we risk hurting others. The earth mages can manipulate the ground directly, so the kind of "push" the dirt out of the way, rather than blast it like we do" the mage explained.
"Are... are you saying there is nothing you can do?" The King asked in shock.
"Now now, your majesty, I did not say that. It's just that... well... you have to understand, unlike the other disciplines, Dark Magic doesn't really have Non-combat uses, so this way of thinking we aren't really used to. You wouldn't use a sword to dig, would you?" the mage asked.
"I understand your point. So what will you do then?" The King asked.
"For the time being, we shall return to our base and begin experimenting and considering possibilities. Rest assured, your majesty, we will not rest until we find a way to fight the fire" The dark mage finished as his group left.
Now alone, the King of Ordos surveyed the room, before looking out a window and sighing to himself, "So it is true after all... Dark Magic really does have no uses outside of battle" he lamented.
......
CASTLE ORDOS, MAIN MEETING HALL
The King of Ordos had summoned the heads of the eight magic factions to his castle. They had gathered around a special map; charmed to "reflect the state Ordos was in" nearly 1/5 of the map was covered in a bright orange-red hue; not even 12 hours prior a forest fire had started on the island and it was spreading rapidly; everyone in the room was either nervous or afraid.
"How could something like this have happened? It was you, wasn't it?!" An air mage fumed at the fire mages.
"Hey! As a matter of practice we don't conduct magic experiments when its so dry like this!" a fire mage shot back.
"Look! It doesn't matter if anyone started the fire at this point!" The King stated, trying to restore order. "We have had 2 very dry years, and I have no doubt that lightning storm from 2 nights ago had something to do with it" The King reasoned. "But back to the matter at hand: my subjects are doing what they can, but there is only so much they can do to help, that is why I have summoned all of you to come aid in this dark hour. Surely in your great powers there is something that can be done" he pleaded.
All the mages nodded and then proceeded to discuss among themselves. The leader of each faction had brought with him or her an entourage of 4 mages, and thus, within each of these eight groups of five discussions began taking place as the king looked on.
"We can fight the fire directly; we shall do what we can to at the very least stop the spread" the head of the water magic faction declared, as his fellow water mages nodded, and subsequently left.
"...each faction has approximately 500 members, so 500 water mages fighting the fire directly should make a difference" The King sighed with relief. "But I expect the remaining 3500 mages to do something in this crisis. Have any of you any ideas?" The King asked.
"It's counter-intuitive your majesty, but I have reason to believe we can fight fire with fire" the head of the fire magic faction said as everyone else starred in disbelief. "Just hear me out: The dry years have resulted in dry vegetation in the forests, and all over the island. If we can start a series of small, controlled fires, or "burns" as we will call them to distinguish them from the main fire here... I believe we can start burns in certain areas, let them go for a set amount of time, and then once we feel the burn has done its job, we work with the locals and water mages to extinguish the burns. In theory, with the dry plants and matter all burned, that area itself becomes a buffer to prevent the spread of fire, or at the very least, slows it down" he finished.
The King thought it over, and came to understand the reasoning. "And I trust you are certain with this conviction?" he asked.
"Certainly; we've done small scale experiments in the past and have reason to believe that they will work in this situation too" the fire mage assured.
"Very well; communicate with the water mages and try to prioritize putting these buffers to protect populated areas" The King ordered.
"At once" and the fire mages left.
"Ice is just frozen water" the head of the ice faction brought up. "I reckon that if we can erect pillars and walls of ice in certain areas, maybe... maybe it won't extinguish the fire, but we can certainly slow down the spread of the fire; the ice melts into water, and the water keeps the fire from spreading too much" she finished.
"I fear the water mages may become stretched thin... yes, work with them as best you can; your two factions are our best hope of fighting the fire directly" The King decreed, as the ice mages left.
"Many people will have injuries and become sick from the smoke as a result of this fire; my faction shall set up small emergency hospitals where we can to alleviate the load of the village doctors" the head of the light magic faction stated. A simple nod from the King was all he needed before the light mages left.
"It seems that the winds are the predominant factor in the spread of the fire; air mages are more than capable of manipulating them as necessary, so we shall watch the winds, and as necessary, "correct" them to prevent the fires from spreading to quickly" the head of the air magic faction declared.
"Excellent; best of luck to you" the King acknowledged as the air mages left. Now it was just the earth, lightning and dark mages. They were still talking among themselves, and the King was nervous; was there nothing these three could do? Fortunately, his anxiety was relieved as the earth mages spoke up, "we can manipulate the ground itself to form long, deep trenches; in case the fire factions burns are not enough, we can form trenches in the earth that should further strengthen any buffers we "erect" around the island. Furthermore, on relatively smaller fires we can create these sort of... "blankets of earth" and smother the flames. Won't be as effective as water in some cases, but should be helpful"
"I like your thinking; go and mobilize your faction at once" The King ordered. The lightning and dark mages continued talking for another half an hour; the King uncertain as to if he should speak up. Fortunately, the head of the lightning mages spoke up first, "I don't think we can fight the fire directly. But we may have an idea that will be of great assistance to the other factions. If your majesty permits, we would like to begin experimenting right away to see if it is viable" the mage requested.
"I don't know if time is on our side... but I would rather be safe than sorry. So be it; proceed with your experiments, and implement them as soon as you can" The King ordered, as the lighting magic faction left.
Now, it was just the dark mages. The King of Ordos, concerned about their lack of contribution to the meeting overall, asked directly, "is there anything you can do to help?"
"Your majesty, you will have to forgive us, but we have yet to determine how we can be of assistance in this crisis" the head of the faction explained.
"Perhaps some information will help me: what exactly is this "dark magic" you use?" The King asked.
"Well, you see, there is this energy that exists in the world around us" The head dark mage explained as he manifested a ball of it in his hand, "We call it "The Darkness" because of its color; Dark Magic is the manipulation of this force in question."
"I see... can you use this "darkness" to put out fires?" The King asked.
"Well... no. You see, the thing about The Darkness is... it's really only good for damage and destruction. See, if I were to shoot a ball of dark magic at your fireplace right now, if it was lit" he explained, gesturing towards the empty fireplace with a couple burned out logs, "it would basically make the log explode and flaming embers would go everywhere, spreading fire" he explained.
"I see. What about trying to imitate what the other factions are doing? Perhaps using the force of the blasts to make trenches" The King proposed.
"Too much risk; if we shoot a ball of dark magic at soft ground, it would just create a crater; even if we focused the energy and tried to make a trench, we would cause such a violent displacement of earth matter we risk hurting others. The earth mages can manipulate the ground directly, so the kind of "push" the dirt out of the way, rather than blast it like we do" the mage explained.
"Are... are you saying there is nothing you can do?" The King asked in shock.
"Now now, your majesty, I did not say that. It's just that... well... you have to understand, unlike the other disciplines, Dark Magic doesn't really have Non-combat uses, so this way of thinking we aren't really used to. You wouldn't use a sword to dig, would you?" the mage asked.
"I understand your point. So what will you do then?" The King asked.
"For the time being, we shall return to our base and begin experimenting and considering possibilities. Rest assured, your majesty, we will not rest until we find a way to fight the fire" The dark mage finished as his group left.
Now alone, the King of Ordos surveyed the room, before looking out a window and sighing to himself, "So it is true after all... Dark Magic really does have no uses outside of battle" he lamented.