#bathysphere jellyfish

(art by Indigojrps on DeviantArt)

And it’s time for yet another elemental school, this time going into the element of earth!

There’s something… odd about imagining your stereotypical wizard being a geomancer. We tend to think of most wizards being frail, feeble, and weak of body while their minds can bend reality itself. That visual language does not lend itself well to a character that invokes the raw might and resilience of earth.

Of course, that assumption is based both on the belief that a person has to reflect their abilities (which while useful and fun, is not necessary) and also the belief that a mage has to be physically weak, but there’s nothing stopping you from having an above-average strength score as a mage.

In any case, the element of earth covers all earthly materials, from the dirt beneath your feet to the stone and minerals of the rocky strata, and the geometric perfection of crystal and the potential of raw ore. It is the element of resilience and immovability, slow to act and patient, but absolutely unstoppable on the path to a goal once it starts moving. And while it is possible to shatter stone, it takes great effort, and even then, the shards left behind retain much of their former strength in their own right, and sport an edge that can prove dangerous to foes.

Earth is also an element of potential and crafting, as it’s many minerals have a myriad of uses both physical and chemical, so it is not surprising to see it be favored by elementalists who seek to create great works, particularly of stone, gems, or even metal, though obviously the latter is favored more by the spreading elemental tradition of metal.

Naturally, earth as an element is opposed by air in the western style, and by wood in the eastern cycle style.

The earth element lends itself well to defensive magic, but also offensive, and as such, such mages make for excellent allies in a siege, with their ability to create and tear down fortifications. However, they can also be found practicing more benevolent magic such as building great public works like bridges and buildings or crafting wondrous items using the magical properties of crystals, and so on, to say nothing of their expertise concerning natural geological formations for the purposes of delving and/or mining.

The earth elemental spell list has the old general staples concerning summoning or polymorphing into elementals, but it also has a lot of focus on conjuring or shaping masses of earthen material, which can range from creating walls, showing foes with rubble, to more esoteric uses like conjuring molten obsidian or tar or even clouds of toxic gasses such as those leaked from underground. Transmutation to or from stone is also a part of their arsenal, and they also gain plenty of offensive and defensive acid spells, since acid is associated with earth in First Edition thanks to the number of caustic minerals that exist in the earth. And who could forget all the various extradimensional pit spells?

Like many earth elementals, these mages derive strength from the ground beneath their feet, being supernaturally hard to make stumble or forcibly move. What’s more, their attacks hit harder and surer when both they and their foes are in contact with the ground. Finally, the most powerful geomancers can use the earth as a conduit for their magic as easily as the open air, meaning that earth and stone no longer block their spells, though obviously they still cannot see through it without other magic.

As a basic attack, these mages can conjure clouds of acidic gas, the fumes of which also debilitate those that inhale them.

Later on, they learn the art of earth gliding, able to swim through the ground the way earth elementals do. However, they can only do so for a limited time.

While no wizard is going to be winning any wrestling matches without magical aid, these elementalists can prove able to hold their own when foes try to inhibit them up close, plus the ability to earth glide means they can get out of nasty scrapes relatively easily. That being said, the real draw of this school is their focus on spells that control the battlefield, set up defenses, and of course generate all sorts of lingering damage. If that sounds appealing, a geomancer might be the right choice for you, but don’t forget to expand your magical arsenal to diversify as well.

I have to imagine that geomancers are a lot like geologists, and while they spend a bit more time mastering magic to manipulate their chosen element, they are likely very passionate about the many different times of stone and rock, and of course the composition and uses of various minerals.

Using arts stolen from dwarven enclaves they infiltrated over the years, the reptoid colony of Vaaskuta is built deep underground from the magically-terraformed rock, and these geomancers protect it still, preventing outsiders from learning of the city or of their plans.

The great underground lake of Banu-Nur is a place where the elements of water and earth meet, and there exists a rivalry between the elementalists that harness both elements. This has most recently come to head with a competition to see who could best retrieve rare crystals from the bottom of the lake. While the hydromancers may at first seem to have the advantage, their earthbound associates know the best conditions in which the crystals grow, and both will be relying on the bathysphere jellyfish of the lake to do their exploration and work.