From: Stephanie
Hi Luna. My thoughts are about Richard. I just this morning finished Bound, and I’m wondering if his magic is some kind of mind/time hybrid? Actually getting to see the fight also made me wonder if a mage can learn to use more than his own type of magic if he tried? Thanks much, I am really looking forward to the next happenings, since Alex will now have a bit of power to hopefully change the course of the Council.
Mind/time hybrid? That’s pretty random. I suppose it’s not impossible . . .
As for magic types, any magic a mage learns to use becomes part of their type. So yes and no.
From: Fade
Hi Luna, I had a question about numbers. About how many mages would you say there are total in Britain? How many are light, dark, or independent? Finally what percentage of mages would you say could be considered battle mages? I’m curious because, going by what I’ve heard of the OP that happened in Syria (Just after you all had been Burned by Levistus,) it sounds like most of the keepers were in on it, but I have no idea what that is in terms of numbers, and I’m a little worried about how big things might get if it came to an actual war between the Council and whoever Richard can put together. Thanks!
I think the most commonly quoted numbers are in the order of 2,000 light mages, 1,000-ish dark mages, and 4,000-ish independent. But the numbers for dark and independent are kind of wild guesses, since the whole point of being a dark or independent mage is that you DON’T register with the Council.
As for how many are battle mages, that’s kind of subjective, but no matter how you measure it, the fraction’s way higher for Dark mages than for anyone else.
From: USA Dude
Dear Luna,
I know Britain is your home, you have a large following in the US. Perhaps you all can have an adventure in the States and let us know how it goes.
Also, for the love of God can Alex please kiss Anne already? I mean with death at every corner he needs to let her know how he feels or risk losing his chance.
‘Have an adventure’? What do you expect me to do, gate over to New York and stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and wait for something to happen? ‘Having an adventure’ means that something’s gone wrong, we don’t go looking for them!
As for your other question, not getting involved.
From: Fade
Hi Luna, I’m a bit curious about how exhaustion works for different mage types. We’ve only heard mostly from Alex’s perspective, and I figure exhaustion for a diviner must be a sort of mental fatigue, where the diviner finds it more difficult to concentrate on futures and gets slower picking them out and reacting. Is this somewhat accurate? Is there a point where the divinations just won’t come anymore? What exactly is being exhausted here, the magic or the mind? What about for other mages? Can a fire mage run out of fire? Or do the spells just get less and less controlled as the mage’s focus waivers? Is the magic internal, or is the mage simply directing and controlling energy that exists around him or her? Thanks for your time!
Also one final somewhat spoilery question:
What happened to Onyx? The last we hear of him he is headed straight for some opposition, than nothing. What happened to Morden’s Chosen, and why wasn’t HE considered Morden’s second as per that obscure law that Vari told you all about after the dust had settled?
For the most part, using magic is mentally taxing, not physically taxing. So it’s more a matter of just running out of focus/mental energy, kind of like working a 12-hour shift at a job. You get tired, your focus slips, you’re more and more likely to screw up and make a mistake (and when you’re dealing with stuff like fire magic, making a mistake can have really bad consequences). But you can’t ‘run out’ – elemental mages don’t run out of batteries or anything like that, so as long as they’re mentally tough enough and willing to push themselves, they can keep on chucking spells for a really long time. It’s more like redirecting energy than creating it from yourself.
Onyx is still around. I don’t like the guy, but if there’s one thing he’s good at, it’s fighting, and he isn’t the kind to go down easily. As for why he wasn’t Morden’s second, it’s because he wasn’t Morden’s aide, and the reason he wasn’t Morden’s aide was because Morden didn’t make him one. You know, just in case he needed another reason to hate Alex more.
From: guy moran
can a mage of a certain field do magic of another field ? like a diviner using fire magic ? there are focuses (focusei, focusis ?), do they allow it ? otherwise i don’t understand how items are made.
For the most part items get made by mages of the same type. You want a fireball wand, you get a fire mage to make one. It’s technically possible to make an item that uses a spell you can’t cast, but it’s way way harder.