Ask Luna #34

From: Rayne

Hey I was wondering if you know what Arachne Had to say about Verus declining the offer to go work for Richard (in his capacity of a spy for the white counsel) and Don’t you think Thalisid had a point that Alex could do more damage than any mage if he would?

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Alex isn’t a hundred percent rational when it comes to Richard. So even if Arachne told him to do it, I don’t think he would have. He’s just flat-out scared of the guy.

That said, I’m kind of Alex’s side on this one. It sounds like crazy dangerous work for no good reason. If Richard found out, Alex would be dead within the hour.

From: Fade

Is there any efficient way of telling just how powerful a particular mage is? Beyond simply witnessing them performing magic. For example, if Veri and Cinder were to simply blast fire at each other, could you estimate who would outlast or overpower the other? Or is that something that only trial can tell? Also, the more I hear the more it sounds like the most dangerous thing about Richard is how much he knows. Have you given any thought to the idea that perhaps, like Alex, his brand of magic has more to do with information gathering than physical prowess? Finally, are there any particular new tricks you’ve managed to perform with your unique brand of magic? Or is most of your training with Alex more to do with situational awareness and preparedness?

Mages can sense the strength of someone else’s magic, but only if they’re actually using it. So Vari and Cinder would be able to measure each other’s power if they saw each other casting, but not while they’re just standing around. Well, there are some obscure techniques that are supposed to tell a mage’s strength, but I don’t know if they actually work.

We’ve talked about Richard’s abilities, and yeah, that’s one of the theories. The Council think he’s an elementalist, but that might just be prejudice talking. He’s supposed to have defeated some powerful battle-mages in one-on-one combat, so whatever he can do, it’s obviously pretty well-suited to fights, but beyond that, it’s hard to tell.

And yeah, I’ve learnt a few new tricks. More since I got a second teacher.

From: Fade

A few questions I forgot, all having to do with “where are they now?” Do you know what happened between Onyx and Avis? Who won? I got the impression that Avis was small-fry, and Onyx was the Chosen of a particularly powerful Mage. Did any of you hear who won? Same question about Kyle and Lee. Lee seemed to get away fine on his own,but did any of you ever find out what happened to Kyle? Does it bother Alex?

Onyx and Avis drew, I think. Jagadev’s guards got involved and both of them broke it off rather than keep pursuing. I’d have given it to Onyx if they’d kept fighting long enough, but I doubt Onyx could have held Avis down once he got the advantage. Air mages are pretty slippery.

Don’t know what happened to Kyle. He never got a funeral. We did hear a rumour of someone who sounded really like him, but it didn’t mention him by name and that was a year ago. Could just have been someone with the same talent.

From: bedragon

hey luna i was wondering are if if there are other types of magic other than the mage disciplines also why do mages live by the rule of taking things that belong to others by force

Because they’re dicks.

I have no idea what your first question means.

From: Tom

Are there any nice Dark mages? Not nice as in civil, like Morden, but nice as in that they try to help people, and not for any personal gain. Because it’s not like all Light mages are good, so I was wondering if the vice versa was true. Thanks, Tom.

Kind of, yeah. They get a bad rep, but I’ve met a few Dark mages that I actually quite like hanging out with. They’re not going to act like superheroes who go around sacrificing themselves to try and save everyone else, but if you treat them okay, they’ll treat you okay. Besides, if you go around expecting other people to save you all the time, you’re going to have a pretty disappointing life anyway.