Frames

A staple of the Flamebearer’s professional sphere, a frame is any sufficiently large device intended to serve as an expansion of the bearer’s body, which allows for and facilitates high-level use of gimynfire. Because most professional activities are locked behind that level of use, the ability to operate a frame is considered the mark of a fully-matured flamebearer.

The principal purpose of a frame is twofold: a capacitor and a reinforcement. As a natural extension, they also serve to provide a great deal of protection to their users, while greatly enhancing their effective strength. There are myriad designs that meet these requirements, though they can generally be sorted into two categories.

The most common category is commonly referred to as a “sheath” type, so named for their comparatively lean size and stature. Such frames are characterized by a focus on maintaining a high level of fluid gimynfire to be used in complex engrams. This is often accomplished by a characteristically small base frame, covered in flexibly crystalline “clothes” made of Adamant. Though weak against pure kinetic weaponry, such frames excel at defending against infused attacks or engrams, and at dealing out such attacks themselves with their varied engrams. Due to their back-line tactics, focus on scriptcraft, and sheer sparkle factor, such frames are often popular with noble scions.

The other category of frame is the “titan” class, characterized by a thick mass of steel armor and an equally imposing stature. As a counter to sheath frames, titan frames focus on kinetic force, using their large mass to wrangle enormous coupled weapons at blinding speeds. However, as most of their gimynfire is locked up and utilized in controlling the frame and its weapon, they often have little fire left for engrams, and as such are reliant on just their weapons. Though their mass does not belie their speed, as many titans are capable of just the same maneuvers as sheathes.

Notably, a good number of frames do not fall perfectly into either category. Many sheathes will carry a kinetic weapon or wear heavier armor, while some titans might keep a surprise engram or two. The vast majority, in fact, use a blend of both styles.

Framesouls

The heart of a frame, rather appropriately, is the framesoul. Defined as the part of a frame responsible for maintaining the support systems inherent in them, they include artificial Gimyndine pseudo-scribes, tamed wandersouls, and even a bonded flamescribe. Each method is more popular in certain spheres, as they each have their own benefits and drawbacks.

The by far most common method is the pseudosoul, as both sufficiently competitive wandersouls and deep bonds with capable flamescribes are rare. Some of the more powerful gimyndine stones may even hold exotic engram elements like wandersouls, which is enough for many to look past the intense risks of glassrot, especially with improper use.

On the other end, taming a wandersoul is regarded as a significant act, especially a more powerful one. Unlike pseudo-souls, wandersouls carry no risk of glassrot while offering comparable or greater power, which leads many to forget that the risk of lunacy is much higher if the soul is improperly tamed.

The final, and most rare option, is using one's own flamescribe. On paper, it is the best option, as it carries no health risks, and scribes skilled in the practice far outcompete both other options. The main caveat is that it requires a deep bond with a highly skilled scribe, both rare things. In addition, soulfire still needs to be sourced from somewhere, and the scribe needs to fit in the frame as well, which can lead to design complications.