Ask Novil questions about Gaia
└ posted on Tuesday, 6 March 2018, by Novil
It’s been almost a year since the last “Ask Novil questions about Gaia” post. Since it’s a pretty popular format, I want to do that once per year. Here are the previous editions: [1] [2], [3].
The comment section of this post is the right place for all your questions about the plot and characters of Gaia and everything related to it.
Do they use electricity in Gaia? Because there were wires and a fusebox in The Way Back Home 105. I thought they used magic for light 🙂
Since meat grows on trees do they hunt their vegetables?
Does Trias exist ?
Is Eldor an elf? or maybe Trias?
My questions concerns the blast Lilith took at the end of Chapter 1 during the attack on the Academy.
•1: Was that Eldor?
•2: Was that a real attack, or was it an illusion?
•3: Why was she attacked?
•4: If it was real, how did she survive?
Why did Eldor pop into Lilith’s prison cell? What was the significance of the outfit he was wearing when he did it?
What was up with Flavius Aelur back in the Shadowdancers arc? He just shows up, insults Alissa’s clothes, and literally floats away.
Is everything planned out in detail to the end? If so, how much detail? For example did you know this “vivi talks to the crowd” bit would be exactly X pages long? Etc.
Hunter wrote:
That is no fuse box. There is a lever in that box. That was a detail of the room design that Powree came up with. I thought it looked reasonable regarding the rest of the room.
_aqw_ wrote:
More about the mythology will be revealed later in the story.
Catropo wrote:
There are bits of info pointing into the direction of Eldor being an elf.
Trias is certainly not an elf if he’s supposed to be God. And Eldor is not Trias if you mean that.
PMark wrote:
1) Yes.
2 to 4) The scene was part of Eldor’s training of her. He wanted to see what she has already learned in the field of protection shields and if she would stay calm to do the right thing in a state of high mental stress. The spells were real but Eldor made sure that they would not hurt Lilith. If Lilith succeeded in creating a protection spell in time is still left open.
PMark wrote:
Eldor wanted to check out Lilith’s progress.
He wore the mask mainly for the subsequent attack on Elea. It hid his facial features should anyone see the attack. The mask also has ceremonial significance as the attack was carried out in the name of the Disciples of the Two Heavens. But overall, this is not important.
Soup Can wrote:
That was just a funny one-time appearance of that character.
TheNewTeddy wrote:
I do not know the exact page count of scenes until I actually write them.
The plot points happening 100 pages or later in the future are not set in stone. They may only not contradict anything that has already been published.
When Eldor created San’s clone, what happened to the real San?
Did Ryker die
Catropo wrote:
It’s shown that she became unconscious and that Eldor took her along with him. What happened to her will be revealed later in the story.
Puyon wrote:
You’ll see.
@ Both: Asking for obvious story spoilers isn’t very productive.
How are crystals found? Can they be created or infused?
First let me thank you for the great story and your efforts to communicate with your readers!
Now my questions:
How many percent of the total story have we seen already (approximately and assuming you don’t add more than planed now later)?
You stated previously that the overall story line was already clear from the beginning. Is it still so? How detailed was that? (E. g. was the fact that there will be vivid speech long planned? Was the way they smuggled the magic staff into the city long planned…? – just to give two
Examples. I guess you’ll have better for illustration of your answer…)
Will eldors true nature and plans be super surprising and unexpected for all of us (due to facts still totally unknown to us) or would we have a chance to guess them by now?
Griff wrote:
Crystals on Gaia are formed in a similar way as on Earth, with the difference that they incorporate magical energy in their crystal structure. The type of magical energy makes crystals more or less valuable. A crystal usable for light spells is common and cheap. A crystal usable for a time stop spell is extremely rare and expensive.
Nobody wrote:
More than 1/2, but not yet 2/3.
Nobody wrote:
I don’t think I explicitly said that the overall story line was already clear from the beginning. I think this depends on your definition of “overall story line”. There were some significant changes along the way, for example Viviana had a much more minor role in the initial concept. I often rewrote parts of the story when I had an idea that was better than the initial one.
Viviana giving a speech was determined several years ago, but the way they smuggled the magic items into the city was determined just a few months before the publication of the pages.
Nobody wrote:
I don’t think anyone would get the details right.
Novil wrote:
Can crystals only incorporate certain magical energy in certain environment? Like for example, a fire crystal is formed in hot environment?
And how did Master Crystal come about to be?
Razel wrote:
That sounds logical and is usually the case. But it’s not always that simple with regard to the type of the environment. Only the most powerful wizards can dive into the flow of the Bluestream that well to make solid predictions about the type of crystals found at a given location.
The master crystal has additional magical energy that was activated and molded by a wizard working on the project.
1) If someone would ask you a question you didn’t think about yet, would you say that or would you try to figure out an answer that fits your imagination of the world of Gaia?
2) Was it only my impression, or did you intend to make Oago seem rather incompetent?
3) Can we consider Delvor and the elvish saboteur dead?
4) Does the academy actively look for new students, or do they only take those who want to enroll, with Lilith being an exception?
5) Did Viviana tell the public about the incident in Wylen during her speech?
6) Is Colette an especially good friend of Viviana, or are they only working close together?
What is the social structure of Santhilia like? More specifically, what are the relationships between the imps, gargoyles, ‘true dragons’, and any other draconic creatures that may live there? For instance, are true dragons regarded as a kind of aristocracy, or is Santhilia more a kind of meritocracy where true dragons simply tend to be more powerful due to their innate advantages, but with no barriers to a suitably impressive imp (or gargoyle) achieving the same social status as true dragons?
Does homosexuality exist and is it a political theme?
– When Lilith says after her finals that the Bluestream has been “getting stronger lately”, was she feeling the effects from her “doomsday spell” or something else?
– During fake Lilith’s execution, there’s a blue wave, a red wave, and a yellow wave. I assume that the former 2 represent the Bluestream and the Redstream, so then what is the Yellowstream? Is it normally accessible to anyone at all?
– Again in that scene, the Redstream is also vibrating from the spell. Does Eldor play a part in it?
– Are the creatures on Gaia shaped by natural selection or creationist ideas?
– Lillith’s immense magical power is credited to the Great Tree’s “new 5000-year cycle”. Did anything significant happen at the beginning of the last cycle? When would it have been with respect to the Darkness?
– Did Eldor have “prototypes” for San? He seems to need both her and Lilith.
guggi wrote:
I believe Novil has answered “yes” in a previous questions post. But given the setting, it’s probably highly stigmatized and frowned upon.
Falkner wrote:
1) It has already happened a couple of times that some questions were so specific that I had to reply that I haven’t thought about the world of Gaia in such detail yet.
2) I don’t think he was shown as more or less competent as the other guards. Their performance certainly wasn’t stellar. But they also weren’t completely inept.
3) I think a fate worse than death awaited them.
4) It’s a bit like American universities. They seek out the most gifted and give them scholarships, like Lilith. More often, though, they accept applications of rich students, like Alissa. And they give partial scholarships to gifted but not exceptional students, like Ilias.
5) That is a good question. Next question… 😉
6) Colette is one of Viviana’s closest associates among the Shadowdancers. I guess you could call them friends. But they are not close friends. Viviana did not really have close friends among the regular members of the Shadowdancers. But she had a very close relationship to Gradus, Milo and especially Salacea.
Draxynnic wrote:
The Dragon Council, which rules Santhilia, is dominated by the true dragons. But there is also usually one imp in the Dragon Council. Currently, this is Ix: http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/tag/ix/ It is quite rare that a gargoyle makes it into the Dragon Council. They are less intelligent and have less magical power as humans, dragons or imps. But over the centuries, a couple of gargoyles succeeded. The other small draconic species have no shot in making it into the Dragon Council, though. Their mental capacity is somewhere between very smart dogs and dumb humans.
True dragons are not “noble” according to the usual meaning of the word. But since they are intelligent, have great raw strength and magical powers, and live long, almost all of them are in positions of power. But they also acknowledge that a few selected humans and imps are equally powerful as them. Of course they would prefer this were not the case. 😉
guggi wrote:
Homosexuality is very rare on Gaia. It’s usually met with sentiments like “Ew. What is wrong with that guy/girl?” Like someone who puts ketchup on his cake. There are no laws against it, but the Church does also not carry out marriages for them. Overall, it is a very minor political topic and people think that there are much more important things to talk about.
SIL wrote:
1) Something like that.
2) The third wave is actually green. It’s a measurement of the Bluestream so the Redstream is not relevant for it. It is a visualization of spatial and temporal patterns of the Bluestream’s weave. Please ask Morian the Eldor for details. 😉
3) See above.
4) There is no evolution of species on Gaia. The lack of biodiversity after the extinction of several species in the War of Light and Darkness is a clear problem.
5) The first large towns were established around that time. But nothing world-shaking happened. The Darkness was much later, a couple of years before the Creation of the Mythal in the year 0. (Unlike Earth, Gaia has a year 0.)
6) I don’t understand the question. He obviously had doppelgängers for both San and Lilith.
1. In The Red Hall 38-39, Lilith promises to tell her friends what she was going to do after graduation, but she never had a chance. In The Tower In The Sky 20, Eldor hints she was going to become a teacher, probably in Academy of Cania itself, is it true?
2. In Monster 81, Lilith notices the gate of Oakdale temple to be somewhat transparent. Of course only she could see this because of her recent training, but was it also because that was a temple, like stronger “presence” of Gaia there weakening the illusion?
3. That may be asking for a spoiler, but is Kali (Eldor’s familiar) an Avariel? In one of the previous Q&A sessions, you confirmed it’s not an imp, and it doesn’t look like a dragon or gargoyle either, and the only other known dragon-like race is Avariel. Or, to ask it differently, is it something a human scientist would recognise, probably as an extinct or exotic species, or something completely alien?
4. The name of the species of semi-sentient fox-like creatures (Zora and those in Oakdale temple) is never mentioned, but it must be known to the characters. Did you invent a name already? Can you tell us?
5. What is a doppelgänger (like fake San in The Way Back Home 84)? Is it a more advanced version of a golem, like fake Lilith which the shadowdancers built? Or is it a purely magical illusion like people in Oakdale? Is fake Lilith in The Way Back Home 24 also a doppelgänger?
Novil wrote:
I’m pretty sure Earth had a “year 0”. It was like “the year Jesus was crucified” or something.
Novil wrote:
I meant “prototypes” in the context of the girls who grew up in Oakdale and went crazy after reading Breaking All Barriers. I called them prototypes because Ryn described them like that.
zerqui wrote:
1) Maybe I should go back and change the dialog of one of the published pages to include that piece of information. It goes in the implied direction.
2) I’ve never thought about that, but that may be true since it makes sense to build temples on places with a strong presence of the Bluestream.
3) No. The Avariel were shown in http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2013/05/07/the-tower-in-the-sky-009/ Several other (small) draconic creatures have been shown, e.g. in http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2012/01/31/the-red-hall-036/ and http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2013/04/19/the-tower-in-the-sky-005/
4) I don’t have a name for that species.
5) You will see later.
SIL wrote:
Ah, okay. Then, yes, he also had prototypes for San. But the difference isn’t too large. So the early prototypes were for both.
Thanks!
A couple of follow-up questions:
1) You mention that there is usually one imp in the Dragon Council. Is this because there is a space reserved for an impish representative (or at least a representative that isn’t a true dragon), or is it simply that statistically there is usually one imp per (imp) generation that has what it takes to be on the Council?
2) What defines a species as ‘draconic’? Since Gaia has no evolution, they would presumably be grouped according to physical and/or magical similarities rather than ancestry (as pre-Darwin taxonomy would group species) – what features are used to denote a species as ‘draconic’?
1. Is Splud a good sign, a bad sign or a “well he most probably would die unless some miracle saved him in the next hour while everyone is distracted by Vivian
2. If say Vivian died, would the Shadowdancers split up into different sects as you mentioned that Vivian didn’t have close ties with the lower members of the Shadowdancers so if she dies would there be a chance that different members would break off and form their own groups of shadowdancers/fight for the leadership of the Shadowdancers?
3. Is it possible that Eldor had a doppelgänger for Lili?
4. On the D&D scale, what would Eldor be classified as (depending on his view not the authorities view to so that you won’t have to spoil how right or wrong he is)
Do People n Gaia fancy traveling to the moon or other planets?
What is the most common technical machine (like a coffemaker, or toaster) that most People all around Gaia posses?
Do People talk about sex more opely than in or World? Or are you not supposed to talk about it in pblice?
Can People fall in love with more than one person at the seme time?
Okay, I have some questions here:
1) How much are Gaians biologically different from humans? It was stated earlier that there are no bacteria on Gaia and they would need an organ to cast spells I guess.
2) How does magic work? Is it like another dimension that mages can connect to and transfer its energy into our world (modulating it), while ionizating air as a side effect?
3) Do our physic laws apply to Gaia, so that magic is just an extension to them (and maybe even our laws affect magic, because it was hinted at quantum mechanic magic earlier; at least I interpreted it this way)? What about the second law of thermodynamics in particular?
4) Are there sciences on Gaia? How much technologically advanced are people there (mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology…)? It seems that there are some specialized people there, for example the elven engineers.
5) As bluestream affects body and redstream soul, can redstream be used to heal soul (bluestream can be used to hurt, too) or something positive like that? Can soulstream be manipulated by mages?
Since Viviana is fighting for Ileasaar, what was she doing at a shoe store in Aracona at the beginning of the comic?
Draxynnic wrote:
1) I guess the imps would demand a spot in the Council, so it can be considered a rule. There should always be at least one imp in Santhilia worthy of such an important position.
2) That’s simple: They share a dragon-like look.
Warcraft-3-Player wrote:
1) Don’t overanalyze the onomatopoeia. But Ira’s reaction should be telling that it doesn’t look good.
2) It’s Viviana. If such a tragedy happened, Gradus would likely resume his role as leader of the Shadowdancers and keep the band together.
3) That’s a fact. There even was a page that showed that the real Lilith is still studying in the tower of Greendew castle.
4) What we have seen so far from Eldor would certainly place him in the “Lawful evil” caste.
askmen wrote:
1) There are no other celestial bodies. No sun, moon or star has ever been shown in the sky over the course of the comic.
2) Light bulbs are extremely common. You can find multiple of those in every house, even the poorest ones. Apart from that, magical heaters for cooking are also very common. A gramophone for playing musical records would be an example for a fancier but still quite common magical device.
3) On the one hand, just talking about it may be less of a taboo than in most societies on Earth. On the other hand, complete moral depravity is less common.
4) Sure.
JacobStepo wrote:
1) There is an “organ” close to the heart in the center of the chest that is responsible for channeling the magic energy of the Bluestream. It’s not really a distinct organ, like the heart or the liver, though. It’s more an area consisting of specialized “cells”. Then again, I always felt that animals on Gaia should not be composed of the same cells as animals on Earth. However, since it’s not relevant for the plot, I’ve never come up with a thorough concept for the anatomy of animals.
2) The Bluestream is a magical weave that exists alongside the material world, as it was shown several times in the comic. Humans and other species capable of spellcasting can channel the intrinsic magical energy of the planet with their “organ” mentioned above. The “organ” is connected to the hands which usually have to be used to manifest the spell in the material world.
3) Well, they obviously have gravity and most natural phenomena known from our universe also occur on Gaia. Otherwise, the world would just appear too bizarre and unpredictable. But magic spells can be used to manipulate the material world so that it no longer obeys these natural laws, at least locally. Even spells that manipulate the flow of time have been shown several times in the comic.
4) Science and magic on Gaia go hand in hand. Science is the study of the natural laws. Magic is the study of how to break these laws. I think the mixture of science, or at least engineering, and magic has been shown numerous times in the comic and should speak for itself.
5) “Healing” a soul by means of the Redstream would certainly raise two eyebrows of even the most knowledgeable scholars on Gaia. The Spiritstream can generally not be affected by the Bluestream, and only in a limited manner by the Redstream.
SIL wrote:
That shop was a front for the Shadowdancers.
Novil wrote:
Then, how is it possible for the day and night phenomenon to occur?
Hi Novil, above you compared the Academy in Aracona to an American university, at least for the enrolling. But if I remember correctly the protagonists were around 19 when they graduated. So, considering age that looks more like a high school. So, what should we compare the academy to? At which age do students enroll? How many years do ‘standard students’ spend at the Academy? Did they go to some kind of elementary school before? And what about all kids that do not go to the Academy (considering most kids don’t)? I guess, my question how the education system in Cania and Ileasaar is organised. And in Midgard, if there would be a great difference. For that matter, does Midgard (which is as a city bigger than Aracona, isn’t it) also have an academy?
In the strip, “The Way Back Home 112”, a guard said “world record”.
Does the world have its own version of Guiness’ World Records?
@ Razel:
See the previous “Ask Novil qustions about Gaia” posts. Novil has stated that there is a “bright spot” in the sky which moves.
First, Morian the Elder says that Lilith’s spell would devastate “an area of the size of Askaroth”.
…uhh, just how big is Askaroth?
Second, can magic violate certain physical laws, like mass/charge/energy conservation? Can it reverse entropy?
Finally…
• Eldor’s goal relates to the Spirit Source
• The Spirit Source is in Vis
• Vis is behind the “spooky door” in the Shadowkeep
• Out of the teleport cubes that were made, there was one that the Shadowdancers never found, whose location is unknown
Are all these individually correct?
Just another curiosity… in Silas’s confession he mentions the murder of someone named Julius Hodge. I notice that they don’t appear in the Cast page or the tags. So who are they, and what is the significance of their murder?
Razel wrote:
The celestial sphere “rotates” around Gaia. It is not a real rotation, though, since all points on the planet’s surface experience the same day-night-cycle. This is one of the main difference of Gaia’s world to our universe where this would just not be possible.
SaBoeckieBoeckie wrote:
1) A prestigious private school.
2) At the age of 10 or 11. Lilith was already 12, one year late.
3) 8 years. But some stay 9 years.
4) Yes. Elementary school.
5) Normal schools. Usually until they are 16 years old.
6) Every country has at least one prestigious academy.
Razel wrote:
I don’t know, but I don’t think so. But there are certainly world records for lifting the heaviest weight and running the fastest. Of course, illegal magical enhancements are a big issue here ;).
SIL wrote:
1) It’s a big province in the North-West of Cania, roughly similar to Ileasaar which is in the East of Cania.
2) Yes, but the world of Gaia has atoms that are different from ours. There is no direct equivalent to electrons, for example. Several time-related spells were shown or mentioned in the comic. Those should always qualify for entropy-reversal.
3 a) Correct. He said so himself in http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2017/11/17/the-way-back-home-078/
3 b) No comment.
3 c) No comment.
3 d) Correct.
SIL wrote:
It has no relation to the plot of the comic. I would have needed to mention some murder earlier in the story just for this minor part of his confession. That would have been unnecessary detail that distracts from the main plot.
Another question. Are there raccoons in Gaia? Are there some of them that can speak human language?
Razel wrote:
No.
@ Razel:
Woo do you mean? 😉
When Amos gave Ryn the newspaper in BAB-129, was that Amos’s free will doing that, or was it Eldor manipulating Ryn through Amos?
Viviana is seen wearing what looked like the Avaril as she was being captured. When they take her out to the police fan, it is nowhere in sight. I assume the guards have confiscated it. Was that the real Avaril?
Novil wrote:
That’s a shame.
I was rather hoping “Splud” precisely denoted Ryker’s thudding landfall being partly interrupted / cushioned by the splatting of Zora, (run back outside for reasons unknown) whose demise might equally, yea, more so, have provoked Ira’s apparent mortal regret.
@ Novil:
Hmm No evolution? that is “strange”, I mean the animals and everything in general looks relatively varied, there WOULD be evolutive pressure, the fittest would produce slightly more descendant [or on converse the unfit would produce less], the only way to avoid that is NO hereditary traits but the world doesn’t look like that. Also that would mean no mutations, but that is plausible.
@ SIL:
Nope…
The §Numbering scheme for years is something boneheaded and STARTS on year 1 on the year of the supposed birth of Jesus but switches to -1 for the year before that.
Novil wrote:
Again, the world shown does not appear to NOT have a single overhead source of light so at least a sun MUST exist as there are well defined shadows of treesNovil wrote:
Ehr… if Magic IS part of the world then it is one of the natural laws…and so it would make NO sense to oppose it to “science”
Novil wrote:
Ehr… This is just impossible to visualize and doesn’t work with a spherical planet, if all of it is experiencing the same time that means that the WHOLE celestial sphere is the same everywhere, rotating it would make no difference.
Also if there are no star, moon or sun then what is rotating on the celestial sphere?
Novil wrote:
Uh… no electrons? that would have a LOT of different thing going on with anything electricity based… It just throws a LOT of the physics for a loop. Again it’s one of those thing that WOULD make the world look a LOT different…
1) In both http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2017/11/14/the-way-back-home-077/ and http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2015/02/03/breaking-all-barriers-043/ you have images where a female character is impaled in the chest. In the former Eldor CLEARLY inserted something into San’s cheast, does that mean something was inserted into Vivi’s cheast in the latter? And if so did Eldor do it? Or is this a case or read and find out?
2) In the real world major cities often grow up around the sea and rivers because navigable water makes BULK transportation of goods cheaper and easier. Even today with roads, trains, and airplanes, ships are still the most cost/effective way to ship large amounts of goods large distances. HOWEVER, you have said that the seas around Gaia are to rough for for navigation. In that case I was wondering if internal waterways such as rivers and lakes were more of a factor in where cities were built? If not what environmental factors WERE a factor?
This video is a good reference, though obviously you have to modify things for how your fantasy world differs from the real world (the problems with the oceans you mentioned) it has other rules mentioned, that are important. https://youtu.be/3PWWtqfwacQAlso related how recent is the development of is transportation magic, how can be transported at one time, etc. As if it is recent, cities will only recently been designed to take advantage of this. And if they can only transport a small amount of goods this way, it might not be practical compared to other methods of shipping, etc. Hence why I want to know these things. (Was that too much?)
The Ben wrote:
Sorry I had a bad link and could not edit my text.
@ Bahamuttone:
Maybe Novil means all the species were put there as is?