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How do you forge a tome?


IceBrand
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This is a good place for a headcanon of mine. Tomes are made with magic "essence", a liquid that you soak the book in...so maybe to forge the tome they just soak it again.

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I assume that they have a wizard of staff who is compitant in that sort of thing and changes the writing of the words to make it stronger. (it is implied that the text on the pages turns into the spell) (this happens on screen when garnef uses imhulu in the OVA, and the fact that a tome with no uses left in fe4 is called an "empty book" hints at it.)

Edited by sirmola
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I think that they just add/remove magic from it.

Like to raise the weight they add "heavy" magic, or to make it stronger "strength magic", etc.

Or for increasing the weight they randomly glue empty pages into it

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Still doesn't explain why Gespenst is heavier than your average axes

Lol, I also wonder this. Tho I am quite proud of the fact that I got Druid!Ewan to the point where he could double with it.

Doesn't it seem logical that higher damage would translate into higher weight? dark tomes are always the heaviest and strongest.... And (running from some of Erk's supports with Pent here) it seems like the magic user expends more energy while using a higher damage tome -- so, perhaps this is why the book's number of uses and doubling potential is restricted.

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Lol, I also wonder this. Tho I am quite proud of the fact that I got Druid!Ewan to the point where he could double with it.

Doesn't it seem logical that higher damage would translate into higher weight? dark tomes are always the heaviest and strongest.... And (running from some of Erk's supports with Pent here) it seems like the magic user expends more energy while using a higher damage tome -- so, perhaps this is why the book's number of uses and doubling potential is restricted.

Why is it connected to their physical size then?
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They do it the same way they forge weapons. Heat in in a furnace and then whack it a couple of times with a hammer. Makes about as much sense as anything else regarding tomes.

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Still doesn't explain why Gespenst is heavier than your average axes

I think the whole deal with weight on tomes is that weight isn't actually measuring mass, but is instead measuring the general handling of the tome. It would explain how casting Gespenst is harder than swinging an axe.

This is a good place for a headcanon of mine. Tomes are made with magic "essence", a liquid that you soak the book in...so maybe to forge the tome they just soak it again.

I actually agree with this idea of "enchantments" being casted onto the tome to give it different properties.
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Always imagined them to have metal covers like steelbooks, because otherwise the tomes seem too vulnerable to weapons / spells. A simple fire spell could incinerate any kind of paper in an instant.

Doesn't really explain how they can run out of uses though. I always thought of them as many copies of the same page of symbols, which the caster must rip out and turn into magical energy.

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Doesn't really explain how they can run out of uses though. I always thought of them as many copies of the same page of symbols, which the caster must rip out and turn into magical energy.

We do get that cutscene in Radiant Dawn with Soren casting the spell, but it just looks like he's reading it aloud...

P.s. COMMANDER KEEEEEN!!!

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We do get that cutscene in Radiant Dawn with Soren casting the spell, but it just looks like he's reading it aloud...

Opening cutscene, Micaiah does the same thing. In part 4 before the Oliver chapter Ike is talking to Volug and Nailah, and we learn the ancient language/old tongue is used in tomes, mages read those to cast the spell. But I still think there's some sort of liquid magic essence. Or else anybody with enough time on their hands could just take a random book and write that in there and tomes would be much cheaper because of it. Or there'd be a black market type of thing...tomes made by mages vs tomes made by people screwing around. The latter would be likely to blow up maybe...

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Opening cutscene, Micaiah does the same thing. In part 4 before the Oliver chapter Ike is talking to Volug and Nailah, and we learn the ancient language/old tongue is used in tomes, mages read those to cast the spell. But I still think there's some sort of liquid magic essence. Or else anybody with enough time on their hands could just take a random book and write that in there and tomes would be much cheaper because of it. Or there'd be a black market type of thing...tomes made by mages vs tomes made by people screwing around. The latter would be likely to blow up maybe...

I doubt that. Even if there are "cheap" tomes, it's not as if normal people can instantly read the ancient language needed to cast the spells. If the tomes had to be special in some way, they're more likely than not bound with some magic to make them more responsive to the ancient language or serve as a focus for the spells. Like, you can say the spells without the tome, but unless you have the tome the spell wont work.

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I doubt that. Even if there are "cheap" tomes, it's not as if normal people can instantly read the ancient language needed to cast the spells. If the tomes had to be special in some way, they're more likely than not bound with some magic to make them more responsive to the ancient language or serve as a focus for the spells. Like, you can say the spells without the tome, but unless you have the tome the spell wont work.

Yeah. That's why I said anybody with enough time on their hands. Somebody can learn the language and make counterfeit tomes. But yeah...

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I'm personally more interested in how the blacksmith repaired godlike books in FE4. How did he even get knowledge on that?

Sety's all "Hey Blacksmith, my legendary godlike cursader book is running low on uses, can you fix it?"

Blacksmith is all "Yeah bro gimme a minute."

Also forging tomes easy. Put the book in the fire then hammer away at it.... wait.

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Don't you just love these "gameplay first / logic later" issues =).

We do get that cutscene in Radiant Dawn with Soren casting the spell, but it just looks like he's reading it aloud...

P.s. COMMANDER KEEEEEN!!!

Hm, that is a good point; so pages aren't being ripped out. I still think a tome contains only identical pages of symbols, otherwise a spellcaster could just memorize the words and not need a tome at all. Also;

NinoxCanas;

"I’m 14, and I still can’t read!"

This means that Nino memorized the words for the spells in the tome she encounters earlier, but cannot read a word. Which hints at that no actual words written on the pages.

Also, Vaida outright calls magic "babble";

"Vaida: Are you still wasting your time studying that ridiculous babble? You never give up, do you?

Canas: No, I never do stop studying! Knowledge is its own reward, Vaida! By the way, this is “Dark--"

It cannot be that the caster reads the entire tome either, because there is not enough time to read all those out loud. So, instead of being destroyed, the pages just lose their power. So maybe Dragoncat has a point with the tome being infused with something. What if each page has such a portion of an infusion, that needs to be used to materialize the spell? A liquid infusion cannot be totally seperated from the pages, otherwise there would no need to even turn them.

In that case, a spell would consist of;

1. A purely physical preset, which forms the architecture of the spell (set of symbols on a page)

2. A preset magical infusion in physical form (infused in every page)

3. Personal magical input / infusion from the mage (this is what conjures / triggers the spell)

The third component we know a bit about from support conversations by Canas and Knoll. A personal component is needed that differs from magic type to magic type. Dark magic, which Canas calls ancient or elder magic, is based on the will power to resist the temptation of darkness;

CanasxPent;

"As you know, elder magic is based on the forces of darkness... It is even more powerful than nature magic, which is often called anima. But to use this magic, you must invite the dark forces within you. The temptation to submit to the darkness is...great. ...Unfortunately, the darkness took my brothers... They live...and breathe...their eyes open and close... But...they do not move. And they do not speak."

Elemental magic is more emotional as opposed to using strength for dark magic, it "unleashes the heart" and "makes us feel free";

CanasxNino

"Anima is the magic of nature... This communion with the spirit of all things unleashes the heart. This magic makes us feel free... The elder magic that I use requires great strength to master its forces."

And of course, we have light magic, which stems from hope / faith / religion. Some support for that;

KnollxNatasha

"Your magic stems from faith in the unknowable, the divine presence. In contrast, dark magic stems from knowledge, from understanding."

I'm personally more interested in how the blacksmith repaired godlike books in FE4. How did he even get knowledge on that?

Sety's all "Hey Blacksmith, my legendary godlike cursader book is running low on uses, can you fix it?"

Blacksmith is all "Yeah bro gimme a minute."

Also forging tomes easy. Put the book in the fire then hammer away at it.... wait.

Repairing is easy. The pages with symbols are still there. It just needs to be infused with the magical substance / Dragoncat liquid. ;).

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The third thing intrigues me...so what if say, someone tries to cast dark magic and they don't have enough will power or strength etc? Would it backfire?

By that logic idk if my shaman OC Darcen makes sense. I guess he could have strong will power, but the main thing about his personality is he's a firm believer in karma, which is sometimes associated with spirituality which means light magic...

Idk...

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The third thing intrigues me...so what if say, someone tries to cast dark magic and they don't have enough will power or strength etc? Would it backfire?

By that logic idk if my shaman OC Darcen makes sense. I guess he could have strong will power, but the main thing about his personality is he's a firm believer in karma, which is sometimes associated with spirituality which means light magic...

Idk...

Canas's brothers turned into living... zombies? They don't think, move, speak, just... live, having fallen victim to the darkness.
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