Ask Luna #185

From: Kevin

Hey Luna just two quick questions.

Have you ever heard of Death Magic and Mind Magic forming a hybrid? I heard Life could with Mind as personal enhancement effects if Death was mixed with Mind and would it be similar to that or not?

And have you ever seen/heard of Elemental Mages creating attacks from behind like Richard did with that Jarnaff the Force Mage and Alex as opposed to the regular hand to sight spells most elemental mages use?

Death/mind hybrids are mental combat specialists.  They tend to specialise in stuff like direct mind attacks, mental paralysis, and inflicting damage on a target’s brain.  It’s probably the most feared and disliked combination of magical abilities that you can get – people already don’t trust death mages, and they really don’t trust mind mages, so you can imagine how they react to someone who’s got the worst abilities of both.  I’ve never met one in the apprentice programme, and if there was one, they’d probably be keeping their magic type a secret if they knew what was good for them.

Elemental mages have some ways of attacking a target from behind, but it’s a lot harder than attacking in a straight line, and most of them don’t do it.  

From: Alicia W.

Hey, Luna! How’s things?

I hope you & Vari are holding up OK given the current state of affairs.

I was appalled Saffron had the gall to send you an email pestering you about Alex, but I loved your response! (Ask Luna #182) I literally laughed out loud at the idea of her camping out on Trafalgar Square for days or weeks hoping Alex will show up (which of course, he won’t). Do you think she’ll set up camp there in hopes of catching him? I think she might be desperate enough to try it.

Anyway, as fun as that thought is, the reason I’m writing today is because I am fascinated by gate stones & other magical items. They come in such a dizzying variety of forms. Alex has described a few gate stones in the books, like the one to the ravine outside Arachne’s lair which was carved out of a piece of wood. And there was that cup that made everything put in it taste of chili sauce. And, of course, there was that book that made you forget about it as soon as you looked at the first page.

1. Can any mage create a gate stone, or does it require a space mage to do it?
2. Do mages use a ritual to lay the spell down on a magic item? If not, can you tell us a bit more about how it’s done?
3. Can either you or Alex create your own magical items?
4. What’s the coolest or weirdest gate stone you’ve come across?
5. What’s the coolest or weirdest magical item in the Arcana Emporium right now?

Stay safe!

Alicia

Vari is . . . okay.  I hope.  

Creating a gate stone is actually more about your skill with item creation that your skill with gates, so you don’t need to be a space mage, or even a mage, at least in theory.  Alex told me that I’d be able to do it, and actually thought I might have a talent for it – I’ve been working on it in my spare time, but I don’t have much of that these days, and you really need a teacher to get the hang of item creation, at least if you want to get any good.  It’s the kind of thing that Arachne would have been really good at, but, well . . .

There’s a technique for creating gate stones that uses actual gemstones – those are pretty cool, though kind of expensive.  Another technique I’ve seen uses actual fruit or berries that are grown in the target area.  Then you eat them to cast the spell.  It apparently makes them much much easier to make, but obviously they don’t last very long, so kind of the opposite of gemstones.  

And as for the weirdest item . . . it’d be one of the ones I don’t tell anyone about or keep on the shelves.  Let’s just say that I can see why Alex kept a safe room with a big lock on the door.

From: Nana

Dear Luna,

1. Did Anne tell you how she got Alex out of the shadow realm? I assume it must have taken some time for the Fateweaver to transform his body. How did she manage that before the isolation ward made it impossible to go back?

2. I’m also really sad about Sonder. He had his flaws but he didn’t deserve to die 🙁 How does Anne feel about killing him seeing as she was actually friends with him as opposed to everyone else she killed while being possessed by the jinn?

3. Have you had enough time to get to know the “new” Anne better? I hope you’re not scared of her anymore!

Have a nice day!
Nana

1. Never actually asked.  Gate stone, I’d guess.  The main defensive wards were down by then so it would have been doable, but not easy.  

2. I haven’t asked.  Honestly, I’m a bit afraid to.  That whole month is kind of a huge minefield for both of us, and we’ve sort of silently mutually agreed to avoid it, at least for now.  I mean, if I ask her, and she tells me about how bad she feels about it, that’s one thing.  But what if she doesn’t particularly feel like that?  What am I going to do then?

3. Yes, a bit, and yes, I am.  She’s comfortable to talk to, but again, we haven’t had ‘that’ conversation.  And again, the biggest reason I haven’t brought it up is because I’m not sure what answers I’ll get when I do.