The World of ZEAL/Keystone

[Leebot]

Also remember that this is a simplification to give a good guideline. A very clever character may be able to set up an ingenious trap to take out someone a tier above, or circumstances may just happen to favor the underdog.

A specific example: My character, Sigma, would normally count as a mere T1 "Keystonian Citizen," but her power gives her a chance against most magic-users, already seen in her taking out a T3 Zealian Advanced Mage. On the other hand, her power is very unreliable, and she has yet to learn even the most basic of control over it, so she can in no way do this reliably; if the mage were out for blood she wouldn't stand a chance. It was just the circumstances and luck that resulted in this "victory." Additionally, she's so pathetic besides this that she would be mere cannon fodder for Ye Olde Town Guard.

EDIT: Minor grammatical points.

[V_Translanka]

ZeaLitY:

Shouldn't the Sea of Zurvan be incorperated into Zealian Mythos/Religion? It was mentioned in Cross by Schala and it seems relatively important...

[Symmetry]

ZeaLitY:

Shouldn't the Sea of Zurvan be incorperated into Zealian Mythos/Religion? It was mentioned in Cross by Schala and it seems relatively important...

Good idea. We'll work on incorporating it somehow. If you've got any ideas, let's hear 'em.


Leebot's got the idea with the comparisons. Its a rough guideline, not something set in stone. Although, I just used "Magi" because it sounded cooler than "Mages".

It does. Doesn't it?

[Leebot]

So does this mean you intended for the singular to be "Mage"? That's probably better anyway, to avoid confusion with the Magus. I don't mean to quibble, but its good to lay these things out ahead of time for consitency. I'll go edit it to Mage.

[Hadriel]

I'm just used to the whole level thing -- I need a reference point with something I'm familiar with.  The problem with imagining it in terms of levels, though, is that both games have a level cap.

But I'm guessing that there is potential for growth, even in Crono's party -- Janus, for example, probably has the potential to master even the most powerful of ZEAL's sorceries...too bad he's not alive anymore to do so, at least not bodily.

It's been made rather clear what King and Queen Zeal did, but what about the ZEAL dimension's Janus and Schala?  They were both extraordinarily powerful, and this would lead me to surmise that they have some major part in either ZEAL's history or myths.

[Symmetry]

As for Magus & Schala.

The two of them are unquestionably the most popular Chrono series characters to write about. For that reason, I think we want to avoid them having any serious roles as much as possible. More than likely, they just lived out their days as members of the royal family. After all, with no drama for them to shine in, they're probably not going to rise to the occasion like they did in Keystone.

Maybe Magus did some noteworthy research in the field of shadow magic. I dunno. If someone has a neat idea for them, I'm all for hearing it out, but I'd like to avoid something terribly important to the timeline, y'know?

(Edited earlier post at Leebot's request to avoid confusion.)

[V_Translanka]

Yeah, though it might be a little confusing (probably not though) because I'm half-using the Keystone Magus, who I call Gil (he'll be involved in the jailbreak sequence and probably not much more).

[Leebot]

If we're going to mention Janus at all, it should be minor things, such as:

1) Calling the school of sorcery the "Janus School."

2) A few shadow spells might have "Janus'" in their name (a commonly used mechanic in D&D, with spells like Bigby's Interposing Hand or Mordenkainen's Sword). A few suggestions, based on Magus' spells:

-Dark Bomb -> Janus' Bomb

-Magic Wall -> Janus' Barrier

-Black Hole -> Janus' Elimination

We probably shouldn't do too many, though, as Magus at the height of his power was less powerful than most average ZEALian sorcerers. What I have above would be alright, as we know that Magus probably did come up with these spells on his own, so Janus could have done so in the ZEAL timeline. They'll probably stack among the lower-level Shadow spells, with new, more powerful spells having been developed since his time.

EDIT: Fixed a typo.

[V_Translanka]

Would Janus have learned those spells at all? Heck, would he have actually gotten into Magic at all? Even if he did, I don't know if he'd go so far into his Shadow Magic...he just wouldn't have the same reason to. I could see a Janus Barrier if you absolutely think he'd go into Magic, but otherwise? Janus' Elimination sounds silly for one...

I don't think he would have gotten into Magic much at all myself...Not Janus simply as Janus...

[Leebot]

Oh, so it sounds silly, eh?

That's it! ::Leebot casts Otto's Irresistable Dance on V_Translanka::

[Symmetry]

If we are going to name spells after Janus, they should probably be a little more complex sounding. I'm not really super-familiar with D&D, but I'm played some of the Baldur's Gate games and I've got an idea of what you're talking about, Leebot. Janus' Elimination doesn't sound "arcane" enough to me, although I suppose you were proably just coming up with those as a rough example. Something more like Janus' Grip of Death or Janus' Sphere of Annihilation sounds more "spell-like", if you get my drift.

I sorta concur with Translanka here. I see Magus' power being very much the product of his suffering, both at the hands of Zeal and his separation from it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe its claimed somewhere in CT that Janus seemed to lack any magical power whatsoever. Zeal thought he was a runt. Whether or not they were right about Janus is debatable, but what we do know is that by the time he is known to us as Magus, he becomes a powerful wizard. How much of that power was simply "innate potential" is unknown. I'd like to think that Magus' power was more self-taught and gained through the hardships he endured as he tried to make his way back to Lavos for revenge.

Still, giving Janus some props in the fic is fun as a fan of the series. Naming some spells after him does add richness to the fic as a whole.

[1stoftheLast]

Kind of off topic for me to argue this but here goes.  Janus did have a lot of inate magical talent.  The person who said that he didn't seem to have a shread of magic was some Zealian citizen, while it was Melchoir(albeit through hersay by an earthbound citizen) who said that Janus had magical powers for stronger than even Schala.

Anyways the point remains the same that in the world of Zeal now far more powerfull magic exists, but I'm down to name a few spells after Janus as a sort of acknowagement of him.

[Leebot]

Yes, those were made-up just to give an example. If we wanted, we could put our heads together and come up with something cooler. A few more examples of D&D spell names:

Bigby's Clenched Fist
Bigby's Crushing Hand
Bigby's Forceful Hand
Bigby's Grasping Hand
Evard's Black Tentacles
Leomund's Secure Shelter
Leomund's Tiny Hat
Leomund's Trap
Melf's Acid Arrow
Mordenkainen's Disjunction
Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound
Mordenkainen's Lucubration
Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion
Nystal's Magical Aura
Nystal's Undetectable Aura
Otiluke's Freezing Sphere
Otiluke's Resilient Sphere
Otiluke's Telekinetic Sphere
Rary's Mnemonic Enhancer
Rary's Telepathic Bond
Tasha's Hideous Laughter
Tenser's Floating Disk
Tenser's Transformation

As you can see, very few of these spells have clever or cool names. They just say what they do. Granted, this is common throughout D&D, most spell names are pretty indicative of what they do. This by no means means we have to do it this way, but it would be a nice touch to have mages cast Janus' Barrier or somesuch.

[Symmetry]

Agreed.

But a lot those use interesting adjectives. There's a little more to them than just "Bomb". So bring it with your Otto's Irresistable Dance!

I still think Sphere of Annihilation is a damn cool sounding spell. I know I'd want to cast it once or twice.

[ZeaLitY]

I added the Sea of Zurvan. Man, I'm craving to see a fight scene now that we've got an estimate of ability.