> In message <fo1iko+ictm_at_...> "Stuart Cogger"
> writes:
>
> >So no real support magic, then, beyond the
> incidental? That certainly
> >makes things easier to describe and imagine. It
> also stops me having
> >to wonder about the use of military illusions which
> Greg kind of dismissed on the WOG forum...
Skimming...
Rory's comments are more likely to be useful: well, usuallly. But this time, he starts by saying illusions have "always" been temporary reality, and then reminds us of the only way we've ever had Illusion magic, where they're not. For "always" read "never", it would seem.
Then we have a statement that "*No-one* uses Trickster (any form or name) in battle or war..." when we know perfectly well that they do. The Sky Ship, Kallyr does just that, adding a rather unexpected Wooly Mammoth to her attack force.
Oh, dear. He's slipping.
For illusion magic, we've got two sorts we know about.
Sorcery, where you pick which senses you can affect,
and probably don't do all five.
Trickster magic - which by definition does not obey
any rules. It's unpredictable, uncontrollable, and not
repeatable.
Still, if what you want is a bridge capable of supporting people, or an attack capable of doing actual damage, what we're discussing isn't an illusion in any normal English sense of the word. Whether the Lunars could do it is another matter. On a small scale, they probably could. On a large scale - take a look at the final assault on WW, where they seem to do exactly that. Magical ramps, supported purely by magic.
> I'd say there is lots of tactical support magic,
> that's what regimental priests do.
Yes, each unit has their own Cool SFX. Just having a full regiment all have their swords burst into flame at once will be pretty impressive: the Orlanthi tend much more towards individual magic.
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