Hey, folks! I'm part of a project that involves writing magic for FR, and I've been struggling with Flight styles. Help me out?
Here's what I've been using so far. All entries (question marks or no) are up for revision, so comment away!:
Earth spells have lots of internal structure and repetition. Mostly about defense, endurance? (Example: x)
Spells for directing lava, shaping metal, commanding forges, imbuing/enchanting forged objects. Often performed AT HIGH VOLUME to compete with the sound of hammers and forges. Have working-song spells that are fairly simple in structure, but designed to grow in power as more dragons join in, until the entire forge is chanting to the beat of their hammers (with coatl hums providing melodic bass) (Thank you, Ironpen and Ragnell!)
Spells for seeing (and shaping?) the future, dream-magic, purification. Can be dreamlike and fragmented? Often quiet. A second school exists as well: ship and shanty spells, raucous music used to tame waves and guide ships. (Thank you, Ironpen and Ragnell!)
Wind spells are often freeform, with a bouncy rhythm? Many are short and easily-remembered. Longer spells often incorporate instruments, dancing. Spells for travel, companionship, and animation (anything else?) (Example: x) (Thank you, Ragnell!)
Spells of preservation, holding, trapping, barriers. Some precise architectural spells for shaping ice and snow (not a lot of other building materials!). Need a barrier spell at some point? (Thank you, Ragnell!)
Efficiency is king in Lightning magic... (Example: x)
Light spells use more precise and academic language, and tend to be a little long. Many modern spells follow defined forms (sonnets, etc). (Example: x x) (Thanks you, Ragnell!)
Shadow magic is playful and a little fiendish. It deals primarily with trickery and illusions, and often incorporates wordplay and music. (Need more detail here, too) (Example: x)
Non-combat spells are associated with healing, tending, fertility, and plants, and are generally what Nature magic's known for. There's a lot of plant metaphors involved! Nature also has combat spells, which tend to read a bit like Plague spells. (Example: x)
The vast bulk of Plague magic deals with combat and mutation. Spells are short, brutal, overwhelmingly morbid. The little non-combat Plague magic feels a bit like Nature. (Example: x)
Arcane spells are highly experimental, chaotic, tumbling, surreal. Might make use of made-up words, and are heavy in emotion (if short on obvious meaning). Many incorporate runes. Used for teleportation, imbuement, stereotypical "magical stuff". (Example (outdated): x, need new example.) (Thank you, MackerelGray and SpaceRobotWifi!)
???
You don't write a Shade spell. Instead, there are spells that call so deeply on darkness/void that it can attach itself like a parasite, feeding off the mages who use them. Spell effects are stronger, but always at a cost. (Example: x)
Soul magic is universally awful to use, and better off avoided. (Example: x x)
(Icons are DogiCrimson's, from here)
So yeah, that's a lot of gaps :( Any ideas?
General headcanons:
-The more "elementally specific" a piece of magic, the easier/more efficient it is for dragons within the Flight, and the harder/more wasteful for dragons outside it. An extreme example is the elemental attacks in the coliseum, which can be cast by in-Flight dragons intuitively and with no preparation, but is completely impossible for out-of-Flight dragons.
-In general, pure manipulation of an element (casting light, forming ice, growing plants) can be done without a spoken spell by in-Flight dragons. There may be spells that exist for those things, but they're usually for the benefit of out-of-Flight dragons. Normally, that type of spell will make creative use of some other element (creating light by trapping electrical arcs, forming ice by removing heat, growing plants by blessing water).
-The more off-Flight the dragon, the higher the chance of side effects. If a mirror born on the lip of the Wyrmwound at the height of Riot of Rot tries to cast a spell for growing plants, it will backfire spectacularly (assuming the mirror even has enough magic to complete the cast).
-Arcane dragons have a lot of innate power and can afford to "waste" it by using out-of-Flight spells, and they don't have much of an opposite Flight, though they instead clash a bit with the magic of all Flights. For D&D folks, I'd compare them to Wild Mages. There will be side effects, sooner or later!
Here's what I've been using so far. All entries (question marks or no) are up for revision, so comment away!:
Earth spells have lots of internal structure and repetition. Mostly about defense, endurance? (Example: x)
Spells for directing lava, shaping metal, commanding forges, imbuing/enchanting forged objects. Often performed AT HIGH VOLUME to compete with the sound of hammers and forges. Have working-song spells that are fairly simple in structure, but designed to grow in power as more dragons join in, until the entire forge is chanting to the beat of their hammers (with coatl hums providing melodic bass) (Thank you, Ironpen and Ragnell!)
Spells for seeing (and shaping?) the future, dream-magic, purification. Can be dreamlike and fragmented? Often quiet. A second school exists as well: ship and shanty spells, raucous music used to tame waves and guide ships. (Thank you, Ironpen and Ragnell!)
Wind spells are often freeform, with a bouncy rhythm? Many are short and easily-remembered. Longer spells often incorporate instruments, dancing. Spells for travel, companionship, and animation (anything else?) (Example: x) (Thank you, Ragnell!)
Spells of preservation, holding, trapping, barriers. Some precise architectural spells for shaping ice and snow (not a lot of other building materials!). Need a barrier spell at some point? (Thank you, Ragnell!)
Efficiency is king in Lightning magic... (Example: x)
Light spells use more precise and academic language, and tend to be a little long. Many modern spells follow defined forms (sonnets, etc). (Example: x x) (Thanks you, Ragnell!)
Shadow magic is playful and a little fiendish. It deals primarily with trickery and illusions, and often incorporates wordplay and music. (Need more detail here, too) (Example: x)
Non-combat spells are associated with healing, tending, fertility, and plants, and are generally what Nature magic's known for. There's a lot of plant metaphors involved! Nature also has combat spells, which tend to read a bit like Plague spells. (Example: x)
The vast bulk of Plague magic deals with combat and mutation. Spells are short, brutal, overwhelmingly morbid. The little non-combat Plague magic feels a bit like Nature. (Example: x)
Arcane spells are highly experimental, chaotic, tumbling, surreal. Might make use of made-up words, and are heavy in emotion (if short on obvious meaning). Many incorporate runes. Used for teleportation, imbuement, stereotypical "magical stuff". (Example (outdated): x, need new example.) (Thank you, MackerelGray and SpaceRobotWifi!)
???
You don't write a Shade spell. Instead, there are spells that call so deeply on darkness/void that it can attach itself like a parasite, feeding off the mages who use them. Spell effects are stronger, but always at a cost. (Example: x)
Soul magic is universally awful to use, and better off avoided. (Example: x x)
(Icons are DogiCrimson's, from here)
So yeah, that's a lot of gaps :( Any ideas?
General headcanons:
-The more "elementally specific" a piece of magic, the easier/more efficient it is for dragons within the Flight, and the harder/more wasteful for dragons outside it. An extreme example is the elemental attacks in the coliseum, which can be cast by in-Flight dragons intuitively and with no preparation, but is completely impossible for out-of-Flight dragons.
-In general, pure manipulation of an element (casting light, forming ice, growing plants) can be done without a spoken spell by in-Flight dragons. There may be spells that exist for those things, but they're usually for the benefit of out-of-Flight dragons. Normally, that type of spell will make creative use of some other element (creating light by trapping electrical arcs, forming ice by removing heat, growing plants by blessing water).
-The more off-Flight the dragon, the higher the chance of side effects. If a mirror born on the lip of the Wyrmwound at the height of Riot of Rot tries to cast a spell for growing plants, it will backfire spectacularly (assuming the mirror even has enough magic to complete the cast).
-Arcane dragons have a lot of innate power and can afford to "waste" it by using out-of-Flight spells, and they don't have much of an opposite Flight, though they instead clash a bit with the magic of all Flights. For D&D folks, I'd compare them to Wild Mages. There will be side effects, sooner or later!