Spirit Walker - Spoilers - Chapters 1 through part of 14

[Mistra]

soo.... you're believing the words of the spirit of guile and deceit as written down by Fel? i believe Fel makes rules for what his characters can and cannot do, but that doesn't mean he has to tell us about those rules. At this moment in time Kyven is weaker then other shamans, and it looks likely he'll never be as powerfull, but i wouldn't take the shadowfox on his/her word.

[Weresmilodon]

Actually, I think it's a very important point to note the difference between power and endurance. Endurance is how long you can hold a spell, and shown to be very important to Kyven. Power hasn’t been shown what it really affect, but I’d assume that larger spells require more power. Kyven isn't very interested in power; he has no need to be able to level a small village. To create an illusion over said village, and more importantly, being able to hold that illusion for however long is required, on the other hand, will come to be very vital to him.
He don't need a quick burst of high power, he needs long bursts of moderate power, so to say.

[Mistra]

i wasn't saying it's a fact that Kyven is stronger or that he needs that strenghts, i'm just saying not to take some thing the shadowfox says as a rule. And as for that power, only Fel knows what Kyven will have to do in the future, if he has to make it look like all arcans in the entire kingdom of noraam are working (just as an example, i know that's not the plan, but it's the best thing i could come up with) then he'd need a whole lot of power to pull it off. btw, isn't endurance = power with shamans? since the scope of the power comes from the spirits, it's just a matter of your body being able to cope with the stress.

[Elsh]

***Spoiler****

I'm 99% sure that I've deciphered the statement about Kyven needing help to turn human.

Here's the facts:

Kyven's capacity to use powers is dependent on his physical condition - fact
Animals can exceed their normal physical limits during periods of great need - fact
Kyven and Danna are locked up all winter together - fact
Kyven and Danna have strong feelings for each other - fact

Here's my theory:
Kyven and Danna will fall in love and that will serve as the catalyst for him controlling enough power to change forms. His need to serve the shadow fox or be killed by her is enough to allow him to go fox and his love for Danna is enough to allow him to go Human. It won't be an easy transformation or a regular one, but he'll be capable of doing it. Also, it will greatly stretch his powers and allow him to reach his peak as a Shaman. I think that's the Shadow Fox's real plan. It's probably Danna's real contribution to all of this.

[Elsh]

isn't endurance = power with shamans? since the scope of the power comes from the spirits, it's just a matter of your body being able to cope with the stress.

I'd imagine that power for shamans is two properties
1. The amount of energy a shaman must maintain at any given time
2. The length of time a shaman must hold/maintain/work with that energy.

Her statement I translated to mean that Kyven would never be as good as other Shaman at 1 but that he would be just as good at 2. This statement is really weird to me given that Kyven is an Arcan and thus there's no reason for him to be less able than other arcans. Secondly, he has a totem so he should excel above other shaman in the area of guile and deceit spells.

It will be interesting to see this play out. For the moment I'm convinced she's just goading him into trying to exceed the limit exposed upon him. He's not part animal, he's part monster. He has a direct link to the spirit world that powers his shadow abilities and that must play a role somehow.

[Elsh]

oh and I bet 10 forum credits that boballa is wrong about Toby.

Can we get some sort of forum currency system going?

[dellstart]

***Spoiler****

I'm 99% sure that I've deciphered the statement about Kyven needing help to turn human.

Here's the facts:

Kyven's capacity to use powers is dependent on his physical condition - fact
Animals can exceed their normal physical limits during periods of great need - fact
Kyven and Danna are locked up all winter together - fact
Kyven and Danna have strong feelings for each other - fact

Here's my theory:
Kyven will fall in love with Danna and that will serve as the catalyst for him controlling enough power to change forms. His need to serve the shadow fox or be killed by her is enough to allow him to go fox and his love for Danna is enough to allow him to go Human. It won't be an easy transformation or a regular one, but he'll be capable of doing it. Also, it will greatly stretch his powers and allow him to reach his peak as a Shaman.

I think thats pretty spot on. It fills in all the dots , quite well.


well done.

[dellstart]

oh and I bet 10 forum credits that boballa is wrong about Toby.

Can we get some sort of forum currency system going?

It aint over till the fat lady sings, so hold on to that tenner!

[boballab]

The power issue was talked about by Stalker way back in the begining. Stalker like most Shaman do not have a totem, when they beseech the spirits basically the one that hears the call answers. This means that those Shaman can use all spells, Totem Shaman calls to his totem for his spells. Now Stalker already mentioned that if they both called on a spell that belonged in the domain of the Shadowfox Kyven would be stronger then him since it is Kyvens totem, all other spells Kyven is at a disavantage. The main spells the Shadowfox uses, as she has said now multiple times, are spells that need to be maintained. These type of spells don't rely so much on power but on endurance, as shown by how long Kyven has been able to hold the silence spell. The other aspect that the Shadowfox brought up was the powers granted by being a shadowfox which Kyven hasn't delved into yet, which are reputed to be the equal of Shaman spells. The best way to look at Shaman and how powerful they are compared to each other is to look at a Track team. Some runners are good at sprints, which rely on power over a short distance and others which are good at distance races which rely on endurance. Both are runners but in different areas of expertise.

Egaads I got wagers forming. Well I was pretty spot on about what the Loremasters know and what they are doing as confirmed by the spirits. There is more to Toby then meets the eye. Now to Danna again I hit that one on the head, they wanted her not because she was a loreguard officer but for her analytical investigator mind. I Believe the Shadowfox's "similar" plan as she called it was to team Danna up with Kyven not Toby and the "help" she alluded to for the shifting forms might very well have to deal with Kyven's blood that is in her. Wouldn't it be a strange twist of fate that to be able to shift form between Human and Arcan, Danna would have to become Arcan while Kyven was Human.

P.S. Just a thought but has anyone else noticed that this story could be a Indians vs Settlers story set in a fantasy setting in a post apocalyptic world. Indians had a communal system, they believed in the spirits, individuals had there own totems of spirits in animal form. Those traits align with the Arcans. Humans are the settlers and just like the early european settlers are concentrated on the east coast, believe in Christianity and the Spirits are inspired by the devil.

[Fel]

i wasn't saying it's a fact that Kyven is stronger or that he needs that strenghts, i'm just saying not to take some thing the shadowfox says as a rule. And as for that power, only Fel knows what Kyven will have to do in the future, if he has to make it look like all arcans in the entire kingdom of noraam are working (just as an example, i know that's not the plan, but it's the best thing i could come up with) then he'd need a whole lot of power to pull it off. btw, isn't endurance = power with shamans? since the scope of the power comes from the spirits, it's just a matter of your body being able to cope with the stress.

They're 2 different things.

Shaman have 2 primary core abilities, the ability to channel raw power (power), and the ability to maintain that channeling over time (endurance).

Think of power as "burst" and endurance as, well, what it sounds like.

Kyven's weakness is in power. He can't channel the raw power all at once necessary to use some spells. For example, the cold spell drains him considerably when he uses it, and he can only use it a few times before it exhausts him. That's not even considered a high-power spell. Kyven will not be able to use most combat-oriented magic Shaman learn, like area of effect spells, because it just puts too much demand on him all at once. Kyven will never be a "warrior Shaman."

Where Kyven can equal other Shaman is endurance. Endurance is both the ability to channel magic, and also the ability to recover from using magic. Once Kyven has a Shaman-level endurance, he'll be able to maintain spells for as long as needed for them to do their jobs, and also recover much faster from using magic.

This is a little serendipity for him. He can't use powerful magic, but his endurance is the same as other Shaman, so he'll be able to use his weaker spells much longer than other Shaman, and recover very quickly. He can't blow up a city block, but he can set a hundred little matchstick fires.

That, in conjunction with the type of magic the fox wants to teach, is why the fox is so adamant about him increasing his endurance. If he can't maintain spells, he's literally no use to her.

And you don't want to be of no use to your totem. It's very, very bad.

[GBLW]

Gee, one post and I got an avalanche.

And thanks for the clarification, Fel, that's much appreciated and clarifies at least one question I had.

[Elsh]

This is a little serendipity for him. He can't use powerful magic, but his endurance is the same as other Shaman, so he'll be able to use his weaker spells much longer than other Shaman, and recover very quickly. He can't blow up a city block, but he can set a hundred little matchstick fires.

Now I really am confused.

If his endurance is the same as other Shaman, how can he maintain spells longer than other shaman? Does he exert less effort to cast these spells, cause if they are both casting the same weak spell, shouldn't they last the same amount of time?

Is this a typo or am I confused?

[Fel]

This is a little serendipity for him. He can't use powerful magic, but his endurance is the same as other Shaman, so he'll be able to use his weaker spells much longer than other Shaman, and recover very quickly. He can't blow up a city block, but he can set a hundred little matchstick fires.

Now I really am confused.

If his endurance is the same as other Shaman, how can he maintain spells longer than other shaman? Does he exert less effort to cast these spells, cause if they are both casting the same weak spell, shouldn't they last the same amount of time?

Is this a typo or am I confused?

Not a typo, me not explaining well enough.

He won't be able to hold spells longer than other shaman per se, but when it comes to illusions, his totem's specialty, he'll be able to both cast spells they can't, and hold spells they can cast longer, because his totem's influence makes those spells not as demanding for him to use. The easier a spell is to maintain, the longer one can maintain it. That's based partially on her being his totem, and also partially on the fact that he IS a shadow fox. He has a natural affinity for illusion magic, based on his very nature.

[boballab]

Actually I think you explained it best when you had Stalker explain it in the story.

“Some spirits represent a type of energy. Some do not. Some shaman, like you, have a totem, a spirit that has claimed you as its own. Some Shaman do not. I have no totem. That gives me certain advantages, such as the ability to use any Shaman magic I please. But when a Shaman has a totem, the Shaman is restricted by the totem’s own preferences. Your totem is the shadow fox, and her energy is blue. She is a deceiver, a trickster, a being of stealth and guile. You will excel at spells of deception, confusion, and illusion, for that is what your totem excels at. The shadow fox is also a spirit attuned to healing, which will allow you to heal. And as any spirit of healing, she rejects the black, the energy of death, and she will deny you any access to that magic. If you call on that power, she will block you. When you have a totem spirit, you gain power in one area, but lose power in another. Or, in your case, completely lose access to some parts of Shaman magic. A Shaman like me, who has no totem, can use any spell, but the spells in which your totem specializes will be stronger than my own.”

[ANTIcarrot]

Kyven's skills with crystals might help him overcome some of his power limitations. Once he understood the spell, he could make a device to change him back and forth, and create his own crystals to power it.

Then again, if he's really smart he could build a crystal maker. If it really is the same kind of magic, you might be able to use one crystal to make two. As long as you're careful and exactly copy the (safe) way the shamans do it, there shouldn't be any danger of a second breach. Wouldn't solve the arcan problem, but you could sell them for an unlimited amount of money; which could be used to purchase arcans and/or companies. If a way could be found to channel large numbers of shaman crystals into human society, this might also stave off war. Whatever the loremasters believe about the shamans, they might be pragmatic enough to do a deal with the devil if it's their only hope to avoid war.

It's a pity the spirits seem to lack useful technical knowledge. The loremasters are experimenting with electricity. Taking back a few tombs on the subject might also start to wean humanity off their dependence on crystals. I live in hope of a character asking, "Well what did they use then? Why can't we do that?"

And I think Clover should start to think in terms of building kennels for the incoming arcans, not homes. Simply knowing there's not a lock on the door, a clean toilet down the hall, and that one day it will get better will be an immense improvement on what the arcan slaves have now.

And just who was North America fighting?

And you don't want to be of no use to your totem. It's very, very bad.

More to the point, he won't be of any use to you, and that would be worse!