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Post by Mu-chan on Mar 3, 2007 0:26:36 GMT
So... when do we get to do something again? ^_^ I hope this roleplay story picks up pace again, at least when the holidays come... Is there a reason why it's going slowly at the moment or is it just that everyone is far too busy to play right now? Out of curiousity, are there any other members wanting to join in this story sometime in the future, even as minor characters/baddies? Something pretty random... I drew this quick character concept image during part of a compilers lecture on Thursday while the lecturer was just drawing the diagram he drew the previous lecture again and loading up some sample programs. I thought I would show it just for the fun of it (lecture notes edited out ): Maybe it would be nice if the other players drew something so we could each get a better idea of what we all have in mind (it wouldn't have to be a wonderful drawing or anything like that... my quick sketch isn't very good for a start). A random question to Maruno specifically: "His longish (just longer than his eyebrows) hair was dark brown, with a slash of silver along one corner of his head from front to back." What exactly do you mean? I didn't ask this earlier as it didn't seem very important, but I can't imagine what it looks like in my mind from that description. I just kind of get an image of Reed Richards from the Fantastic Four with slightly longer hair. '' Could you maybe rephrase it somehow? ^_^ (if you can't, it's okay) (I hope you don't mind that I made this thread, by the way ^_^)
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Post by Maruno on Mar 3, 2007 1:19:36 GMT
Stop apologising for things. It's not attractive. I know, it's hideously slow at the moment. gantz said he was having some computer problems at home, but I see no reason why he can't go to a computer room in the Library or Elvet to write. I'm tempted to say we should ignore everything that happened after he started posting, and write something else. Perhaps you'd like to create another character (minor, perhaps) or take over the one gantz has created (with the bonus that no posts would have to be deleted), Mu-chan. Perhaps it's deadlines. As a physicist, I have none. The last post was a week ago on Thursday, which is just about long enough, I think. Feel free to continue the roleplay however you think fit (taking control of gantz's character, or ignoring his posts and making your own, whichever - I don't mind at all). It'll give you something to do again I don't know of anyone wanting to join the roleplay. I also have no plans for where this is going. I think I intend "Chougokin du Hanasen" to mean "The End of Chougokin" (perhaps from a Japanese word sounding like "hanashite" which I think is translated to "stop it!" or similar). That is, Fen is the last Chougokin, and it's the story of how the clan finally ends (i.e. Fen's story up to and including a possible death (making "The End of" more appropriate)). About the hair, I suppose it's kinda like that, yeah, but just higher up. When you look at a persons face you could say it has five corners (top left, top right, left end of jaw, right end of jaw, chin). The slash of colour passes through one of the top corners, at about 45 degrees from vertical with the nose as the point of origin. Clearer? I don't think I could draw anything nice. I might have a go, though. No promises, though. By the way, is Ai Rin male or female? I suspect you want to turn it into a misunderstanding and have him as male, but he's playing along for the sake of amusement, before finally revealing the truth (before or after Fen develops a secret deep attraction for him/her, I don't know).
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Post by Mu-chan on Mar 3, 2007 1:48:15 GMT
I suppose if no-one else is going to appear at the moment, I'll change the direction myself. Give me a moment to think. ^_^
About the description: yep. I think I get the idea now. Thank you. ^_^
Ai Rin is male. I decided to make Ai Rin the way he is out of personal character preference. The reason why I was avoiding saying whether the character was male or female was because there are two of them, Ai Rin and Ai Sha (who Ai Rin is going to meet -his sister), and I wanted to make things vague at the start so it was up to you and others how to interact with the character. Ai Rin plays along with Fen's innocence simply because that's the type of character he is. It doesn't have to lead to anything.
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Post by Maruno on Mar 4, 2007 22:43:09 GMT
So what's going on with the story now?
The way I see it, there's been someone sneakily hanging around the village for at least a few days. Keeping out of sight from everyone, stealing bits of food without being noticed, and secretly using the village as some kind of base of operations (what operation that is, I don't know - probably involves the forest/stone, knowing the plot so far).
Perhaps the hidden person did things the villagers didn't like, and made them attribute it to magic (perhaps it really was magic). Then, when Fen and Ai Rin arrive, the villagers assume that, since they're the only foreigners around for months, it must have been them who caused the problems. So they try to attack.
Ai Rin escaped the attack, causing minimal damage, but then the hidden person attacks them a bit more, namely Maruko's leg(s) and Julie's eye (while Ai Rin was downstairs looting, maybe). This causes further hatred against the two strangers, thus causing the mob.
In my last post, the villager who goes "ah!" might remember seeing a stranger briefly a couple of days previously, a stranger who looked different to Fen and Ai Rin. But the villager didn't want to speak up because he only saw the stranger for a quick moment before he apparently disappeared, and because everyone is looking at him and he's a bit shy.
Sound interesting? That's the basis I'm working from at the moment. And it introduces a new character, the hidden person, who could either be yours or mine, or someone else's (someone else who posts OFTEN!).
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Post by Mu-chan on Mar 5, 2007 1:20:03 GMT
I like the idea of someone else in the village causing trouble and the motivation behind the angry mob, and that the true identity of the culprit(s) is a mystery at the moment, as is the truth about that stone in the forest with the darkness spell. We may or may not want to keep the stone and the story about the thief/attacker separate. They don't have to be connected, but they could be. The more mysteries to solve and adventures to have, the more fun this is. ^__^ I don't have anything strict set out, just lots of basic ideas that can easily change depending on whatever happens. ^_^ (you're going to make Fen volunteer to catch the real culprit who is causing trouble aren't you? ) (I wonder who the culprit will be... and if we'll get a new player who can visit regularly... randomly thinks to self - if lelith decides to join in... is it more likely to be a super-bishounen character or a cat-person... or both? Or would cat-people be if Elscyre joined in?... or Neko?... lots of cat-people in this society! ^_^)
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Post by Maruno on Mar 5, 2007 11:07:38 GMT
We may or may not want to keep the stone and the story about the thief/attacker separate. They don't have to be connected, but they could be. Yes, they don't need to be related. Although the mysterious troublemaker must have some skills if they manage to remain hidden yet cause problems for the villagers. And he must have a reason for it too. The magic stone in the forest was just the most obvious reason I could think of. Just as equally, the stranger could be provoking the villagers into leaving so the company who hired him could tear up the village to get to a gold mine underneath. Anything will do, really. (you're going to make Fen volunteer to catch the real culprit who is causing trouble aren't you? ) I wasn't planning on it, no. Depends what he finds out, though. It'll certainly be an opportunity for the two to quickly earn a bunch of money for their quest. (I wonder who the culprit will be... and if we'll get a new player who can visit regularly... randomly thinks to self - if lelith decides to join in... is it more likely to be a super-bishounen character or a cat-person... or both? Or would cat-people be if Elscyre joined in?... or Neko?... lots of cat-people in this society! ^_^) Thus conclusively proving that cats are better than dogs. There's no denying it. I'll mention the character opening to lelith and Elscyre tonight. Hopefully they'll remember about this place and do something roleplay-ey, as they said they would for ages.
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Post by Mu-chan on Mar 5, 2007 20:29:56 GMT
Just as a side note to the story, in case I haven't made this clear already, about Ai Rin's spell-casting abilities compared to Fen's magic.
You seemed to make it appear that Fen draws power from within himself and that he uses techniques and staff weapons to magnify/focus his power. That's what I assumed anyway. Ai Rin's techniques are supposed to be very different (since she's not actually a mage like Fen with lots of magic within herself, but someone who can manipulate and draw magic around her to perform whatever spell she wants (she has a powerful aura though and needs to use some of her own magic to draw in more magic)), so although it may appear she can cast basic spells the same as Fen, the actual method to cast the spells is fundamentally different to his. Hence, she uses magic circles as opposed to Fen's chanting etc and can't use physical magical attacks as well as he can, but could potentially be much stronger in other areas. Fen appears to be a character with lots of magic power and knows advanced and powerful spells, since he was trained as part of the Chougokin. Ai Rin is supposed to be much weaker than Fen, but has a wide-range of knowledge of different spells, especially in the art of understanding and sensing magic signatures, which is why she can draw intricate magic circles, understand magic seals, sense auras etc so well, and chooses to use weaker spells unless she needs something stronger as to not waste her own magic. She does have some more advanced spells, but hasn't really demonstrated these, yet. So, her abilities are probably more specialist and are more tuned to support than strict offence.
I gave her a different method of casting spells in order to make her magic seem foreign, or at least uncommon... But, Fen doesn't have to have realised any of this, yet (e.g. he may have seen magic circles etc before and assumed them to have been made the same as the ones he's seen before, and he powered-up Ai Rin's magic circle before by forcebly supplying her with large amounts of magic from his own body).
Just thought I would specify all this in case it wasn't clear enough already, but it didn't really fit into the main story so I put it here. ^_^
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Post by Maruno on Mar 5, 2007 23:13:57 GMT
Fen can use a wide variety of magic too. He specialises in wind-type magic, with a bit of fire-type, electricity-type (both in combination with wind-type magic only) and psyche-type too. As an example of psyche-type, look at the attack he recently used to knock some of the villagers unconscious. Using a magic chant, mana has its alignment converted and is gathered to the palms. It remains there for as long as the user continues to keep it there (an amount of effort is required for this). When the mana, which is specially aligned to match the user's inherent mana circulation, contacts another person, the misalignment between mana flows causes a disruption, usually in the other person (because the mana in the hands is generally more potent than the mana flowing in the other person). This disruption causes the other person to fall unconscious. This psyche-type magic spell can be quite potent, but it is generally used against weaker opponents, people who haven't managed to improve and control their own mana flow. Obviously, since the weaker mana side gets disrupted, only a fool would try to attack a large mana flow with this spell. At the very least, the hands and arms of the user could become useless for an hour or so; and at the most the user loses consciousness. As for the wind-type barrier spell he is said to use instead of the basic barrier spell, that is indeed a specialised spell. It's harder to perform, although by now Fen has learnt how to use it with ease. Since he can use this stronger spell just as easily as the weaker generic barrier, there's no reason for him to revert to the weaker spell. Granted, it has its weaknesses (fire being the obvious one, and light a close second), but Fen overlooks those. It's worked well enough for him in the past. Fen can use both his own mana flow and external sources (which are commonly harnessed with magic circles). He tends to use his own mana flow, though, for simplicity. A personal mana flow is inherently easier to control. Fen's magic staff, now sadly destroyed, was a great asset to him. It can be thought of as a great magic circle that can gather any mana directed into it (in Fen's case, mostly his own mana) and amplify its flow and strength. It makes his magic spells more powerful. When his staff was broken, its power was severely diminished. Although the main part of the staff is the focus, the thread/core was broken (the thread guides and concentrates the mana into the focus). Nevertheless, when he jammed it into Ai Rin's magic circle, it continued to work, and worked beyond its limit, amplifying that one last spell much more than it usually does, before shattering due to the strain. Modifying Ai Rin's magic circle wasn't something Fen did (by giving it large amounts of his own mana - at the time Fen was exhausted from the war and had already used up most of his mana anyway); it was the staff that did it. He knew something like that would happen (the amplification of the circle), because he had experienced magic circles before, and knew roughly how they worked. As I said, he prefers chants and/or mind exercises to perform spells instead of circles. I'll make a list of all the types of magic I can think of. - Earth
Moderate attack, high defence, superphysical The most common use for Earth magic is for creating solid walls for defence. There is a great range of such defensive Earth spells. Earth also has offensive spells, usually in the form of projectiles. Since Earth magic is physical, it has a significant penetrating power (the exact amount depending on the density of the projectile - usually ranging from dirt to metal), but is weaker against some non-physical types. Strong against: Electricity, (Fire), Light, Sound, (Wind) Weak against: Force, Nature
- Electricity
High attack, low defence, physical Electricity can be unpredictable, but when used correctly it is a very damaging magic type. There are very few defensive Electricity spells. The nonphysical nature of Electricity means it is diffcult to defend against. Electricity users tend to fight quickly. It can combine well with Light and Sound. Electricity is both strong and weak against itself, one of the few types with this characteristic. Electricity cancause small severe burns. Strong against: Electricity, Force, Light, Sound, Water, Wind Weak against: Earth, Electricity, Fire, Ice
- Fire
High attack, low defence, physical Fire magic has a large range of offensive spells, and a few defensive ones. It can be thought of as a "softer" version of electricity. Pure Fire spells don't last long without fuel, so Fire users tend to be good tactical thinkers in case they battle in a place with no fuel. Fire can also enhance and manipulate already existing fires, regardless of whether they were created magically or not. Fire is weak against many of the commonly used types. It can cause more widespread, less severe burns to the opponent than Electricity can. Strong against: Electricity, Force, Light, Nature, Sound Weak against: (Earth), Ice, Water, Wind
- Force
Variable attack, moderate defence, nonphysical This is the art of moving things by using the force of magic. It is different to moving things with Wind, although the two do combine well. It can also cause strong attraction/repulsion between objects, which can be done to form projectiles or to disarm the opponent. The strength of Force's attack depend entirely on the surroundings (e.g. pushing the opponent off a cliff is a high attack move). Defensively, Force will reject all physical attacks a little and all superphysical attacks a lot, but is useless against nonphysical ones. Strong against: Earth, Force, Ice, Psyche, Shadow, Water Weak against: Electricity, Fire, Force, Light, Sound
- Ice
Moderate/high attack, moderate defence, superphysical This is the second most penetrating type of magic (behind Earth). In general, Ice magic freezes water vapour in the atmosphere, or bodies of water, and grows magical ice on top of those seeds. The more natural ice the better, as magical ice tends to be weaker and doesn't last as long. Ice is a good defensice wall, but those walls are prone to shattering with excessive force. It can also freeze/inflict cold damage to anyone nearby (including the user - usage doesn't imply resistance). Strong against: Electricity, Fire, Light, Nature, Water Weak against: Force, Sound, (Wind)
- Light
Zero/low attack, moderate defence, nonphysical Considered a support type, because of its numerous weaknesses. Therefore it is a more tactical type than most of the others. More correctly called "Illumination", this magic type deals with light intensity. It can create both bright flashes of light and deeply dark shadows. It can be combined with a form of Psyche to create illusions (Light forming a vague illusion itself, with Psyche tricking the opponent into believing it). Light can disorient the opponent by causing temporary or permanent blindness (the latter is only achieved with bright light). Strong against: Force Weak against: Earth, Electricity, Fire, Ice, Water
- Nature
Low attack, low defence, superphysical Considered a support type. Nature is one of the few types of magic not suitable for combat. It is used mainly for healing, mana theft (the non-destructive form thereof) and potion making. It is often used with Water magic, since water is essential for life. In combat, however, Nature can immensely stimulate the growth of nearby vegetation, which can be used for battle. Alternatively, Nature magic can be used to manipulate the opponent's body, although this generally requires physical contact. Nature can generate/gather large amounts of mana, so it is also often used in conjunction with Summon. Strong against: Earth Weak against: Fire, Ice, Psyche, Shadow
- Psyche
Potentially high attack, low defence, nonphysical Psyche is blocked by almost nothing, a fact that is made all the more devestating when coupled with the potentially tremendous mental damage it inflicts. However, most Psyche magic requires close range, many even physical contact, in order to work, meaning the user can often leave themselves vulnerable to attack. Psyche magic revolves around attacking the mind directly (note: NOT telekinesis/etc.), and as such has practically no defence (except against other Psyche, against which it is both strong and weak). It can sometimes be paired with Shadow magic (another dual strength/weakness). Strong against: Nature, Psyche, Shadow Weak against: Force, Psyche, Shadow
- Shadow
Low attack, moderate defence, nonphysical This is not the opposite of Light magic. Instead, it refers to all magic that is considered underhanded, devious or even evil, such as poisons, mana theft (the destructive form thereof), paralysis, aggressive healing (usually at the expense of something else, e.g. mana), and other such status-changing effects. Shadow magic usually involves physical contact, although some Shadow magic can produce things like poisons beforehand, to be used at will later. Strong against: Nature, Psyche Weak against: Force, Psyche
- Sound
Moderate attack, zero/low defence, physical Considered a support type. Sound is physical, because it involves the manipulation of air pressure (and thus is related to Wind). However, it is one of the most mild examples of physical magic. Sound has practically no defence, and must rely on its attacking qualities; these include loud noises to distract and deafen the opponent. Sound can even disrupt some spoken incantations. Advanced Sound magic can cause confusion. Advanced training can create a pseudo-immunity for the user, although this is more of an avoidance of the effects, rather than an inherent immunity. Strong against: Force, Light, Sound Weak against: Earth, Electricity, Fire, Sound, Water
- Summon
Zero attack, zero defence, summons creatures Arguably the strongest and weakest type of magic, Summon revolves entirely around calling forth a creature or creatures to attack and defend for you. These creatures will generally have their own strengths and weanesses, and may or may not fall into one of the categories of magic (although most will not be able to use magic themselves). There exist very many kinds of creatures available for summoning. Summon seals can be created, changed or destroyed, and can also contain items. A summoned creature can be returned to its seal instead of being killed, if the user chooses. Strong against: n/a Weak against: n/a
- Water
Variable attack, low/moderate defence, superphysical Water magic spans all strengths, from light drizzles to raging torrents. Much like Ice, Water magic can create magical water if there is need of it. Magical water lasts only a short time before evaporating, and is generally not as effective as real water. Penetrating attacks are somewhat hindered by Water magic, the extent to which is dependant on the relative strengths of the magics. Water is the magic of choice against Fire, against which it is very strong. Strong against: Fire, Light, Sound, Water, Wind Weak against: Electricity, Force, Ice, Water
- Wind
Moderate attack, moderate defense, physical Control of the air is this magic's signature. Wind is both offensive and defensive, being able to slash with sharpened highly dense "shards" of air and to blow away less penetrating attacks. It can also be used to hinder the opponent - in this respect, it is similar to Force (albeit a weaker version). Wind is related to Sound, since they both affect air pressure. Wind can also be combined with several other magic types (usually physical ones, and not superphysical), producing wind-propelled attacks that buffets the opponent as well as damaging them. Strong against: Fire, (Ice), (Shadow), Wind Weak against: (Earth), Electricity, Water, Wind
Feel free to add any more you can think of. There's probably quite a few. I wrote those little descriptions just because I felt like it. It's not a strict guideline. EDIT: 13th March 2008I've updated the descriptions of the types of magic again, including setting out the main strengths and weaknesses of each type. These aren't exact, and there are always exceptions (e.g. if a particular attack is powerful enough, it will always be strong against whatever's defending).
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Post by Mu-chan on Mar 6, 2007 1:20:46 GMT
Since we're still specifying the abilities of our characters and of magic types to make further co-operative story-writing easier: Ai Rin's magic works by summoning mana, thus her strongest spells are field-size spells (an advantage of using magic circles since you need to control the surroundings) and summoning spells. She also specialises at breaking/creating seals, sensing auras etc instead of offensive magic. So, basically, she's like a magic researcher. She'll analyse something, and if she ever needs a lot of magic to do something, she'll probably get Fen to do it after she's set something up or told him what to do, since that's her personality and she's slowly coming to realise just how powerful he is. This is why I always referred to her class as 'spell-caster'. (Fen doesn't seem to know summoning (he wouldn't need it with his level of power, right?)... please leave it at that... ^__^) (does he know medicinal spells -using ingredients etc- ?) Comments on the magic types:Earth, Fire, Wind, WaterPsyche (can be used for the opposite i.e. high-defence - if mana is gathered to create a shield and reacts with the surrounding magic and opposing attacks - if done correctly, could be maintained quite effortlessly using the surrounding mana and depending on the accuracy and adaptability of the magic circle used to generate it, which is a high-level form of the barrier Ai Rin used, which is why I don't consider its true form weak ^_^ (but that type of spell "just isn't Fen's style", to reference the main character of Disgaea 2 ^_^) -if this type of attack doesn't count as psyche, then it is an unnamed type) Light (does this include light as in light and darkness of the soul or would that be separate? Would status ailment spells, healing spells etc come under here?) SoundElectricity (I take it paralysis spells comes under here...) Nature (do healing spells come under here instead or does it depend on the user?) Ice+ (the three darker magic types you have to leave in for the sake of my character and the stuff with the darkness and the wolves ^_^) Gravity (attraction, repulsion and nothingness, I guess) Darkness (opposite of light - more attributed to darkness of the soul than actual darkness, if you know what I mean -would have darker status ailment spells (?) e.g. poisoning, absorbing mana/health from another person (except when nature-like?)) Summoning (if you can't do something yourself, call someone else to help ^_^ - I guess changing field properties may come under here, too...) + maybe... The Forbidden Magic (e.g. time, death, life...) ( Star?) Rough giude to the magic types Ai Rin can use (rough guide because I wasn't planning on specifying these):Earth (only when used alongside another type or through summoning) Fire (only when used alongside another type or through summoning) Water (only when used alongside another type or through summoning) Electricity (only when used alongside another type or through summoning) Wind (basic-level or through summoning) Nature (basic-level or through summoning) Light (medium-level or through summoning) Psyche (if what I said above counts under this then high-level or through summoning but only in defence -otherwise zero) Ice (high-level or through summoning) Gravity (high-level or through summoning) Darkness (high-level or through summoning) Summoning (high-level)
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Post by Maruno on Mar 7, 2007 18:19:40 GMT
Firstly, note that I've modified my previous post involving types of magic. I may update further if more magic types are invented. << OOC: I might as well go back to the original purpose of that shrine. There's something in that forest for Fen to collect. A new weapon, some kind of armour, an assessory... whatever you want. It's influence has been spreading from the forest and has been affecting both Ai Rin and Fen, but Ai Rin was affected more than Fen maybe because of the reasons you said in your last post. Let's make them head back to the forest one last time now that time has passed (so it'll be dark when they get there fufufu...) so you can get whatever it is and eliminate that darkness for good... You needed a new weapon and a change of clothes, right? >> << OOC: Just because Ai Rin can't read the inscriptions doesn't mean Fen can't as well. You can make something up if you want, but I'd still like it to be a trial for him, stronger than the one before (since he was weakened back then) that he has to face on his own (I could control the monster or whatever though if you would like something/someone to fight against properly ^_^). >> << OOC: If you don't like this idea, I can delete this post or you can have Fen prove Ai Rin wrong somehow and we can go according to whatever you might have been thinking instead. ^_^ >> Actually, I was rather working on a somewhat different basis. Let me explain it. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ There are one or more shrines in the forest, each with a magical inscription. These shrines form a seal that locks away a large mana source. The seal was made lots and lots of years ago. To keep this seal intact, the shrines constantly draw upon external mana from the nearby region. The villagers living close to the forest have unconsciously developed a greater mana regeneration rate to balance the draining rate. Any strangers to the region would slowly have their mana drained. External mana can be used more easily than internal mana, because there's more of it (unless you rigorously train yourself to improve your internal mana regeneration rate and capacity limit). However, using external mana can be more unpredictable, and relies upon magic circles. While harder to achieve, using internal mana eventually (after lots of training) yields better results, and is ultimately easier to control. The draining caused by the shrines affects Ai Rin more than Fen. That's because Fen has undergone the training associated with using internal mana (with chants). Ai Rin, who uses external mana (with magic circles), is unlikely to have increased her internal mana regeneration rate, and as such is having mana drained faster than it can develop. However, since the shrines drain mana by Nature and not by Shadow, Ai Rin's mana won't be drained indefinitely. It'll stop once her mana level drops low enough, and will then give her time to recover before starting to drain again. Fen is being affected too, even if it doesn't seem that way. His unconsciousness spell ended before it should have done, indicating that its mana was being unnaturally drained by something. The writing on the shrine in the forest (as I said, could just be one of several, and the villagers only know of that one) has changed in the past, and seems to be changing again now. There are two explanations for this: If the second case is true, then most likely the hidden person in the village has been attempting this. The motive, whether to gain power to exact revenge for something or whether simply greed, is unknown. The villagers don't know about most of this. They know of magic, certainly, and know that there are magical things in the forest, but since they know the magical things in the forest are evil they are prejudiced against all magic. Plus, many generations of being mostly alone in the village would help with the dislike of strange things like magic. Ai Rin's speciality is seals, but the shrine she saw in the forest is part of such an old seal that she doesn't recognise it as one. However, having seen just the one shrine, she probably doesn't know the scale of this seal, so wouldn't have expected it to drain her mana from such a distance. If she wants to investigate it, then fine. Ai Rin also refers to "breaking the spell" (in the fight with the wolves), which I assumed was the Summon spell that created the wolves, not the spell on the shrine. Perhaps each shrine has a protective spell on it, designed to repel any intruders who could potentially tamper with the shrine. After all, since each shrine is so important (is a part of the big seal that contains a large mana source) it needs to be properly protected. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ That's what I was thinking. I always seem to write a lot of details for this roleplay. I do so enjoy coming up with elaborate explanations for things, particularly whole worlds like this (detailing magic, then this).
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Post by Mu-chan on Mar 7, 2007 21:09:54 GMT
So then why couldn't they sense the other spells? Is it because only that shrine's defences had been activated for whatever reason and the other shrines are still hidden so don't need to do anything to protect themselves? Or did that shrine react to them somehow, like it wanted to be found? Also, I thought it was a small forest. Can you really fit a lot of shrines in it?
Fine, I'll change my post then. Just try to avoid making too many restrictions in the story.
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Post by Maruno on Mar 8, 2007 0:49:52 GMT
Why couldn't who sense the other spells (and what other spells)? Fen and Ai Rin? The spells on the shrines?
Well, magic changes and evolves. This is old magic, somehow different, and not easily sensed and recognised. A bit of a hack explanation, but usable. Also, Fen could sense a thing in his weakened state anyway.
I thought the shrine was little more than a rock with engravings in it. You can fit several in a forest, even a small one (still bigger than a wood). Some of them will be hidden by the times, yes, but presumably Fen and Ai Rin haven't searched the whole forest yet. They wouldn't have come across all of the shrines. If Ai Rin has, then maybe all the other shrines are really inconspicuous and hidden by trees and foliage and such. It's entirely possible after so many years.
The shrine the two found triggered automatically, a reaction to the proximity of any amount of mana that is greater than a random part of the forest (i.e. the amount of mana within Fen, which is still greater than air and ground even though he did use most of his mana to fight and heal himself earlier). As I said, it's a safety feature to stop anyone trying to tamper with the seal - the mana source is locked away for a reason, whatever that is. Think of it as like a grid of laser beams which, when broken, trigger an alarm. You don't notice the laser beams unless you know exactly what to look for (which Fen and Ai Rin don't) and you do notice the alarm (the wolves).
I wasn't trying to make restrictions; I was trying to make explanations. This is what I came up with that made everything fit together. I'm sure I could have come up with an explanation around your idea too, but you've already changed it (and to make Ai Rin pissed off at Fen for some reason. Frustration, perhaps, at not being able to figure out what's going on. I can't help but think I've pissed you off by this, though).
Besides, this opens the story a lot. Ai Rin and Fen could go around finding each shrine, breaking the defensive spells on each of them and manage to unseal the mana source (they don't know it's a mana source, so it's curiosity). Along the way they could encounter the stranger in the village, and perhaps someone else who has heard rumours and wants to find out what is there. I say the last part because I know Felix wants to join the roleplay, and that might be a good position for him.
The mana source itself could (and probably should anyway) be a very magical artefact, like the focus of a magic staff only much more powerful. It could even turn out to be related to what Ai Rin is looking for somehow, if you so wish.
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Post by Mu-chan on Mar 8, 2007 1:44:40 GMT
I thought the shrine was little more than a rock with engravings in it. You can fit several in a forest, even a small one (still bigger than a wood). Some of them will be hidden by the times, yes, but presumably Fen and Ai Rin haven't searched the whole forest yet. They wouldn't have come across all of the shrines. If Ai Rin has, then maybe all the other shrines are really inconspicuous and hidden by trees and foliage and such. It's entirely possible after so many years. Well, when I first said small shrine, it was supposed to be a small shrine. e.g. but in a forest Someone went and said it was a 'stone' and that the inscriptions changed, changing what I originally said, so I had no choice but to use the same wording and work around it, so I took it to meaning the stone in front or below the actual shrine had the inscriptions carved on it, which is mostly what I intended anyway. A small shrine like that kind of stands out which is how Ai Rin saw it from a distance and ran up to it, but the other shrines don't have to look like the first one. What I meant with sensing the other spells was that Ai Rin could sense the darkness since she entered the forest. Meaning, she could sense the spell on that shrine quite some distance away but couldn't sense any others, and when she sealed that one, the darkness was dispelled. We can go along with your ideas. I don't mind. ...and to make Ai Rin pissed off at Fen for some reason. Frustration, perhaps, at not being able to figure out what's going on. I can't help but think I've pissed you off by this, though... She was supposed to be angry with herself and doesn't want to admit she has no idea what is going on with her (i.e. outcome a - she has an answer and enthusiastically tells Fen this, quite proud of herself - outcome b - she has no answer and doesn't like that one bit and shows it quite well), so she went to calm herself down and came back acting like her selfish self again (there are also some moments when she doesn't want Fen to follow her). I'll change the wording in that post again since it seems too hostile. ^_^ I changed Ai Rin's last comment so that if you want, you can make them head back towards the forest in your post ready for the next stage and the arrival of a new character. ^_^ EDIT: I wasn't really blaming anyone with what I was saying in this post by the way. ^_^;;
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Post by Maruno on Mar 8, 2007 11:35:18 GMT
What I meant with sensing the other spells was that Ai Rin could sense the darkness since she entered the forest. Meaning, she could sense the spell on that shrine quite some distance away but couldn't sense any others, and when she sealed that one, the darkness was dispelled. Perhaps it was only that shrine that had recently been activated (by the stranger hiding in the village). Normally the protective spells are dormant, doing nothing, but once used they have to drain a lot of mana from somewhere to recharge themselves (in the process they can be sensed, and emit a presence) before going back to a dormant state. (If your weapon takes 10 minutes to charge, best to do it before going into battle.) What Ai Rin sensed was the spell recharging after having previously unleashed an attack against the stranger hidden in the village, and once that spell was defeated then it was no longer draining mana or creating a presence. Something like that. It's not that important. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ EDIT: Actually, a far easier explanation is that the shrine contains the spell that guards the stone. The stone itself is a part of the seal. Over the years, the other shrines have been destroyed somehow (accidental or by people trying to break the seal), leaving just the mostly inconspicuous stones (which explains why they wouldn't have been found). So there was only one shrine left, and only one protecting spell (which was what Ai Rin sensed). When Ai Rin broke the spell on the shrine and got rid of the wolves, the shrine became just an object, hence the disappearance of the dark presence.
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Post by gantz on Mar 12, 2007 2:00:07 GMT
Someone went and said it was a 'stone' and that the inscriptions changed, changing what I originally said, so I had no choice but to use the same wording and work around it, so I took it to meaning the stone in front or below the actual shrine had the inscriptions carved on it, which is mostly what I intended anyway. Sorry! I'd not intended it like that - I wasn't sure what you'd meant in your description, so I was using the villagers' fear to be vague. I doubted many of them would have gone to see the shrine if they were so distrustful of magic, so I went for a vague description which would be the kind of thing that could have been passed round the village by gossiping. Also, I still have no internet access really and therefore I have no intention of joining the roleplay for the forseeable future (i.e. unless I have a good internet connection that is guaranteed for a goodly while) I can understand if you won't want me back though - internet access has left me very unreliable. As for going to the library - I'm at Stockton and live quite far out, it's incredibly difficult for me to spend any length of time in the library (I've even had to have friends text me when tutorial times etc. have been sent by email because I simply can't check it).
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