Setting aside any questions about Paarfian axe-grinding on what is no doubt a popular subject of speculation in his day, it's nice that these chunks of information don't come across as if aimed at a readership in another universe. Wild speculation - Oidwa's spell might have been essentially a rote program, with the energy output specified. This could be a safety feature, avoiding the possibility of brain damage. A more sophisticated user such as Tazendra might rely on "feel" to calibrate the energy summoned. On Sun, 2 Nov 2003, David Silberstein wrote: > >increase is a combination of both better sorcerers and a altered Orb. > > I believe that this last is what certain scenes in LoCB (ch 46, pp > 155-156, & ch 47, 159-161) were meant to portray. > > Consider: Oidwa, a sorceress who had not used any magical arts > whatsoever since the Disaster, drew on the power of the Orb once it > had returned, and used it, with no problems. > > On the other hand, Tazendra, who had been relying on Elder Sorcery all > that time, tried to make a fire, and caused a combustion which was a > bit more rapid than she had intended. For that matter, she even went > so far as to state definitively that the Orb had changed, and, well, > since she had been practicing magic of one sort or another for the > past 800 years (or so), I should think that she would have the > experience on which to base that assertion. > > And to hammer the point home: Grassfog, who knew some healing sorcery > before the Interregnum, agrees with her entirely. (LoCB, ch. 47, pp > 161-162) > >