From: Annie
I have a quick question about mage culture, for lack of a better term. I noticed that in Taken, during the apprentice tournament, every single duel was between either two men or two women – and it seemed like too many in a row to put down to luck of the draw. Elsewhere in the books no one seems to have any wierd hang-ups about hitting girls, so it struck me as a little strange. Is it some kind of mage custom to keep formal duels segregated by sex? Or was it a coincidence? It’s just something I was wondering about. Thanks a lot for your time!
They’re not actually segregated. The way they do it is that the boys and girls are seeded separately, then the boys are grouped together at the top of the tree and the girls are grouped together at the bottom. So if you have 9 boys and 7 girls entering, then the first round will be four male vs male, three female vs female, and one mixed-gender fight in the middle. After that everyone moves up as you’d expect, but because of the way they’re placed there’s never more than one mixed-gender bout per round. Obviously this only applies if it’s knockout format, but most of the other formats seem to have been designed to minimise it, too.
As for why the Council still do it that way, well, it’s tradition, but it’s probably something to do with the fact that most men don’t seem to like fighting women if they can avoid it. I found that one a bit weird at first, but once it was explained to me I could see where they were coming from. Of course that only applies for Lights and independents. Dark mages don’t seem to have any hang-ups about hitting girls, or anyone else for that matter.
From: drizztmajere
Hello Luna, I am glad to see another story with you and our favorite divinator, if that is even a word. lol. My question to you is how would you feel about living with Landis so that you can experience the rush you are looking for with following Alex into battle? It might be fun. 🙂 You seem to have found a new teacher and you are already making progress in your using your chance magic congratulations. My next question is about an individuals use of magic. Alex has made it clear that you have to have a certain personality to use a certain type of magic. Can you become more of a hybrid with a deeper understanding of your own individual power with a power closer to yours?
Living with Landis? Seriously? Sure, he’s fun, but the guy’s supposed to have blown up three different houses. I know I’m lucky, but there’s being lucky and then there’s just asking for it.
Not sure what you’re asking with the second one. If you’re a hybrid, then you’re going to have an understanding of both magic types, yeah. If you mean, can you ‘branch out’ into another magic type, then yeah, kind of. It takes a LOT of work, though, and you’re really going to be struggling uphill compared to a natural mage of that type.
From: Jim
Just wondering what happened to the woman who tried to help Alex at the train station.
You mean the fight at Stratford? She got smashed up pretty bad. Didn’t die, which was pretty lucky on her part. It was a stupid bloody thing to do.
From: Araris
Hi Luna,
So now that you’ve seen two adult fire mages, who would you put your money on, Cinder or Landis?
Which magic types do you find the most difficult to duel? Which are the most fun? Do you ever get to duel teachers?
What are you most hoping to learn to do as your training progresses?
How often does Hermes come to visit?
Cinder or Landis . . . It’s close, but I think I’d say Landis. Cinder is very good, but Landis has one of the best defences I’ve ever seen. Wouldn’t have a clue how to get a spell through it.
Hardest type to duel is probably force. Most annoying is probably ice, with illusion as a close second. I actually find fire the easiest, though maybe that’s just because I’ve had so much practice. Never tried a fire teacher, though.
Nowadays, the thing I’d really like to do training-wise is graduate. It’d open up so much.
And Hermes drops around about twice a week, on average.