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I've added a new podcast to my studio rotation. Worldbuilding for Masochists features three SF/Fantasy authors talking with a guest author about some aspect of worldbuilding. So far, I've listened to MJ Kuhn, Cherie Priest, Rebecca Roanhorse, Mur Lafferty and Seanan McGuire.
One of the things they do at the end of every podcast is invite the guest to add a bit of worldbuilding to their ongoing shared universe. Got me thinking about what I'd add, given the opportunity. And I think I have the answer.
Craft-based magic systems.
I imagine fixing a spell into tangible form, for use later, fired into a pot or blown into a bottle, stitched into knitting or crochet. I don't mean en-spelling craft objects--a sweater that keeps you at the perfect temperature, a crock that preserves the food stored in it. I mean making the spell as the act of making the object. The spell holds its shape until the piece is broken, at which point it's released to act.
I'd think wheel-thrown pots or blown glass would hold fairly simple spells, though you could add layers with glaze or gathering cullet or frit to the glass bubble. Coil-built pots could hold longer or more complicated spells, though for real complexity, I'd go with fiber arts.
This also gives us different modes of action. Pottery or glass spells are quick-release, break it and away it goes. Trap a fireball spell in a jug to make a gunpowder-free grenade.
Knitted spells can be released a little at a time. A scarf of healing could unravel a couple of rows for a blister, or the whole thing for a sucking chest wound. The fourth Doctor's scarf could clear the whole Emergency Ward.
I'm not sure how metal-work fits into the system. Perhaps long-term, archival storage that can only be released by smelting it down again? (Although it occurs to me that forging a teleport spell into a sword, as a hedge against it breaking in battle, could be a wise precaution.)
And now I'm wondering about spell books. Tear out a page like a coupon? So many possibilities.
If only I had a plot to go with it.
One of the things they do at the end of every podcast is invite the guest to add a bit of worldbuilding to their ongoing shared universe. Got me thinking about what I'd add, given the opportunity. And I think I have the answer.
Craft-based magic systems.
I imagine fixing a spell into tangible form, for use later, fired into a pot or blown into a bottle, stitched into knitting or crochet. I don't mean en-spelling craft objects--a sweater that keeps you at the perfect temperature, a crock that preserves the food stored in it. I mean making the spell as the act of making the object. The spell holds its shape until the piece is broken, at which point it's released to act.
I'd think wheel-thrown pots or blown glass would hold fairly simple spells, though you could add layers with glaze or gathering cullet or frit to the glass bubble. Coil-built pots could hold longer or more complicated spells, though for real complexity, I'd go with fiber arts.
This also gives us different modes of action. Pottery or glass spells are quick-release, break it and away it goes. Trap a fireball spell in a jug to make a gunpowder-free grenade.
Knitted spells can be released a little at a time. A scarf of healing could unravel a couple of rows for a blister, or the whole thing for a sucking chest wound. The fourth Doctor's scarf could clear the whole Emergency Ward.
I'm not sure how metal-work fits into the system. Perhaps long-term, archival storage that can only be released by smelting it down again? (Although it occurs to me that forging a teleport spell into a sword, as a hedge against it breaking in battle, could be a wise precaution.)
And now I'm wondering about spell books. Tear out a page like a coupon? So many possibilities.
If only I had a plot to go with it.
