A gripping mystery with supernatural twists, Sparked hauntingly portrays the complex relationship between sisters and the lengths that one will go to save the other.
Magic with a cost is a great tool for storytelling, because it reflects the real-life challenges people struggle to overcome every day. To surpass our limitations, we must give up something that’s holding us back. To gain something new, we must sacrifice something else as an investment. Et Cetera.
In my current draft for this story, Diesel can whisper a word of power, tap his bronze sword, and give it +1 fire damage––all without any long complicated rituals, blood sacrifices, or a loss of HP.
Still, there are costs for his magic. Some of the costs are material–– things like time, focus and energy––while the other costs are much more abstract––debt, duty and a butterfly effect where the consequences of his magic ripple out through the world and return his way. That’s something I hope to make much more clear as I continue posting revised chapters for "Cold Iron Crossing".
It’s the year 2147: a time of enduring peace on Earth. The Last War ended half a century ago. We can cure most ills, the air is pure, and teleportation is how we get around. Sounds great, right? So why does everyone suddenly want to kill Joel Byram?
On Azanthea’s annual conscription day, Kuba is forcibly enlisted into the ranks of the Historians. While on route to his new life his caravan is struck down by a falling Godstone granting him incredible powers that were long thought eradicated.
Does magic work because it’s magic...or is there a consistent principle behind it that is...dare we say...’scientific’?
Arthur C. Clarke once said that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". The graphic novelists Phil and Kaja Foglio built upon that famous quote, declaring in turn that "Any sufficiently analyzed magic is distinguishable from science".
Magic should be mysterious, enticing, terrifying and miraculous. But at the same time, it shouldn’t be unlimited and all powerful. Every fantasy author needs to walk the narrow line between these two extremes when depicting magic, deciding how much they want to explain and how much they want to keep hidden.
How does Diesel’s magic work? What limitations does it have, and what clever tricks can he use to surpass those limitations?
With luck, my ideas for updating Diesel’s magic will let me have the best of both worlds––letting me depict his magical talents in a consistent fashion throughout while keeping the secrets of the trade suitable mysterious and tantalizing.
Thanks for the input, Leo! Things are going pretty good with the rewrite: in time, I’m going to be adding in a few flashbacks that’ll flesh out Diesel’s background and growth. Keep checking in on my story’s progress, and I’ll try to do the same for yours!
