The Flow

Magical breath of the continent.

The magical Flow.

The Flow is and was a natural phenomenon typical to Atocitera for as far as records go, even predating The Cataclysm. The Flow is a term used to describe the freely flowing magical energies regardless of their element. Individual Flows are then referred to by the element, for example, "The Burning Flow" or "The Light Flow".
In the nature, wild Flow appears randomly and behaves depending on its respective element. Higher quantities of wild Flow occasionally group together to form streams.
These streams are predictable movements of large amounts of wild Flow of single, or multiple elements.
The upper streams higher above ground are keeping the Atocites afloat. These upper stream are a combination of all natural Elements of the Flow and when it becomes visible, the rainbow of Flows is rightfully one of the wonders of Atocitera.
Every Atocite always float at its specific upper stream

We do not do that up here.
If you touch the upper stream of Flow with your mind and snap, you could accidentally shoot down not only our Atocite, but others on the same stream as well.
The concentration is not high enough to be visible, but the quantity sure is enough to overwhelm you.

The Flow can be visible to naked eye either when it mixes with mind of living beings or only under certain conditions. 
The Planners constantly examine the Flow in the upper stream every time it is visible, to see if it is losing strength. If such weakening is detected, actions will be taken to ensure the stream stays strong. This often include sacrifice of numerous Crystals.
Failure to ensure the strength of the upper stream can result in Atocite falling from the sky.

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The behavior of the Flow

The Flow is most of the time invisible, except for Light Flow, which is always detectable easily due to black mist created by its absorption of light. It is also known that Flow sometimes becomes visible to the naked eye, but conditions for this wonder are unknown.
There are numerous accounts and descriptions of how the Flow looks like when it is visible. Some say it looks like water partly filled with small sand particles, others claim it is like a liquid gas, or that it is a dense storm of dust. The truth is it's somewhere in between all these forms.
After some time people agreed to describe it as "Metaphysical sand-like gas-liquid". If there is one thing everyone agreed on, it is that it is can be as gentle as calm wind up to as rough as a stormy blizzard.
The Flow is not fully present in the same dimension as everything else. Due to that, it is not affected by any of the normal physical laws or effects. It is instead affected by unknown laws and mechanics of the Flow Dimension, overlapping the physical world and affecting it from there.

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Crystalized Flow

When the Flow meets with Corruption the Flow slows down to such a degree, that it begins to manifest physically. This physical manifestation takes the form of crystals and the larger and heavier the crystal is, the more stored Flow it contains.
The crystalized Flow has its usage determined by its element. Its high usability both in technology and magic combined with relatively low weight and easy transportability makes crystalized Flow one of the most sought-after resources.
Raw Corruption is not the only reason the Flow does slow down and manifests as crystals. The corrupted monsters of Atocitera have an effect on the Flow on their own. Almost all monsters and animals on Atocitera are trapping the Flow in their body in some way. Forming crystals along the way.
The more dangerous is the monster the more people value the crystals from it. This can be occasionally cheated when one finds crystals in the wild, created by the collision of Raw Corruption with the Flow. But because monsters often cherish these crystals as a delicacy, it might be sometimes even harder than fighting the monsters.

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The People and the Flow

Every living being on Atocitera is born with some Flow in their body. This determines which elements the being or individual will resonate with at first. While this Flow may have many elements, the element which is most present in this personal Flow determines its primary element.
The primary element of a person helps them with taking control over the Flow of the same elements. It has however no effect on further techniques and methodologies applied to it. Monsters on the The Ground below lives with the same element their whole life. Mainly because they also crystalize it within themselves and then are affected by it.
Humans on the other hand can change their primary element during their personal growth. Their emotions often affect the elements they resonate with. This means a long enough emotional change can result in a change of their primary element.
The need to control ones emotion is mandatory step in developping more refined forms of Abilities.

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Residual Flow and its traces.

After using the Flow or being exposed to it, the individual ends up gathering traceable residual Flow.
Prolonged usage of abilities or exposure to the Flow causes the user or affected individuals to accumulate these residual traces, which then seeps into the individual's body.
As the residual Flow accumulates in one's body, it starts affecting the mentality and personality of the individual depending on the element of the residual Flow and the primary element of the person.
The changes can be both positive and negative, depending on the focus of the individual. These changes gradually increase in intensity the more residual Flow is accumulated in the individual and later threatens the individual with complete erasure and rewriting of their own personality.
The changes in mentality and personality come in various stages and can be removed via purifying at Void shrine or by waiting for the residual flow to dissipate from the body after prolonged avoidance of Flow. However, the purification does not restore any of the damage caused by the residual Flow and can even cause damage to the person's personality due to affecting their normal Flow.

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Flow dimension and traveling in it

The dimension where the Flow originates and resides can be accessed by use of the Veil Flow.
By using the Veil element, one can pass into the dimension flow as if going through a door filled with a silk veil.

Inside the dimension, normal physical laws do not apply. People inside the Flow Dimension can travel with just mere thoughts with speeds convenient for them.
This is used by VeilPlise and DerGrifli to achieve communication between Atocites.
The travel in the Flow Dimension is not safe though, the Flow in there is raw and extremely more potent than in the physical world. Getting hit by a stream of Flow in there most likely results in death due to the varying effects.
Another threat in the Flow Dimension are the Flow Riders. In the physical world, they can be encountered only inside Flow streams, but in the Flow Dimension, they can separate from them and roam freely. Getting spotted by them trigger an instant attack as they take any threat to their home very seriously.