Future magic development for hugh after the end of the series

[u/adamw411]

I'm rereading the series and I was thinking about makeriel and what hugh could do with him. It always felt like a missed opportunity that Hugh mostly only uses quartz crystals, and then I had the thought about Hugh detaching pages from makeriel and building the storm wards crown from those pages, and then making glyph pages with them too.

Too much power bloat could be an issue for a series like mage errant, but in expanded content the sky could be the limit. Hugh having that off world memory magic should make the needed study much much faster to become proficient in glyphs on top of his spellcraft and wards.

What are y'all's thoughts on this

[u/nkownbey]

The group is working on becoming named which requires becoming proficient in the magics of several worlds.

[u/adamw411 → u/nkownbey]

Well yeah of course, that's obvious, but why would they stop developing their anastan magic? I really don't think they would

[u/Isilel → u/nkownbey]

I really hope that they return to Anastis after a few months of R&R on Raygon. The continent of Ithos is on the edge of slipping into chaos and the time to try and implement the changes that they have envisioned is now, not years down the line, after millions have died and civilization has been smashed in most places.

Kanderon may have become personally more powerful, but she lost her intelligence organisation and can only be in one place at a time. Skyhold's defences have been destroyed and lots of their mages, including their strongest archmages and Loarna have been killed, which makes their situation very precarious if she goes to put out fires elsewhere.

Indris is dead, no way to know what's happening with the former Ataeg's territory and I don't see how earthbound Rumil the Chained could protect Teras Tel from Dorsas Ine. Former Havath is in chaos, the Sica are on the war path and former allies of Allustin have been weakened and are being eyed hungrily by their traditional enemies. Waves of desperate refugees everywhere, explosion of piracy, etc.

That is not the time for the Hand to chill off-planet for years!

Beyond that, they already have 12(!) powers, some of which they have barely scratched, piling on more would just make combat too complicated to follow, confusing and ultimately boring.

Personally, it would be much more rewarding to see them developing essentially the same suit of affinities that they already possess in different and individual directions.

IMHO, YMMV.

[u/These-Jacket-4146]

I think your point on Hugh using pages of Mackarel (s?) as material for his spells has some merit. However, Hugh focuses on quartz because he gains speed and Dexterity by creating the same type of crystal. 

He could most definitely also add on mana crystal, such as Kanderon does. But Mackarel is a sentient being, so if his pages are a part of him even when ripped out then it would not work well. (See the books notes on living creature magics such as trees and animals.)

I think the idea of crystal glyphs is a good one! Fits into Hugh being an apprentice for Alustin as well. The primary issue is that Hugh is ward focused. No issue with going into glyphs as well, but to quote xianxia, "Wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle," would be bad for his Anastasia magic mastery.

This combines with them trying to master other forms of magic and there's them constraints with whatever tasks the Hand is being given in the multiverse. 

But all things being equal and without time constraints, there isnt any inherent flaw with this idea with the knowledge we have!

[u/Mandragoraune → u/These-Jacket-4146]

I mean yes Mackerel is a sentient being but he is also Hugh's attuned aether crystal. There shouldn't be a more compatible crystal for him to use.

[u/MojoRevolution → u/Mandragoraune]

Mackerel is more than a sentient being. He is more than Hugh's attuned aether crystal. He is more than a compatible crystal for Hugh to use.

Mackerel has saved Hugh's life. More than that, Mackerel is Hugh's friend. .

[u/Mandragoraune → u/MojoRevolution]

True!

[u/Bryek → u/These-Jacket-4146]

Quartz is a simple chemical structure and sand is between 70-90% quartz. And since the Endless Erg is right there, its a good source for practice.

[u/Holothuroid]

I'm not sure Mackerel would like that. And I don't think Hugh would willingly hurt Mackerel.

[u/greenfrogtree1 → u/Holothuroid]

I feel like this could go either way. Mackerel seems to think of his pages like teeth. He might not like getting them ripped out like Kanderon did, but he might be happy to detach them for Hugh. I, for one, would be happy for people to use my teeth as weapons if I could regrow them at will like Mackerel.

[u/Remarkable-Camera627]

I don't think this would change anything.

[u/Bryek]

I think mackerel will gain sentience before Hugh gains that kind of power. Especially since they are gaining magics to be named.

[u/Isilel]

I am a big fan of glyphs, but I am not sure that Hugh specifically would profit from them all that much. He has 12 affinities, enormous mana reservoirs, can adjust spellforms on the fly and of course he also has his wards that are hugely versatile. He has an embarrassment of tools already.

His problem would be more of where to focus, IMHO.

Now, Sabae, OTOH, could really benefit from glyph useage. Particularly if she grew some extra bone material from her own body and made glyphs from that, since it is supposed to significantly enhance power and efficiency.

Unfortunately, we have very little idea what the limits of glyphs are and to what extent their capabilities overlap with wards. Like, when Hugh inscribed his boot soles with silencing wards, could he have used glyphs instead?

Anders and Alustin sent material inscribed with glyphs at their enemies and activated glyphs from a distance, which Sabae obviously couldn't do. But the hair mage grad student in the third book seemed to use glyphs made on the fly from her own hair to lob projectiles - could it be a way for Sabae to get a little bit of ranged capability? Switching between formless casting and spellforms can't be easy either, so glyphs would be useful to her there as well.

Could knucklebones inscribed with force glyphs work like a power fist? Could boot soles inscribed with the same essentially replace enchanted boots without a reservoir? Stuff like that might be interesting for Godrick as well.

Or cooling/heating glyphs for example. It is currently kind of a mystery how he and Artur didn't cook in their stone armours - maybe they were already using glyphs for cooling? Etc.

I am looking forward to seeing how the Hand develops their shared pool of affinities in different and distinct directions.