Posted by The Arcane(VIP) on December 28, 2000 at 09:36:04:

***This is an interview of a future Veteran of Battle... just came across it while sifting through my logs for an old fight. This was sort of discursive as interviews go, but I found it interesting. IC, while my character didn't fully agree with his view, OOC I thought it was an interesting take on the magic issue, and one I hadn't heard before, which is pretty rare after doing umpteen Rager interviews.***

[1068hp 461m 531mv] Before a fortified hillock
A large mound of earth has been pushed up here, forming a strategically
planned barrier to the village just beyond. Behind the earthen barricade
stand the gates -- heavy, massive, fortified iron gates that glow eerily
in the reflected torch-light -- and beyond them in the darkness you can
just make out the faces of the village huts. The village, like the gate,
is dark and forbidding from this distance, softened not at all by the
occasionally glimpsed lantern or fire. A chill breeze blows from the gates
to the west, bringing with it the gruff sound of barbaric voices and an
occasional burst of raucous, drunken laughter.

[Exits: east west]
Applicant is resting here.
A massive, hunched figure is here, protecting the village throughout the night.

You say 'You've been waiting patiently, I know.'

Applicant nods.

You say 'Many men would have given up or let their will falter. I commend this.'

You say 'However, I also wish to understand it.'

Applicant says 'my patience?'

You say 'What impels you? What brings you here and keeps your will resolute?'

Applicant says 'I've always known this is where I would make my home'

Applicant says 'here or to die trying'

Applicant says 'I came to these sunny lands from the damp of the underdark'

Applicant says 'it is not a lovely place'

You say 'You sprung from the womb, mace in hand, and out for mage blood?'

Applicant says 'nay'

You nod.

You say 'Then you did not *always* know.'

You say 'When did you first realize your path would lead you here?'

Applicant says 'I was a child with a torch, a convenient explorer of the crevices of the

Applicant says 'gnome children are used by the drow and duergar to map the dark, as we are disposable and tiny'

Applicant says 'able to get into the smallest of places'

You nod.

Applicant says 'and we were sent out to find new stores of mithril and emerald'

Applicant says 'but you yourself don't run headlong into the dark, much less a child'

Applicant says 'I was used for this purpose until mauled by a cavefisher, and left behind'

Applicant says 'you might think I'd blame miners for this fate, but even a pure race such as the dwarves'

Applicant says 'with no ability to channel magic through themselves'

Applicant says 'you find their king and he is mad under the posession of a magical crown'

Applicant says 'the king in my city seems taken with elementals'

Applicant says 'I've been back, and it seems that magic is the power that corrupts the leaders'

You say 'I have been there, yes.'

Applicant says 'makes them greedy, forces them to use their people like cattle'

Applicant says 'and I could not stand by'

Applicant says 'I could not dedicate myself to being a healer, it was too passive'

Applicant says 'I did not want to merely fix the continuing injustices'

You nod.

Applicant says 'I wish to break the peasants free from this labor'

Applicant stops using a two-headed hammer.

Applicant dual wields a two-headed hammer.

Applicant says 'this is good use of mithril'

Applicant says 'tools for warriors, not money for sorcerers'

You nod.

You say 'Indeed, fine craftsmanship.'

You say 'Dwarven, I believe.'

Applicant nods.

Applicant says 'mithril seems to flow from the fingers of their finest smiths'

You say 'So... magic makes the leaders of your homeland greedy?'

You say 'Or... am I missing something?'

Applicant says 'I believe it has control over them yes'

Applicant says 'it is the root'

You say 'So all mages are greedy?'

Applicant says 'all mages wish to live without toil'

You say 'And is greed so undesirable, then? It exists among magi and warrior alike.'

Applicant says 'without exertion, and it is not a way I understand'

Applicant says 'perhaps because of my injuries, I am driven to prove my frame as suited as any other in this land'

You say 'But... hrm..'

*** Crash. ***

Welcome to The Carrion Fields. Let the bloodshed begin!
It is 9 o'clock AM, Day of Thunder, 31st of the Month of the Dragon.

Applicant tells you 'I apologize, I've found myself in limbo. I will try to escape'

You tell Applicant 'Indeed.'

Applicant tells you 'would you object to speaking at this distance?'

You tell Applicant 'Not at all.'

You tell Applicant 'I was about to say...'

You tell Applicant 'A slavemaster who never uses magic can be lazy and corrupt also, and can also subjugate and enforce this upon others'

You tell Applicant 'Where is the distinction?'

Applicant tells you 'this may seem a bit of a diversion, but what in your life have you spent gold on?'

Applicant tells you 'ever? Food, water, a bit of clothing?'

You tell Applicant 'That, and sustaining the healer in our shrine here.'

Applicant tells you 'aye. So what drives men to pile it to the rafters in the banks of every town?'

Applicant tells you 'what demands this vast display of gold?'

Applicant tells you 'not the baker, he'll feed me for next to nothing'

You tell Applicant 'Building mansions, perhaps. Palaces, and the like.'

Applicant tells you 'but you and I do not yearn for soft things on which to sit'

You tell Applicant 'True. So we should go and slaughter those who do?'

Applicant tells you 'nay, I believe warriors hunt for it in pursuit of magical devices'

Applicant tells you 'if the sources of these were to crumble'

Applicant tells you 'can you name a warrior that would stand up to you?'

You tell Applicant 'That's a rather blanket statement. Imperials value gold because they wish to build their palace, pay their Centurions, and pave roads.'

You tell Applicant 'No mortal could.'

Applicant tells you 'aye. They would be fools'

You tell Applicant 'So what is the root of all evil, gold or magic?'

Applicant tells you 'that is hard to say. If one or the other were to go, I believe both would crumble'

Applicant tells you 'without magic, those in the imperial tower would abandon it in hopes of making our favor'

You tell Applicant 'You honestly believe that? That there is no such thing as a poor mage? Or one who cares not for gold? I have known of some who care for little but to lock themselves away in their abodes, studying and sorcering'

You tell Applicant 'Without seeking to become wealthy, or to enslave others.'

You tell Applicant 'Some magi of the Dawn even declare it their life's work to help others, as they see it.'

You tell Applicant 'How do you explain this? And furthermore, what is your objection to it, if any?'

Applicant tells you 'were this the case, would our fight not be short and easy?'

Applicant tells you 'don't forget what brought us to existance in the first'

Applicant tells you 'it was not sitting in a tower reading'

You tell Applicant 'Are you truly so dense? No, of course there are those who are precisely as you describe. But there are also those who are not.'

You tell Applicant 'I am not saying that all magi are kind paupers. That would be ridiculous.'

You tell Applicant 'But you say you hate mages for one reason, and yet there are many mages who are nothing like what you describe.'

You tell Applicant 'Which leads me to believe that you either lack an understanding of mages, or do not really hate them, but rather feel something else entirely.'

Applicant tells you 'I've not met mages that study peacefully

You tell Applicant 'I have. If you have not, imagine one who does.'

You tell Applicant 'Is there any wrong in his action?'

Applicant tells you 'his desire to improve his mind, to study his skills'

Applicant tells you 'would drive him out into the world to practice his arts'

Applicant tells you 'no mage could sit alone and learn anything. Do you know what an axe does without a target?'

Applicant tells you 'would children sit and study these magical arts if the only reward were balls of floating light?'

You tell Applicant 'It sits, or hangs upon a wall or in a rack.'

Applicant tells you 'they all seek to shape the world around them with the force of themselves'

You tell Applicant 'You are, well... wrong.'

You tell Applicant 'Listen.'

You tell Applicant 'As you describe it, magic is merely a tool'

You tell Applicant 'It is not the magic that is harmful or wrong, but the manner in which it is used.'

You tell Applicant 'Similarly, let us consider that axe you described'

You tell Applicant 'An axe can be used to slay a mage. It can be used to slay a tyrant. It can be used to sever the head of a sleeping infant'

You tell Applicant 'These acts all have a different moral compass, and they are all committed with the same tool, and yet the axe is neutral.'

You tell Applicant 'Magic is *not* an axe.'

Applicant tells you 'are you and I not appaled by a warrior that would kill an infant?'

Applicant tells you 'do we not war with the imperials for this very reason?'

You tell Applicant 'I have slain sleeping children in their beds.'

You tell Applicant 'At the time, it amused me.'

*** Come on, what evil hasn’t ranked on Balator orphans? :P ***

Applicant tells you 'a child fighting a child is not the same'

You tell Applicant 'Why do you think we war with the Imperials?'

Applicant tells you 'as a child, my mind did not know why I crawled about the underdark'

Applicant tells you 'I did as I was told'

You tell Applicant 'So you hate the bonds of servitude.'

You tell Applicant 'Those come in many forms, not all magical.'

Applicant tells you 'Imperials can reduce combat to as sad a display as those of magics'

Applicant tells you 'would you be proud if it too you and all your veterans to kill a single mage?'

You tell Applicant 'Certainly not. Why do you think we are with the Empire?'

Applicant tells you 'would you boast to young children of your conquest, thinking they would lay aside a book of spells to wield an axe instead if this is what it took to be victorious?'

Applicant tells you 'we war with the empire because they do see a beauty in such an act'

Applicant tells you 'they revel in the breaking of a spirit'

You tell Applicant 'We war with them because they war with us.'

You tell Applicant 'If they ceased attacking us, we would cease taking their Codex.'

You tell Applicant 'We have one true enemy. Can you imagine who that may be?'

Applicant tells you 'if they ceased attacking us and cast out all mages'

Applicant tells you 'perhaps we would stop attacking'

Applicant tells you 'if they instructed their centurions to let us pass, and stop any mage that walked'

Applicant tells you 'perhaps we would stop attacking'

Applicant tells you 'do you not agree? I see no men who respect city laws in that village'

Applicant tells you 'becasue it would only distract them from their true goal'

You tell Applicant 'Would we stop killing their magi and magic-lovers? No. Would we stop taking the Codex? Yes.'

You tell Applicant 'And what is that goal?'

Applicant tells you 'the destruction of magic of course'

You tell Applicant 'You've presented a fine case as to why imperial domination and greed and wealth are evil and to be avoided and resisted.'

You tell Applicant 'You speak as if that goal were a given, and yet your other words lack that conviction.'

Applicant tells you 'you said yourself no warrior would face you without it'

Applicant tells you 'I believe you are correct'

You tell Applicant 'I didn't say none would face me.'

You tell Applicant 'Gharik has duelled me more than once, actually.'

You tell Applicant 'Without magical aid.'

Applicant tells you 'I believe none would surive it'

You tell Applicant 'I merely said none could withstand me.'

Applicant tells you 'this war is huge and unending. We need something momentus to bring about it's end'

You tell Applicant 'Which War?'

Applicant tells you 'killing a man who carries a potion does not stop the next in line from doing the same'

Applicant tells you 'the quest to remove magic from this land. One I fight so that no King lets children of the poor and unfortunate be torn apart for no other reason than a soft place to sleep'

You tell Applicant 'So what do you propose?'

Applicant tells you 'the power of the village is impossible to overlook. To be succesful in our fight'

You tell Applicant 'We can set an example for others, yes. Show them by our deed that it is possible to live without magic.'

Applicant tells you 'and to be succesful with honor, calls to the young to follow our path'

You tell Applicant 'And we all strive to do this.'

Applicant tells you 'to take in a young warrior, and show him power and control as he's never seen before, he will not be tempted by magic'

Applicant tells you 'if there is no market for the powers of mages, the gold will no longer be in such demand'

You tell Applicant 'Do you know where the power that is magic comes from?'

Applicant tells you 'I do not fully understand how it has come to those of flesh and blood, no'

Applicant tells you 'at least not how it remains in their hands'

Applicant tells you 'there was a time it belonged only to the immortals. but as we speak there are Gods that favor and protect those than wield it now'

You tell Applicant 'Aye. I see much of worth within you, but it must be honed and that spark must ignite. I ask this of you'

You tell Applicant 'Seek out Kacic, Kastellyn, or Thror'

You tell Applicant 'Any of the three will do.'

You tell Applicant 'Speak with them of your desire to join the village and your outlook on things, and when you have satisfied one of them, return to me.'

You tell Applicant 'I will inform all three to watch for you.'

You tell Applicant 'Until then, be well, and may the blood of your foes stain the earth.'

You tell Applicant 'And good luck escaping from that limbo.'

***He got inducted after a short chat on a future date, after getting a rec and explaining why magic is more sinister than a mere tool, but I don't have that logged, or if I do, it's well buried. :P***

Follow Ups:

• You tell Applicant 'We can set an example for others, yes. Show them by our deed that it is possible to live without magic.' Now that's not really true, is it. *cough* resist/bloodthirst/trusight/etc. n/t Graatch 11:31:05 12/28/2000 (4)
  • Actually AnswerMan 17:10:13 12/28/2000 (3)
    • Uh, totally irrelevant. Dhaevor said they show by their deeds they live without magic - and therefore as a straight no addition warrior. But of course they *aren't*, they get special benefits that do what magic would do for them. It makes no difference how ragers were started/created. n/t Graatch 20:02:18 12/28/2000 (2)
      • Subject box small, comment box big (j/k, text) The Arcane(VIP) 20:39:35 12/28/2000 (1)
        • Subject box? Comments box? Huh? :P (text) Graatch 07:53:38 12/29/2000 (0)

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