blinding/darkness/fear/trolls

From: ian (i.) gorlick <"ian>
Date: Fri, 28 Jun 1996 11:24:00 -0400


David Cake:
(Please excuse the long quote)
> Think of it like shades - I think Blinding blocks more sense than
>just sight. Primal Darkness, like Subere, blocks all senses - its an aspect
>of primal darkness (remember, there is freezing cold numbing touch and
>smell, etc.).
> Trolls regard it as a gift from darkness that they have senses that
>continue to work in places were Darkness is strong (such as dark places and
>cold places), but they know that real darkness removes them as well.

I think, David, that you may be on the right track here. If EXTREME Darkness blocks all senses, not just sight, then the Blinding spell becomes reasonable. Perhaps it should be a stackable spell, with each application numbing another sense until the victim is locked in total Darkness and experiences the fear and wonder of Primal Dark. Perhaps, instead of being specifically targeted against sight, Blinding knocks out sight first (being a light based sense) or it knocks out whichever is the primary sense of the victim first (i.e. if cast on a troll, it might knock out Darksense/hearing first).

This also would fit into my questions about trolls fearing darkness. Fear of the dark is mostly fear of the unknown, when it is dark you can't tell what is out there and it becomes full of your own worst fears. If there are darknesses so deep that even Darksense doesn't work in them, then it becomes reasonable that trolls could also fear the dark. They aren't afraid of normal nighttime darkness, or the darkness of caves, but there are special places where even they can't see and are afraid. 

- --------------------

Simon Phipp

Darkness has both a gentle and a terrifying side. The individual gods may emphasize one side or the other, they don't have to be dualistic, but Darkness has to be. You yourself mention both sides of darkness, the comforting womb and the terror of the grave.

But the power of fear has to be inherent in darkness, otherwise the Shade's Fearshock attack makes no sense. I just want to expand Darkness a bit and explicitly include in its powers the idea of comfort and peace.

There are gentle darkness gods and terrifying darkness gods (some combine both), the gentleness and the terror both derive from their roots in Darkness.

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