Spirit Walker - Spoilers - Chapters 1 through part of 14

[darkhand]

Thats not that off topic phantom, but I do agree that it may be that he can't create black crystals, but then again, it may be that the fox only denies direct use of black power, not the indirect use through crystals, and making a black crystal in and of itself does not cause instant death, as far as we know, so technically the fox might not interfere but who knows maybe fel will pull the I am god trick and make all the crystals that kyv makes explode on use, now that would be just evil, making a device for the lorekeepers or loregaurds that goes boom in their faces. that is the power of god, and the author.

[Phantom]

Thats not that off topic phantom, but I do agree that it may be that he can't create black crystals, but then again, it may be that the fox only denies direct use of black power, not the indirect use through crystals, and making a black crystal in and of itself does not cause instant death, as far as we know, so technically the fox might not interfere but who knows maybe fel will pull the I am god trick and make all the crystals that kyv makes explode on use, now that would be just evil, making a device for the lorekeepers or loregaurds that goes boom in their faces. that is the power of god, and the author.

I was just wondering if Since the Fox Denys Black power to him.
Could it be She because she will grant him the power to Negate or Nulify Black Power Effects ?
The Thing i thought was interesting was Striker when teaching him the lighting Spell wasn't worried about
it if it hit him. Does that mean that Shaman are or can be in some way Immune to Magic Effects.

Can Kyven Some how use Stealth, guile and deceit to Negate any magic the lorekeepers or loregaurds try to use
against him.

Also i was thinking about Shadow Foxes Stealth and Illusion abilitys and wondered if those were the only Abilitys She granted her Children. is it just me or didn't Kyven seem to be quite a bit stronger then normal Arcan maybe even a
Shaman arcan ? ....and we know deceit is one of her tools. Fel even said she would lie to Kyven. Maybe thats one of her lessons. Maybe she didn't remove his powers ....i haven't noticed that Kyven has tried to use them (beyold Sprit Sight).
Maybe she lied to him.

It should be interesting to find out.


Phantom

[Elsh]

Maybe she didn't remove his powers ....i haven't noticed that Kyven has tried to use them (beyold Sprit Sight).
Maybe she lied to him.

It should be interesting to find out.

Phantom

I think the way Shaman magic works Kyven has no powers of his own. Everything he does other than spirit sight requires asking for and being granted the power to do so from the spirits (This is how I remember him learning to cast the lightning spell). It is possible that the fox lied and would give him power if he asked, maybe that was the significance of her appearance in chapter 7. It was very weird that she came to see him in the cage and left. In any case, I don't think its possible for Kyven to cast any spells without her blessing.

Top question on my mind is, does Kyven need power to drain crystals or is it an innate skill akin to spirit sight?

[Spec8472]

BTW#2 Since I'm not a fink and don't want to 'steal' or even 'borrow' your readers, I'm here anonymously.

Unless you've got some form of mind control device (or just a plain much more addictive/better story!), it's difficult to steal readers.

Feel free to update your profile and/or signature with links to your profiles on ASSTR / SOL. Just make sure you affix "NSFW" after the link to ensure people know not to visit from work.

- Will

[Phantom]

Maybe she didn't remove his powers ....i haven't noticed that Kyven has tried to use them (beyold Sprit Sight).
Maybe she lied to him.

It should be interesting to find out.

Phantom

I think the way Shaman magic works Kyven has no powers of his own. Everything he does other than spirit sight requires asking for and being granted the power to do so from the spirits (This is how I remember him learning to cast the lightning spell). It is possible that the fox lied and would give him power if he asked, maybe that was the significance of her appearance in chapter 7. It was very weird that she came to see him in the cage and left. In any case, I don't think its possible for Kyven to cast any spells without her blessing.

Top question on my mind is, does Kyven need power to drain crystals or is it an innate skill akin to spirit sight?

Well that was a bit of my question

I would be a poor totem to punish you for curiosity, given I consider it to be an admirable trait, she communicated with light amusement. Do not assign such traits to the spirits. We appear as we wish to appear. I am the spirit of the shadow fox, and it was by my will that the shadow foxes came to be in the world.
“I’ve never heard of them.”
They are there. They hide, for your kind would call them monsters. They shun most areas settled by humans, but there are some few who live near Atan.
Monsters. Animals touched by the power of the crystals and changed, mutated. Some were benign, like the Taurons that had mutated from cows and were becoming more popular as a staple livestock. Some ranchers were starting to favor them over normal cattle, because of very mild dispositions which made them very easy to handle, but they required more food and water because they were about twice the size of the average cow, which required vast amounts of grazing land to support a herd of Tauron. There were no Tauron around Atan, but the ranchers at Chardon herded Tauron in addition to regular cattle.
Some monsters, however, were very dangerous and had crystal-based abilities. They ate crystals and used them to power their abilities, which made them a double scourge. Not only were they dangerous, but they consumed the most precious natural resource to the human world.
Your people have never seen one of my children, she added lightly. They have the power to meld with the shadows, making them invisible in the night. That is how they hunt.
“A sensible way to go about it,” he noted. “Do they eat crystals?”
No. They absorb the energy to grant them that power from the spirit world. It is a minor power and does not require so much energy as a crystal holds to enact. It is for them the same as spirit sight is for you, a passive ability.
“Ah. I understand. Does that make you a powerful spirit? I mean, you created your own breed of fox.”
She seemed amused. Again, do not assign such things to the spirits. Such an observation would be extremely offensive to some. We do not measure ourselves against one another in such ways. We all merely are.

That was the big question What other innate skills or abilitys do Shadow Foxes have. ..... Why would humans call them monsters? is it just because they have a small shaman like trait or someother reason ?
Remember the Fox favors Illusion, Stealth, guile and deceit. She will Lie or Decive him if she wants or needs too.
Also we don't know that she hasn't withheld or Isn't withholding knowledge or Information from him either.

I also answered a bit more in rereading

He nodded again. “She could abandon you and remove her favor. You would be without a totem. Her favor would be taken from you, and you would lose the enhanced ability to cast her spells, but you would also regain the magic she denies. But that is rare. Spirits almost never abandon a Shaman like that. If you anger the shadow fox to that degree, she would probably kill you rather than release you. That is one of the drawbacks to having a totem, human. But for you, it won’t be much of a disadvantage in what she denies you in return for what you gain.”
“Why is that?”
“She only denies you the magic of death, but you gain much stronger spells of deception in return. The shadow fox, at heart, is a stalker and a skulker, human. She prefers to flee rather than fight, and your magic will reflect her nature. You will be a hard Shaman to trap and kill, but she will deny you the power to directly kill in return.” The Arcan smiled ominously. “But there are other ways to kill,” he added. “She will deny you death magic, magic that directly kills. She will not deny you other spells that kill indirectly. You will not be able to kill using death magic, but you will easily be able to channel a spell that burns your enemies to death. The spell does not kill, the fire does.”

I also Noticed that we Missed an inportant part of her changing him .....we assumed some of What she said but.....what she really told him was ..

“In these first lessons, I will deny you my blessing. Only your spirit sight may guide you along this path. Your magic comes from me, my Shaman, and I will not grant it to you until I am satisfied you are deserving of it. You will live as the Arcans live, and know life from their point of view.”
She looked up, looked towards the city, and then she looked back to him. “Your lessons begins soon, my Shaman. Learn them well, and you will regain what I have taken from you. Learn the lessons I teach, and your humanity will be restored. But never let it be said that I would take all from you, for you would gain little wisdom in death. As I have taken, so have I given in return. Use my gift wisely.”

So her Gift as i see it was to make him an Arcan......A Shadow Fox Arcan.
She could have made him any type of Arcan but chose to make him a Shadow Fox an Arcan with some innate magical abilitys and/or skills . and she dosen't mean for him to die or be killed durring this.

Fel's Plot Thickens.........I wonder if Kyven has any Kimdori DNA floating around in him...Hummm


Phantom

[Fel]

There's a BIG difference between a totem denying a shaman, and abandoning a shaman.

When a totem abandons a shaman, it's like a divorce. The totem completely abandons all ties to the shaman, and he becomes "free," with no totem. He loses any special magical powers his totem gives him, but also gains the power to use the magic the totem denies him. This doesn't happen often, though. A shaman who pissed off his totem to that extent is usually killed by the totem.

When a totem denies a shaman, the totem maintains its position, but refuses to grant the shaman any magic at all. ALL of Kyven's shaman magic comes from the shadow fox. She can deny him, refuse to answer his calls to power his spells, and since she is his totem, he cannot beseech any other spirit for magic. In return for this exclusive relationship, Kyven gains access to certain powers and abilities not available to other shaman, gaining much more powerful abilities in illusion and deception, which are core powers of his totem.

When you look at it, being a totem shaman is actually not a very good thing. It puts the shaman at a disadvantage by being enthralled to a single spirit, and there actually aren't many totem shaman. Most shaman see the restriction of a totem and don't take one, the majority of totem shaman are like Kyven, they were "adopted" by their totem before they became shaman.

[michaelsuave]

“In these first lessons, I will deny you my blessing. Only your spirit sight may guide you along this path. Your magic comes from me, my Shaman, and I will not grant it to you until I am satisfied you are deserving of it. You will live as the Arcans live, and know life from their point of view.”
She looked up, looked towards the city, and then she looked back to him. “Your lessons begins soon, my Shaman. Learn them well, and you will regain what I have taken from you. Learn the lessons I teach, and your humanity will be restored. But never let it be said that I would take all from you, for you would gain little wisdom in death. As I have taken, so have I given in return. Use my gift wisely.”

So her Gift as i see it was to make him an Arcan......A Shadow Fox Arcan.
She could have made him any type of Arcan but chose to make him a Shadow Fox an Arcan with some innate magical abilitys and/or skills . and she dosen't mean for him to die or be killed durring this.

Ah, but knowing fel, the inate shadow fox gift is only the obvious gift. Just like with the goddess's blessing of tarrin, or with Jason being a faey generation, the most obvious gift or ability is rarely the last or most powerful that the main character learns of or developes. I'm thinking we are going to see some other ability formed.

Additionally, the shadow fox, and the shaman teacher, told kyven that he would be a very hard shaman to trap. So far I don't see that. Maybe there is more to merging with the shadows than just disappearing??? Afterall, darkness merges with other darkness, and who knows how shaman can use their powers to travel, the spirit fox seems to be able to merge with the shadows and travel quiet easily from point A to point B. Perhaps kyven will be able to also.

~Michael

[Fel]

He actually will be a very, very hard shaman to trap once he learns exactly how his powers work. His ability to vanish in shadow is just one aspect of his power.

He's a shadow fox. Think about it.

[kabalman2000]

White crystals were the rarest of them all, as versatile as a red crystal, but they were reusable. A white crystal didn’t bond to its setting the way other crystals did, could be placed in any setting and power any device.

It seems logical that if the Shadow Fox is going to deny Kyven the ability to make black crystals than she HAS to deny the ability to make white crystals also. White crystals are so valuable not only because they can be recharged but because they do not restrict (permanently bond) themselves to one alchemical device and they can be used as a substitute for any other crystal. Including black. QED if he can make white, he can make a crystal that replaces a black. So ... to deny black is to deny white.

[Elsh]

He actually will be a very, very hard shaman to trap once he learns exactly how his powers work. His ability to vanish in shadow is just one aspect of his power.

He's a shadow fox. Think about it.

He can walk into one shadow and appear out of another? and that is possibly how the shadow fox spirit travels?

All that he's gotta do is find a shadow and use it as a gate/portal to another shadow.

Fel, can you expand a bit on the ability to drain crystals and how that happens? Is it a spell that requires a spirit or is it similar to spirit sight?

[Fel]

He actually will be a very, very hard shaman to trap once he learns exactly how his powers work. His ability to vanish in shadow is just one aspect of his power.

He's a shadow fox. Think about it.

He can walk into one shadow and appear out of another? and that is possibly how the shadow fox spirit travels?

All that he's gotta do is find a shadow and use it as a gate/portal to another shadow.

Fel, can you expand a bit on the ability to drain crystals and how that happens? Is it a spell that requires a spirit or is it similar to spirit sight?

It's a passive ability, akin to spirit sight, he simply taps the crystal for the power to fuel his spell instead of calling to the spirits. BUT, the fox can actively block him from doing this, because of the bargain he struck with her which allowed her to literally decide on her own payment. She could have stripped him of his spirit sight as well, but she let him keep that.

But again, had he actually tried to drain the crystals in his collar once he passed the test of humility (understanding that he would have to beg to survive), she would have permitted it. She has already given him back that power, even though he has no idea that she took it away or gave it back in the first place. What happened to him after that was his own fault because of his short-sightedness.

Yes, the fox could have told him this, but if you didn't notice, she's kinda not very forgiving. If he's not wise enough to consider all options, then he deserves the punishment he heaps upon himself. That's her attitude.

[DigitalMaestro]

He actually will be a very, very hard shaman to trap once he learns exactly how his powers work. His ability to vanish in shadow is just one aspect of his power.

He's a shadow fox. Think about it.

Hmmm.... perhaps he can not only blend with shadow.... maybe he can become shadow. If so, perhaps he could walk between bars or slide out of collars, as shadow has no tangible substance.... this opens volumes of potential....

Digital Maestro

[michaelsuave]

I wonder if there are any other shaman out there who's totem is the shadow fox, or if kyven is the only one? Seems like he would be the only one...

~Michael

[Elsh]

But again, had he actually tried to drain the crystals in his collar once he passed the test of humility (understanding that he would have to beg to survive), she would have permitted it.

I think you just explained something else, why she appears and then disappears. It wasn't clear to me (and possibly only me) that he'd passed the test of humility, I'd assumed that her appearance was an attempt to provide some comfort/guidance/perspective in his time of suffering. Not to help, but just to remind him of his purpose.

Yes, the fox could have told him this, but if you didn't notice, she's kinda not very forgiving.

Does the shadow fox totem moonlight as Jesmind?

[GBLW]

Unless you've got some form of mind control device (or just a plain much more addictive/better story!), it's difficult to steal readers.

Psst, don't tell anyone, but I was trying to be slightly facetious.

If I were able to control minds in any way, the books that I've written would appear on the best seller list, which they don't, dang it!