Coldfront: A Discussion of Cryomancy

Coldfront: A Discussion of Cryomancy By: Jacksen Aiken

The re-emergence of numerous lost or forgotten subdisciplines within the Art of Mortal Magic over the past three decades has provided magedom a wealth of research, theories, and published works. Key examples ranging from the work of Magus Jolliesmauch in Fatespinning to Magus Carnen's work in Elementalism - my own topic of choice in this writing. The published ink has spanned from fundamental mechanics and advanced theory to wide-arcing overviews of how spells are altered and moulded. Yet over this time none of these disciplines have been able to shake certain misconceptions, and some have been largely neglected in written form altogether. That is my aim with the topic at hand, Elementalism and Cryomancy in particular - to add to the larger library regarding the advanced arts, while addressing some misconceptions.

Elementalism The advanced practices within the art held under the umbrella of Elementalism reportedly first resurfaced within the magi of Andrinor's Trust in the castings of the priorly referenced Pyromancer, Magus Carnen. This coincided with the reappearance of the other now known and established schools of advanced study, all seemingly loosed back into magedom either through divine will or happenstance of rediscovery in the same timeframe. Years of study and research followed, the first wave of practitioners unravelling the frameworks of how much of them worked, and passing on the knowledge to students of new generations to grow and innovate.

Definitively, Elementalism is the mastery of a single chosen element, in the creation of a subconscious ability to forcibly alter the elemental energy employed within the incantation of a spell. This occurs through the course of understanding as a magus learns to shift their perception of the magic itself through repetition and experience. To the point that the practice becomes an inherent piece of their nature, losing the conscious realization that they are even effecting the change. The large majority of these effected castings fall within the schools of Evocation and Conjuration as one would imagine, the majority of effected elemental energies being employed within their incantations. The finished product of practiced elementalists, simply, sees the mages eschewing the use of all but a sole element to a far greater effect due to intense focus - fires burning greater, more extreme colds, and brighter flashes of electricity.

Elementalism, Cryomancy, and Misconception There are presently three primary fields of elementalism - often woven into a correlation with the nature of the elements themselves. The flames of pyromancers focus on the textbook definition of an element, one of the four primaries along with water, air, and earth. The lightning of aeromancy is a quasi-element; the very definition of which would be 'ostensibly an element, but not really' - lightning is essentially a by-product of charged air, or more specifically a mixture of air and positive energy. To keep with the inner planar reference, as a Cryomancer my focus is largely upon the para-element of Ice - an 'element' composed of the combination between air and water, really where the two have mixed and solidified and produced something new.

The term Elementalist often conjures thoughts of the aforementioned inner planes: elemental, quasi, or para. Without a doubt, yes, taking ample consideration of these planes and how they function - how their powers exist in such an all-encompassing fashion there; from the planar construction and existence, to the languages spoken - are great aids to any elementalists further understanding. Understanding, the key word there - is perhaps the most important one to consider in the facets of elementalism. Having a full working knowledge of how your chosen medium exists, acts, and reacts is paramaount to creating that innate ability to change your own spellwork to produce the desired effect.(1) A requirement created by the differences amongst the elements - increasing as your study travels deeper from the basics, necessitating a greater understanding to adequately handle the complexities involved in more powerful spellwork.

Planar understanding can deepen the casters understanding and innate connection, not unlike any of the famed Arvanosians becoming intricately familiar with every working piece of their muskets.

Yet where some become highly misled I've found in my travels is in the idea that we have some link to the plane which we draw understanding from. This is patently false. I for example, have no contact with the paraelemental plane of Ice outside of a conjuration spell, the same as any mage drawing on the vortex to pull an orb of cold for offensive purposes. The innate connection spoken of is one with the element within the context of the vortex. I am more familiar and knowledgeable in that particular current within it's waters and know how to navigate, to use an analogy I as of this writing - am not particularly pleased with.

I am not immune to freezing temperatures. I do not melt in summertime.

Cold 'Energy' - Ice and Snow Because of the tendency to think in terms of planes, many come to refer to the elemental energy I focus upon as Ice. The para-elemental plane of Ice is made of Ice, yes - located between the air and water planes. It is made possible by the ubiquitous, fundamental, catalyzing cold. Without cold, there is no freezing, and there is no Ice. While the plane is definitively not the Plane of Cold, but Ice - this is what it is constructed of - the energy that makes it possible is the cold, and that energy is what a cryomancer focuses upon. The cause, not the byproduct.

Granted, using the term energy is arguable in the context- but it is the norm in conversation to refer to various magical effects as energies for ease, from heat to sound to cold, I've found. In truth cold is more technically defined as the absence of energy - making it in the realm of magic more of an affected condition of the environs than an energy, produced by manipulating energy of the vortex toward that end.

Now of course, ice and snow and sleet will always be related and surround the art of cryomancy. The effects of cast spells and the displays in their delivery are and will be the cause of this. Their prevalence throughout winter and in perpetually cold environments as the visual representations of the lack of warmth in the area also factor into this.

Considering the effect that a cryomancer's offense carries onto it's target - the effects of a fiery explosion are obvious, the scorches and electrocution of lightning, Ice storm even falls here..large blocks of ice literally rain down on the area - but what of fireballs, brands, bursts, et cetera converted to cold 'energy'. Simply, the majority of damage is done by these intensely concentrated areas of severe cold - exposure to which can severely weaken the integrity of an object as its thermal energy is sapped and cause it to even shatter; this includes the damage to flesh as the blood flees the area, creating 'frost burns', and in more powerful spells and more intense colds, the instant blackness of exposed areas due to the entirety being flash frozen, blood and all. Much of the visual effect is due to ambient water in the air and surroundings, manifesting ice and frost trails in the wake of spells and leaving residue, frost on an area, on a target - and in some contexts, damage from the shards of ice created and thrown about, especially in more explosive evocations, the cold area pushing outward from a targeted spot, freezing that latent water on the way.

Ongoing Studies Moving forward within the field as of this writing, is marked with uncertainty but a hope of possibility. The feeling of all tenuous progression. Broadening the current knowledge base, moving forward has it's present focus, in this magus' case, in looking backward. Multiple forms of cold-magic have been encountered and witnessed falling outside of the bounds of cryomancy, outside of widely available arcana, stemming from eras and developments largely forgotten. These perhaps, in time, will be the subject of future writing.

As one consulting magus said to me recently, "Much is hidden in the ice and snow; much of who we are, lies hidden in the north."

1. Due to differences in a spellcaster's grammar, cadence, personal traits, let alone ticks in mannerism - a subtle variance is created amongst us as to what a spell actually may look and sound like, ones own 'flavor' so to say, even if they hold the same base ingredients, and eventually reach the same places. These setpoints in the spell make them identifiable, despite each casters flourishes. The same end result occurs, even if approaches may be different. However, as spell difficulty increases and becomes more complicated, so does the magi's accompanying way of performing it. Hence why an accomplished cryomancer could not spell out how to cast a delayed blast ice ball for me to repeat and practice into memory. I would most likely create a crater where I stood in the attempt. One must advance there on their own.