Tag: fantasy

nikivaszi:

Happy December!

Somewhere in Skellige Ciri and Geralt took a strange contract; a beast who kills folks (especially naughty ones), appears only around Yuletide and its name is Krampus.
Saint Nicholas day is coming (6th December) and no Krampus this year… for specific reasons but still.. try to be nice :)))
Make sure you shine your boots and put out in the window so Saint Nicholas can leave something nice for you. 😉

Wizard Woes – Student Wizard Edition

For the sake of these prompts (which run in sets of fourteen) here are fourteen things a wizard must struggle through in his journey to become a high and respected wizard.  As always, feel free to wiggle and shift to fit.  Some fantasy by request of galadrielladyoflothlorien.

1. So you know how on the latest version of Windows if you move the mouse too quickly you end up on the start page?  Yeah, well, I’m trying to learn telekinesis and I keep turning too abruptly and throwing half the room at the other half of the room.  I am almost out of plates.

2. I’ve been practicing animating objects, and just wait, you’re going to think this is funny.  Haha, my living room furniture has staged a revolt and locked me in the closet.  Funny, right?  Come save me.

3. Working on Potions, its super great, except now I am invisible and also a dragon.  It would be great if I knew how I did it.  Or how to undo it.  You know anyone who needs an invisible dragon?

4. So, I tried to work a healing spell and now I look like I’m fourteen.  This is very frustrating, I’ve been working on that beard for a long time.

5. I’ve finally mastered seeing the future, however only the future of this three foot square of land. 

6. I’ve finally mastered travel between worlds.  It’s the worst.  I can’t remember which alternate dimension I left my potions notes in, and you know it’s going to be the one with the adventurers who are trying to get me to fight a dragon for them.  Have you seen me?  I live on weak coffee and biscuits!

7. I’m trying to find some wood to make my wand with and you’re the concerned owner of the woodworking shop.  No I don’t need help and yes and do need to whisper sweet nothings to this block of oak.

8. After days of searching, swimming through deepest sea and climbing tallest mountain I think I’ve found my familiar.  It’s this college student, I’ve been feeding them tuna fish sandwiches and coffee.  Are college student usually familiars?

9. We were all warned about the incessant chatter of rats and squirrels, but I accidentally magicked myself up so that I can talk to stomach bacteria.  They have lots of opinions on yoghurt. 

10. My whole wizard thesis is based on translating this ancient tome discovered in darkest dungeon surrounded my monsters and mystery and I have just now cracked the code to discover it is the diary of some 13 year old who’s mostly wrote about some adventurer named Alicia the Mighty who was, apparently, so hot.

11. I’ve misspelled my spells and now my ferret is speaking in tongues.

12. I understand that charming an object is an important part of graduating from wizard school, what I don’t understand is why charming my exam to have all the right answers is such a big deal.  It’s a good charm!

13. Apparently turning yourself into a goat is a great way to get out of awkward dates, if only I knew that years ago.

14. Good news I finally got the summoning circle to work, bad news, it only summons angry bees.  My final test is tomorrow!  I don’t have time to learn another summoning circle!

Buddy Cop Fantasy Prompts

Highish fantasy with a few, modern and children’s fantasy prompts added in.  Prompts for partnering up and fighting crime.  I tried to leave enough vague that you could mix and match setting a bit.  As always feel free to tweak in your writing forays.

1. The adventures of two skeleton guards making the rounds in the dungeon and making sure the spiders stay out of trouble when adventures roll up on the dungeon.

2. You’re an elven ranger and I’m an orc enforcer, we’re both chasing the same necromancer who wrecked out cities.  We keep running into each other.  I guess we better work together.

3. There’s the super serious, cue epic music, looking dramatically into the magnificent landscape, then there’s the ridiculous slip of ranger who survives of luck, wits, and quips.  I’m the ranger that has to keep them from killing each other.

4. We’re the enormous stone guardians of the magical castle, only when someone wakes us up the magical castle’s gone missing.  Now we’re on an epic journey to find where it’s gone.

5. I’m a goddess of justice, you’re a goddess of truth and together was keep the secret worlds of gods and goddesses from getting into trouble.

6. We’re the guards in a magical town that hosts the thief’s guild with all the baby thieves trying to practice and oh no, who’s stolen the thing.  It can’t be whoever’s feet are showing under the curtain.  What a mystery!  (Really though, the baby thieves, they’re adorable.)

7. Mr. Sparrow and Miss Badger go on an adventure to find out who’s stealing all the strawberries.

8. It’s a trick to be wizard cops because wizards.  My partner and I are trying to track a wizard who may or may not be a goat and also stealing amulets.

9. The portal to the dark world has opened, spewing forth monsters and you’re the thief and I’m the butler that’s become what’s left of the city guard to turn them back.  Will you stop reading city guard regulations at me!  I’m not arresting anyone during teatime, that’s just savagery!

10. I’m trying to teach my new goblin partner good cop/bad cop, but he keeps offering to let the suspect eat me.  How do I explain that’s not how good cop works with people who aren’t goblins?

11. I appreciate the rangers are trying to be equal opportunity employers, but my new partner is a dragon.  Have you ever tried to do this job with a dragon?

12. We’re part of an interkingdom exchange program.  I’m a fae enforcer for the King, and I’m used to doing my job through tricking someone into stumbling through supposed misfortune into a metaphysical journey in which they learn a life lesson and stop picking on pixies.  You’re a dwarf who worships procedure and processes and repeats the same boring steps over and over with the only goal of doling out punishment. Let’s try to find out who’s selling black market fairy dust without sabotaging each other.

13. Little magic bee cops in a little magic bee hive doing investigative bee dances.

14. I’m like 80% sure my old partner is in fact some sort of evil villain who did some sort of spell thing to change their appearance and replace them.  At first I was just trying to figure out what they were trying to do, but now I think they’re really getting into solving crime and saving babies.

thewritingcafe:

For the fantasy writers who want to include magic in their story.

Origins:

So you have magic. But where did it come from? Do you know where it really came from while your characters have some other explanation? Is there a scientific explanation? A religious explanation? Do your characters not want to know? Are they looking for the origin? How long has magic been around?

If you’ve created a mythology and your characters don’t know how long magic has been around, the creation of magic or the gift of magic (whatever you want to call it) may be included within a myth or a creation story.

Knowledge:

How much do your characters know about magic? How much a person knows about magic, how it works, its laws, its limitations, and its origins will depend on what they believe the explanation is, how they feel about magic, and how much the world knows about magic in general. Have your characters figured out exactly how magic works? Do they have theories and laws of magic? How long have these theories been in place?

If your characters have extensive knowledge on magic, there will probably be written records of this knowledge. If there are records, how available are they? Are there text books about it? Or is the magic incorporated within religious text? Or is it forbidden to know about magic?

Limitations:

There should be limits on the magic in your world. If there are no limits, everything will be too easy for your characters.

How often can they use magic? How much power do they have? Do they tire after using a lot of it? Does it deteriorate with age? Or does it become more powerful? Can someone gain more magic? Can they lose it? Are they able to kill? Can they only use a certain amount each day? Making a list of what magic can’t do can sometimes be more helpful than making a list of what it can do.

Laws:

There will probably be laws about magic. What are yours? Who can use magic? Who cannot use magic? Is there an age requirement? Do you have to pass a test? Are there certain types of magic that are not allowed? Are there certain situations in which magic is not allowed?

How are the laws integrated into the government? Is there a separate government for magic? Or just a separate department? Or is magic integrated with other laws? Who makes the laws? Who enforces them? What are the punishments for breaking them?

Population:

Think back to the origins of your magic. This will affect how much of the population has magic. Who has magic? If they’re born with it, how is it passed on? Is it genetic? How many people have that gene? Is it learned? How many people are able to learn how to use magic? How many people actually know that magic exists?

Ranks and Orders:

What are magic users in your world called? Wizards? Witches? Warlocks? Sorcerers? Do any of these titles have negative connotations in your world? Is there a rank of magic users? Are there any offensive words that refer to magic users? Are special titles used (Sir, Master, Madame, etc.)?

Is there a hierarchy of magic users? How are they treated? How are they thought of? Are there different types of magic users who are seen as equal? What are those types? Can magic users move throughout the hierarchies and ranks of magic? Are there different levels based on power or skill? Do these users wear anything that signifies what their rank is?

Types:

There are several types of magic, some which may be put into the category of science in some worlds. What do your characters call magic? Here are some types of magic:

Morality:

Is magic even allowed to be used? With most things, there will be differing opinions on the morality or ethics. There may be a majority opinion on the morality or the opinions could be evened out in terms of quantity.

What about certain types of magic or certain people using magic? Is it unethical to use certain types of magic? Is it taboo or looked down upon to use certain magic? Is it immoral for religious leaders or government officials to participate in types of magic? Is it shameful to die from magic? Or an honor? Or is there nothing attached to magic and death?

Teaching and Learning:

If magic is widely used, it will need to be taught and learned. There may be some who are self-taught, but more organized magic systems and worlds will require some sort of training.

  • Public Education: In this setting, the knowledge of how to use magic would be passed on from instructor to student in a public setting. This could be a school, just one class, a club, or any other gathering that would either be free or cheap so that it is available to the public. These settings are far less selective for who is allowed in and may allow everyone to participate. Where does this take place? In a school? A classroom? Another building? A special magic center? Outside?
  • Private Education: This setting would be similar to the public one, but it would be more selective in who was allowed in, more secretive, and probably more expensive. These settings would be more ideal in worlds where magic is not widespread.
  • Private Mentor: This would be someone who is hired specifically to teach one or a few students. This is often expensive. Does this setting take place in your world? Where does it take place? Someone’s house? A meeting place?
  • Generational Knowledge: Knowledge of magic and how to use it can also pass down through generations. Do the old teach the young? Do parents teach their offspring in private? Do certain people of a community teach the younger ones?
  • The Mentor: Who is the teacher? How do people become teachers and instructors? How are they chosen? Do the students choose their instructor? Are students assigned to one instructor? Is there more than one, each of which handle one type of magic?
  • The Student: How old are students of magic? How long does it take them to learn? Do they choose to learn or are they forced? How competitive is it?

Attitude:

With most things, there will be a general attitude toward magic. What is that attitude? Is it welcomed? Feared? Respected? Do your characters talk about it openly, or is it whispered about in secret? How do people feel about magic users? Is there discrimination? Think back to how much of the population can use magic.

Use:

Now you come to one of the more important aspects of putting magic in your world: its use. Why do people use magic and what do they use it for? How is it used? Are there certain objects that can channel magic and make it more powerful, such as a wand? Are there appropriate settings for magic and inappropriate settings?

  • Magical Objects: Can magic be applied to objects to give them magical connotations? How are these objects used? Are they popular? Can they be bought, or do magic users prefer to make their own? Are objects used to channel magic? Or can people use magic without them?
  • Everyday Life: How does magic affect a person’s life? Short people may have no problem with grabbing high objects if they have the power of telekinesis. Glue may not be needed if a magic user can stick objects together with magic or mend a broken object. If they can conjure light, they may not need any lamps (electrical, gas, oil, etc.). What about jobs? Is a person able to do more in one day at work because of magic? Are they allowed to use magic?
  • Transportation: Magical transportation is probably more effective than other forms of transportation, especially in a world with little technology. However, this can also be seen as lazy writing if your characters are able to teleport anywhere in the world at any time. Add some risks to this. Are they only able to travel like that once a day? Does it deplete their magic? Can only really powerful magic users do it? How is it learned? Are carts, wagons, and carriages pulled by magic or by animals? Or both? Are there portals? Are certain magical objects needed to transport through magic? Is there a possibility of ending up in the wrong place? What about flying?
  • Communication: Communicating between long distances with magic is much easier than snail mail. How do your characters go about this? In one of my stories, the extremely wealthy and government officials are able to use tablet-like devices in which what they write on that tablet (it’s sort of like parchment wrapped over thick cardboard) will show up on another’s tablet thus allowing communication. Think of limitations for the communication, like how the tablets in my story are quite expensive. Who is able to communicate through magic? Are there many forms? Are some faster than others? Can symbols be used to communicate?
  • War: Is magic used in war? Does the military have a special task force filled with magic users? Or does everyone use magic? How does the use of magic change battle tactics? Are there magical weapons?

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