The Magic of Magicbuilding: Elementary Magic, Part Two

Welcome to the Magic of Magicbuilding, our little spinoff feature that focuses specifically on building a magical system for a fantasy setting.  This week, we're picking up where we left off and adding to our basic spellbook.

What We Have So Far

It's been a hot minute, so let's review.

Magic for our setting consists of (mostly) extra-dimensional energy with unique properties, the most important being that it's semi-conscious and responds to certain instructions in a fashion that's superficially similar to programming.  The main drawback to using this energy is that it tends to paint the caster in its brush; long-term, anyone using magic from another dimension is going to slowly warp and mutate based on that magic.  Casters mitigate this by using "sigils," which are both written versions of the instructions and a form of circuit breaker.  This keeps the worst of the side effects from affecting the caster, though even with sigils you can expect someone employing, say, fire magic, to become increasingly fiery in temperament and feverish physically.

This magic is used in a setting that developed technology side-by-side with it, and thus, most of the magic we're going to be seeing will be used to replicate normal devices, such as cars and light bulbs.  To give us an idea of what applications can be easily switched from technology to magic, we've decided to make a set of basic, generic spells.  The idea is that these spells will both describe ways to use magic and give us a good idea of magic's limits in terms of power and effect.

Last time, we got as far as two forms of elemental magic, Earth magic and Water magic.  This week, we'll take care of Air magic and Fire magic.  Of those, Fire magic is the more straightforward of the two- we'll start there.

More Elementary Elemental Magic

A friendly reminder- basic spells are what we think someone would come up with if they had access to the elemental magic in question, had a basic, grade-school level of knowledge about how that element works, and had some straightforward problems that could be solved by hurling an element at them.

  Fire Magic.  At least initially, people using Fire magic would know that they can start fires and heat spaces with it.  Despite what RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons teach, the idea of a heatless light source would actually be difficult.  That involves taking energy and transmitting it primarily in visible wavelengths, which might not be possible until the casters understand concepts like "wavelengths" and "transmissions."  Similarly, realizing that if you can heat something, you can move it, is an intuitive leap.  It's entirely possible that casters would be able to figure out how to impart motion through energy much earlier in this setting, but it won't be a basic application.

  So, what would be basic applications of fire magic?

• Spark.  If our casters have figured out how to make fire, they'll understand that a pinpoint heat source is sufficient to light a torch, ignite a campfire, or get a bonfire going.  Even better, this kind of spell works great with basic instructions:  "Heat a point three inches from my extended index finger by x amount for y seconds."  Fwoosh!  Fire started.
• Warm.  This would likely be the most common use of Fire magic, even above starting actual fires.  After all, a fire isn't necessary if your home is already warm.  Blankets with warming sigils, tiles to heat floors, carved devices that take the place of hearths, all would be incredibly popular, especially considering that in the trees, an open flame for heat is a dangerous idea.
• Dry.  While it may seem more reasonable to make "Dry" a Water spell, you have to remember that each dimension's energy works differently.  Because Water magic generates liquids, rather than manipulating them, you couldn't craft a Water spell that pulled the liquid out of a substance.  You could, however, selectively heat the interior of the substance, slowly (or quickly) evaporating the water within.  As a bonus, pinpoint application of Fire magic means that the high temperatures in kilns (for example) aren't necessary for basic pottery.  Glazing is still going to need those kilns, though; part of the process is essentially melting glass, so drying isn't why you use heat.
• Fireball.  We had to toss one classic in there.  "Fireball" in our world works differently from the well-known spell, though the effect would be awfully similar.  The caster would specify a point in space, generating (and containing) a great deal of thermal energy in a small volume.  When the spell ends, the energy is released, and the result would realistically be similar to a propane explosion- exceedingly hot and dangerous at the center point, cooling rapidly as it expands, until the outer reaches of the fireball would be licks of flame barely warm enough to singe hair.  The biggest differences would be that the fireball technically doesn't originate from the caster, that the damage inflicted would depend on how far from the center the target is, and that our fireball would, due to the thermodynamic reaction of fire and air, have actual force behind it.  You could break things with a fireball.  You probably wouldn't fling people dramatically with one, but still.
• Freeze.  This is a little bit of a stretch, but if our early casters figure out that adding energy makes things warmer, they may quickly understand that removing energy makes things cooler.  This would be a little tricky to actually do something with, since Fire magic's entire deal is adding energy to a system, but once you've created an energy flow, you can definitely use that flow to pull energy out of a nearby area- basically creating the energy version of suction.  While we've explained this in an exceedingly simplistic fashion, a similar principle is how modern refrigeration and air conditioning works.  We don't think our setting is going to wind up with magic A/C units before they figure out the wheel, but it's possible that they'll intentionally cool small rooms or boxes to preserve food.

  Air Magic- Gases.  Air magic actually covers two related forms of dimensional energy.  The first is the generation and manipulation of gases, much like Water magic generates and manipulates liquids.  Our original casters aren't chemists, so we're going to assume that they only really grasp the idea of creating air on command.  ...Which is still pretty useful.

• Gust.  The most basic idea of Air magic:  create some air, send it that way, and you have a breeze.  Want a stronger breeze?  More air!  Want a steady breeze?  Set it up so that the spell goes on for longer.  In fact, out of all the possible locomotion spells, this one is likely the safest and most likely to be used early.  Shortly after wheels are figured out, our people are going to figure out that a breeze that can push leaves around would work if the leaf was attached to a vehicle.  It would take time, but this leads to landships, vehicles that have sails and sigils set up to fill those sails consistently.
  
• Jet.  Think "air cannon."  You generate a pulse of air, moving quickly.  If the pulse is large and quick enough, when it hits something, that object (or creature) gets pushed.  Since casters get to decide the point of origin, they can make sure the pulse always hits at full force, rather than dissipating over distance.  This spell isn't likely to do any real damage, although we can imagine it would wreak havoc on a flying creature.
• Flight.  True flight will have to wait until aerodynamics and Isaac Newton's Laws of Motion are understood, but you don't have to be a scientist to understand that "Hey, maybe I can lift myself with a breeze."  This spell in particular will arise rather quickly, because many of the Air-affiliated monsters will be using similar magic to propel themselves through the air.  In our particular setting, it won't be too difficult to achieve lift-off, thanks to the lower weight of casters (somewhere between 5 and 10 kg, due to 1/10 gravity), but controlled movement is another matter.  Picking something up only requires force; changing its motion requires dealing with momentum and inertia, and mass is still the same.  It will probably be safer to levitate up and down, or give the caster's already prodigious leaps a healthy boost.
• Freshen.  "Some air is bad for you" is a basic concept we can assume our casters will be aware of.  One solution to that particular problem would be to create a bubble of constantly generating air.  It wouldn't be as tidy as it sounds; to keep the "bad air" away, a steady breeze will be needed, so the caster's head would be surrounded by a tiny little whirling vortex of fresh, if swiftly moving, air.  Any semblance of a hairstyle will be the price they pay for immunity to dangerous atmospheres.
• Cool.  Hey, remember how we said that with some clever thinking and careful use of Fire magic, you could cool or refrigerate an area?  Well, you could do that more easily with Air magic, and casters will almost certainly think to use Air magic first.  Around the same time that someone first blows on their soup to cool it, an Air mage will first come up with the idea of using rapidly moving air to cool an object.  Now, this won't always be the preferred method of cooling, since wind chill can only lower a temperature so far without requiring a small tornado, but if you want something to be just a bit cooler than the local ambient temperature, this version of the spell would be the way to go. 

  Air Magic- Ionic Charges.  Out of all the varieties of elemental magic, this particular variety has perhaps the largest dichotomy.  On the one hand, "funneling ionized particles" is fancy talk for "making a lightning bolt."  On the other hand, it's also fancy talk for "deodorizing shoes."  Strangely, though the underlying principles won't be understood for hundreds, even thousands of years in our setting, basic casters would be able to come up with either effect.  Both work on the same principle- moving half of the "electrified air" that you just generated to one side of your workspace and the other half elsewhere fixes your problem.  Everything else is a matter of precision and scale.

• Shock.  The first few casters that try to cast this spell are as likely to fry themselves as anything else.  In fact, as mentioned elsewhere, modern-day versions of this spell will likely invoke Fire magic as well to create an insulated plasma channel to force the electricity generated to flow as desired.  Eventually, they'll figure out that stretching a line of electrified air from a nearby spot to the target will achieve the effect they're looking for... but only if the target is somehow grounded.  This means that if they want to hit a flying object with lightning, the caster will have to create a path from the object to the ground, which can be counterintuitive.  All sorts of environmental effects can also interfere, making this spell very flashy but also quite hazardous for everyone involved.
• Purify.  It turns out that running a current through the air is all you need to do to remove particulates, dust, and even diseases from it.  Without a microscope, basic casters won't know about that.  They will, however, be able to figure out that once they've shocked the air, it smells cleaner.  Air conditioners won't necessarily be a thing in our Bronze Age city-states, but air purifiers may be.
• Magnetize.  Who knows if they'll be able to find a use for it, but casters will definitely notice that certain objects (especially metals) become magnetized once shocked or while shocked.  They may even realize that, while magnetized, those same objects suddenly affect electricity around them.  Until electrically-powered devices become a thing, they probably won't get much further, leaving this more of a party trick for now... but as we approach the modern age, this will suddenly become very important.

Conclusion

With our elemental magics wrapped up, next week will see us tackling the more esoteric energies.  In the meantime, feel free to come up with ways for a people that have barely mastered pottery to spontaneously understand particle physics.