Amalgam'verse Tid Bit: Mana and Terran Magic · 2:05am Mar 29th, 2016
In The Bridge, a large distinction is drawn between Equestrian magic and Terran magic, namely how the two operate. In Equestria, emotions, thoughts, and sensations like friendship, love, hatred, and greed are literally powers that when focused through the right medium and method; create magic indicative of that species. Terran magic, something well established to exist in the films but never really explained, is a bit vaguer. For the use in the Amaglam Universe, I went with a combination of stuff from the Rebirth of Mothra, GMK, Heisei Gamera Trilogy, some literature like that of Larry Niven and Terry Pratchett, and mythology to fill in the blanks.
In it's most basic sense, Terran magic is created through the expenditure and manipulation of an inherent life energy called mana. Mana is generated naturally by living organisms, with the amount scaling to the power and authority within that organism. The planet itself also at one time generated a stream of mana from atomic reactions within its core. Atomic radiation such as alpha particles and gamma particles are somewhat akin to heavily unprocessed mana. If mana were say, heavily refined, premium grade gasoline; radiation is the crudest of the crude oil. This "Mana Stream" once spanned the entirety of the planet across the magnetic field, meaning it was literally raining mana back down on the planet constantly for millions of years. It was created in the late Permian by Reijuu as a final nail in the coffin against the radiovore kaiju that were growing out of control and devastating the ecosystem with their radiation and in-fighting. Reijuu reforged a majority of Terra's radioactive elements in the sea, sky, and ground into the fuel that jump started the stream. Lifeforms also gave off their own amounts of mana that entered their surroundings as they lived, breathed, and eventually died.
This trickling down of mana from the stream resulted in greater and greater amounts of magic coming into the world over the eons that eventually caused some species to rapidly change and adapt to them. This is where a majority of the magical creatures of legend like dragons, kirin, unicorn, ahuizotl, and kelpies came from; animals who had adapted mana into their basic biology and became distinct from normal creatures. Some adapting species in the late Cenozoic became sentient beings who were taught to use magic by Reijuu and his students, the Mothra and Battra; to both reduce their impact on the environment around them and to help them flourish. These species were the origin of legends about yokai, fae folk, trolls, ogres, and giants. Of this last group, ancient humans arose; hence the groups unnaturally fast evolution. However this also had a huge drawback. Over the centuries, Reijuu in an act of benevolence, created rechargeable centers for the rising city states that acted like natural mana generators and increased the magical ability of anything near it. These "nexuses" were one of Bagan's first targets when he went on his legendary rampage across Africa, Europe, and Asia where a majority of the city states where. Between the nexuses' destruction, the astronomical death count of sentient and animal life alike, the magic needed to seal Bagan away under Attu island, and then the rebuilding efforts; mana levels across Terra plummeted far faster than they could refresh. Just the act of sealing away Bagan took the life force of every Mothra and Battra on the planet tapping into the mana stream and taxing it so badly that not only were there only two left, but it effectively broke the stream.
The final nail in a majority of Terra's magic going away was the creation of the Guardian Beasts by the last surviving city states and their rulers, the act of growing, sealing away, and nourishing the kaiju effectively draining the planet dry in all but a few spots. The only places left with abundant mana fields are Birth Island, the Mu Isles like Solgell Island, which have the only two surviving nexuses (Solgell mountain and Birth Island's giant tree), and a few scattered pockets across the world that had unusually high reserve; but still very low amounts. Another exception were the Guardian Beasts themselves, who each have their hearts effectively turned into living mana nexuses. So they and their containment units survived just fine. Like all beings and the past nexuses, they do have a limit to how much mana they can use at a time and can run dry; however this can recharge with enough rest.
The reliance on mana for their biology ultimately caused the undoing or what most would called the "mythical" species, who gradually diminished over the generations until there were virtually none left in the modern era. Some changed over time and became 'normalized', shape-shifters getting stuck in the form they were currently in, fae, hybrids, and chimeras like ogres, centaurs, and mermaids gradually becoming more and more human over the generations and fading into the population, dragons turning to stone or back into dinosaurs and crocodiles, and any machinery or structures (aside from the Guardian Beast's containment units) created by someone using mana crumbled away to dust. Eventually over the centuries, anything that used magic or mana fell away into obscurity and mythology. Ever so often however, some straggler might pop up. Maybe a surviving fae living in isolation, or a human with non-human ancestry getting a genetic throw-back to their ancestry when just the right genes lined up in an area with just barely enough mana, or some other hold over from olden times; which helped continue to fuel myth and legend until modern times. However barring these extreme situations, normal humans have not nearly the proper amount of mana necessary to do magic. In fact humans have grown so adept at being away from all the free flowing energy like mana it means that high amounts of it would be dangerous to them just like radiation is. It's like a disease immunity, if you haven't been exposed to it, it's going to be much, much worse. Thankfully mana doesn't radiate off beings that still have it like the Guardian Beasts, so Raiga walking down a street wouldn't make every human in 400 meters kill over. Though if someone say, tried to use the magic at Mothra's tree, they'd have a very unpleasant experience.
Terran magic using mana was typically used to
-reshape objects into a different state or element
-move objects or persons around place to place
-shapeshifting
-generation of the alchemy elements like fire
-speed up cellular growth to cause flora growth or healing
-perceive different spaces, places, and to a limited extent; times
-create barriers or force fields
-affect light to change colors, rend something invisible, dark a space, or illuminate it
-teleport
-communicate mentally with someone out of voice range
-and numerous other uses
With nothing taxing it, mana across Terra would slooooowly replenish itself as long as the mana stream is aloud to mend itself properly. This would be safe for humans, as the change would be gradual and it could be expected than in a couple million years, magic might be rediscovered and restored globally.
Magic use with mana is again, proportional to how much power, will, and authority the user has and if they can tap into surrounding mana pools for usage. Typically its expressed by usage in runes, incantations, and mental commands, many of which need a written symbol or mental word to activate as it requires very fine precision. One bad slip up and that spell meant to throw a fireball could set the user on fire. One big advantage mana has is that it can be stored in magically charged crystal for later use like a battery. The strongest of these types of crystals is what the Guardian Beasts were encased in and held all the mana they'd need for growth and development of their powers, all of which occurred early and were drained by the modern era with the exception of Anguirus', which was the prototype version and slightly different. Still, the crystal use can help bridge the gap between technology and magic use, allowing many of the ancients to use a mix of both.
Many modern kaiju use mana in some form as their primary energy source, these include but aren't limited too
-All of the Guardian Beasts
-All Mothra and Battra
-Gabara
-King Caesar
-Daghara
-Orka and Gorgo to an extent
-Gaira and Sanda
In theory, since Equestrians are already magical in nature, they'd have much higher mana reserves than a modern Terran species of their size would (though it be equal for Terran 70,000+ years back). If taught, an Equestrian could learn how to use their own mana reserves and those around them to execute Terran spells. With ponies, alicorns would have the strongest mana usage. The next would be Earth Ponies, as their use of Equestrian magic is closest to Terran magic use and with their strong forms they would excel the easiest, then Pegasi, and then Unicorns. However I'd imagine the latter especially have a hard time since Terran magic is more or less a full body use so the impulse to channel it through a horn for all but a master practitioner would be a determent.
While Terran and Equestrian magic aren't antagonistic to each other and can be cohabitants, they are so unreactive to each other in all but their absolute strongest forms that they can't influence each other. A locking spell made from Equestrian magic can't be broken with a Terran charm, and a mana barrier can't be broken by Equestrian magic bolts. The sole exceptions is when the two types of magic are in their purest forms to the point the sheer energy behind them can at least clash with the other instead of the spells themselves, hence why Bagan and Harmony could slug it out with their spells without Harmony's realm canceling out Bagan's spells and Bagan's own astronomical mana reserves causing Harmony's spells to bounce off. But at the same time, it's why Bagan couldn't just carve a rune to turn Harmony to stone and Harmony couldn't cast a spell that would do likewise to Bagan.
Damn, Tarb. This systems of magic and mana is very well-written and interesting. I love it.
Happy B day
So Mana is basically the force?
3833720 Think little less force, and more on the fantastical. But the fact it's tied to life force is similar, yes. In fact George Lucas and the scriptwriters used some of the same sources I did for building this, so I suppose the similarity comes from there.
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Thanks ^^
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Gracias, I always did like world building.
That explains why back in "The Shadow Approaches", Godzilla's radiation registered as wild magic. Cool.
Happy birthday.
Ahhh Learning, My only Weakness
! By the way when will the next Chapter come?
3833745 It will be an April Fools Day special. Also, please refrain from asking that in the future, it's annoying and rude.
3833761 I just asked once
Oh and Tarb I almost forgot, Happy B-Day
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Dose that mean that Bagan is going to start choking Kaiju that fail him? Because that would be awesome.
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With Tarbs current track record, I would say that the new chapter for Sound of Thunder will be released near the end of April and The Bridge itself will likely be mid to late May.
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Thank you Warrior, Grann. As for my general schedule it's
-Sound of Thunder Finale, outlined, and 80% written
release: sometime between now and March 30th
-April Fools Day part 1, outlined and 50% written
release: April 1st
-April Fools Day part 2, outlined
release: April 8th
-Bridge chapter 30, outlined
release: April 15th
-_________ Special, outlined
release: Sometime in this frame
3833833 Only if he's disturbed by their lack of faith.
Alright, I get it. While having this explained sooner might have made comprehending some scenes easier, I do agree that you should have withheld it for a timed release.
The way you explain Terran Magic is alot like my headcanon. We discussed this slightly some months ago, And perhaps the biggest difference, is that I define 'magic' differently than you.
In this context, Reijuu reminds me of a combination of Classical and Norse mythology. In Norse, the world is forged from the remains of the Frost Giant Ymir, and in the Greek Mythos, the Titans who govern certain natural forces.
So would it be a non-spoiler to ask if Bagan is a primordial manifestation of Mana? Because he seems to be a master user of it, rather than the progenitor of it. Which brings to my mind a theory I came across fairly recently, that 'nothing' is actually an unstable state, and that progressive organization is eventual, which may mean that formation of sentient life is inevitable to spring up somewhere. If something like that has happened in your Amalgamverse, then the primordial entities who came together to form Bagan are like the first examples of the inexorable sophistication of mana producing material with consciousness.
3833974 One element I tried to play true in this is sort of a "Multiple Choice" cosmology, in the sense all myths are true but the original context and names behind them might have been a bit different. For instance, what defines a 'god' in one culture might be vastly different in another. What we call the Norse 'Gods' for instance, would be on the same level as some of the higher tier kami in Japan. Archangels in Abrahamic religions show off powers on the same level as even higher tier "gods" in Polytheistic cultures like Zeus, Quetzalcoatl, or Odin; yet they aren't called "gods" since they have a boss who's the God with a capital G so their associated cultures define a deity differently.
What I'm getting at is basically a vast majority of myths are true, but memory fades over time and mythology shifts too and fro due to outside influences. Reijuu forging the mana the stream, the "life blood" of the planet could have eventually become altered into ____ forging the planet, and suddenly you got a context for both Norse mythology's and Zuni mythology's creation of earth. A more direct example would be the tale of the original three aspects meta-morphing into the Hebrew legend of Liwyāṯān, Ziz, and Behemot. Raiga's creator was called Anitun Tabu, the same name as a storm goddess from Filipino lore. Now was Anitun Tabu an actual deity or an incredibly powerful and long lived mage or fae? Depends on how you define what's a deity. In theory, this could also go with almost any deity and culture. With the original context forgotten and lost, cultures drift and come up with new stuff or change old stuff to fit a new context. It doesn't make the original myths true or untrue one way or another, just that the original truth behind the action might have been different than what is remembered because myths form from many different people telling stories that eventually melt together. No one has the whole picture, but no one is likely just spouting BS either. I based this off a theory I learned in some anthropology courses about how different cultures carry on the same story but it changes vastly over different contexts and time periods.
I could actually list a pretty famous mythological figure that has already appeared in story, just was never name dropped but eh, nuff rambling otherwise so I'll only get into if you wish it.
As for Bagan's existence as an embodiment of the mana or its creator, that's the one thing I'm keeping vague. Reijuu's entire sporadic appearance on ancient Terra is basically the big noodle incident for the planetary history, where he is just the oldest being around so no one knows where it came from. Reijuu is so primordial it just predates everyone. Did it arise from something else? Maybe. Is it as old as time itself and truly is the first being in existence? Maybe. Did the Aspects come from somewhere else and settled on Terra as it was forming? Maybe. Was it created by the planet's life force and mana itself in a case of inexorable sophistication? Maybe. Only thing that is certain is it was already on scene when everyone else popped up or arrived and no one wanted to mess with it.
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Holding that card close to your chest? Very well, that's your prerogative to exposite at whatever future point you want.
You know Tarb, you do surprise me with what manages to push that tangent button of yours.
I'm on the same page with your latter paragraphs, so now I fell kinda empty handed for not having a matching response.
Ohhh... An unaccredited cameo? [puts hand over eyes] Don't tell me, was it
Mithras?
Pazuzu?
Ananzi?
Tock?
Fingol?
I know, I know... it waaaaaaaas....
Rory Calhoun! No, wait! it was Mothman, no, Gilgamesh?
You have a pretty good repertoire of Eastern mythology, So it might be someone I've never even heard of.
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I'm a blabber mouth and ramble. Helped me create this story so I suppose it's good for something.
Actually it's probably one of the most well known mythological figures in the Western world as it's origins are in the middle east. It was in Chapter 29, part 1. You were close in a few guesses though.
She-ape walking upright, fruit tree, demonic force, exorcism.
Yah, call him Old Scratch, Statanel, Iblis, Voland, Kölski, Lucifer, or Satan; he just got one-shot thanks to a weaksauce weakness. Threw it in to not only mesh up with one part of the Aspect's/Reijuu's history of keeping outside forces from influencing evolution on the planet (they've been fending off demonic forces since the pre-Cambrian), and as a joking nod to the faked-unmade Toho Film "Godzilla vs. The Devil". Besides if you look into mythology deeply, be it his role as a prosecutor on the side of God or as an opposer of God, people tend to over-exaggerated the guy's power. But, if they insist on it, effective way to show who's higher on the pecking order.
Happy Birthday Tarbtano.
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You know, that was the very scene that first came to mind when you mentioned a cameo, but I did not remember that snake bit.
Ah, Shaitan, I remember him since he was called Ahriman, opposing Ahura Mazda. The mythology on Lucifer/Satan gets kinda hairy at times, like in Job where he loses a bet to YHVH, or the Promethean-like 'Light Bringer'.
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So,.... In the Amalgamverse, there do exist demonic forces... are they then a whole different power genre than the Mana borne Kaiju or Radiovore Kaiju? That would be intriguing.
Also, you mentioned that Gabara was a mana user. Now that I find interesting. Sanda, Gaira, and the Gorgo elicit more of a: .... huh[tilts head] response, but for some reason, your selection of the dream ogre peaks my curiosity.
Okay, this more or less fits what I had previously thought, though some new details are nicely appreciated. I'll make sure to save this blog for perusal in the future so I don't mess up some aspect of Mana in the future, (though I know someone who will both be excited and... annoyed by several aspects shown here). Thanks for the update Tarb!
(P.S. Almost done with next chapter, just need to make some edits/additions to make things smoother. Wouldn't want a repeat of that whole situation with Megaguirus.)
Very interesting. I did notice a few odd points (I'm guessing "green" is a misspelled "greed", for instance) but have one major question: if Atomic radiation (primarily high-speed particles with some electromagnetic waves) is akin to crude oil for mana, what about Solar radiation (primarily mixed electromagnetic energy with few particles reaching the earth's surface) by comparison? We know some Kaiju can use Sunlight as an alternative energy source (Godzilla and Rodan both come to mind) and almost all life on earth ultimately use sunlight as their source of energy (by way of photosynthesis,) so how much does the sun's power contribute to earth's available mana?
3834088 I am both excited[that our theorizing got so damn close, not to mention the hint-droppifying at Magicite] and annoyed[because now I ahve to account for the risk of Mana poison. ...would it work like Cloud Strife's Mako Overdose or something more like DDO's ManaBurn?]
Interesting, it helps clarify why certain things happen the way they do between the two types of magic in the story.
3834106 Solar radiation, as it is primarily made nuclear fusion powering the sun, it more or less in the same field at Terran based radiation. It is somewhat similar to mana and might aid in slowly healing the Mana Stream by contributing energy; but a vast majority of the mana on ancient Terra came from the planet's core and its lifeforms.
3834087 More or less. RED is another example of them.
Sanda and Gaira it's VERY slight and mostly just by merit of the fact they were born of the Frankenstein Monster, who's creation was slightly alchemical (thus magical) in nature. Orka and Gorgo are two hold overs from the ancient times restricted to an island with juuuust enough mana to keep them going. In this way one could call them the last of the dragons.
As for Gabara, HS has kinda done it's own thing with him before I could cement this so this is not what they had in mind, but my approach for him was sort of an ancient dream demon. In something of a retcon/fixer-up for 'Godzilla's Revenge', I had it to where Gabara would invade the dreams of children and either try to kill them through their sleep or at the last feed off their fear. There eventually was a plan by some psychics Gabara was feeding off that got Godzilla rope into it and Gabara's soul was pulled back into the real world.
3834273 The restriction and vulnerability basically means normal humans shouldn't be in close proximity to a nexus (unless they enjoy taking a stroll through a nuclear reactor) and for the time being, can't use magic directly. At all. I have discussed ways with you to fix this eventually, but I am keeping this in as an inhibitor. The films used for Terra's basis are all very heavily Sci-Fi based with the fantasy elements in the background and not very common. If magic was rediscovered, it takes away all of the impact behind it being lost in the first place due to such a traumatic series of events if it just sprung back up into prominence again.
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I think that's what you have to do really, if you're going to salvage anything from 'Revenge of the Stock Footage'. Gabara being a dream demon also gives him a unique niche to fill on a pretty full roster. It also allows him to be slightly more anthropomorphic in his motivations and mannerisms, giving him range in areas other kaiju don't.
I do pretty much the same thing with him, being a creature of the psychic/ethereal plane, who feeds on the fear he incites, or perhaps the chemicals produced by the pituitary gland during potent dreams. He jumps from mind to mind not via some separate dimension, but by physical proximity to other unconscious minds like a contagion. Able to invade both human and Kaiju, it can backfire on him, like when he got into Godzilla's mind. Because Godzilla's psyche and willpower is so strong and straightforward, Godzilla essentially 'believed' Gabara into material existence, whereupon he was able to beat him to a pulp. But because Gabara is not a creature of the physical world, he was able to return to his natural dimension, and continues to stalk dreams today. Though he is much more discerning in his targets.
In any case I think Gabara has some decent material to make him an interesting character, he just got shafted by being in a shit movie.
3834577 We still intended to keep the resurgence of magic at a painfully slow pace, as well as uncovering the secrets as to WHY it was so badly broken in the first place. It's a story-wide arc, so having it come back 'out of nowhere' is definitely not a thing that'll be happening.
While the exact reaction of Mana radiation was different, I can see how our[me and shane's] original idea of it causing a positive feedback loop of empowering life could also cause problems. Especially since cancer is also one such problem[and also, not-so-coincidentally also a known lethal side-effect of radiation], combined with the limited ability to actually USE magic directly caused alot of major design changes, ones we can chat about on Skype to avoid spoilers.
Suffice to say, while the whole 'risk of death' wasn't planned, it WAS anticipated, and we never forgot/ignored th fact that Terra is, for all intents and purposes, a magically 'dead' world.
Lastly, regarding Gabara: Shane told me about your intiial plan a while back, and we both actually liked it, so we've been cooking up a way to incorporate that as art of his backstory and skillset, including a few allusions to aother deadly dream demon. One I think we ALL know all too well....
One, two, Freddy's coming for you.
Three, four, Better lock your door
Five, six, grab a crucifix.
Seven, eight, Gonna stay up late.
Nine, ten, Never sleep again....
Sorry i haven't replied just yet. But i'm gonna fix that now. I have to say that all of this is very insightful. And it once again sheds a good deal of light on the nature of earth mana, and magic itself. And like in Equestria, it's as close to being the Amalgamverses equivalent of the force as anything else. A concept i enjoy quite alot, i might add.:)
The intricacies of Terran and Equestrian magic down to a science. Nicely done, Tarb.