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When your brother is trying to kill you and you have a schedule too tight to take much advantage from whatever intel Clairvoyance gives you, having a magical discipline that has direct effects as well is not a bad idea.
Not to mention that Clairvoyance while useful has plenty of limitations of its own, requiring sympathetic items for scrying purposes and being more than a bit unreliable when divining the future.
The concrete benefits of being able to talk with all the poeple our bloodthirsty brother is going to kill is signficant, since even those that don't have dirt on him directly should hate him enough to part with useful things, and the option to call up some of our ancestors is not to be underestimated when you come from a long line of powerful mages.
As for the social benefit with our uncle, given how much control he has over our actions and how we are after this going to sit at zero fatepoints for the time being, getting him to be more willing to let us do our own stuff or at least more benevolent is incredibly important and cannot be delayed, especially if we want to beat our brother to that goal so we can get a headstart on the scheming.
And that's not even going into the fact that our brother will most likely take note of a Clairvoyance focus and look into counter measures rather quickly.
Meanwhile the intel applications of Necromancy are hidden both behind its other applications (like just not staying down when posioned or stabbed) and the ostensible motivation being our grief.
It's entirely possible to do scheming, plotting, and politicking via Necromancy. First off, yes, other nations have Necromancy banned. What that means is that the Princess can act as a beacon/idol for Necromancers. They're a group that would be executed in any other nation. Think of how much more invested they'd be in having someone to represent them higher-up and looking out for their interests so that they have at least one place they won't be executed in. Second, undead can be used for a lot of things that would otherwise be dangerous, which we can potentially leverage for popular support among the lower-class, even if they dislike the idea of Necromancy. Peasants are selfish blighters, and if having a Necromancer in charge means that the mining work becomes less dangerous because undead are doing the brunt of the more dangerous work, the undead do back-breaking manual labor that would likely kill them to work at the same pace, and when the Barony is called to provide soldiers they get to keep their fathers and sons because we brought an army of undead instead of conscripting them... well, these are things that can change minds.
Beyond that, Clairvoyance was noted to be vague and comes with riddles. If we summon the soul of an assassin and force them to confess, well, that's hard evidence.
We are gifted in the Magical Arts, though not to the extent of our brother. Legendary is something we can accomplish. If we stick to a single discipline throughout our training time.
This part. I admit I'm extrapolating so that 'impossible' equates 'legendary' but I strongly believe it to be the case. Our brother of course is probably going to achieve Legendary Evocation or something in half the time though.What others might call impossible is merely extremely difficult for you.
First, our nation already doesn't ban Necromancers. As a result, we have Necromancers already within' our nation. Necromancers who are probably constantly wary that our Kingdom will bow to foreign pressure and brand them as criminals. If they're not raving lunatics, damn straight I expect their support.To restate.
While every nation has necromancy banned, we can act as an idol for a group of criminals and rejects hated everywhere in the world and somehow get them to help us despite the fact that when they do every other country has serious problems with us not extraditing their criminals for execution.
We can use undead instead of armies because raising a zombie workforce anywhere ever ends up building popular support, particularly when its hated. We can do this to increase production while getting all the coal minors fired. For which they will love us while starving because they're not mining coal.
I don't think it'll be all that relevant myself, but, given that "The Witch's Curse [20]" had "(Adds a new potential winning condition)" as one of its primary benefits, I highly doubt that.Honestly wasn't planning to vote in this section since I didn't care much but I see Necromancy as going horribly horribly wrong.
Also I have a suspicion that even in the off chance we managed to resurrect our parents: 1) We'd no longer have a vacant throne to inherit, and 2) They might favor our brother for the throne still, since he's the first born and the one that it belongs to.
First, our nation already doesn't ban Necromancers. As a result, we have Necromancers already within' our nation. Necromancers who are probably constantly wary that our Kingdom will bow to foreign pressure and brand them as criminals. If they're not raving lunatics, damn straight I expect their support.
Second, it's more in addition to armies, and we're part of a feudal society. That means that losing their job does not automatically mean they don't eat if we decide they get paid the same for less dangerous work. Undead can also be used in ways that create jobs too, as clearing forest and tilling new fields is pretty damn hard labor. We're part of nation that allows Necromancy, and while I've sure the peasants are wary of it, as something not illegal and Necromancers not being something a random schmuck should fuck with they don't really have a say in the matter. We can show them why Necromancy isn't outlawed in our kingdom, and potentially make them damn happy that when our Barony gets called on to provide an army, their families won't be sent marching to their death.
Given that "The Witch's Curse [20]" had "(Adds a new potential winning condition)" as one of its primary benefits, I highly doubt that.
Besides, resurrecting them would give us a lot of browny points, especially with our father, you know, the king that was absolutely devastated at the loss of his wife, as the actual king he is not nearly as bound by tradition as the regent when it comes to declaring the successor and it at the very least removes the quite literal deadline we're facing at our 18th birthday.
Not to mention that we at least for now lack a dark secret, unlike our brother, who's dalliances may very well lead to a civil war or rebellion against the crown if uncovered and the impact of which is significantly lessened if we become heir, seeing how he can't be accused of stringing along half a dozen of women with the promise of becoming queen when he's not actually crownprince. He'd still have to be punished harshly of course, but sad as that is it's for the sake of the kingdom.
Honestly I really don't see this secret as really impacting his right to rule that much. Honestly it was the weakest out of the lot of them.Not to mention that we at least for now lack a dark secret, unlike our brother, who's dalliances may very well lead to a civil war or rebellion against the crown if uncovered and the impact of which is significantly lessened if we become heir, seeing how he can't be accused of stringing along half a dozen of women with the promise of becoming queen when he's not actually crownprince. He'd still have to be punished harshly of course, but sad as that is it's for the sake of the kingdom.
Of course it's probably going to be more optimized for that purpose, but it still has significant limitations that are all the more problematic when considering the fact that your main strength doesn't directly affect anything.The info gathering magic is still going to be the best for info gathering. Any limitations necromancy has there will be far far more overt. Also, how do you know what clairvoyance requires for limitations, as far as I know we have a single word about sympathy, which doesn't tell us anything about how hard or easy it will be.
Legendary magic does away with pretty much all limits, so that's not saying much.We also know that the legendary level seems to do away with that limit.
I'm not saying we won't have the time to use Clairvoyance, I'm saying we won't have the time to act on it.So, we won't have time to use clairvoyance but we WILL be able to go raise the dead whenever despite not knowing the necessary time involved.
And yet we need to do something, if we want to get any signficant freedom whatsoever before our brother does.The potential social benefits that are by no means a sure thing whatsoever. He might beat the shit out of us just for voicing this idea for all we know.
No, if we take clairvoyance our aims for it are immediately obvious and something he can focus on to combat.So
If we go clairvoyance we have no time to use it and our brother will instantly learn to counter the entire discipline.
If we go necromancy we'll be able to use it all we want and our brother WON'T take steps to make sure the dead stay in their graves.
If we take your premise that everyone will love us for doing something that's reviled and that our brother will be an order of magnitude more competent when we do clairvoyance than necromancy, then yeah, it seems like a good idea.
In practice, if you're killing people to hide info and you know your biggest enemy spends most of her time talking to ghosts? You find ways to avoid that. First, by just getting rid of what we need to work, or going to the church and making sure all his duels end well. Given how little we know about necromancy, it's entirely possible that most people aren't even callable.
By contrast, if we go clairvoyance we can develop the entire magic focused around doing this, which probably won't be no-sold completely.
Theres a good chance our uncle is going to include that anyways, especially if we learn the magic that includes minion creation.I'm convinced, switched to Necromancy from my old illusion choice. Pity no one else picked Military Strategy. We could be a hell of a general.
One necromancer can't do those things, but as I said, I expect support from other Necromancers. Delegation is important for any ruler. We also don't need to completely replace anything, just do enough that the benefits are noticeable. And remember, we're both a magical kingdom and the only place where Necromancers aren't banned. Even if they're not public about it, I expect we have a fair number of them, as they're the only school of magic that has no other place they can go. Actually managing the support of the majority of an entire School of Magic could be big, and enough people don't completely hate Necromancy that it's still legal here despite foreign pressure.
A lot of people have been promised they're going to sit on the throne. Some may have started planning for it. This is not insignificant, especially since these people have power, and given that this is a magic kingdom, that power may not just be political.Honestly I really don't see this secret as really impacting his right to rule that much. Honestly it was the weakest out of the lot of them.
Many Kings had multiple lovers, even amongst nobility. Quite a few are famous for the sheer number. It really isn't that big a deal. It's halfway expected. I'm expecting he'd get a pat on the back for doing a good job more likely than any punishment.
Theres a good chance our uncle is going to include that anyways, especially if we learn the magic that includes minion creation.
The secret is that he's promised several of them marriage.Honestly I really don't see this secret as really impacting his right to rule that much. Honestly it was the weakest out of the lot of them.
Many Kings had multiple lovers, even amongst nobility. Quite a few are famous for the sheer number. It really isn't that big a deal. It's halfway expected. I'm expecting he'd get a pat on the back for doing a good job more likely than any punishment.
Meanwhile we're going to have practiced Necromancy which will negatively impact foreign relations with basically everyone.
There's a reason this option was together with Mark of the (Old) Gods the second most expensive one.Playboy [10] – He secures his popularity in the oldest way. This is fine, but he has made promises to the matriarchs and daughters of several noble families. At the same time. It is blackmail, but dare you use it? Such a thing would tear the kingdom apart.
Henry married over half a dozen women and had many of them killed. This didn't really impair his rule.The secret is that he's promised several of them marriage.
There's a reason this option was together with Mark of the (Old) Gods the second most expensive one.
Very untrue. The bloodiest rulers in history have oftentimes been very successful. Take a look at Genghis Khan for instance. He is legendary for both how many children he sired and just how apocalyptically bloody his reign was. He conquered more territory than anyone else in history.I actually expect the Blood Knight to be the greater threat to his eventual rule. A proclivity for slaughtering people is a much greater threat.
It gets rulers labelled "The Mad" or "The Bloody" and generally sees revolts following.
Slaughtering your enemies is very different then slaughtering those you are meant to rule. And we'll be there to push things along. We are Inspiring and Charismatic and Mature. People will follow us if we say the Mad Prince must be stopped!Very untrue. The bloodiest rulers in history have oftentimes been very successful. Take a look at Genghis Khan for instance. He is legendary for both how many children he sired and just how apocalyptically bloody his reign was. He conquered more territory than anyone else in history.
It's entirely possible to do scheming, plotting, and politicking via Necromancy. First off, yes, other nations have Necromancy banned. What that means is that the Princess can act as a beacon/idol for Necromancers. They're a group that would be executed in any other nation. Think of how much more invested they'd be in having someone to represent them higher-up and looking out for their interests so that they have at least one place they won't be executed in. Second, undead can be used for a lot of things that would otherwise be dangerous, which we can potentially leverage for popular support among the lower-class, even if they dislike the idea of Necromancy.
To restate.
While every nation has necromancy banned, we can act as an idol for a group of criminals and rejects hated everywhere in the world and somehow get them to help us despite the fact that when they do every other country has serious problems with us not extraditing their criminals for execution.
You can indeed be very popular with the assorted freaks, weirdos, creepy death cults and scholars that make up the Necromancy branch. If... that's a good thing? You get the alliance of some of the raving lunatics, too; which is sort of the problem...First, our nation already doesn't ban Necromancers. As a result, we have Necromancers already within' our nation. Necromancers who are probably constantly wary that our Kingdom will bow to foreign pressure and brand them as criminals. If they're not raving lunatics, damn straight I expect their support
Luckily, you have aWe can use undead instead of armies because raising a zombie workforce anywhere ever ends up building popular support, particularly when its hated. We can do this to increase production while getting all the coal minors fired. For which they will love us while starving because they're not mining coal.
If magical talent were a number, then yours would definitely be a bigger talent than his, and your brother's bigger still.Legendary is something we might accomplish. In practice, looking at our father (who was probably just as gifted) it was "Yeah, he got pretty close at the height of his power."
Father: "Thanks, daughter! Now we can rule over the kingdom forever as undying immortals!"I don't think it'll be all that relevant myself, but, given that "The Witch's Curse [20]" had "(Adds a new potential winning condition)" as one of its primary benefits, I highly doubt that.
Besides, resurrecting them would give us a lot of browny points, especially with our father, you know, the king that was absolutely devastated at the loss of his wife, as the actual king he is not nearly as bound by tradition as the regent when it comes to declaring the successor and it at the very least removes the quite literal deadline we're facing at our 18th birthday.
This is true. Classes you spend fate points on are also more likely to get events than their cheaper counterparts.The Fate Points would be more to ensure that we actually have a gift for heading an army instead of just learning the stuff in school.
Your brother is definitely hoping for the harem ending.Henry married over half a dozen women and had many of them killed. This didn't really impair his rule.
Uncle: He can try.Our Brother, being a Playboy most likely will skip the ones he finds boring.
The issue is more about the knowledge of the soul in charge coupled with the magical talent of the body it's housed in.Here's another potential huge benefit of necromancy.
Guile, if a mage's corpse is used to make an undead, are there ways to preserve their spellcasting in any way, shape of form?
Because if the answer to that isn't a unilateral 'no', Necromancy is the only option to give you unquestioningly loyal mages from other disciplines as a force multiplying option, rather than 'well you can sway them to your side/hire them', both of which aren't absolute about the loyalty acquired.
One cannot overstate how valuable absolute loyalty is in forces you may frequently need to give mucky jobs and send into danger - doubly so when you don't need to pay them!
And gee willickers, we live in an area with the highest concentration of magic users around - if any graveyards are getting heavy influx of new dead mages, it'd be this place.
So yeah, Necromancy (Barring an answer from the QM I'm clearly not expecting) is da strongest.
Probably Law, or Medicine, or Engineering. Hmm, if I had to guess I'd say Law. If Alchemy and Enchanting doesn't fall into approved I can't see Engineering or Medicine doing so either.You're definitely more right than not, but I spot at least one class that's making the Regent-approved list that you haven't noticed.
I'd say Holy (Old God), because it sounds like a ridiculously badass combat magic that our family were experts in centuries ago.Probably Law, or Medicine, or Engineering. Hmm, if I had to guess I'd say Law. If Alchemy and Enchanting doesn't fall into approved I can't see Engineering or Medicine doing so either.
Or Holy, for the defensive magics, even if it does rely on a god.
If our uncle worshipped the Old Gods it'd make sense to why he didn't like the new ones.I'd say Holy (Old God), because it sounds like a ridiculously badass combat magic that our family were experts in centuries ago.
It would, wouldn't it?If our uncle worshipped the Old Gods it'd make sense to why he didn't like the new ones.
Good thing that battle often produces fresh corpses, and if the enemy has mages you probably are fielding them too - seems less restrictive than it could be, which is great!The issue is more about the knowledge of the soul in charge coupled with the magical talent of the body it's housed in.
If you get there quickly enough you could almost certainly find and stick the right soul back in the right body for maximum gains (or rather, minimum losses). This is likely to frighten a lot of people for various reasons, though.
You know, I'm actually starting to like the guy a bit even though we've never met him.