>When you use magic to help convince someone, I think the glow has
>sort of a "cosmetics" effect. Which is to say, if you see a gal who
>is heavily but very well made up, you may be aware that she is using
>cosmetics, but can be captivated by her looks all the same. In fact,
>you expect that if she is trying to impress people wiht her looks
>that she'll be using cosmetics. So I think it is with social magic.
>You might feel some admiration for the person who doesn't use it, but
>you may not be able to help feeling a preference for those who do.
There's an old adage on the difference between British and American attitudes to success: if a salesman pulls up outside your office in a really expensive car, the American thinks, "He's obviously successful, his products must be worth buying" while the Briton thinks "He must overcharge to be able to afford that, I'm not going to buy from him."
I suggest the use of really flashy, obvious Issaries trading magic works the same way - while some people may be scared off by it, others will think "She's going to drive a hard bargain, but you can't get so close to Issaries, God of Fair Trade, by cheating your customers or offering substandard merchandise. I'd better hope that my own charms and augments are good enough to counter the worst of her magic."
Stephen
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