General Q and A

itsmeyouidiot wrote:

How exactly does Felarya's language translation work for infants? Since they don't know any, what do they hear?

As far as I know, the language thing hasn't really been fully explained... but I'm pretty sure that everyone agrees that an individual must first possess the capacity to comprehend language. Not to sound like I'm blatantly promoting my own theory on the translation factor, which I guess I am, but it makes sense once you assert that language is simply abstract thought expressed by a rule-regulated system of uttered sounds. If, however, one were to experience even a low-intensity mental connection to other sapients (perhaps an effect of Felarya's magical nature?), then the abstract thought could possibly be broadcast through speech, and yet interpreted by the recipient in their own language. There would be slip-ups and discrepancies, of course.

This would also explain why written wording isn't always translated. Since it's not being actively spoken, that link may or may not be present.

What is the different between Wild Magic and Primordial Magic? They seem to be pretty much the same thing described in different ways.

Jætte_Troll wrote:

What is the different between Wild Magic and Primordial Magic? They seem to be pretty much the same thing described in different ways.

Wild magic is natural magic, and to me that sounds more like an effect of life-forces and active influences. It's been said to have a mind of its own, and the mage simply acts as a conduit, not as a director. They don't actively control what's going on at all.

Primordial magic is the very substance of existence. As I see it, it's the manipulation of physical laws and basic energies. Rather than casting "fireball", you're actually concentrating thermal energies into the air to ignite it, and the propelling the combusting gas. My own character Zion, if my interpretation of primordial magic is correct, is a model user of it. Rather than memorizing spells and certain outcomes, a primordial user makes use of magic in creative and less-structured fashion. However, they are in complete and total control of their casting, more so than any other type of mage.

What are the effects of Oosoon berries? I assume they are alcoholic from the related picture, but I couldn't find anything on them in the wiki. Do they only grow in the misty glade?

Merged another topic into this one, but for some reason the posts are on page 52 instead of at the end. They're the posts about naga lengths,

As far as magic goes, I go with Wild Magic somehow having a mind of its own and not just being a type of spellcasting, but also to refer to abnormal magic phenomena in general. Primordial Magic, to me, is basically The Force, except explicitely called magic. Felarya is rich in ambient magic, so you actually just reach into that ambient magic to cast your spells. The obvious downside is that if you were to leave a zone with ambient magic, you'd be powerless.

Sean Okotami wrote:

Primordial Magic, to me, is basically The Force, except explicitely called magic.

I'd think wild magic is more like The Force, what with it having its own will and all.

Do other species besides nagas have "affinities"?

If so, why do only nagas have a list for them on their page?

If not, what exactly makes nagas unique in this regard?

what do you mean by affinity? like Elemental affinity or something else?

Yes, he does mean magical affinities.
(Elemental affinities implies that affinities can only be for elements like fire, water, etc).

As far as I know that hasn't actually been defined. However, in my affinities theory which is still in the works) most things would be able to have an affinity.

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Do other species besides nagas have "affinities"?

I imagine nearly any magic user in Felarya has their own affinities. The many types and elements of magic all operate in completely different ways. It only makes sense for a mage, regardless of species, to be drawn to a small handful of those types more than others.

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If so, why do only nagas have a list for them on their page?

Because that list has been like that forever, and a species with lots of elementall focused mages in it was a bit more unique.

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If not, what exactly makes nagas unique in this regard?

Not much, really. The one unique factor seems to be that Nagas are one of the more magically gifted races in Felarya. With Fairies being first, and Humans being about even in terms of the number of magic users. You just don't see as many magic users amongst the other pred races. They tend to rely more on natural abilities than magic.

As for the list of most magical races, here's my idea for it.
1: Fairies: They're all basically flying, size-shifting mages.

2: Humans: You have a relatively large population with at least some form of magical skill, and the most powerful human mages, like the Magiocrats and Isolon Fist battlemages, are fully capable of taking on opponents many times their size. I lump Elves into this group too, since many live amongst humans.

3: Nagas: Among Nagas, you also have a large population of mages, usually geared towards one particular element. I rank them lower than humans because there are so many more humans than nagas in Felarya. The interesting thing about Nagas is that they possess these powerful magical abilities, with little to no formal training. They just have a natural gift for it. Some indivudals develop their magic more than others though.

4: Dryads: They possess very powerful illusion magic, but not much of any other types for the most part.

5: Mermaids: All mermaids unconsiously use a type of water magic to allow them to move through the water faster and with more agility than they really should, but you don't see much of any other type of magic among them.

The instances of magic users among other races seems to be a bit less common, but it does happen, of course.

Question about a battle mage and general police reponse
Has there been any situation where a great loss of life occured becuase law enforcement agents inside Negav had underestimated the capablities and/or fire power of a suspcet. (its important for me to know for the story im writting,)

luke112 wrote:

Question about a battle mage and general police reponse
Has there been any situation where a great loss of life occured becuase law enforcement agents inside Negav had underestimated the capablities and/or fire power of a suspcet. (its important for me to know for the story im writting,)

They are the police in a city where nearly the entire population is either armed and/or a magic user. They're going to be cautious and be prepared.

Plus, if it was someone really powerful, you'd have the Investigators or potentially Isolon Fist getting involved, and then it would be over in a few minutes.

Luke, that situation is highly unlikely. If anything, the chances of the opposite happening are higher. The law enforcement in Negav would not ever take the chances of underestimating an anything.
This would be a case of erring on the side of caution. They can not afford to take chances at all, so they're likely to bring more power then they really need to everything in case they actually do need it.
They can not take chances when the city is a multiversal trade hub situated on a death world.

Not that I recall. They are pretty much well prepared for about all scenarios and have been well trained. The last incident involving a great loss of live was during the last regime when the Great Destruction occurred, however the law enforcement at that time was different.

rcs619 wrote:

Quote :

Do other species besides nagas have "affinities"?

I imagine nearly any magic user in Felarya has their own affinities. The many types and elements of magic all operate in completely different ways. It only makes sense for a mage, regardless of species, to be drawn to a small handful of those types more than others.

Quote :

If so, why do only nagas have a list for them on their page?

Because that list has been like that forever, and a species with lots of elementall focused mages in it was a bit more unique.

Quote :

If not, what exactly makes nagas unique in this regard?

Not much, really. The one unique factor seems to be that Nagas are one of the more magically gifted races in Felarya. With Fairies being first, and Humans being about even in terms of the number of magic users. You just don't see as many magic users amongst the other pred races. They tend to rely more on natural abilities than magic.

As for the list of most magical races, here's my idea for it.
1: Fairies: They're all basically flying, size-shifting mages.

2: Humans: You have a relatively large population with at least some form of magical skill, and the most powerful human mages, like the Magiocrats and Isolon Fist battlemages, are fully capable of taking on opponents many times their size. I lump Elves into this group too, since many live amongst humans.

3: Nagas: Among Nagas, you also have a large population of mages, usually geared towards one particular element. I rank them lower than humans because there are so many more humans than nagas in Felarya. The interesting thing about Nagas is that they possess these powerful magical abilities, with little to no formal training. They just have a natural gift for it. Some indivudals develop their magic more than others though.

4: Dryads: They possess very powerful illusion magic, but not much of any other types for the most part.

5: Mermaids: All mermaids unconsiously use a type of water magic to allow them to move through the water faster and with more agility than they really should, but you don't see much of any other type of magic among them.

The instances of magic users among other races seems to be a bit less common, but it does happen, of course.

Remember also that Elves tend to be more magically inclined than humans and Nekos. Or, at the very least, they have a history of magic and magical records to give them a good basis for magic, ones that go back much further than anything humans have.

I never thought of nagas as better at magic.... but it does explain a few things historically... Though I do understand naga mages are usually specialists in an affinity.

Oh, and for dridders, I believe that they are a pretty magically poor or average race which is why they rely on technology or fighting skills. The exception being, I think, the Dridder Royal Family.

(in regaurds to Police response)
But they are still Human, and Humans always make Mistakes. Not to mention that Murphys Law may Ouccor as what the old saying went No Plan survivies contact with the enemy.

luke112 wrote:

(in regaurds to Police response)
But they are still Human, and Humans always make Mistakes. Not to mention that Murphys Law may Ouccor as what the old saying went No Plan survivies contact with the enemy.

First off, not everyone in Negav is human; second, just because you can have mistakes doesn't mean you aren't prepared for them; and third, that applies to your "Militia" as well, and are you saying the Militia are the enemy of Negav now?

And Luke, you do realize just how widely diverse the defenses of Negav are, do you? They have various advanced weaponry on the wall that could tear apart any army or giant pred, they have psionics that don't rely on magic and can control/destroy ones mind easily, mages belonging to various kinds of magic capable of wielding vast magical powers, the magiocrats themselves, and various police forces who possess advanced technology and who train for every scenario: even if some does go wrong, they're prepared to fix it

And this doesn't include the other factions who wouldn't exactly be pleased by some person/group entering the city and cause a massive loss of life by recklessly killing police and civilians. They either don't want anything major going down that could blow their cover, or want any of their kind killed during the event. These include the Nemesis' (who can just look at you, mark you, and then devour you in your sleep), dusk nymphs (fairy/darkness elemental hybrids that can move through shadows), etc...

Overall, anyone who attacks Negav is likely to be attacked by everyone within the city.

Jasconius wrote:

Dusk nymphs (fairy/darkness elemental hybrids that can move through shadows),

I believe that because they are immune to the Isolon eye doesn't mean they can just disregard the other defences.
Fairies aren't going to be allowed into Negav because they're all powerful predators.

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Remember also that Elves tend to be more magically inclined than humans and Nekos. Or, at the very least, they have a history of magic and magical records to give them a good basis for magic, ones that go back much further than anything humans have.

Yeah, I just lumped them in with humans because they are so similar, and live together with them in Negav. Plus, a 5-point list looks a lot cleaner and neater than a 6-point one.

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I never thought of nagas as better at magic.... but it does explain a few things historically... Though I do understand naga mages are usually specialists in an affinity.

It isn't so much that they are better than magic, I think. I just think that the number of magic-capable individuals is higher in their population than in other races. They may even have a higher percentage of them than humans, although humans have them beat in terms of pure numbers. Also, if you think about it, Naga mages are pretty limited. Nagas seem almost always to be limited to a single element...unlike humans, elves and fairies who seem to be able to learn multiple types.

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Oh, and for dridders, I believe that they are a pretty magically poor or average race which is why they rely on technology or fighting skills. The exception being, I think, the Dridder Royal Family.

That's how I saw Dridders too. A lot of other Felaryan races also fall into that category. They rely more on natural abilities than magical skill.

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I believe that because they are immune to the Isolon eye doesn't mean they can just disregard the other defences.
Fairies aren't going to be allowed into Negav because they're all powerful predators.

True, but I think they fall into the "blowing their cover" category of Jasconius' post. I think he was implying that a handful of Dusk Nymphs could be living secretly within the city...and a massive event could blow their cover due to the various Negavian defense forces being on high-alert.

Actually, the idea of Dusk Nymphs lurking around within the city is pretty interesting. Maybe not all disappearances within the city are due to crime afterall...

um....I've been wondering how come Dryads can uproot themselves from the ground

I figured most Dryads just pulled their roots out of the ground and sluggishly slithered on their roots to a new destination.

Someone feel free to correct me, though.

AisuKaiko wrote:

I figured most Dryads just pulled their roots out of the ground and sluggishly slithered on their roots to a new destination.

Someone feel free to correct me, though.

Hmmmm my idea was they pulled their roots up, and then had the roots just kind of wrap up into a pair of makeshift legs and move.

Ok back on Topic
Just how is the Monatary system in Negav Broken down into, I know theres Sekvoles( did i spell it rigth) and Ascarlin but is there any other denomination of Money In between the two? ( for example the Number of denominations between a $1 bill and a Gold Bar)

Since the Jewel River is so massive, would you be more likely to encounter a regular mermaid, or do the smaller river mermaids compose much of their population there?