The Pub Discussion Board

fathertyme:

Some useful stuff which I will have to find a way to throw in, but not actually what I asked for... or I wasn't clear in my asking, I guess.

I'm seeking specific scenarios for an entire battle.  In other words, a way that the Vrudenans tricked the humans into losing the battle, be it some kind of large trap, or some weird tactic, or something like that.  You did touch on this with the one about bara and the pits....

I do kind of like the idea of the weres being "bullies" about their behavior (doing stupid shit that harasses as well as harms).  I'm not sure exactly how I'll get that in there, but I'll try.

Eric Storm

Fenixreign wrote:

Eric,

Before I respond, I have a few questions:

1) What exactly does metamorphosis change?  For instance, does the magic alter the subatomic structure of the matter, hence literally changing the matter itself or is it some other effect?

Metamorphosis changes one thing into another.  Therefore, if you've changed water into wine, you've converted H2O into [insert insanely complicated chemical formula here...].  Since mass can be gained or lost in the object being morphed, and since this would violate the laws of physics if it actually happened, one can assume that the there is some fairly funky shit going on involving converting one element into another, and possibly even some sort of dimensional thing happening to deal with the gains and losses in mass.  A man, converted to a dog, does not still weigh what the man did.

This is as clearly as I can answer this question, especially on only 4 hours of sleep.

2) Can metamorphosis be used to alter individual physical or chemical properties of matter/energy, e.g. altering SiO2 sand to instead be hydrophobic instead of hydrophilic?

No.  A material's properties are its properties.  To change those properties, you would have to create a new material.

3) Is mass or volume more important in regards to ease of successfully morphing a collection of matter/energy?

Yes.

4) Does the Higgs-Bosun particle (a.k.a. the "God"  particle) exist as it is theorized IRL?

How the fuck would I know?  I don't even know what the hell it's supposed to be for.

5) Does energy (especially emf) exist as both a particle and a wave in Dugerra?

That's how physics works, as far as I'm aware...

6) Do I understand correctly that Enchantments can be used to approximate any spell-effect, but effectively extend the normal duration?

No.  For instance, there would be no such thing as an "energy ball enchantment" that could be aimed at a specific person.  Enchantments either affect one individual all the time, or they affect anyone who comes near them, all the time.  Charms/hexes affect the specific person or group that the wizard chooses, at a time of their choosing, but only for a little while.  The critical difference is that an enchantment cannot be consciously controlled once cast, so there can never be exceptions to its action.

7) Are weres particularly adept at any specific discipline of elemandy or metamorphosis or is the distribution within the "school of magic"  of talent in regards to those disciplines similar to the humans’ distribution, a.k.a. Patterns exist, but not outside of standard deviation?

One can assume a wide range of both affinity for a specific topic, and also strength within any portion.  Not all weres are good at metamorphosis.  Not all weres are expert at elemandy.  These are just the things they do better than they do other things, in general.

8) Are there any former, drafted, or active Vrudenean Rimhors?  Same question regarding Vrudeneans that started as chemists.

The adjective is "Vrudenan".  Yes, there are almost certainly Rimohrs from Vrudena.  There would be no such thing as Vrudenan chemists, since Vrudenans do not go to Earth.

I have a couple of ideas, but I would prefer not to make myself look any dumber than absolutely necessary.  I know that magic can probably do everything I looking at, but these questions will assist
me in "the sneaky."

Eric Storm

PS:  Try not to paste things with "smart quotes" in them into these forums.  Browsers do not always like such things.

You'll have to be more specific in your WW2 reference.  I'm not a huge history buff, and haven't studied WW2 in any depth.  I know the basics, but not the details.

Eric Storm

Everything you've just said is exactly why your assumption - that the gate is unprotected - is absurd.

Though the Callamandian Army cannot afford to station 1000 troops at every Callamandian gate, it's safe to assume they've erected SOME kind of protection for their gates.  The fact that they sent David and Vivian to look at the Vrudenan gates means that THEY have considered it as an attack option.  If you can think of it, you have to assume your enemy can, too, and you prepare for it.  Not doing so is foolish.

Just because I haven't mentioned it... well... when was the last time David used a travel gate?  It was in March, before the war really started.

Eric Storm

Did nobody check pass phrases back then???  sheesh. 



It's certainly an idea.  And yes, it wouldn't require any were-specific skills, just a little bit of trickery.... and a bit of stupidity on the part of the humans (not unheard of...), to not check for werewolves at security checkpoints.

Eric Storm

I'd'a been dead for sure.  I neither know nor care who the Yankee third baseman is!


Guard: "Who played short stop for the Dodgers last year?"
Me: "Who gives a fuck?"
Guard: BLAM BLAM BLAM!
Me:  Ouch...

Eric Storm

Most of your questions aren't even important to the ideas I need.  I just need the battle to use "unique" tactics.  In any other respects, it could be just any other battle.  I'm not looking for something pivotal to the story - those points have already been plotted out.  This is, for lack of a better word, filler.

Vrudenans will not enter Earth first off because they are unfamiliar with it, and would not know how to safely navigate things as simple as a public bus.  They could not seriously travel through Earth, because what Earth nation is going to allow a large group of armed soldiers to travel through their nation unaccosted?  And while you might say, "The weres would wipe them out with magic," their cover would be blown, and any operation they were attempting would be an automatic failure.  Then again, you can also assume that all four Vrudenan travel gates are being watched by Callamandia.

Callamandia and Mirelia are Vrudena's only neighbors.  There would be no one else for them to reasonably go to war with, either offensively or defensively.

I have already stated that the numbers in the armies are about 60,000 Vrudenans, and about 20,000 Callamandians.

Yes, it is possible to detect a "non-human" magically.  (And non-human would be good enough for security purposes.)  Border security is likely to have been tightened, but it's not going to be Soviet-Russia level, obviously.  No one can secure 100% of their border, so there is always room for infiltration, if you can get there.

Other than these things, the only stipulations are that it not try to turn wizards into gods, and it be both logical and interesting.

Eric Storm

I got a technical question, the "Send Me Update Mails" function does not work for me, it simply fails to do anything when I click on it. Can anybody help me with this issue? It would be great to be notified immediately when there is a new chapter.

bigfoot wrote:

In response to your request for unorthodox or unusual tactics for the Vrudenans to use against the humans:

Cambyses II of Persia was fighting the Egyptians in the battle of Pelusium in 525 B.C. As you know, Egyptians revered cats so Cambyses brought hundreds of actual cats into his front lines. The Egyptian archers refused to fire, fearing that they would injure the animals—a crime punishable by death. Instead they retreated, and most were massacred by the pursuing Persians. This ultimately led to the capture of the pharaoh.  With their ability to morph, perhaps the Weres could use deception by morphing every 3rd solider into what appears to be human slave children being used as literal shields. The Callamandian army would hesitate, concerned about injuring the human children. The Weres take advantage.

Amazing what history holds for us. I'd like to read that history of the time of the Pharaohs.

bigfoot: Your idea is the best one yet. It would only work once, It would really piss the army off. Imagine if every 8th Were turned into a Centaur foal. The best archers in the world would be unable to draw a bow, then someone would shoot a foal in the hindquarter and the Were would turn, pretty sure they would revert back to Were's when injured,  and then they would become pincushions with so much anger released towards them.

In further response to your request for unorthodox or unusual tactics for the Vrudenans to use against the humans:

Have Vrudenan soldiers appear to be dead, by potion or morphing, and place themselves in the path of humans. Make it appear as it they were hacked apart or slashed, complete with pools of blood and blood trails that show what direction their attackers went. Leave them with things humans might value, money, jewelry, weapons, amulets, etc., and attack once the humans reach for them. Another option is to do the same thing except use fallen Vrudenans instead of live Vrudenans and booby trap the items.

A slight alteration to Bigfoot's idea....

Instead of morphing them into dead soldiers, morph them into dead civilians... Callamandian civilians. Make it appear that the Vrudenans attacked a small group of civilians and left the bodies lay. When the soldiers come to investigate, or just randomly come upon the scene, once the soldiers are in the middle of the scene, the Vrudenans jump up and attack.

This could accomplish a couple of things... one, it would allow them to surprise/attack/kill Callamandian soldiers. It would also terrorize civilians who happened upon the scene before the soldiers to see the savagery of the Were's and, hopefully, spread the word in hopes that people won't resist or will run away before the Were's savage them the same way.

It wouldn't work very many times, because after so long, or so many times, the Callamandian soldiers will catch on and take precautions.

ok, well since the vrudenans won't travel through earth and use a Gtharsis (hope I spelled that right) travel gate to come up through the south and force Calamandia to fight on two fronts then... oh well.

With some prep work, the Vudenan's could find a reasonably narrow river canyon and near the top of it build an earthen dam to capture the water (form a decent sized lake).  Then camouflage the earthen damn so it looks natural.  Put a false but believable looking base at the bottom of the hidden lake with plenty of debris that could be thought to be barriers to an advancing force.  Have hidden camps/fortifications along the ridge-line to prevent retreat up and out of the river canyon.  Lure the calamandians into the river canyon with a retreating force, should probably be at least an hour march up the canyon to the fake base.  Once the calamandians are in place, have the retreating force flee up the side of the canyon.  Then cut the dam with teramandy and aquamandy so the dam breaks quickly (not much warning).  Use your other elemanders to prevent or mitigate any action taken by the calamandian elemanders.  Flash flood wipes out the calamandian force.  Of course if David is there, he might be the only survivor.  Vrudenan's in the hidden encampments along the hill/mountain side pick off any that are lucky to make it up the side of the river canyon and out of harms way.  The more trees, rocks, and boulders along the bottom and low sides of the river canyon just add to the potential devistation.  If there are any calamandian towns down river before the land opens out and lets the flood water lower, then too bad for the town(s).

ChiefRock: First off, American generals don't have magic as a tool to use, which would make such "unorthodox tactics" much easier to make workable.  More to the point, these are not necessarily "unorthodox" tactics for a wizard war.  You have to stop thinking of this as tanks-and-guns, infantry-and-artillery.  This is far more about being sneaky, and clever, and finding ways to trick your enemy into doing something you can take advantage of.  The reason is simple: a wizard is like every weapon in a modern army, all rolled into one small package.  When the line of troops standing in front of you can resemble anything from infantry to direct-fire volley to artillery battery, "normal" tactics just aren't going to work.

Barbarian:  My only issue with your idea is that I'm not sure how many "river canyons" there are in the contested area.  You have the very start of the Appalachian range, but not much else in the way of mountains...  Of course, there is the issue of the weres using yet another WMD... 

As to the Vrudenans coming up through Gtharsis... why, exactly, would Gtharsis tolerate this?  I'm pretty sure they'd see it as an invasion, and act accordingly, attacking the invaders and cutting off access to the travel gate, meaning that the invaders would have no chance of resupply.  Further, the only Gtharsic travel gate we know of is well away from the Callamandian border, meaning that the Vrudenans would have to march a very long way to get there, giving the Callamandians plenty of time to prepare a welcoming party.  The 3rd Command of Ark South would be waiting for them with a very warm welcome.

Eric Storm