PhycoKrusk wrote:Sebbie wrote:My question was mainly whether private tutors who aren't linked to the Templar exist.
One would assume so. Unless there were really strong incentives to join the Templar, not all of them would. And even then, there's the issue of access. It's likely that some simply couldn't get into the academy for whatever reason, which would force them to use private tutors or to "wing it."
I figured something along those lines, but I was wondering if there's ever been evidence of such.
PhycoKrusk wrote:Sebbie wrote:By the way, I think Eric uses magic
here, although I suppose the device might work even without its user knowing magic.
I see where you got the notion that Eric used magic, and honestly, I'm not sure. It's
extremely ambiguous what's going on there. For all we know, that little glowing orb is the
real Eric Vaughan.
And maybe it is.
DRAMATIC VIOLINS
So from what I gather from the various threads, in the next updates Laura is going to reveal she's a powerful mage and is going to blow up Alabaster with a thought, Alaric is going to come swooping in riding Nora, and Eric's going to reveal his true self to be a glowing orb. IT WILL BE EPIC.
Anyway, back to topic. Now, all this talk about the Templar taking over the world or whatnot assumes that they'll maintain and increase the power they have now; what if instead the events of the story lead the Templar being overthrown? I mean, it's already started; Trace lost his memories, and now the Master Architect is dead, so things aren't looking too great for the Templar right now. What if the world comes into balance; will the development of technology, both magical and not, continue? Will the three races develop a stable global economy? More importantly, will the technological developments of the races follow similar paths through exchange of ideas and technology in a new era of peace, or will each develop in their own direction: humans and Keidran developing a technology based on magic, Basitins instead developing non-magical technology similar to that in our world?
EDIT TO AVOID DOUBLE-POST (why do I keep getting ninjad!?):
avwolf wrote:It also suggests that the average person might be able to learn magic without difficulty, but tapping the mana in the environment, much like tapping the towers, is something that a person must be trained in order to do.
That's starting to seem like the most reasonable explanation, I think.
avwolf wrote:
The Templar may be seeking dominance over the entire world, but I suggest that they have no monopoly on anything. They're the recognized name when it comes to magic and hunting Keidran, but I doubt they are the only ones doing either or both.
Well, right now they're not, but I think the idea was that if they keep doing what they're doing, it won't be long before they monopolize magic and the the global economy.
avwolf wrote:
As we've seen in the Templar Towers, the mana sink, and Eric's "lamp," magic is sometimes applied in a manner easily approximating technology. How long before some enterprising tinker actually builds a magical gun? Load it with a mana crystal, pull the trigger and blast your opponent with pure force. More expensive than a crossbow, but far more destructive and just as easy to use. The only difficulty is in coming up with a way to impose a will on the shape of magic without actually relying on a user's will -- to build a barrel that can draw the mana from a stone, store it, and focus the mana into a form.
Eric's lamp suggests that most of that is possible, or at least can be worked around. Even if the device itself is little but a focus to ensure the correct application of the user's will, it's implied to be an item that permits the very specific application of a magical effect by someone with questionable prowess in the Art.
It certainly sounds like what you're saying is possible; I mean, look at who the Master Architect brought with him to run the Tower. He's (well, he was) the only full-fledged Templar there; all the others were students of his, who undoubtedly were far from mastering the Art, and therefore that seems to imply that the brunt of the work of moving and storing mana was done by the technology in the Tower itself. So it seems that magic can be at least directed with nothing more than the right technology.