Ask Luna #150

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!

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