I wonder is Jenn's Diary and Lenamare's book one and the same. Did Jenn's dairy somehow time travelled to the past?

It was because the two books looks just the same excepth age. Books in medieval times are hand made and it is quite impossible for two handcrafted objects made from different time and place (and purpose) to look the same. Just like a vase from the Ancient Rome would look very very different from a new vase made by a local potter.

Still if it they are the same book, I'm still at loss at how could it be very important, maybe except for knowing the future.

LOL.

Not only that, we also would have great demonic reactions from Exador, Ramses and Bess. A lot of effort and lives are sacrificed for this book and it turns out to be some adolescent scriblings. Their jaws would have dropped to the floor.

There is no escape for Jenn, even in the Abyss! Poor girl.

Well, Tizzy, if you really want to knock 'em dead you can always tell them where you stash your pipe. I'm sure they'd be suitably...surprised.

Well, Tizzy, your pipe is one of the greatest mystery in the book. Maybe that is one of your magical ability? Conjuration? Seems other demons like Exador can do that too.

As for the 'nuclear' bomb, I was really surprised that Lenamare know about it. Madam Curie has spend her entire life just to discover uranium and then it takes several decades and Einstiens E=mc^2, just to make a bomb out of it. Lenamare do all of it in his short mortal life. That is incredibly amazing!

Well, still, it seems they don't know the danger of radioactivity. Madam Curie certainly didn't and it cost her her life. Is Lenamare sick now too? Cancer? Anemia? Infertility? I would expe t such since he is working directly with such substances with seemingly no protection whatsoever.

And also, what about this Tom seeing blue glow from the explosion site? Radioactive substances don't glow. Well, that is how Hollywood portray it but it is not what reality is. Radioactivity is invisible. You actually need a geiger counter to detect it. Did Tom have a special sight for them? Why can't other demons see it, as it seems since Exador doesn't seem to notice it. A special ability only Tom have?

As to what people know...it's really hard to say, because information is not democratized at all in Astlan.

A lot of demons know a lot of stuff, scientifically speaking since many are from an "Earth" and many are from advanced space going races and universes. The Denubians being one well mentioned example.

Wizards also know a lot, based on their model of the universe. It's not safe to assume that the Astlanian model of how the universe works is the same as the "Earth" one. And this applies to reality as well. Some things are true both places, but not all.

The actual laws of physics are different in different worlds. Yes, at some level there is a Grand Mulit-Universe Theory of how things work, a consistent supermodel of the Universe, but what is observable on various planes of man can vary greatly.

For example, when a nuclear explosion goes off, perhaps people on Earth are unable to witness all the effects because the overall mana levels are too low. Meaning maybe there are other types of radiation and reactions that occur during atomic division, but they aren't observed on Earth because mana levels are too low, or more specifically "not all quantum states are reachable on Earth" Similarly, the same may be true for Astlan.

I.e. Tom assumes there is radiation sickness (admittedly likely) and certain things based on what you have on Earth. But everything that occurs during fission or fusion on Earth, may not happen in Astlan, and things that might happen in Astlan, may not happen on Earth.

Also, we don't know for sure that Exador didn't see blue glow. Tom was there at night, and yes using demon sight. The recorded periods of Exador being there were mostly during the day. Or maybe he didn't think anything about it.

And the blue glow could also be "something else" maybe as mundane as a secondary reaction to the explosion, or tied to some other magic....

Now: Why is everyone so freaked out by my pipe? The answer is actually quite simple, when you think about it. Tom eventually figures it out. But it's not "conjuration" as in it was someplace else and then teleports to my hand. Nope.

Hmm,

I suppose you are correct...I did mention nuclear technology. But then I've traveled to a lot of different planes and hung out with Denubians who happen to have warp drive technology.

Tizzy

I just assumed that demons had means of observing things other than light. Just because we need light to visually perceive things doesn't mean all beings would need them. Sharks have 6 senses supposedly so their is nothing limiting demons to the five that humans have. Also humans tend to have very poor senses in general and are visual dominated. We can distinguish more colors than most animals, but have a harder time seeing things from a distance, or in the dark. Most of are other senses are joke in comparison. Demons just don't seem so limited. Many animals can perceive things we can't, but for reference what is the difference in sensory detail between humans and demons.

Another possibility would be, you are hiding it inside your body. That would mean you are able to shapechange.
I think Tom would have noticed if you did hide it without shapechanging, ie you pulling the pipe out of your a... .

I'm thinking of expanding the thread to asking about objects in astlan.

Tizz how does the Oorste­moth crystal store the 'video' record? VHS does it with themagnetic field in the magnetic ribbon, CD with groves on its shiny surface. The crystal in what way?

I'm also quite interested in how flying carpets work.

Maybe in the future Tom can reproduce their effects and create something like those?

Wow! I also think that they doesn't only store videos in there but much much more. Those crystal balls sure packs a serious GB of data. Way better than hardrives. Love to have one of those. Such device would revolutionize data storage. I would become even more richer than Bill Gates if I have a monopoly on those.

Hmm. How Enchanters make the carpets fly is very interesting. So it seems that they work in terms of air pressure. The fold at the back doesn't seem to be aerodynamic though. Would cause a lot of drag at high speeds. Not to mention the wind would push it downwards making the carpet spin. Well, maybe the enchanters has some tricks to solve the problem.

But then, when there is the need for high speed., I think pyromancers is the best for the job. I read pyromancers making booms, but they doesn't seem to really understand the full nature of these bangs aside from doing damage.

Modern technology has long harnessed the powerful nature of explosions to the human's benefit. Let just called it controlled explosions. One of these are the guns. The explosive power of gunpowder is used to propel bullets at high speed and create damage. Another is the car engines. Car engines uses the explosive power of gasoline and air mixture to move the pistons, which in turn turns the wheel. You literaly create hundreds of explosions when you drive your car to work. Controlled explosions are very convenient isn't it?

But when it comes to air travell, nothing beats the jet engines. Jet engines essentially creates continous explosion. Instead of a BOOM it goes BOOOOOOOOO...OOOOOOOM. Really, they are very noisy. Of course it doesnt send the explosion in every direction like a bomb, the jet engine is designed to direct the explosion in one direction. This 'directional' explosion creates the thrust to push the jet planes. And with jet engines you could get speeds that is faster than sound! Awsome!

If only pyromancers are able to controll their booms like how jet engine does (continous and directional) then they could make a device similar to the enchanter's flying carpets and be able to travel very, very fast. So in terms of air travel, Enchanters to Pyromancers is like propellers to jet engines. Pyromancers win it easy. But then, pyromancers are slobs, only content on making booms and breaking things. They aren't really very creative or innovative.

But then jet powered flying carpets is extremely dangerous to your life! I think, even demons would die in such contraptions.

Well, a wizzard who wants vengence on Tizzy would love to strap Tizzy on such device and watch Tizzy disintegrate in the air.

By the way, are there other magical devices in Astlan? I was not able to see much magical devices in the book really, aside from the crystal, carpet and the magically locked book. Wait, there is Tallarius' armor, sword and dagger; and the arrows of the Rods. Might have missed more. I'll do some searching.

Looking forward to findinging more of such devices in the next book!

Edited by user Tuesday, July 1, 2014 8:57:26 AM(UTC)  | Reason: spelling and grammar