Derek Christensen
asked
Andrew Rowe:
how strong our Carnelian E shrouds? would it stop a pistol round, rifle round? In a more crazy meter if an attuned with a Carnelian E shroud found them selves in the world of the walking dead how man bites would it take to get through the shroud? continuing the crazy would the shroud regenerate and protect the attuned as a zombie?
Andrew Rowe
Good questions.
1. A Carnelian-level shroud would likely slow down a round from a pistol or rifle, but whether or not it would stop it entirely would depend on the mass and velocity of the round. It'd be more effective against lower powered firearms, and against high powered ones, it may slow the round enough to diminish the damage inflicted (or allow something else, like body armor, to stop the round more easily).
Keep in mind that Carnelian is a large range; a just barely Carnelian-level Elementalist has a much weaker shroud than a Guardian who is almost Sunstone, for example.
2. A shroud doesn't work like a shield sigil; it's not going to stop a certain number of physical hits and then just break. Magic can temporarily nullify a shroud, but any number of physical attacks can pass through a shroud without damaging the shroud. Against physical attacks, a shroud is less like a wall and more like passing through a layer of opposing force. You can think of it as being more like pushing through a field of gravity, or trying to oppose the force of a magnet, with the amount of force you have to push through being related to the level of the shroud. Melee attacks are generally more effective for this, since the person making the melee attack can course correct if the force of the shroud pushes their attack out of the way, or simply apply more strength to push through. For things like a zombie bite, it's not going to block the bite directly - it's that the zombie would have to oppose a field of force to get close enough to bite you, which it may or may not be strong, smart, or determined enough to accomplish. If these are walking dead zombies, there's a decent chance it could try to bite and just miss or get pushed away before it closes its mouth.
3. Whether or not a zombie keeps the shroud would be pretty contingent on how the metaphysics of the universe work. For something like a horror fanfic, I would lean "yes" because it's scarier that way.
1. A Carnelian-level shroud would likely slow down a round from a pistol or rifle, but whether or not it would stop it entirely would depend on the mass and velocity of the round. It'd be more effective against lower powered firearms, and against high powered ones, it may slow the round enough to diminish the damage inflicted (or allow something else, like body armor, to stop the round more easily).
Keep in mind that Carnelian is a large range; a just barely Carnelian-level Elementalist has a much weaker shroud than a Guardian who is almost Sunstone, for example.
2. A shroud doesn't work like a shield sigil; it's not going to stop a certain number of physical hits and then just break. Magic can temporarily nullify a shroud, but any number of physical attacks can pass through a shroud without damaging the shroud. Against physical attacks, a shroud is less like a wall and more like passing through a layer of opposing force. You can think of it as being more like pushing through a field of gravity, or trying to oppose the force of a magnet, with the amount of force you have to push through being related to the level of the shroud. Melee attacks are generally more effective for this, since the person making the melee attack can course correct if the force of the shroud pushes their attack out of the way, or simply apply more strength to push through. For things like a zombie bite, it's not going to block the bite directly - it's that the zombie would have to oppose a field of force to get close enough to bite you, which it may or may not be strong, smart, or determined enough to accomplish. If these are walking dead zombies, there's a decent chance it could try to bite and just miss or get pushed away before it closes its mouth.
3. Whether or not a zombie keeps the shroud would be pretty contingent on how the metaphysics of the universe work. For something like a horror fanfic, I would lean "yes" because it's scarier that way.
More Answered Questions
Bob Diner
asked
Andrew Rowe:
Hey Andrew, this is probably the wrong place for this, but thanks for the entertaining books you've written. That's it! Except, please keep on writing. Maybe just a wee bit faster, because I'm 65 and not getting any younger. Don't have the correct sword for that. Any idea if such a sword is hidden in the Pacific Northwest?
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