Channeling

Domains

Channelers, users of domain powers, are the primary form of combat magicians in Emala. People can get magic by absorbing domains from sufficiently powerful souls. Domains allow a person to learn magical powers. A domain is a concept or theme that was central to the soul it is harvested from. For example, a dragon might produce Fire, Flight, and Greed domains while a hydra might produce Vitality and Serpent domains.

Domains are stable portions of a pattern containing powers emblematic to the domain's theme that can be transplanted into another person. The Fire Domain might contain powers that shoot fireballs or conjure up walls of flame, while the Vitality Domain might have powers that allow for rapid regeneration and resistance to diseases and poison.

Aquiring Domains

Domains are primarily harvested from monsters, as their spirit temporarily becomes unstable after their body is killed and their spirit is generally strong enough to produce its own domain that can be stolen. Domains can be stored is artifacts known as Soul Traps, but domains can also be absorbed directly from the monster without needing to be harvested into the artifact.

Absorbing a domain is an intuitive process, no magical weave or special knowledge is required. A person can only ever have 3 domains. If a person tries to absorb more domains after that, their pattern quickly grows unstable and frays apart, killing them and destroying their soul.

A first echelon domain causes minor instabilities in a person's pattern that are normally not an issue but become critical points of weakness when trying to integrate new domains that can lead to the same fraying as going over the maximum number of domains. Because of this, a person cannot absorb all 3 domains in a row. After absorbing a domain, the person cannot absorb any additional domains until they unlock all the powers from their existing domains and get to at least the second echelon their domains.

Absorbing Domains

The process of absorbtion is not perfect and leaves much of the functionality of the Domain locked away and unusable by the pattern absorbing the domain. This means the powers the Domain will provide are inaccessible to begin with after absorption. After absorbing a domain no powers are unlocked.

Absorbing a domain makes a persons pattern more powerful across the board as it reweaves itself into a new, more comprehensive shape. This means that even without gaining access to powers a person with a domain benefits from a variety of boons.

When a person absorbs a domain, their pattern raises into a higher echelon gaining the following effects:

• +5 HP to all hit locations
• +1 Healing Rate
• +10 MP
• +1 MP Regen Rate
• +1 AP

People without domains are of the zeroeth echelon, often referred to as domainless. People with domains have an echelon equal to the number of domains they have. For example, if a person had 2 domains, they would be of the second echelon.

When a person absorbs their first domain they become more aware of their pattern and gain a better grasp of how to manipulate it intentionally. If not already unlocked, they gain access to the Pattern Control skill.

Domain Powers

When a domain is first absorbed, it is only loosely tethered to the persons pattern. To allow for powers to be unlocked a large influx of warp must be provided so that the person's pattern can reweave itself and further integrate the domain into itself. This energy is usually provided through an artifact called a warp skein. Warp skeins store large amounts of warp in them in a way that can be drawn out into a persons pattern withotu harming them.

For better or worse, these artifacts are unable to store this warp without a moderate amount of weft, staining the energy with a concept or theme, similar to how a domain has a theme. These themes influence what powers are unlocked. For example, if you used a Wind skein to unlock a power in the Fire domain you might end up with a power that lets a person fly with fiery wings or a power that creates a fire tornado. Warp skeins are created by collecting warp from areas with abnormally high densities, the type of weft is dependent on the location gathered from. Gathering warp from the bottom of a volcano might create Heat skeins.

Only 3 powers can be unlocked from each domain. Unlike domains, there is nothing gating a person from unlocking all their powers immediately other than access to skeins.

Domain Skills

Each domain unlocked unlocks a new version of the Channel skill. Channel skills have a base skill percentage equal to CON + POW.

Like people's patterns, domains have echelons. A domain's echelon is equal to (1/25)*(Invocation Skill for that domain) rounded down. Each echelon unlocks additional effects for a power. For example a power that gave the person fiery wings might get an additional benefit at a higher domain echelon that makes the wings leave behind a burning trail.