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[howarewefortime]

ELEMENTAL STARS

From KD: "The Elemental Stars are, essentially, four crystal balls, each with a planet's entire magical energy of one element - water, fire, earth, and wind - crammed inside it. Little is actually revealed about them in canon, except that when flung into particular structures the magic is released (fairly benignly) back into the world so that it doesn't starve. Long story, not especially relevant. What is relevant is the statement of one character, who's made a study of them, that anyone who got his hands on any one of the Stars could use it to conquer the world.

What I have millicanoned about them is as follows: any magic-user (or psychic; see below) who touches one of the Stars, either directly or through clothing, immediately knows that it grants him/her immense power over a specific element, and approximately the degree of that power, and the sorts of things that can be done with it. "What can be done with it" is basically limited by the user's imagination, and what he/she can convince him/herself that element can do; for instance, someone with only the Earth-Star probably couldn't create a volcano unless they were intimately familiar with the local geography and geology, but some people could make a volcano with just the Fire-Star, while others would need both Fire and Earth. Healing is canonically available to all four elements, as are combative powers.

However, the Stars are not comfortable to hold. They are not dangerous to the holder unless he/she straps them onto him/herself or some such, but the average person would want to drop them within a minute or so.

Persons without powers would get the same kind of abilities from the Stars, but I don't know what knowledge they would be able to get. It may be relevant to note that unpowered people in canon are unable to see magic being used, although they can see mages acting strangely and can see the results of magic. It may also be relevant to note that I have not been holding to this in Milliways, although I have in OOMs in Felix's world.

Magic, in Felix's world, is psychic and elemental in nature. With a very few exceptions, each spell or action is based on a single element, and requires little more than thinking in a particular way. The results of a spell are apparently permanent and, with limitations, reversible - for instance, in the first game, a tree gets angry and turns local townspeople into trees, and there is some worry that he will die without turning them back to normal. The exception is buffs and debuffs, which usually wear off quickly (although there are a few curse-like debuffs that require specific removal). Magical attacks in combat do not miss, although they may fail to be effective. Transformative magic is quite rare - the only known instances are the aforementioned tree, and a plot-relevant spell to turn oneself into a pile of sand and back.

Each element has various associations: Earth involves the movement of soil and rock, and the growth of plants; Water includes freezing, melting, and condensation, as well as the physical movement of liquid water; Wind moves air, but also includes lightning and powers relating to time and the minds of others; and Fire is not limited to flame, but also allows for the manipulation of heat and light, including what amount to lasers and bombs in a canon that is not known to have either. No element is known to have power over metal directly, although enchanted swords and other metal magical things are fairly common.

On their own, the Stars are inert, although those with the ability to sense magic can easily notice and locate them. Mythril blocks this noticing, and also renders them safe to carry and blocks the knowledge and abilities they give. Once they are loose, Felix (a powerful earth-mage and swordsman in his own right) will be trying to get them contained."