[✗] [Lore] The Clash of Light and Taint

[Mephistophelian 972]

The Clash of Holy and Taint
 

"When you light a candle, you also cast a shadow."

 

Light

Defined as any force that originates from a holy patron, light magics are those that choose to combat the ever spreading dark. Every wielder of light knows, however, that the brighter the light becomes, the darker and longer the shadows it casts.

Things considered ‘Light’ for the purpose of this lore are:

-Xan Paladinism

-Keepers
-Tahariae Clericism & War Clericsm

-Itharel/Venators

-Ascended

These are the magics that can be affected by the to-be-mentioned ‘Taint’ magics.

 

Taint

The origin of all evil, or so the light wielders would have you think, dark magics are usually considered as such due to their unnatural nature. The great variety of dark magics means they are usually hard to pin down, and more often than not the people who practice them originate from all walks of life.

Things considered ‘Tainted’ for the purpose of this lore are:

-Necromancy creations (not the caster or magic)

-Soul Puppetry magic (not the caster)

-Blood Magic creations (not the caster or magic)

-Shades

-Dread Knights

-Wraiths

-Necrolytes

-Harbingers

-Drakaar

-Undead

-Frost Witches

-Mystics

-Wights

These are the magics that can be affected by the aforementioned ‘Light’ magic.

 

When Light and Taint Interact

It is well known that Holy magic, for a long time, has been made in such a way that it can completely stomp out Taint magics. The act of Light magic interacting with Taint magic would be something akin to: Light magic seeks out and destroys Taint.

 

With this lore, this will soon change. The proposed change will be as follows:
Instead of Light magic simply destroying Taint in a one-sided battle, what happens instead  is a two sided battle. Light magics are purposed to destroy taint, whilst the corruption of taint attempts to take over the very magic that is trying to remove it. Quite simply, Taint 'fights back' against the destructive force of Light; Light and Taint now clash, instead of taint being washed over by the relentless force of light. The force of Light, however, has been designed to seek out the force of Taint. It is for this reason that, with the exceptions to be mentioned, a Light mage will be nearly on par with a Taint mage of the same power, but shall be able to overcome them with struggle.

 

It is worth mentioning that certain sources of Taint and Light are more ‘powerful’ than others.
From the list of ‘Light’ magics, the more powerful versions are beings that are:

-Itharel

-Venators

-Keepers

-Ascended

 

From the list of ‘Taint’, the more powerful versions are :

-Wraiths

-Fully fledged Shades

-Dread Knights

-Undead

-Drakaar

-Harbingers

-Wights

In their own special snowflake (pun intended?) section are frost witches. This is because their internal taint is able to resist the effects of Light, but it isn't, in itself, powerful.

 

The beings mentioned on both these lists have taint/lightness which is more powerful than the others not on this list, and thus ‘fights’ the battle against the opposing force more strongly. Additionally, these are beings that have taint/lightness WITHIN themselves that is more powerful, too (e.g. a ghoul might have taint within itself, but it does not match the taint inside a wraith).

 

Other than that, the general rule of thumb is:
T4 taint is almost a match for T4 light, but the light will usually defeat the taint with great struggle.

T(tier number here) taint is almost a match for T(similar tier number here) light, but the light will usually defeat the taint with great struggle.

T3 light will be able to dispose of T2 taint faster than the T2 taint corrupts the T3 light.

T3 taint will be able to corrupt of T2 light faster than T2 light disposes of T3 taint.

This does not mean there cannot be exceptions (like if a T3 light mage is weakened from battle and is attempting to resist a T2 taint. Then, it could be that the taint pushes through, but they will require more effort than the T3 light does). Other, more obvious exceptions would be a T3 taint defeating a T3 light with cunning combat strategies.

 

Acknowledgements:
Thank you to Triplewing, Charcoal (damn, son, you're helping out a lot with lore creation these days) and Cameron for the discussion and talking of ideas. Thanks also to Tsuyose for giving the lore a one-over before the posting!

 

FAQ

Q: Why aren’t there specific guidelines on which magic is more powerful than the other, and how they interact when clashing?

A: Because I believe it should be up to the players to decide. A T5 cleric will have less trouble fighting the taint of a new shade, for example. If two equally matched oponents face off, it is completely up to the RPers to decide how it goes! This lore simply states what happens between the magics.

 

-More will be added as questions are asked-

 

[excited 10834]

Yes please. Excellent lore once again, Hugo! Hopefully this makes combat a lot less one sided.

[Ford 1990]

boy yes

[ShameJax 1391]

For the more powerful versions of each what difference does it make? Could you add some form of specification saying a form of tier boost perhaps?

[ℤ∃ʁ∅ 823]

I've always loved Light Vs Dark fights! 

 

Notcliche light always winning. There's always chances of one or the other winning. 

[Mephistophelian 972]

For the more powerful versions of each what difference does it make? Could you add some form of specification saying a form of tier boost perhaps?

The moment we put numbers, specifications and the rest of that sort is the moment things get iffy. It is not for me to decide if a wraith can survive the light of three clerics or three thousand clerics (exaggeration to get the point across), as it is largely up to RP. I'm just listing the creatures/beings that have more of the 'thing', so that it is accepted that they will be harder to combat in terms of taint/light. I originally had the idea of putting numbers, but the reasoning I just gave is what persuaded me otherwise.

It's...Also worth saying that I already had an answer for this in the FAQ part.

[DISCOLIQUID 1974]

I have to push back against 'fully developed' Frost Witches being on the side of stronger taint, unless you mean Frost Mothers. Frost Witches are categorically weaker and less tainted than other tainted beings such as shades or wraiths.

[Ventusyr 232]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haZEcPbF1T0

 

I like it!

[Mephistophelian 972]

I have to push back against 'fully developed' Frost Witches being on the side of stronger taint, unless you mean Frost Mothers. Frost Witches are categorically weaker and less tainted than other tainted beings such as shades or wraiths.

I'm mostly referring to the internal taint of a frost witch, here. It is a reasoning as to why a cleric cannot simply burn out a frost witch with holy flames, and it is instead harder to do. Unless you are saying it is /easier/ to damage them with light...In which case I am mistaken, and shall edit accordingly :)

Edit: After talking to Disco, I have come to the conclusion that frost witches /are/ tainted, but they are just not tainted powerfully. Thusly, they can resist the destructive effects of Light just as much as, say, a Shade can, but they do not counter-corrupt the Light with their own Taint. Their form of Taint is like a brick wall instead of an army; it doesn't kill the Light army as much as a Taint army, but it blocks the Light army equally as well.

[Booklight12 477]

I like this idea mang, Light being able to overpower tainted 'things' was good when there was only two official 'light' magics. But now that there's like 3 (Or 4?) it kind of defeats the purpose of why cleric magic was originally much stronger than dark magics which was "There are far less holy magic users than dark magic users." as of now it's leaning closer and closer to fifty fiftyish as of late.

Edited October 15, 2015 by Booklight12

[ShameJax 1391]

For the more powerful versions of each what difference does it make? Could you add some form of specification saying a form of tier boost perhaps?

The moment we put numbers, specifications and the rest of that sort is the moment things get iffy. It is not for me to decide if a wraith can survive the light of three clerics or three thousand clerics (exaggeration to get the point across), as it is largely up to RP. I'm just listing the creatures/beings that have more of the 'thing', so that it is accepted that they will be harder to combat in terms of taint/light. I originally had the idea of putting numbers, but the reasoning I just gave is what persuaded me otherwise.

It's...Also worth saying that I already had an answer for this in the FAQ part.

I still wanted to know!

Although, when it comes down to players to decide it is a bit more iffy, as that can easily lead to powergaming.

 

Other than that, this can definitely make holy magic not just the instant death of dark magics, I approve.

[AlmondTree 418]

 

 

I still wanted to know!

Although, when it comes down to players to decide it is a bit more iffy, as that can easily lead to powergaming.

 

Other than that, this can definitely make holy magic not just the instant death of dark magics, I approve.

Nah, think you just have the wrong mentality about this. Good dark arts users and good light arts do not power-game each other. They meet half way. A confrontation between the two doesn't mean it will turn into an epic fight scene with one part having to lose and die.

[ShameJax 1391]

 

 

I still wanted to know!

Although, when it comes down to players to decide it is a bit more iffy, as that can easily lead to powergaming.

 

Other than that, this can definitely make holy magic not just the instant death of dark magics, I approve.

Nah, think you just have the wrong mentality about this. Good dark arts users and good light arts do not power-game each other. They meet half way. A confrontation between the two doesn't mean it will turn into an epic fight scene with one part having to lose and die.

Yes, but those are good users. Some people may not, thus I personally believe that going into the details would help with that.

[AlmondTree 418]

 

 

 

Nah, think you just have the wrong mentality about this. Good dark arts users and good light arts do not power-game each other. They meet half way. A confrontation between the two doesn't mean it will turn into an epic fight scene with one part having to lose and die.

Yes, but those are good users. Some people may not, thus I personally believe that going into the details would help with that.

It is really not needed, if you pick up either of the two arts you /should/  not be doing it. If there is such an occasion it's dealt with in Pm's. Other wise the player in question should probably not be having the magics in the first place. (Just radical little me sorry.)

[Mephistophelian 972]

 

 

 

Nah, think you just have the wrong mentality about this. Good dark arts users and good light arts do not power-game each other. They meet half way. A confrontation between the two doesn't mean it will turn into an epic fight scene with one part having to lose and die.

Yes, but those are good users. Some people may not, thus I personally believe that going into the details would help with that.

I went into as much details as is needed. If there are issues that arise, what I have given is enough. To prove that, here is an example:

Wraith v/s Xan paladin. The Xan paladin wishes to use his Light to remove the Taint of the Wraith. They argue that they are a far older, more experienced Paladin than any other Paladin, and are more powerful than the Wraith. All Mr Wraith needs to do is direct Mr Paladin to this page stating the exact opposite.

Now we have the instance of a T4 necromancer fighting a T4 Xan Paladin (sorry Xan bros, I'm using you as examples but it applies to everyone!). The Necromancer insists his char is more powerful, but the Paladin refers back to here which states they are the same power.

Now, this is not to say that the Necromancer can say his char is more powerful in the circumstances and the Paladin can accept that (even though they are both T4). It's just providing a fall-back guideline in case of disagreements.