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The Twilight Age - Tale of Post-Apocalyptic Mars

8th of Makara, 0 AS - Horizon Disaster, a year 0 of After-Sorrow era. An failed attempt at teleportation technology creates a rift to another dimension (and unknowingly to other, actually transports entire planet to alternate universe). Immaterial Spirits are released to the world, causing cascade failing effect on almost all advanced technology, destroying electronics.

10th of Makara, 0 AS - Entire planet is engulfed in darkness. Most advanced technology doesn't work.

0 AS - 9 AS Age of Sorrow. Era without any record. World is in chaos, population leaves major cities, dispersing around the globe.

9 AS - 30 AS Age of Reconstruction. Civilisation starts to rebuild, a majority of known scientific principles are still functioning...

10 AS: The Martian Commonwealth is restored to power in Hellas Capitolina, and start a long process of rebuilding.

21 AS: The first year where there was a concrete evidence of the manifestation of Magery. The Elysians count this as the first year of their religion.

31 AS - 60 AS: The Age of States. The State of Elysium comes into an existence during this era and was first to recognize Magery as what it is, in 33 AS. Over time the Mage-priests comes to dominate the Elysian politics.

61 PS~85 PS: The Age of Soldiers. In 79 PS, as the Great War looms over the Mundus, three formerly feuding states decide to form a military alliance in recognition of their shared belief and form the Dar-es-Salaam.

The Great War breaks out in 84 PS, and last 42 months till 85 PS. The Plague starts in 38 months into the war.
 
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Dar-es-Salaam soldiers.

d2m8gn8-b551f6cb-34b8-431e-afbf-f2f9c100bb54.jpg

Elysian Vs. Dar-es-Salaam, naval battle.
 
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Such thing would be possible, even if it's barely above total manual control.
Actually, yes, many modern processes rely on readings from electronics heat sensors to adjust temperature etc. which won't be possible with clockwork.

Clockwork would work for calculator to crunch numbers, or where exact timing is a key, but not everything can be replaced by it.

0 AS: The Martian Commonwealth is restored to power in Hellas Capitolina, and start a long process of rebuilding.

21 AS: The first year where there was a concrete evidence of the manifestation of Magery. The Elysians count this as the first year of their religion.

31 AS - 60 AS: The Age of States. The State of Elysium comes into an existence during this era and was first to recognize Magery as what it is, in 33 AS. Over time the Mage-priests comes to dominate the Elysian politics.
Perhaps date when first mages start to appear, and when it is proven that forces they speak about really exist, there would be at least a few years in between those points.

By the way ... Mundus? Is this, like, Elder Scrolls?

61 PS~85 PS: The Age of Soldiers.
I am not sure about the "soldiers" as a name of the age. Perhaps, age of conflicts....

20 years, Martian one, and roughly twice as many in Earth like, is far too long for something "loom over..."

It could be age of heightened imperial ambitions, even though "Age of Empires" is obviously out of question.

Also ...

I am toying with this idea of the state or empire on the coasts around Tharsis that actually had most of the inventions first, but broke apart to internal conflicts or revolution. It is currently broke apart to smaller states. Amtek I wrote is one of the successor states.
 
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By the way ... Mundus? Is this, like, Elder Scrolls?
Unconscious mistake.

I am not sure about the "soldiers" as a name of the age. Perhaps, age of conflicts....

20 years, Martian one, and roughly twice as many in Earth like, is far too long for something "loom over..."

It could be age of heightened imperial ambitions, even though "Age of Empires" is obviously out of question.
Age of Expansions, maybe?

I am toying with this idea of the state or empire on the coasts around Tharsis that actually had most of the inventions first, but broke apart to internal conflicts or revolution. It is currently broke apart to smaller states. Amtek I wrote is one of the successor states.
I'll have to think about it.
 
Also, what is your opinion about 'Anti-Magery' Magics?
It doesn't make much sense, IMHO.

There is no reason for magic to have some kind of self-denying branch of itself.

Can Humans kill Spirits? Can Spirits even kill other Spirits? What power is required to do so? It is anti-magic?

Actually, I would even make it so that Spirits can't kill other Spirits, making their bonds with physical place more meaningful, as it is a place where they can win, or lose.
 
It doesn't make much sense, IMHO.

There is no reason for magic to have some kind of self-denying branch of itself.

Can Humans kill Spirits? Can Spirits even kill other Spirits? What power is required to do so? It is anti-magic?

Actually, I would even make it so that Spirits can't kill other Spirits, making their bonds with physical place more meaningful, as it is a place where they can win, or lose.
Using your own Spirits to disrupt other Spirits/punt astral projecting-Mage back to his own body/defending against the projection attack/breaching wards, those kinds of stuff.

Perhaps Counter-Magery was a better word.
 
Using your own Spirits to disrupt other Spirits/punt astral projecting-Mage back to his own body/defending against the projection attack/breaching wards, those kinds of stuff.

Perhaps Counter-Magery was a better word.
I wouldn't make it a specialised discipline because I simply fear that would be understood as I-Win technique against Mages, and thus get a lot of attention from ... you know.

I would however point out it is possible to ward against scrying, projections etc.

As for actively disturbing other Mages work, like actually locking Mages astral projection, I would point out that Mages were used both by espionage and counter-espionage, but make it so there were mages on duty whose work was to disturb enemy scying, and it required they attention. To the point that it is possible to make some place impenetrable to some Spirits and Mages sights, but it needs several mages basically taking shifts in active defence.
 
I wouldn't make it a specialised discipline because I simply fear that would be understood as I-Win technique against Mages, and thus get a lot of attention from ... you know.

I would however point out it is possible to ward against scrying, projections etc.

As for actively disturbing other Mages work, like actually locking Mages astral projection, I would point out that Mages were used both by espionage and counter-espionage, but make it so there were mages on duty whose work was to disturb enemy scying, and it required they attention. To the point that it is possible to make some place impenetrable to some Spirits and Mages sights, but it needs several mages basically taking shifts in active defence.
Speaking of Magery, I was pondering about the Enhancement discipline and thought: How does it work? Then I wondered: what if this 'Enhancement' is actually a probability manipulation, but no one realized this yet?
 
Speaking of Magery, I was pondering about the Enhancement discipline and thought: How does it work? Then I wondered: what if this 'Enhancement' is actually a probability manipulation, but no one realized this yet?
I wouldn't explicitly suggest that probability manipulation is possible (even if it actually is), because how cheaply it can be abused.

Enchantment in itself is not much of a problem, as long as people understand it in the context of fantasy enchantment - which itself can be powerful too, and question is how would you restrict it, or define it.

Actually, you either have soft magic, without any specific system tied to it, but you can't use that magic to actively solve problems in the setting as it would be a deus ex machina. Or hard magic system, where there are obviously well defined rules, and you must explain those well defined rules to readers somehow (without infodumping, duh) and if they understand it, you can use it to solve problems in the setting.
 
I wouldn't explicitly suggest that probability manipulation is possible (even if it actually is), because how cheaply it can be abused.
Of course, I won't call it that.

Enchantment in itself is not much of a problem, as long as people understand it in the context of fantasy enchantment - which itself can be powerful too, and question is how would you restrict it, or define it.
In this case, making it a variant of plausibility manipulation could actually serve as a form of limitation since the enhanced item or body can only do what it can, just better, rather than imbued with some foreign property.

Actually, you either have soft magic, without any specific system tied to it, but you can't use that magic to actively solve problems in the setting as it would be a deus ex machina. Or hard magic system, where there are obviously well defined rules, and you must explain those well defined rules to readers somehow (without infodumping, duh) and if they understand it, you can use it to solve problems in the setting.
Which one, do you think, is better?
 
In this case, making it a variant of plausibility manipulation could actually serve as a form of limitation since the enhanced item or body can only do what it can, just better, rather than imbued with some foreign property.
It could be both, as long as it has limits. Perhaps you an imbue engine with magical power, to make it go faster, but in the process it will burn out or jam, which in turn can't be fixed by magic anymore, but qualified engineer ... and perhaps engine is beyond repair, which costs even more.

Which one, do you think, is better?
Depends on the story.

I looked into this part out of curiosity yesterday and today, and soft magic is something like Tolkien. You can't solve main conflict of the story by magic, and for the most part, you can't really have magician as a protagonist because he or she might use unlimited magical problem to solve problems, thus removing conflict from the story. Gandalf can't solve problems of the LotR, Frodo must (or other character, which are similarly non-magical)

I generally like enabling system. You can have protagonist being a magician, you can use magic to fight magic etc. then find a way how to restrict the magic so said protagonist won't magic things up as he goes.
 
I generally like enabling system. You can have protagonist being a magician, you can use magic to fight magic etc. then find a way how to restrict the magic so said protagonist won't magic things up as he goes.
Hard magic it is, then.

It could be both, as long as it has limits. Perhaps you an imbue engine with magical power, to make it go faster, but in the process it will burn out or jam, which in turn can't be fixed by magic anymore, but qualified engineer ... and perhaps engine is beyond repair, which costs even more.
Isn't that basically what I have said? Not being allowed to be imbued with a foreign property? Overclocking the engine, I think, is perfectly within its intrinsic capability, just not a recommended one.
 
Isn't that basically what I have said? Not being allowed to be imbued with a foreign property? Overclocking the engine, I think, is perfectly within its intrinsic capability, just not a recommended one.
No? Yes? I don't know.

I think of it this way, magic on the setting is automatically imbuing foreign properties on specific items, and as a result, making them inoperable. Mages on the other hand focus on removing those foreign properties from the item in order for it to work reliably. So, point is, you can imbue (foreign properties on specific items) in the setting, it is a mechanic, you just don't know how to make those beneficial for the user.
 
I think of it this way, magic on the setting is automatically imbuing foreign properties on specific items, and as a result, making them inoperable. Mages on the other hand focus on removing those foreign properties from the item in order for it to work reliably. So, point is, you can imbue (foreign properties on specific items) in the setting, it is a mechanic, you just don't know how to make those beneficial for the user.
Not sure how that works. Wouldn't that make every piece of technology inoperable without Mages?
 
Not sure how that works. Wouldn't that make every piece of technology inoperable without Mages?
We must ask the question, what it is in the modern electronics that attracts Spirit's powers and fries the electronics in the process? It is obviously not EMP, and it doesn't mess with chemical processes, or with purely mechanical workings. On the other hand, it can interact with biology.

I am not sure if this make sense:

Only thing I can think of right now is delicate electrical impulses, with certain system, or logic, behind them. More crude it is, less likely it gets inference. Biological systems have some level of protection, but electronics do not.

Spirits don't get interested in purely mechanical or chemical things. They might interfere with them, but you need to draw their interest, and even then, they don't really know what to do even if they have power to do something. It's more like sharing knowledge between mage and Spirit.
 
I am not sure if this make sense:
It does make a sense. But I still think it clashes with what you have said:

I think of it this way, magic on the setting is automatically imbuing foreign properties on specific items, and as a result, making them inoperable. Mages on the other hand focus on removing those foreign properties from the item in order for it to work reliably. So, point is, you can imbue (foreign properties on specific items) in the setting, it is a mechanic, you just don't know how to make those beneficial for the user.
Because I think you are implying here that EVERYTHING is affected by the Spirits and inoperable without Mages placing wards on them.
 
Because I think you are implying here that EVERYTHING is affected by the Spirits and inoperable without Mages placing wards on them.
I see. A mistake: I used wrong wording then? Perhaps it should be something like "magic/spirit are being able to interact with object in material plane to certain extent even without an assistance of the mage, they however lack any instruction or knowlege how to do it properly, hence safest things are those which doesn't attract attention of naturally attention seeking spirits"

I think I confused myself with my own train of thought!
 
I see. A mistake: I used wrong wording then? Perhaps it should be something like "magic/spirit are being able to interact with object in material plane to certain extent even without an assistance of the mage, they however lack any instruction or knowlege how to do it properly, hence safest things are those which doesn't attract attention of naturally attention seeking spirits"
That's better, and match what I have been assuming, too.
 
It creates a limit in what magic can do, as neither Mage nor Spirits granting them power know how to do certain things.
Agreed.

Regarding Magitek, I would put this limits:

1. Naturally, they depend on the Spirits to function, and since the Spirits don't really get interested in purely mechanical things, you need Mages to persuade them into powering it.

2. For the same reason as above, it can be only used by Mages.

3. It may not work as intended, because as you noted, neither Mage nor Spirit may know how to do certain things.

So it would be a domain of few eccentric Mage-inventors or those Mage with money to commission such gadgets.
 
Or maybe I should be less restrictive with Magitek? After all, we have been using Magic as the restrictive force since this setting's inception. Maybe Magitek could be used as a liberating way, albeit in a minor degree compared to the restriction imposed by Magic, teasing the possible future path the Humanity could achieve.
 
Agreed.

Regarding Magitek, I would put this limits:

1. Naturally, they depend on the Spirits to function, and since the Spirits don't really get interested in purely mechanical things, you need Mages to persuade them into powering it.

2. For the same reason as above, it can be only used by Mages.

3. It may not work as intended, because as you noted, neither Mage nor Spirit may know how to do certain things.

So it would be a domain of few eccentric Mage-inventors or those Mage with money to commission such gadgets.
Which makes it very rare, as it require an experienced mage with skills and knowledge, and vast majority of devices ever build rely on known law of physics instead of Spirit's power. This is due to fact population simply doesn't have enough mages to support this.

This restricts what is available in the setting, but provides a lot of options what is theoretically possible in the future - more creativity, and long term thinking, as there aren't immediate benefits. Hopefully, it will provide some balance
 
Which makes it very rare, as it require an experienced mage with skills and knowledge, and vast majority of devices ever build rely on known law of physics instead of Spirit's power. This is due to fact population simply doesn't have enough mages to support this.

This restricts what is available in the setting, but provides a lot of options what is theoretically possible in the future - more creativity, and long term thinking, as there aren't immediate benefits. Hopefully, it will provide some balance
How about my next post?
 
How about my next post?
I meant my response for both posts, actually, including this one:

Or maybe I should be less restrictive with Magitek? After all, we have been using Magic as the restrictive force since this setting's inception. Maybe Magitek could be used as a liberating way, albeit in a minor degree compared to the restriction imposed by Magic, teasing the possible future path the Humanity could achieve.

I wanted to limit the readily available magitek to prevent anything that could be considered a "I-Win button" but in the same time actually allow magitek to canonically exist in the setting.

Magic usually have a clearly defined rules and restrictions readers can readily understand.

Easiest way to give magic rules is to make it dependant on skills, knowledge or focus of the caster. Spirits, being inherently magical beings that don't care much about physics in the first place, are harder to limit, but still, you can limit it by knowledge of both caster and Spirit. Perhaps despite the fact Spirits don't quite understand humans or even laws of physics, most of them started to understand responsibility etc.
 
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