Teleport magic

I know this question is probably going to end up as 'varies on the author' kind of thing, but I thought I'd check anyway.

Now it is mostly accepted that teleport magic is risky, many Felarya stories show the mishaps of teleporting mages that ended up nowhere they wanted to go. But is teleporting generaly considered a risky thing to do, regardless of the type of mage? Or are there mages that can pull it off without any risk of mishaps?

I know Lady Lesona can teleport her Saidakins, but they seem to be expendable and willing for suicide siturations. but let's say someone like her needed to get something of great importance to somewhere and can't afford to lose it, could they teleport it with maximum saftey? or is that impossible so it would it have to be delivered manualy to minimize risk?

I'm gonna answer this question by asking you a question. Would you trust someone to teleport you to a place he or she has never been to or seen before?

that question is irreverent, as I never implied that the destination in given scenario was somewhere that they haven't been to before

So you are saying that a mage shouldn't have a point of reference, i.e. an idea of what a specific place in an area looks like for the people to reappear in so that he can minimize the odds of someone materializing inside a nearby boulder?

let me restate my previous comment

"that question is irreverent, as I never implied that the destination in given scenario was somewhere that they haven't been to before"

As in, I am not talking about places they haven't been before, I am talking about teleporting to places they already know


Is it possible for a a decent Mage to teleport Someone/Something to a already known location without risk of magical anomalies, or is it going always to be a risk no matter what the skill of mage and any precuations they take? That's what I am trying to ask

Tsk, tsk, tsk. Since you're so hopelessly clueless, let me just spell it out for you. Since skill or experience is a factor to all forms of magic, we'll ignore it for now. When using teleportation magic, you must consider several factors. First of all, having a good idea of what the area you are teleporting in is very important. Think of it as having coordinates for a location. Obviously, the more accurate the coordinates, the less likely you are going to end up somewhere you shouldn't be. You wouldn't trust the guy saying that he's not quite sure he knows or remember what the place is like, or only knows what the place is, which could be the entire region would you? You don't want to end up technically in the zone you want to be in, but several miles off course, or with your companions scattered all over the region, that would just be inconvenient and potentially fatal in the long run

Next is the picking the spot in question. Naturally, a nice open area is preferable, but at the same time, it could be close to a nest of giant blood-thirsty birds, and popping out of nowhere near that would end quite messily, wouldn't you say? Making sure the area is quite safe and nowhere near where wild beasts make their territory will make teleporting to an area much more comfortable. Obviously, that's not entirely foolproof, since Lady Luck can be quite the troll when she feels like it, but it can help ensure you won't end up in the right place at the wrong time. Lastly, as an addendum to the previous point, if the area in question is known for its magical disturbances or is warded, then teleporting there is most likely going to end up poorly. If magic reacts badly there, then using magic for transportation will most likely result in a metaphorical trainwreck.

So in conclusion, is teleportation magic risky? Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Teleportation magic is risky if one doesn't take the proper time to prepare. Scanning the area, finding a suitable spot and ensuring the zone is stable will reduce the risk factor considerably. It can't outright eliminate because it's Felarya we're talking about, quite literally everything out there is trying to kill you, and the mage scrying the area might actually have missed a nearby Dryad because she was camouflaged. Most of the risks come from outside factors that must be minimized through safety protocols if you will. Beyond that, unless the mage is a novice, teleportation itself isn't risky.

I hope you found this enlightening and I hope next time you do a little thinking along the lines of "Why could teleportation magic be risky?" rather than just asking "Is it risky?". Some questions aren't as straightforward as others and the question is actually quite obvious if you simply take the time to think once in a while.

Was it necessary of you to insult Dark or do you TRY to be a colossal prick?

Quote :

So in conclusion, is teleportation magic risky? Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Teleportation magic is risky if one doesn't take the proper time to prepare. Scanning the area, finding a suitable spot and ensuring the zone is stable will reduce the risk factor considerably. It can't outright eliminate because it's Felarya we're talking about, quite literally everything out there is trying to kill you, and the mage scrying the area might actually have missed a nearby Dryad because she was camouflaged. Most of the risks come from outside factors that must be minimized through safety protocols if you will. Beyond that, unless the mage is a novice, teleportation itself isn't risky.

teleportation is risky due tho the nature of teleportation being something like folding the dimention and thus opening a pathway between point A and point B (much like how i dimentionnal portal would work) except it is done one the location of the object/person and for a split second. Now due to the instability of felarya, teleportations becomes a high risk process, more or less depending on where you are and where you want to go.

I specified two things you just overlooked. 1. We're under the assumption that the mage is decent or proficient in teleport spells, thus the prospect of the spell backfiring is either low or null. 2. As I stated, it isn't risky if one takes the time to prepare. Of course anyone who just rushes it is just asking to become a permanent part of a tree. Felarya as a whole is unstable yes, however most regions are not very prone to dimensional shenanigans. The worst places are Miragia Forest and Deeper Felarya, which coincidentally are two places where you'd need a VERY good reason to even consider approaching. Now, can there be dimensional shenanigans elsewhere that can interfere with teleportation? Yes, but in the current map it's very rare, thus the risk they present are minimal at that. But even then, any mage worth its name is going to prepare as to minimize said risks. The point remains that teleportation itself isn't risky because you will be dealing with someone who knows what he's doing, as those who don't have probably ended up halfway across the planet or somewhere worse.

i think you missed my point, if i remember correctly Felarya itself is unstable at a dimensional level, making teleportation a guessing game. Even a highly skilled mage would have a hard time even if they knew perfectly where they wanted to go.

Then answer me this, bub: If in your view teleportation is such a tremendous gamble, then why do people even bother with it when an infinitely safer option presents themselves to them?

Well if teleporting isn't generaly risky, then why arn't more mages trained in the skill? I would had thought in a huge world in felarya, teleporting would had been seen as a essential skill and Isolon university would make mastering of it mandatory to learn if you want to graduate.

And yet someone who can teleport without screwing it up is a rarity.

For starters, I'd like to know what are the stories you're mentioning where a teleport spell failed, because you are very vague in that notion. It's easy to say "so many stories do that", when in reality, only few does. Second, in all fairness, teleporting to the jungle is not the most practical way of using a teleport since even when you study the area carefully, beasts and predators are very good at camouflage. The most use a teleport spell is going to see is to return back to civilization. Think of it as a Abort Mission button in spell form. That's not to say it's its only use, but given what it does, a quick way back to safety is something that shouldn't be overlooked.

But really, the reason why teleport spells fail in stories boils down to the Rule of Drama. If you think about it, teleportation is a very useful skill. You can quickly appear where you need to go and then use it to get back home safely with minimal problems. Naturally, it's not very exciting, so writers will often have the spell fail to add tension. It's a lot like having a scene in an airplane. If there's not going to be any malfunction, or heavy turbulence or other incident, then there would be no excitement and thus no reason for the scene to exist, unless you have some other plans for it. As I said before, if teleportation was such a dangerous practice, then people wouldn't think of practicing it, let alone use it. You wouldn't want to ride a plane if there was a very high of malfunction or turbulence. You shouldn't base your opinion on how stories present teleportation and its risk of failure, because nine times out of ten it only failed because the plot dictated that it should fail for the sake of creating conflict, just like the one in a million chance is almost always a dead guarantee because it attempts to create tension. I can't say for certain if teleport magic as a whole is a safe practice practice even for a seasoned and cautious mage. Since Felarya is a dimensional anomaly in and of itself, it should in fact be easier to use teleportation. If you want a concrete answer, you'll have to ask Karbo. All we can really do is speculate on the matter.

Shady Knight wrote:

Tsk, tsk, tsk. Since you're so hopelessly clueless, let me just spell it out for you.

[...]

Some questions aren't as straightforward as others and the question is actually quite obvious if you simply take the time to think once in a while.

Don't.

This is not the first time we've had to ask you.

Shady, if it was easy, it would kill all the fun and other means of transportation would become useless. I can imagine its possible to pull off successfully but only by outstanding mage.

For what it's worth, Operations, that's exactly what he said.

I don't disagree with Shady, but I'd like everyone to remember it doesn't HAVE to be that way. Or any other way, in fact: let me add something to Shady's answer, DarkOne, so you may better understand it.


Let's for a moment assume that there's a discipline somewhere that allows you to teleport anywhere in Felarya you want to by clicking your heels together and saying "There's no place like home". Would that agree with you?
If not, let's take out the part about clicking your heels together and make it several years of study, training, and practice. We'll keep the words, though, once you know how to do it, say "There's no place like home" and you'll be anywhere you want to. Would that agree with you?
If not, let's add the limitation that you must have a rough idea of the place. You can't just think of "A sunny beach full of hawt horny vixens who are totally into me". You need the name of a beach by that description. Would that agree with you?
If not, let's add the limitation that, instead of the name, you need an idea of where said beach is, as well as at least a general idea of its contents (No, the hawt horny vixens who are totally into you don't count). You'd need to know what color the sand is, what's the position of the sun, the kind of vegetables, any landmarks nearby. Would that agree with you now?

If not, we can try something different. Instead of clicking your heels while thinking of the place, make it so that you need a soil sample that came from that place. Or even better- that you need to know the chi or some stuff about someone who's already here. We call it instant transmission, and rip it off DBZ exactly. Would THAT agree with you?

You may keep on adding limitations and changing rules until you find something you do agree with. As of right now, no one has been able to provide an idea regarding dimensional magic that has caught on and gotten canonized, at the same time defining its strengths, limitations, and usage- hence the need to think up an answer yourself.

If that's exactly what you're trying to avoid, at least give us something to work with. Tell us what do you think should be the parameters, the requirements, the limitations, the possible outcomes, and we'll gladly help you think through it.

Well really from a story telling perspective I am just trying to avoid having proffessional mages teleporting everywhere like nobodie's bisniess, but actually come up with a reason that isn't "Because the nature of felarya intervened" or "learning how to teleport has never crossed the minds to this so called professionals"

especially if I want to write about Battlemages, because as far as I can tell from most plots, Battlemages, the fighting force of the Magiocrats themselves, handed picked and educated at Isolon university, are for the most part unable to teleport. Not even back to Negav, the place that they trained at and were trusted to protect. If a Battlemage gets stuck in in the felarya forest, it seems like they think that they have no option but to fight their way out. It gets somewhat silly when an untrained adventuerer from another world is more likely to be able to teleport out of tricky siturations than Negav's finest.

personaly I think the soil sample idea could work, or any other material that's unique to the area they want to teleport to. Visual aids might be useful too, like photographs or skecthes. At least then they would require someone to go out and collect the soil or data from the area before they can teleport there, which not only limits the teleportation, but also allows story opportunities where characters would be sent out for that very reason. Kind of reminds me of the film 'The Butterfly Effect' where the main character could go back in time into his own past, but he coulden't just think of an memory and go there, he needed to read a journal that was written in that time period.

Now if was how it worked, then Battlemages would be senisble to take something from Negav with them in case they get stranded, and it woulden't be too implausible that they might lose the sample from a mishap, such as the sample being destroyed or stolen. That way if an author wants battlemages or any professional mage get stranded in the forest, it can be done in a way would down to genuine bad luck, and not done in a way that makes it look like reality is bending backwards for it to happen.

OK, let's get this show on the road!

DarkOne wrote:

Well really from a story telling perspective I am just trying to avoid having proffessional mages teleporting everywhere like nobodie's bisniess, but actually come up with a reason that isn't "Because the nature of felarya intervened" or "learning how to teleport has never crossed the minds to this so called professionals"

especially if I want to write about Battlemages, because as far as I can tell from most plots, Battlemages, the fighting force of the Magiocrats themselves, handed picked and educated at Isolon university, are for the most part unable to teleport. Not even back to Negav, the place that they trained at and were trusted to protect. If a Battlemage gets stuck in in the felarya forest, it seems like they think that they have no option but to fight their way out. It gets somewhat silly when an untrained adventuerer from another world is more likely to be able to teleport out of tricky siturations than Negav's finest.

Well, personally, I assume that trying to learn teleportation to save your life if you don't have the right affinity is more trouble than it's worth- that it might take you 50 or so years. Now, just 'cause you won't grow old doesn't mean your superiors won't grow bored of waiting 50 years for every trainee to finish training, when their forces are to be replaced faster than that. So they only teach people with the right affinity to teleport, and you'd have on one side the battle corps, on the other side the telecorps who send them into and out of battle. Without tele corps, the battle corps gotta hoof it.

DarkOne wrote:

personaly I think the soil sample idea could work, or any other material that's unique to the area they want to teleport to. Visual aids might be useful too, like photographs or skecthes. At least then they would require someone to go out and collect the soil or data from the area before they can teleport there, which not only limits the teleportation, but also allows story opportunities where characters would be sent out for that very reason.

Yeah, that's what I was think-- HEY! Mebbe Karbo's drawing all of those pics of Felaryan landscapes lately so that budding teleporters end up there!

DarkOne wrote:

Now if was how it worked, then Battlemages would be senisble to take something from Negav with them in case they get stranded, and it woulden't be too implausible that they might lose the sample from a mishap, such as the sample being destroyed or stolen. That way if an author wants battlemages or any professional mage get stranded in the forest, it can be done in a way would down to genuine bad luck, and not done in a way that makes it look like reality is bending backwards for it to happen.

Well, if you like the idea of giving them doohickeys, yer welcome. I'm a bit more partial to having telecorps who handle your teleportation, but who says you can't have both? You could cast a spell that allows the doohickey to beckon to the telecorps, so the telecorps can cast a spell to summon you and your doohickey.

It's ultimately up to you. Hope this helps you figure out whatever you needed to figure out.