While I agree the categories were pretty imprecise, I'm not entirely sure I agree with your estimates, either. One of the most distinctive elements of the Black Company magic system (and I believe it can be systematized successfully) is that what a Taken can do quickly, a lesser wizard can do over a much longer period of time. In addition, raw power can sometimes be beaten by finesse or low cunning. Green Ronin tried to build some of these characteristics into their system, but I think in practical game terms they failed pretty miserably. So Harden, who I think is pretty clearly NOT the equal of the original Taken, is still able to develop and "hang" a powerful anti-Taken spell that has the additional advantage of taking the three Taken completely by surprise. Presumably, the Taken didn't expect him to be capable of such a magic, or didn't expect him to be ready to use it so quickly--it's remotely possible they didn't think Harden capable of using that particular spell (and spells tend to be somewhat individualized from wizard to wizard in the BC universe). What's for sure is that this one spell took most of what Harden had, magic-wise, given that the rest of the fight, he's pretty much reduced to his martial power against his attackers. He also doesn't seem capable of such long-term defensive magics, the layers-on-layers of protective spells that we can hear Soulcatcher discussing in the Books of the South (Water Sleeps, I think, is where we get the clearest sense of just how much passive magic Taken have sitting and waiting for use). So he could land one big punch, but he couldn't go ten rounds with the Taken. I suspect Raven is a bit past an amateur, but he can't be a big enough talent to be easily detectable. His main edge has always been ruthless intelligence and cunning, coupled with a willingness to do what it takes to accomplish his objectives. A more experienced wizard would certainly have picked up the stink of the Black Castle. In any event, we know he's not a match for the least of the Company wizards. The spear was unquestionably a matter of time and craft over power. One-Eye was obsessed with that spear for an extended period of time, and arguably the power he poured into it sapped his health, too. Still, I'd put the late-novel Goblin and One-Eye at the level of the least of the Shadowmasters, though without the same level of vitality and energy to fuel their magics. Basic observable facts about BC magic include: 1. Power flow can operate a trickle at a time over long periods, or a flood all at once. Naturally, the flood can do things the trickle can't, but there are plenty of tasks where the end result will be the same with either approach. 2. Related to point 1, spells can either be used along sledgehammer lines, or approached like finely woven tapestries. Woven magics tend to be much more powerful when finished, but require patience and finesse as well as time. Use of magic tends to erode the patience of practitioners, so very few of the most powerful wizards have the patience to spend months or years on single spells. That's part of what makes Lady more deadly than her husband--he's less likely to be patient. Stormbringer's storms would presumably be woven, while most of Limper's spells are sledgehammers. Of course, woven spells can be unravelled, too. The Pastel-War-related magic the Taken undo, and the magic Shadowspinner prepared but was unable to release would be examples of that. 3. Indirect magic is easier than direct magic. That's what makes spellcasters like Silent and Goblin so innovative--they can't go directly at a problem, but have to use cunning to approach it. Casting a spell to sting large groups of people all over is much harder than enchanting a bunch of bees to control them and make them hard to see. 4. Illusion isn't real, but isn't entirely fake either. Illusions seem to be fairly easy and quite effective, but wizards like the Taken rarely use them. Presumably, illusions either have a bad reputation (are seen as "beneath" the most powerful wizards), or they require a level of thought closer to that of "ordinary" people than the most powerful wizards can manage. David Michael Hodum wrote:
Judging from the majority of examples in the novels, I have found the categorization below to be heavily flawed.
" Amateur (Raven) Low Level Professional (better than Raven, less powerful than company wizards) Professional (One Eye, Goblin, Silent, and Tom-Tom) Good Professional (Smoke) Great (The Circle of 18, New Taken) Great with Experience (The Ten Who Were Taken) Extremely Great (Dominator, Lady) "
Harden, merely "Great" and placed on the level of non-entities like Scorn and Blister, was able to freeze three Taken during their frontal, offensive charge: the Hanged Man, an effective battle mage as seen earlier in the initial carpet attack; Stormbringer, vastly powerful as we all know; and Soulcatcher herself. Only one thing stopped Harden from scattering the brains of these 3 Taken: the action of unseen Shifter.
Raven is not the amateur we think he is. He kills Raker, the first or second most dangerous and respected member of the original eighteen in the Circle. It would be foolish to think that he did not use considerable magic in this effort, perhaps a powerful concealment spell, as someone in the Circle isn't likely to be dispatched by some talentless thug who sneaks up behind him with a dagger.
One-Eye built a spear that utterly destroyed an ancient "Extremely Great" sorcerer Kina, when forces of considerably greater power were only able to trap her. Sure, it took him extra time to craft it, but consider the leftover time the entrapping powers had after imprisoning Kina in the plain castle.
A group of lesser light mages summoned a tree that still keeps an ancient Dominator underground. And of course, nearly any fool who stumbles upon a true name can use it to wholly disarm a demigod.
None of these are exceptions: interactions like these are the norm in the Black Company microcosm. Understanding this, it appears rather useless to try to force any kind of gaming paradigm onto the type of fiction that Glen Cook has written here. None of these categories hold fast in any significant way.
-Mike
PS- did anyone receive my previous post?
------------------------------- Michael R. Hodum Gardens Area R.A. - Claver Hall '06-'07 Honor Council Ext. 3510
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