I would love to know a bit more about the magic in Joker of Ashes! What kinds of magic exist? Can everybody use it?
- @poetinprose
Thanks so much Jay!! 💖
So basically my magic system is called ethra and yupp it's common for people to have it. The people who can't are ethrically disabled and referred to as disthrens. There's actually a rare disorder called ethritism where people are born with no ethra at all.
In the world of JOA, ethra is an element discovered in 2015 (the books are set around 2150) and ever since then, it had diffused into people's bodies. After over a hundred years, people have now developed a new system in the body called the ethra system and it follows along the spine and circulatory system. It's a solid obsidian black in liquid form and iridescent in its pure gaseous state. It usually appears as an aura or membrane around a person's body and they can be different colours.
There are many ways to wield ethra but the six foundational pillars of it are: augmentation (enhancing something), manipulation (controlling something), effusion (extending one's ethra), injection (imbuing into sth with one's ethra), metamorphosis (transforming one's ethra into something else), and fabrication (creating an object out of ethra).
With those six basics, a person can mix and match and basically do anything with their ethra. However, how one is able to use their ethra depends on their knowledge, experience, and physical ability. For example, if one wants to have a mastery over air, they would need an in-depth understanding of gas molecules and extremely fine control over their ethra to be able to pull it off.
Which is hard as hell to do!! So impossible that it's basically unheard of. If someone wants to be able to do that, they'd pretty much be buff Einstein 😂
So when it comes to knowledge, you'd need a good understanding of what you're doing in order to, well, do it. And for physical ability, you need to train your body to be able to control your ethra well. This usually means strengthening your body and exercising your ethra to be able to control it finely.
What does this mean for experience though? Some may see it as an extension of knowledge, but it's actually a different concept entirely. For example, like I've mentioned in this post, after Minh got burnt alive, she began being able to conjure fire. Or something close to it, at least. It's like how when artists experiment with a particular material, they're able to understand how it works. After that experience, she now knows how fire feels like and involuntarily creates an ethra version of it (metamorphosis at work!) as a trauma response.
More importantly, the reason why I wanted to go with this magic system is that it basically works like a normal irl skill. If you want to be able to learn how to use it, you need to work at it (which is why there's also a booming industry of ethra hacks and how-to videos on JOA's future version of YouTube). 'Cause of that tho, how ethra is used largely comes down to choice (one of the book's running themes!) rather than genetics and natural talent.
What kind of ability one trains and/or develops will say a lot about them and their character ^w^
"Hey bro, promise me you won't go doing stupid stuff out there. I care for you, you know? Don't be an idiot"
"You mean, an idiot like you?"
"Yeah man"
"Sure. Let's go do stupid stuff together then"
Hop (viera) and Ethra ( @rogueandmage )
By Ulrich Kiesow, Werner Fuchs, Hans Joachim Alpers
The Dark Eye is a high fantasy RPG that uses a 3d20 system. It is set in the fictional world of Ethra with the continent Aventuria being the most classic campaign setting.
On the blog today, I am sharing a little story about Italy, Romeo & Juliet, and the Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia. https://christopherburdett.blogspot.com/2024/09/the-grand-bazaar-in-italy.html #grandbazaar #grandbazaarofethravandalia #ethravandalia #verona #romeoandjuliet #romeo_juliet #italy #veronaitaly
Burnt alive and left for dead by her own mother, Minh wants one thing and one thing only—to get down on her knees and beg for forgiveness. Now on the hunt for a woman long presumed dead, she has to lay low and away from her powerful and influential foster family if she wants to stay ahead of the search. She has the wit, she has the power… But none of the right skills needed. Alone and resourceless, she‘ll have to get creative.
A phoenix wasn’t reborn from the ashes that night. A monster was.
BASIC INFO
Genre | Contemporary fantasy
Audience | Young adults
Setting | United States
POV | 3rd person limited
Tense | Past
Format | Trilogy
Status | Planning, starting first draft during Camp NaNo in April
Ly Minh (pronounced as Lee Min) | After a series of tragedies that landed her in the United States, the young teenager had been wrestling constantly with the ghosts of her past. Until one day, those hauntings finally proved real. Ever since then, she had gained unexpected powers over fire, a force she can’t control and an ability she might not even want to know.
Drew Scott | With sensory powers no normal human could even dream of, his abilities get put to the test when he is one day kidnapped for it.
Le Hoa (pronounced as Leh Hwa) | Minh's biological mother, the two had been extremely close until the incident at her research lab which finally killed her. Or so Minh had thought.
Kalisha Celestine | Minh's foster mother, she is the guardian of the most dangerous city on Earth; the city which Minh now calls her home.
Major Links (ordered by date)
How does my magic system work?
The History of Ethra
Favourite aspect of Minh's personality
More on Drew Scott
15 Questions with Ly Minh
Possible fanon vs canon of Minh
Character Songs
Theme
Excerpt of Chapter 1
One of my inspirations for Drew
Manga Inspirations
TAGS
#joker of ashes | #joa worldbuilding | #joa excerpts | #ly minh | #drew scott