Ignition (MTG/Multicross, Planeswalker PC)

[Nixeu]

Not that I think we'll ever get in a fight with the Swordsworn, but pretty sure Sigurd is underestimating Jade here. I'm sure they're tremendously skilled, but it's hard to imagine a group of magicless warriors seriously threatening her, unless they can also casually cut through steel and shoot giant exploding laser beams.

Click to shrink...

They're...semi-magicless, if memory serves. They lack any personal magical talent, but can still channel power from the Star-Eyed. Or at least I vaguely seem to recall Tarma doing something of the like. Amongst other things, she did defeat a demon with deity-like attributes (power from worship) on at least two occasions. Even if it was with magical help, and a very close thing. They might also just be highly magic resistant. Not sure, it's been a while.

Heck, even we don't know the top end of our own range. We have a number of extremely powerful techniques that we've never tested and can't use in simulation, starting with Unison+Equip and Overchanneling.

If we do get into any fights, most likely in the pelagirs, do they have any information about common threats and recommended tactics? Going back to that pessimism thing, it's better to go in assuming a fight will find us and we'd be better off being at least a bit ready.

Click to shrink...

Wyrsa are the main one I know of. Dogs crossed with vipers. Nasty, fast, intelligent, vicious, poisonous pack hunters, and some types eat magic. They're from thhe time before the Mage Wars, though not the work of either of the two archmagi leading the armies. I believe they were so intelligent, they ended up escaping into the the wild, likely bypassing spells somehow in the process.

Other than those, and maybe a few other leftovers, most of the dangers of the Pelagirs are accidentally produced Changechildren. They're animals and people, or the descendants of animals and people, who got caught up in the Mage Storms and physically mutated. From what I recall, while there were some cases where all of a single species in an area might undergo the same change (thus producing a breeding population, as with magic eater Wyrsa, coincidentally), a lot of those changes were also random. There are also still areas of the Pelagirs where the magic warps anything that enters the area, too.

What all that means is that predicting what the Pelagirs is going to throw at you is...tricky, to say the least. While the Tayledras probably do have records that might tell us about abberrant "breeds", the one-offs may still cause issues.

If Kal'enal and Vkandis are in a relationship, would Kal'enal be able to extend useful influence or information-gathering into Karse? For example, if the highest-quality undesired Gift available is in Karse, would she be able to guide us to the owner? If we have to enter Karse to search, would she be able to offer any notable assistance? Or would she be limited to cryptic advice regardless of the circumstance?

Click to shrink...

The cryptic answers are more self-imposed than anything else. Generally, it seems to be to keep from giving away important details about the future, or aspects of reality best left unknown to mortals, from what I can remember. And, judging by Sigurd's statements, I expect she's less likely to be cryptic if we complete a task for her, first. She likes her worshippers to be self-reliant, onoy relying on her when they really need her.

: My knowledge of it will be pretty outdated by now, but in general, expect everything and its eight-legged friend to be magic-resistant and want to eat you. I really do advise against going in there until and unless the Star-eyed gives her approval; I doubt you'll be finding any of the Hawkbrother Vales without directions.:

:And if it walks on two legs and doesn't wear feathers in its hair, then you should probably run.:

Click to shrink...

Makes sense, since magic resistance also helps resist the mutating effects of the Pelagirs.

Hardon is to the east of us and the land will literally eat you if you hurt it enough.

Click to shrink...

Huh, interesting.

[x] Is that what "bit" us when we tried to bond the land there?

Click to shrink...

...Weren't we in the Empire, not Hardorn, when that happened? Also, @Alivaril, you dropped the second "r". It's a rather important letter, as it's the difference between a kingdom and an erection.

 

[Alivaril]

Is this one of the planes on which Agneyastra has deployed an orbital survey constellation?

Click to shrink...

No. She's been sporadically sending the Stalker out on mapping and scouting runs, though.

[x] Is that what "bit" us when we tried to bond the land there?

Click to shrink...

[X] Excuse me, but what?

Click to shrink...

:Bond?:

:I'll take this. Magic begets thought, Princess, and the lands of this world have long since developed sleepy personalities of their own. Think of them like street dogs; if they don't know you and you try to pet them, they're going to bite you. Treat them well and let them get to know you, however, and they'll be your best friends. Hardorn isn't going to be like that, though; it already has a family it's rather fond of and might tolerate interlopers, but it certainly isn't going to accept any sort of bond.:

:Ah. He means the royal family, Princess; they're supposed to have an unusual affinity for the land, even by the usual standards of benevolent monarchs. It's not unheard of for one of Hardorn's monarchs to ritually sacrifice themselves so that they might bring the country through some horrible drought or plague.:

:Anyway, it hasn't eaten anybody in well over a thousand... no, wait, a hundred years now. Just don't go leveling any mountains and you'll be fine.:

"...You're not allowed to go there," Sidhe sends flatly.

"Hey!"

 

[Vebyast]

From what I recall, while there were some cases where all of a single species in an area might undergo the same change (thus producing a breeding population, as with magic eater Wyrsa, coincidentally), a lot of those changes were also random. There are also still areas of the Pelagirs where the magic warps anything that enters the area, too.

Click to shrink...

Hum. Wwwwwwwould it be reasonable to add "turn the Pelagirs to purified consecrated ash" to our long-term to-do list, or is the risk of Unintended ConsequencesTM​ too severe?

:I got this. Magic begets thought, Princess, and the lands of this world have long since developed sleepy personalities of their own. Think of them like street dogs; if they don't know you and you try to pet them, they're going to bite you. Treat them well and let them get to know you, though, and they'll be your best friends. Hardorn isn't going to be like that, though; it already has a family it's really fond of and might tolerate interlopers, but it certainly isn't going to accept any sort of bond.:

Click to shrink...

Ahhh.

Note to self: Attempt to talk to lands at some point. Or commune with them, or figure out how to "get to know them" or something. Or at the very least figure out what they like so we can do nice things for them. I wonder what a volcano would like. Setting it more on fire? Blasting a hole in the mantle for it to play with, creating an artificial restriction in its magma chamber? Something to investigate next time we find a barren planet somewhere.

Or, actually. Hey, land, how's your, uh, year going? Decade? Century? I have no idea how to translate that concept to the timescales that'd be appropriate for magically aware geography.

 

[Sapient_Ham]

:I got this. Magic begets thought, Princess, and the lands of this world have long since developed sleepy personalities of their own. Think of them like street dogs; if they don't know you and you try to pet them, they're going to bite you. Treat them well and let them get to know you, though, and they'll be your best friends. Hardorn isn't going to be like that, though; it already has a family it's really fond of and might tolerate interlopers, but it certainly isn't going to accept any sort of bond.:

:Ah. He means the royal family, Princess; they're supposed to have an unusual affinity for the land, even by the usual standards of benevolent monarchs. It's not unheard of for one of Hardorn's monarchs to sacrifice themselves to bring the country through some horrible drought or plague.:

Click to shrink...

Ah, good to know.

So bond to lands that are in the middle of nowhere, or have people living on them that we don't like, basically?

 

[Vebyast]

So bond to lands that are in the middle of nowhere, or have people living on them that we don't like, basically?

Click to shrink...

Or lands that have people living on them that the land doesn't like, after promising to Do Something About said unpleasant neighbors.

(Princess Jade Agni: Interdimensional first responder to noise complaints from disgruntled geography. DAMN KIDS, GET OFF THE LAWN. Yes, thank you Mr. Savanna, we'll talk with them right now and get them to turn down the industry.)

 

[Sapient_Ham]

Or lands that have people living on them that the land doesn't like, after promising to Do Something About said unpleasant neighbors.

Click to shrink...

So pretty much all of Karse, then?

 

[zxzx24]

to fly over that one, but you honestly shouldn't. That's a good way to get an enchanted arrow in your neck. Apart from that, I'd just keep your senses peeled for gigantic magical arrays when you're traveling; Valdemar's is the only nation-sized example I can think of that's even remotely subtle. I mean, I don't know about any of the others, but I knew about Valdemar's before coming because its hidden nature was such a huge topic of discussion. Smaller wards will always be a concern, of course, but again, you should be able to sense those if you're careful.:

Click to shrink...

Is it wrong to say "I want that."

Your world actually seems... Extremely secure. Designed to endure extreme hardship too.

Is there a particular reason everyone felt it was necessary to disaster prep so hard? Even to the extent that it has apparently affected the gods?

Many world's have extreme magical cataclysms, but...

Even given that it seems extreme.

And useful. Continent sized magical defense arrays, all of my yes.

To say nothing of going over the political and diplomatic history of the gods here.

 

[Nixeu]

:Bond?:

:I got this. Magic begets thought, Princess, and the lands of this world have long since developed sleepy personalities of their own. Think of them like street dogs; if they don't know you and you try to pet them, they're going to bite you. Treat them well and let them get to know you, though, and they'll be your best friends. Hardorn isn't going to be like that, though; it already has a family it's really fond of and might tolerate interlopers, but it certainly isn't going to accept any sort of bond.:

:Ah. He means the royal family, Princess; they're supposed to have an unusual affinity for the land, even by the usual standards of benevolent monarchs. It's not unheard of for one of Hardorn's monarchs to sacrifice themselves to bring the country through some horrible drought or plague.:

Click to shrink...

To clarify slightly further, all the kings of Hardorn are required to have, either dormant or active, a Gift called Earthsense. I don't think it's technically Mind Magic, nor does it qualify as just plain old magic, so it's in a class of it's own. It lets you see and feel the condition of the land around you. Tayledras with this ability are highly valued and incredibly helpful in the task of purifying and fixing the land corrupted in the Cataclysm.

In the case of Hardorn's kings, though, they're literally bound to their land via magic. That magic does require the person in question to be capable of having Earthsense, and can awaken a dormant Gift. I believe the royal family were once earth priests of some kind, hence the whole "magical ritual" thing.

Hum. Wwwwwwwould it be reasonable to add "turn the Pelagirs to purified consecrated ash" to our long-term to-do list, or is the risk of Unintended ConsequencesTM too severe?

Click to shrink...

That depends entirely on whether or not said "purification" fixes the wonky leylines causing the problems. If setting everything on fire on it's own could fix things, I suspect the Tayledras would be doing it quite often. As such, and given that there are communities of relatively nice people living there who are working ot fix things properly, I'd say we probably shouldn't set it ablaze. Plus, some sections of it have been cleared and made safe for settlement, so there's also that.

Hum. Wwwwwwwould it be reasonable to add "turn the Pelagirs to purified consecrated ash" to our long-term to-do list, or is the risk of Unintended ConsequencesTM​ too severe?

Ahhh.

Note to self: Attempt to talk to lands at some point. Or commune with them, or figure out how to "get to know them" or something. Or at the very least figure out what they like so we can do nice things for them. I wonder what a volcano would like. Setting it more on fire? Blasting a hole in the mantle for it to play with, creating an artificial restriction in its magma chamber? Something to investigate next time we find a barren planet somewhere.

Or, actually. Hey, land, how's your, uh, year going? Decade? Century? I have no idea how to translate that concept to the timescales that'd be appropriate for magically aware geography.

Click to shrink...

They're perfectly well aware of small timescale changes. I'm not entirely sure what the land's memory is like, but "year" is probably about right.

Or lands that have people living on them that the land doesn't like, after promising to Do Something About said unpleasant neighbors.

(Princess Jade Agni: Interdimensional first responder to noise complaints from disgruntled geography. DAMN KIDS, GET OFF THE LAWN. Yes, thank you Mr. Savanna, we'll talk with them right now and get them to turn down the industry.)

Click to shrink...

You joke, but lands seem to really dislike it when a mage f*cks up the weather by mucking about with the leylines and nodes, but then forgets or refuses to reduce the impact of those changes. Dealing with a negligent mage would be rather likely get you on a land's good side.

Is there a particular reason everyone felt it was necessary to disaster prep so hard? Even to the extent that it has apparently affected the gods?

Click to shrink...

To be fair, only one of the three we know of is a form of direct protection. Hardorn's is a side-effect of bonding the kings and the land for generations, and Valdemar's is more of warning system.

On a related note, Iftel's Wall was older than Vanyel in canon, IIRC. It dated back to shortly after the Mage Wars, I believe. But in this, he had a hand in making it. So that's a bit weird.

 

[Vebyast]

That depends entirely on whether or not said "purification" fixes the wonky leylines causing the problems. If setting everything on fire on it's own could fix things, I suspect the Tayledras would be doing it quite often. As such, and given that there are communities of relatively nice people living there who are working ot fix things properly, I'd say we probably shouldn't set it ablaze. Plus, some sections of it have been cleared and made safe for settlement, so there's also that.

Click to shrink...

If fire isn't your final answer, you aren't using enough of it. By which I mean, I bet we can find a way to burn the leylines to purified ash too. Or at least burn the ground hard enough to make they leylines a little melty around the edges so they settle into a less-tangled configuration.

You joke, but lands seem to really dislike it when a mage f*cks up the weather by mucking about with the leylines and nodes, but then forgets or refuses to reduce the impact of those changes. Dealing with a negligent mage would be rather likely get you on a land's good side.

Click to shrink...

Ahah, that sounds like an excellent plan, especially because Agneyastra is probably ridiculously good at noticing weather that refuses to conform to the laws of physics and will cause Problems unless corrected.

 

[Carrnage]

Hardorn is to the east of Valdemar and the land will literally eat you

Click to shrink...

Anyone claimed it? because that sounds like a nice green land to bond to.

 

[fictionfan]

Anyone claimed it? because that sounds like a nice green land to bond to.

Click to shrink...

Let's wait until we can beat it into submission.

 

[Vebyast]

Anyone claimed it? because that sounds like a nice green land to bond to.

Click to shrink...

Let's wait until we can beat it into submission.

Click to shrink...

Already addressed. Not going to work. Also a huge dick move.

Hardorn isn't going to be like that, though; it already has a family it's really fond of and might tolerate interlopers, but it certainly isn't going to accept any sort of bond.:

Click to shrink...

 

[Carrnage]

Let's wait until we can beat it into submission.

Click to shrink...

slaving isn't our MO.

Already addressed. Not going to work. Also a huge dick move.

Click to shrink...

@Alivaril any other genius locii around without people bonded to it? we do need to pick up a green land eventually.

 

[zxzx24]

If fire isn't your final answer, you aren't using enough of it. By which I mean, I bet we can find a way to burn the leylines to purified ash too. Or at least burn the ground hard enough to make they leylines a little melty around the edges so they settle into a less-tangled configuration.

Click to shrink...

Opposite issue.

The corruption is caused by how agitated and undirected the Mana is.

Setting it on fire would just bring it back to cataclysm. We would need to direct it's energy. Or tamp down on it.

Edit: that being said.

Burning off some of the Manas energy might work, at the cost of damaging the local geomancy and creating a low magic zone.

 

[Nixeu]

If fire isn't your final answer, you aren't using enough of it. By which I mean, I bet we can find a way to burn the leylines to purified ash too. Or at least burn the ground hard enough to make they leylines a little melty around the edges so they settle into a less-tangled configuration.

Click to shrink...

It's kinda hard to use fire to unburn down the Tayledras Vales, though.

On a more serious note, the Tayledras are doing a pretty good job in making the Pelagirs safe, though their method of addressing the root cause is a bit slow. They've been at this for a really long time, and they've done good jobs with most of their cleansings.

Ahah, that sounds like an excellent plan, especially because Agneyastra is probably ridiculously good at noticing weather that refuses to conform to the laws of physics and will cause Problems unless corrected.

Click to shrink...

The only issue is finding one. Most Adepts are trained not to be so sloppy, even the evil ones. Sort of a "don't sh*t where you sleep" sort of thing. Only with storms and famines. It generally requires a substantially dense and careless sort of mage to not erase the negative effects of their own magic. And one with political or magical power, too, lest the other local mages dogpile on the careless one and force them to stop.

 

[fictionfan]

Well if we are going to bond Sigure we are going to need to find a land to bond. That speeds up the process.

[X]By the way do you know a good land that we could bond? It speeds up the summon bond process.

 

[Sapient_Ham]

[X]By the way do you know a good land that we could bond? It speeds up the summon bond process.

Click to shrink...

Uh, I kinda doubt we'll have time to stick around one location long enough to form a bond, unless we're talking about a volcano and Jade spams fire magic every day or something. This isn't really a question Sigurd & Vanyel can answer, either; they don't know anything about her land bonding ability, or what kind of land she's looking for.

 

[curiosity]

expect everything and its eight-legged friend to be magic-resistant

Click to shrink...

As long as it's not also made of XCOM's alien alloys...

 

[Ehorin]

the Song I mentioned

note, it still doesn't actually give a precise idea of what exactly they were dealing with, but that wasn't really the point, the point was that BEING a Swordsworn means uphill fights were you probably die and don't exactly have good odds of victory are Tuesday.

like, sure, it's still fairly unlikely for Jade to lose to them under most circumstances, but if Jade actually genuinely got on Kal'enel's bad side it's entirely possible she'd be in one of the circumstances where she could.

best plan is still "don't do something sufficiently DUMB to piss off Kal'enel."

 

[Nachtigall]

a Gift called Earthsense. I don't think it's technically Mind Magic, nor does it qualify as just plain old magic, so it's in a class of it's own. It lets you see and feel the condition of the land around you. Tayledras with this ability are highly valued and incredibly helpful in the task of purifying and fixing the land corrupted in the Cataclysm.

Click to shrink...

That sounds really useful for a planeswalker. We might want to visit the Tayledras just to get Agneyastra into range for scanning their Gift...

[X]By the way do you know a good land that we could bond? It speeds up the summon bond process.

Click to shrink...

Uh, I kinda doubt we'll have time to stick around one location long enough to form a bond, unless we're talking about a volcano and Jade spams fire magic every day or something. This isn't really a question Sigurd & Vanyel can answer, either; they don't know anything about her land bonding ability, or what kind of land she's looking for.

Click to shrink...

I agree with Sapient_Ham, please count that as two against asking.

They also don't know about some of the issues we know about - namely that IIRC, bonding a land currently might disrupt the leyline it contributes to. Fortunately, we've already found a volcano with nobody around which would be a good choice for our first Velgarth land bond:

a promising volcano almost sixty kilometers away from the nearest village.

(Land Discovered: Unidentified Volcano [RR])​

Click to shrink...

 

[Nixeu]

That sounds really useful for a planeswalker. We might want to visit the Tayledras just to get Agneyastra into range for scanning their Gift...

Click to shrink...

To clarify, they aren't the only ones who have that Gift, nor is it super common amongst them. All Tayledras Healing-Adepts have it, but they don't seem to grow on trees. Between all the different clans, there are probably only a handful of such mages amongst them. To the point where the clans may have to loan them out to one another when their services are required.

 

[Deathbybunnies]

To clarify, they aren't the only ones who have that Gift, nor is it super common amongst them. All Tayledras Healing-Adepts have it, but they don't seem to grow on trees. Between all the different clans, there are probably only a handful of such mages amongst them. To the point where the clans may have to loan them out to one another when their services are required.

Click to shrink...

That still seems like something we could figure out just from asking around and flying with Agneyastra's Scan range. Hell, it's not inconceivable we could pay them to use the Gift and explain what they're doing in front of us while we scan them. Just claim we're a magical scholar interested in understanding the process - it's sort of true!

It does sound pretty Green as magic goes, but having a bit of skill in off-colours is by no means a bad thing. (Also, of all the available clours Green seems the most likely to have methods of speeding up the Land Bond process.)

 

[Filraen]

[X] You mentioned earlier about gods meddling with mage gifts, care to elaborate?

I got curious because, while a mage-gift is a natural ocurrence (or so I think) gods in this plane have explicit control on the reincarnation mechanism.




But anyway, everybody is talking about possible problems with gods which may arise in the future, but nobody is worrying on the possible apocalypse which may be happening right now.

[X] How are the ferrets?

 

[Valmond]

[X] How are the ferrets?

Click to shrink...

HOW DID THIS NOT COME UP UNTIL NOW???????
Seriously, tell me about the ferrets.

 

[Pyrotech51]

Seriously, tell me about the ferrets.

Click to shrink...

"Are they safe!? Are they alright!? Have they conquered any kingdoms in my name while I was gone!?"