From: WYNNE.C@fs.sciences.WLU.EDU
Subject:      Re: Illusions outside Aysle
X-Gated-By: The Black Marble Wombat@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
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Organization: University of North Texas
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Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 17:46:30 GMT

gdavis@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Grant R. Davis) writes:

> I was reading through the Tharkold Sourcebook, and I found a spell
> called Dominant Vision, which allows the caster to be unaffected by
> illusions. I thought that illusions were made real by the Law of
> Observation, which is an Aysle world law. In fact, I thought that
> this was the only purpose of the Law of Obs., besides kludging
> spells like the Law of Dominance does. (Yeah, that's right, I'm a
> cynic :-)
> Why do you need Dominant Vision if the Law of Observation is an
> Aysle World law? Outside Aysle, can't you just pass your hand
> through illusions?

LoObs states that what is real is observable and what is observable
is real.  Therefore, magick is real, because a properly trained
person can observe a spell pattern.

Real != Tangible.  There are other sense of observation than touch.
Just because one person might pass his hand through an 'illusory'
bridge does not mean that it is not observable.

There is a difference between knowing that something is an illusion
and disbelieving it.  If a mage creates a bridge out of thin air, it
is likely an illusion, but if you do not 'disbelieve' it, then the
detail of it, and it's impact on your sight (and hearing, perhaps)
will overcome your initial sense of wonder.  You will think -- "It
can't be an illusion, it looks too real!"  And if enough other people
believe that, too, then you may walk out on that bridge, and it may
support you.

As the Aysle SB explains about the 'creation' of energy through
magic, then you can extrapolate the creation of forces.  The mage
holds the pattern, so to him the bridge is real -- not necessarily
tangible, but real.  The strength of that spell can allow the
introduction of forces from the magickal supernatural world which
will mimic the functions that the created object are supposed to
perform.

Think of disbelief not so much as an, "Oh, pooh!" attitude, but
rather as a layman's anti-magick spell.  Some magickal spells are
weaker than others, and are susceptible to this kind of defense.  In
essence, the 'illusory' spell is weaker because its effect relies,
to some extent, upon its targets.  The targets must contribute to
maintaining the reality of its pattern, and they need to have enough
willpower to refuse aiding the spell thus.

So, the Dominant Vision spell is a way of automatically denying the
aid to an enemy's spell.  This means, foremost, that the target
recognises the spell as 'illusory', that the object does not have the
substance that its appearance would imply (it is only the image of a
bridge), that the target does not contribute to adding any more
substance to the spell (there is no involuntary cooperation in
allowing magickal forces to support weight on the 'bridge'), and that
the target will be free from any other effects of the illusion (such
as intimidations from the appearance of a ferocious  beast).

I know, this is kinda long and a little disjointed, but I think it
covers my opinions on the subject.

CJW

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
==  Colin J. Wynne                      wynne.c@fs.science.wlu.edu  ==
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
|  Heaven:   A place where the French are the cooks, the German are  |
|             the engineers, and the British are the policemen.      |
|                                                                    |
|  Hell:     A place where the British are the cooks, the French are |
|             the engineers, and the German are the policemen.       |
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