Current Myth Plotting Thread

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Okay it turns out bumping an old thread was cool for getting attention, but there are a few old threads with different info in them so it could get confusing if we just post in those. So, a new thread!

Reference Thread 1 (http://www.sw-fans.net/forum/showthread.php?t=16527) - beginning the ooc talk about the setting
Reference Thread 2 (http://www.sw-fans.net/forum/showthread.php?t=18472) - talking about continuation of plot, new characters and new races

MAP of MIDGARD (http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh126/silancy/midguard-color3.jpg)

Current time in setting: a few days after Flight from the Forest, a week or more after The Sea Awakens


Characters looking to become re-involved and where they are:
Blind Molly - outside the Steelwood
Mandan the Archer - outside the Steelwood
Weeta - not sure, but most likely wandering around OR still in Necia, suffering from ingesting a bunch of Fire power.
Ariadne - in Demos, as is Erifa
Glasswater - being held captive by some leggy Fian
Yuri - on his way back to the Roof of the World
Dietre - still in Demos looking after Varo
G'lyana - in Ha'lainn Inniu
D'eryiel - in a convenient locationPost your character and their location (if you have an idea), and the closer together the better. Kale and I are knocking around some ideas about how to specify the quest a bit, to make it easier to figure out what we're going to do.


State of Affairs in Midgard (currently ooc information):

Magic is draining from the nexuses (nexi?) of power around the land. The Mer, Weeta, has inadvertently become a focal point for all the elements, and must be brought to the headwaters of the Eridan in Ankaa to restore the balance across the land.

She was last seen in Necia but disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The rumor will quickly spread of a Mer female with this power inside her, and Ankaa and Necia (currently at war at sea and land) will both try to get their hands on her. Dalriada is busy with trying to pick a new king, but may certainly get into the mix as well.

Weeta will show up wandering around near the Steelwood, to be found by Blind Molly and her companions. They will try to take her to the Fian and then to the Eridan by whatever means necessary (once they figure out what they need to do).

[Mandan the Archer]

*makes a dramatic entrance*

I seem to have misplaced my surname. But don't worry - everything else is still there.

I checked. ;)



With regards to location, I guess I'm still with you guys if that's all right, blonde?

[G'lyana]

I had captured some foolish individuals fighting on our lands :shakefist

Then I was suppose to go heal someone :uhoh

[Ariadne Fyrian]

Ariadne is in Demos, as is Erifa.

Glasswater is being held captive by some leggy Fian :p

Yuri is on his way back to the Roof of the World.

Dietre is still in Demos looking after Varo.

[D'eryiel Rey]

D'eryiel is clueless as to anything that's going on. He's in a city ... somewhere conveniently along the path of a pending journey or near one of these threads where he can get caught up in events and tag along for the ride while you save the world, or whatever it is you people do.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

State of Affairs in Midgard (currently ooc information):

Magic is draining from the nexuses (nexi?) of power around the land. The Mer, Weeta, has inadvertently become a focal point for all the elements, and must be brought to the headwaters of the Eridan in Ankaa to restore the balance across the land.

She was last seen in Necia but disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The rumor will quickly spread of a Mer female with this power inside her, and Ankaa and Necia (currently at war at sea and land) will both try to get their hands on her. Dalriada is busy with trying to pick a new king, but may certainly get into the mix as well.

Weeta will show up wandering around near the Steelwood, to be found by Blind Molly and her companions. They will try to take her to the Fian and then to the Eridan by whatever means necessary (once they figure out what they need to do).

[Atreyu]

Just a quickie observation - Miss De'Ville spells it Midguard, but the map supplied has it spelt Midgard (ie. minus the 'u'). :o Don't know which one is the actual correct spelling. :ohno

[Lilaena De'Ville]

The map. :) thanks for the catch.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Mishuran Lagare (Glaucan pirate) will be with Ariadne, I would imagine.

Cailean should be with Molly and Calleh.

[Blind Molly]

I'll update the OP tonight or tomorrow (or you can do it Jenny), but I do need someone to discover Molly in the lake. Just keep in mind her white shift is quite see through at this point and scandalous. ;)

[Dasquian Belargic]

I'll send someone her way post-haste!

[Miranda Tarkin]

Is G'lyana going to go and heal whoever it was that needed healing? And what shall she do with Glasswater and that Necian captives :p

[Inyos Aamoran]

Just to make sure I've got my head screwed on right: the quest party / Team Molly currently consists of Molly, Calleh, Cailean and Mandan (yay for symmetric initials!); we're going to find Weeta, and then head off for Trow and Fian country?

* * *

I also have a bit of an (annoying and long - sorry!) inquiry about the way magic works.

How is magic granted? Is it like Harry Potter (or the Force), where you display some sort of natural affinity for magic; is it something more arcane, where absolutely anyone could learn to use magic if they were taught how to do it; or is it more like divine spells, where some deity or entity grants you usage of their magic?

What is the balance between instinct, and training? Is it different given the complexity of the action - do the more difficult acts of magic require incantations, or rituals, or runes? Or is it more personal - individual A can make fire appear with a spoken word; individual B does it with a gesture, by snapping his fingers; individual C does it by force of will; individual D utters an irritatingly simplistic rhyme as a tripartite with her sisters; etc?

What stops a Fire Mage from using Water magic? Is it because of how magic is granted - if it's a divinity, do they refuse to grant you magic if you're already casting for an "enemy" element; if it's a Force sensitivity, are you naturally sensitive towards Fire, and thus are the polar opposite of being Water sensitive? Or is it some sort of governing law of magic: a "Thou shalt not -" as it were? Is it simply frowned upon?

Lastly, the wiki states: "Magic users are typically masters of one element, supplementing their skills in this element with another. The Ankaarim, however, are known for the ability to use three or even four elements." Again, it may tie to a previous question, but how can you achieve four elements? If you are a Fire Mage, you can add Earth, Metal, and Air to your ensemble... but Air can't be mixed with Earth or Metal, so surely four is impossible? Or, for some reason, are the Ankaarim mages able to ignore the "unable" rule?

[Mandan the Archer]

Addendum:

I ask for various reasons. First of all, I was wondering if Weeta having become a convergeance for all the magics might perhaps give her the ability to somehow use all six / seven / howevermanythereare magics, which would be a bit of a "woah, holy cow" kind of combination. I also wondered if a common Ankaarim combination of three or four might be Earth, Water, Air and Fire... or just Earth, Wind, and Fire, if he's feelin' lazy.

And lastly, on a more personal note: I was torn between making Mandan an Air/Wood and an Air/Fire Mage. I wanted the Fire just as a convenience thing; I imagined that someone who lives out in the wilderness might find it useful to be able to start a camp fire in an instant, and it would have been fun to have him utter some command to make his arrows become flaming; on the flipside, Wood is specifically mentioned as being archer-friendly, and has other wilderness applications to boot.

Since there was already an Air/Wood person at the time, I went for Air/Fire... but I'm wondering now, depending on how magic works, if it might make sense to have him as an Air/Wood person, and then see if Calleh can teach him a few simple fire "tricks", or something like that.

Just idle pondering, really.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Is G'lyana going to go and heal whoever it was that needed healing? And what shall she do with Glasswater and that Necian captives :p



I'll get with you over AIM :) I think we can come up with a suitably awesome thing :D

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Re: Magic

The people have a natural affinity for the elemental magic. Different people groups may have different beliefs in how they got their affinities (like Necia which has quite a pantheon of gods they believe are responsible), but brass tacks is that people are born with it.

I always intended for people to only be able to use two. One or two. The way I saw it, you have a natural affinity for two elements, and can't use the others (nor be taught them).

...I'm not sure about the Ankaa thing, that country was Kale's creation. ^_^; Although perhaps those people simply have a natural advantage somehow and are more gifted. Or maybe you can be taught another element.

The reason I limited it to two originally was because I got the whole elemental magic idea from The Codex Alera and in those books everyone can use all the elements (well the high born can anyway, the lower classes tend to not be good at everything) and I wanted to make sure we were different so I built in differences into the mechanics (like you can't use fire magic if you are a water mage, etc).

Also, p.s. we have a lot of fire people. Do we need to put a limit? :mneh

[D'eryiel Rey]

Another thing to consider is that everyone uses their power a little differently. You can maybe distinguish your character from others just in the application of the power. In this world where everyone is born with the power, it's more of an extension of yourself than the "practice" of magic. There are schools (as Calleh established), but it doesn't work like Harry Potter. There are no muggles (Well I guess there could be, but magic-less folk would probably be a minority, and treated like one)

So a Ranger type would far more than likely have wood magic affinity.

In the general populace, even Joe Peasant has maybe 1-2 minor spells in one element. Jane Noble has a few more spells, maybe in two elements. Even a soldier or an adventurer type may be really good at only 1 element, but since we like variety we all tended to go with 2.

When there are only 6 to choose from and given that we are all taking 2... repetition is really hard to control. Fire is a pretty obvious choice for a combat oriented character. When I looked, we seemed to have a lot of Metal already represented, too. And we got a ton of Mer, so plenty of Water folk.

I think I might be the first Earth caster, which would be cool. :D It might be worth adding our magic types to the "who's who" list above.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Maybe it's just me, but I never saw non-gifted folk as a minority. It seems that there is just a healthy mix of those born with magic and those that aren't.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Cailean is a gifted Wood magician... So naturally he became a carpenters apprentice :D His use of magic is fairly mundane

[Saarrreeaa Raurrssaatta]

Since I cribbed the idea from Codex Alera I was going on the idea that everyone has magic in some way. Obviously our character will be on the high end of the power spectrum as we're the heroes.

However it was never stated anywhere, and certainly it makes sense that not everyone has it. But I wouldn't say its a rare thing for people to have an affinity for the elemental magic. Its commonplace.

[D'eryiel Rey]

Okay so not as rare as it is in Carna, but magic is so common it might feel like you're in a minority if you don't have it.

[Saarrreeaa Raurrssaatta]

I can go along with that. And that it would be common for some people to just be a tiny bit gifted - like only able to channel enough Earth to make plowing the fields easier or something...?

[Ariadne Fyrian]

That makes sense. I mean, this is my main Myth account, and I've always played her as being completely non-gifted, but she certainly doesn't feel impaired by that in any way :)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

She's such a freak of nature. :mneh

edit:Kale couldn't remember writing that bit about Ankaarish people using 3 or 4 affinities, so I took it out.

[Garren Goodfellow]

:wave ello, Molly

[Blind Molly]

Eep!


I realized I didn't fully answer your question, JAce, about why a Water mage can't use Fire, etc.

The answer is...

Because in this world Water Magic and Fire Magic are like oil and water. They cannot coexist in the same person.

Whether someone believes they received their magic as a gift from the gods or an elemental spirit or that its just a natural order of things, it doesn't matter, it doesn't change that someone born with a Water affinity cannot also have a Fire affinity and vice versa.

[Captain Untouchable]

Aye, like I said when I asked, it depends on the answers to the previous questions... so you pretty much answered inadvertantly, by answering the other stuff anyway. :)

[Mishuran Lagare]

That makes sense. I mean, this is my main Myth account, and I've always played her as being completely non-gifted, but she certainly doesn't feel impaired by that in any way :)

You're fortunate that you have talented chaps like myself around :cool:

[Anne Phoenix]

C+P from the other thread, since it more appropriatly belongs here;


Inquiry. I'm thinking about creating a Myth character. Do I have to choose one of the existing races, or can I create another one to add to the existing ones? I was thinking along the lines of a Trollish species living on the small islands off the SE coast of Daldaria, specializing in perhaps fire elements because of the still active volcanoes on those islands, perhaps?

[Blind Molly]

I lean towards no more new races, because we've got a lot already, but I'll let other weigh in. :)

Re: Current thread - someone Molly knows should probably show up and 'rescue' her from this rogue with a heart of gold. ;)

[D'eryiel Rey]

Is there a a city near Steelwood? Has it already been named or used?

[Blind Molly]

No city nearby. There may be villages dotted around, but nothing right next to the Steelwood. Too creepy. ;)

[D'eryiel Rey]

I think I have an idea to work myself in by way of that town.

Regarding races... With only 6 mentioned on the wiki (and two of them aquatic to boot), I think there's room for another one.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

I had talked with Holly about the Northern Giants, so she knows about them. They just aren't up on the wiki yet.

But I am kind of in the same boat as she is - for right now what we have is enough. I would imagine that there's always room for growth later on down the line, but I think we should try to avoid sensory overload for the time being.

[Captain Untouchable]

I think I have an idea to work myself in by way of that town.

We are, I believe, planning to head through Trow country during the next stage of The Quest, so you might find it easier to incorporate yourself there.

Regarding races - while I agree that with six, there is "space", there's still a whole lot of development left to be done on them. If we add more new races, we run the risk of populating the world with dozens of races that we've only touched on in passing, without exploring them in any real depth.

[D'eryiel Rey]

As the name of the thread implies, yes that is where y'all are goin next, but not immediately. Don't want to spoil too much, but suffice to say the party will head into town (Garren's home town?) first for whatever reason before they go underground.

[Captain Untouchable]

Fair enough.

Your phrasing made it seem like a suggestion or query, rather than a definate fact, hence my response.

[Serena Laran]

Regarding races - while I agree that with six, there is "space", there's still a whole lot of development left to be done on them. If we add more new races, we run the risk of populating the world with dozens of races that we've only touched on in passing, without exploring them in any real depth.
My thought exactly - the ones we have already have plenty of room for expanding and being explored. We don't really want a different race or country for every single character.

[Anne Phoenix]

Okay, so would anyone mind if I went ahead and created a character to join in? I would like to meet up with the current party, but I don't have time for writing until this upcoming Sunday night....

[D'eryiel Rey]

Before the party dealing with Weeta gets too big, I was wondering if anything was going to be going on with the second Myth plot that appeared to be running in Demos, or wherever.

[Captain Untouchable]

Who is part of the party? We seem to be straying towards double figures... but then again, some of the people I'm counting might not be permanently part of the group.

Are we going to have to pull a fellowship - split the party in two and follow separate paths to the Source? Or do we have few enough people that such lengths aren't necessary?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

So far we have Molly, Calleh, Cailean and Mandan. We've just picked up Garren (I think) but I don't know what Jenny's plans with him are, and soon Weeta herself, probably Denix eventually...

And then our new Trow.

So a top figure of 8 or 7 plus Weeta our McGuffin, assuming Denix makes it back.

[Weeta]

As the name of the thread implies, yes that is where y'all are goin next, but not immediately. Don't want to spoil too much, but suffice to say the party will head into town (Garren's home town?) first for whatever reason before they go underground.

I wonder who you've talked to about this, because it would be helpful for someone other than you to know, otherwise we may never RP our characters going into the correct town. O_o

[D'eryiel Rey]

That's only because I have no idea what towns are anywhere around Steelwood, or where you'll pass through next. It's not like the world is as fleshed out as Forgotten Realms or something where I can say "I'll be in Shadowdale."

IOW, whatever semblance of civilization you pass through next (city, town, one-horse village with a tavern and a tiny market), that's where I'll be to introduce my character. I just assumed that you'd have to go for supplies at some point. Your new bard seems to be in need of an artisan after all.

[Mandan the Archer]

That's only because I have no idea what towns are anywhere around Steelwood, or where you'll pass through next. It's not like the world is as fleshed out as Forgotten Realms or something where I can say "I'll be in Shadowdale."

IOW, whatever semblance of civilization you pass through next (city, town, one-horse village with a tavern and a tiny market), that's where I'll be to introduce my character. I just assumed that you'd have to go for supplies at some point. Your new bard seems to be in need of an artisan after all.

Or just someone with Wood magic?

We actually have a carpenter with us, too...

Does anyone have metal magic, so we can fix his strings?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Ah, it makes more sense now. Your wording had me confused, sorry. ^_^;

Feel free to make up a village name if you like... I'll make sure we travel near it soon.

[D'eryiel Rey]

Okay well... I have a post done and ready to go. Whenever you guys decide whose riding on what horse ( :rolleyes ) I'll sneak in my intro, more like the prelude to my intro.

D'eryiel is about to enter the town of Bramleigh, nestled south of Steelwood, and north of the mountains. I took some liberties with the map and imagined there was a little bit more of a gap between the two.

I can stretch things out into 1-2 more interludes if you want to have your characters chat more along the way to that town, or dive right into it, however things flow.

[Rai'raa Anjumi]

Your character can run across Weeta first, if you like. I need to introduce her into that thread sooner or later :) Sooner is better though!

[D'eryiel Rey]

I could. Though I imagine that would warrant an even longer interlude from the main group. But that might work better.

Just a heads up: I was planning more than just a nice little chat in the tavern. There's about to be bad guys and clanging swords and magic flying and blood spilling, in roughly that order. :cool: