(no subject)

[tinyfood]

Name: Entrapta
Date: oct 16th
Format: text

HELLO! I WANT TO COLLECT SOME DATA.

IF YOU HAVE OPINIONS ABOUT ETHICS, PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

1] ARE THERE ACTIONS YOU CONSIDER UNACCEPTABLE REGARDLESS OF CONTEXT? IF SO, PLEASE PROVIDE EXAMPLES

2] ARE THERE SOME MITIGATING CONTEXTS THAT RENDER OTHERWISE UNACCEPTABLE ACTIONS ACCEPTABLE TO YOU? IF SO, PLEASE PROVIDE EXAMPLES

3] IF A PERSON HAS PERFORMED AN UNACCEPTABLE ACTION, WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER AN APPROPRIATE PUNISHMENT?

THANKS! 8)

Comments

audio

[tinyfood]

Huh, that sounds like a pretty logical approach to punishment...

[ A brief pause as she rewinds his message to go over some of the other things he said... ]

So, I have a couple of questions! What do you mean exactly by degrading another's innocence, and, ah... well, I listened to your conversation with Viren but I'd really like to hear more about blood magic! I'm pretty sure I've heard about your world's magic before but it'd be really neat to talk about another world's magic with more than one person who comes from there!

[faithlikeaseed]

Justice is hollow if it's simply about retribution; except in the most dire cases, a punishment isn't just to get back at the offender--it's got to give her a way to repair things with her whole community, if she'd repent of what she's done.

[Oh boy more talking about Myr's favorite type of magic in the entire world.

As long as it's academic...]

Ah--to that first, I'd in mind sexual offenses. [Which were mercifully never a part of life in Hasmal's Circle, but elsewhere...they'd heard too much about it.]

I'm not sure how much more I can say on blood magic--but I'm glad to answer anything else you might want to know on Thedas' magic generally. [A brief pause.] Was this you heard--from this Solas fellow people have mentioned?

[There's the smallest melancholy note in his voice.]

[tinyfood]

Oh! Yeah, we were friends, he was really great! We talked a lot about this kind of stuff, it was really neat getting to learn about magic in another world from someone who really knew what he was talking about! But it would be even better to be able to hear about it from another perspective too. Do you have any, ah, particular areas of expertise?

[faithlikeaseed]

[Damn. If only he'd been able to talk to the other mage...]

Creation magic was--is--my focus. Barriers, glyphs, speeding the growth of plants or strengthening my allies. Summoning bees, [with a tinge of amusement,] or other swarming, stinging creatures. Even pulling tangible things like grease from the Fade.

It's also the school of healing but I was never much good at that.

[tinyfood]

Whoah, wait, so if it's creation magic – when you say you summoned them do you mean you brought the, bees, to your location from someplace else? Or you made them??

[faithlikeaseed]

[There's a grin in his voice.] We-ell, the easiest way to do it is just call whatever happens to be in the area, whether it's bees or wasps or ants or termites. If there's really nothing around that you can recruit, you can make something like bees out of the Fade, but they don't stick around long.

It's damned hard to create permanent new life, though; supposed to be impossible, but there's always stories about mages who've managed it, so...

[tinyfood]

Something like bees? [ She sounds VERY excited. ] What does that mean??

[faithlikeaseed]

[+10 approval from Myrobalan.]

They're little bits of magic that could be bees if you didn't look at them too closely, and they certainly sting like 'em. The nastier versions will even move on to a new target if the one you sent 'em after stops moving.

[He's alarmingly enthusiastic about that.]

[tinyfood]

Fascinating!! What do they look like if you do look at them too closely? What exactly is a 'bit of magic'--? Wow, I'd love to be able to see something like that in person... It's so incredible being able to hear about so many different worlds but so frustrating not being able to do any hands on research, you know??

[faithlikeaseed]

Like someone made only the bits of a bee good for flying and stinging and joined them together--a little needle with wings. You could go more elaborate, if you like, but that's a waste of mana for something that'll hardly last a minute.

And, oh--a little piece of the Fade, broken off in its own shape for a time. Doomed to dissolve back into it soon enough, but tangible to anyone while it's around.

[Then a longing sigh.] Don't I know it. I'd give a lot to be a Witch for a day--maybe I've just got to Bond one that wouldn't mind taking direction on research.

[tinyfood]

Oh! Yes! I definitely recommend that. I have a Bond with a Witch who has agreed to help me with some of my research, and I've been using the Bond to gather data on the process of Bonding itself! It would be incredible to be able to just use magic, though, I think sometimes when you ask people too many questions about their, powers or abilities, they get annoyed?

[faithlikeaseed]

[Oh, Maker. Myr's smile softens unconsciously at that last; he'd picked up from her first request over the watches she was coming at the rest of the world a little crossways, but hearing it restated that way is...kind of endearing, honestly.]

S'pose it's because not everyone's quite so fascinated by the hows and whys of the world as we are, you know? Or they consider the gifts they've got about as intuitive as breathing, so what's the point in talking about them? Or--well, [with a laugh that's a hint self-deprecating; he knows himself well and exactly why he's having this much fun talking to her,] d'you want me to list all the reasons I can think of, or go back to talking about magic?

[tinyfood]

Oh, I also enjoy speculating about social behaviours! If you have any insights I would love to hear them... I think you're right, for some people if they already know about a thing they don't want to spend more time talking about it, which I don't really get because going over subjects I've already studied extensively can be both fun and rewarding, sometimes I'll figure out whole new things I hadn't thought of before!

[faithlikeaseed]

Right? Revisiting it's a chance for new insight--but some folk are quicker to find a topic done to death.

There's also how folk regard their gifts, or how those around 'em do. The other mage from Thedas you spoke to--I take it he didn't tell you much of how the South thinks of mages? They're--most of them--afraid of us, and think magic an awful curse to be borne, and that seeps into how we think of ourselves. So talking about our Maker-given gifts can be hard, whether it's for thinking of them as a shameful burden, or because we expect others to greet that talk with fear.

[tinyfood]

Hmmm, I think we did talk a bit about how people over there are afraid of it... [ There's some rummaging, some leafing of pages. ] ...Right! Magic where you come from can be pretty dangerous, right? From what Solas said, you really need to know what you're doing...