This is part 6 of 6 of the series on Magic in Redshift. This time, it's about Death.

If you want to catch up, or read the rest of them:

Part 1: https://itch.io/blog/512851/magic-part-1-fundaments

Part 2: https://itch.io/blog/515946/magic-part-2-order

Part 3: https://itch.io/blog/519514/magic-part-3-life

Part 4: https://itch.io/blog/522356/magic-part-4-knowledge

Part 5: https://itch.io/blog/525808/magic-part-5-change

Death. It's everywhere. Everything is dying all the time, no matter what. Everyone and everything will go through it at some point; even the universe.

As a Force, Death is perhaps the most prevalent of all Forces, coursing through everything, waiting for the moment to act.

It's also the most offensively oriented of the 5 Forces, however, this focus comes with some major problems. It's incapable of altering the environment, and is only capable of countering Life. It is also flat out illegal to channel. Casters that are capable of it hide their magic usage so they don't go to jail or are killed for it's use.

There are spells that are designed with a specific alien species in mind, warping their physiology to the point that the body is incapable of supporting life. This spell also has a version that affects beings of that desired species in an area. Even among Death Channelers, these two spells are considered a taboo to use, though they do consider it beneficial that they are so targeted. They can also cast a curse on a person to make everything go wrong for them, make it where weapons do more damage, lower their mental or social faculties, cause tissue to necrotize and be impossible to heal magically, siphon their health or their abilities to boost your own, or inflict terror upon them.

Because of these things, Death is profoundly powerful, but it will cost you your health to even cast, taking a literal physical toll on your body for the power over Death itself.

When Paired with Order, it becomes War. The desire to force Order upon the universe using violence and death.

When Paired with Life, it completes the cycle of Life and Death. The things that are living now must die to become fuel for the things that will live.

When paired with Knowledge, it becomes Genocide. Using Knowledge to fuel Death in untold numbers.

When paired with Change, it becomes Entropy. The very death of the universe will occur through Entropy.

A master of Death is truly a terrifying foe, in both the literal and figurative sense. They can kill only those they wish to kill, cause tissue to become black and die on the bone, lower someone to the intellect of a newborn, make weapons that are incomprehensively deadly, suck away your strength, Agility, or anything to make themselves even stronger, heal their own wounds by causing them upon you, or make you flee in terror at the sight of them.

Beware the master of Death, for he can be the destroyer of worlds.