On 1/11/06, Jon_Lincicum at stream.com <Jon_Lincicum at stream.com> wrote: > > Davdi Silverrock <davdisil at gmail.com> wrote: > > >On 1/11/06, Jon_Lincicum at stream.com <Jon_Lincicum at stream.com> > > > >> Isn't a Wizard a person who wraps up all the magical disciplines > >> (including witchcraft) into an object--along with his/her soul? > >> > >> Loraan was a Wizard, and also an undead. Does this mean he was an undead > >> witch? > > > > > >I would tend to strongly doubt it. > > > >Citing /Issola/ again: > > > >"Witchcraft," [Morrolan] explained, "is something else again." > > > >I could be wrong in my interpretation, but I think that witchcraft is > >most closely akin to psionics. This because all of the Dragaeran > >magical systems (sorcery, elder sorcery, necromancy and wizardry) > >appear to involve amorphia. Witchcraft, while it does heavily involve > >the use of things that are symbols in order to make things easier for > >the witch, does not actually *require* anything besides the witch's > >mind and will. Or so Vlad appears to imply. Note also that it was > >Daymar's purely psychic boost that helped Vlad in /Jhereg/. > > So, obviously the important parts of witchcraft (the energy to make it > work, anyway) comes from Psychics/Psionics (is there a Brustian > difference here? Or are these just two terms Brust uses for the same > thing?) I am 99.995% certain that they are the same thing, since they were both used to refer to what Daymar is able to do. Sort of like Chaos/Amorphia. > > This being said, I believe the original question was, "Can the undead > perform witchcraft?" Actually, you seemed to be suggesting that wizardry included witchcraft. My argument is that it does not, given Aliera's and Morrlan's little summation to Vlad about amorphia & necrophia. That is, wizardry is a Dragaeran magical technology based on deep understanding of and experience with amorphia and necrophia. Witchcraft is not necessary for wizardry to work. Which is not to say that a wizard cannot be a witch; case in point, Morrolan again. > > "Can the undead use Psychics/Psionics?" > > Judging by Sethra's ability to communicate this way with Vlad, > Morrolan, etc, I'd say the simple answer is yes. True, but note that that appears to be facilitated by the Orb; that is, the Orb boosting psychic abilities. > Therefore it would stand to reason that witchcraft may be > attainable for the undead, I see no reason to argue against this. While being undead is "sometimes inconvenient", to paraphrase the Necromancer, there is nothing that indicates exactly what that inconvenience is, so far. Especially in the area of magical ability.