Hi folks, welcome back—finally—to TaleSlinger! That pause to finish the podcast turned into some resting, then getting properly (legally) married, and then covid. So it’s been longer than planned, sorry about that!
But I’m back, and continuing my series on the magic system in James Barclay’s Raven books. I’ve got two to do, and then a roundup. This week, I’m going to look at how the magic works when armies do battle.
As a general rule here, when armies fight, they all have magic backing them up. The exact magic varies slightly: the Colleges are, as always, similar but different in the spells they have access to. The Wesmen have a type of spirit magic. And the Elves, when they appear, are basically wrapped in magic, even the ones that view active spellcasting with disdain.
But the best way to discuss this is with the Colleges, so here we go.
As we’ve looked at before, each College has their own set of spells, both offensive and defensive, at varying levels of difficulty. Some of them are the same—for example, something like FlameOrb—but many, especially when we get to more difficult spells, are different—e.g. HellFire.
And a spell like HellFire, which is exclusive to Xetesk, can only be cast by the most experienced mages. They need great concentration, and efficiency of stamina, and even then it’s pretty exhausting. But any good mage is able to check their stamina and recite precisely what they’re able to cast before they’re out. The Raven mages do this regularly in the books, and it’s an invaluable skill. Unknown already builds tactics around the mages, so this accuracy really helps.
However, when we widen the entire scope out into a war setting, things change drastically. The Raven have fought plenty on the front lines, but none of them are army tacticians or Generals.
Here’s where we meet Ry Darrick, viewed by all of the Colleges (even when at war) as the best living tactician. He belongs to Lystern, who is probably the most overlooked College in the books, until Darrick is needed. If you’re fighting him, you know that his tactics will be better, he will already have run every possible scenario and can adjust accordingly, and also that his honour is absolute. To the point where he resigns his commission, amidst a mess of chaos, when he realises his College has allied with the Witch Hunters, who torture and kill mages. And then, he shows up for his own trial even though he knows what the outcome will be.
So when the Colleges go to war, Darrick knows who he faces. Protectors, mages with spells he can predict, etc.
Magic in large battles is basically done by blocks. Much of the mage strength will always be devoted to protection. Overlapping shields cast by defensive mages can protect offensive mages and archers from both magic and arrows. Offensive mages will throw as much as they can at the enemy before both sides clash, at which point it becomes more and more difficult to actually single out the other side as everyone is too close.
So, they look out for cavalry charges, flanking maneuvers, and their counterparts on the other side.
At this point, you’ll often find both sides of offensive mages lobbing spells at each other, hoping to collapse some shields. Eventually this will work—everyone only has so much stamina, and a shield can only take so much—and a handful of people might get burned or frozen or squished. But the effect of the mages is much lessened in large scale close combat.
In a siege situation—of which we see a few—their effectiveness once again peaks. Again, stamina is the main issue. Those being besieged must rest and gather their strength, and if not allowed, the advantage will quickly fail. But if there enough of them to work in shifts and get their rest, the damage they can throw at an enemy is immense.
On the other hand, those enacting the siege have the same advantages. They can utilise shields to guard offensive mages, as they throw spells not just at the people on the walls, but at the walls themselves, an the gates. Though magic-infused, everything has a weak spot, a breaking point, and once discovered, spells can hammer at it until an opening is created.
Only when facing an enemy with no magic are mages able to fully unleash, and when they do the effect is pretty devastating. No amount of speed or advanced tactics can protect shieldless folk from being slaughtered by magic. It’s generally considered pretty bad form, but that doesn’t necessarily stop it from happening.
So magic as a part of a larger battle quickly turns into both sides taking potshots at each other. But in sieges it’s pivotal, and against the non-magical, it’s pretty horrific.
But, it all follows the rules laid out. Next time, I’m going to show you how Barclay breaks all of these rules with the One Magic. It’ll be fun!
But that’s all for today. No audio I’m afraid, my voice is stubbornly refusing to stop randomly cracking.
I’ll see you next time, meanwhile please remember to share and subscribe!