Friday, October 10, 2014

green mage planning ch. 7: Travellers (incomplete, notes)

This is just a summary of this chapter as I haven't spent time on writing it out.

Adam returns to town. the soldiers are knocking at every door telling the townspeople that they will be occupying the town to investigate the abandoned fortress which the enemy group had occupied. the few soldiers that survived carried up the bodies of their comrades from the bottom floor of the fortress with the last bits of stamina they have. More soldiers have arrived and they have set up in for a prolonged stay in the town. Adam is treated by magical and physical means by the military medical personnel.

Adam meets back with cayn who is sitting by the window sill with a worn out book in his lap, looking out at the street where some townspeople are packing, preparing to leave the town. Cayn notices that adam is injured and asks if there is anything that he can do. Adam says he'll heal fine enough by himself and asks Cayn about what he is reading. Cayn asks what happened and Adam says he will tell him after he rests for the night, Adam asks Cayn again about what he was reading. Cayn first began with some magic books which talk of the formulas of various magic spells but he stopped that in a short while and continued rereading the personal travel records of his teacher. His teacher travelled to many places by sea and ground. He wandered the world, learning and helping out the people that he met. Though he was a mage knight and quite capable of magic. He attempted to solve the problems of the people he met through non magical means.

Cayn writes letters to his teacher about his current experiences. He wrote and sent his third one during the day. Adam asks if he replied back. Cayn has received one letter from his teacher, Cayn says that his teacher thinks that for Cayn to continue travelling Adam, Cayn needs to become stronger so that Cayn would be capable of helping Adam. Adam recalls the reason Cayn gave of his decision to travel with Adam. Purpose of the chapter is to develop the story and characters further, define the goals, problems, and reasons behind them.

Notes, Part 2

Combat
Combat is described like combat in a rpg game to detail combat in a simple/detailed way that rpg combat details combat. Attack turn order is based on the time it takes for the actor to take their action, actors readying a technique or spell take their turns later, etc. Damage taken is a simplified message where damage is inflicted to the actual body, to specific body parts.

Elements
Living things are born with an innate elemental affinities based on a variety of circumstances such as the affinities of their parents. These affinities define how well a user can manipulate a specific element. Affinity holders can have innate affinities toward a number of elements but they commonly have 1 or 2 affinities and there are those with no affinities.

How a user manipulates their element is mostly up to the user themselves whether they create magical elemental attacks or focus their element into their weapon or through other means. Users are generally capable of both but generally specialize in one method of manipulation.

Natural forces, such as weather and climate are affected by the power of elemental nodes and so it is important that the power of these nodes are kept in check.

Healing
Healing is the mending of one's form to an original or healthy state.
Healing is limited and only specialists can heal significant injures. Healing isn't associated with a specific element, most magic users can use it should they learn it or know it innately. Like most manipulation methods, healing uses up a user's personal limited resource of "mana" which can replenished in a number of ways.

Techniques
Special techniques such as Adam's attacks skills are akin to magical attacks in that they instead manipulate one's body to perform enhanced movements differentiating them from normal attacks with a weapon. Physical techniques aren't associated with elements but they may be associated with an element described as "physical" or "natural" somewhat similar to healing/mending.

Beings either innately gain the ability to use certain techniques or learn them. These are based on their affinities. Affinities are defined by what elements they manipulate but there are differences between affinities of the same element from owner to owner.

Innate abilities, abilities gained upon reaching a requirement, are abilities that are gained from the bearer's affinity. There is a theory that a bearer's affinity has a "history"  which can pass on certain things to those who "inherit" these affinities. Other than abilities, the affinities can pass on memories or messages from their histories.

Main Characters
Cayn's age is 16, Adam's age is 18.
Cayn's affinities: wood and water
Adam's affinities: earth and fire
Though Cayn trusts Adam as his travelling companion and decision maker, Adam questions Cayn's capability as a companion and combatant. They had very different upbringings, Cayn was born with a weak body and was mostly kept inside and was taught most of what he knows from his teacher/foster-parent. Adam started working as a forager at a young age where he traveled with his family to sell what they foraged. When Adam was still young, he faced a number of circumstances that made him the serious mission taker he is currently.

Missions
As Isekai as a genre erupted like wild fire, there are many things that they commonly do that I don't want to do. In my world, adventurers aren't extremely common and there is no adventurer's guild by name. The needs of villages and towns are generally handed by the country/state who employ soldiers or mercenaries to handle physical threats or problems that require strong combatants. There are times that the country/state is unable to handle a problem immediately in which they leave these as missions to those who are interested and capable.

As I associate the word "adventurer" with an idiot who can solve any problem with a unique power or someone who seeks an interesting adventure, I wanted to define Adam as a "Mission Taker", someone who takes missions solely for the reason to do what he can to help others.