#24 – Matthew Henson – Geomancer

In general, history isn’t always fair. God only knows how many significant figures in human history have been forgotten, or worse, glossed over in favor of more socially acceptable figures. Matthew Henson is a good example of this; even though Mr. Henson was indisputably the first human to reach the North Pole, for years he was ignored in favor of the more socially acceptable Robert Peary, who was credited with being the first person to set foot on the North Pole despite being unable to actually walk at the time. It’s all a bit ironic, given that Henson was first hired for his skill in seamanship and navigation, and was considered to be little more than a servant by Peary. Frankly, I’d give anything to see what Peary’s face looked like when he found that Mr. Henson was to be honored by the US Congress with a duplicate of the silver medal awarded to Peary for being the first man to the Pole, let alone the speaking tour that followed.

Geomancers hold the unique and dubious honor of being both an extremely useful class and an extremely limited class. Geomancers rely on their surroundings for their attacks; a Geomancer standing on stone, for example, would be able to use an Earth-elemental attack, or an Ice-elemental attack while standing on snow or ice. Though limited in flexibility, Geomancers usually compensate for this by being well above average in attack strength, or even causing status effects with their abilities. Unfortunately, there’s a rather dangerous downside to this, in that monsters that appear in a specific area usually follow its elemental theme. Monsters found in a snow field, for example, will usually resist or absorb Ice-elemental attacks, and the Geomancer’s lack of flexibility means there isn’t normally much that can be done about it.

Category: 2011, Fantasy