Pick 1 magical talent that is right for you.

[Snowrose]

Now that you have a basic idea of your character's background, you must decide on your special skill. Everyone in the Ashen Ark has one, something that sets them apart from the rest.

Are you a half breed with a certain talent your were born with? Are you an incarnation of a creature, who has been blessed with abilities of that creature? Have you been gifted with magic? Or are you just naturally very good at something?


Depending on how you are bestowed with a special skill, and you only get one (no immortal powerhouses that a just ridiculous-- you can have as many practical skills as you want, but only one magic type skill), it will change what kind of skill you can have. For instance, if you are part elven, you may have innate healing magic. As a dwarf born, you may have enchanting or forging magics such as the ability to bestow power into a weapon, or the ability to command metal and bend it to your will. If you are gifted by a specific creature, please keep your ability in line with that specific creatures abilities. Don't chose a fire bird and wind up with ice abilities.

If a dragon as blessed you, then you can choose whatever you want. Each skill has a limit to its abilities, because as much as this is fantasy, I like to keep it within the realm of realistic fantasy.

My gift, as an  example, is coercion. In human form, I am more charming then the average person, but I also have a particular book I am able to channel this talent into. As soon as someone reads something I have written into this book, they are compelled to do it without question. It has the potential to be very powerful, but has a caveat. They have to read it before it happens, and it has to be on the paper from one book. When that book is used up, I can switch books to a new one, but there is only one book at a time. There is also the added feature that it is my particular talent channeled into this book, that means that if someone else writes in the book, they just write in a plain old book. No one can take my skill, but if they take the book I am currently using, I'm shit out of luck until I find it or they destroy it. The book has to be finished-- destroying it does that.

If you are not sure where to start, think about your own natural skills in the real world? What are you best at? What have you learned to do quickly and easily without really trying?

That is your best baseline. From there, think of what things you LOVE to do. If you are super with Tech, then your ability can be to harness energy and manipulate metal? Voila, steampunk tech. If you love helping people heal, healing. If you love to draw, combine that with what outcome you'd like your magic to have.

There is an infinite number of possibilities, you've just got to find the one that fits best with you.

--The Ashen Dragon

[Crystal]

My magical talent is based on illusion using poems as spells and writing utensils as weapons.

A warrior poetess can transform the world, and herself, with the power of words. I have studied at the Institute InVerse and learned the skill of crafting poems that can cast believable illusions when they are properly written and/or recited. My spells work when the poems touch the objects I wish to transform; or, if the illusion involves a person, it can also work if they see or hear the words. Basically the poem needs to make contact with the object of the spell somehow. If I want to cast an illusion at a distance I have to attach a poem to one of my swifter-than-arrows.
In the fantasy world I created where I am the goddess Crystal, my spells have real effects instead of illusions because all my powers are stronger there. It might be possible for one of my illusions to become permanent and real in this world, but this would be so rare and drain me of so much energy that it would be at most a once-in-a-storyline occurrence.

In the hands of a warrior poetess, any writing utensil can become a powerful, but illusionary, weapon. My opponent will see and feel the weapon I attack them with, but their wounds will only be very realistic illusions; I cannot kill or even physically harm anyone, only distract, disarm and at most make someone unconscious. Different writing utensils will transform into different kinds of weapons; I know a little about or can improvise with others, but I am most comfortable using the mightier-than-a-sword (a pen).

Another important aspect of my magic is the balance between fire and ice within me. If one of these two sides of me surfaces, I might lose my skill as a warrior poetess and be stuck instead with unpredictable elemental magic. Crystal Flame is basically made of fire; side effects of this condition include the inability to be burned and, more annoyingly, the risk of things around me bursting into flame. With similar unintentionality, Ice Crystal can randomly freeze things, conjure snow, and suddenly turn a room so cold that you can see your breath.