A few in game questions

[Metis]

I see a new forum update. Am disappointed because the alphanumeric blocks where icons are supposed to be issue is still around. On the bright side it only took one adblock rule to make the website look like it was designed by someone with greater qualifications than a baboon, so...progress .

[Legate of Mineta]

Ever onwards! ;)

[Schwarzbart]

is there a count how many mages took over the leadership of small settlements and then wenn they move on gave this position to an apprentice or other mage?

[Legate of Mineta]

S;

There would undoubtedly be such a count in the tax rolls and annals, but nothing centralized.

[Rhialto]

Are Kitsune known about in the Empire of Man? Are they a type of fey?

[Legate of Mineta]

Rhi;

"The name "kitsune" isn't in common use around Mineta, for obvious reasons, but shapeshifting foxes are definitely part of the mix in the Empire of Man.

Are they fey by nature?  As a matter of political definition, no.  Foxes (even seemingly non-magical ones) are perhaps as good as cats at weaving in and out of fairy lands, and unlike cats they tend to go out of their ways to annoy (and occasionally eat) fey creatures who don't see them coming; they're occasionally hunted by both the Light and Dark Courts, and are considered more or less hereditary enemies of both.

Does that mean there's nothing fey in their nature, though?  Probably not.  Shapeshifting foxes have passed for fairy lords and ladies more than once, and that's hard to do if you're mortal at the core."

[Schwarzbart]

is the magic that protecting the wardrobe the same for each or different depend on the College, or even for each wardrobe?

I suspect the last because the protection might be different depending when the specific wardrobe be installed, what college it is installed and the students also use their own magic. 

Wait a second, how common are strange magic results from the Students also try to add their magic to the wardrobe?

[Legate of Mineta]

S;

"As a rule, there are at least two layers of magical protection on what you’d call “school clothes” - official robes and such.  The first are basic enchantments (usually on buttons, studs, or coins sewn into the cloth); these are the responsibility of the Colleges, in the sense that the Colleges have to provide them and guarantee their quality, but they’re usually actually made by third parties with ties to Vernin (possibly even enterprising upperclassmen).

 

There are also minor spell effects that attach to clothes when students cross the thresholds of their dorm rooms: minor short-term protections and the like.

 

Weird effects from tampering with all that are not uncommon at all.  Particularly if you try to disguise or radically modify what you’re wearing; a fair amount of the magic in place here is meant to prove that students are actually students when tested, under the protection of the school.

 

Not that it’s impossible to get around these magics, by any means.  But it can be tricky if you’re a novice."

[Schwarzbart]

was asking about the locker (ingame called wardrobe) that's why I also mentioned depend how old it is.

[Legate of Mineta]

"Each one is unique, even with the dorm room."

[Good Coyote]

Is there any sense among (Monteon) mercenaries of superiority to pirates, being more honorable than them, bristling about being lumped together with them, anything like that?

[Rhialto]

@Legate of Mineta: 1. Are there any secret caches of documents about how to deal with gates and mastery mages that various governments keep but that civilians would not be able to keep because of the documents' detailed descriptions?

2. On a related note, I presume that it would be illegal to teach a course about defence against illegal magics (because such a course would require one to show and discuss illegal magics in excessive detail), but am I right?

3. Are there negation courses about how to defend against legal pillars of magic, at the Academagia or elsewhere?

[Rhialto]

@Legate of Mineta: Am I correct to think that abstract art of the type that Rixenda practises is generally condemned within the Empire of Man? I mean, abstract/modern art has detractors even today in a more tolerant real life, so...

[yurisama]

Anything you can say about the Stranger Legate? saw a post here some Dragons might worship him but dont know what he is or anything noteworthy he did, supposedly or not

[Legate of Mineta]

OK, answers!

GC:

"It varies from mercenary company to mercenary company, but most do consider themselves qualitatively better than pirates.  They generally claim to honor their contracts and to adhere to recognized rules of warfare, which to their minds gives them an ethical foundation that pirate bands lack.

 

(The view is somewhat complicated by the fact that most of the major merc companies have long and storied histories of breaking contracts more or less at will when better offers come along, but they don't focus on those... discrepancies when making their cases.)

 

It's worth noting that aristocratic society broadly agrees.  There are plenty of cases of mercenaries marrying into noble families in exchange for exceptional service (i.e., if they capture and control useful towns), and that's generally not done with out-and-out pirates.  The cynical might say that the main difference is which parties one gets invited to between raids, but it is what it is."

 

Rhi:

 

"1.  Let's just say that Catherine, Flore and Durand (who between them know quite a lot about the heights of power in Mineta and in the Merilien north) would all say that it's extremely likely that such caches exist - but, if so, they certainly aren't public knowledge.

2.  You're about half-right.  It's perfectly legal for a Negation lecturer to teach techniques that manipulate local ley lines in ways that would make creating gates more difficult - that doesn't require or convey any detailed Gates knowledge, just general magical theory and application.  Similarly, Astrological techniques meant to attune a subject to his/her/their guiding stars tend also to be very good at breaking some Mastery effects, but that doesn't make them legally suspect.

 

But, yeah, classes that teach you how to recognize and counter specific Mastery/Gates phemes or spells could only be taught in Mineta with specific dispensation from the Captain.

 

3.  Yeah, absolutely."

 

"Oh, yeah.  Even at the Academy, a solid majority of the profs wouldn't call Rixenda's work "art."  She's even had some demoralizing conversations with Piaxenza - despite the fact that he isn't her Regent or an art teacher - about "taking art seriously," just because he fears she reflects badly on the school."

 

And for Yuri:

 

"I'd say that the Stranger figures no more directly in Minetan religious lore than, say, Baal in the Bible; he's not much discussed and he's not well understood.  He's known mostly for his most terrible work, bringing the Dragons - though there are some influential treatises (ex., Rudovici's On the Harmony of Spheres) that argue that he created Gates magic more generally to corrupt just societies from within.  If he ever had major cults, either during or before the time of the Dragons, it's fair to say that the New Gods and the early Empire wiped them pretty decisively from the face of the known world."

[Rhialto]

@Legate of Mineta: 1. what do other people hear when a mage's familiar talks to the mage in a non-human, familiar-specific, way?

2. what do other people hear when Mr. Pebbles talks to the PC in a non-human, familiar-specific, way?

3. are spells known that allow people to understand when a mage's familiar talks to the mage in a non-human, familiar-specific, way?

[Legate of Mineta]

Rhi;

"1.  Depends on the familiar.  Unless you got Pamela - or, y'know, Mr. Pebbles - it's entirely possible you've heard no "talking" at all in Y1.  You may never.

 

Moreover, it's extremely likely you've never heard another student's familiar speak.

 

Traditionally, though, if a mage is communicating with a creature that doesn't have a humanoid larynx (or can't fake it), it's a telepathic/empathic line of contact over the Bond.  Silent to outsiders, but sometimes with echoing body language to suggest the contact is ongoing.

 

2.  Some people, if they really listen, can hear actual words.  And the horror of it is, the more they hear the harder it is to tune him out afterwards.

 

For others, it's like a pre-verbal toddler.  Just incessant "Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba!"

 

3.  Multiple levels to this one.  Yes, there are spells that purportedly let a third-party wizard "overhear" conversations conveyed via the Bond.  They're all considered Mastery, though.

 

There are also spells that translate non-human vocalized speech.  If, say, Sheary's dog barks a message that Lambert has fallen down a well, a prepared mage can overhear it and understand - and that's totally legal.

 

And, lastly, there are spells that allow a wizard to communicate with another wizard's familiar by way of a kind of pseudo-Bond; veterinarians find it useful, though it's extremely difficult to master.  That said, it's generally only legal if used with the consent of the familiar's wizard."

[Good Coyote]

Tacking on, does the Shade have a shadow larynx? Can other people hear its magnificent hum?

[Rhialto]

@Legate of Mineta2. Are anti-teleportation wards known about and used? What about anti-summoning wards?

3. Does Aminþia Que’la have standard artistic iconography?

4. If a person were caught with a picture of Aminþia Que’la in the Empire of Man, would that itself be a crime?

[Good Coyote]

5. Are there any potential negative consequences for a Schohanwicht student not participating in things like the special summoning? Is it something you may have been expected to do? Will Black Sheep parents hold it against you as evidence your heart isn't in it?

[Schwarzbart]

2 hours ago, Rhialto said:

4. If a person were caught with a picture of Aminþia Que’la in the Empire of Man, would that itself be a crime?

Would after such a long time when no one official teach gate magic and its history anyone still recognize her or her name? Unless she is pictured with clear Gate related monster or magic I think 99,9% of all people would think it is just the picture of a other woman. After all when there is no prosecutor there is no judge.

Edit: I personal suspect that there even some picture of her in public Art collections without anyone beside some Gate mages know about it.

[Legate of Mineta]

And now:

"1.  Yes.  It's likely quite unsettling when the Shade itself is basically invisible.

2.  Yes, though they're not always as effective as their creators might like.  There are actually several around the Academy grounds - including some rather prominent ones at the Vernin towers.

3.  If you were to come upon a Gates manuscript featuring border art involving a woman holding a wand shaped like a tuning fork, or even a pitchfork, that would be Aminþia Que’la.  There were a number of oral traditions that suggested that the magic she worked caused the head of her wand to split and branch - or to become corrupted in various other ways.

4.  If recognized, it would be grounds for interrogation, at the very least.

5.  Generally speaking, there's enough secrecy around one's studies at Schohanwicht that nobody would know you didn't do the special summoning if you didn't make a point of advertizing it.  Therefore, not really a big deal.

That said, we're not going to get exactly into why Black Sheep parents might want their kids to pursue Gates studies, but they might indeed be slightly happier if you can say you've done a special summoning and could do it again under the right circumstances.  If only because it would improve your odds for long-term success/survival."

 

[Schwarzbart]

9 minutes ago, Legate of Mineta said:

3.  If you were to come upon a Gates manuscript featuring border art involving a woman holding a wand shaped like a tuning fork, or even a pitchfork, that would be Aminþia Que’la.  There were a number of oral traditions that suggested that the magic she worked caused the head of her wand to split and branch - or to become corrupted in various other ways.

This is interesting so there probably was once a way to redirect the chaotic energies within the gate magic to the wand instead of the mind or the magic.

[Good Coyote]

Also interesting because there is a particular Revision wand (Alter Wand) that looks like a tuning fork. Sold by someone who also sells a Mastery item and a definite Gates item. (Though it seems deliberately designed, not corrupted, but maybe in homage.)

[Rhialto]

@Legate of Mineta: Does the New Religion (or Worship of the New Gods) have an equivalent to blaspheming the holy spirit in Christianity, the 5 Heinous Acts in Buddhism, or assigning partners to God in Islam - action/s that would place their actor beyond any divine protection or salvation? If so, what?