Variflame Mages

the metal-salt-burning mages of the Variflame Plateau The different colours of flame allow for different effects; each is based upon "burning" (consuming/destroying) or melting a different physical material or metaphorical quality. In order to produce these effects, the appropriate salts must be available, and they are burned and consumed by the process to create the magical flames required. To use this magic takes long study and practice, as well as much talent, and most specialise in just one or two different flame colours (for there is only some overlap between the techniques used for different flames). The flames are cast from the hand or some other parts of the body. Colours:

Red - burn feeling – able to both temporarily and permanently remove emotions and/or sensory sensations from individuals. Has both positive and negative applications. used to produce "blanks", near-mindless slaves, which are popular commodities.
Green – melt life – reshape flesh, bone and wood. Requires being physically touched and stretched once melted to achieve actual reshaping.
Turquoise – melt distance – distort distances, create objects larger on the inside, shortcut tunnels, that sort of thing. Requires being physically touched and stretched once melted to achieve actual reshaping. view themselves as the most artistic and refined of the colours.
Blue - Burn Weight - create lighter items of armour, weaponry, vehicles etc. reduces inertial mass too, meaning things can be moved very easily. as it is irreversible, it must be used carefully - in some places, being sent skyward is a form of burial, but also of execution.
White – burn age – reverse the flow of time for an object, rejuvenating, regenerating, resetting it. Can also obtain the information from such a process, enabling a form of destructive psychometry.
Pink – burn motion – able to stop objects in motion, and freeze objects (in terms of ability to move). Commonly used in military and peacekeeping applications, to defend against missiles or disable aggressors (constables). Increasing competence in this magic generally increases speed, range, intensity and duration of the effect. Looked down on as workaday and unsophisticated by some other burners.

Questions:

does magic (esp. greenflame magic) require physical contact to remold? No
Other possible effects: burn size; burn/melt colour – able to make objects transparent or even invisible, or to alter their shade or appearance. Can manufacture clear or translucent materials - collectively known as Blueflame glass - which are very widely used in Caracar.

Career

Career Progression

While there is no formal school system for learning the various flame magics, being based on an informal tutor-pupil model instead. however, there are strong traditions of teaching practices and exercises that are passed down through the generations, and at this point are fairly set. There are three tiers of honorifics appended to the name of a practitioner, dependent on their career advancement:

with [colour]: the first title granted after one graduates from being an Initiate.
in [colour]: only the masters of particular colours are granted this title by general acclamation and acknowledgment of their peers.
of [colour]: very few figures in history have been granted this title, and their names and exploits are passed down through the Plateau's oral tradition.

for instance, Hahemir in green.

Perception

History

There is some debate about whether redflame or blueflame is the oldest, but both arose at some point not too long after the settlement of the Plateau in 4100LF.
The origin of Pinkflame is similarly lost, although it is generally accepted to be younger than red or blue, and was already well-developed by 3000LF, roughly the time of the conquest by Caracar.
Turquoise is around 2500 years old
greenflame magic is around 1400 years old
whiteflame magic is by far the most recent, at a little over 200 years old.

It's known that there are still some salts left to master - orange, yellow, and purple are all naturally occurring flames.