Interesting as always. And one can always hope that certain people, who consider others disposable, find themselves at the sharp end of that particular stick. In the fullness of time.

That's another difference between fiction and real life; in fiction, evil doesn't always prosper...

it depends on the sort of evil; corporate evil of this kind ... all too common, I fear. Still, as author, I can try to work in some appropriate consequences, here and there.

Cheers,
Onyx Tao

Wow, you are quick. We just had a small discussion about this and it is already out.
I'd assume you are getting back to track for your writing...but maybe it's not, not yet.
Hope you won't be too busy again.

Now this is going bad.
I'd thought Dacien's ability could become a problem somewhere around his second half of mage training period, but now everything just leak out like a non-stop wind. Instead of getting complicate when some clans start have trained or half trained ninjas, now it gets really tense like a sign of a protential clan war to me.

But 8 days...hmm.
May I ask when is this event taking place?
I'm certain that it is after Dacien being noticed, or announced as Teodor's son. But I'm not certain if this is happened after Chapter 4 or maybe before Chapter 2.
Sasha just changed his plan...


Anyway, I shall start waiting for your next chapter.
Cheers.

My husband is off on a sort of business trip; it leaves my evenings far too free. He's back tonight (yay!) but I refuse to make any predictions whatsoever.

Cheers,
OT

Good that you didn't. Or I will be ... I'm not sure what I will do. But, well. maybe just get back to 3D modeling stuff...

And I still need time to think how I can word the conversation part of your story into other languages. It is just so hard to keep the feeling of it.

For example, something like "I greet you as brother, and my home is yours."

I found myself not sure what to do about the word "Lord" either. And for this I need to ask you something.


Since, from what I'm understanding, Lords are mages. Otherthing that may consider as lordship such as...Lord Green's cousin, can't recall his name, are something like a state - as what Teodor explains it, I guess.

There are no "Lord" in Chinese. What Chinese has is not ... as the same as Lord in English. Since anything that could be consider as lordship in Chinese, even from history, are always people who directly has the power to influence the country. Strickly speaking, it is not far from the way japanese word like "-san." Like if I call you OnyxTao-san.
You can traslate "-san" to sir in English, but it is not as powerful or as respectful to a "Sir." It is more like a Mr.


Sorry, I get too much into the explaining.
Just that I know Japanese can just still use the word "Lord," but Chinese doesn't.

For now I'm translating Lord as something...close to "Sage," or "Great Sage."
Sage falls into someone who knows a lot of things, or things that is different. To Chinese standard of the word Sage, it can, or usually means it is one who can cast magic, or great magic.
May just because there are a lot of those in Japanese anime or comic...

I can still use the word Sage in Japanese though.
Is there, or will there be, any problem with that?
Or if there are any suggestion...in English, a different way to call council mages.

sometimes FA and my browser conspire to put replies ... not under the message I'm replying to,
but as reply to my own submission.

See below

And thanks!

OT

First off, 'sage' is a perfectly acceptable for the mage-aspect of 'Lord'. In a military aspect, perhaps sage-general, to differentiate between a mage's authority and a military one?

I knew, intellectually, that were all kinds of cultural assumptions that I didn't even realize I was making, and that was one of them.

My thinking was that 'Lord' reflects the address of a citizen / responsible society member to a specific titled individual with political authority. Someone using 'Lord' has an inherent right to address the person, although they must to so with polite respect. Someone who, because of their position, has great authority.

'Great Lord' is an attempt to capture the address of a slave to such a person - there is no inherent right for a slave who belongs to another minotaur to address such a person. It's more respectful than 'Sir.'

I am not sure if that helps. I did think translating would be a challenging task, but if nothing else, it will improve your grasp on both languages and cultures at the same time!

Cheers,
OT

Hmm. That reminds me. "Great Lord."
Was it around Chapter 20, that Zebra has a phrase,"A Great Lord?"

I suppose human slaves don't really understand this lordship...I don't suppose I should just translate it as Sage.

Yes. Zebra's the property of Chelm. He can address any other minotaur as 'Sir', unless it's someone whom Chelm would have to refer to as 'Lord' or 'General' - such as Chelm's father, Lord Fog, whom he has to address with utmost respect. Or so my thinking ran.

Cheers,
OT

Hmm. That his phrase could be different. I simplely can't translated his word of lord into a "Sage."

But, other than council mage and states, are there any other "Lords" out there?

I'm certain Dacien won't call Warlord a lord, and I don't really think Zebra could call any Warlord Guest a great lord, for now that he belongs to Dacien.

Hi Bowblack -

Well, you'll have to find some words All I can do is explain what I was thinking ...

'Great Lord' (extreme respect, from someone without the right or expectation to interact with an important person) would apply to the Patriarch, Generals (the lords of war), and the mage lords. It wouldn't apply to a warrior or warlord. 'Prince' might be another word that applies - in a sense, the Generals and mages are the princes of the clan, under the King (the Patriarch).

Zebra would refer to any mage or general as 'great lord'; a warrior or even a warlord, just like a tempus master or grandmaster, or a learned scholar (Learned) - as Sir. They are important, but not to the governing of Lycaili.

Again, I hope this helps.

Cheers,
OT

Yes. It does.
Another question...What is the difference of Warlord and General?

warrior corresponds to general soldier training - the skills of combat.

warlord corresponds to officer training - how to manage troops, battlefield tactics, military strategy, logistics, and overall command responsibilities.

General is a specific title; a warlord who has mastered his craft. Armies are led by Generals, and Generals belong to a ruling council similar to (although significantly larger than) the Mage's Council.

Both Generals and Mage-Lords have (supposedly) the same level of authority, although mages, being rarer, are generally accorded more precedence.

Cheers,
OT

Ah. Interesting. This does explains a lot of things...for translation. Thank you.

Now I just need time to work on them...

Oh yes, I hear that!

OT

Hmm... ok.. Now I have to wonder, Can the Wolven use their mind tricks to influence bulls? I think this little breach in security, might have, secret clan, just a little bit concerned.

Yes, wolven can influence minotaurs. Only the strongest alphas are able to do what minotaur refer to as 'mindbending', and even then not quite what a minotaur air-affined mage can, but there are easily five or six hundred strong alphas for every air-affined minotaur mage. And strong alphas can work together to achieve a goal that a single alpha could not.

They cannot use their mental powers on a minotaur who is not in the same temporal phase (ie, in tempus). Some minotaur wear mental wards (of the type Lord Green used to shield himself from Lathe's signature) which make it practically impossible to affect.

Cheers,
OT