This is interesting, I’ve always preferred Fantasy where Magic is at least something that can be somewhat understood (with it’s own internal logic, limits and RULES)
not the blasted wizard that waves his hands around and says abracadabra-happen-now and poff there you have it.
Have you worked out the magic system for The Water Phoenix King?
And it’s fun that Anthem gets to outshine someone for a change instead of being everybody’s favorite second fiddle (I mean as a Fighter: Gilgam, Corva etc; Magic: Vish, Varaxunax)
I mean up till now her role at the inn has been somewhat of a substitute?
the Hyper-intelligent counting-girl with a bad temper and the local priestess for travelers and Wyrdish translator for visiting students.
When 1) Arduna could do the counting job himself if he had the time,
2) As a fighter she has improved greatly but there are still several at the inn that is her better,
3) She has always been suprisingly intelligent and knowledgeable able to translate Wyrdish for example;
but Gilgam with several lifetimes of experiences and being a Wyrd himself could do the translations himself if he felt like doing it, making her helpful but not critical.
4) As for magic up till now she has been in the role of brilliant student catching up to her mentor Vish, and playing the local priestess giving advice to travellers about their their sacrifices.
This need is somewhat dubious when you have an actual GOD (or a pleroma at least) living openly at the inn
And it’s funny seeing Vish flabbergasted! 🙂
(btw is that red-winged Idol an Idol of Ailari?)
One thing thats been bothering me for awhile: why did Gilgam suddenly become affected by Tamantha
after living for decades on Chalt without losing his mind?
On the topic of Anthem the Theurgist; is it normal for a Theurg to become like Anthem with her egregores,
and is Maresh the same after the Ritual?
Another thing tell me if I’m mistaken but do I detect a hint of…I don’t know attraction on Anthem’s part towards Vish?
(She acted so differently towards him when he came back in Ch06 and now in Ch09 when she changes her greeting to him again)
Sorry for the Text dump it just me showing my interest 😉
Arguably Gilgam was always affected by Tamantha, his “indolence” in the beginning and his general elf-malaise, (you know, the “I’m so superior because I’m a wyrd that’s why I lie on the floor not doing anything.” routine) Moreover madness is generally not that noticeable when the subject is sedate. It was when he had something to “get his Wyrdish up” (like “getting your Irish up” but with lightning) that his veneer of control started crumbling and he threw a tantrum and walked off into the woods mumbling.
As for Anthem/Vish shipping, I suspect you’re mistaking “tolerance and politeness” for romance. An understandable mistake when she’s like an irate quill-beast that is on fire to everyone most days of the week. But I suspect it is a case of friendship, like, “thanks for saving my life, I guess I should stop trying to set you on fire with my fire-quills.”
Of course I’ve never been good at judging personal relationships, even with fictional people.
“Have you worked out the magic system for The Water Phoenix King?”
Yes, to an extent greater than a well-adjusted person would consider necessary or even interesting. Out of courtesy to normal people, I’ve limited my in-universe metaphysical speculation to 2-3 pages per issue.
“(btw is that red-winged Idol an Idol of Ailari?)”
Yes; or rather, one of Ailari’s many aspects. I rather doubt the idol-maker even knows exactly what that idol represents; it probably came to him in a dream after Anthem’s duel with Hokta Chuul.
Trivia: The idol-maker (and Naksuanan’s supplier) was supposed to play a larger part in the story, but he got cut out for space reasons.
“why did Gilgam suddenly become affected by Tamantha after living for decades on Chalt without losing his mind?”
The story so far hasn’t made that clear; you would need to ask Anthem, but I don’t know her email address. If I were to venture a guess, I’d say that Darumatha’s liberation/rebirth has led to all kinds of erratic Tamanthic behavior, as we’ll see in this issue.
“On the topic of Anthem the Theurgist; is it normal for a Theurg to become like Anthem with her egregores, and is Maresh the same after the Ritual?”
I’m not exactly sure what you’re asking here. Most theurges are at some risk of egregores, since theurgy is very complicated and even direct affiliation with a god won’t protect a theurge from every echo of the power they use. (And Anthem almost certainly plays looser with the rules than most theurges.) Maresh is not actually a theurge, since his gods are dead; Cultivation is a different sort of thing entirely.
“Another thing tell me if I’m mistaken but do I detect a hint of…I don’t know attraction on Anthem’s part towards Vish?”
I don’t comment on shipping issues. Though I do hope that some romance in some comic I write someday inspires people to send a furious, barely-coherent emails with words like “betrayed the readers.” If that happens, I’ll be sure to post them here.
Is my presumption correct that anyone COULD learn cultivation, becoming shoalin super-monks, if they could get the information without also being indoctrinated and ultimately enslaved to the remnants of Yamra’s power-structure?
Also, do normal theurges become like anthem with her pleroma? (or whatever that was in vol 2 pge 22)?
“Is my presumption correct that anyone COULD learn cultivation…”
Probably not. Tamantha doesn’t just judge what you do, it judges who you are and what you think. You really need to sink into the old power structure, with all that entails, to master Cultivation.
Also, no elf paladins, and I’m enforcing level limits. (Does anyone even get First Edition jokes anymore?)
“Also, do normal theurges become like anthem with her pleroma?”
Yes, theurges work their magic by, basically, splitting off sections of their mind, shaping them like a god, and sending them out to do work.
“Vish is 100% committed to not understanding what’s going on”.
Me too. Scary maths!
This is interesting, I’ve always preferred Fantasy where Magic is at least something that can be somewhat understood (with it’s own internal logic, limits and RULES)
not the blasted wizard that waves his hands around and says abracadabra-happen-now and poff there you have it.
Have you worked out the magic system for The Water Phoenix King?
And it’s fun that Anthem gets to outshine someone for a change instead of being everybody’s favorite second fiddle (I mean as a Fighter: Gilgam, Corva etc; Magic: Vish, Varaxunax)
I mean up till now her role at the inn has been somewhat of a substitute?
the Hyper-intelligent counting-girl with a bad temper and the local priestess for travelers and Wyrdish translator for visiting students.
When 1) Arduna could do the counting job himself if he had the time,
2) As a fighter she has improved greatly but there are still several at the inn that is her better,
3) She has always been suprisingly intelligent and knowledgeable able to translate Wyrdish for example;
but Gilgam with several lifetimes of experiences and being a Wyrd himself could do the translations himself if he felt like doing it, making her helpful but not critical.
4) As for magic up till now she has been in the role of brilliant student catching up to her mentor Vish, and playing the local priestess giving advice to travellers about their their sacrifices.
This need is somewhat dubious when you have an actual GOD (or a pleroma at least) living openly at the inn
And it’s funny seeing Vish flabbergasted! 🙂
(btw is that red-winged Idol an Idol of Ailari?)
One thing thats been bothering me for awhile: why did Gilgam suddenly become affected by Tamantha
after living for decades on Chalt without losing his mind?
On the topic of Anthem the Theurgist; is it normal for a Theurg to become like Anthem with her egregores,
and is Maresh the same after the Ritual?
Another thing tell me if I’m mistaken but do I detect a hint of…I don’t know attraction on Anthem’s part towards Vish?
(She acted so differently towards him when he came back in Ch06 and now in Ch09 when she changes her greeting to him again)
Sorry for the Text dump it just me showing my interest 😉
“Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science!”
@Geistmain
Arguably Gilgam was always affected by Tamantha, his “indolence” in the beginning and his general elf-malaise, (you know, the “I’m so superior because I’m a wyrd that’s why I lie on the floor not doing anything.” routine) Moreover madness is generally not that noticeable when the subject is sedate. It was when he had something to “get his Wyrdish up” (like “getting your Irish up” but with lightning) that his veneer of control started crumbling and he threw a tantrum and walked off into the woods mumbling.
As for Anthem/Vish shipping, I suspect you’re mistaking “tolerance and politeness” for romance. An understandable mistake when she’s like an irate quill-beast that is on fire to everyone most days of the week. But I suspect it is a case of friendship, like, “thanks for saving my life, I guess I should stop trying to set you on fire with my fire-quills.”
Of course I’ve never been good at judging personal relationships, even with fictional people.
And since it seems to have eaten my last comment, possibly because of the link:
“Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science!”
-Agatha Heterodyne, girl genius.
“Have you worked out the magic system for The Water Phoenix King?”
Yes, to an extent greater than a well-adjusted person would consider necessary or even interesting. Out of courtesy to normal people, I’ve limited my in-universe metaphysical speculation to 2-3 pages per issue.
“(btw is that red-winged Idol an Idol of Ailari?)”
Yes; or rather, one of Ailari’s many aspects. I rather doubt the idol-maker even knows exactly what that idol represents; it probably came to him in a dream after Anthem’s duel with Hokta Chuul.
Trivia: The idol-maker (and Naksuanan’s supplier) was supposed to play a larger part in the story, but he got cut out for space reasons.
“why did Gilgam suddenly become affected by Tamantha after living for decades on Chalt without losing his mind?”
The story so far hasn’t made that clear; you would need to ask Anthem, but I don’t know her email address. If I were to venture a guess, I’d say that Darumatha’s liberation/rebirth has led to all kinds of erratic Tamanthic behavior, as we’ll see in this issue.
“On the topic of Anthem the Theurgist; is it normal for a Theurg to become like Anthem with her egregores, and is Maresh the same after the Ritual?”
I’m not exactly sure what you’re asking here. Most theurges are at some risk of egregores, since theurgy is very complicated and even direct affiliation with a god won’t protect a theurge from every echo of the power they use. (And Anthem almost certainly plays looser with the rules than most theurges.) Maresh is not actually a theurge, since his gods are dead; Cultivation is a different sort of thing entirely.
“Another thing tell me if I’m mistaken but do I detect a hint of…I don’t know attraction on Anthem’s part towards Vish?”
I don’t comment on shipping issues. Though I do hope that some romance in some comic I write someday inspires people to send a furious, barely-coherent emails with words like “betrayed the readers.” If that happens, I’ll be sure to post them here.
Is my presumption correct that anyone COULD learn cultivation, becoming shoalin super-monks, if they could get the information without also being indoctrinated and ultimately enslaved to the remnants of Yamra’s power-structure?
Also, do normal theurges become like anthem with her pleroma? (or whatever that was in vol 2 pge 22)?
“Is my presumption correct that anyone COULD learn cultivation…”
Probably not. Tamantha doesn’t just judge what you do, it judges who you are and what you think. You really need to sink into the old power structure, with all that entails, to master Cultivation.
Also, no elf paladins, and I’m enforcing level limits. (Does anyone even get First Edition jokes anymore?)
“Also, do normal theurges become like anthem with her pleroma?”
Yes, theurges work their magic by, basically, splitting off sections of their mind, shaping them like a god, and sending them out to do work.