Additonal amps · 5:35am Jan 22nd, 2021
Hey everyone,
So, I have ca. 6 chapters outlined, but that's not enough for me to feel ready to start writing the actual text, since I want to have the arc mapped out. But, I want to share some stuff, so here are a few more amps that I've come up with for our elder phoenix-born.
Dusk Requiem
Linked user: Raven Inkwell
Object: medium shaft length bec de corbin
Description: Although Raven Inkwell is first and foremost a diplomat, and would prefer to deal with issues non-violently, when she has no choice but to fight, she will draw Dusk Requiem. Forged from the remains of the weapons she wielded in during the Splintering, his polearm is both a work of art, and a deadly tool to end the lives of those who would harm Solaria.
Passive enchantments:
- Foe slayer - Chaos creatures and those aligned with Luna and Sombra injured by Dusk Requiem or its spells hemorrhage and bleed profusely.
- Terminal velocity - Raven's reflexes, speed, and strength are all quintupled while in contact with Dusk Requiem.
Spells:
- Transcendence flame (fuel: generosity) - coats Dusk Requiem's head with true flame. Targets struck with the flame are set alight. Flames cannot be extinguished except with magic.
- Ascendant inferno (fuel: love) - a volley or stream of true fire erupts from the spike point. Objects struck by the flame are set alight, and continue to burn until destroyed. Flames cannot be extinquished except by magic.
- Argent flash (fuel: hope) - Dusk Requiem emits a burst of blinding light strong enough to permanently damage the eyesight of anyone caught in the burst. Raven and Dylis are immune to this effect.
Phlume's Kiss
Linked user: Roseluck
Object: Enchanted phlume seed capsule
Description: Despite having been trained in their use, Archduchess Roseluck has never cared for firearms. Instead, when she needs to attack from range, she prefers to use Phlume's Kiss. Resembling a large, warty, orange, woody seed capsule, Phlume's Kiss is a living amp that produces large, enchanted seeds that function like grenades. Created to battle against D'compose and his cult, the amp proved itself just as effective against living foes as the undead.
Passive enchantment:
- Fecund - so long as it is close to Roseluck, the capsule will continually regenerate its seeds.
- Pitch - Seeds generated by Phlume's kiss travel twice as far when thrown by Roseluck.
Spells:
- Blast seed (fuel: excitement) - generates an explosive seed that sprays corrosive liquid on detonation.
- Verdant seed (fuel: wonder) - seeds landing in the soil produce a short lived phlume plant which attacks anything within reach that Roseluck considers a threat.
- Life burn seed (fuel: love) - generates a seed that overloads any living tissue it strikes with life energy, burning it out and causing it to become necrotic. Excess life energy leaks into the surrounding tissue and causes it to rapidly become cancerous.
Verdant Touch
Linked user: Roseluck
Object: Watering can
Description: Made of high-quality, enchanted bronze, Verdant Touch is one of Archduchess Roseluck's prized possessions. Enchanted to aid the archduchess with the care of her beloved gardens, Verdant Touch helps ensure the health of Roseluck's plants.
Passive enchantment:
- Pure waters - water put into verdant touch becomes infused with life-giving flame, improving the health of any plants watered with the can's contents. The water is also cleaned of any impurities or contamination that would harm the plants watered.
Spells:
- Enrich soil (fuel: love) - frees nutrients locked in soil watered with Verdant Touch.
- Remove blight (fuel: kindness)- cures any disease affecting plants watered with Verdant Touch.
- Stinging soil (fuel: protectiveness) - pest animals and microbes suffer non-lethal but debilitating pain when in contact with soil and plants watered by Verdant Touch.
Storm’s Testament
Linked user: Commander Spitfire
Object: medium-caliber semi-automatic pistol
Description: unassuming and inconspicuous, Storm's Testament is Commander Spitfire's sidearm. Inspired by the weapons of the Storm King's lightning slicers, Spitfire is quite fond of this amp, and is her preferred method of long-range combat.
Passive enchantment:
- Thunderbolt - bullets fired from Storm's Testament are charged with sonic energy, exploding in a clap of thunder when they strike a target.
Spells:
- Storm coil (fuel: desire) - unleash a bolt of electricity that automatically tracks targets previously hit by bullets fired by Storm's Testament.
- Lightning sphere (fuel: excitement) - bullets explode in a ball of violent electrical energy when they strike a target.
- Dust devil (fuel: conviction) - Bullets generate a small, miniature tornado at the point of impact. Winds are strong enough to violently throw most sun-gazer sized opponents off their feet and into the air.
Fire claws
Linked user: Commander Spitfire
Object: Fingerless gauntlets with clawed knuckle spikes
Description: When Spitfire wants to get up close and personal with her enemies, or the somehow manage to close the distance to her, she unleashes the power of her Fire Claws. As the commander relishes testing herself up close and personal with her enemies, these amps see regular use to pummel foes into submission or burn them alive.
Passive enchantments:
- Speed of Flame - Spitfire's reflexes and speed are doubled.
Spells:
- Heat razor (fuel: excitement) - fires a thin, continuous, short-ranged beam of heat from the gauntlet's knuckle spikes. The beams are hot enough to slice through metal.
- Thermal blades (fuel: courage) - manifest either a set of fiery claws or a flaming sword on Spitfire's hands.
- Plasma incinerator (fuel: joy) - launch short-ranged bursts or streams of super-heated plasma from her firsts.
Volcanic Aegis
Linked user: Commander Spitfire
Object: Light weight tactical armor with phoenix motif
Description: Built light, fast and showy, Volcanic Aegis serves as Spitfire's primary form of protection in the field. Based on the standard issue flight armor of the skystrikers, Spitfire's elite sky-runner combat force, Volcanic Aegis is far more audacious than the rest of her team's, serving as both a warning to her enemies, and as a source of inspiration to her soldiers.
Passive enchantments:
- Wind rider - creates an envelope of air that speeds Spitfire's flight and deflects projectiles sent at her.
- Restoration - Volcanic Aegis will repair itself when damaged, preventing breaches in the armor from becoming points of vulnerability. The armor also staunches wounds and applies moderate healing magic to any injury Spitfire suffers while wearing it.
Spells:
- Phoenix halo (fuel: excitement) - generates a phoenix-shaped aura with a eight meter wingspan made of super-heated plasma around Spitfire. So long as she continues to feed the spell flame, the halo will remain in place.
- Volcanic buster (fuel: stubbornness) - creates spheres of molten rock and launches them at a target.
- Thermal ignition (fuel: courage) - summons small cyclones of flame at target location.
Sun's Fang
Linked user: Steel Sentry
Object: Trench sword
Description: Sun's Fang began as an enchanted sword gifted to then Captain Steel Sentry when he and his soldiers went on what they were sure was a suicide mission to end Hydea's reign of terror in the Blight War. Even with the odds stacked against the sun-blades, they managed to pierce the Volcano of Gloom's defenses and reach the blight hag's coven. Despite the great cost, the young captain confronted the lead Chaos witch, and after a drawn out fight, used the sword to finally take her head. To honor the weapon that ended the war, Steel had the sword painstakingly modified into an amp.
Passive:
- Disruptor - while held by Steel, Sun's Fang generates a field that weakens the molecular bonds of objects near its striking surfaces, allowing the weapon to more easily damage them.
- Alacrity - Sun's Fang doubles Steel's speed, agility and reflexes.
Spells:
- Thermal curse (fuel: love) - Sun's Fang causes objects struck to become searing hot.
- Wind edge (fuel: elation) - Sun's Fang launches bolts or waves of compressed air that strike, pierce or slice foes as if struck by the blade itself. Wind projectiles cannot carry Sun's fang's other spells.
- Sever (fuel: courage) - Wounds caused by Sun's Fang magically carve into the body of the target, resulting in either deeper, more grievous wounds, or, if a limb is struck, severing the appendage.
Ironsides
Linked user: Steel Sentry
Object: Tactical Armor
Description: Based on the tactical armor used by the sun-blade strike teams, Ironsides is one of Steel's newest amps. Built to keep the general protected on the battlefield and augment his already impressive combat potential, Ironsides allows the General to fight along side his soldiers and lead them to victory.
Passive enchantments:
- Light-weight - Ironsides has reduced weight, allowing Steel to move more easily than he would normally in armor of Ironsides' type.
- Restoration - Ironsides will repair itself when damaged, preventing breaches in the armor from becoming points of vulnerability. The armor also staunches wounds and applies moderate healing magic to any injury Steel suffers while wearing it.
Spells:
- Light cloak (fuel: caution) - Ironsides renders Steel invisible to sight.
- Linnorm's Strength (fuel: courage) - Steel temporarily doubles his strength, endurance and agility.
- Iron Sentinel (fuel: determination) - Temporarily increases Ironsides' resistance to damage.
- Lockdown (fuel: defiance) - Steel becomes immovable by outside forces.
Imagine seeing somebody get shot, then seeing their corpse explode, get hit by lightning, and the shrapnel that was their corpse being launched up into a tornado that spontaneously erupts from the ground. What.
Man, I wanna be a Phoenix-born so I can get toys like that.
Should we be worried that, in many cases the more "positive" emotion the more horrific spells they are tied to? Especially Roseluck and Raven. Beware the nice ones and all, huh?
This is especially impressive since I'm pretty sure most microbes can't even feel pain. But, you know, magic.
Long story short, do not mess with a phoenix-born unless you're suicidally cocky or insanely prepared. They have such lovely toys, and they won't hesitate to demonstrate them.
5440283
And, recall that amps are simply shortcuts to cast a spell. So, all of those spells that the amps have listed? They can also cast them through spell dances. The amp just lets them do it without having to perform the dance itself. Life burn? That's one of Roseluck's custom spells. It just requires her to physically touch the target. Much safer to apply the spell through Phlume's Kiss or Thorn.
5440276
That actually ties back to something established in Ch 3 about how spell dances are fueled: negative emotions, while easy to manifest, are harder to control, and the power of the spells produced by the flame fed by them is less potent. Conversely, positive emotions, while somewhat harder to call on, are easier to control, and produce a stronger, more stable spell.
5440254
They do get some lovely toys, don't they.
5440222
Indeed. Practically speaking, its hard to pull something like that off, because simultaneously calling up all of the emotions needed to make the spells manifest is mentally taxing. Excitement and conviction are not entirely complimentary emotions. One is hot and energetic, one is stable and cool.
Wow, knowing that phoenix born are already superior in those domain, it's very fas...
...
That's may be a bit excessive, Raven. A bit...
Curious how this work. You already told us that peoples evolve with the influence of their centaur, is that the explanation?
I know it was created in a context of war, but it's still weird that Roseluck, the bubbly and flower lover, is the one who can give you necrosis and cancer with a simple touch...
That also mean that Steel can make you blood boil in the same manner...
Why people take the risk to even interact with those persons again?
5440294
Essentially. Each type of magic has its own resonance/energy that suffuses the being in question. Foe slayer passively generates a field that resonates with those specific kinds of magic and causes them to violently react, damaging the living tissue around the point of contact. None of the other phoenix-born can make this sort of enchantment because they don't have the same understanding of the other types of magic that Raven does.
Because they trust them not to use said spells without cause. It's similar to how people like Superman, Green Lantern, Goku or Naruto are capable of cracking planets or shattering realities, yet they're still beloved by their friends and the people they protect.
Take Roseluck. Yes, she has a horrifying spell (several in fact) that is incredibly lethal and downright disturbing in what it does. But she's still Roseluck, a sweet, bubbly, big-sister like figure who her people know would never use said magic unless she was forced to. Even Steel, bigot that he is, has never wantonly turned his power on civilians, unless they're threatening Solaria.
Also, something that bears mentioning is that most high-level pheonix-born spells, like Roseluck's life burn or Steel's rending shot, cannot be cast by anyone other than a pheonix-born, because they require multiple magic types. Rending shot, for example, uses fire-caller transmutation magic and earth-weaver geokinesis to generate its effect.
All these AMPS and their effects are both very cool and disturbing in equal measure. But they do lead me into a point of concern that, while I am sure you have an answer for, I feel should be adressed.
We have already been told that the Phoenix Born/Ascended in general are already on the level of being demigods, all of these various effects, and especially the passive ones, would raise them to basically the level of god adjacent. The only conceivable threats that would get past being minor inconveniences would be the other Ascended and only if they were similarly loaded for bear. Everything else would only be getting setup for an epic level smack down. So while all of these AMPS, while ridiculously cool, could remove all sense of tension from a fight scene.
Like I said above, and based on your writing caliber so far, I am sure that you are tracking this issue, but I still felt like it should be addressed sooner rather than later. And I am really hoping for it to be sooner because I am very excited for this to pick up again. So thanks for all of the good times so far.
5440409
That's a fair worry, and one that I'm keeping an eye on.
Something that I hope alleviates some of the concern is that if and when fights happen in story, unless something has gone very wrong, the elder phoenix-born are not likely to be involved. And if the elders get involved, its going to be a Godzilla threshold kind of situation where our perspective character (Sunset) is going to be way out of her depth.
Alternatively, it would also serve to showcase just how far she has to go. Sunset may have immense raw potential, but she doesn't have too much more than the other phoenix-born. What separates them is age and experience. Sunset's new to being an immortal. Even Spitfire, at just 300 yrs. old, has spent centuries refining her power.
5440290
Yeah they do.
Those... are... terrifying. Though I think Steel having the sword turned into an amp says a lot about his personality too. That he doesn't just discard things. Anything and probably anyone, can be a tool in his shed.
5440527
Yea, they are kinda terrifying.
Interesting amps