Post by Pow! on Sept 9, 2005 4:05:16 GMT -5
Since the Aldeberan Questions is a pretty hot thread, and we are often lost among the off-topic posts, I figured it might be good to have a sole thread containing already answered questions. It'll be easier for us to find references this way. Hope you don;t mind, Rygar, Clau. Some answers has been edited (I mean cut) to save space. XD
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON THE ALDEBERANS
(Random questions collected from the message board, answered by Claudia Carranza, Aldeberan Expert)
Last update: 16 September 2005
1.Are Artificers emotionless?
The way Aldebarans are written in the web series it is not 'outlawed' to show or feel emotions. Granted, it is true that strong emotions can affect spellcasting and so most of the more controlled spellcasters are often highly rational and unemotional felines on the planet. So while your friend is right that artificiers are often emotionless they aren't also so, nor would the be punished by any other caster for showing any kind of emotion. The magic might 'punish' them for emotionall fluxuations as they cast by the spell backfiring or intenisfying more than they had thought it was going to far more quickly they they could control.
2.How old is an Aldeberan averagely?
Regarding Generations and Aldebaran Lifespans...
Yes, regular artificiers live a long time. The magic they wield helps sustain them. Healing Sisters even more so since they have regenerative powers available to them for use. So, while Aldebarans grow and mature like any other race known (physically mature at 14 years and mentally mature at 20) they are able to remain in their 'prime' far longer, up to ten times longer in some cases, than the other races.
3.What sort of history did the Aldeberans and the Nharnians have together, if any, and what exactly lead to the wide rift between them?
CLau: The best answer is 'ten foot pole, held ten feet from body with telekinesis', but the why is a burning question and one that will have to, for the time being, remain unanswered. But I will file this one away, and flag the other writers to it on our mailing list. Perhaps, after bouncing around some ideas, we'll be able to write your answer in a script or ten.
As far as them having a past together, that is something that has not been worked on my the senior writers. It doesn't factor in to any of hte story arcs we have going so we aren't working on it now. Perhaps they did have a past, or perhaps they only had contact recently. Much of the aniverse is still undiscovered.
Rygar: Yep, they're definitely not friends. If I recall correctly, that script explains some of the reasons the two groups hate each other. It also comes up in the Season Four script I'm currently working on.
4. Do Aldebarans rely on weaponry besides their spells?
Combat sisters would, but that would be quite... antiquated, much the way American viewed the samurai's use of the sword during the late 19th century. (See The Last Samurai for details.) The most common non-magical weapon at Aldebaran's disposal would be the trusty blaster. In one script, Jenny finds herself reaching for her blaster, only to remember she isn't wearing it. Granted, she's off planet, so do take that into consideration.
5.Tommy uses King's Gems, right? So does that means there was one time that male with magics rule alongside the Queen?When did the law of Male is made?
As for your answers... I can't deny nor confirm at this point as my answer would be a spoiler for the script that is currently being worked on, and we all know how much you hate spoilers.
6. Did Jenny ever learn how to pilot before she went to the academy or she learned it when she began training there?
Jenny learned to pilot all manner of one-man, two-man, and frigate sized spacecraft at UAC Flight School (Don't think it has a name, but it's referred to, as Bucky and Jenny met in Flight School).
7. Are the COLORs of Aldeberan gems in accord to the kind of magic?
There are currently four schools of magic in operation on Aldebaran. Each is associated to a different 'power set' and a different color of spell gem. These are as follows:
Red : Combat School - Offensive spells.
Blue : Thought School - Mental spells.
Green : Healing School - Heal and Regenerative spells.
Yellow : General School - Jack of all trades, master of none. This is where 'everything else' goes.
8. Is Jenny, in anyway, breaking the rules of Aldebaran by going with Bucky?
Umm, yes. Very much so, yes. In every way possible, yes.
9. When the Queen banishes Cassie and her squad, she said to them to return their black gems... are they special gems beside the common ones?
Black gems, in and of themselves, don't exist. Black gems, defined either as the presence of all pigments or the absence of all light, does not exist as a 'color' of Aldebaran spell gems.
As we've seen in the web series so far, the only known cases of black gems, wherein gems are decrescribed as having a blackish hue to their color, are seen on Assassination Sisters.
And that's all I'm going to say at this moment about this subject, as I do not want to give away any spoilers for the upcoming scripts. But with the clues provided, I'm interested to see if anyone can piece it together for themselves, and no, I will not confirm your guesses either.
10.Does Aldeberan Magic have any weaknesses?
Please keep reading Season Four when it come sout. These questions will be answered!
11.Are Aldeberans the only race to ever combine magic and technology? since Jenny said she had equipped the RI with enhanced magic technology? What advantage does that give for the frigate?
To my knowledge, yes, Aldebaran is the first race to mix magic and technology. Yes, she did equip the RI with magical sensors. The advantaged it had was that it was less susceptable to becoming inoperative when damage was taken by the ship. She could also tap into it and get far more detailed readings from it, as well as detect magical energies in the area. Granted, those 'specials' only worked for her.
12.ANyways, what school exactly do the Assassin Sisters come from? Are they their own school or a special branch of another?
To be handled in the upcoming Season Restart. This will not be answered at this moment.
But if you're curious as to Schools, please reread my answers on the colors of gems in regards to the schools of magic, and then every description you can find for hte Assassins. And that's all the hints you'll get.
13.Does the aldebarans have weddings or they use slaves for breeding?
(Answered by Hypercat, approved by Claudia)
Hypercat: It would be the latter.Apparently, love is a forbidden thing in aldebaran, if not the love one can have for her sex toy, as male aldebarans are.
14.Is there anyway Katrina and her blood line be thrown out from the throne, or any royal family of aledberan for that matter?
Oh yes. Cassie tried replacing Katrina in one Season3 or 4 script. I've forgotten the name at the moment.
Sorry! The royal family entirely, now that would be difficult to do. MOst of the higher ups, as it is/was with European royalty, are mostly interbred. Someone, somewhere, is related and can proof that bloodline. It's easier to track, though, on Aldebaran than on Earth since Aldebaran is set up as a Matriarchy rather than a Patriarchy. Bloodlines are traces through the woman, as that is (unless you're using DNA and gene tracking) the ONLY sure way to tell if a child belongs to someone. But, don't get me started on the loopholes of such tracking, for I can think of several right now, and it's entirely possible the subject of bloodlines is worked out in the upcoming Aldebaran Script.
15.What is a memory stone? is it differ than the regular gems? Why does an artificer need it?
While the terms seem interchangeable, memory stones are particular to the Thought Order. Yes, just like regular spell gems, these too can harness and focus magical energies, but they are more refined when it comes to mental powers, such as memories. Hence the name. An artificier needs a memory stone the way some people need a journal. Anyone read Harry Potter? If you do, take a gander at what's-his-face-old-guy-head-master-person and his memory pot thingie whachama-call-it. Yeah, that. Not saying I ripped it from Rowling. Rather, it could be said she ripped it from me, seeing as I came first (that sounded wrong, but I'm going with it) but unlikely, seeing as we're two completely different genres. Regardless, take a look at that description, and you'll see what I'm getting at.
16.Is a set of gems inherited from mentor to pupils, (which means it is limited in number) or are they produced regularly?
Gems are produced regularly as the number of magic users increases. The census beauru, for a lack of a better term, calculates the birth rate and when that's given the the gem manuifacting people, they sort out how many gems they need to have prepared. Not to say the number of gems is infinite. Rather, gems are as finite as the number of precious and semi precious gem stones found in an underground mine. Now, this leads to the interesting discussion of what the heck are gems made of anyway? I'm still trying to sort that out myself, to be honest. I've run table top games in which they were described as little more than colored glass clear through to actual gemstones such as emerld, sapphire, and garnet. For the web series, I've yet to settle on anything in particular, but I believe I've left some hints as to what I was thinking in some of hte Male Resistance scripts? 2 points to anyone that can find it for me. But back to the first question, yes most of the more powerful gems and gem sets are past down. Not necesarily teacher to student. It has to do with the way a deceased caster's magical energies get harnessed into the gems to give them a 'power up'. I've got the way it's done in my head, but want to save that for now, in case I need to use it.
17.So, let me get this straight. For males, there are some born with magic, and some are not. Does this apply to the females as well? In number, how many artificers are in Aldeberan currently? I just wanted to know their firepower Aldeberan has never been invaded by Toads, right?
Yes, it does apply to females as well. In the script where Bucky and company must guard the males working on the magical shield generator on Aldebaran cause Willy broke it, I believe it is mentioned. Approximately 70% of the total population on Aldebaran has some measure of magical ability, or at least, that's the nearest number the Aldebaran part of my brain is willing to give. And no, I can't tell you Aldebaran's current population. What? You think men are COUNTED on a census? ...okay... maybe 3 for every 5 are, but that's it! (5 points to anyone who gets that reference) While it hasn't been invaded, I believe the Toads have tried it, twice? Once in the animated series, once in the web series. Someone correct me if I'm wrong though.
18. Who or what is Mother Superior mentioned in the BoH Handbook? Do you still use it in the current webisodes, Clau?
I'm afraid I haven't read the headbook...HANDbook, nor do I own it. But, I think I remember the title from the original season. I have used the term Mother, though never Mother Superior. Mother is the Queen of Aldebaran. In my original storylines (which I admit have been altered to fit into the web series, and thus some information has been lost), The Queen wasn't called a Queen, but rather Mother. She was less the queen of the planet and more it's mother. I do give it some props by having Tommy call Katrina Mother at every opportunity, but that seems less relavent to this question as he's her son. >.<' But the title makes sense seeing as all the artificier titles are Sister this or Sister that. I have a feeling that there might have been some catholic influence to the naming scheme originally. Nuns call each other Sister and their 'leader' is Mother Superior. I think I've forgotten why I use Sister as a title, other than it was a carry over. XD Ah well, maybe I'll sort that out... later.
20.Can Aldebarans speak with the dead, and if so how?
There are a numbers of theories in Aldebaran magic about this subject. Some say that it is not possible, while others maintain that it's just a matter of contacting the departed spirit, much the way one contacts the living via Telepathy or Astral Projection. The truth of the matter lies within how Aldebaran Memory Stones are charged. The older a stone, and the longer it has been in use, the more powerful it becomes, not because magic is constantly being channeled into it, but because of the Aldebaran funreal rights. Magically active females are not buried, they are burned on a funreal pyre. Clothes, armor, stones, and all. All 'proper' funreal pyres are begun with magic, allowing the flames to burn hotter, thus destroying the body and releasing the spirit (and subsequently trapped magical powers still residing within the corpse) to be released. It's more of a fluke that the escaping soul finds parts of itself trapped within the stones once worn by the departed. This creates an imprint of the departed within the stones, increasing their power slightly. So while the answer is No, they can't Talk with the Dead, they can (with proper meditations and rituals) make contact with the imprinted soul-remenants trapped within the stones they wear.
21.Can they fuse two spells together to make a stronger spell?
Elemental magic is not what a vast majority of Aldebaran spells focus on, as can be seen in the major schools of magic: Thought, Healing, Combat, and General. That said, I can't, at this time, seen Aldebaran caster mixing elemental style magics together. It's simply not in their grasp. As for emotional magics, most magic requires such much mental control that while casting, aldebarans generally don't show much emotion.
Keep those questions coming, people!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON THE ALDEBERANS
(Random questions collected from the message board, answered by Claudia Carranza, Aldeberan Expert)
Last update: 16 September 2005
1.Are Artificers emotionless?
The way Aldebarans are written in the web series it is not 'outlawed' to show or feel emotions. Granted, it is true that strong emotions can affect spellcasting and so most of the more controlled spellcasters are often highly rational and unemotional felines on the planet. So while your friend is right that artificiers are often emotionless they aren't also so, nor would the be punished by any other caster for showing any kind of emotion. The magic might 'punish' them for emotionall fluxuations as they cast by the spell backfiring or intenisfying more than they had thought it was going to far more quickly they they could control.
2.How old is an Aldeberan averagely?
Regarding Generations and Aldebaran Lifespans...
Yes, regular artificiers live a long time. The magic they wield helps sustain them. Healing Sisters even more so since they have regenerative powers available to them for use. So, while Aldebarans grow and mature like any other race known (physically mature at 14 years and mentally mature at 20) they are able to remain in their 'prime' far longer, up to ten times longer in some cases, than the other races.
3.What sort of history did the Aldeberans and the Nharnians have together, if any, and what exactly lead to the wide rift between them?
CLau: The best answer is 'ten foot pole, held ten feet from body with telekinesis', but the why is a burning question and one that will have to, for the time being, remain unanswered. But I will file this one away, and flag the other writers to it on our mailing list. Perhaps, after bouncing around some ideas, we'll be able to write your answer in a script or ten.
As far as them having a past together, that is something that has not been worked on my the senior writers. It doesn't factor in to any of hte story arcs we have going so we aren't working on it now. Perhaps they did have a past, or perhaps they only had contact recently. Much of the aniverse is still undiscovered.
Rygar: Yep, they're definitely not friends. If I recall correctly, that script explains some of the reasons the two groups hate each other. It also comes up in the Season Four script I'm currently working on.
4. Do Aldebarans rely on weaponry besides their spells?
Combat sisters would, but that would be quite... antiquated, much the way American viewed the samurai's use of the sword during the late 19th century. (See The Last Samurai for details.) The most common non-magical weapon at Aldebaran's disposal would be the trusty blaster. In one script, Jenny finds herself reaching for her blaster, only to remember she isn't wearing it. Granted, she's off planet, so do take that into consideration.
5.Tommy uses King's Gems, right? So does that means there was one time that male with magics rule alongside the Queen?When did the law of Male is made?
As for your answers... I can't deny nor confirm at this point as my answer would be a spoiler for the script that is currently being worked on, and we all know how much you hate spoilers.
6. Did Jenny ever learn how to pilot before she went to the academy or she learned it when she began training there?
Jenny learned to pilot all manner of one-man, two-man, and frigate sized spacecraft at UAC Flight School (Don't think it has a name, but it's referred to, as Bucky and Jenny met in Flight School).
7. Are the COLORs of Aldeberan gems in accord to the kind of magic?
There are currently four schools of magic in operation on Aldebaran. Each is associated to a different 'power set' and a different color of spell gem. These are as follows:
Red : Combat School - Offensive spells.
Blue : Thought School - Mental spells.
Green : Healing School - Heal and Regenerative spells.
Yellow : General School - Jack of all trades, master of none. This is where 'everything else' goes.
8. Is Jenny, in anyway, breaking the rules of Aldebaran by going with Bucky?
Umm, yes. Very much so, yes. In every way possible, yes.
9. When the Queen banishes Cassie and her squad, she said to them to return their black gems... are they special gems beside the common ones?
Black gems, in and of themselves, don't exist. Black gems, defined either as the presence of all pigments or the absence of all light, does not exist as a 'color' of Aldebaran spell gems.
As we've seen in the web series so far, the only known cases of black gems, wherein gems are decrescribed as having a blackish hue to their color, are seen on Assassination Sisters.
And that's all I'm going to say at this moment about this subject, as I do not want to give away any spoilers for the upcoming scripts. But with the clues provided, I'm interested to see if anyone can piece it together for themselves, and no, I will not confirm your guesses either.
10.Does Aldeberan Magic have any weaknesses?
Please keep reading Season Four when it come sout. These questions will be answered!
11.Are Aldeberans the only race to ever combine magic and technology? since Jenny said she had equipped the RI with enhanced magic technology? What advantage does that give for the frigate?
To my knowledge, yes, Aldebaran is the first race to mix magic and technology. Yes, she did equip the RI with magical sensors. The advantaged it had was that it was less susceptable to becoming inoperative when damage was taken by the ship. She could also tap into it and get far more detailed readings from it, as well as detect magical energies in the area. Granted, those 'specials' only worked for her.
12.ANyways, what school exactly do the Assassin Sisters come from? Are they their own school or a special branch of another?
To be handled in the upcoming Season Restart. This will not be answered at this moment.
But if you're curious as to Schools, please reread my answers on the colors of gems in regards to the schools of magic, and then every description you can find for hte Assassins. And that's all the hints you'll get.
13.Does the aldebarans have weddings or they use slaves for breeding?
(Answered by Hypercat, approved by Claudia)
Hypercat: It would be the latter.Apparently, love is a forbidden thing in aldebaran, if not the love one can have for her sex toy, as male aldebarans are.
14.Is there anyway Katrina and her blood line be thrown out from the throne, or any royal family of aledberan for that matter?
Oh yes. Cassie tried replacing Katrina in one Season3 or 4 script. I've forgotten the name at the moment.
Sorry! The royal family entirely, now that would be difficult to do. MOst of the higher ups, as it is/was with European royalty, are mostly interbred. Someone, somewhere, is related and can proof that bloodline. It's easier to track, though, on Aldebaran than on Earth since Aldebaran is set up as a Matriarchy rather than a Patriarchy. Bloodlines are traces through the woman, as that is (unless you're using DNA and gene tracking) the ONLY sure way to tell if a child belongs to someone. But, don't get me started on the loopholes of such tracking, for I can think of several right now, and it's entirely possible the subject of bloodlines is worked out in the upcoming Aldebaran Script.
15.What is a memory stone? is it differ than the regular gems? Why does an artificer need it?
While the terms seem interchangeable, memory stones are particular to the Thought Order. Yes, just like regular spell gems, these too can harness and focus magical energies, but they are more refined when it comes to mental powers, such as memories. Hence the name. An artificier needs a memory stone the way some people need a journal. Anyone read Harry Potter? If you do, take a gander at what's-his-face-old-guy-head-master-person and his memory pot thingie whachama-call-it. Yeah, that. Not saying I ripped it from Rowling. Rather, it could be said she ripped it from me, seeing as I came first (that sounded wrong, but I'm going with it) but unlikely, seeing as we're two completely different genres. Regardless, take a look at that description, and you'll see what I'm getting at.
16.Is a set of gems inherited from mentor to pupils, (which means it is limited in number) or are they produced regularly?
Gems are produced regularly as the number of magic users increases. The census beauru, for a lack of a better term, calculates the birth rate and when that's given the the gem manuifacting people, they sort out how many gems they need to have prepared. Not to say the number of gems is infinite. Rather, gems are as finite as the number of precious and semi precious gem stones found in an underground mine. Now, this leads to the interesting discussion of what the heck are gems made of anyway? I'm still trying to sort that out myself, to be honest. I've run table top games in which they were described as little more than colored glass clear through to actual gemstones such as emerld, sapphire, and garnet. For the web series, I've yet to settle on anything in particular, but I believe I've left some hints as to what I was thinking in some of hte Male Resistance scripts? 2 points to anyone that can find it for me. But back to the first question, yes most of the more powerful gems and gem sets are past down. Not necesarily teacher to student. It has to do with the way a deceased caster's magical energies get harnessed into the gems to give them a 'power up'. I've got the way it's done in my head, but want to save that for now, in case I need to use it.
17.So, let me get this straight. For males, there are some born with magic, and some are not. Does this apply to the females as well? In number, how many artificers are in Aldeberan currently? I just wanted to know their firepower Aldeberan has never been invaded by Toads, right?
Yes, it does apply to females as well. In the script where Bucky and company must guard the males working on the magical shield generator on Aldebaran cause Willy broke it, I believe it is mentioned. Approximately 70% of the total population on Aldebaran has some measure of magical ability, or at least, that's the nearest number the Aldebaran part of my brain is willing to give. And no, I can't tell you Aldebaran's current population. What? You think men are COUNTED on a census? ...okay... maybe 3 for every 5 are, but that's it! (5 points to anyone who gets that reference) While it hasn't been invaded, I believe the Toads have tried it, twice? Once in the animated series, once in the web series. Someone correct me if I'm wrong though.
18. Who or what is Mother Superior mentioned in the BoH Handbook? Do you still use it in the current webisodes, Clau?
I'm afraid I haven't read the headbook...HANDbook, nor do I own it. But, I think I remember the title from the original season. I have used the term Mother, though never Mother Superior. Mother is the Queen of Aldebaran. In my original storylines (which I admit have been altered to fit into the web series, and thus some information has been lost), The Queen wasn't called a Queen, but rather Mother. She was less the queen of the planet and more it's mother. I do give it some props by having Tommy call Katrina Mother at every opportunity, but that seems less relavent to this question as he's her son. >.<' But the title makes sense seeing as all the artificier titles are Sister this or Sister that. I have a feeling that there might have been some catholic influence to the naming scheme originally. Nuns call each other Sister and their 'leader' is Mother Superior. I think I've forgotten why I use Sister as a title, other than it was a carry over. XD Ah well, maybe I'll sort that out... later.
20.Can Aldebarans speak with the dead, and if so how?
There are a numbers of theories in Aldebaran magic about this subject. Some say that it is not possible, while others maintain that it's just a matter of contacting the departed spirit, much the way one contacts the living via Telepathy or Astral Projection. The truth of the matter lies within how Aldebaran Memory Stones are charged. The older a stone, and the longer it has been in use, the more powerful it becomes, not because magic is constantly being channeled into it, but because of the Aldebaran funreal rights. Magically active females are not buried, they are burned on a funreal pyre. Clothes, armor, stones, and all. All 'proper' funreal pyres are begun with magic, allowing the flames to burn hotter, thus destroying the body and releasing the spirit (and subsequently trapped magical powers still residing within the corpse) to be released. It's more of a fluke that the escaping soul finds parts of itself trapped within the stones once worn by the departed. This creates an imprint of the departed within the stones, increasing their power slightly. So while the answer is No, they can't Talk with the Dead, they can (with proper meditations and rituals) make contact with the imprinted soul-remenants trapped within the stones they wear.
21.Can they fuse two spells together to make a stronger spell?
Elemental magic is not what a vast majority of Aldebaran spells focus on, as can be seen in the major schools of magic: Thought, Healing, Combat, and General. That said, I can't, at this time, seen Aldebaran caster mixing elemental style magics together. It's simply not in their grasp. As for emotional magics, most magic requires such much mental control that while casting, aldebarans generally don't show much emotion.
Keep those questions coming, people!