So more stuff on the DragonScape and that is mana and magic

I wanted to make it familiar and more intuitive than the post pulse magic system and leave it feeling more at home with the tribal dragons that use it compared to the nozzles and tools of the post pulse canon.
Mana is the coalesced influence of the raddir made manifest. It is always a glowing, mercury like liquid that has an ozone like smell smell to it. It is pretty straightforward in of itself, to a mage it is a “fuel”, if it’s in your body you can elementize it with your spirit and then use that for one of the 3 disciplines of magic (more on that stuff later)

But for now, there are five elements of mana, Fire, Ice, Electric, Acid, and Wind
And there are 3 dragon magic disciplines currently, Breathrowing (dragon breath) Scalemorphing (physical enhancement) and dreamcalling (summoning spirits)

Mana and the magic around it has a lot of importance to the drekir for many reasons
magic is also a great tool as while magic is used to blow up problems, it is more commonly used in day to day village life, with tons of practical applications to the mundane tribe life of a drek mage. Most tribes will have some sort of mage/shaman/druid/medrake/ magic using drek in their village just for the utility.
Fire is the most broadly useful, from starting fires and keeping warm to alchemy and smelting stal to make metal tools (if they know how to make stal)
Ice is mostly great for cooling down in hot situations and food preservation

Acid is great in breaking down obstacles like fallen trees
Wind is great for things like mobility, some mages even stick their snouts at the back a boat, a wind magic turbine made from a drek snoot.
Lightning is generally kept for fighting though sometimes mages use it to turn themselves into a light source
So combat aside magic is a very useful tool

Magic is also a very important thing for cultures and religions, just because a drek can do it doesn’t mean they understand it. It is common to see magic and mana used in religious ceremonies and have all manners of superstitions tied to them.
The kobukiks believe that mana is the saliva of the nipaq (raddir), who drool as they smile whilst the kobukiks show their job and appreciation of their new lives. Thus they believe that those who use the mana are blessed and chosen by the nipaq.
Dreamcalling in Portlander society is a very important religious event, requiring days of prayer, ceremonies, and sacrifices (eggs usually) before the actual magic even starts, and during the event a series of dances are danced around the dreamcaller, even if they technically aren’t needed.

All manners of superstitions about magic and mana spring up region to region and it is common to see local beliefs about what mana is vary and range from mundane to bizarre.

It should be obvious that breathing literal torrents of fire is good for a fight and mages are often a great equalizer in battles against groups like the Sivilāo, or renegade groups that are better equipped than your small tribe. Spitting lightning, acid, fire, frost or a burst of wind can help balance things out, though I won’t focus on it here.

Dangers of Mana
Mana and magic are powerful, though also dangerous. The main limiting factor being that a biological creature can only handle so much mana before they suffer from mana sickness or die from a meltdown.
Drekir, and all dragons, have a natural way of venting mana, drekir pant and drool out excess mana. But there is a point where mana is building up in a body faster than they can naturally vent it out.
Mana sickness is when enough mana builds up to tear holes in reality within the body, mild cases are usually contained and brief, only ripping away a small piece of organ tissue, usually prompting a day or two of vomiting up excess mana. Whereas a severe case can destroy internal organs and cripple or kill a drek due to the complications caused by that.
A Meltdown is a point of no return, when the entire body starts to break down and sublimate from all the mana in the body, this is a long, terrible death in which the body both melts and sublimates into a puddle of mana and a cloud of manafog. This can be avoided if you’re careful around mana though it does still happen from time to time, it’s a terrible way to die.

Take Care!