Healing magic is considered the most powerful. It's a gift of life, something that Mother Earth alone controls. For someone to be born with healing magic is incredibly rare and considered holy. It's not even a magic you can learn; you have to have it naturally.

There are two types of magic for the elves. One is the basic form that all elves have, much like the Force. It can be used offensively or defensively. The other is rarer and only 1/100 have it. These elves can use elemental magic, and to great effect.

I've been wrestling with this myself lately. But I keep thinking of Captain Picard "With the first link, the chain is forged." We got to where we are in the world by not caring about the fire until it was at our front door.

Ryvus can blast a bigger fireball than most, but can't control a fire that's caught hold on something. Tennicus can. There are so many ways to use magic that there's no real way to master all of it.

Ryvus is mostly based on my husband; the prickly bastard that he is. Mark is loosely based on myself.

It's a physical toll on the body. It takes stamina, like any heavy physical exercise. Use too much and you get something called 'empty-well', much like dangerously low blood pressure. And pain can interrupt concentration, so magic users are vulnerable to disruptions while casting.

No words required, and technically no actions either. Some people use flourishing hand gestures to look fancy, and some spells that require a lot of force might have someone lean into the spell or make a follow-through after a throw. The really dangerous people give no indications at all.

The only thing someone needs for magic is a natural ability to channel it, then concentration, stamina and creativity. Focus is incredibly important, as a lapse in concentration can collapse a spell and leave the user vulnerable.

Ryvus is a pacifist who doesn't want to fight. He is perfectly capable of destruction however; his magic is powerful and he was trained by one of the best to ever live. Mark is an excellent marksman and pretty quick on the draw, too. She also boxes for fun and packs a mean right hook.

Without naming your job. Tell me something you say over and over again at work. 'What is that you're eating? It better not be shit, I swear to God.'

Ryvus prefers the forest to anything else. Any forest will do. He prefers to be alone with nature and with his thoughts. Mark's favorite place is her office. She's surrounded by people who like and respect her, she can do the most good there, and she knows her place in the world when she's there.

It's not fully understood. It's a natural force, and there's a genetic component to those able to channel it. Humans have been trying to use science for decades to figure it out (spolier- someone already identified the genetics involved and reproduced it artificially)

I'm too lazy to go fetch the snippet itself, but there's a moment when old man Tennicus pulls down a rain cloud and demolishes an enemy blockade. The force is described as being crushed by a waterfall, and everyone who witnessed it was very impressed. You'll have to take my word for it ;)

I wanted something that wasn't a deus machina to all my problems. I also wanted an explanation as to why not everyone could do it, and why there would be some science in this world if people used magic. I don't know where exactly I pulled my inspiration, it's been so long.

Ryvus fills up his free time out of necessity for survival, living off the land as he does, but will happily enjoy not having work so that he could meditate and pray. Mark would die of boredom (and yes, doing someone is one of her ways to keep herself busy) She doesn't like her own thoughts.

Only elves have magic in my story. They are all born with a certain ability to harness and use it, and some few are born with a genius-level ability to command it. Either form takes years of practice, training and mental discipline to use in any practical way.

There are three main ones that get used where magic is concerned. 'Kalis' means gift, and it's the term used for elemental magic that some elves are blessed with. 'Empty-well' is the sickness that comes from magic over-use. 'Ti-kapanis' means 'false elf' and it refers to those born without magic.

Magic in my world is a natural force, and elves can channel it something like the Force. However. Certain individuals are born with an ability to harness that same energy as elemental forces. It's a skill highly coveted, and they selectively breed for it.

The antagonist is charming and friendly and generally well loved. He's got some strong morals though, and they end up clashing with everyone else's. He doesn't want to oppose the main crew, but they're in his way and he's not going to let them stop him.

Hard magic all the way. There are limits to who has it and what it can do. There's also an individual limit on how much a person can use. I prefer clear rules for a magic system, so that it doesn't just end up a Deus Machina whenever it's convenient for the writer.

Ryvus' home is wherever his adoptive father Tennicus is. It's been a house in an elven settlement, camps in the woods on the lam, then military tents on the front lines. Recently he's on his own, in a house in the woods far outside the city, but he still returns 'home' to Tennicus' place.

Alright, let's do this, folks! Name's Maus, and I've got a four book series I'm working on that takes place in a world where magic and technology live side by side. Elves have innate magic, with some even commanding elemental powers. Humans are stuck using science and engineering to keep up.

Too funny

I promised the BIL (who I owe many favors to) that I would make a logo for him in EPS format. Now I have desperately signed up to a free trial of Corel and have 16 days to learn vector drawing, which I understand 0 about. Thank god for YouTube tutorial vids 😅 Wish me luck.

Ryvus famously never laughs. He has a great poker face, and deadpans all his jokes. It's not that he doesn't have a sense of humor, he just doesn't react outwardly.

A damn good series. I recommend.

Ryvus would be threatening anyone who was within earshot. He's got a lot of friends in high places and one of them is bound to pull some strings to get him out. Otherwise, he is perfectly capable of blasting down walls and walking out on his own (in case his threats don't work)

They are twins, and lived through the same s****y circumstances. One was jaded and hardened by life, one looks for the joy and towards the future. They end up clashing horribly about how to stave off a looming disaster. (And which one is which isn't the one you think it is)

Ryvus would never make a promise lightly. He couldn't be bothered to lie and promise something to someone he didn't care about, so if he promises something, you can be sure he'll do it. And it would be very difficult to break that promise. He's deeply religious and it would weigh too heavily on him.

Goals

Children are an important part of Ryvus' culture, and a man's worth is based on his genes. He's a mule, however, and unable to reproduce. It hurts him to think about, because not only are kids something he'd enjoy, but it would mean he was more valuable to his society. 💔

I am ever so proud of myself. I managed to hack my Wii (again), so that it can save Gamecube games. I always knew it was backwards compatible with the Gamecube disks, I just didn't realize that it was such trouble to convince the damn thing to *save* Gamecube games #retrogaming

Ryvus wants to kill the scientist responsible for creating a deadly plague and wipe out all of the man's work, and make sure everyone is too afraid to start it up again. If he goes through with this, though, he'll probably lose his mind in the process. He knows the danger and is weighing the cost.

The most important faction is the Karrunis, a group of extremist rebel elves who are responsible for kidnappings and violence. There's been a recent change of leadership among them, though, and they got their asses handed to them, so they've been very quiet lately.

I want this man to tell me bedtime stories every night 🥺

Ryvus has plenty of things he doesn't like, but no actual phobias. Mark, however, developed one of water, particularly of water on her face. It'll send her into full blown panic attacks. During the war, she was captured and waterboarded, and the event scarred her.

Ryvus has heterochromia; one blue and one golden brown. He can see abnormally well in the dark, though not perfectly. Among elves, custom dictates he not make eye contact with women and he respects that. He has no problem with eye contact among humans, however, and has a powerful glare.

Woot!

Everyone appreciate my fluffy dog taking the stairs. *Sproing!*

Ryvus would appreciate Ramadan and especially Eid al-Adha. A month of prayer and reflections about god? Feeding family, friends and the community? Sign him up. Mark would love St. Patrick's day or St. Jean Baptiste day. An excuse to drink thinly disguised as a holiday. Cheers to that.

My sister gave me the very best Christmas gift, but I have no one to appreciate it with me, so you all have to listen to me gush. I had been joking that I wanted to make a conspiracy board for decoration and a joke, and she went and made me a kit!

Ryvus doesn't really use money. He lives off grid and is mostly self sufficient. He'll barter with pelts, food or medicinal herbs if he needs to. Mark has more money than she knows what to do with. She doesn't use it for much, so she ends up spending a lot of it on Ryvus.

Ryvus is almost seven feet tall, has snow white hair, and has heterochromia. You can't miss him. There's absolutely no way he can blend in, and people stare at him wherever he goes. He hates it.

Ryvus has no formal education. Asides from the system having been dismantled in the wake of the war, elven men don't get an education. Mark went to school through the military but was not a particularly good student. Besides the military part, she hated school.

Ryvus speaks the human common language, Hetchy, but mostly uses the elven language, Amnius. He can also speak in a language of hand signs. Mark has no affinity for language. She speaks Hetchy, but despite all the time she's spent around elves she never picked up more than a few words of Amnius.

I've absolutely changed a character before in order to work the plot. Often, it's just developing an underutilized part of their character, or expanding on an existing trait. My characters can grow emotionally or have setbacks, too! #writesky

Ryvus' name is one given to him when his adopted father took him in. It reflects his adopted cultural heritage, and represents the person he became. Mark' name is her nickname. When she deserted the military and turned her back in her family, she dropped both her first and last names to sever ties.

Ryvus is *very* religious. More orthodox than his father brought him up to be. He *might* be overcompensating for something. He prays several times daily. Mark follows the soldier faith and has a specific view of an afterlife, but there's no structured system to it. There's no god, just your duty.

Ryvus keeps his hair in the traditional way of elves. Never cut and always braided. It's religiously and culturally very important to him. Mark's worn a military buzz cut for most of her life, but in this book she's quitting the military. She's finally let it grow and wears cornrows.

"Every time a software tool adds an AI feature nobody asked for, a human logs off." -Bluesky