Ask Luna #132

From: Gavin

After everything that has happened regarding Alex thwarting their plans, is it somehow in the realm of possibility that Alex would join up with Richard and Morden and become a Dark Mage? Obviously Alex would never do so but for some reason it seems like they think he would in spite of the fact that they coerced him for so long. Do you think they might be so ingrained in Dark Mage ideals that they can not see why he would not join up with them willingly? I get that Alex is very important to their plans and they need him but the fact that he told them to their faces no he does not want to be one of them makes me think that cognitive dissonance is going on.

Short answer would be hell no. He might do the allies of convenience thing, but genuinely sign up with them? Not in a million years.

As for why they don’t understand that, well, there are two answers we’ve tossed around. One is that they’re so blind that they just can’t understand what his problem is. The other is that they don’t need him to sign up to get him to do what they want. Both are potentially bad, but in different ways – if it’s the second, it means they’ve got something planned, and if it’s the first, things are going to get nasty once they eventually wise up.

From: Jack

Hi Luna, I have some questions about Dream Stones and Shadow Realms if you’ve got the time. If you’ve covered any of these questions, or just don’t have the time to deal with them, please feel free to ignore them.

Do you think Dream Stones contain their “sentient tendencies” or that they get them from a connection to Elsewhere? For lack of a better analogy, are they like the Fateweaver which was self-contained or like the focus Alex used to contact Starbreeze, a channel to an outside force? I ask because Alex’s account seemed to indicate he was being guided to the stones by an intelligent force. If so, do you think they derive their personalities and abilities from the portion of Elsewhere they are connected to?

Are Shadow Realms connected in anyway to Elsewhere? Is there a definite link or are Deep Shadow Realms so unstable that something as abstract as Elsewhere can influence them?

I got the impression that any mage with the time and resources could create a Shadow Realm. Do you need a sort of “seed” or “starter kit” focus from a space mage to do that, or is it considered general magic?

Also, assuming that Dream Stones were connected to a specific part of Elsewhere(ignore the following if not the case), would the fact that they need to be handled for years to become stable imply that that part of Elsewhere is growing or being shaped by the mage using it? That would make an interesting parallel with Shadow Realms: a personal pocket of metaphysical space instead of actual space.

Thanks!

These ones are kind of stretching the limits of what I know, but oh well . . .

With dreamstones, your guess is as good as mine. If I had to make a bet, I’d say they’re low-level imbued items, more alive than a focus but less alive than something like the fateweaver. But I’ve heard other theories too, including your Elsewhere one.

I think shadow realms have got some kind of connection to Elsewhere, yeah, but this is REALLY advanced stuff. I tried looking at a book that’s supposed to describe it once and got lost within one page. It’s sort of like nuclear physics – you can read Wikipedia on how it works, but that doesn’t mean you understand it.

As for the last one, honestly, I’m completely out of my depth at this point. Sorry. You’re really looking for an academic mage or something, the kind who gives lectures in the apprentice program. I’ve learned a lot since I met Alex, but I’ve always focused more on the hands-on stuff. There’s just not much call for knowing the theory of how to build a shadow realm.

From: Dustin

Hello Luna, I hope this year is going well for you I just have a few questions about the relationship between Richard, Morden, and Vihaela.
1. How would you describe the power structure between Richard and Morden? I can’t tell if they are partners or if Morden is just a high ranking subordinate and the same goes for Vihaela.
2. Do you know if Morden and Vihaela are of equal rank or if one outranks the other? For that matter what does Vihaela do for Richard, I know Morden was the public face but does she have a specific role in his organization?
3. Lastly being Dark Mages and powerful ones do you think it is sustainable that this Dark Mage triumvirate will last? Morden and especially Vihaela do not seem to be ones to follow orders. How do you think Richard got them to fall in line in the first place?

1. It’s a really good question. It seems like Richard’s in charge, but a lot of the time they seem to be so much on the same page that it doesn’t matter. I don’t think we’ve ever heard any real evidence of any conflict between them, which is kind of weird in itself.
2. It doesn’t seem like either Morden or Vihaela gives orders to the other. Best guess is that they have a ‘you have your territory, I have mine’ agreement. As for Vihaela’s role, she does combat and interrogation.
3. Good question. Morden and Richard seem to get on weirdly smoothly, like I said. Vihaela’s another story – if one of them’s going to turn on the others, I’d expect it to be her.

From: Xavier

Do you think Rachel/Deleo bonded Cinder like he did with Kyle? It could have happened just like when the Nightstalkers attacked, and she chose to do the same after he attacked the mansion for whatever the reason. I believe Cinder had a bad relationship with his former master so maybe she took whoever it was out and he joined up with her, and did the same with Kyle. Makes a kinda of poetic sense at least for Dark Mages but what do you think about this?

I dunno, that whole scenario just kind of feels off. From what I’ve seen, Cinder and Deleo don’t seem to have that kind of relationship – she doesn’t really act like his senior. Also, they’re either a similar age or Cinder’s a bit older, so it’s hard to see how she could have been that much more experienced than he was.

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