Benedict Jacka

From: Kevin

1. Do you think the Shireen in Rachel’s head is somehow a jinn or a jinn related creature? I only ask because you think Rachel would have some jinn abilities even minor ones but apparently she just got the harvest induced insanity. I almost thought Richard was using it to control her but as recent events has shown he did not, so do you the jinn is weakened and Shireen somehow got connected to it?

2. Why would killing Onyx be of that much consequence? No one seemed to care that much about him since his mansion was intact unlike the other Dark Mages, Morden hadn’t reclaimed it, and Onyx seemed to have only adepts and one other Dark mage on his side. Was Onyx more connected than it appeared or is it something else?

3. Do you think Alex/the Fateweaver can work on jinn or wish magic in general? For some reason it seems like it is designed to counter wish magic, perhaps that is the reason they were created to use against the Jinn. Now that Alex took out Richard’s dreamstone perhaps he can do the same with his jinn whatever class it is with his fate magic.

1. Pretty sure she and the jinn are separate. And I wouldn’t be so sure that Rachel hasn’t got any jinn abilities. She seems to be able to pull off a lot of stuff that more powerful mages can’t.

2. Killing anyone has consequences, especially someone important. This isn’t Skyrim, you can’t just stab someone to death and expect nothing to change.

3. Uh . . . maybe? Not sure how I’d be expected to know that one.

From: Charles

1. What has the Light Council Reaction been to Alex getting the fateweaver? Do they think he works for Richard or are they aware he is his own agent? Does Richard know that Alex has the fateweaver as well?

2. Has Alex let the mage world know Richard is a diviner?

3. Do you think Alex with the fateweaver is stronger than Richard with his jinn? Obviously Richard is very dangerous but do you think Alex has an edge on him with magical/imbued items?

4. Do you think Richard has an imbued item that lets him control his jinn or is it just his own will and/or ritual/charm/binding magic?

1. They don’t know, and for obvious reasons he hasn’t gone out of his way to tell them.

2. No.

3. I dunno, Google the odds on the betting markets.

4. Maybe.

From: Kevin

1. Do you think regular gating is connected to Elsewhere?

2. Arachne mentioned that Elsewhere could be used for combat, how would that work? Is this only in Elsewhere or could it transition to our reality?

3. How you found a new use for the cube after it completed it’s function for the fateweaver? Can imbued items in general change or evolve from it’s original function?

1. Not really, no.

2. No clue.

3. Not yet.

From: John Jones

Does anyone else read or pronounce Alex’s last name as “Versus?” Like Alex Versus [Insert problem/enemy making life hard for him that day/week months].

Yeah, apparently it was a really common thing. It seemed to really annoy him as well – I got his name wrong once in the early days and it got a definite eye-roll. I think it particularly gets on his nerves because it’s one of those things that our more clueless customers would ask him at the store. “Alex versus who?” Now that I’ve had people calling me “Vester”, I’m starting to know how he felt.

Okay, scrolling down the list, we’ve got a whole ton of long multi-part questions this week, so these answers are going to have to be pretty short.

From: Kevin

1. I noticed that Richard retinue that Anne mentioned (until she took care of Crystal good riddance) seems to have two to three elementalists, one to two living mages if you count Vihaela and one universalist now that we know Richard is a diviner, which was exactly like Alex’s usual strike team when he was on the Council. Alex already used his own weaknesses to trick Richard into destroying his dreamstone are there any habits or traits that Alex can also exploit? Perhaps Richard’s bond with the jinn is similar to Alex’s fateweaver, that the more you use it the more it eats up your lifespan? I know Anne says that he has a body of someone in his thirties but like Arachne says power has a price.

2. Can Alex block Richard’s divination shrouding now that he has the fateweaver? Or can he develop divination skills that can stop that from happening now that he knows about it?

3. Is the fateweaver weaker or stronger or the same it has always been now that is seperated from the wand of Abithriax? Apparently the mind magic is gone but for some reason it seems more fluid than before if that makes sense?

4. Alex seems to be the perfect wielder of a fateweaver since he can predict a future before deciding it which seems to be the best mage type for it. My question is do you know how well if would work for other types of magic? I can’t imagine they would be able to use it as well unless the fateweaver can give them some form of divination? Is that the main reason why the users didn’t last so long?

1. Maybe?

2. Not really sure, honestly.

3. I’m not really sure how we’d test that.

4. No clue.

From: Adrian

Hey Luna hope you and the gang are holding up okay and I hope things work out, I know it seems like the world is dark place, but it is not all doom and gloom think of all of the good times you guys all have had and what kind of awesome people you became. Sorry if that was sappy just wanted to let you know that you have people thinking of you and who wish you nothing but the best.

Now to not waste your time I have a few questions.

1. Kinda of a minor and strange question but is Hermes on speaking terms with Alex? After everything that happened I would hope Hermes would still be his friendly self.

2. Remember when Rachel said that Alex has killed more people than most Dark Mages in their entire lives, something that Richard also said when he tried to get Alex to join him for the last time? I didn’t know why they would say something so similar because I don’t Richard talks to Rachel that much but then I noticed that they both had a jinn connection, although Richard seems to have gotten the better end of the deal. My question is do you think there is for lack of a better word spiritual connection between them that lets Rachel pick up on Richard’s thoughts? I get the feeling Richard wanted to control her as a prototype for the jinn with Anne but maybe like with him messing with Alex he underestimated the side effects of the process. What do you think?

3. What was up with that nonsense about Alex having 80 percent less enemies if he joined up with Richard? I can’t see how anyone on the Light Council lead by Levistus, not to mention Rachel or Onyx would have stopped going after Alex, I mean maybe Sagash, Crystal, and Jagadev, might and I mean might have left you all alone, but even
without Richard, Alex and Anne were handling them relatively okay. I know Richard is really dangerous but man I didn’t think he was that arrogant or delusional.

Thanks, I do appreciate it.

1. He is, actually. He seems a little bit more wary than he used to be, but he’s not actively avoiding him or anything. He doesn’t wake Alex up begging for breakfast any more, though.

2. That’s an odd thought. Maybe? Richard does seem to keep really close tabs on Rachel. But it could just be because they’ve spent a lot of time together. Not hard to imagine Rachel picking up on something Richard once said and acting like it was her idea.

3. No clue. You’d have to ask him.

From: Warren

Okay so do you know how Richard and Morden with only about 20 to 50 Dark Mages could/are taking on the entire British Light Council? I know they are incompetent but in sheer numbers they have about 200 Keepers, not to mention the retinue’s/security of every Light Council faction. I mean if they had their coalition in the hundreds sure I could see them giving trouble unless the war is more of an insurgency but even then I don’t see how they could do that much damage. Is Drakh’s cabal really that formidable or is there something else I am missing?

Short answer is adepts. Alex and I did our best to convince them not to, but an awful lot of adepts joined up with Richard and Morden. It’s kind of an obviously terrible idea, but I guess for some of them it felt like they didn’t have much to lose, and I do kind of know the feeling.

The adepts bulked up Richard’s numbers to the point where he was a serious threat. They couldn’t do much on their own, but with Richard’s mages leading them, that’s another story. It also kept the Keepers busy chasing down and interrogating every adept in Britain to see if they were working for Richard, and as you can probably guess, that didn’t do relations between adepts and the Council any good at all.

From: Timothy

1. Do you know if water magic has any other combat applications than disintegration magic? Can they do anything else aside from combat I don’t think I have seen them do much else but then again we have only seen Deleo and she might not be the best example all things considering.

2. Have you heard of a posion/acid magic type, or would they fall under life/death/ or water magic?

3. Have you heard or seen of any other types of dreamstones, such as do different abilities have different colors, aside from the violet or purple we have seen like red, blue, green etc…

1. Yeah, they can do hydroblast attacks and use water pressure to cut or punch through things. Disintegration is their big nasty spell though.

2. There isn’t a poison type. Mages aren’t Pokemon.

3. Given that I didn’t even know dreamstones existed before then, no, I haven’t seen any others. I don’t think they’re colour-coded, either.

From: Kevin

1. Do you know what type of magic is used to create dispel focuses? Can any mage create them or are only specific ones who can do so?

2. I heard that life magic can be paired up with some elemental magic for personal power and enhancement. Do you know what those combinations are and how they would use it?

3. Kind of a silly question but have you ever seen/met a Light Mage who had Shadow/Darkness magic, or a Dark Mage who had Light/Brightness magic? If so do they have to deal with any stigma towards their magic and their mage philosophy?

1. As far as I know they’re just magic items. I don’t know if there’s some specific magic type you need.

2. Uh . . . the obvious ways? You aren’t seriously asking me to list every possible way of combining life and elemental magic, are you?

3. Yeah, actually. It’s kind of a running joke. They just got very unlucky with the naming system!

From: Aldo Salt

Hello, Luna! Long time fan, first time caller!

I had two questions I was hoping to throw your way:

1. Thus far in the saga of you and Alex Verus, we’ve witnessed three particular kinds of magic that deal with the “outcomes” of casual events in some way. There’s Alex’s Divination, which lets him view potential futures and the outcomes thereof. There’s the Chance Magic you and Chalice wield, which bends probability during chaotic events to produce the outcome you want. Lastly, there’s the Fateweaver artifact, which lets you pick a potential future and make it an inevitable outcome…a terrifyingly gamebreaking ability when combined with the ability to see the future.

Is there a functional difference between the Chance Magic of Chance Mages and the Fate magic of a Fateweaver? Has there ever been such a thing as “Human Fateweavers”, Mages who can outright bend fate to their will?

2. Have you or Alex ever considered organizing your own “Adept Defense League” as a real alternative to the organization Richard has co-opted? From what I’ve seen, the adepts of Britain do deserve a network that will actually support them and fight for their welfare…and Alex has been learning a lot recently about leadership and political organizing…

Hang in there, and stay safe!

1. This is actually something I’m kind of interested in, but it’s hard to figure out much about it. Fate magic does seem to do a lot of things that overlap really closely with what I can do, but I can’t actually ‘see’ it working, so I can’t figure out how it works or why. Which is kind of annoying to be honest. It would be really nice to be able to do some of those tricks . . . but maybe that’d take a full chance mage. I don’t know. Well, it’s probably not an option anyway, not as though I can really run experiments with Alex these days.

2. It was something Alex was thinking about in the old days, and he talked about it with me a few times. After the shop got burned down and he started having to work on the Council, he didn’t have time any more. But he left me his notes and a lot of contacts, so I’ve been starting to wonder if I should give it a try . . .

From: Hrok

Hi Luna,

I hope you are doing well (or at least as well as can be expected) given current events. I have three questions that I hope you can answer.

1. Do you or Alex know anything more about the summoning abilities of Jinn nobility? Given the fact that the mid-ranked jinn that Alex encountered at the facility was able to summon its former servants, I was wondering if the Jinn Sultan Richard was after would have the ability to control the rest of the species (including other high level Ifrits and Marids as well as the low ranked Jann). That would certainly explain why he would be so desperate to control it.

2. can you provide further clarification on Richard’s Jinn binding technique? Did he need the aid of Crystal and Vihaela to control the Jinn? From what I could understand it seemed like he was using the dreamstone to control the Jinn itself while Crystal was controlling Anne (how would full possession effect this? would Richard no longer need assistance to control the Jinn?)

3. Is the Jinn susceptible to the “Elsewhere transformative effect”? While I understand that trying to force changes on something that big would normally be suicidal could someone using Richard’s binding technique (or a Diviner altering the odds with a fateweaver…) gain full control over a Jinn by “reprograming” it?

Sorry for all the questions. I hope things improve in the near future.

I mean these are all pretty good questions, but honestly, if we understood jinn well enough to answer them, we probably wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.

Jinn knowledge is really, really obscure. There were probably lots of mages who knew about it back during the wars, but that was a LONG time ago. These days the number one expert on jinn and jinn magic is Richard . . . who’s the whole reason we’ve got a jinn problem in the first place. So not exactly someone we can go to for help.

From: Brian

1. Have you heard of any time or space mages that are Dark Mages? Are there any magic types that seem to associate with one side or the other, or just be Independent?

2. It’s been mentioned several times that there is a rock-paper-scissors system of how elemental magic interacts with one another. Do you know the specifics of what elements are weaker or stronger against others. Does Force magic have any specific element type that it is weak against?

3. Do you what types of imbued items are there? Not like every single one but do they fall into families like magic types do?

1. Some, yeah.

2. I know a few of the specifics, but I’m not writing you a strategy guide if that’s what you’re asking.

3. They’re individuals, not families.

From: Lucas

1. Is Future Sight long term divination? I’ve heard the terms precognition and path walking which seem to be short term and mid term divination. Or is Future Sight a broader term or another form of divination entirely?

2. Do you or Alex know if diviners see the future like Alex does with lines of light or does it vary case by case?

3. Could Alex develop the ability to block other diviners visions, or is it like singing where you either have it or you don’t?

4. This was awhile back but when Cinder tried to get Alex to join up with him Khazad and Deleo he mentioned other seers they could of used. Why do you think they did not get them to help them with the Fateweaver incident after Alex said no? Were they lesser diviners or do you think he was lying about them?

5. For that matter why do you think Rachel wanted Alex to help them with the Fateweaver? I can’t imagine she would be happy to see him after everything that happened when they were apprentices.

1. I’ve never heard Alex use that term, so no idea.

2. Varies as far as I know.

3. No idea.

4. No idea.

5. No clue, and I’m not tracking her down to ask her.

Come on, guys, I’m not God. How do you expect me to know this stuff? Other people’s motivations for doing things that happened the best part of ten years ago?

From: Jack

Hi Luna,

Hope you are doing ok. My question is about the events around the fateweaver. How did you find out about the place where you found the key to the fateweaver relic? It seems a bit suspicious that it happened to be found by someone connected to Alex, almost like it was meant to draw him back into mage politics. I’m guessing it was Morden who set it up, simply because he and Richard have seemingly never given up on recruiting/using Alex. Have you or Alex ever thought about it?

As an aside, Alex is clearly different from other diviners we’ve seen in that he is more of a short-term, combat-focused seer. Has he tried to do the long-term forecasting that Alaundo and Helikaon seem to manage? That would likely be very useful, though maybe it’s not one of Alex’s talents.

Thanks and good luck.

Okay, so while this is also from years and years ago, it does actually relate to me.

It’s a long story, and it involves things I used to do that I don’t much do now. Back in those days I was kind of . . . drifting, I guess. I wanted to do something, but I didn’t know what, and I didn’t know what would work, and I was a bit desperate that my motivation would run out and I wouldn’t be able to get it back. One thing led into another and that led into another and that led me into that attic where I found that cube.

I’ve wondered about how I found it, too. It might have been some mage who set it up, but it seems kind of elaborate – Alex and I weren’t really on anyone’s radar back then. Honestly, I’ve always kind of suspected that if anyone was behind it, it was the item. Or maybe it really just was a case of wrong place, wrong time.

Oh, and no, I don’t think Alex does that kind of long-range forecasting. He knows how to do it, but he doesn’t seem to like it for whatever reason.

From: Logan

My question is about the magic economy. Favors mostly, but with some money, I get that, but what’s Alex doing/spending to get all his condensers, force walls, etc? Who creates them? If just Enchanters, it seems like they’re the only ones doing anything productive, but Arachne is the only one mentioned specifically to make items, and it sounds like she’s always done it for free (did it even before Alex saved her). Besides that, are other mages earning a living productively, such as what’s a non-keeper fire or air mage doing to pay the rent? Intrigue and politics are fun, but not everyone is power hungry. Would be interested to hear of a shapeshifting accountant. What’s that got to do with accounting?Nothing, but what else is he/she going to do with it?

Alex trades for his items (or used to, anyway). Biggest supplier was a guy called Norden. He used to give the guy low-value focuses in exchange for bulk orders on the one-shots he used (he pretty much always went through the same three or four). He’d sometimes do favours as well.

As for what other mages do to pay the rent . . . whatever they need to. It’s not like it’s that hard to figure out a way to make money if you have as many tricks as the average mage. And of course if you’re with the Council, you just need to kiss up to the right guy. Mages tend not to like to advertise how they get their money, though.

From: Jim

Hi Luna,

What is Talisid’s magic type?

Thanks

Mind mage, according to Alex. He’s very subtle about it, though. I’ve never seen him use a spell (though I haven’t seen him much.)

Number one hundred and fifty! I’ll try to do a few more questions than usual today. Hopefully they’ll be nice and short and on topics I know something about.

From: Sammy

Hello Luna! Just have a few questions about the Council.

Oh god.

1. Is it common for Light Council members to have strong ties to different factions? I think Levistus even though he is a Director had some connections with the Isolationists, and Druss the Red seems to be a lot like a Guardian even though he is not one.

2. Is there a Light Council of Wales, Ireland, or Scotland or is it under the British Council? If it is all under one Light Council do they form groups on the Council that tilt towards their nationalities?

3. Unlikely as this is to happen but could Alex legally become a Senior Council member even though he was only an aide? Have there ever been Junior Council members who did not get onto the Senior Council?

4. Are there any differences in Senior/Junior Councils in other countries? Not look for an in depth answer but do they all follow the same pattern of thirteen members or are there drastic differences in different countries for various reasons?

5. Has there been any talks on expanding the Senior/Junior Council or at least having Junior Council members voting on issues?

Thank you so much! Have an awesome day!

1. Aaaargh. I don’t know! How am I supposed to know? I’m not a politics professor!

2. Okay, I know the answer to this one, sort of. There’s one for Britain and a separate one for Ireland.

3. How in the name of Jesus Christ am I supposed to know this stuff?

4. Are you serious? It’s not enough that you want a bloody dissertation on the British Council, you want a world guide too?

5. I’M NOT A POLITICS TEACHER!

Okay, sorry, didn’t mean to lose my temper there. But in the name of God, guys, please stop asking me this stuff! Why do you even all want to know? It’s not like it’s remotely useful. What, are you hoping to get a job there or something? It’s like you think Council politics is a spectator sport.

Okay, maybe the next one will be easier . . .

From: Gaston

Hi Luna,

How you are doing?

It’s been a while so I’ve stored up a handful of questions for you:

. . .

1. Has Team Verus seriously considered that Richard might be a Fate mage? I ask because of the things that Richard has done that can’t be explained by imbued items, what stands out is his sense of timing. He appeared at exactly the right moment to tempt Alex and Anne in Sagash’s realm. Similarly, he both engineered circumstances where Anne was exposed to the jinn and where he could rescue her. Finally, most chillingly, we’ve known for a while the long-range divinations say that his personal power will rise to that of the Council’s level. I don’t deny he is a master planner and has out-maneuvered them at every turn. But it maybe be more than simple incompetence on the Council’s part. His greatest talent is putting people in positions where their choices create his desired outcomes. You’ve told us a bit about Fate Magic before (see Ask Luna #30, 31 and 74) and that’s what made me think about it. IMHO, confrontation between Alex and Richard is unavoidable at some point and knowing about his magic type will help Alex plan for it.

2. If I’m right (or even if I’m wrong), Richard’s long-term plans clearly involve Anne and wish magic. I know that the jinn do not have any bodies to return them to but has Team Verus thought about trying to have Anne use wish magic to create a new one for the jinn (thus freeing herself!)? While wish magic is very dangerous, I can’t think of any other way to free Anne permanently from its influence.

3. Finally, have you had a chance to talk to Alex about the draconic prophecy he received? I was terrified for both of you about its implications: even if Alex took up the Fate-weaver (saving Vari and Anne’s lives at the cost of shortening his own), your destiny lay along another path. Have you thought about what the dragon might have meant? Maybe it has something to do with your family curse?

These are pretty heavy duty questions (for which I’m sorry) but I’m worried for you and Team Verus. The world seems like it’s getting darker and darker…

1. (breaks down crying)

2. That’s . . . I . . . There are so many different ways in which that plan is insane that I don’t even know where to start.

3. No? Not really?

From: Aaron

Has Vari taken a mage name yet? If so, what is it? If not, does he officially get addressed as Mage Singh by the other Keepers?

Oh, thank you so much.

Yes, he’s taken a mage name. It’s Talwar. On a related note, he wants me to be very specific that his name is Talwar, not Kirpan, and that a talwar isn’t a kirpan. I’m not quite sure why that’s a big deal, but it seems to really annoy him when people get it wrong. (Which makes me tempted to get it wrong on purpose, but I’ve got a feeling this is something that matters to him.)

From: Adam

Hi Luna,

As I recall, Alex once explained that the type of magic someone uses is tied to who they are, with some general personality characteristics being recognizable for fire/ice etc.

So does someones magic type ever change over time – either gradually as they age or quickly as a result of Trauma (whether mental or physical)?

Short answer’s yes. The kind of magic you use changes all the time, month to month and year to year. Especially when you’re young. A fifteen-year old apprentice’s magic will look REALLY different by the time he’s eighteen. And it does seem to match personality shifts. But it’s slow and gradual, not sudden, and it doesn’t jump types the way some people seem to expect it to. The only time you get sudden major changes in someone’s magic type is from ultra-traumatic stuff.

From: Liam

The way I’ve heard scrying described, a space mage opens a small portal and looks through it, which also allows the person they’re spying on to see them. Would it be possible to attack someone through one of these small portals by firing a gun into it?

No. Scrying portals are a very different type of portal to gate portals – they’re designed to be low-impact and permeable to light only. There are some other differences, too, but they’re complicated and I don’t know the theory. If you want to attack someone via space magic, you have to make a mini-gate-portal instead.

From: Dakota

Does Alex have mantis golems of his own? Or did Morden already “appropriate” them? Although Belthas wasn’t on the Council, he had enough influence to get some. On the other hand, it’s likely the Council doesn’t exactly want the Dark representative to have them.

Hahaha, no. No way the Council would issue mantis golems to Alex, much less Morden. They’re not standard issue, you have to specifically request them, and there is NO chance Alex would get approved.

From: Rachel

Hi Luna!

1. Are we ever going to be seeing Alex’s mistcloak again? Would it be possible for Arachne to make him a new one? Seems like the more trustworthy items Alex has on his side, the better, and I was irrationally sad when it burned.
2. When Alex had that run-in with not-quite-Anne in the shadow realm where the dreamstone was found and she was Very Very Angry with him, was that Not Anne? Or was that just an illusion that the dreamstone created?

1. Let’s just say that the odds of Arachne making him a new one at this point are not good. Sorry.

2. Good question. I honestly have no idea. I’ve never been to that shadow realm, but from what I’ve heard, I’ve got the feeling the answer might be neither of the above – it might be closer to the kind of things you can run into in Elsewhere.

From: Mark

1. Do you know what Morden does in Drakh’s Cabal now that he is not the public face of the Dark Mages in the Light Council? It’s strange I don’t see him as a second in command considering what he did before but I can’t think of what else he would do now.

2. Who would Richard need Vihaela to interrogate and what for? I get having her as a warrior/intimidation factor but wouldn’t a mind or charm mage be better for that sort of thing? Does she also gather intelligence? She seems to influential to use just as muscle.

3. When Richard made his offer to Alex and Anne in the shadow realm in Hidden, do you think he got Crystal to help them escape in case they didn’t join up with him? I always thought Crystal was way too willing to help them out considering everything before, and I can’t imagine Richard not foreseeing them saying no he had to guess Alex would still hold a grudge, and potentially losing them to Sagash would be catastrophic to his plans.

4. Would the other Light Councils let a Dark Mage like Richard Drakh run a country? I know he is one of the most dangerous mages in Europe/the world, but could he really stand against multiple European Councils including the United States?

1. Nope! I have no idea and it’s really not my problem.

2. Presumably anyone he doesn’t like and who knows stuff he wants to find out.

3. It’s not a crazy idea, especially what Crystal was doing when she next showed up, but my guess is no. I think Crystal was just doing what she usually does and looking out for number one – she spotted that her relationship with Sagash was going south and decided to jump ship while she still could.

4. They’d probably have some issues with it, but I don’t know if they’d care enough to actually spend lives. But who knows, it’s not as if they keep me up to date on what they like.

Okay, I think I’ve done my duty at this point. Have a good Christmas all, and I’ll see you next year!