Filament wrote...
It was only one example. It's not like the bottom of the ocean is the only dangerous place in Thedas. And that's a curious "only communication" device that makes people disappear by touching or stepping through it.
I think you misunderstood my post. I wasn't saying they only function as communication devices. I was saying that's all the Tevinter Magisters could get them to do, despite the other function we as players know they have by witnessing Morrigan's work with them.
As in dialing the Stargate.
It's been some time since I've seen Stargate -- be it the movie or the series -- so I probably wouldn't have gotten that right away
.]
All I'm saying is that, even if Merrill or whoever is using the Eluvian knows exactly about the function and uses of the Eluvian, its nature as a portal and/or a communication device, and a powerful magical artifact in any case, makes it dangerous regardless.
To put in another context (says the hypocrite who hates forumites' penchant for making analogies), even if you know everything there is to know about nuclear radiation and wear whatever hazmat suit you need to wear to handle radioactive material safely, radioactive material is still "dangerous" by its nature. Mistakes can happen and people can get radiation poisoning regardless of the precautions they take.
Ah okay, in this reasoning I agree, by virtue of the fact that all knowledge is dangerous.
I feel like you're assuming I'm equating "dangerous" with "therefore foolish to work with" here, which is not the case. Merrill admits herself that her plan in Act III is dangerous, which is why she wants Hawke along, but she does it anyway for the good of her people. Whether one thinks that's foolish is a matter of opinion.
Can you blame me?
Months and months of arguing this topic with people that Rivaled Merrill has made me automatically assume that when someone says "dangerous" they do mean "foolish to work with".
Now, as far as the Eluvian goes, I don't know how much detail Morrigan's book goes into, but as for Merrill specifically, I do think it would be a big assumption to say she knows exactly how it works. That only compounds the potential for danger. That still doesn't necessarily make it foolish, if you trust that she takes the proper precaution in the face of such unknowns.
Exactly how it works? No I wouldn't say that -- elsewise, she wouldn't have needed to seek out Audacity when she exhausted all her other options to get it to work. But I would say she knows a great deal of information on them, seeing as she worked on the Eluvian for 6 years without demonic assistance, utilizing all manner of research and lore she could acquire.
The only time she actually used a demon to help her was when A) Marethari refused to help her cleanse the shard of the taint and research the Eluvians and
she still needed to cleanse the shard of the taint, thereby learning blood magic to amplify the healing magic she already knew.The lore about the Eluvians is incomplete.
We have more evidence -- both on the Eluvians and the nature of the Fade itself -- to suggest that it can't create a rip in the Veil then to suggest that it can.
So, yes. Mind control is a thing.
Of course, but it's not something easily done in the mortal realm by a mortal mage. It requires that one strike an accord with a Demon in the Fade and in some cases, Flemething the Abomination if you go that route.
Audacity cannot control peoples' minds because he no longer has a presence in the Fade. We even have lore stating that when Demons cross the Veil into the mortal realm, their power is substantially weakened -- because in the Fade, they're at their strongest.
Third, only two types of Demons are capable of mind control -- Desire and Pride.
Given that the Fade is a realm of thoughts and not a realm of material items and the Eluvians therefore cannot link there -- because how can something in the material realm link to something in the realm of dreams and thoughts -- I conclude that they cannot summon Demons. More so given the other evidence we have on the Fade and the spirits that inhabit it.
History doesn't exactly keep detailed, accurate notes on how the Magisters broke into the Golden City. (or did whatever they did)
But to assume that they used the Eluvians for that purpose when there's no evidence to suggest it -- as they had many Eluvians under their control, yet history notes that they couldn't do much with them due to also having stamped out Elven history and culture -- doesn't seem right.
Even if they did manage to use the Eluvians to break into the "Golden" City -- we know they did invade the City, though how is indeed a mystery. I won't deny that -- the ritual to do so required 2/3 of the lyrium in Tevinter as well as the lifeblood of several hundred slaves.
So it's not something easily done, to establish a phsyical presence in the realm of thoughts.
dragonflight288 wrote...
Stupid herb.
Worth the research into it though, considering it can reportedly grow in Blighted land. If so, that's certainly interesting how the Blight doesn't kill all nature.
Whether the Northern Prickleweed actually has any value stemming beyond that ability -- like can you eat it, or does it do something to the Blighted land itself, etc. -- is unknown.
Modifié par The Ethereal Writer Redux, 28 juillet 2012 - 11:36 .
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