Santharian Development

                                Tree Possessing, Level VII


Overview: Tree Possessing is a difficult task indeed, for one they are big, living creatures, and for two they fight back ( who would want to be possessed?). This spell is useful because if the caster doesn't want to fight he can possess the tress around him to form an army or just one tree to help him/her.

Reagents: There are no real reagents for this spell but the tree.

Magical school: Earth,magical school

Spell effect: Tree Possessing affects the roots of a tree by munipulating it's behavour giving it a mind of the casters choosing. Whatever the caster wishes the trees to do the trees would dig themeselves out of the ground and do the casters wishes if the caster is successful in possessing the tree.

Casting procedure: The caster must approach a tree of any kind. The caster then puts both hands on the tree, focuses really hard, then muttures the magical formula. The tree will give a loud grunt as if being insulted, then the caster will give the tree his/her demands if the tree does not respond or move then two things could have happened. One, the caster made a common mistake or two, the tree is refusing to co-operate. When a tree refuses to co-operate, then the caster must repeat  the spell several times because it means the tree has the will to stand up for itself.

Target: The target for this spell is the tree or trees.

Range: The range for this spell is not limited if there are lots of trees like a forest, The caster will just have a harder and longer time possessing the trees.

Duration: The spell will wear off when the task has been completed or if the tree has been destroyed or if the caster has died.

Casting time: The casting time differs between the magi's ability to convince the tree it's doing good and his/her ability to produce and control the spell.

Counter: The only counter is if the trees are destroyed or if the caster has died.

Sorry, but magic doesn't work like that. I suggest you to look for Silfer's 101, and te Corenized version that may be floating arround this forum. Now, the thigs you descrive my be posible if you use fire to animate the tree, or wind to make it move, either way is a high level spell, I think arround VIII or XI.

I suggest to drop this spell. If possible at all, then I doubt it could be done with Earth magic (the current necromantic spells under Earth don't belong there btw).

man i thought this site was cool but now i think it sucks cuz "magic doesn't work like that". it's magic thats the way it works, have you read like harry potter, or lord of the rings.magic is done by the flick of the wand. what this is is just silly.

*waves a wand arond randomly and turns the newbie into a bunny*
Now tell me that isn't silly. 

Magic, or at least the magic of wizards (which is what we are describing here), is usually portrayed as something almost scientific.  The wizard has to know how things work, in order to create the effects he does.  Merely imitating a wizard's gestures and saying the same words won't be enough.  It's the same here, except that we actually describe the things the wizards know, instead of merely the gestures and incantations like most fantasy worlds do. 

Lord of the Rings, by the way, does not have magic in the usual sense.  The seemingly magical abilities of the Wizards like Gandalf are actually part of their divine nature, not something they learnt. 

Well King of Santharia, most people that would appreciate the profound ideas that these brilliant developers come up normally know how to use grammar. Shall I translate for you:

W3ll King of Sanfaria most peeps dat wud apprichi8 da profound ideers dat dese brill developers cum up normalle no how 2 use gramr


Now please, don't insult the system that has taken alot of people eight years to create and troubleshoot.

Decipher

Hmmm, Decipher, sorry to interrupt you making fun of someone else's language skills, but you missed an entire word in your post.  Ouch.

Hint:  With....

Exalt thyself and thou shalt be humbled.

The Good Book


Ralhag

*Cought Strangling Vine Jar please cought cought* Well... seems that I'm not the best to say that Magic here (and in RL) doesn't works only like invocations, there's a complex metaphysical explanation behind those words and gestures, if you take a look over Wiccan religion you MAY (it means isn't for sure, not me yelling at you) understand what I mean.

Now, what you describe isn't imposible, just misplaced, try with fire, read other spells and you'll understand and get an idea, to be honest I think this is a cool idea, yet has to be developed properly.

Now Mina... Can you return him to human, he serves more in that way...

thank you Soorrilmiesefer you actually encouraged me, unlike most.(points to Decipher Ziron). Now why can't this spell work? if someone would like to take over the development of this spell just say I and it's yours.Cuz i dun wan ta do it nomore home slice's. Honestly you thinki talk like that, well some words i do.

I posted an spell, I think it can serve as example, please take a look on it and give me your opinion.

I didn't say there was no way it could work, I said I don't see how it could be done with Earth and I suggested to drop it. Fire would probably be too complicated as well. The thing is, trees can't move on their own, they just stand still. That means you'd have to do some complicated stuff not just to controll them, but also to alter them that they can move in some way, which is why I would say that if it's possible it would be Xeuá. To compare, I believe (not 100% sure) Druids have to merge themselves with a tree (and thus sacrifice themselves) to create a dryad (sp?), which is a sentient, walking tree.

So can you make it a Xeuá spell? No sorry, Xeuá is currently off limits.

Aside from that, you would have to spend a lot of energy that could most likely be better used otherwise.

Sorry,I had no right to make fun of you like that, It's just sometimes I get irritated by people who just turn up and except everything to revolve around them. I don't mean any disrespect, it's just your tone sounded incredibly ungrateful and I think thats unfair on all the people who have been trying to tell how magic works here. Once again I'm sorry.

Decipher

Err... Not sure Marv, theres some trees that move, who knows, maybe Santharia have some of them...

Although, giving a mind would certainly rewuire four mages, one of each element, or a Xeua, but still is posible, just not the correct time.

if you ask me, this new spell of possesing trees could be done another way. like a summoning spell, in this case summoning ents or the santharian equivilant.

but possessing a tree won't be much of use. you could perhaps gain the perception of a tree by possessing it, but making it dig itself out of the ground is another story.

another way to go is to enchant the tree to have a certain property, in this case animation. there must be millions of ways to get the effect you want, but it might be best to go around possessing if possible. just doesn't seem... practical.

We don't have an equivalent of summoning. Well, maybe we have, but regardless all summoning/teleporting spells are currently put on hold.

thats what makes magic so cool. though there are solid limitations there are also infinite possibilities and mysteries within it. i'm certain there is away for this spell to work, just needs some tweaking is all.

Sure there's a way. The problem is that it will take far more effort then it's worth, so none would actually use it.

I don't know anything about magic.  I just wanted to put that out there right off the bat.

However, I always thought that magic did the almost impossible, i.e. make trees move.  One cannot argue against a certain spell because it is not likely to work, or impossible.  It's magic, of course its impossible!

Almost every single spell I read about is completely impossible.



That's where the magic part comes in to play.


Don't you think that the wizard, or whatever they're called, should decide for him/herself whether the act is worth the effort?

I don't know magic, at all.  My two sans worth, which I am so liberal with.

Ralhag

maybe you could switch it around so that the mage summons "tree" golems?

Same with Xeuá and Ecuá. And as said before, I doubt this could fall under the elemental schools.


Yes, but making trees move is not the same as giving them commands and expecting them to execute them. You can make a puppet move by using your hands, but shouting at it won't do much.

Now making a tree move (like one would play with the strings of a marionet) is possible with Earth (affecting form). You'd have to actively steer every move though (so it would be a contineous spell that asks a lot from the mage) and casting it on the soil would probably be more effective as it has more Earth in it. Maybe Water could work too (I have no idea how much water there's in a tree).

Turning a tree into a sentient being (that can follow commands) and giving it the ability to move is advanced Xeuá at best IMHO.

I don't know if we have trees that move, but given you have some of those around then I guess you could make a 'possess tree spell' (which would only work at those specific trees). Water would probably be most suited for that.

Oh, and there's RL impossible and Santharia impossible. There are still limits.

i've been thinking of this spell alot and the more i think, I know that we should probably dump it. the closest we could get to it would be to possess a 'swamp stalker' (look under Land Monsters in the bestiary) which is already alive and walking. It isn't quite a tree but often mistaken for one so it fits the bill if you ask me. well, just another way to go. keep at it.

so maybe i can tweak this spell to be an possessing swamp stalker spell? then that would make it work right? i could make the swamp stalker under the mages control to, i dunno, defend the mage or fight for the mage?

Well, the Swamp Stalker isn't a tree but an animal so that would make it a different spell.

well that's what im saying.I'll change it to possess swamp stalkers.

exactly. that would be exceptable from what i hear. ofcourse i'd talk to some of the bigger experts first, but it would be more reasonable as far as possessing goes.

does anyone know the "big" experts? and when i start making this spell which would be immiediate would people like to help me develop it?

Hmm, first things first, I think you should change your name.  king of santharia is not really appropriate.  Try to come up with something that will allow us to take you seriosuly, king of santharia does not allow this.

Remember capital letters, please, also.

Ralhag

Well, it seems that I'm the only 'expert' left at the moment (not counting Arti).

But on swamp stalkers: since they can only be found in marshes I doubt a mage would ever even meet one of them. But as they are animals the spell would probably work on every other animal as well. The problem again is that there's no real way to command an animal (unless you train them you can make them do stuff by shouting commands) without starting to use complicated magic.

However, since your aim is to let something fight for you you could make the spell much simpler. With Fire you could make an animal aggressive towards an opponent or defensive towards yourself by working on the parental instincts for example (probably Earth would be most fitting for that).

And yes, a new name would be a good idea.

well, that kills the idea of animating trees like they are alive. stick with effecting animals through emotion, that sounds pretty good.

*pokes Marvin*
Forgot about me, have you?  Sheesh, go away for a couple of days and no one remembers you anymore...

Controlling an animal, or humans or monsters or just about any creature, will most likely be xeua.  As for summoning, the method I proposed involved at least 1 xeua mage and 1 ecua mage, so, better avoid anything related to that for now.  I don't see Ximax using summoning much, except when it is really necessary, such as perhaps defending the city, and even then, I'm not sure it's reliable enough. 

No, I actually doubted if I would mention you or not, but I kinda thought you were gone as well. *points to shoutbox where you are mentioned*

Yay, I wasn't forgotten!  Um, well, my schedule has been pretty tight for some time; I thought everyone was at least somewhat aware of it.  And I tend to get most of my ideas when I have no access to my computer too.  :(  Well, anyway, it's not very likely that I'll ever disappear for too long--I'm too addicted to Santharia. :grin:

so your saying.... summoning does exsist? thats good to here, its a very important part of magic though i'm starting to think magic more restricted here then in other places. you also said earlier that teleporting spells are on hold as well. any particular reason?

Well, if you think about it, teleportation is pretty much the same thing as summoning, isn't it?  Both involve the instant displacement of something from one location to another.  In other words, they are done in almost the same way, and are hence as difficult to achieve. 

ok,so what about my spell

As it is now it won't work. Simple as that. As for changing it to swamp stalkers:


And don't forget to look into getting a new account name

First of all, Colo, who are you talking to when you say that?

Secondly, how dare you tell anyone that Magic on this site is more complicated than they have figured it to be?

As such a new member, you should pend more time reading the compendium and trying to get a good feel for the website, and way less time telling veteran members how this site, their site, works.

I, along with everyone else, am trying to be patient with you, but you are making it very hard to do that.

My two sans, which could wait no longer.

Ralhag

@Baromosa: We're trying to make a fantasy world that makes sense in itself, thus magic has a realistic touch in it. You can't make something appear or disappear or teleport with snipping your fingers. Advanced stuff isn't impossible for Santharian mages, but we're not making things purely fantastic, just for the sake of it.

I know think i understnad that, but I just thought it was a point of magic that should be developed, even if it is for only extremely powerful mages that members cannot become. Could be useful for story lines and such.

you know, things like summoning local animals into the area, teleporting small objects, stuff like that.

Development isn't done for the game, but just to create a 'realistic fantasy world'. The game just goes by what is done here, but rarely influences the boards. And summoning/teleporting has yet to be decently explained and might not come in spell form at all. If we go with Mina's method it would be xeua and ecua combined, and for both it's not yet decided whether they use spells like the elemental schools.

So at the moment such things are off limits.

true enough, it couldn't be done by the elemental schools and would take too much power.

anyways, whats the word. are we ditching the spell yet? not to be insensitive but it looks dead in the water.

oh and please, look into a name change. the king of santharia is hardly appropriate.

king of santharia is my name get use to it.im not changing it.

So much for cooperation and understanding of a team project...  :huh:

LOL....

Nice attitude.

:)

Ummm, Art, maybe give our beloved "king of santharia" the boot.  Just erase him or ban him or something to show people that this sort of behaviour is unacceptable and will not be ignored/tolerated.

Ralhag

Though i'd hate to erase anyone... I support Ralhags suggestion. Atleast 4 members tried to persuade him for a name change, and he not exactly an active part of the team. (8 posts in 2 months...)

and then delete this thread.

How could I remove a king?  :shocked:

On the other hand our dear current king Tiandor - may the Twelve bless his reign! -  wouldn't like to see his name on an entry on the site somewhere, I'm sure. If he'd like to get something up he'd need to write incognito so to speak - just imagine all that ballyhoo around such a celebrity writing stuff for the Compendium! Just think about the worst case scenario: that our majesty would make mistakes and such, thus demonstrating his imperfectness in all things magical... So I wouldn't dare to put it up except under a pseudnym, it's only for the King's own protection!  :grin:

Hehe. Good one Arti :cool:

Drasil, if you erase this thread, then there will no message to the next grumpy bum who acts rude to everyone.

There is a political reason medieval kings put heads on stakes.  ;) ;)

Ralhag

I personally prefer burned at the stake rather then a head put on it. I forget exactly who it was, but the end of the story goes after the Romans had enough of him they tied him to a grate and burned him. Being the smart guy he was, during all of this he yelled to one of the guards watching 'Turn me over! I think i'm done on this side!'

I need to look him up. If i'm not mistaken he was a christain, maybe a Saint. not too sure anymore.

anyway, back on topic. I can now see why exsisting members sometimes get annoyed with newbies. Anyone at all can create an account and start posting, which is both a great thing but you have to expect a few people who don't understand what this is about to start posting things. Some will learn and be part of the dream, and other.... might not. Anyway, good luck to the 'King' and ofcourse to who ever decides his fate. I sure don't want the job.

Yes, you have your facts right.  He was burned by Crazy King Nero who played the violin while Rome burned, appointed his "ass" to his highest council position ect.

he he he. he also annoyed them when the Romans asked for the treasure of the city. He said 'ok, I can get it but it will take a day.'

they gave him the day and he went around town, gathering all the sick, the poor, anyone at all to come with him. When he brought all of these people before them, he annoucned them as 'the treasure of the city'.

Apparently they had spent all of the treasury on public works and had nothing to give to the Romans. wasn't long after this they burned him.

now continuing with the actual topic, this entry is dead. no ones actually seriously discussed the spell in a week. Its become a general chat if you ask me.

Exectly what I was thinking, so stop the chatter or I'll lock it.

Edit: On second thought I'm going to lock it anyway. If our king want to change his name and make a decent spell out of this it would be better to start another thread anyway.