Annotated 10-9
The alt text may joke, but one thing we did not want to do with this world was have any scientist refuse to believe in magic. I mean, in our world, the traditional divide between science and “magic” is that one is testable and repeatable and the other is shrouded in mystery and protected by our desire to believe in the impossible.
But in Gastonia, most of Gravedust’s powers are testable and repeatable. This one isn’t, but it’s so much in line with the rest of the package that Syr’Nj would look damn silly doubting his word even for a minute.
Also, enjoy the extremely panoramic bird’s-eye view of Frigg and Best getting busy in the final panel.
Yeah, the classical science/magic dualism doesn’t really hold up in a setting where magic is well established and reliable. What would be the difference between a scientist and a wizard? You need to either have the two fields at odds (à la Arcanum) or have them overlap seamlessly (à la Guilded Age) without much fuss.
Trying to have your cake and eat it too (magic still being somehow mysterious while also omnipresent) results in a hot mess à la Eberron.
That’s only because magic doesn’t exist in the real world. In Arkerra, it does, so it’s perfectly scientific – it’s just another branch of physics.
Right, that approach works for GA, but it’s not easy for most fantasy authors to take. Their first instinct is to make magic all mystical and classically woo, but you can’t really do that if you want it also to be as commonplace as technology is in the real world. I mean, you can do that, but it usually ends up hollow and unconvincing.
Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from science.
Any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic!
Just thought I would put this out here, since it does apply towards the end.
Maxim 24: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a big gun.- The 70 Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries
Also Gravedust was clearly aware of the possibility of betrayal which means he was following Maxim 30: A little trust goes a long way. The less you use the further you’ll go.
Don’t forget the corollary: Any science which is distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
That’s the thing. If magic was repeatable and testable, we’d have scientists studying that as “just another aspect of the universe”.
I appreciate that I still have the angry Syr’nj icon
Exactly so.
Science is simply about discerning cause-and-effects relationships in the universe. And cataloging stuff.
If it hadn’t been mentioned I wouldn’t have noticed this porn for ants going on in the corner!
Oh, yeah, that’s right. Gravedust died at the Saavasi camp. So, why was he buried in the same place as the other four, who died in the world’s rebellion camp? Seems like an unnecessary amount of work, unless the two locations are closer than I thought.
Harky dumped his body into the arena before the fight began.
Which, I think, was meant to occur on the same evening as his poisoning, meaning that the two locations are indeed closer than you thought.