Aqua

Capable of weaving aquatic wonders both beautiful and destructive, the Aquari utilize the Aether in water, bending it to their will. Aqua requires a Minor Merit to pursue.

Aqua

History

Galdr, and by extension Aqua, is one of the most ancient forms of Arcana; it has existed since before even the fae and predates the Metaphor of Imber over which it holds governance. As such, its true origins have been lost to the rivers of time. Like the other elemental Arcana, practitioners of Aqua can be found within any society that allows or puts value unto the arcane arts and many that don’t. It has proven invaluable to the development of agriculture, infrastructure, art and so on the world over.

Acquisition

Mark of Aqua.

Like other types of Galdr, Aqua is spread from one sorcerer unto another. Unfortunately, only about half of initiates survive.

In order to begin, the mark of Aqua is inscribed into the tissue (be it skin, muscle or bone) using the initiator's aether and then bodily fluids of the donor - most often blood - are offered to the initiate, forcing the student to undergo a spiritual trial outlined in each individual form of Galdr.

For those initiating into Aqua, the first symptoms to make manifest are usually dropsy and hyperhidrosis. The swelling and rapid influx of liquid can cause blood vessels to burst and skin to rupture. This is, perhaps implicitly, a notably painful experience, but provided nothing too vital is damaged in the process, the initiate will level out and their symptoms will wane into moderate Mageburn over the course of a few hours. Rarely, the initiation might last up to a day.

Mageburn Symptoms

• Lesser: Mild Tachycardia, Hyperhidrosis, Dyspnea, Anxiety
• Moderate: Tachycardia, Severe Hyperhidrosis, Muscle Pain, Weakened Bones, Panic Attacks
• Greater: Spontaneous Limb Liquefaction, Dropsy, Risk of Myocardial Infarction
• Liquescence: Permanent liquefaction of the entire body; the Aquari effectively becomes a gelatinous mass.

Spells

Hydromancy

In the broadest sense, hydromancy is the manipulation of water-based liquids. Through it, the Aquari can do anything from wend water through the air to eventually even manipulating the tides themselves. They may even puppeteer other living things by taking control of the blood that flows through their veins.

Aquamorphosis

Aquamorphosis is the process through which the mage shifts the liquid's state of matter between liquid, solid and gas. The most common use for this is pulling water from the air around them.

Arid environments require 2x the amount of Aether to convert liquid from the air.

Abyssal Pulse

Perhaps analogous to sonar, an Aquari can send out an aetheric pulse into bodies of water or, at higher levels, the moisture in the air in order to detect and locate intelligent life around them.

Tideweaver's Embrace

Tideweaver’s Embrace is the process through which the Aquari may shift their own flesh to water and back.

Tiers of Mastery

Novice

At the start of their journey, the Zephyri is just starting to learn how to manipulate their newfound spells.

• Aeromancy:
  • A novice may conjure light breezes and lift small, reasonably light objects.
  • They may aerosolize or evaporate liquid, though only in small amounts and inefficiently.
• Aeroresonance:
  • As a novice, this spell is inaccessible.
• Stormcall:
  • As a novice, this spell is inaccessible.
• Stormweaver’s Embrace:
  • A novice may shift a small percentage of their calls to gas, thereby making them notably lighter. This process is slow.

Apprentice

With a firmer grasp on Aeromancy, the apprentice gains both potency and access to Aeroresonance.

• Aeromancy:
  • An apprentice may produce winds strong enough to stagger the average person.
  • They may aerosolize or evaporate small amounts of liquid at standard casting efficiency.
• Aeroresonance:
  • An apprentice may magnify or minimize sound, though not to pitches high enough to cause harm or strong enough to shake the ground.
• Stormcall:
  • As an apprentice, this spell is inaccessible.
• Stormweaver’s Embrace:
  • An apprentice may begin to turn more of themselves into a gas, at this point capable of transmuting small chunks of flesh or reducing their overall weight by about a third. To do so is slow.

Journeyman

Now a competent spellcaster, the Zephyri gains access to more potent powers and their winds will finally be strong enough for flight.

• Aeromancy:
  • They may manipulate winds strong enough to lift and propel their own body weight.
  • They may aerosolize or evaporate about a bath’s worth of water per cast.
• Aeroresonance:
  • The journeyman may mute sound entirely in an area local to them.
  • They may now alter pitch enough to harm; both high enough to cause pain and powerful enough to briefly shake the earth.
• Stormcall:
  • As a journeyman, this spell is inaccessible.
• Stormweaver’s Embrace:
  • A journeyman can transmute up to entire limbs into a gas, though this process is slow.

Expert

Truly coming into their own, the expert Zephyri weaves wind with exceptional grace and potency. They may now call upon the power of storms.

Starting at expert, Zephyri may infuse aspects of their other personal magics into their Aeromancy, Aeroresonance and Stormcalling, provided said magics are equal or greater than expert, too.

• Aeromancy:
  • The expert may now manipulate gusts of wind strong enough to lift and propel heavy objects such as boulders or bears.
  • They may aerosolize or evaporate about two bathtubs worth of water per cast.
• Aeroresonance:
  • The expert may mute sound entirely in an area local to them, about the size of an entire room.
  • They may alter pitch enough to harm; high enough to cause extreme pain and burst blood vessels as well as powerful enough to briefly cause small-scale tremors.
• Stormcall:
  • Stormcall is aether-inefficient to cast.
  • The expert may call upon an individual lightning strike per cast.
  • They may call upon an individual thunderclap per cast.
• Stormweaver’s Embrace:
  • An Expert may transmute up to half of their entire body into a gas at once.

Master

Masterful spellcasters, the Zephyri has finally become a force of nature not to be trifled with.

At master, Zephyri may infuse aspects of their other personal magics into their Aeromancy, Aeroresonance and Stormcalling, provided said magics are equal or greater than expert, too.

• Aeromancy:
  • The master may now manipulate gusts of wind similar in strength to that which form tornadoes.
  • They may aerosolize or evaporate about a small swimming pool of liquid.
• Aeroresonance:
  • The master may mute sound entirely in an area local to them, about the size of an entire room.
  • They may alter pitch enough to harm; high enough to kill in small, localized areas if exposed for up to a minute as well as powerful enough to break the earth.
• Stormcall:
  • The master may call upon a couple lightning strike per cast.
  • They may call upon a few individual thunderclap per cast.
• Stormweaver’s Embrace:
  • The master may now shift their entire body to gas and back in the span of a few seconds.

Apotheosi

Devastating in their power, the Aeritheos, especially when paired with other forms of Galdr, can easily alter entire ecosystems with their ability to manipulate the weather around them.

An Aritheos may infuse aspects of their other personal magics into their Aeromancy, Aeroresonance and Stormcalling.

• Aeromancy:
  • The Aeritheos may now manipulate gusts of wind similar in strength to those found in hurricanes.
  • They may aerosolize or evaporate about a small lake’s worth of liquid.
• Aeroresonance:
  • The Aeritheos may mute sound entirely in an area local to them, about the size of an entire room.
  • They may alter pitch enough to harm; high enough to kill in areas the size of a lecture hall if exposed for up to a minute as well as powerful enough to break the earth in the same larger radius.
• Stormcall:
  • The Aeritheos may conjure localized lightning or thunder storms, though without rain unless they also possess Aqua at journeyman or higher.
• Stormweaver’s Embrace:
  • Not only may they shift into a gas at the blink of an eye, the Aeritheos may also expand their overall volume to 3x that of their bodies in gas.

Artifacts

To craft with Aqua, one must find and work alongside an Aquari or acquire the Arcana themselves. Galdr, having stemmed from Aether itself, does not provide materials from the Galsterei, but rather, the Galsterei infuses the crafts with their Aether and thus their intent. Otherwise, Sundered Artifacts may be crafted from the Galsterei directly.

Some examples of crafts an Aquari might assist with include:

• Charms that ward off their ability to manipulate one’s blood and other bodily fluids.
• Flasks or other containers that passively fill themselves by pulling water vapor from the air
• Chemistry sets that automatically filter substrates and other substances, create mixtures, solutions, etc.
• Water filtration systems
• Dowsing Rods

”There was a horrible drought affecting the entire region last year that struck at the start of growing season; would've ravaged our winter food stores if not for the sorcerer that paid me a visit, saying my farm had fed her since she was young so she ought to return the favor. She agreed to stay with me ‘til the drought passed, ensuring my crops had enough water the entire time. A right blessing, she was.” - A Rural Farmer

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