Living Magic of Kaimere Part 4: The Witches
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- Опубліковано 11 жов 2024
- Today marks the final installment in the Living Magic of Kaimere series. We explore the witches, beings host to powerful and versatile hives of Kaimeran magic. There are specialists in such feats as accelerated healing, flight, telekinesis, and necromancy. Learn about their role in Kaimere's history, and their contemporary role in both Earth and Kaimere!
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I've gotta say, I think that your living magic is one of the best magic systems I've seen, EVER (And that's including Avatar: The Last Airbender!). Like everything in Kaimere, it's so well worldbuilt into the setting and although reusing traditional concepts, is so well built upon that it stands out by it's own superbly!
Thank you! Means a lot to hear! I have so much fun with it.
Couldn't have said it better in my own words!
@@TalesofKaimere how does a winter witch work?
This whole series has been super interesting. Very excited for the coverage of the Megaraptorans, since they are one of my favorite theropod groups. I've been thinking recently of doing fan art of one of the species but I haven't finalized the composition I want to make.
Thank you! It’s been a lot of fun to finally discuss a lot of these mechanics. Looking forward to what you come up with!
Honestly this is probably the greatest concept for plausible magic and afaik
Literally the only form of plausible magic
Its such a brilliant concept to use microorganisms to manipulate objects or animals
Thank you! I’m really proud of it and glad I figured out a way to have the sorts of wondrous magic that appeals to me so much while maintaining the science fantasy themes of Kaimere.
@@TalesofKaimere you should be proud of it You did an excellent job with it
Just want to say, you have easily one of the coolest magic systems I’ve ever seen
Thank you!!!
@@TalesofKaimere you’re welcome
(This is not meant as an insult and I hope it isn't taken as one) I kinda get a midichlorian from star wars vibe to the way that magic works in this universe. Only this is much, MUCH better explained.
Although it wasn’t an intentional tribute to the concept, I’m sure there’s subconscious influence since I saw the prequels at a pretty young age and enjoyed them a lot more than most lol
@@TalesofKaimere we're both from the generation that grew up with the prequels so I definitely feel you there. Honestly looking back on them I think I can see the flaws but mostly it's all from the dialogue. The prequels do a lot of world building and (obviously) that's something we find quite interesting! 😅
I'm really looking forward to next months subject matter as well, especially if we could get an entire video dedicated to the Kurajaku! If so I may have something I want to discuss.
These four videos are my favourites. I found this channel a while ago because one of my friends said it's similar to what I'm working on, and it really, really is.
I've just backspaced through like 6 and a half essays worth of going through the similarities and differences. Things that die on Earth, or any of multiple alternate realities of it, appear in the Afterworld, resurrected and with injuries removed. Magic merges into elements and chemicals to alter their properties, and can be pulled out of them to revert their properties, and is made from and can turn into magic. Magic abilities are specific and usually hereditary, goes very nice with the many varieties of human, but can sometimes be obtained due to diseases, mutations, deliberate medical procedures, eating weird things, etc, and the energy for magic usually comes from food.
Non-humans with human intelligence of the setting include:
Avnekki, which are related to humans. They can only eat meat, and find the taste of human flesh addictive and exhilarating. The flesh of other Avnekki is similarly nice, but only if that Avnekki is not too genetically similar to them, as in they'll eat Avnekki of other Avnekki ethnicities. Seemingly evolved as a way to make them kill and eat their competition, especially since they need more land due to being carnivorous. Stronger, faster and have better reflexes than humans. Their faces trigger the uncanny valley effect in humans.
Wise Ones. They reach physical maturity in their fifties, but don't die of old age and never stop growing, and their intelligence increases over time. It typically takes a thousand years for them to develop human levels of intellect, but this is typically paired with so much knowledge from time, and so much time spent pondering, that by the time this happens they're very wise and knowledgeable.
The Made. Created in a genetics laboratory on a version of Earth. Genetic chimeras, with some human DNA enabling their intelligence, upright postures and functioning hands, but mostly having DNA from different animals. Naturally very non-violent and chill, but hardy and strong, letting them survive in places with no or few humans, and while they naturally dislike it they are capable of fighting.
Faeries. Lil guys. Intelligence isn't natural for them, but achieved and maintained by taking certain drugs and drinking alcohol. They're naturally prone to depression and anxiety when intelligent, compared to being naturally quite happy when unintelligent. There used to be Faerie civilizations, but these puckered out, seemingly on their own. There's a society of them in the Lamaran Monarch's garden, which worships the Monarch.
Goshali. They have two separate sets of genes, a kind of core DNA and secondary DNA. They get secondary DNA from what they eat, though they're also born with some that they inherit from their mother, but it degrades when used and needs to be replaced with continuous eating. At their baseline they aren't intelligent, but by eating humans they can obtain intelligence. Once they have intelligence, they can deliberately select what genes they want to be using rather than it being based on animal impulse, most choosing upright postures and hands as well. Those that eat humans often enough can even blend in among them. Gosha, humans that can copy the physical traits of other humans who they consume the DNA of, seem to be somehow related to them, and both can recognize each other, as well as their own, by smell.
There have likely been many others, but extinction goes brrr. Also the humans are wildly varied, so anything that might normally be another species in another setting is likely to be a subspecies in this instead. Vampires are not considered a separate species from humans, and neither is anything else in that general vein of thought.
This makes curious about how things would be if Touhou Project existed in the universe of Tales of Kaimere.
Just a quick little idea: perhaps there could possibly be a unique magic that’s not truly a magic at all but is still native to Kaimere, In which it feeds off of/destroys magic within another or a magical effect such as a spell by infecting the existing magic. I like to call this bacterial strain of magic:Anti Magic
There are absolutely strains which hunt/kill other magic and have a similar effect to what you describe. Basically what the magic plague was that killed off a lot of witches before the dark ages.
As I said before, I really like this kind of magic a lot, simbiosis with spirits/gus/whatever is something I ever liked from stuff like Guyver, Mushishi and reverend insanity. I like they actually let you zap some asshole, so is a happy medium of Mushis and Gus, and the end of the witches was well tought (reminded me a bit to the collapse of the Bronze age).
I love your magic system so much. How would it allow for flight in a witch?
Thank you! Some very powerful witches can fly. Basically magic can fly and if you have enough it can lift objects, including you, although that generally requires a very focused specialization and their magic can’t do much else
Dude you are one of my new favorite authors it's so cool that you make these supplemental world building episodes keep it up!
Thank you so much! I’ve been loving making these.
Very excited for the megaraptoran video! I just need to finish the Ba'Khar piece and finally say for certain that I've drawn every megaraptoran in the known world.
I’m super excited for your pieces the ones I’ve seen are so good!
@@TalesofKaimere thank you!
-small and medium businesses are important to support
I’ve met way too many people who want to abolish all businesses so this is more important than ever to say
Great work and somewhat inspired me to work more on my own story
Glad to hear it! And absolutely. I know it’s often cheaper to go to big businesses and I understand that you do what you gotta do, but it’s important to shop small and local whenever possible.
Reminds me of necromorph virus but for the purpose of fantasy and biology instead of horror, very cool and fun idea
I can’t wait to learn more about the unknown world of the planet
I’m really excited too! Since the known world is by virtue of a few isolating factors about 60% recent and familiar flora and fauna, the places beyond is where I get to really be creative in my design choices.
This magic system is really cool. It has everything cool about magic (shapeshifters, cool monsters, potentially enchanted areas and flexible non-vancian spellcasters who specialize in something) without the parts that bore me most (true deities, planes, angels, demons, souls, afterlife and stuff like that). It's awesome. Do you plan making a tabletop RPG for kaimere? Even without the setting, which is also very cool (I love the mixing of mesozoic and cenozoic megafaunal groups), just the basic assumptions of magic atract me more than the ones fantasy RPGs usually make.
Thank you! I do have an RPG system in concept. I started translating it to D&D but since the most powerful witches cap out at 5th-7th level in power, I feel like a lower powered system would be necessary, especially since I'd want the magic to function differently than it does in that system.
@@TalesofKaimere Have you tried using Traveller or a 2d6 system as a base? In Traveller (or Cepheus Engine, which is Open Gaming Content meaning you could sell an rpg based on their rules, I'm not sure of it, so checking if that's possible might be a good thing) there are psionics which are essentially magic. However, unlike D&D magic psionics have a completely separate casting stat, so the strenght of the magic is completely independent to anything else. The casting also works kinda similar to which you describe as kaimeran magic as psions burn their casting stat (as if taking damage to the stat, albeit it regenerates much faster than any other stat) and then make a skill check (depending on the specific "spell" the cost and dificulty of the check is diferent) if they pass the check the psionic powers work, if they don't they just wasted resources (not that valuable as spell slots but it limits spamming until it works). The skill checks are done using what essentially are magic skills that also determine what "spells" the psion knows and they can improve that skill as they could any other skill with practice and thus experimented casters would have bonuses high enough as to very rarely fail checks while less experienced ones will have a harder time manifesting their psionic powers. Similarly, the break up of "spells" in diferent skills also means psions need to specialice as learning new skills requires a dice roll which becomes harder the more skills a psion already knows (so multidisciplinary psions are rare and, due to the diferences between skills penalties, usually telepaths and something else).
That said, you would almost certainly need to do your spells from the ground up, it wouldn't be as crazy as in D&D, though, as the system is more flexible. There is like ten or so "spells" per skill which almost never deal damage (or it cost a lot to do so) but has higher utility and flexibility. This does let you have the casters as powerfull as you want, albeit the psions are already significantly less flashy than D&D magic users, and much less powerfull in direct confrontations, similarly to what is explained in Truth Seeker, a gun is more powerfull in combat that any psionic power. So a non-psion with a good anti-psionics armor and regular weapons will be a hard creature to fight for most psions.
All that said, I'm not sure how could skinchangers work in the system (maybe as a diferent species mechanically, it definetly doesn't seem like a career choice) due to the systems not having classes.
I know this response is months after but I didn't know these systems back then.
🎩❤👍 best interpretation and develoment of the element!!✨ Also charming cave-paintings of lore!!
Thank you!
Where does the energy for magic come from, and how does it extend? Like, if it comes from micro organisms in the witch, for pyromancy do they have to fly out in the air and then do some chemical reaction to detonate themselves? Where does all the energy for these little things to do all this come from? Do they contain some kind of exotic matter or something? Is their primary power the portal thing and these are all expressions of that root ability?
Not nitpicking, genuinely curious. Cause the premise “what if the explanation for magic is bacteria caused it” is amazing on many levels. Germ theory, Clark tech, hives being spells, it works, I just want to know the next answer. Cause if the answer to “what causes magic” is “interacting with hives of little magic organisms”, then the next question is “well then where does their magic from?”.
Sorry if you already did a video on this, I did a quick search but couldn’t find an answer, maybe I missed some part of the lore.
Can you make a video on the First Children?
Count on it!
Great video!! Have a blessed Sunday. Oh, and Happy Halloween 🎃!!
Thank you and happy Halloween to you too!
Witches in the known world: ruled the land for a time before being hunted by witch hunters
Earth witches: just got burnt at the stake.
I get the feeling that earth the short end of the broomstick in this deal
Yeah… although Kaimeran witches have had their share of hunting in the centuries since especially in the dark ages.
Awesome!!
Awwwweeeeee man is Elijah one of the Harlem Hellfighters 👀
He sure is!
can animals be witches like maybe a smart dinosaur can have its tail on fire or like if one species of water animals have algae on it can use it or did those types of animals go extinct with the decline of witches?
or like other animals that can change skins like a predator acting like prey to get closer.
There used to be, but most of the wild magic hives were harvested by the First Children to create homunculi. Occasionally magic does manifest in creatures naturally but again, quite rare.
How can witches manipulate water or earth since you confirmed they can use it? Also, I remember you said that witches can’t control fire, yet there’s pyromancer witches. How does that work?
It’s basically telekinesis, with their hives entering the earth or water and moving it. I didn’t say they couldn’t manipulate fire, just that it wasn’t like fire bending. They can generate and fuel fire, but it’s not inhabiting the flames like it inhabits the other classic elements. To an outside perspective it looks the same but the method is a lot different is all.
"Brings of this power are *probably* extinct"
Excuse me, Probably????
Jokes aside, Kaimere is probably one of if not the most well developed and thought out spec plus worldbuilding projects ever and has been a massive inspiration and motivation for my own world's, though I doubt they will ever be as good
Thank you! Haha yeah no there may or may not be some beings of great power hiding away
Красотища то какая .-.
Wait so...then what is Indrakai in Trickster’s Gambit? Are they really a god or just a witch/skin changer?
He’s a spirit, a hive that inhabits bodies of indrakai but is not bound to them like most hives.
@@TalesofKaimere Oh ok thats cool!
Also, if you dont mind me asking, when did the first children close off the portal? Was it still open during the age of witches?
In it’s dormant state, the portal is closed. When the First Children disappeared, they left it closed. It was not until the peoples of the Free States opened the whistling door that the portal could be opened again. While there are legends of witches during the Age of Witches opening the door, same with the Age of Demons, it is not verified.
@@TalesofKaimere Oh! That's great to know. I'm writing the script for the Jersy Devil, and I was trying to figure out how it would get to earth. Thank you.
Hey does your book sell in portugal im curious another question does magic make non human animals sentient
I don’t know if Ingram distributes in Portugal but you should be able to get it through Amazon. It does not make animals more intelligent but the hive is intelligent and can take over so… sort of?
Is there any fauna in that make use of magic in the sameway that Kaimerans do.
Yes! The hezuki (demon raptors) in Frost and Famine that I talk about in the first Living Magic video have weather and temperature manipulation, along with mind control, making them basically witches. The First Children captured most strains for their own purposes so there aren’t many wild magic hives of that power anymore, but they’re out there especially beyond the known world.
7:19 well she is right because it isnt
Which Kaimerans nations tolerate witches and which hate them?
Trend is the same as with skin-changers: khalin and pakardiant are very accepting of witches, officially the empire and Free States accept them but in practice there’s a lot of fear and prejudice, and the republic outlaws witchcraft and all forms of magic other than officially sanctioned and regulated healing craft
Have there been any resistance against the Aznarith and their actions?
Absolutely. They don’t have authority or jurisdiction outside the republic.
Might i ask, why would the first children, an advanced race still use cave paintings, unless these paintings weren't actually made by them?
The cave paintings were made by the Kaimerans, separated from the First Childrens
The paintings were made by contemporary kaimerans, who were reclusive hunter/gatherers at this point.
@@TalesofKaimere oh
be funny real magic mix with the mirco organizes
perhaps some of the other intelligent races can skin change into animals more closely related to them
First