Author Topic: The World of ZEAL/Keystone  (Read 30703 times)

ZeaLitY

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The World of ZEAL/Keystone
« Reply #45 on: October 14, 2004, 08:41:20 pm »
Symmetry and I just dreamt up a scene that won't be used for a hell of a long time, but has great potential.

ME LOALZ:
The idea is that towards the end, when the Keystonian Crusaders reach ZEAL, they may come across Enhasa. what if Gaspar, accompanying them, was able to locate the Guru secret room in ancient Enhasa with total ease, uncovering all those tomes of knowledge about life and several unbiased Nu who may come to his aide? Other artifacts from olden Zeal might liei n there as well. It's a small point, but maybe something of interest; a throwback to CT. I'm thinking of a certain rock or two that could unlock a long-buried, totally unexpected triple magic tech that modern ZEALians would have no record of.

SYMATRIE: It would be an awesome scene for Gaspar to reminesce over his life back in Zeal. As he expectedly comes face-to-face with something that is entirely his own once more.  Its like being back home, something he never expected to have the chance to do - if only for a brief moment. He should find it EXACTLY as he left it.

Leebot

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« Reply #46 on: October 14, 2004, 08:42:27 pm »
Unfortunately, Sphere of Annihilation isn't a spell. It's technically considered a minor artifact, but it's better to think of it as an environmental hazard. It's basically a Black Hole without gravity; if you touch it, you're gone.

Let's see here...

Janus' Prismatic Barrier
Janus' Shadow Blast (Dark Bomb)
Janus' Inevitable Doom (Black Hole)
Janus' Soul Render (Dark Matter)

On the flip side...

Schala's Divine Retribution (Some light-elemental attack)
Schala's Blessed Aura (A spell that raises attributes)
Schala's Holy Light (A healing spell)

Of course, if our characters never hear the names of the spells, this will all be for nothing. Perhaps ZEALian mages are fond of shouting out the name of the spell they cast, but this could seem a bit corny. A better alternative would be for one of the ZEALian characters in-the-know to identify them when they're telling the story, or to mention their names to the rest of the party. Of course, we should be careful not to use too many named spells relative to other spells. Perhaps someone should write up a master spell list? I'd be willing to do so, using the various resources at my disposal.

Radical_Dreamer

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« Reply #47 on: October 14, 2004, 08:44:30 pm »
I'm against people shouting spells. I like having other people pointing out and recognizing particularly devistating spells, or finding them mentioned in a ZEALian school book or encyclopedia. And I'd say keep the name Black Hole. It describes what it does. If you really want to change it though, how about Janus' Singularity ?

ZeaLitY

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« Reply #48 on: October 14, 2004, 08:48:25 pm »
Quote from: Radical_Dreamer
Janus' Singularity ?


Schwarzschild is turning in his grave.

Radical_Dreamer

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« Reply #49 on: October 14, 2004, 08:49:30 pm »
Quote from: ZeaLitY
Quote from: Radical_Dreamer
Janus' Singularity ?


Schwarzschild is turning in his grave.


May you be thouroughly irradiated with Hawking radiation.

Symmetry

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« Reply #50 on: October 14, 2004, 09:03:37 pm »
Quote from: Leebot
Let's see here...

Janus' Prismatic Barrier
Janus' Shadow Blast (Dark Bomb)
Janus' Inevitable Doom (Black Hole)
Janus' Soul Render (Dark Matter)

On the flip side...

Schala's Divine Retribution (Some light-elemental attack)
Schala's Blessed Aura (A spell that raises attributes)
Schala's Holy Light (A healing spell)


Alright. Now that's hot.

Quote from: Leebot
Of course, if our characters never hear the names of the spells, this will all be for nothing. Perhaps ZEALian mages are fond of shouting out the name of the spell they cast, but this could seem a bit corny. A better alternative would be for one of the ZEALian characters in-the-know to identify them when they're telling the story, or to mention their names to the rest of the party. Of course, we should be careful not to use too many named spells relative to other spells. Perhaps someone should write up a master spell list? I'd be willing to do so, using the various resources at my disposal.


I've kicked around typing up some frequently studied spells (and descriptions) by the Zealians - so I'm all for a list of spells, although it shouldn't be definitive by any means. We should just mention some of the "key" spells that anyone in the art would know.

I don't really care for "FIRE!" and "FIRAGA!", either. Chants in Latin or some other language can be interesting, though.

I had planned on Sessimine frequently pointing out tidbits of arcane knowledge given her status as an instructor, so expect to see them worked into the story through her, for one. (Much to Naomi's dismay.)

V_Translanka

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« Reply #51 on: October 14, 2004, 09:38:56 pm »
Yeah, I'm against changing the entire names of the spells, but adding Janus' name to the existing Shadow spells seems fine. Why fix what's not broken, right?

Prismatic Barrier? Why make such long titles for spells? Just to be grandios? That's ludicrous...man I can't spell those words...grandeous? grandeos? ludicrus? whatever...

So far in Magness, I've only had Gil/Magus do some (un-written out) chanting...and only once I actually put in a few Latin words for him to say...maybe I put in an Olde English word too...I don't remember (I was flipping through ye old dictionary and looking at root words)...I think that works for the best...But, my character Hunter, is going to be a little more full of himself, and is definately going to utter a name for a Tech (or two) of his...I think it mainly just depends on the characters uses the spells/techs. If they seem like the type to waste the time shouting out the name of their spell, or maybe it helps them concentrate or some other rubbish, I'm for it...But if it sounds too forced and without any real merit, throw it out.

Hadriel

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« Reply #52 on: October 14, 2004, 10:27:37 pm »
I still tend to hold Janus in higher esteem -- I'd trust Melchior a lot more than some Zealian jerk.  He probably was a product of his circumstances, though.  However, I still believe that Janus could master any magical technique invented by ZEAL, as his research is likely at the root of them.  He's not in the story, though, so that's pure speculation on my part.  

For example, my writing -- before eighth grade, I didn't have a damn clue how to write anything.  Ever.  And then that year comes, and all of a sudden that's what I want to do for a passion.  My entire class made promise to write, no matter what else I do.  The talent (or what I hope is talent) sprouted late, but it's turned out quite amazingly both as simple writing and for a career as a physicist, just going by what I've been told by the people who read my stuff and give me my grades.

Janus was definitely a late bloomer, but who cares?  He could still set this whole county on fire.

As for the levels, potential is still there for any character class, but I'm still not sure where Lavos, FATE, and the Dragon God fit.  Does the level you can reach depend on innate potential?  I suppose that because of 13,000 years of extra magical genes, the ZEAL residents would have more magical potential than the average human, but in the Keystone timeline, allowing for the destruction of Ayla's tribe and the accepted evolutionary record, not to mention the lore about the Frozen Flame, it took us a few million years to get to where we are now in terms of potential -- a mere 13,000 isn't going to make that much of a difference, unless Lavos' presence is a lot more powerful than we thought.

And the yelling thing...just...no.  Chanting, yes.  But yelling, despite the obvious similarity in character design, is too DBZ-ish.

Leebot

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« Reply #53 on: October 14, 2004, 11:27:56 pm »
Quote from: Hadriel
For example, my writing -- before eighth grade, I didn't have a damn clue how to write anything. Ever. And then that year comes, and all of a sudden that's what I want to do for a passion. My entire class made promise to write, no matter what else I do. The talent (or what I hope is talent) sprouted late, but it's turned out quite amazingly both as simple writing and for a career as a physicist, just going by what I've been told by the people who read my stuff and give me my grades.


[Personal History]That's eerily similar to my own story. Up through the end of eighth grade, everyone thought I was mediocre at writing. I was placed into the average English stream in High School. About half-way through 9th grade, my debate coach commented that I wrote fantastic speaches. Then my English class did a unit on poetry, and during peer-editing, my editors lost marks because they couldn't find enough flaws in my writing (I really don't agree with this grading scheme). Through the following years, my papers started getting perfect scores from time to time (and my teachers really hate giving out perfect scores). I also started to become more enthusiastic about the process. The final paper I wrote in high school was a science fiction report where we got to choose our own subject. The expected length was 3-4 pages. I ended up writing a 10 page in-depth study of Star Trek: First Contact, which ended up being passed around the Math & Science faculty so every Star Trek fan in the staff could read it. What made me get so much better so suddenly? Honestly, it probably has a lot to do with reading Star Trek constantly, and I do mean constantly. The writing style just rubbed off. At this point, well, you can tell by my work on this site that I'm still enthusiastic about both fictional and nonfictional work in the Sci-Fi genre.[/Personal History]

But that's enough about me. I'll get to work on a basic spell list. You can probably expect it up within the next couple of days. This list will be by no means limiting; plenty of mages engage in research for their own, unique spells. The names also won't be set in stone, ZEALians will likely know the same spell by different names, depending on whether they (for instance) prefer the grandiose "Janus' Prismatic Barrier" or the functional "Magic Barrier."

ZeaLitY

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« Reply #54 on: October 14, 2004, 11:46:30 pm »
There can exist two versions, of course -- the proper and vernacular, just like real life. With nothing to do up in those clouds, I'm sure some flippant group of scholars (named the Chrono Compendium) has complicated everything, but this does not necessarily mean the practitioners use these extended names.

Radical_Dreamer

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« Reply #55 on: October 15, 2004, 01:04:39 am »
Quote from: Leebot
Quote from: Hadriel
For example, my writing -- before eighth grade, I didn't have a damn clue how to write anything. Ever. And then that year comes, and all of a sudden that's what I want to do for a passion. My entire class made promise to write, no matter what else I do. The talent (or what I hope is talent) sprouted late, but it's turned out quite amazingly both as simple writing and for a career as a physicist, just going by what I've been told by the people who read my stuff and give me my grades.


[Personal History]That's eerily similar to my own story. Up through the end of eighth grade, everyone thought I was mediocre at writing. I was placed into the average English stream in High School. About half-way through 9th grade, my debate coach commented that I wrote fantastic speaches. Then my English class did a unit on poetry, and during peer-editing, my editors lost marks because they couldn't find enough flaws in my writing (I really don't agree with this grading scheme). Through the following years, my papers started getting perfect scores from time to time (and my teachers really hate giving out perfect scores). I also started to become more enthusiastic about the process. The final paper I wrote in high school was a science fiction report where we got to choose our own subject. The expected length was 3-4 pages. I ended up writing a 10 page in-depth study of Star Trek: First Contact, which ended up being passed around the Math & Science faculty so every Star Trek fan in the staff could read it. What made me get so much better so suddenly? Honestly, it probably has a lot to do with reading Star Trek constantly, and I do mean constantly. The writing style just rubbed off. At this point, well, you can tell by my work on this site that I'm still enthusiastic about both fictional and nonfictional work in the Sci-Fi genre.[/Personal History]


Heh. My junior English term paper was on the Chrono Trigger Testament. I got a B because I didn't make an index or bibliography.

1stoftheLast

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« Reply #56 on: October 15, 2004, 03:47:40 am »
So how are spells catagorized in this fic?  It doesn't really matter for my char but I'm intreasted nonetheless.  Are they grouped into four cats(fire water lightning and shadow) or six(earth air fire water heaven shadow)? Or is it something different?

V_Translanka

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« Reply #57 on: October 15, 2004, 05:46:12 am »
I'm guessing that Magic follows most of the basic rules of the Chronoverse...Magic is composed of Lightning, Fire, & Water and the Elements are seperated in their whakky color system of White (light and meteors?), Black (darkness, hell, and gravity?), Green (wind and vegetation), Yellow (earth and lightning), red (fire and lava) and Blue (water and ice). Damn them whakky Elements...

1stoftheLast

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« Reply #58 on: October 15, 2004, 06:08:10 am »
May I suggest that we divade magic into two types: Elemental and Natural

Elemental would then be divided into the four groups of Fire Ice Air and Earth and Natural would be divided into Holy and Shadow.  Natural Magic would be based on Life and Elemental Magic would be based on the physical world sans nature.  For instance Earth would not deal with plant life, instead it would include minerals, metals and gravity.  Air would include lightning, wind and rain, Fire, fire and heat and water would do water and ice and I guess steam.

Then Holy and Shadow would split spells relating to living things with Shadow skewed towards destruction and death and Holy dealing with Regeneration and life.

thoughts?

V_Translanka

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« Reply #59 on: October 15, 2004, 06:39:55 am »
Again I say, why fix what's not (*entirely*) broken? The Chronoverse clearly defines their set of Magics (& Elements)...Why add/delete/alter (I guess add is alright) what we already know from the series? Plus, that sounds more Final Fantasy-ish...I mean, only Holy-innates would have healing spells under those rules? Chrono World plays by different rules, but they are rules...lets not break them.