General Q and A

Sean Okotami wrote:

Well there are big wild animals and I assume giant predators fall to a pack of Kenshas once in a while. There's also those giant squids.

This is true but those are mostly jungle area animals. Usually I think there must be larger fish in the sea so to speak as well as desert creatures and creatures out on the great plains too.

Well the desert has the Time Sharks (all they lack are frickin' laser beams), and I think the sea has the volasaurus. I don't know about the great rocky field. I usually think that creatures that rank as High or higher on the Threat-O-Meter tend to also prey on the hybrid predators.

I think predators usually have low birth rates to keep their numbers from spiralling out of control.

But on the level of threats, there should be some very dangerous creatures that they'd want to avoid, like packs of kensha, hives of tonorions led by abyssal tonorions, the occasional time shark, etc.

You don't really need a low birth rate; a low baby to aldut survival rate would work as popultion control.

CauldronBorn24 wrote:

You don't really need a low birth rate; a low baby to aldut survival rate would work as popultion control.

That seems to be the general consensus.

It takes 40 years for a predator to reach full size, and most predators spend a good quarter of that at or near human size. Except Fairies, giant Elves, and other live-birth preds, but they're the minority of the pred population. Most pred species do go through an extended time where they are quite small and vulnerable.

Reaching adulthood out in the jungle is a big accomplishment. While they certainly have a lot less threats than other things out there, they will have some potential problems. Kenshas, giant vipers, poisonous plants, and all kinds of large wildlife that can maim or poison. You don't need something to one-shot a pred to be a threat. The jungle preys on weakness, and a good maiming can be fatal to someone if it takes too long to heal up.

Also, when I say large, Im referring to the scale chart I made up:
- Tiny: Neera, Tomthumbs, Squirrels, Jackelopes, etc.
- Small: Dogs, Cats, Chupacabras, etc.
- Normal: Humans, Elves, Human-sized hybrids, etc.
- Big: Druiker, Wolves, Lions, Tigers, Bears (Oh my!), Sharks, etc.
- Huge: Tonorions, Elephants, Rhinos, T-rex's, etc.
- Large: Kensha Beasts, Marsh Vipers, various other animals that are large enough to seriously injure giant hybrids,etc.
- Giant: Nagas, River Mermaids, Dryads, Giant-sized hybrids, etc.
- Massive: Giant Flying Squid, the giant plant that eats predators, various creatures that can easily kill even the giant hybrids, etc.
- Holy God, that is Fucking HUGE: The Giant Tree (Likely the largest living creature in the multiverse, or at least in the top-10).
** Other ** : Fairies (They have no "true" size).

Under Religions, for Seekers of Sineria, it says that they search for any information about the location of Sineria. However, it would seem from rumour that many dridders know perfectly well where she is. Even if its only a few, wouldn't any dridder be able to to figure it out from his brethren?

Jætte_Troll wrote:

Under Religions, for Seekers of Sineria, it says that they search for any information about the location of Sineria. However, it would seem from rumour that many dridders know perfectly well where she is. Even if its only a few, wouldn't any dridder be able to to figure it out from his brethren?

I don't think any of them really know for sure. The sealing of Sineria was quite a while ago, most likely. What they do know is just info that has been passed down, probably part-truth and part-legend by this point.

Knowing where she is doesn't really matter anyway. Its unlikely that anyone could get close to her anyway. Who knows what kind of crazy sealing spells and traps the Guardians set in place. Considering that Sinera is a very real threat to any of them other than Notys, I imagine they made sure she was locked down tight.

rcs619 wrote:

Jætte_Troll wrote:

Under Religions, for Seekers of Sineria, it says that they search for any information about the location of Sineria. However, it would seem from rumour that many dridders know perfectly well where she is. Even if its only a few, wouldn't any dridder be able to to figure it out from his brethren?

I don't think any of them really know for sure. The sealing of Sineria was quite a while ago, most likely. What they do know is just info that has been passed down, probably part-truth and part-legend by this point.

Knowing where she is doesn't really matter anyway. Its unlikely that anyone could get close to her anyway. Who knows what kind of crazy sealing spells and traps the Guardians set in place. Considering that Sinera is a very real threat to any of them other than Notys, I imagine they made sure she was locked down tight.

Indeed. But I mean, it seems that a good many dridders know that she's locked up in her mansion, as they give it looks as they pass buy.

The dridders who do want her freed - considering what you said - would they not be giving humans more the mission of researching and finding ways to break into the mansion?

Jætte_Troll wrote:

Under Religions, for Seekers of Sineria, it says that they search for any information about the location of Sineria. However, it would seem from rumour that many dridders know perfectly well where she is. Even if its only a few, wouldn't any dridder be able to to figure it out from his brethren?

Ah what rumor do you mean ? o.o
There might be a confusion here, she isn't supposed to be in that mansion... it has nothing to do actually XD

It's a fan theory.

Karbo wrote:

Jætte_Troll wrote:

Under Religions, for Seekers of Sineria, it says that they search for any information about the location of Sineria. However, it would seem from rumour that many dridders know perfectly well where she is. Even if its only a few, wouldn't any dridder be able to to figure it out from his brethren?

Ah what rumor do you mean ? o.o
There might be a confusion here, she isn't supposed to be in that mansion... it has nothing to do actually XD

It was a general assumption made earlier. Apparently a viewpoint some have carried with them. I didn't think she was in the mansion as that didn't jive with the past but it was not my place to say otherwise.

Hehe, okay. Guess it's a meta-rumour. XD

Ah, on the time-line thing again. Has the fairy kingdom always been there, if Nemyra is a Guardian? I mean, does it pre-date the Titans then?

Oh, and on my vague elf theories - I remembered that the Milkadis temple was built by elves (well, they created the magic in the place so I'm taking the leap to say they built the whole darn thing.) If they were at a time where they could invest in temple building, or temple enchanting, were they then in a position beyond their small communities of today? Was there a pre-Sagolian Elven kingdom? That would explain why they seem haughty...

Perhaps the Elven Empire based on Nature was eclipsed by the Sagolian Empire of Magic and the Dridder Empire of Technology? Hmm...

I think Nemyra predates the titans yes

As for elves, hehe good point. Indeed there is lot of ancient words coming from it so it's safe to say they were a lot more numerous in ancient times ^^

A question about languages and music.

I apologize if this has already been asked before. I was listening to Rammstein and suddenly a thought occured to me. What would happen if somebody were, say, teleported to Felarya and had an ipod, or whatever else one might use to listen to music, and started listening to something in a language he couldn't understand on Earth (for example)? So yes, basically, say you're in Negav with a monstrous audio system listening to German music, would you understand anything if you've never studied that language before?

Shadeofheave wrote:

A question about languages and music.

I apologize if this has already been asked before. I was listening to Rammstein and suddenly a thought occured to me. What would happen if somebody were, say, teleported to Felarya and had an ipod, or whatever else one might use to listen to music, and started listening to something in a language he couldn't understand on Earth (for example)? So yes, basically, say you're in Negav with a monstrous audio system listening to German music, would you understand anything if you've never studied that language before?

I believe the translation effect applies to all spoken language, no matter how you're hearing it. Im pretty sure we said that the dialogue in the movies showing in theators in Negav would be translated.

I think the only thing that does not get translated is text.

Ah yes. I was talking to Shade about it earlier and I couldn't recall if it only worked between living beings or if it applied to all spoken language.
And yes, one of the things said in the discussion on it a while back did say that it didn't apply to text.

About Necromancy

I have read through a great many of the material that mentions the obscure art, but I had some more specific questions. I know you can't raise an army of the dead on Felarya, but could you for instance cast a spell that fell into the same school of magic but instead was used for wounding or inciting fear or terror? Another musing idea that popped into my head involved Liches. I figure that performing Lichcraft or the Ritual of Endless Night on Felarya would be a no-go, but could a Lich enter through one of the portals and remain 'alive' as it were or would they simply fall apart the second they set foot in Felarya? In addition to that, if the Lich's body were destroyed, would their soul return to their phylactery (soul anchor) and then they reform as would normally occur, or would their soul be interrupted and forcefully sent onward?

The thing about Felarya's clause, which actually uses the wrong term, is that all it does is prevent from bringing a corpse back to life. That includes raising it as an undead, resurrecting it through holy magic, or reincarnating it into another creature. If it's a corpse of a once living creature, you can't bring it back. There seem to exist a loophole that you can technically bring someone back, but you must bind its soul to an inanimate body, like a golem body. Spells like wounding, as they do not fall into the "bring a corpse back to life", work perfectly fine. As for undeads, they can exist on Felarya, they simply can't be created on Felarya. A Lich can exist if he became a Lich outside of Felarya, and then came to Felarya.

Alright, in that case, if a Lich's body is destroyed, their soul goes to their phylactery and the Lich reforms over a period of several days. Would the magics of Felarya prevent this? A Lich is essentially a walking corpse, but their soul is bound to a phylactery which facilitates the reformation.

Malhavoc Shade wrote:

Alright, in that case, if a Lich's body is destroyed, their soul goes to their phylactery and the Lich reforms over a period of several days. Would the magics of Felarya prevent this? A Lich is essentially a walking corpse, but their soul is bound to a phylactery which facilitates the reformation.

Hmmm, not really sure about Liches. I always figured that any undead that fell through into Felarya would find it extremely uncomfortable. I mean, its a realm that is so saturated with energy and magic that people stop aging at their prime and all non-lethal injuries heal up at an accelerated rate. Just seems like it wouldn't be the ideal environment for an undead creature to live in.

I don't play D&D and many other fantasy-themed things though, so I don't really know how all thier little rules and stuff work.

Necromancy in Felarya is limited to raising and controlling the dead, or bending them to your will. That is the part that is just doesn't work, likely because of the healing factor and/or wierd magical nature of the place. I, personally, don't consider paralyzing touches, and other dark magics to be necromancy. They are dark and scary, sure, but they don't have anything to do with the dead. Those do work though, since they are more like curses, illusions or enchantments than anything else.

I believe there are some Shamans out there though, that can commune with the spirits of the departed that have not moved on to the afterlife for one reason or another. That is about as close to necromancy as you can get on Felarya. The only examples of those that I know of are a Neko tribe in Zoekin's early work, and the character Marken, from the mangas,.who claims that the spirits tell him things.

Felarya Necromancer, in most cases, is only applied to "Rise, ye dead of the world!" varieties, and not "Inflict Minor Wounds on Touch" or "Drain energy from opponent and apply to yourself" spells. If you applied other realms for an example, something more like The Elder Scrolls (wherein Necromancy is predominantly used for interaction with the dead, and / or animating bodies) would be appropriate than Dungeons & Dragons (wherein Necromancy covers everything from "Revive" to healing injuries and even having a party well-rested through magical means).

Though the latter bit still stands (the question regarding Liches). I think the manner of the Liches' revival would play a part in if they can generate a new body on Felarya or not. For example, if you magically fabricated your replacement body, as opposed to jacking a pre-existing body and twisting it to your needs, that would seem like it should work fine (since that's how Ghosts work, in some instances, so this would essentially be a more refined and powerful version). Meanwhile, if you did the "Jack a body, twist to needs" approach, it's a bit more iffy as - on one hand - you are animating an inanimate object, but on the other hand it can be seen as a "raise dead" ability.

This does lead me to question, though, what happens if a Liche's Phylactery is kept on another plane / another world than Felarya, and the Liche has their body destroyed there. Normal consensus is that, on Felarya, whatever afterlife you would have in your own realm (unless you're something a divine would take direct interest in, or your realm already has an "If slain in Far Realms, Spirit Returns to Near Realms" clause, or you're from a "soulless" realm wherein the inhabitants have no spirit) is immediately rendered void by Felarya and instead applied to either one of the two "major" afterlives (Heaven or Hell), or Ghost-hood. There's rumor of another, true set of afterlives beyond Heaven and Hell (those two being mimicries / falsehoods), but they're just that: Rumors.

However, back to the point, normally when dead you're either: A) Stuck, B) Risin' with wings, C) Getting chased by a pitchfork. But a Liche has an anchor for their spirit, one that prevents it from simply passing on when the body fails (provided you can't do direct damage to the spirit, anyways). However, at the same time, said Anchor isn't on Felarya. Would the Anchor work fully as designed, and take the Lich back to their home realm / the realm of the Phylactery and let them reform there? Does it work somewhat, preventing them from being snatched by the divine beings but at the same time not having enough juice to send them back home (in which case it's a matter of the Lich either going mad, eventually having their anchor destroyed, or finding a way to get a body made without returning to their Phylactery)? Or does it not work at all, and essentially - when severed from their phylactery by multiple planes [normally not a problem, since Liches tend to become Demi-Liches by abandoning their remains and exploring separate planes from their phylactery, but Felarya is a bit special], the Liche is stuck with one "life" until they can get back home / to a realm with access to home?

EDIT: And if you look one post to your north, you'll see Cliff is a Ninja.

@Cliff: We have been through this, but cemented terms for magic is not a good idea. Plus, when I spoke to Karbo, he never really thought of Necromancy (whose original meaning would be divining the future by asking the dead) would be restricted to only raising the dead and controlling them. That works fine, but the thing is, some people prefer to envision bigger than "animate a skeleton as your servant" and see it as the magic of death itself, which can range include such thing as death spells, life draining, etc. etc. Again, not exactly against that Karbo views Necromancy as "magic that make the dead walk", but just that the term for the "no resurrection" clause is a bit too restrictive.

General Lich lore varies in how they regenerate when their body is destroyed. Most accounts simply state that the phylactery recreates a new body. Other accounts (specifically ones that relate to Draco-Liches) state that there need to be corpses used as a medium. Seeing as how Liches (other than the draconic variety) don't keep their phylactery in a room full of corpses, I think we can err on the side of it making a new body. A phylactery by its very nature denies the Divine or Infernal from laying claim to the soul till the phylactery and the Lich's body is destroyed. I think in the case of being separated from the phylactery by planar realms, it would work as intended unless the entities of Felarya are that much more powerful than the normal Gods and Demons one would expect to find in a fantasy setting, or if Felarya is totally separated from other realms by some odd mechanic. Which in that case, I figure the Lich wouldn't be able to enter Felarya without their phylactery as doing so would sever the connection and the phylactery would react and prevent the soul from moving out of reach of the container. In other words, walking corpse enters, pile of decaying matter exits. Lich wakes up at home, quite irate at losing whatever relics s/he was carrying at the time.

Pardon me for intruding, but I has a question involving Leviathan Mermaids.

Quote :

Sometimes they will swallow small enough crafts, and store them in a second special stomach, a scary but perfectly safe way to travel.

So... how can the mermaid swallow and, eventually, regurgitate a boat without damaging anyone or anything? When I see a boat getting squeezed down by esophageal muscles and dropped into a stomach, I see it getting pretty damaged. After the return trip, I'd imagine it'd be nothing but a bunch of broken lumber.

Sean Okotami wrote:

@Cliff: We have been through this, but cemented terms for magic is not a good idea. Plus, when I spoke to Karbo, he never really thought of Necromancy (whose original meaning would be divining the future by asking the dead) would be restricted to only raising the dead and controlling them. That works fine, but the thing is, some people prefer to envision bigger than "animate a skeleton as your servant" and see it as the magic of death itself, which can range include such thing as death spells, life draining, etc. etc. Again, not exactly against that Karbo views Necromancy as "magic that make the dead walk", but just that the term for the "no resurrection" clause is a bit too restrictive.

I'm not sure what I told you exactly but to me a harmful touch, life drain etc.. doesn't belongs to necromancy but more to dark magic in general.
By necromancy I mean the action ( raising dead ), not a specific school of magic ala D&d.