This creates an interesting twist. And what if he's trying to find powerful mages to use for these experiments. (Mages like Roman? And Olive?)
It would probably make more sense to experiment on non-mages since Dark Magic is basically magic for non-mages.
But you do need a supply of e-cells. And logic says that more powerful the mage, the more E-Cells (even though I don't think that's true lore-wise.)
That's true... I didn't think of that. I think what you say is true... in a way. It's been suggested multiple times that Olive has a lot of raw power but with basically no control over it. That can mean more E-Cells! But that doesn't mean a mage with less E-Cells is automatically less powerful. People use their resources differently in all aspects of life. For the record, I didn't actually intend Olive to have this much raw power, but I do think that makes her all the more interesting. This is a big benefit of this being collaborative. Everyone just adds their own ideas. In my head anyway, Olive has hit the genetic jackpot because she is from that highly ranked noble family from her homeland... which I have yet to decide on. Speaking of which, this is meant to be set in Europe. Which place in Europe? I don't think we ever discussed that.
Well, I was thinking of the idea that more powerful mage = more E-cells is a scientific falsehood. People THINK that's the case, but it's not. Magic is skill based. That way, everyone who can use magic naturally have the same chance of using it as well as any other. I think the E-cell myth is like some of our medical myths that have become disproven/known to be discriminatory. What are your thoughts? It would tie Barnabas into Olive's plot and what if he realizes Katara could be a great source of cells? He could convince her she's sick and he needs to take samples of her blood to the healers. Or something twisted like that. And um... I don't know. I totally forgot it was 'set in Europe'. I figure England or maybe Germany? I am not sure, which.
What are these E-cells? Something to do with magic? Katara's mother is poet and her father scientist. No mage in her.
Barnabas has much bigger things to concern himself with than Olive's magic. She is nothing compared to the plans he has with the queen. These are all things I was actually already planning to write in my next post. I'll also have to PM Louanne since it's her character. We can totally make up a country. It doesn't have to be like the real world. They were covered in a new lore post (you might not have seen it since you are in vacation). They're essentially something mages have to perform magic. Non-mages don't have them, so no magic. So, yeah, Katara indeed has none of that.
Yeah, I figured it was a parallel/made up world to ours. Similar things and familiar places, but different names. Ugh, I got characters mixed up. My fault. I forgot Barnabas is the high Scientist, not mage. Oops. (Damn, I wish my brain stored this one little piece of lore. Usually, it's SO much better at storing story stuff like this.)
It's easy to remember like this: Bossman and his family are poets, and Barnabas is the father of Katara (a non-mage), so he isn't a mage either.
I know you @EFMingo has logged in this month, but since we haven't heard from from you, I will be placing you on Vacation Mode at the end of your turn on Thursday (I think.) I hope things are going well and you will always be welcome to join the story again. As for Nassim, I figure he would sneak out of the tavern once he was able to move. Because he has things he needs to do and doesn't want to get caught up in whatever the authorities want.
@EFMingo is now in Vacation Mode and is welcome to rejoin the story at any time. Nassim has left the tavern to not have to deal with the authorities. It is now your turn, @ps102.
Quick little question... (okay, after typing this, this isn't really a quick nor little question) Araspeth was initially established as a high priestess. This raises a pretty good question: What the heck is a high priestess in our world, exactly? SoulFire's post also establishes her as a member of the high court, which raises a similar question. So far, we have the High Mage, the High Scientist, and with Araspeth, the High Priestess. I imagine that the high court is a government body formed by members who are thought to be the best in their domain. Barnabas, for example, would be considered the best scientist in the country if this were true. This would mean that Araspeth is the best priestess. A priestess is basically a messenger to some kind of God (but that depends per religion). I'm not sure how all of this fits into our story. We could say that there is an official religion (which would be an interesting addition...) and that Araspeth is considered to be a highly respectable priestess, so she received high priestess. But she works as a mage for the government. It reminds me of Vivaldi a little bit. We all know him as a musician and composer, but he was also officially a priest. They even called him the red priest. Thoughts?
I don't know. I am not sure if we want to have a religious addition to this story. In my opinion, maybe High Priestess is either a nickname or a title for the Female Sages? Maybe she could be a sage who can work with all the elements.
A priestess is a woman authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religious organization, and I think we can take the definition of a religion very broadly here, and give Araspeth specific duties in her role as a priestess to the mages.
That sounds good to me. She earned that role because she is exceptionally powerful. This part isn't very important right now but I needed this cleared up for my post. I'm working on it and I'll have it ready by Tuesday if I'm lucky!
Here's my thing: There exists no culture to my knowledge that doesn't have some sort of religious or spiritual belief. To ignore that and have no sort of religious aspect would be to do our story a disservice, by pretending an aspect of reality doesn't exist. But it's also VERY common in fantasy literature for the religions / gods of that world to be highly detailed and plot relevant. Whether or not the religion these people follow is true could be a different conversation all together, but there would most certainly be a religion and religions practices / ceremonies / rituals. Religion doesn't have to be a primary focus or theme of this story, but I think it should exist in the world. Additionally, I find the contrast between Arespeth's position as "rebel spy turned authoritarian" against her role as a religious figure head (one of the highest in the country) to be very compelling.
I certainly think the religion should be informed by the way the magic works. Paganism could work if the idea is that the use of magic is channeling or producing something from the spiritual world. If there are these sort of.. Elemental "Cores" or "Spirits" from which the creation of matter originates.
True. You're right. I agree with this thought. I think going with more a pagan vibe could work. I would like to work on the myth story as I enjoy doing that.
Like the idea! I'm in support of this, but anything we do here must be compatible with the magic system. Agreed. I'm terrible at writing myth-style stories. I have a better chance at writing comedy with my non-existent sense of humor. Do you have something specific in mind?
I do have an idea. Give me a bit to figure it out. But I am HAPPY to write myth stories. I love doing it. But FYI, I will try not to make it weird like Greek or Egyptian. Note, I said 'try'.
