Magic tomes.

[El Rey León]

There are some things man is not meant to know...

[dondon151]

How do broken tomes exist in FE4 and FE5 if a tome disappears after it runs out?

[Narga_Rocks]

How do broken tomes exist in FE4 and FE5 if a tome disappears after it runs out?

fe6/7 magic works differently than fe4/5?

[Rewjeo]

Well, they do exist in different universes.

But FE4/5 are sorta confirmed to be in the same universe as 1-3 (I think it was Kaga who made a comment that implied they were), and it works differently in 4/5, 1/3, and 2. Of course, my whole you have to sacrifice for it works, because in Valencia it just means they haven't figured out you can sacrifice books instead of HP. I'd say that they just run out of magic in that universe.

[TheEnd]

so context implies "gone = disappear" rather than "gone = run out of uses"? Well then, books disappear when you burn them out. Neat.

I'd say the text in them disappears.

[Rewjeo]

So in FE4 they just reprint all of the text in tomes? Sweet.

[Integrity]

So in FE4 they just reprint all of the text in tomes? Sweet.

They rip out the pages and glue new ones in.

[SorenThePichu]

My brain is broken.

In all honesty, thank you for answering my question.

[Silent Mercenary]

I think the tomes come with a limited supply of the magic powder mages throw before attacking, and the uses are the amount of powder left. Although the ripping/burning the pages works good too.

[UserShadow7989]

I have an idea. What if the incantations ARE horridly long, but writing them down on something with a special ink lets you skip the parts you wrote down as long as you hold it. You have to understand it, and the ink only works for so long (more powerful spells make the ink's effect wear off quicker, and are heavier because they require a ridiculous number of pages to write down the incantations to make it reasonably short). That would explain why Mages can't attack without the tomes as well as the limited uses. Nino's a prodigy, so she can cast without having it written down, but it takes too long to chant to be any use in a battle.

Edited July 9, 2010 by UserShadow7989

[Charpig]

I agree with Vincent's theory that the magic tomes contain magic power that the mages bring out during battle. It just seems to be the one that makes the most sense, and if a developer himself said so, it must be true! About the heavy magic tomes, there are some books in real life that are quite heavy. If you were lugging around a Webster's Dictionary containing magic words and you had to open it during battle to read them, that would be a lot more unwieldy than handling a sword or lance. And since most magic users are puny in terms of physical strength, it would make matters worse for them.

[Anouleth]

I think that the showy special effects when mages cast spells are just to obscure the fact that they're hitting the enemy over the head with their book. It explains everything!

-Heavier books are obviously going to be harder to hit with, but their weight allows for more damage.

-Long range tomes are actually five book series, and obviously you can't recover the books when you throw them over a mountain or something.

-Forged tomes have just had their spines sharpened.

-Why does hitting an enemy over the head with a book key off the magic stat and target resistance? It's because it's a magic book.

[Silent Mercenary]

I think that the showy special effects when mages cast spells are just to obscure the fact that they're hitting the enemy over the head with their book. It explains everything!

-Heavier books are obviously going to be harder to hit with, but their weight allows for more damage.

-Long range tomes are actually five book series, and obviously you can't recover the books when you throw them over a mountain or something.

-Forged tomes have just had their spines sharpened.

-Why does hitting an enemy over the head with a book key off the magic stat and target resistance? It's because it's a magic book.

I agree with Slowking on this one, and I think Resistance means how many books thrown upon you can you resist before falling on you knees. Although I still think the books in the GBA FE's come with some magic powder for criticals (CRITICAL SNEEZE!).

[whase]

when you think about it,

in most series/movies/other stories all magic comes from something made of wood.

books, wands, brooms, all giving sages, wizards and witches their powers.

maybe the magic is in the paper, and the spells are used to get the magic out of there.

conclusion: trees are magic!