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afb728 -> RE: (DF) "Ember" Discussion (8/12/2014 18:04:28)
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I did notice the magical prowess thing, so I've tried to rein that in. In the later chapters, he becomes more easily drained. (And injured, too.)
Regarding the clothes: "Mold" was a bad choice of words. I meant "transform", then "enchant". I'm going to fix that. Done.
There's a Tl;dr version at the bottom.
Regarding magic in general: What I meant was "Elemental" magic. And I've been meaning to explain this in-story for a while, so here we go. An early draft of the character had him like this:
quote:
He does not use elementally charged spells (like summoning rainfall from the clouds), he uses his mana to transform the world to what he wishes (having the ground be dry, then suddenly underneath 3 feet of water). Although powerful and highly educated, he is only human, and without the support of an Elemental Lord, he only has the power of an above-average mage, but is much more technically skilled.
-taken from a correspondence
That example of magic is kind of stupid, but this was written directly after the first two chapters a year ago. (Now, I would have him open a portal from the ocean, set to close when a certain amount of water flowed through). The thing with Elemental magic is that (for anyone, not just people destined to host the Lord of Fire) it's always going to be weak to its opposing element. If you use Ice to improve your vision, then in times of great heat, it's going to fail, unless you go through the trouble of building multiple fail-safes. The one way to avoid this is to only use mana, which is more difficult because you don't have the strength of an Element backing you up. You're drawing on your own reserves, or from your living surroundings, or, if you're drawing signs, the magic inherent in the signs themselves. The Elements act as a short-cut in a spell-- some of the Elemental Lord's knowledge and strength is there to make sure that the spell goes right. The Element knows what it's suppose to do, and provided you have the willpower and basic know-how, it can handle some of the complexities. For a lot of mages, it's as simple as saying "I want this done, I don't care how." For others, who do care how, it's a matter of spelling out exactly what you want (Like programming: If this, then that. If this2, then that3.)
Not using any Element requires an exact knowledge of what you want done, because if you mess up, there's nothing to take the fall for you. Even if Ember were a normal mage, he'd have to be well-versed in whatever his specialty was or he would be dead by now. Coupled with Ember's future role as Tongue, which requires a good education to be effective (The possessing Lord might know how to do something, but if the Host didn't know it as a mortal, then together they can't do it.), being a knowledgeable in every type of magic is more than just a safety precaution, it is necessary for the strength of the Realm. No one can reliably see the future, so being prepared for any and every possibility is a must. Only a small amount of ingenuity is allowed once bonded, by modifying known spells, but you end up using 3 large steps when you could have only used one. The more little steps you know in a spell, the more you can modify it. Without that education, you essentially have a second Avatar trying to metaphorically nail something to a wall using Styrofoam. Yeah, the Lord might have the strength to do it, but the tool is very ineffective. That's why Ember spent all of his life locked in a Temple reading. His purpose in life was to be the best hammer (sorry, extended metaphor) possible.
The teleportation thing is an extension of that. If the Great Dragon (Orbed or not), the Avatar, and the Tongue are all required to be at the same spot at once, and all are equidistant from it and half a world away from that spot, the Dragon and the Avatar can each get there quickly, either through flight or teleportation. The Tongue, however, has to get there through mortal means. That means walking, or grabbing a griffin, or using a permanent portal (Eg Warlic's in Falconreach), or making his own.
I'm going to explain some things about the Tongue:
The Tongue's purpose is to act as the medium between the Elemental Lord and the mortal world. That means more than just sitting on a cushion and answering questions, or leading the Cult of Fire and the Elementals. It means that he is required to help villages in need in any way he can. Part of the Lord of Fire is stuck living as a human in order to make things better for everyone, to maintain empathy while still having the power level to make a change. Creatures like the Avatars, which are just really dense concentrations of the Lords' power, come up with their own personalities and are their own person unless possessed by the Elemental Lord, generally have no reason to look out for the mortals. The Orbs have no personality, but their purpose is for mortals to take things into their own hands or to empower the Great Dragons. The Elves, like Neso said, have more or less the same purpose as the Tongue, only without the direct possession. The problem with them is that they became too self-involved. That could happen to the Tongue, but a proper Tongue shouldn't be just the Lord deciding things or the Host doing his own thing (like Salt), it should be two beings keeping each other inline and working in concert for the same goal. Two should become One. Naturally, each Host's personality has an effect on what the Tongue does, but having being able to work together is part of the compatibility test in order to be chosen. You've seen two failed Tongues (Ember and Salt.), Ember because he never bonded and I'll get to Salt in a paragraph.
Neso says that Fire chose selfishly, but I think that, assuming that the Host and the Lord work well together, the Tongue is kinder than making elves. You only change one person at a time and get much more bang for your buck. The elves have the Lords' power spread equally between them, more diluted with each new one. Additionally, some may not be suited to the task, meaning a waste of power.
Salt is a special case. He had the aptitude, and could have been a great Tongue. The problem is, he was just some beginner mage apprentice when the previous Tongue died. No other child with aptitude had been born in the Temple and people had been looking for a replacement in the outside world, but none had been found (You want an instant replacement.). When the previous Tongue died (I want to say it was in battle in the countryside.) , Salt was the nearest person with aptitude. Because he didn't have a lot of spells, he was essentially useless. The Fire Lord decided to keep Salt hidden away in the Temple so that he wouldn't die before a new Host was found. The Lord also resolved to have at least one more backup (This part is a secret. Ember doesn't know.), who would be trained with the necessary skills and knowledge, then have his memories locked away unless they were needed (The spell was phrased so that by Possessing him, the memories would return.) and kept in a safe place. Will that backup ever make an appearance? No. Fiamme and the Fire Lord want Ember. He's one of the best candidates in ages (Not the best, but he's up there in the rankings.). The backup is going to stay where he is, living his life as a mortal. In the very unlikely event that he does appear, it'll be in passing as the most minor background character imaginable.
Tl;dr version: So, to wrap it all up, the Tongue needs to know everything for the sake of the Realm and the surrounding mortals. That includes teleportation, shields, whatever. He's not meant to sit on his backside all day being waited on; he's meant to do something. Yes, in the first few chapters, I am inconsistent with mana-costs and power levels, but those are steadily becoming more realistic.
EDIT: Or I've installed a convenient plot device to get around mana costs (see the Fire Chapter, Part 1).
Thanks for plowing through this block of text and for reading my story. I hope this answers your question. If you have any more, don't hesitate to ask. :)
-E
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