Earth

Magic Profile: Earth
Earth-type Dragon Warriors are known for their close connection to nature and their orderly and serious disposition. Earth-types prefer to live close and peacefully with nature, refusing to destroy large patches of land and instead build around or alongside it. In some instances their connection to nature is so strong that any mass damage to their surrounding natural environment can cause them to become ill and weak.

When it comes to physical strength and endurance, Earth-types are excellent defenders, blocking many attackers with ease and in some cases using their enemies’ attacks against them. The only types that rival or exceed their defensive capabilities are the Metal and Diamond types.

Aside from defensive ability, Earth-types are great herbalists, potion brewers and farmers, however they excel in this area through purely natural means, and only on rare occasions use their powers to speed up the process. Earth types are particularly famous for their herbal teas.

Earthmoon: the Sacred Tree.

The capital city of Earth Dragon Warriors is known as Earthmoon, named after the humongous tree by the same name that grows within the city. The city is quite a sight to behold. Although many citizens live in what appear to be cosy wooden cottages, they share the key difference in that they are not only suspended several hundred metres in the air, they have a tree trunk running through the centre of the house. All the homes in Earthmoon are treehouses, connected by a network of hanging bridges, and constructed from a kind of living wood that is shaped alongside the natural growth of the tree.

Because of the general dislike of fire, many inhabitants rely on the natural bioluminescent plants that grow within the forest, like mushrooms or flowers, to illuminate their homes and walkways at night.

The Earth-types living in the city, are very protective of the Earthmoon tree. There is a legend surrounding it about it actually being the transformed body of a being who long ago befriended and saved the Earth-types from a deadly forest fire. Any harm done to the tree is punishable by death. Many traditions and festivities take place in front of the tree.

The Legend of Earthmoon

The legend goes that long ago a being came down from the heavens and wandered the earth. In his travels he came across the Earth-type Dragon Warriors, the people were happy and kind to him, he was touched by their hospitality and chose to stay with them for a time. One day a terrible forest fire tore through the homes of the Earth-types. Valiantly, the Dragon Warriors fought the flames to buy time for those evacuating, they even went out of their way to try and help the stranger in their midst: advising him to leave and save himself. So moved by the self-sacrifice, and the suffering of his new mortal friends as they fought against the pain they felt through their magical connection to the forest, Earthmoon made up his mind to use his power to save them. He extinguished the flames then transformed himself into a being that could shelter and protect them for all time, the great tree that would become the heart of the city. From its branches flowers bloomed, and an enchanted pollen flooded through the forest to heal those burned in the fire. Now this great tree towers over the forest, a testament to the bond of friendship that was formed so long ago, a bond passed down from generation to generation.

Festivals

Although Harvest Festivals are not uncommon in the land, in Earthmoon it’s a big deal. Farmers bring their produce for sale, or to enter the numerous contests hosted during the festival (largest pumpkin, largest pitcher plant etc.). By early morning the ground level of the city becomes a maze of market stalls and performers, then in the evening the paths are lit by luminous mushrooms and flowers. The closing festivity of the night is usually the traditional performance of the Earthmoon legend, acted out while wearing ornate wooden masks marked with luminous dye, the same dye is used to paint patterns onto the bodies of the performers.

Colours

Earth types come in unsurprisingly earthy colours, like different shades of brown, green and grey. These colours not only represent their connection to nature, but gives them natural camouflage for their environment. They do have access to a range of other natural dyes, including brighter yellows, blues, or reds. A unique dye is taken from the bioluminescent digestive juices of the Pridee Pitcher plant, where enterprising DW’s carefully extract a portion of the glowing liquid (which for the plant doubles as an insect lure and stomach acid). The pitcher of the common Pridee Pitcher plant averages 20cm in height and is a round bell-shape. Its harvested fluids produce a glowing lime colour, while the rarer Greater Pridee Pitcher plant can have pitchers of 30-40cm in height, and contains intensely bright green juices.

The royal sign of the Earth type is a heart with a crown at its base above what looks like a pyramid shape with outlined bricks

Branches of Earth Magic.

Earth magic is one of the rare magic types that is known to have branched out abilities, making them more varied than most. In this case the magic of Earth is split into two branches: Nature and Ground. In ancient times, the magic of Crystal was once considered a branch of Earth magic, but over time the Crystal-types declared their independence as their power came from the ability to generate their own crystal resource, rather than manipulating the surrounding environment – making their magical style quite different to their fellow Earth-types of different branches. This dissimilarity in the teaching methods and lack of connection to the forest led the Crystal-types to choose to make a peaceful departure from Earthmoon. The remaining two branches hold no grudge towards the Crystal-types for leaving, and still view them as strong allies.

Nature and Ground have similar abilities but also skills unique to the individual branches.

Nature branch:

The Nature branch has less of an offensive focus and is more supportive. They are capable of: magically manipulating and nurturing plant life; creating full-body armour that can double as camouflage; and a contact power called ‘absorption’.

Beginner Average Master
 * Basic plant manipulation:  They can control the plants around them by using their magic to essentially connect to the energy of said plant and manipulate it in different ways.It takes a great deal of energy to control even small plants, a beginner can use their magic to speed up the growth of a flower, or control blades of grass, but cannot yet work with larger or more solid kinds of plants. It is not a quick process either, for example, using magic to speed-grow a flower from a seedling would take about 5 minutes. Although the plants can be reinforced and regenerated through magic, they are still susceptible to fire damage. As Nature users share an empathic connection with their plants, fire is a considerable concern, by comparison, a slashing attack is a minor twinge of pain, but fire is lingering and agonising, and worse, spreads among the plants under their control. Even severing the connection physically may not be sufficient, depending on the general magical sensitivity of the Nature user to their environment.
 * Advanced plant manipulation:  They can now manipulate larger plants than flowers, grasses and weeds, moving on to vines and brambles, and beginning to be able to control less flexible targets like trees. They have increased energy and take less time to speed-grow plants, a flower seedling can now be grown in 2-3 minutes.
 * Nature’s protection:  Nature users can cover themselves from head to toe in plant life to offer them some defence – with obvious limitations placed on durability based on what plants are available to make the armor. This also doubles as camouflage, making ambushes a favourite tactic in combat. At this level, the armour will take about 5 minutes to construct, and last for about 30 minutes before falling apart, and would then need to be re-applied. Average level users also struggle to incorporate less flexible materials into their armor designs, such as dense wood.
 * Master plant manipulation:  A further increase in magical reserves and speed of growth has made plant manipulation usable in combat, for example, extending their magic into vines or roots to trip, entangle, trap and – if so inclined – constrict their enemies. They can also further manipulate trees to lash out with heavy club-like limbs, or turn the branches into hand-like appendages to stab or grab things or people.


 * Advanced Nature’s protection:  A Warrior can use any plant matter to adapt into their armor, regardless of the original flexibility of the source material, and it only takes a minute to fully equip. This armor will then last up to 5 hours before losing cohesion.

 
 * Absorption:  A high level skill, it is the ability to drain an opponent’s magical energy. It allows the user to drain an adversary’s magical energy to practically zero, preventing magic use or draconic forms. The downside to this is that in order to use this skill, he or she have to be physically touching the person they wish to drain. This can be extremely risky to do, especially if the target is a fire magic user.

Ground branch:

This branch is more direct in combat, taking either an offensive or defensive role. They manipulate the ground and rocks near them and use them as weapons and shields.

Beginner
 * Ground Control:  Even novice magic users passively exert their power so that physically shifting any form of earth seems light and easy, but with a bit of magical power they can also create defences or pitfalls for their opponents. At this level, a Dragon Warrior can manipulate the ground slightly to make a tripping hazard, gathering the earth up into a ridge, or pushing it aside to make a small hole. The speed at which they can achieve this is determined by the type of material they are attempting to move, loose soil is easier to shift and considerably less magically draining than say, solid rock.


 * Small Tremor:  They can move the earth beneath them in ways to unbalance their opponents or literally undermine their defences. By concentrating their power into the ground and radiating it forcefully outwards they can cause small-scale earthquakes. That said, a beginner can only produce enough force to create a slight vibration in their immediate area for a few seconds, it would rattle a teacup if they were sitting at a table, but it does not yet have much use in combat.

Average
 * Golem Fist:  Ground users can manipulate soil and rocks to act as armor pieces, magically attaching them to their body to create sturdy protective layers. Flexibility of the armor is determined by the fineness of the material used, pebbles, for example, move more easily over each other than large boulders. A beginner can only cover a small area with armor, so its common practice to apply it to their hands to provide extra protection or firepower in combat. The skill is very draining though, requiring consistent focus, a beginner can usually only sustain it for 2-3 minutes.
 * Advanced Ground Control:  Their control of the earth allows them to form a wall roughly 2 metres high, 1 meter long and 10cm thick, or a hole 2 meters deep and a meter wide. Again, the speed of construction and magical cost is dependent on the material used. They can also pour magic into a rock they are in contact with, building up pressure within it before explosively launching it into the air as a ranged weapon. At this point the largest projectile they could launch would be about the size of a basketball.


 * Tremor:   With the increase in strength their range has increased beyond their own personal space to 3 to 4 metres away, and can cause considerable disruption to the environment: knocking over furniture and people. This attack is draining to sustain though, and depending on the intensity of the quake, it could last for 1 – 3 minutes.


 * Rebound:  Similar to the technique for the rock launch, the user focuses this force into a specific area beneath them and allows pressure to build before releasing, but instead of moving the ground they launch themselves up into the air. Some Ground types like to use this launching technique in combination with other attacks, like using the impact of their durable body in a physical slamming attack, or gathering magical energy in mid-air to release as a shockwave through the earth when they land – or both! At this level the user has the strength to leap about 3 metres high and land hard on top of their target. Half of the force that would normally impact their body is instead channelled into the earth, usually cracking it under impact.

Master
 * Partial Golem Armor:  Armor can now be used to cover roughly half the body (such as head and chest). This form can be maintained for about 10-15 minutes, but while it increases defences it also increases the weight and reduces mobility for the user – even with the natural bonuses which allow them to move more freely when working with earth materials.
 * Master Ground Control:  Decidedly more experienced and sensitive to the composition of the soil and rock beneath their feet, Warriors can use this to turn the terrain to their advantage. Choosing the strongest materials to attack and defend with, or disturbing loose/soft ground and hollow underground sections to form pitfalls for their opponents. This also allows them to be more cost effective when constructing their protective walls, which can now completely encircle them in a dome, with the potential to be 4 meters high and 20cm thick. Creative Earth types can even add spikey protrusions to their walls if they are working with stone, and the same decorations can be made to the floor of their pit-traps, now a roomy 4 metre drop with the option of a 2 meter wide round hole or extending it to make a rough 2 metre long trench.  Rock launching has also improved so that boulders that as big as the user themselves can be used as ammunition.


 * Large Tremor:  Range has expanded again to 8-11 metres, and when pushed to maximum magical output, their power could knock down a house with the force. They can maintain this intensity for about 5 minutes but it is exceedingly draining, while a lower powered version could be held for up to 10 minutes.


 * Improved Rebound:  The user can launch themselves up to 6 metres into the air, and then land to release 100% of the energy from the fall into the ground, this usually leaves them standing unharmed in the middle of a small crater. This technique can also be used to negate significant amounts of falling damage – a skilled user could fall from a cliff and transfer all of the energy from the fall into the ground (as long as they landed on some form of earth).


 * Complete Golem Armor:  As a Warrior, full armor can now be created, further increasing the weight and reducing mobility, and extending usage to 30 minutes to an hour. However, at a Warrior level it is possible to work so well with their earthen coating that they can choose to sacrifice extra energy to regain some mobility. The user can swap between a more rigid armour type with greater defense, or expend some magic to make the armour more fluid. Much like the Nature branch equivalent, the full armor can be used as a form of camouflage. Although stone armor is fairly resilient to fire damage, users can still overheat underneath, and a constant amount of high heat could even melt the armor depending on what it is made up of. While in this coating they are also highly resistant to electrical attacks.


 * Sundering Roar:  Limited to when in their draconic form, this enchanted roar creates such a violent shockwave from their throat that it makes the ground tremble, and just about everything else too. Although the standard tremor ability is just as effective, if not more so for generating earthquakes, the roar has the added effect of throwing opponents into further disarray as they stagger from the deafening sound shaking them to their core.