Prismatic Mage

Users of radiance who carry prisms that can split radiance into its seven component parts. These energies can then be redirected to empower others or create other radiant energies. Though anyone can use prisms on radiance, few understand how to control the results or how it works. Only those deemed worthy by rainbow serpents learn those secrets.

Rainbow Serpents

Anyone who uses radiance often enough will begin dreaming of rainbow serpents. If they are deemed worthy, the rainbow serpent will teach them the arts of the prismatic mage. If they are not deemed worthy, they will have to find other ways to learn. Those taught by rainbow serpents are often required to render services to the serpents, going on long journeys to help others in the world.

Worthiness

A prismatic mage proves themselves worthy by helping others. A rainbow serpent will never teach those who harm others (or wish to) how to wield their powers.

Radiance

Raw radiance is more versatile and powerful than any of its single component parts, but it is much more difficult to control and can often overwhelm its targets. It also hits everything in its range, including targets you might want to avoid empowering. Because of this, prismatic mages tend to use the components instead. In order to find raw radiance, a prismatic mage must either seek out natural rainbows, find objects that contain it, or generate it by helping others and receiving it from the rainbow serpents when they dream (they will awaken with radiance around them that follows them until they use it).

Seven Components

Much as light splits into an infinite number of colors collected into seven categories, so too does radiance split into an infinite number of variations split into seven categories:

• Radiant body: Scarlet radiance, the energy of empowering bodies and physical matter. Tenyocan can be produced from this.
• Radiant action: Fulvous radiance, the energy of empowering actions, behaviors, and skills. Liberation power can be produced from this.
• Radiant thought: Yellow or saffron radiance, the energy of empowering thoughts, knowledges, and learning. Euskepsia can be produced from this.
• Radiant movement: Emerald radiance, the energy of empowering movement, kinetics, energies and gaseous matter and sound. Euphony can be produced from this.
• Radiant identity: Sapphire radiance, the energy of empowering Names, the whole of one's being. Dumaqu can be produced from this.
• Radiant emotion: Lavender radiance, the energy of empowering emotions, as well as liquid matter. Euphoria can be produced from this.
• Radiant soul: White radiance, the energy of empowering souls, identity, self, as well as light. Euphotonia can be produced from this.

There is also a theoretical eighth component, known as black radiance, radiant absence, or radiant shadow, which is the explanation for the existence of Elysian essence, though others just claim Elysian essence is an entirely separate energy.

Refining

Once split, radiance can be filtered such that the only component present is the one(s) the prismatic mage wishes to use. This is done either by using colored prisms or by use of colored materials (cloth, paint, etc.) that absorbs components the mage does not wish to use and only releases the radiance the mage wishes to use. These colored materials are draped over or applied to the prism when it is in use in order to direct and refine the radiance.

Complementary Colors

Refining is done through use of complementary colors:

• Scarlet (red) is refined by use of emerald (green) filters and vice versa.
• Yellow is refined by use of lavender (violet) filters and vice versa.
• Fulvous (orange) is refined by use of sapphire (blue) filters and vice versa.
• White is refined by use of black filters and vice versa.

In other words, if you want a beam of red, drape green cloth over your prism, and so on. Use of in-between colors may result in more subtle or complicated results. Consult your GM or local color expert for fun with this.

Magenta will neutralize a prism.

Empowering

One may direct radiance via the prism that breaks it up. Once it is refined, it can be pointed at a target. If it is held on a target for three seconds, the target will become empowered. This means that bonuses apply on the subsequent round to the one the prism is used in.

Relevance

What can be empowered by a component is determined by its characteristics. Substance, color, and energy all come into play.

Component	State	Form	Stat	Skill/Power	Color	Element	Energy
Sapphire Radiance	Solid	Identity	Presence / Athleticism	Skills to help others / Relationship skills / Sex / Empathy	Blues	Metal	Dumaqu
Black Radiance	Liquid	Shadow	All (esp. Stealth)	Unexpected skills	Blacks/greys	Darkness	Elysian essence
Emerald Radiance	Gas	Sound	Awareness / Presence	Music, communication, language / Team activities	Greens	Wood	Euphony
Lavender Radiance	Liquid	Emotion	Presence	Alleviating pains / Medical skills / Cooking / Mixing	Violets	Water	Euphoria
White Radiance	Plasma	Soul	Willpower	Inherent non-physcial powers / Artistic skills	Whites	Light	Euphotonia
Yellow Radiance	Gas	Thought	Awareness	Lores and knowledges / Hard-learned skills	Yellows	Wind	Euskepsia
Scarlet Radiance	Solid	Body	Strength	Craft skills and manual labor / Inherent physical powers	Reds	Earth	Glory
Fulvous Radiance	Plasma	Action	Prowess / Stealth / Athleticism	Fine motor control / Acts of resistance	Oranges	Fire	Liberation power
Full Radiance	All	Name	Any (esp. Prowess)	Any	All	All	Radiance

For example, a beam of scarlet radiance would empower all solid matter, bodies, earth, and anything the color red in its path, usually improving its physical strength. If something had glory energy within it or the potential to become it, it would be strengthened or created. Note that it is or, not and. A green stone would still be empowered, as it a solid and made of earth. A red wine would be empowered, as it is still red.

As per the spectrum above, browns are somewhere between oranges and yellows and thus can be empowered by both. Magenta is an unreal color and does not get empowered. Indigo is a violet. Anything on the edge between colors gets empowered by both, and lighter or darker versions thereof can tap into white or black radiance at weaker ranges than full white or black.

Some things may not be the color they are associated or perceived to be - many "grey" steel armors are in fact blue, for instance. Or mostly blue.

Anything with multiple colors within it will be empowered by any color present, but at a rate equal to the proportion the target is the specified color. For instance, a ship's sail that has a red stripe down the middle will be more strongly affected by white radiance than scarlet radiance.

No one has ever figured out how to create Elysian essence with radiance, hence why it is usually classified as a non-radiant energy. It is theoretically possible only.

Empowerment

The potency of the empowerment a beam of radiance grants to its target depends on the concentration of the light and the accuracy of the hit, as well as the composition of the target. For every quality a component can affect that the target is, +1 is added per round of exposure. For every complementary quality, there is a -1. For every degree of success on the hit, there is a further +1. Some examples:

• A pink bird with green wings is a half-red and half-white solid body with green solid body. If hit with a beam of pure scarlet radiance, the bird will get +.5 for the red, +1 for being solid, +1 for being a living body, and -.5 for the green wings, total +2 per round. If the hit is special, there is another +1, making it +3 per round if the prism is held steady. All of this will be applied to the bird's strength.
• A cyan dragon's breath weapon is a gas of the same hue. Cyan is half-green and half-blue. If hit by a beam of pure sapphire radiance, the gas will get +1 for being gas, +.5 for being half-blue, and will become attuned to the identity of that which it affects, thus making it alter the identity of the target it hits with a +1.5.

There is room for interpretation by player and GM. If multiple interpretations are possible, a GM is advised to defer to the player's will if their request is within reason.

Rainbows

Most naturally occurring rainbows contain radiance, at least in trace amounts. To be specific, a rainbow is not merely the eruption of light into its spectrum, but such a phenomenon created by atmospheric conditions, especially in association with rain. In order to reach such a rainbow, a prismatic mage usually has to be able to fly; most acquire this (if they do not already have it) via use of yellow radiance. A prismatic mage will absorb radiance by wearing clothing dyed with radiant dye.

Dazzling

Prismatic mages who absorb enough radiance from rainbows into their clothing can unleash it and shape it into beautiful light sculptures and sometimes coherent images. They do this by rending the fabric and using prisms to catch the radiance as it escapes, then willing it to shape.

Inventory

Every prismatic mage must have a prism of non-infernal properties and some method of applying and removing color to their prism. Most will also have colorful clothing.

Prisms

Prisms must be dispersive geometric prisms without any interference from infernal essence. Though some prisms may be designed to refract and focus specific bands of light, radiance must be controlled via color filters.

Colors

The colored materials used to refine radiance must also be free from infernal essence. Materials used must be thin enough to let light through, but not too thin. Unless the prismatic mage has many prisms, they also need a way of removing the materials - i.e., paint removers.

Clothing

The same complementary color system listed above applies to the clothing worn by prismatic mages when they bathe in rainbows. They can empower themselves by filtering out certain lights, but all of their empowerments will apply temporarily to the relevant skills and abilities of their craft: will power, awareness, visual acuity, color science/theory, relevant lores, read people, prism care or making, etc. at the GM's discretion.

Variants

These variations exist around the world:

• Dazzler: one who uses the lore of witchcraft to split the radiant spectrum instead of prisms. They instead use water in clear bowls.
• Iridal painter: one who infuses the radiant spectrum into paints and uses those paints to apply the empowering energy directly, or to create art. Not to be confused with the radiant mountain lion known as an iridal painter.
• Japi-jarimi: one who studies colors in order to supplement their prismatic magic, or vice versa. One of the three cultural variations on the Big Islands of the southern Island Bridge.
• Ngurrurlurlu: one who uses the radiant spectrum to send messages, usually focusing emerald radiance into sounds that are empowered to travel great distances or using yellow radiance to send visions into dreams. One of the three cultural variations on the Big Islands of the southern Island Bridge.
• Parntapi: one who uses their prismatic magic to empower toys they have made that help children learn and grow. One of the three cultural variations on the Big Islands of the southern Island Bridge.
• Riotous: a fool in bright rainbow motley whose performance is deeply empowering and whose miracles unleash beams of radiance.

Persecution

Prismatic mages face extreme persecution in most class societies because they are perceived as threats to the power structures - they can empower the common people and are therefore dangerous. Thus, they are slandered as perverts, heretics, and absurdities by most authorities.

Skills

Some common skills include

• Color theory
• Painting
• Meteorology
• Prism-making
• Sewing

Stats

Modifiers to base of nation/species:

PRO -1
ATH -1
STR -2
AWA +4
WIL +3
STH -2
PRS +3