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Summoning Jutsu. Chief Toad Appears!

Futhark

Inkling
Not sure if this should go here or in Brainstorming?

A mage (or ninja) summoning creatures from another realm to fight for them has been something I’ve wanted to write about for some time. Unfortunately for me the mechanics of the magic system in my current WIP won’t allow it. I don’t want to force a square peg into a round hole just to indulge some wish fulfilment.

But the idea is like a loose tooth, I have to keep prodding at it. So, in the interests of an interesting World Building topic (and some personal wish fulfilment), I would like to pose some questions. Namely, examples of summoning that you like, ones you don’t, and/or how you would do it.

Some broad categories can be:
What are the creatures. Are they natural animals, aliens, demons, deities or Pokémon.
Where are they. (E.g.) A pocket universe, the underworld, the other end of a wormhole.
How are they summoned and controlled, that is, how does the magic work.

Thanks all.
 

JGCully

Scribe
I prefer the good old DnD explanation.

Underworld realm that contains demons of various kinds. Summoning done by magic and ritual, and the creature summoned is bond to its summoner.. And woe betide if you don't complete the ritual properly, or the creature may run amok, or you end up summoning something much more powerful and intelligent.

The various demons range from hell hounds and lower demons, creatures barely more intelligent than a dog or cat, up to demon Lords of immense power.

As I said you require both innate magic ability (say to communicate or break into the Underworld) and the right ritual (a calling then binding ritual for the creature you are interested in).

This is unoriginal, but it works.
 
Ah, Naruto.

What are the creatures. Are they natural animals, aliens, demons, deities or Pokémon.
Where are they. (E.g.) A pocket universe, the underworld, the other end of a wormhole.
How are they summoned and controlled, that is, how does the magic work.

What are these answers for the two Naruto shows?

  • They are natural animals--but not natural in that they speak and can use Jutsu.
  • They do have a home realm. I'm not sure exactly what that realm is. But they talk about coming from it and going back when the shinobi no longer needs them.
  • As a shinobi, one merely focuses chakra in the right way, making the right hand movements, slaps the ground, a rune diagram appears on the ground, there's a puff of smoke, and then there they are.
And this is good enough for the Naruto universe. Works for me.

I'm not fond of the summoning of deities or demons. It's been done to death. In the case of summoning demons, that seems like a horror element. Or a villain element. Dark. I'm also generally tired of the Christian mythology sort of demon summoning. A la the John Constantine or Supernatural types of mythologies.

As for aliens, I've never seen it. That's an interesting possibility actually. I don't mean alien monsters—that would just fall under a general "summoning monsters" category. I mean actual sentient alien beings who might be left wondering how they got here. Or got wherever. I think I might love that.

There is the case of Aahz from the Myth Adventures series, although as far as I remember that happened only in the first chapter of the first book of the series. He looks like a demon at first, summoned by a human wizard who is shortly murdered by intruders. But he's actually a dimension traveler. The whole series is based on a sort of multiverse of dimensions; but the world in that first book is so backwards, they get "dimension traveler" wrong and shorten it to "demon." There are many types of dimension traveler, since there are many dimensions. Aahz just looks like what we might call a demon in our world. This summoning involved a ritual of the typical sort, if I remember correctly, with designs drawn on the floor, candles at the corners, a walking cauldron....But I think that was all for show. The wizard summoning him was an old friend of his and was trying to impress Skeeve, his young human apprentice.
 

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
Summoning is a distinct brand of magic in my worlds, one of the few distinctions I make. It's also flat out prohibited in my major civilized nations. Hmm...I'll let a couple of my wizard characters do the explaining:

The warriors master strode to the dais and sat in the throne, staring into the shadows. The demonic mouth opened. “Lysander!” he called in that dreadful hollow tone. “I know you’re in here! Show yourself!”



“A man’s span is measured in decades,” said a voice from somewhere within the chamber, “but a demon’s span is measured in millennia.”



The horrid face jerked at the words.



The voice without a source continued speaking. “So, in any negotiation, the demons greater experience gives it the advantage over the mortal. The demon knows every argument and every stratagem, and how to counter or twist each in turn towards its own purposes.”


“They are your words, Edward Chain,” said the voice.



The figure with the demonic face drew a deep breath. “Edward Chain is dead.”



“No,” said the source less voice. “Edward Chain was a mask donned by Edward DuSarite to escape confinement in Solaria and discarded to become the Warlock of Traag.”



“So, you know,” said the Warlock. “Why don’t we discuss this at length in person?” His hand made an elaborate sigil in the air.



A shimmering appeared at the foot of the dais and dissolved into the shape of a tall gaunt man wearing a tattered blue cloak.



“Lysander, how kind of you to present yourself.” The Warlock made another gesture, and bands of blue and red light encircled the man before him, who cringed from their touch. “Allow me to continue Edward Chains lesson: The magic of men is weak; the magic of demons is strong. Hence, in any contest of power between the two, men loose.” With those words, the Warlock clenched his hand, and the imprisoning bands clenched. Lysander’s robes and skin sizzled where they touched.
 

Futhark

Inkling
As for aliens, I've never seen it. That's an interesting possibility actually. I don't mean alien monsters—that would just fall under a general "summoning monsters" category. I mean actual sentient alien beings who might be left wondering how they got here. Or got wherever. I think I might love that.

I had an idea for a technomage that has a ship of galactic creatures that they can summon via a wormhole, but the sentient alien idea is a good angle. In Naruto the animals home realm is an actual place people can travel to, and the ninja have to sign a contract in blood, though what the animals get out of this bargain is unclear. Technically I guess these are teleportation spells, but hey, potato, pumpernickel.

One I found interesting, pretty sure it’s in the Belgaraid, is the usual protective circle, but then they had to force a specific form on the demon in order to bind it. Another concept I’ve been playing with is that the summoner swaps places with the whatever and has to survive in the other realm. I know some video games use this but haven’t seen it in a book where the consequences and pitfalls can be explored.
 
Thanks. I couldn't remember.

Now that Futhark mentioned it, I do remember the shinobi have to make a contract first.
 
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