Fire

Magic Profile: Fire
Fire type dragon warriors are known for their bravery and strength, and will stand their ground to take on any threat head on. Because of this, they are known for fending off opponents much larger than themselves, but only in self-defence or to protect another.

Their bodies are often built for fighting power rather than speed or defence. To them, the adage of: “The best defence is a good offense” is the way to go. They are, however, rather honourable when it comes to fighting. Should an enemy or opponent retreat, they will offer mercy and allow them to leave alive.

When fighting among themselves, through the means of sparring or contests of strength, they will fight within a strict set of rules, and will try to avoid injuring or deliberately killing an opponent.

When it comes to non-violence, fire types are often warm-hearted individuals, often treating others with a kindness and gentleness one would not expect. They can also, with the proper training, be specialists in grilling, frying and flambé style cookery using their magic.

Main city and Coliseum

Their main capital city is known under the name of Fir-Darsan, which is located in the Fir-planes, a volcanic region, filled with active volcanoes and lava pits. A living arrangement made more practical for the fire type dragon warriors due to their natural resistance to the heat.

Inside Fir-Darsan is a giant structure that stands on the highest part of the city, alongside the castle of the royals. This structure is known as the ‘Hall of Power’, a coliseum where battles take place between fire dragon warriors almost daily. However, once every five years, a massive fighting tournament is organised by the royals, encouraging the strongest fighters from all over the world to participate. The winners gain many prizes: The Fir-trophy, medals, money and of course, glory. In recent times, however, an extra challenge has been added to the tournament: to battle the undefeated crown princess, ‘the Flaming Star’.

Beliefs.

When it comes to religion, many worship Marinunius (Mar-ee-noo-nee-us), or ‘Marin’, the goddess of warfare, weaponry and strength. She is often depicted as a large woman, covered from head to toe in armour. It’s believed that she can move around at terrifying speeds, unhindered by her armour, slaying monsters and demons from Urirra with a sacred item that can change into whatever weapon she desires. In most of the fire type settlements a temple can be found, dedicated to Marinunius. These temples are often visited by those who seek her blessing before going off into the battlefield.

It’s believed that Marin grants blessings to those with a strong will to fight, giving them a boost in strength and endurance.

There is a legend involving both Marin and the Deity War. During a battle with Masurn (Mah-surn), one of her sacred weapons was shattered into 10 pieces, then scattered across Elementra. These individual pieces are believed to have reverted into different objects that Marin had willed into being in the past, like talismans, or weapons of immense power.

Festivals

There are a number of minor festivals held by the fire type dragon warriors, but the biggest, and the one most popular with tourists, is the Fir-bright Festival, also known as the Flame Harvest.

This festival usually takes place in the coldest time of the year (another big plus for visitors who can’t take the heat as well as the locals), often at the end of the coliseum tournaments. It begins with the construction of a bonfire in the centre of the village or city. When the fires are lit, meat is flavoured with herbs and spices and wrapped in the silk of an igneous grub, then pushed around the base of the pyre to cook. While waiting for their food, the people dance around the bonfire, allowing themselves to move with the crackling rhythm of the flames – this dance is meant to be a personal experience, and can be performed in a small group or solo, but it is essentially freestyle.

When the public dancing and cooking is done, the people move to make space around the fire, and sit to eat their meal while watching the more formal traditional dance. These dancers would have been especially picked several weeks prior to the festival, and wear ceremonial dress in rich fiery colours. The ceremonial garb is surprisingly light, floaty, and yet fierce looking like fire. It has often been said that the design calls to mind the mythological flame birds: phoenixes.

This is followed by a fire magic demonstration. Recognised masters of this elemental art begin by taking control of the flames from the bonfire, twisting it into shapes and showing off their skill, before passing the fire to the next master. Whoever receives the honour of going last, finishes the performance by shooting the fire high into the sky where it bursts into a harmless glittering display.

This leads into the closing part of the festival, as darkness descends with the fading of the bonfire’s light, a member of the royal family draws attention to themselves by igniting their hands with their magic to cast a warm flickering glow over themselves. The royal then makes a speech, the contents vary with the times, but often centre around a theme of encouragement as they enter the colder months, often reflecting on the trials and triumphs of the year, and assuring that the spirit of the people will burn bright in the year to come.

In recent times, ‘Flaming Star’ has been adding her own particular flavour to the more traditional festivities, by putting on a small 'after party' concert. Although at first viewed either with uncertainty or irritation by some of the more rigid traditionalists, the event has gained some popularity. Her parents, though sceptical at first, have grown used to the idea, and it has proved a hit with more adventurous visitors.

Colours As for the colours representing the fire types, they come in different shades of yellow, orange, red and – for special occasions – gold. The colour blue is rarely seen, but when used it’s used minimally. These colours represent the colours of their magical element of fire. The royal sign of this type comes in the form of a heart inside of a flame, often in the colour of charcoal rather than actual flame colours.

Skills and abilities.

Beginner
 * Incomplete fireball: The user gathers his strength to attempt to create a small ball of fire that fits neatly in the palm of the hand. They can use it to light up a dark area or throw at their enemies. However, it is very unstable and can quickly dissipate into nothing, or cause a small explosion similar to the Psychic’s energy ball.
 * Heat up (early stage of ignition): the user gathers their magical power and spreads it across their body, heating it up. They are, however, incapable of truly igniting themselves and this skill tends to drain them really quickly.
 * Weak fire breath: like the name suggests, it’s a weak fire breath with a range of less than a meter, only forming a thin stream of fire. It is often jokingly referred to as ‘fire-spitting’.

Average
 * Normal/average fireball:  The user is now capable of creating a fireball that fills their palm and brushes the tips of their outstretched fingers. They can also maintain it for much longer periods of time, and hurl it without risk of it dissipating – causing a fiery explosion on contact. User beware, however, as the explosion radiates outwards, rather than being directional, meaning, unwary casters can get caught up in the explosion as well.
 * Ignition:   They can ignite their limbs, but are still incapable of igniting themselves entirely. Though more energy efficient, it can still drain them rather easily.
 * Fire breath:   Their fire breath is wider and more intense, reaching up to six meters in length. It can be maintained for about 10 seconds, and is hot enough to tarnish and weaken most metals but not melt them.
 * Weak/incomplete lava levitation:  Having better control over their fire, they can learn to manipulate existing pools of lava to move it through the air and hurl it at their opponents. However, the manipulation is difficult as it takes a great deal of concentration, and it is easy for rookies to lose control and have the lava fall from their magical grip and back to earth.

Master
 * Advanced/stronger fireball:   They can now control the size of the fireball and the amount of explosive forced contained within, but larger spheres could require two hands to properly maintain it. Despite the increased potency of the attack, the resulting fiery explosion can be magically guided to only move outward in the direction the caster chooses.
 * Advanced ignition:  They are capable of covering their entire body in flames. This is a move that can be used either defensively or offensively: to keep opponents at bay or provide an aggressive edge in melee combat. Due to the large amount of magical power required to sustain this magic though, it can only be used for a short time.
 * Strong fire breath:  Their breath is almost at its peak, only rivalled by the Ancient fire types. Their breath reaches up to twelve meters and can be so explosive that the force of its passing can knockback anyone caught too close to the attack.  The heat is so great that it can melt metal in a matter of minutes.
 * Lava levitation:  They have decent control of moving lava: they don’t have to concentrate as much to guide it so it moves more freely under their control.  However, they cannot generate lava under their own power and need a nearby supply.