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breezeshadowFirst the excerpt. Then I'll explain the subject.
“I can get you a fresh bowl of soup. The official paid for the whole meal and extra. I kind of wonder if he was bribing me.” The demi gave them a distinctly wolfish grin as he plucked the bowl from Mahli, who gave it a disappointed look. The bowl twitched slightly in Lyall’s hands, and the warmth in his smile vanished. “No, you would not rather eat this. I will get you a new bowl. I save the scraps for the poorhouse.”
Upon the last sentence, the bowl stopped moving, and Lyall walked off. Rose May lifted her eyebrows at Mahli, who just smiled and shrugged. “I lived in Sarasii during my formative years. The concept of wasting nothing was instilled into me at a nearly age.”
“Living in Sarasii should have taught you not to interfere in an establishment with a faerie.”
Rose May froze at the voice, more from the chill than any sort of concern; Áidís knew her as a regular customer not especially prone to causing trouble or arguing with employees, through magic or otherwise. Instead, she focused on Mahli’s posture, which had tensed with the slightest trace of concern in his frown. Áidís gave him a toothy smile.
“Mahli, yes?” At his wary nod, the faerie grinned wider. “I won’t regale you with your own reputation. But Lyall is the owner, and he makes the rule regardless of your prowess. And I will gladly defend him.”
“Of course.” Mahli had recovered his composure enough to speak to Áidís in a tone lacking enough subordinance. “I did not mean to offend.”
“Rumour says you never do.” With that and another not-quite-charming smile, the faerie turned and walked away.
They stayed silent for a few minutes after she left; enough events had happened just within the cafe that Rose May struggled to connect the individual pieces with the right puzzle. Finally, a particular word of Áidís’s stuck in her mind, and after swallowing a hearty bite of her sandwich, she looked over at Mahli.
“’Prowess?’” Her voice was thick with confusion. “That’s not a word most faeries use to humans.”
“I’m not average.” Mahli put down his coffee, sighing contentedly before continuing. “Class XII. I’ve yet to have a single faerie know of anyone stronger, and if anyone would know, it’d be them.”
It took Rose May considerable self-control not to spit out her last bite of food. Measuring magical power was a work in progress for most types, but for telepathy, a simple system had been devised: mind control. Within the past hundred or so years, people realized that different telepaths had different abilities to control people — ranging from just intruding with weird thoughts, to manipulating people like puppets. And so Telepathic Classes were born and accepted by the mountain faeries, who held all authority over magic and its studies. The class number determined how many people a telepath could control completely at once.
Mahli could control twelve. Even vampires, an all-telepathic species, could usually control around five or six people at most. Twelve was absolutely unheard of, and truly frightening.
“That, ah. That would make you… Infamous.” Rose May sipped at what remained of her tea to prevent gaping.
“Truthfully, I could probably only manage eight on a normal day.” Mahli shrugged. “I know that isn’t much consolation.”
And now, the explanation! It's like behind-the-scenes, except Inception behind-the-scenes since this isn't published yet and... Yeah.
My issue ever since writing modern Mahli has been convincing the reader that, considering his attitude and power, that he still can't take over the world. THis is very difficult considering modern fantasy and just media in general. People who are super powerful compared to others invariably try to take over the world, pose a major safety hazard, whatever.
But the thing is, even with the ability to mind-control twelve people? That still leaves hundreds of thousands of people who could use that opportunity to go after Mahli. Twelve people also is assuming he is not using his telepathy to make up for his severe physical disabilities, which Mahli implies he does with the "manage eight" comment. Mahli's arrogance, stemmed from his special treatment and just growing up with mountain faeries, results in him tending to spy on people's thoughts freely, trying to get an advantage, impress people, etc. This uses up yet more of his power.
If Mahli wanted to get into a fight? He'd most likely pour a lot of energy into removing more of his physical disabilities than he does normally (he still uses a cane). This would be taxing enough that he'd be reduced to likely an average vampire in terms of telepathy, and human officials know how to deal with that kind of power. And as shown in this scene, any magic users would quickly sense shit going down and go in to subdue him.
So in conclusion: Mahli is extremely powerful, but still a human, and a significantly crippled human at that. He is also smart enough to know that even with his awesomeness, an attempt to truly skirt the law would end up with him severely injured or dead.
And so he deals with society and being regarded as a freak due to his physical deformities as best he can. For those who don't know:
The man approaching them leaned heavily on an intricate wooden cane; even sitting down, Rose May was taller than him. He had long black hair tied back in a low ponytail, and his eyes were hauntingly bright, giving them the colour of lavender. His left arm and leg were thick and strong, but his right appendages were mishapen and shorter, giving him a stoop. There was magical power in his presence, though, and it was that that made Rose May realize who he was.
So yes. That's him using telepathy so he can walk more easily, and he still needs the cane. Multiple times in the story he gets sick of it and just floats around, freaking people out XD But to reserve power and not exhaust himself mentally, he usually just sticks with the cane and walking.
I should stop babbling and go to bed but yes. Mahli is one of my favourites for whatever reason. He's just interesting.
Tschuess.
“I can get you a fresh bowl of soup. The official paid for the whole meal and extra. I kind of wonder if he was bribing me.” The demi gave them a distinctly wolfish grin as he plucked the bowl from Mahli, who gave it a disappointed look. The bowl twitched slightly in Lyall’s hands, and the warmth in his smile vanished. “No, you would not rather eat this. I will get you a new bowl. I save the scraps for the poorhouse.”
Upon the last sentence, the bowl stopped moving, and Lyall walked off. Rose May lifted her eyebrows at Mahli, who just smiled and shrugged. “I lived in Sarasii during my formative years. The concept of wasting nothing was instilled into me at a nearly age.”
“Living in Sarasii should have taught you not to interfere in an establishment with a faerie.”
Rose May froze at the voice, more from the chill than any sort of concern; Áidís knew her as a regular customer not especially prone to causing trouble or arguing with employees, through magic or otherwise. Instead, she focused on Mahli’s posture, which had tensed with the slightest trace of concern in his frown. Áidís gave him a toothy smile.
“Mahli, yes?” At his wary nod, the faerie grinned wider. “I won’t regale you with your own reputation. But Lyall is the owner, and he makes the rule regardless of your prowess. And I will gladly defend him.”
“Of course.” Mahli had recovered his composure enough to speak to Áidís in a tone lacking enough subordinance. “I did not mean to offend.”
“Rumour says you never do.” With that and another not-quite-charming smile, the faerie turned and walked away.
They stayed silent for a few minutes after she left; enough events had happened just within the cafe that Rose May struggled to connect the individual pieces with the right puzzle. Finally, a particular word of Áidís’s stuck in her mind, and after swallowing a hearty bite of her sandwich, she looked over at Mahli.
“’Prowess?’” Her voice was thick with confusion. “That’s not a word most faeries use to humans.”
“I’m not average.” Mahli put down his coffee, sighing contentedly before continuing. “Class XII. I’ve yet to have a single faerie know of anyone stronger, and if anyone would know, it’d be them.”
It took Rose May considerable self-control not to spit out her last bite of food. Measuring magical power was a work in progress for most types, but for telepathy, a simple system had been devised: mind control. Within the past hundred or so years, people realized that different telepaths had different abilities to control people — ranging from just intruding with weird thoughts, to manipulating people like puppets. And so Telepathic Classes were born and accepted by the mountain faeries, who held all authority over magic and its studies. The class number determined how many people a telepath could control completely at once.
Mahli could control twelve. Even vampires, an all-telepathic species, could usually control around five or six people at most. Twelve was absolutely unheard of, and truly frightening.
“That, ah. That would make you… Infamous.” Rose May sipped at what remained of her tea to prevent gaping.
“Truthfully, I could probably only manage eight on a normal day.” Mahli shrugged. “I know that isn’t much consolation.”
And now, the explanation! It's like behind-the-scenes, except Inception behind-the-scenes since this isn't published yet and... Yeah.
My issue ever since writing modern Mahli has been convincing the reader that, considering his attitude and power, that he still can't take over the world. THis is very difficult considering modern fantasy and just media in general. People who are super powerful compared to others invariably try to take over the world, pose a major safety hazard, whatever.
But the thing is, even with the ability to mind-control twelve people? That still leaves hundreds of thousands of people who could use that opportunity to go after Mahli. Twelve people also is assuming he is not using his telepathy to make up for his severe physical disabilities, which Mahli implies he does with the "manage eight" comment. Mahli's arrogance, stemmed from his special treatment and just growing up with mountain faeries, results in him tending to spy on people's thoughts freely, trying to get an advantage, impress people, etc. This uses up yet more of his power.
If Mahli wanted to get into a fight? He'd most likely pour a lot of energy into removing more of his physical disabilities than he does normally (he still uses a cane). This would be taxing enough that he'd be reduced to likely an average vampire in terms of telepathy, and human officials know how to deal with that kind of power. And as shown in this scene, any magic users would quickly sense shit going down and go in to subdue him.
So in conclusion: Mahli is extremely powerful, but still a human, and a significantly crippled human at that. He is also smart enough to know that even with his awesomeness, an attempt to truly skirt the law would end up with him severely injured or dead.
And so he deals with society and being regarded as a freak due to his physical deformities as best he can. For those who don't know:
The man approaching them leaned heavily on an intricate wooden cane; even sitting down, Rose May was taller than him. He had long black hair tied back in a low ponytail, and his eyes were hauntingly bright, giving them the colour of lavender. His left arm and leg were thick and strong, but his right appendages were mishapen and shorter, giving him a stoop. There was magical power in his presence, though, and it was that that made Rose May realize who he was.
So yes. That's him using telepathy so he can walk more easily, and he still needs the cane. Multiple times in the story he gets sick of it and just floats around, freaking people out XD But to reserve power and not exhaust himself mentally, he usually just sticks with the cane and walking.
I should stop babbling and go to bed but yes. Mahli is one of my favourites for whatever reason. He's just interesting.
Tschuess.
Well...
Date: 2013-06-10 07:29 am (UTC)What you need? Is mainly an understanding of how humans work and an utter ruthlessness to exploit that for your own advantage without caring who gets hurt in the process. Having some money helps. It is not hard to get money if you're willing to hurt people.
Control 8-12 minds? Take your country's leader and successor, a banker, a top-rate lawyer, a few rich people for funding, and you're set. Do it all from the shadows. Never let them see you coming, never let them know who you are, and you won't be a target.
Though you did a fine job of highlighting the limitations. Anyone can be hit.
Re: Well...
Date: 2013-06-10 03:36 pm (UTC)No one has taken over the world in history. The closest we've gotten is likely some of the older empires, such as the Roman Empire, and even then it wasn't one person. It was a whole country with an effective army. Nazi Germany may have been able to get close as well.
Now, as for Mahli's ability to take over the Welen Empire, there are a few limitations to his plan.
a) The Empire has employed various telepaths. Though I've mostly only demonstrated their use in the courtroom, I'm sure some of them may be used for protection against telepathy as well. Most of these guys are vampires, and if Mahli tried to take a bunch of officials over, especially the Empress? They'd sense it right away. It'd be difficult for him to do it from the shadows too, as they could trace where the magic is coming from and figure out his location, then teleport over there. Also the Empress is a powerful mage herself, though not a telepath, so she'd sense it too and be able to resist for a little bit, which would make it pretty clear something was wrong. Also she's insane, so if she suddenly started acting rationally, that'd be weird XD
b) Speaking of shadows: I was thinking on your point, and I think that this wouldn't work that well for a few reasons. First, distance. All magic loses its strength when you apply it over a distance. Mahli wouldn't lose too much power if he was doing this in the same city, but Rezten is pretty crowded and it'd be hard to find an alley to do this where he wouldn't also get mugged. Most other locations are a train ride away, which would weaken his abilities to do this (the extent of which I'm not sure).
Second: line of vision. Controlling eight to ten people is a lot easier if you can see them all and you are in the same room as them, or at least know the exact layouts of their locations. I think that trying to do it from a distance, when you can't see them all and aren't familiar with their location? Would result in making a lot of people walk into walls. Mahli would probably only be able to "see" (as in, through their line of vision) about... Three of these people are at a time? And that's just my assumption on the limits of the human mind, perhaps it's more, perhaps it's less. This would inhibit his ability to control them well, and also give another big clue to everyone by these people that something has happened.
Finally, humans are known for having decent magical defenses. Not necessarily against telepathy, but once the human community met vampires, they began training people to be able to withstand it to some extent. Since Mahli would be spreading his power across eight or so people, they wouldn't feel the full onslaught of his power (which hurts and is virtually impossible to resist); they'd get the amount you would get from just one or two people trying to invade, which they could initially resist. This would cause Mahli to use more power, which may limit how many people he could get to some extent.
And so that's why being Class VII doesn't let him take over the world. Even if he just tries the Welen Empire, there are still dozens of other people to sense and resist him. He may be able to cause a decent amount of calamity, but in the end, he'd lose. He'd have to go about the old-fashioned way, using his telepathy as backup, and Mahli is just too unsettling for most people to be interested.
Thanks for the reply though! Gave me a good thought exercise.