An Introduction to the Science of The Elements

Hello once again, esteemed world-travelers! It is I, your fellow sojourner, Igmar.

Please excuse me for my extended absence, as I had much work to do to ensure the continued operation of this device, and many other experiments that have taken up my time.

Considering the vast array of worlds from which our group are derived, and the apparently vast difference in the laws of science in each, I thought it prudent to offer a concise explanation of my own. The realm of Midgard is ruled by what my colleagues in the school of Elemental Science illustrate in a diagram called "The Contrivance of Forces" (So called in observance of our comparatively limited knowledge of their interaction). These forces are powers or energies which correspond to those found in our environment and biology, which in turn affect and transform flora and fauna which live in environments of concentrated elements. Vera, similar to the image seen above, is an example of that- she and her kind owe their blue coloration to the high concentration of the elements of Darkness and Life, which pool in the dark glades to the south of our village. The shadows in moonlight collect these energies, and the plant-life upon which these blue rabbits graze contain traces of Darkness, which changes the hue of their fur, lending its blue coloration. As a general rule, if there is a significant level of any natural force (Fire, Water, Wind, Death, etc.) in one area, living things in that area will adapt to and emulate that force. It is not known exactly how many of these elements there are, and they range from physical to mental to spiritual forces,

We in the community of scientists and spellcrafters inscribe these forces into carefully designed Runes which contain and focus their energies, enabling us to bend them to specific purposes. There are other known methods for controlling the elements, and even methods for emulating their effects without the use of runes, but these forces are basic to the development of new technologies and the progress of our culture.

Well, I do hope you have enjoyed this brief introduction, and I would be delighted to hear about the forms of magic in your own worlds!

Please, Leave This to the Experts- Me.

Hello everyone- I finally gave in to Uncle and decided to participate in this... thing. Extraordinarily haphazard jury-rigging aside, Igmar didn't to a bad job getting this contraption to work- I still can't find the elusive "backspace" key I keep hearing about, but I'm sure we'll work out the kinks now that I'm involved.

I wouldn't, as Uncle described, call myself a 'woodsman'- mostly because I get the mental picture of a lot of the other hunters around Ost- huge, barrel-chested, stinking like the animals they're after, and above all other charming features, stupid. I know that sounds harsh, but I'm sure you know the type- they rely on their muscle so much their brains have started to deflate.

Anyway, how I would describe what I do- I am a "Containment and Elimination Specialist", or to use a more common phrase, "bounty hunter". When things go bump in the night and the peasants flee in terror from something apparently all of them assume can breath fire (nearly always not the case, but try explaining that to a blithering gourd-farmer), they post a bounty on the nearest service board, and I pick it up. I then go to work applying my numerous, specialized skills (both of the practical outdoorsy type and the runecraft and elemental science I've developed thanks to Uncle) and bag the monster before it carries off any more sheep. I sell my services to whomever can pay and several who can barter and make a pretty good living for myself.

Other than that, I mostly help Uncle- he doesn't get out much, so he sends me off to get this or that for experiments. He's raised me like a son after my mother died when I was born. In case you're wondering, my father, whoever he is (and I don't particularly care) popped off and left me to starve alone in this drafty old lodge. I also practice falconry with my golden eagle, Liv- but more about her later.

Well I think that's enough for now- Uncle Igmar is bugging me to use the "Paradox-Space Script Viewer". I think he means this thing.

By fortuitous chance of experimentation and glorious science, I bid you greetings!

Fellow sojourners of space and time, I give you my great thanks for the opportunity to test the bounds of knowledge and great minds on this endeavor. I am Igmar Gamelson, honored first born of the great scholar Gamel Igorson, co-founder of the High University of Elemental Theory of Einstarn, and his father who was some sort of brutish warlor, as I recall from father's stories. I come to you from the world of Rune-Midgard, the land of men blessed by the Order of Elements, and the gods which rule them, and us, with varying degrees of success.

I myself hold office in that university, a highly awarded and regarded scholar in the field of Elemental Science, which is, incidentally, how I discovered this peculiar device- You see, I was performing a rather dangerous crossing of the elements of Reality and Order, fluctuating Chaos to catalyze a ujhbjbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbncdfeljmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm /………….

I’m terribly sorry, that would be Vera, my dear pet- She is a rabbit, you see- a blue one. Quite rare, and curious- I would correct that mistake, but I have yet been unable to discover a method-

In any case, I accidentally generated this strange device- and with several modifications managed to connect to its source material plane, and so found this strange system of information, mostly rubbish, and stumbled upon this meeting ground of what I can only assume must be great minds of science to have found their way here as well. I have not been in kinship with other like minds for over two decades, you see- I traveled out of the blessed city to the rural home of my youngest sister, Liv, on the news that she was with child… only to find that she had died during childbirth, and that there was no one to care for her son, Andreas. The father left only an heirloom, and I have not any details to his identity.

I raised young Andreas as I would my own son, in the stead of my dear sister, teaching him in the ways of science and Elemental Theory as is the tradition of young scholars of the great university. Andreas is a bright young man, although not comfortable in society (not a problem for which I am capable of any worthwhile advice, the poor lad), and a bit of a woodsman- But he has a knack for applying his studies to his trade as a hunter and trapper, and brings me many interesting specimens of elemental corruption for study, like my Vera here.

Well, that’s quite enough for a first entry, I think- I am eager to know your thoughts, travelers.