When I first wrote Loyalty Fallen, magic was pretty close to an afterthought. It was useful to close some plot holes and to make the story more interesting, but you could in theory write a very similar story without any magic at all. I wanted to do something very different for Ashbranded. Here is the process I followed and the considerations I had in mind. Hopefully you can find some inspiration here for creating your own magic systems.

1. Magic first, story second

Rather than coming up with a story and trying to find a suitable magic system to fit it, I just started brainstorming different types of magic systems.

The way I did this was by starting with Jed Herne’s list of magic system limitations and asking ChatGPT to simply suggest some different types of magic systems based on that. One of the types ChatGPT suggested was eco-magic, which it described as:

“Eco-Magic 🍃:
Limitation: You need specific rare plants or environmental conditions to cast spells (material requirements).
Weakness: Using too much magic causes natural disasters like droughts or wildfires (environmental impact).
Consequence: Each time you cast, it takes a part of your life energy, and the land around you might die (physical deterioration).”

Since I’ve been interested in volcanoes for quite some time, I decided to create an eco-magic system based entirely around volcanic control. I discarded the material requirement limitation, but the environmental impact remains: while the ashbranded themselves aren’t particularly affected, the surrounding towns and villages become damaged by the volcanic ash that is filtered out of the towns and cities of the ashbranded. The consequence, taking part of the practitioner’s life energy, became a loss of emotions and feeling instead – essentially, turning to ash.

2. Conflict through magic

The main conflict of the story naturally flowed from the magic system, as opposed to in Loyalty Fallen.

In Loyalty fallen, the magic system is based on a formula that human will + gem catalysts + human skill = magic. The greater the human will or the higher the number of gem catalysts or the more skilled the mage, the more powerful the magic is. While I personally think this works fine in the context of Loyalty Fallen, it doesn’t significantly contribute to the main conflict of the novel, because although using magic does come with a cost, the costs are only either cosmetic or affect an individual’s health. There is no emotional or spiritual cost whatsoever, and even the costs to health rarely apply unless magic is used in large amounts over a prolonged period, meaning they rarely impact the main characters of the story.

In Ashbranded, by contrast, the magic brings an inherent conflict. Emotion is the fuel for magic, and as the emotion/fuel is burned up, it turns to ash. Once that “fuel” runs out, the practitioner is left without any feeling or emotion whatsoever. That means that in order to use magic to save the world, the main character risks becoming the same thing he’s trying to destroy: an emotionless, loveless monster.

3. Subcategories of magic

Rather than having practitioners of magic able to perform any type of magic at any time, my preference is to have subcategories of magic. One person might be an expert in one type while another might be an expert in a totally different type.

In the case of Ashbranded, there are three subcategories:

1. Ashbinding (control of ash clouds and detection magic)
2. Emberforging (manipulation of molten rock and lava)
3. Cinderrifting (seismic manipulation and tremor control)

4. Making the main character special

Even among the characters that can use magic in Ashbranded, I wanted the main character to be special. While I could have had him simply learn all three types, I wanted to go a bit beyond that. After all, I’ve been reading Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy. While all Mistborn characters in the story can use all the different types of metals, it soon becomes clear that Vin, the main character, has abilities that extend beyond other Mistborn.

In Ashbranded, Dare has an unusual connection to the ash of the volcanoes. While most ashbinders focus on controlling and clearing out ash clouds to sustain clean air in the settlements, Dare uses ash to sense his surroundings and can “feel” life in a way that gives him a particular appreciation for his surroundings and his own life. Fear of losing this sense of wonder at life is one of many reasons he is fearful of accidentally overusing his magic and turning to ash.

5. Making magic part of the day-to-day

For whatever reason, I felt very strongly about making magic in the world of Ashbranded simply a normal part of life. It’s not looked at as anything extraordinary. Instead:

• Ashbinders clear the ash from homes and buildings, making the volcanic environment more livable.
• Emberforges shape obsidian and volcanic stone into tools, weapons, and structures, and they maintain the flow of lava to ensure their cities stay warm.
• Cinderrifts regulate seismic activity, preventing natural disasters and using tremors to carve tunnels or break apart the earth for mining.

These are normal daily activities. Despite the fact that many among the ashbranded are basically workers, in this society, they are respected for that very reason. They are the backbone of society and make it function, where as the so-called “ashdrains,” the individuals without any magical powers, breathe the air the ashbinders have cleaned, live in the buildings the emberforges have created, and travel daily through the tunnels that cinderrifts create. The ashdrains are looked down upon as a result and are mostly servants who function to care for the ashbranded and ensure the ashbranded can focus on the more “important” things.

Final thoughts

The full magic system for Ashbranded included a lot more details. If you’d like to read more and maybe get some more inspiration for your own projects, you can find everything I’ve written so far about the magic of the world here. Until then, enjoy Loyalty Fallen, and you can look forward to chapter one of book two going live on the first Tuesday of November, as well as the entirety of Ashbranded hopefully going live on December 1st. I hope to see you then!