Tan you! That trap was super effective! Now I’ve spent 15 minutes of my life reading every thing you wrote. XD
Jokes aside, I’ll answer what I do know. Here I’ve set up a trap for you in return:
Summary
On the author’s Tumblr page, he said that the issue has more to do with the MC’s soul constantly facing rejection and hostile mana from the earthly plane. He did not specify why that is the case. Perhaps this is true for all resurrected people, including Eli. But only the author can really confirm this. The resurrected people are not “normal” humans, but they are not “walking corpses” either, because they weren’t resurrected in their dead bodies.
Originally, the resurrection spell used Netherworld spirits to construct a “body”(vessel) for the souls of the deceased to inhabit temporarily, so that whoever resurrected them can spend some time, or final moments, with the deceased before truly letting them go. And I imagine the temporary body/vessel dispersed back into the spirits who helped made it at the expiration. Some mages have been known to keep the resurrected alive for months until they died from mana exhaustion, expiring together with their loved ones.
But over time in the ancient past, the Arcadian mages have worked on improving the resurrection spell to the point that it manages to recreate a human body for the resurrected, that they bleed, and can pretty much live like a normal human…as long as their bodies receive enough mana supply to counter the rejection and the attacks of hostile mana from the earthly plane on their soul. That is the version Tahlia used to bring the MC (and Eli) back to life: The Song of the Dead.
As for what state a dead person is resurrected in, the author said it is pretty much right at the moment of their death. I imagine this is so that the resurrected can retain pretty much all of their memories up to their last moments. Obviously, the body of the resurrected needs to be in “perfectly healthy” condition in order for the resurrection to work at all. Can’t bring a deceased back to life with their body suffering from 6th-degree burn, or having a blade sticking through their heart now, can we?
As for Tahlia’s healing, it was simply her passing her mana through the MC’s body if I’m not mistaken. She might be able to perform basic healings, but nothing more. She even mentioned that if she could heal all of the MC’s injuries, including their mana ducts, she would have definitely healed their scar/broken knee/brain damage (from the Bandits Camp incident) already.
As for the phantasmas, they are the avatars of the many different universal, conscious energies that are intelligent, and these energies are the sources of the many arcana magics. I’ve never played D&D, so I can’t compare the phantasmas with the D&D gods.
As for the MC’s seals, there are two types of seals placed on them. The first ones are six arcana seals the mad scientist Thaubal Altinier (who you called “WhatsHisFace”) carved into the skin on their arms in experiment. The other set are tattooed seals the Salantir Duke’s mages placed over those first ones to seal the phantasmas off from the MC to prevent them from using them and subsequently damage their mana ducts. During the time of the Parami-Salantir War, those tattooed seals have pretty much faded all away, which is what allowed the MC to use their arcana(s) again after so many years.
As for what caused the MC’s mana ducts to fry and forcing them to take a year-long hiatus in Leaf End at the start of the game, that is something I haven’t figured out myself. Perhaps it is from using too many powerful spells in succession to kill the bandits who killed Aunt Bess’s son?
Otherwise, I agree that there should be an option for our MCs to be traumatised and/or to have pyrophobia due to the fiery execution if we so choose.
But yes, I do agree that the summary function is pretty neat.
Thx for explaining that stuff, I doubted anyone will bother reading my rambling.
You said the body needs to be in a perfect condition to be resurected but MC still has that knee ingury along with the scars on their arms and so does Eli. So if that was the case shouldn’t they be as smooth as a baby bottom one resurected? Because if they retain their old scars I don’t see why not keep non lethal injuries as well or al least scars from them. And if the spell recreates the body, how does it know to recreate the persons earthly posessions as well? Like Eli’s necklace that should be destroyed along with everything they had on them when they selfdestructd’. I know it’s gold but I doubt they took it with them to the afterlife hehe.
My MC decided on “Ghost” because that’s pretty much what he is now. He may be living and breathing but he’s somewhat a former shell of what he was, his perceptions on life in general have changed and he hopes to feel forgettable so at any time he can just disappear and vanish. Not that most people will let him do that but yeah. I think I’ve always been fond of this name when it comes to codenames in general and wish I could explain it better especially the motivation for having my MCs codename be this but it’s all I got for now.
Also in terms of Eli’s necklace I believe it wasn’t gold it was made with a material much stronger than that. Which is why it still looks in pristine condition and hasn’t rusted. I can’t recall what the material was called but it isn’t destroyed easily at all, not completely sure if the possession was recreated or if Eli went back to where she died and grabbed it herself. And in terms of scars it varies on what happened to your character, my character still has a scar on their… right eye? If I recall correctly. It’s there, hasn’t healed. Y&F even commented on it at the start of book 2 but it’s barely been mentioned. Unless you romance Y then she mentions it again later I believe.
You can also have brain damage, but the point I was makin is that MC’s body still has old scars and injures therefore it is not in perfect condition, even more threfore, they could gain new ones from the fire they died in.
And if the super expensive, supergold necklace was recreated, can they do that more but without a troublesome mage attached to it? Acradia has the power to destroy any country’s economy by floding it with a surplus of expensive materials xd
When I said in, quote unquote, “perfectly healthy” condition, I meant the best condition the body of the deceased was in before they died or was killed. Of course, not saying that it isn’t nice to get a brand new body that is as smooth as a baby’s bottom. XD
Well, I guess I forgot to mention an important aspect of the resurrection process in my previous post. My bad. But before I answer it, I’ll have to give an analogy to help you understand something better.
You know something called “Cloud Data Storage” that many of us use nowadays? It’s basically online memory disk with nearly endless space for us to store our files, games etc.
Now. Imagine the universe is a computer and has something similar to this “Cloud Storage”, except it has infinite data storage space and it contains all the knowledge, information, and events that have happened, are happening, and will happen, as well as all the living things, including humans, that have lived, are currently living, and will live in the whole universe, plus all the possibilities. It is called the Arkashic Record (in Hinduism and Buddhism), or the Blue Space (in Judaism).
It is from accessing this storage of information that Tahlia managed to “find” and recreate both the MC’s and Eli’s bodies in their best conditions before they died, including their old scars or injuries as well as their earthly possessions like their clothes and jewelry.
Now, whether or not there is an afterlife, it’s never specified.
OK, I get it, so basically she restored MC’s save file But if that is true and MC is not burned, wouldn’t that mean they shouldn’t remember their execution at all? Since they were “loaded” in a state before that happened? Not only execution but also their time in the dungeon and the fight with Ante since then too they damaged their body? Or maybe that’s why the resurrection puts such a burden on MC, because their soul is from a save file after the execution but their body is from a pre-burned one, and they are out of synch?
If Tahlia gets access to those universal records of all living beings, could she theoretically bring back someone in a state years before their death? Or even as a child? What if she wanted to bring someone who is not even born yet or MC from a different timeline when Arcadia didn’t fall? Because you said, " plus all the possibilities". That’s waaaay to overpowered IMHO anyway since with access to those records you can know the future.
You have a very inquisitive mind, and I like that. I suppose we are kindred spirits in a way.
Actually, the MC’s body wasn’t damaged during their time in prison. The Parami prison guards only fed the MC with some gob with poor nutritional values just to keep the MC alive until the day of their execution. The MC’s body was withering away from malnutrition, but definitely wasn’t damaged.
But I think you’re on to something there. Combining a soul from a “saved file” post mortem and a body from a “saved file” moments before it was irreparably damaged or killed could be what causes the resurrected to constantly face rejection and hostile mana from the earthly plane. Because that combination is, as you said, “out of sync” which causes a lot of “bugs” in the “simulation/game” of life.
Of course, the author never explained the issue this far, nor has he confirmed this, so for now we can only speculate.
Maybe she could, but I don’t think it would serve her and her causes. Since the ritual takes a little over a year and lots of efforts and energy to complete. Say if she restores the “saved file” of the MC as a child, how can a wee child MC help her fight her war? Especially without the memories and experiences of the latest, adult version MC? Or if she loaded the MC’s saved file from an alternate reality where Arcadia isn’t destroyed, that version of MC will be utterly confused and would likely just resent Tahlia for bringing them into this version of reality.
As for knowing the future, maybe she can forsee certain major events that can’t be changed like natural disasters. But otherwise, future events are not set in stone, so I don’t think anyone can really “predict” the future with 100% certainty.
Gold doesn’t rust or tarnish at all. It’s actually one of the least reactive elements. It can remain in perfect condition after thousands of years of neglect, buried, wet, and frozen, all fine.
Really? I was sure that overuse of arcana coused them physical damage and that they couldn’t move much because of that, not because the food was only 3 stars with no mayonnaise.
Well I asked about thet and about predicting the future to merely establish limits of this power, limits are gr8 i love them and how characters work to use their abilities efficiently with those limits in mind. I’m curious about those limits becasuse the first thing after reading the ressurection part I wondered this: why not bring back actual Arcadians, from before the invasion? Why bother witch some wattered down descendant when you can get a reall thing? And if you can get them as children then you can just raise a whole generation of resurected Arcadians as your own kids, sharing your ideas and goals.
I assumed it is because you need some sort of familiarity with the person you are trying to ressurect. Thats why I am even more certain that Tahlia knew about WhatsHisFace and his experiments and was sectetly watching the kids as her future assets. Thats why she was able to bring back Mc, Eli and undoubtedly will Sister too.
No. The use of arcana caused mana exhaustion which eventually caused the MC to faint, but not before ending the Saintess Shiraya’s life, of course. That arcana usage almost caused irreparable damage to the MC’s mana ducts, as Tahlia later told the MC in early Book 2.
Tahlia may be a powerful mage with an OP phantasma that makes her near-omniscient, but she is still human. She definitely has limits, and I imagine it takes efforts and time on her part to police the thoughts of all Arcadians most of the time.
I think Tahlia did say it is easier to bring back powerful mages like the MC and Eli due to certain requirements of the resurrection spell. And even if she can just bring anyone back to life willy-nilly, remember that she’ll still have to supply the resurrected people with her mana. No matter how much mana she has, it definitely isn’t limitless. So I don’t think she can keep dozens and dozens of undeads alive indefinitely.
Yeah. I also have the feeling that she will likely bring Mireil back in Book 3. Especially if the MC manages to escape Arcadia with Eli.
No worries. I also like to theorise over things and fill in the blanks in good stories. It’s fun.
How about 5 then? Just the best mages alive during the invasion to ensure they are on her side. In book 2 Y can wipe out that army when rescuing Eli so I imagine that any number of mages of Arcadia level would make quite an asset.
One more thing puzzling me: why didn’t Tahlia extract the ill fitted phanthasma srom MC or anyone even suggest that after MC got earthsworn? The BBEG from book 2 wanted to do it to her so it is certainty possible. Are the other 4 not in any way interfering in MC proficiency with Earthsworn? Not to mention there are mages in Tahlias command who would make use of them. Its weird she would pass up the chance to have 4 more arcanists in her army, thats doubling what she already has.
And sorry if any of what I inquired is just plainly in the books, I just try not to go over them to many times to not loose interest by reding over and over and over again.
Thanks I appreciate it, espaccialy since usually people just tell me to “shut up and stop hating things”, so I do just that and don’t engage at all. So thx again.
I guess this means that the Song of the Dead isn’t an easy spell to cast on top being time- and mana-consuming.
That’s a good question, one I’ve asked before myself. I also agree that the MC should have those ill-fitting phantasmas released from them if we so choose, especially since Tahlia said they are taking their tolls on the MC’s mana ducts. I even hope that the MC will be able to find their perfect phantasma eventually so they won’t have to rely on those four ill-fitting ones and so that their mana ducts no longer need to suffer.
But I guess only the author Parivir can really answer this question for us.
Again, you’re very welcome. It’s fun engaging with your theories and thoughts on this story.
I wanted to choose that at first, but I figured it didn’t fit my MC who was simply dragged into the world of the living by Tahlia. And he’s not happy about it at all.
I went with “Tenebrous”. I like this word and finally found right IF game where it would be good name for my MC.
And what do you think about the situation in Salantria? It’s got to be weird for everyone (I don’t mean everyone in the whole country) to be coming back to their sences after years of brainwashing only for some country to claim you invaded tham and demanding recompensation.
Salantria seem like a most vulnerable country after the war not only to be invaded by other kingdoms but to be brainwashed again, by Tahlia this time ( wihich I would be siprised if she don’t plan on doing). I wonder if they are even aware what state they were in or of how much time has passed. What I’m most curious about tho, is if the Duke would try to find MC and Eli. I got the impression he wanted to be quite close with the kids when he rescued them from WhatsHisFace, so I imagine over the years MC spend with him they had to form some sorf of relarionship right? Maybe he’s mighty guilt ridden about everything even if he had no controll. I wonder how their relationship looked like and I wonder even more why MC didn’t wonder about their pretty-much-adoptive-father, during all this time. I guess in book 1 they were on the run and later hyperfacused on saving everyone so it was easy to just close off that part of their life and not think about it, but with Sister now dead I think MC could spare some time to think about their life at the court and if it is possible to go back to it.
Isn’t that supposed to be Earthsworn? Im pretty sure that when attacking BBEG in book 2, MC say something to the effect of “not beeing weak anymore and finally having a perfect phanthasma”.
I chose Hemlock for one of my characters 'cause their last name was Arbolais, and I feel like a sort of poisonous plant theme worked well for them. They have an almost all green outfit to boot!
(plus, hemlock looks like a lot of different plants while being deadly enough to kill humans, and having a charming mage who just so happens to also be a major cynic be named after a poisonous plant felt fitting.)
Another one got Jester, because… Uh. Charming, optimistic, and pragmatic! He really went off the deep end after the burning, and I think him naming himself after the role he thinks he truly should’ve had instead of Court Mage had he not been Burnt™ was neat.
@Mahmed@Barroth_the_Mage
In regards to the phantasm that the mc has but does not use. It definitely could be puzzling why not remove them I think there is a reason but I don’t recall at the moment what or where I might have heard it.
The important thing though is that while they might be able to remove them in the right situation it doesn’t equate to them having someone capable of using the now freed up phantasm. It’s sorta like a bloodline/capability of a person to get the full affect.
Hope this little bit helps there are other people probably recall it better then me lol
But if that is true and MC is not burned, wouldn’t that mean they shouldn’t remember their execution at all? Since they were “loaded” in a state before that happened? Not only execution but also their time in the dungeon and the fight with Ante since then too they damaged their body? Or maybe that’s why the resurrection puts such a burden on MC, because their soul is from a save file after the execution but their body is from a pre-burned one, and they are out of synch?
