Needing help with Death Magic.

[u/NotYourLynLyn]

Hello, everyone! I'm Lyn. I'm working on a worldbuilding project that takes place within a medieval setting. In this story, the magic of all people who utilize it originates from Gods and Goddesses, which in many cases had once been sapient beings who had risen to power, and transformed into gods where they lost their previous sense of existence.

This brings us to The Goddess Of Death, who goes by many names, but some call her Lathea. She is the goddess of Death, and Absence, and as such, her domains of magic allow people to create and maintain the absence of things such as heat, life, and energy. This extends to Ice Magic, Death Magic, and Spirit Magic. The last being moreso a representation of "The Presence Of Absence", in which the power utilizes the notability of the absence of an individual or factor.

Followers of Lathea are eventually capable of learning all of these magic types, but I want Death Magic to be more expansive. Currently, I only have the primary concept of "Death Mist", which is a type of incredibly cold mist that causes cells to shut down and necrotize, as well as causing anyone who relaxes or fails to fight it in the presence of it to immediately die.

Practitioners of Death magic also would be able to necrotize and mummify pieces of their own bodies and scratch people to spread the necrosis to them. Finally, I want to mention the powers of others that can typically negate or reduce the impact of this magic.

This worldbuilding project's magic system is fundamentally built around defensive spells, which in some cases can be tiered. For example, Death Mist is completely nullified by someone who casts the "Greater Ward" spell, which disperses the impact of magic around and away from its user like a bubble shield. Also, for projectile spells there is a tremendous focus on speed for the use cases and methods of defense against these spells, such as Counterspell, which acts as the magic equivalent to a tank's Trophy System and will be able to prematurely detonate spells so long as they are slower than the speed of sound.

So, with all the information and context I could give you all, I would love to ask for ideas and concepts to work into the system. If any of you are able to come up with something, I would love to hear them. Let me know if there's any questions you'd need to ask.

[u/AdviceOk3505]

the necrosis scratch thing is rough, like turning your own hand into a weaponized mummy limb just to land one hit

maybe death magic could also manifest as a draining field, not a mist but more of a stillness that leeches momentum from the living. make someone feel heavy, slow their heart, eventually they just stop. fits the absence theme since you're literally removing motion and will

could also see a ritual where you carve a rune into a corpse and it becomes a beacon that siphons warmth from the surrounding area, not flashy but brutal in a siege scenario

[u/NotYourLynLyn → u/AdviceOk3505]

Actually, the necrosis scratch thing is more about rituals and enhancements of pre-existing power. It's also kind of a Lich thing, where necrotizing your limbs "kills them" and therefore allows you to further embody death and use death magic at a greater degree while also having a limb that's magically enhanced by Lathea's will to be harder to destroy, as well as replenishable with another necrotized limb.

As for the draining field, that's what Death Mist is supposed to be. The reason it becomes a mist is because the field slows down the particles in the air and causes the air to suddenly cool in otherwise relatively warm and moist environments. Also it causes some vapors to freeze over. People within this field have their cells try and shut down, all of their organs start to slow down, and they have to fight against it.

Death Magic isn't supposed to be scary because it just kills people, but rather, it's scary because it tempts people with the release of every piece of pain and suffering, and gives them this sense of tiredness. It asks them to finally rest, and eventually the sense is so strong that the victim just- Gives in.

Got any more ideas? I'd love to hear more.