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      Welcome!   03/05/2016

      Welcome, everyone, to the new 910CMX Community Forums. I'm still working on getting them running, so things may change.  If you're a 910 Comic creator and need your forum recreated, let me know and I'll get on it right away.  I'll do my best to make this new place as fun as the last one!

partner555

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Posts posted by partner555


  1. 1 minute ago, The Old Hack said:

    There was, I think, a Final Fantasy boss that was undead and powerful and took an insane amount of time to kill -- unless you used a raise dead item on it, which killed it on the spot. Kinda anticlimactic.

    You're probably thinking of the FFX boss that had to be fought underwater. Easy to get a gameover without proper equipment, but two Phoenix Downs, and boom, he's dead.


  2. 3 hours ago, Vorlonagent said:

    When Ellen transformed Vlad into Vladia the comic made a big deal of the fact that Vladia's face antennae were gone.  That shouldn't have happened and was chalked up to Ellen putting extra energy into her FV5 beam.

    Actually, knowing the diamond resulted in improper awakenings, I think it really is Ellen putting excess energy in the beam, hence part of why she didn't notice buildups until later.

    Elliot, by contrast, couldn't help but transform into a cat when Hedge showed up. He had buildups as early as then.


  3. The poster posted a download link for a Word document in the style of an informational document a theoretical Department of Magic would give out in a post Pandora-killed-all-Aberrations-in-a-way-that-shattered-the-Masquerade-completely world. Since you don't have a Facebook account, here it is copied and pasted. The original poster allowed anyone to do anything under the condition he is given credit, so credit to Trevyn Case:

    Magic and You: Living in an Unmasqued World

    Provided for by the Department of Magic

    What is Magic?

    Magic is a form of energy which naturally surrounds us. It rarely interacts with the world except when used by an object or person. Its possibilities seem only to be limited by the spell and magic available. It can bypass the other laws of physics, but the greater the violation, the more energy it takes. There are some underlying rules behind it, but much of how magic is used is incredibly variable. There also seems to be an inexplicable flair towards the dramatic in the precise usage and manifestation of magic.

     

    Why was Magic Kept Secret?

    Magic has been around and accessible by humans likely for the entirety of human existence, for pretty much all of its history though, magic has been incredibly stigmatized and as such limited only to a small few open-minded enough to learn it, lucky enough to encounter it, and smart enough to not spread its existence carelessly. It was only around the beginning of the 19th century that population densities increased enough that government officials began to be aware of magic’s existence and the potential threats it could cause. At this point the governments around the world began to fight against most magic-users, while keeping its existence secret to avoid its spread. By the 20th century though, these governments had started to incorporate magic-users into special divisions tasked with protecting the public from dangerous uses of magic.

     

    Why is Magic Being Revealed?

    The nature of modern technology, specifically the Internet, has made keeping the existence of magic harder than ever. Due to its potential danger, most of the efforts by our department during recent years has been in keeping the usage of magic and knowledge of how to gain magic limited. With the recent leak in this knowledge, it was finally determined that hiding magic is no longer a viable solution, and as such this hopes to be a guide to answer commonly asked questions. More detailed information can be found on our newly built website.

     

    How will this Affect Me?

    In all honesty, the new change in policy and spread of magic will likely have only a marginal impact on your life. Gaining magic without outside help is a difficult task (more on that later), and even using magic without the proper equipment or training is difficult for the average new magic-user. It is likely that it’ll be a few years before the impacts are truly felt in your life, and they’ll be mostly positive as standardized wands containing helpful spells become commonplace (more on that later). While the potential of magic to be used for dangerous or criminal purposes is great, it’s also rare. In order to use this potential, a person will need to be specifically working towards a specific criminal/dangerous purpose (again will be explained later), build up the energy to use it, and not accomplish it through more regular means. For example, one common type of spell is one which lights things on fire or blows things up. This is obviously very problematic, but not much more problematic than a person using a bomb. As such it will likely be rare for you to ever encounter someone using magic in a way that harms you, if you feel that this is happening please refer to the following question.

     

    What Should I do if I Feel I’m in Danger from Magic?

    In general, if you feel like you’re in danger from anything (not just magic), you should call 911. In most circumstances, ordinary police can easily take care of any magic-using criminals using the same tactics that deal with ordinary criminals. If they’re relying on their magic they can be even easier to deal with as modern technology can usually counter magic much better than traditional magic spells can. There are also agents that have been specifically trained to deal with problematic magic-users which are always on backup, who can provide magic-based backup should the circumstance require it. Over time ordinary police will also be gaining access to these methods as our new police training is enacted. If you encounter an Aberration (explained later), please indicate when you call 911 as their presence necessitates using magic-based methods.

     

    How does Magic Work?

    Magic is usually used by casting spells. These spells can either be held innately or made available by using an enchanted piece of equipment, generally a wand. If the former, the user will generally draw first upon their innate magic energy (note: sometimes referred to as spiritual energy by some) and then upon magic energy floating in the environment. It is also possible to use physical energy to help power spells (which is a great method for burning calories), however this will rarely be enough to power spells. If a spell is not supplied enough energy to be cast the magic will be dispersed back into the environment (including the magic energy previously held by the user). In the case in which an enchanted item is used to cast a spell, there are two cases. One in which the spell is automatically cast and in which the casting depends on the user. In the first case, the spell will be cast automatically upon fulfilling whatever conditions were set by the enchanter (magic-user which cast the enchantment upon the object), generally by touching the object, upon which the object will use its built up energy to cast the spell, and then draw upon the surrounding magic to recharge itself. The latter involves object referred to as wands. Wands can be created using special equipment that duplicates the spell inventory of an existing wand, or through the creation of special magic users referred to as wand-makers or seers (more on them later). Each wand contains at least one and potentially many different spells as well as some magic energy, which depends greatly on the size, shape, material, and craftsmanship of the wand. Note that the wand can be in the traditional form of a wooden hand-held stick or a big wooden staff, but can also be ordinary objects like a watch or a car. The method of accessing a spell can be customized but by default simply requires the user to know about it and cast it similar to how they would cast an innate spell. It will generally use the inner energy it contains first then the users inner magic energy then the surrounding energy to cast the spell. A wand-user can also change this with some practice, much as a magic-user can use physical energy instead of magic energy to cast a spell with practice. For reference, most handheld wands will not hold enough energy for the average person to cast even the most basic of spells, and generally there isn’t even energy in the environment to make up for this.

     

    How do I Gain Magic?

    There are likely an infinite number of ways to gain magic, and no two people will have the same path. There are some common possibilities. The one you are most likely to encounter is gaining access to a wand large enough to contain enough magic to allow the average person to use it. It will likely be some time before you can access magic this way as creating a new wand with a different spell inventory can only be performed by the aforementioned wand-makers. This will become more common in time. A less certain, but potentially quicker way if you do not have easy access to wands (which at the time of publication is likely to be most people reading this) is by intense study or training. Exactly what will help a person gain magic-power and eventually a spell is not entirely certain, but it seems to be linked to trying to break the laws of physics. If successful, you’ll eventually gain spells related to the method of training used. A rare possibility is to gain a magic mark by way of a being known as an ‘Immortal’ (more on them later). This grants a single spell that the granted can use in much the same way as a normal spell. This magic-mark is identified as a new blemish somewhere on the skin. It can be anywhere on the body, but is normally put somewhere covered (and often in hard to see areas). The only requirement on it is that it needs to take a certain amount of area on the skin. If the grantor deems it, it can indicate what the spell does, but can also be completely arbitrary or even made to look like a natural blemish. If you gain the ability to use magic out of nowhere, a magic mark is likely to blame. The abilities of these magic marks is dependent upon your personality and frame of mind at the time of marking, as well as any potential innate affinities (more on them later) the marked person might have. So far, we have only heard of a person having one magic-mark ever, but it has not been confirmed that a person can’t be marked twice. Another way is using a magic artifact. These are created by ‘Immortals’ and can potentially give anyone who knows how access to the same spell. They are powered by the ‘Immortals’ so are dependent upon their existence.

     

    What do I do if I Gain Magic?

    When dealing with magic-users, we often use terminology relating to sleeping to refer to the different stages of magic-users. If a person is referred to as ‘Sleeping’ then that indicates that person has no innate access to magic (they can still use wands if there is enough energy available or magic artifacts if they know how), they generally have almost no magic energy or magic resistance. Almost the entire world is considered to be ‘Sleeping’ at the time of publication, though that is likely to change drastically in the developed world. The next step up is ‘Dreaming.’ At this stage the person will have access to at least one innate spell (usually at most just 3-4) and have more magic energy and magic resistance than your current average person, but will still be pretty weak. Any person using a wand can eventually get to this state by using the wand often. It is unknown if using spells that depend upon a magic artifact can help a person build their magic resistance and energy and progress towards ‘Dreaming.’ Most spells in this state will be related to the method by which the user initially gained magic. After reaching a certain point of developing their magic energy, a person can become what’s known as ‘Awakened.’ While there are likely an infinite number of ways a person can make the transition from dreaming to awakened, they are generally categorized as leading to proper ‘Awakenings’ and improper ‘Awakenings’. Proper ‘Awakenings’ can be induced through continued training/studying towards a breaking point, or induced by aforementioned ‘Immortals’ when the person has gained enough magic power. At this point the magic-user will gain spells customized towards them which are detailed in a spell book bonded to that magic-user (note that spell books need to be created using special methods or granted by an ‘Immortal,’ if you think you have ‘Awakened,’ please go to the nearest Department of Magic Office to have this confirmed upon which you’ll be given your own personal spell book, please check this regularly as it does not notify you when you gain a new spell). The more the magic-user uses magic, the more spells they’ll gain, the more magic energy they’ll have available to them (analogical to building muscles through exercise), and the more magic resistance they’ll gain. Note that it is incredibly difficult to tell a proper ‘Awakened’ from a ‘Dreaming’ person without the right equipment. One sign is that upon ‘Awakening’ the magic-user will usually gain at least one new spell. A definite sign is if a magic-mark disappears. The ‘Awakening’ can and will often occur without the magic-user realizing it. In the case of an improper ‘Awakening,’ the magic-user will go through a magic-buildup phase. During this time the magic-user’s magic will grow wildly and cause them to cast spells uncontrollably if not used. Spells gained will also be related to the method by which they were ‘Awakened.’ These spells will also be the ones forced to be cast by magic-users whose magic has built up too much. Over time this phase will naturally pass, and the magic-user will become indistinguishable a proper ‘Awakened’ and follow the same rules for gaining magic. Some things that are proven to help shorten this duration are moving away from areas known to have high-energy buildups (these are rare, the only notable instance being Moperville), and becoming comfortable and accepting of the theme behind the spells gained during this phase. Note that all ‘Awakened’ people are required to register as such with the Department of Magic and your spell book must be linked to our database to keep an eye on any dangerous spells. Please see your nearest office if you have reason to suspect that you have ‘Awakened.’

     

    Are There any Side-Effects to Using Magic?

    In general, the effects of magic are limited to the effects of the spell cast. There are a few noteworthy exceptions. Some of the most common ones are magic-boosted exercise (if you are stronger than you should be, you are likely using your magic energy to boost yourself) and slight modification of appearances (can appear as added growth-spurts, increasing muscle-mass, changing hair-color, etc.) which are generally based upon personal experiences. This shouldn’t be alarming as it is usually difficult to distinguish between magic-based changes, and changes brought upon by normal human growth. If there is a noticeable difference, say a dramatic change in hair-color, it will almost certainly be something you will be glad to have. A more dangerous side-effect is if you overuse magic. This can result in a burnout. While some rare spells automatically result in a burnout (in which case the burnout can be easily overcome with some rest), a natural burnout is a potentially life-threatening condition. Upon burning-out, the magic-user will usually collapse and need medical attention to sustain their life. Should this happen, get to a hospital as quick as possible. Normal medical procedures will generally be enough to keep a person alive until they recover from the initial burnout. It is common for a person’s hair to be changed color upon burning-out, and it’ll change back upon fully recovering. After this point once they have recovered from that, it can be expected that several months may pass before the magic-user can use their innate spells again which indicates their full recovery. Note that they will likely recover all their magic energy within a week. During this time as the energy can’t be used by the magic-user in the traditional ways of casting spells or boosting physical activity, it will seek to be used in other ways like causing hair to grow at abnormal rates. If a wand is used during this state, unexpected effects may occur as the magic energy tries to get the spell to use as much energy as possible. Also note that magic resistance will be incredibly low during this period. One of the few good side-effects from being burned-out, is that the continual buildup of magic will help increase your innate magic-energy reservoirs. That said the Department of Magic recommends against attempting to burn-out to increase your magic-energy storage.

     

    What if Someone Casts a Spell on Me?

    When someone tries to cast a spell on you this indicates they’re casting a particular category of spell known as an enchantment. This is by far one of the most common types of spells out there and includes any spell that transforms the enchanted. Upon being having a spell cast upon you there are three forces at play, first is the power of the spell, second is your spell resistance, and third is your mental state. If your spell resistance is higher than the power of the spell you won’t be enchanted, however, your mental state can affect this. If you are actively trying to avoid being enchanted this can increase the amount of power needed to overcome your resistance, while if you are accepting or caught off guard this can dramatically lower the amount of power needed to overcome your resistance. Afterwards the same thing happens again with the enchantment specifically. Almost all enchantments are temporary and with the average person’s enchantment resistance will last only for how long the enchantment is set for (which may depend upon the power put into the spell). A larger enchantment resistance will decrease the rate at which the enchantment consumes the magic provided by the initial casting of the spell and so decreases the time needed for the enchantment to dispel. This is also affected by your mental state with actively trying to dispel the enchantment decreasing the time enchanted, while enjoying the enchantment can make it last indefinitely as long as there is magic available (note that being surprised does not affect enchantment resistance at all). We have been using and will continue to use magic resistance to refer to both spell resistance and enchantment resistance. Note that these two are separate but generally increase at roughly the same rate so a person with high enchantment resistance will generally have high spell resistance. An important thing to know is that if an enchantment lasts for 30 days, it will become permanent, if you are enchanted and can’t get rid of it, please see your local office of the Department of Magic to have the enchantment dispelled before it becomes permanent.

     

    What Else Should I Know About Magic-Users

    There are some special classes of magic-users, special because they are mainly inherited. All these people have ‘Immortals’ somewhere in their ancestry tree, exactly where seems to help determine which class of any the magic-user falls into. These people also are generally born with more magic energy and magic resistance than the average person, but exactly how much seems to be variable. The most common class are those with innate ‘affinities’. These people can be granted special spells by ‘Immortals’ as well as gain spells related to their affinity later. A popular affinity is one for summoning magic weapons, normal weapons which deal extra damage to ‘Aberrations’ (explained later). While rare, most people know at least several people that have an innate affinity. The next class are those which are called ‘Wizards.’ These magic-users have the distinct trait of being able to learn other’s spells through what essentially amounts to osmosis. If they see the same spell enough times they will automatically learn that spell. These people are the quite a bit rarer, you are likely to encounter them at least once in your life. A unique thing about ‘Wizards’ is that the children of two ‘Wizards’ are guaranteed to be ‘Wizards.’ The last class are special sub-class of ‘Wizards’ known as ‘Wand-makers’ or ‘Seers.’ There are only an estimated 1000 people worldwide that fit into this class. These people are born with the ability to see magic and can figure out how spells work by observing them. They are also able to enchant items to become wands. These two facts mean that they can create custom spells. They are often born with incredibly high magic resistance and energy (enough to sometimes give magic equipment that determines whether someone is a ‘Wizard’ or not a false negative by resisting the spell), but are also born without the ability to gain innate customized spells. Of course since they can create customized wands and still use magic-marks this isn’t too much of a problem. If you belong to this class you already know that you belong in this class (if you are uncertain and you are reading this within a few years of publication then you are definitely not part of this class) and we are looking to hire you. Perhaps the most unusual class is one which doesn’t appear to have any genetic component to it, but is rather name-based. This is called a ‘name affinity.’ This usually appears when both the first and last name appear to have some surface connection. Such as Catalina Bobcat. This type of affinity will result in a great potential to gain spells based upon this connection (in the example above it’ll likely result in some cat-based transformation) as well as easy marking by ‘Immortals.’

     

    What are Aberrations?

    Aberrations (also sometimes called Vampires) are parasitic monsters which used magic to shed their humanity in a bid for immortality. They vary greatly from individual to individual but have some common distinctions that you can learn more about on our website as well as some common traits. All Aberrations were human at some point and used magic to become an Aberration. In doing so they greatly increased their resistance to normal weaponry while gaining a weakness to magic weaponry, and lose all empathy towards other individuals. If an Aberration helps you, they are doing so for their benefit. They extend their lifetime by feeding upon people, sometimes literally, sometimes by stealing magic energy, sometimes by taking control over other’s body, etc. The exact methods are likely to vary from individual to individual. They will also have a monstrous form which they are either permanently stuck in or need to assume to access all of their abilities. There is no known way to reverse this condition as the magic needed to become an Aberration changes the body enough to require that magic to continue existing to stay alive. Should you encounter one of these beings, it is advised to run and seek help and avoid notice if possible. It is further recommended to avoid encountering them in the first place, which can generally be done by avoiding places in which you are likely to be mugged or killed. Thankfully it seems that most Aberrations were killed off recently so the already slim chance of encountering one of these beings was drastically reduced.

     

    What are Immortals?

    Immortals are shape-shifter beings which primarily exist on another plane of existence. From there they can see and interact with our world while being invisible to us. They can appear in the physical plane (where we reside) taking the form they wish and are generally not bound by the laws of physics. They will generally take the appearance of humans, but they are not humans. They usually have good intentions, but are known to sometimes use questionable means in achieving them. They could be some of the most powerful beings but they have bound themselves to only empowering and guiding people, a rule which seems to be self-enforced. In addition any oath they swear they are effectively bound to follow while they remember it which is a long time, with debilitating consequences should they break it. While they can’t truly die, they do undergo a loss of self and memories approximately every 200 years. Whether or not they are considered the same person afterwards is a matter of debate among both Immortals and magic-users. Some try to influence the world for good, others for selfish desires, and others simply out of boredom. Should an Immortal appear before you, it is recommended to keep your cool and consider why they are appearing before you. Note that they are fairly powerless to force you to do anything so note that you are in the position of power. Do not be afraid to contact your local office of the Department of Magic if you don’t know how to deal with an Immortal. One key thing to keep in mind is that they can lie, but they are unlikely to lie or mislead when there are Aberrations involved. That said, it is incredibly unlikely that one will interact with you, let alone appear. One interesting thing to note is that it appears that one of their kind forced them to temporarily break their empower and guide rule (which resulted in them being forcibly reset), to destroy most of the Aberrations on the planet.

     

    What Should I do?

    While magic can be scary, be assured that you can live your life as you did before with very little changes. If you want to gain magic we have detailed several ways to do this and more information is provided on our website. That said, it is not necessary to gain magic at this time to live a normal life nor is it likely ever going to be a requirement as wands can provide any spells that will likely become standard equipment and are known to help improve magic resistance and energy. If you have any concerns you can make an appointment to meet with someone from the Department of Magic. Note that due to personnel constraints we will only be taking in-person appointments and the appointment must be approved beforehand, we will not be taking appointments with subjects of how to gain magic. This may be changed in the future, please consult our website for updated information and to find your nearest office of the Department of Magic.


  4. 13 hours ago, Vorlonagent said:

    How many Immortals can dance on the head of a pin?

     

    6 hours ago, mlooney said:

    Y'all do understand that "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin" has only 2 answers, neither one of which requires any information about the size of an angel's foot or how big the pin was.

    1. None, i.e. the angels have a solid form.
    2. All of them. i.e. angels did not have a solid form.

    I suspect the same sort of logic, if you will, would apply to immortals/faeries.

     

    Immortals can shapeshift, including changing their size. My guess will be potentially all of them depending on how small they can get.

    Edit: Here's another good one. How many people with the Magic Weapon summoning affinity are descended from Pandora, Blaike and Adrian?


  5. 6 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

    Really? It is also known that Pandora was not the only one marking people. Why would Grace only be able to see Marks left by Pandora?

    http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1925

    http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1926

    Going by those two comics, I'm pretty sure the Emissary told Grace that Pandora marked Dex. And I'm also pretty sure the Emissary only told her about marks left by Pandora because her actions led to an increase in the awareness of Magic.


  6. 2 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

    But I should add the disclaimer that the initial mark may have been the work of Jerry, les immortels, or any immortal other than PCR.

    Dex was part of the group of four Grace recalled with Magic Marks, and we know Pandora gave them to the other three. I think Pandora did indeed give him the mark.


  7. 1 minute ago, Tom Sewell said:

    I wonder if one of those artifacts can mark or awaken sleepers and dreamers, like, for instance, Ashley.

    If they can grant marks, then I'd be very worried about the spell she gets since it uses one of the old systems and Magic said transformation spells from those systems are not safe.


  8. 6 hours ago, hkmaly said:

    Agree with both. It would be cool to have Ashley get some powers, but most likely, she's really there just to provide someone Magus can talk to and say everything the readers need to know.

    I believe Dan said that while that's why she's here in the first place, he has since thought of other things for her to do.