Mage Errant What If question post
Added 2024-08-23 06:55:01 +0000 UTCSorry no vote this months, folks, I just don't have the energy for catching up on short stories after finishing the new book. So it's What If time instead!
No real rules or restrictions, ask whatever questions you'd like! I'll collect the questions that most intrigue me and write up answers to them.
Well, okay, one rule: For readability, please use bulleted lists if you have multiple questions, or otherwise format it to be easily legible.
(Obligatory legal disclaimer, any questions you ask may end up being included if I put this What If into a future short story collection, possibly in paraphrased or lightly edited form. I will, of course, credit the asker for the question in the text- so if you'd like to use a different name than your Patreon username, let me know along with your question!)
If there end up being enough questions that interest me, who knows, we might get multiple posts out of this! Like Basilisk Street, though, any future posts past the first will just be bonus material and won't count towards the monthly total.
Have fun, folks!
Comments
*How would the story have been different had Hugh gone to pact with Asterion
Soul
2024-08-27 03:37:34 +0000 UTC*What Affinity's would Asterion provided
Soul
2024-08-27 03:36:20 +0000 UTC* What if Kanderon had chosen to develop different artificial affinities? * What if Kanderon had been able to keep her worldgate ripper? * What if the gang hadn’t been able to stop the detonation of the Tongue Eater?
Elliott
2024-08-25 22:23:38 +0000 UTC• What if Hugh had pacted with Bakori? • What if the Cold Minds were dormant inside Imperial Ithos when it returned?
Jeo2134
2024-08-25 15:09:19 +0000 UTCWhat if Hugh packed with the exile splinter
Kyle Quinn
2024-08-24 18:33:38 +0000 UTCWhat if Talia's parents came with the rest of the family to Skyhold?
Cortney
2024-08-23 22:36:14 +0000 UTCWhat if Alustin used his magic to spread thousands of copies of Davragem's Census across the continent?
Richard
2024-08-23 19:37:55 +0000 UTC-What if Valia had joined Alustin at Skyhold rather than join Havath and the Sacred Swordsmen? -What if Talia found out she was the romantic interest in an adventure novel? -What if Kanderon Transitioned to a lich prior to Hugh Attending Skyhold? -What if Hugh hadn't pacted Mackerel's labyrinth stone? -What if Alustin had consulted Hugh and Co before betraying Kanderon.
DarthWaffles
2024-08-23 18:43:36 +0000 UTCAlright, I paired out most of the truly bad ones (some I could bare to leave behind) and added a few new ones! Looking forward immensely to any that get answered!! Ah, also, if needed, credit me as "His Most Beneficent Lordship Lazlo" if it isn't too much trouble, just Lazlo if it is too much trouble. • What if kanderon countered/defeated alustins attack on her and Hughs warlock bond? • What if the hoards had found out about the particle accelerator? • What if the cold minds had been called by the Heir? • What if some other teacher had found out about Hugh's mana problem and solved it with his teachers before Alustin? • What if imperial ithos had been made into a lich demense? • What if alustin had taken the hat and boots out of the vault, just for the giggles, or to spread chaos as a distraction? • What if kanderon had transitioned into a lich before the story even started? • What if heliothrax had just say, burned the entire mountain range until she found her lair, and never joined havath? • What if valia's family had never betrayed the lord of bells? • What if Imperial Ithos hadn't shown up for another 5 years? • What if mackerel had properly included star fire along along with planar and crystal a nice reading light perhaps? • What if mackerel had taken the form of a chair? • What if mackerel had taken the form of a chest? With teeth? And hundreds of tiny legs? • What if the labyrinth builders had never gone extinct? • What if artur had actually somehow killed heliothrax? • What if Hugh had pacted the tongue eater to stop it from detonating? • What if Talia had a fire affinity from the start? • What if the Lord of Bells had managed to circumvent half a dozen laws of magic to cast one final atthuema spell to strike back against havath decades later? • What if Hugh had pacted with bakori? • What if Hugh had pacted alustin? • What if Hugh had pacted Asterion? • What if Hugh had pacted a flour and yeast mage due to his love of baked goods? (I know I would've) • What if Hugh pacted indris and illinea and kanderon all at once? • What if Hugh pacted heliothrax? • What if the ship thing from the gorgon incident had shown up for the battle of havath city? • What if the listener had woken up while they were crossing the silent straights? • What if Sabae's mother hadn't left on her voyage? • What if kanderon had come with the gang on the trip in the lost city of imperial ithos like through the whole thing, ignoring her very very busy schedule? • What if Artur had survived the siege of skyhold?
Apotheosis
2024-08-23 16:52:09 +0000 UTC- what does Austin do if Valia doesn’t die? -what does a Huge and Talia wedding look like?
Sawyer
2024-08-23 15:53:36 +0000 UTCWhat if Talia found out she was the romantic interest in an adventure novel?
DarthWaffles
2024-08-23 15:05:09 +0000 UTC•What if The Lord of Bells never fell to Havath? •What if Kanderon never lost her child? •What if Alustin discovered the interworld library years earlier?
Cameron Kispert
2024-08-23 11:35:06 +0000 UTCWhat if mackerel could speak?
Theo watson
2024-08-23 10:07:32 +0000 UTC- What if Hughs parents didnt die and he developed magic in their care? - What if two pacted Warlocks formed a pact between eachother? e.g. Hugh, pacted with Kanderon, forms a pact with Valia, pacted to her sword.
cameron
2024-08-23 10:02:16 +0000 UTC-What if someone from the gang got a paper affinity such as Alustin. -What if skyhold was placed on another continent. -What if Alustin was Rhodes master. -What if the Liar decided to intervened in the Havathi War. -What if Clan Castis found the truth about the Secret Clan. -What if someone of the founders of Skyhold was still active on the academy
elm
2024-08-23 09:43:20 +0000 UTC• What if hugh had been picked up by the sacred swordsmen instead of skyhold ? • What if artur attempted to stop alustin from bringing his students on the quest to find the lost City of ithos ? • What if Talia had tried to affect her own bones before alustin warned her ? • What if the other great powers closer to the covens and heliothrax's level like dorsas one or intet slew had participated in the battle at havath or the siege of skyhold ? • What if someone had been able to wake the sleeper in the sands ?
Bingus
2024-08-23 07:52:15 +0000 UTCWhat if Hugh was not a warlock but had regular magic What if Talia found out she was, in fact, a main character in an adventure novel
David White
2024-08-23 07:48:52 +0000 UTCLess of a what if question but could a crystal affinity create time crystals. And what if kanderon had decided to use them in her computational devices in her lich desmense?
Bingus
2024-08-23 07:40:26 +0000 UTC(Sorry in advance for the spelling, I’m an audiobook listener and often don’t know the spelling for proper nouns) -What if the Sacred Swordsman of havath had not been captained by Valia? -What if will imbuement could be used to enchant compact magical AI’s (not sapient or sentient items)? -What if Kanderon’s “backers” decided to play a more active role in events? -What if Heliothrax had travelled to Limnus to better adapt to her “augmentations”? -What if mages with similar skill sets to the puppet and the kettle teamed up to become a communal thunderbringer? -What if a great power used a mass driver type affinity/power combination to snipe other great powers/enemies from extremely far away?
Sean Witter
2024-08-23 07:37:15 +0000 UTCMerlin King works for me What if Alustin’s love for his students had outweighed his hatred for Havath?
Merlin King
2024-08-23 07:35:57 +0000 UTC•What if sabae actually learned to whistle? •What if andas thune had never hidden heliothrax's lair? •What if valia had survived the final battle of havath ? •What if hugh had left by himself to save kanderon ? •What if hugh had been made aeden dragonslayers apprentice like he had wanted ? •What if hugh had pursued a different field of magic instead of wards ? •What if someone other than the liar had found hugh and his friends after their pact ? •What if kanderons memories returned after she reobtained the exile splinter like she hoped ? •What if the mage eater never eaten the heir and thwarted the cold minds ?
Bingus
2024-08-23 07:27:56 +0000 UTCPlease Quote me as Puck "Vic" Florist if it comes to it. • What if High had truly pacted to the archive itself and set the archive on the path to true sentience? • What if Talia had claimed the title of a Dragonslayer after the events of The Coup at Indris's palace? • What if Heliothrax had chosen to seek out aid with The Coven instead of Havath? Would she likely not have needed to undertake the grafting she did to herself? • What if the Labyrinth stone that became Mackerel had managed to germinate into an actual labyrinth? Perhaps there being an unknown mana vent under the City? (I forget the exact term for what Labyrinths germinate within) • What if Rhodes hadn't fled in the Labyrinth and attempted to band together with the Team to escape? • What if Loarna of the Vault hadn't died? How could that have impacted Hugh's wardcrafting abilities? • What if Hugh's Stellar had truly been incorporated into Mackerel? (If I remember correctly, it largely just served to power the entire process of Hugh attuning the crystal that became Mackerel.) • Could the Team have accidentally stumbled into the True Library Between Worlds during their wanderings of the Skyhold Library? • If Hugh and the Team had decided to remain on Limnus indefinitely, what mutations would each of them experience? • What magic could potentially form on the death world (the name escapes me) that Hugh and the Team encounters the Kyrene on? Are the dots examples of this proto-magic system or simply what unordered/undefined magic tends to look like? • What if the Labyrinth under Havath's Capital City hadn't ruptured?
Vic
2024-08-23 07:26:10 +0000 UTCWhat if Hugh had pacted to Heliothrax instead of Kanderon?
Baber Khalid
2024-08-23 07:13:02 +0000 UTC•What if hughs aether crystal had become armor as kanderon planned, or something else entirely instead of mackerel. •What if alustin and valia had teamed up against havath after the fall of helicote. •What if Talia had actually developed a fire affinity ? •What if hugh had secondary pacted to someone other than his friends ? •What if sabae had immediately released Davragam's Census ? •What if godrick had developed an affinity not as compatible with his father's armor spellform like fire ? •What if sabae tried to inherit the stormseat. •What if bakori had never targeted Rhodes. •What if sabae had never shared the windlode spellform with Hugh. •What if havath won the exile splinter in the battle at the lost City of ithos.
Bingus
2024-08-23 07:06:31 +0000 UTC
