polecat-flyer:

thedeadmanremains:

I really like the idea of body horror in fantasy settings.  Specifically as the cost of using magic

Fire mages with hands of charcoal and embers

Water mages who’re living columns of water from the waist down

Necromancers with withered, skeletal arms

Sure, you can twist the universe to your will, but you lose a little of your humanity each time you do

And what of the people who just have withered edges. Like just a bit. They tried it, and they knew what they were losing so they stopped.

Not because it was wrong. Not because they were scared to hurt themselves.

But because they knew that their bodies wouldn’t last forever. And someday…. Someday they were going to come across a motherfucker who deserved every little bit of their life force in destruction.

And you see the girl taking your order at the coffee shop, you realize the very tips of her fingers are perpetually singed. You leave a tip in the jar and promise yourself you’ll never be a dick when she misspells your name. Because someday she’ll be having a bad day. And there will be a customer who’s not so considerate, he will find out that he hit her last nerve.

She may not be all that good at magic.  But that motherfucker is going up in flames.