Emperor vs. Incarnations
The Incarnations are not stronger than the Emperor. The Emperor's more powerful than he ever got a chance to demonstrate in scene during the actual stories themselves.
He might have difficulty dealing with them at first, because he doesn't know what they are or how they work. But they would pose no threat to him.
He would observe them, capture them for study, and slowly kill them when they were of no use. Emperor wins, no contest.
Simon vs. Meia
Similar situation as against Urzaia, except that in this case it depends on who gets the first move. Because unlike Urzaia, Meia will try to kill Simon instantly.
So if Simon doesn't take it seriously from the very beginning, he's likely to lose. 60-40 Meia. If he does, it swings his way a little bit. Maybe 55-45 Simon.
It would be close, though.
Simon vs. Urzaia
The Nye essence gives Simon the edge here, but only at first. Honestly, based on the way Simon fights, he wouldn't start out a duel against an unknown opponent with an all-out offensive blitz. And that would be his best chance.
Urzaia can take a hit from Mithra. His weapons can stand up to it, and his Soulbound Vessel can stop it as well. On top of that, he has the strength to (more or less) match Simon and enough reaction speed that he wouldn't be completely overwhelmed by Nye essence unless Simon pushed it to the limit from the very beginning. Plus, he's dueled a hundred times more people than Simon has.
Given that Simon starts the fight trying to be conservative with his powers and then ramps up, Urzaia wins. If Simon knows how much of a threat he is and treats him that way from the very beginning, Simon MIGHT take it.
Simon vs. Shera
I give this to Simon by virtue of super-speed, but in "Of Killers and Kings" we get to see Shera using both her newly Awakened knife AND Syphren at the same time. In that state, she'd be able to give him a fight, and it would depend on several specific factors (that I don't want to spoil for fear of revealing too many of her new powers).In summary: current Shera dies.
Which of your characters would be most likely to make it as a self-published novelist?
Kerian, the Consultant from Elder Empire.
She's relentless, she reads a lot of novels, and she knows how to make a sale. She's also highly literate, unlike a lot of my characters.
Which of your characters could survive the best in almost every kind of story setting?
He's well-educated enough to adapt to a more modern world, skilled in enough basic skills to adapt to a more primitive world, and he has his Reader skills. Assuming they work in his setting, they'd be useful under pretty much any circumstances.
Plus, he's resourceful enough to make a living in legitimate business or in a life of crime, as circumstances require.
How intelligent can Kameira become? Are there any that can Read intent?
Kameira aren't like sacred beasts--they can't actually develop human-level intelligence, though many stories and myths suggest that they do. They are powerful animals, and there are none that can Read Intent.
What would happen if someone Awakened a horror novel?
Intent accumulates in an object based on the purpose it is used for. So a horror novel's Intent would either scare people or fascinate them, depending on the Intent of the people who have read the novel over the years.
I can imagine a novel that frightens people just by sitting on a table, where you keep casting sidelong glances at it without knowing why, taking any excuse to get out of the room away from a book. Conversely, I could imagine a book that practically hypnotizes those who read it, so it's all but impossible to voluntarily stop reading until you reach the end.
I'd like you to make up a 6 or 7 book series about the founding of the elder empire!
I like six or seven books as a series size. Idk about the founding of the Elder Empire--depends on how the main series does after the relaunch.
What is the most powerful awakened item in EE that doesn't have great elder intent in some way
Estyr Six's Soulbound Vessels have no Elder Intent. They're the skulls of ancient, powerful Kameira that she defeated in battle.
The Magisters have sealed away a spear that combined the powers of multiple ice-controlling Kameira, but it was too difficult to use. Their tests blanketed an isolated Magister facility in snow for years.
Are there any independent nations or territories on Asylum? Are there multiple worlds in the Asylum iteration?
No, there are no independent nations or territories in Asylum. There are isolated communities that aren't aware they are part of the Empire, but the Empire considers them Imperial territory. They're not undiscovered, after all, just so remote as to be not worth collecting taxes from.
So if I loose my horse while training for the Blue Ribbon Race, and I accidentally run into a elderspawn instead of the usual skunks and such, what should I do?
Now, this depends entirely on what kind of Elderspawn you've encountered.
If it has the spindly legs of a spider and eyes on stalks, you just don't want to do anything interesting. As long as it has no reason to investigate you, it won't tear you apart and rearrange your organs alphabetically. You should respond in the most boring possible fashion: by turning and running away, screaming as loud as you can.
This is the response it expects, and it will be bored and turn away. Usually.
If it looks like a frog the size of a human infant, dripping with luminous slime and humming with a high-pitched sound you can barely hear, you should kill it immediately. If you succeed, you have saved us all from an outbreak.
If you leave it alone for too long, it will consume anything organic nearby: grass, leaves, roadkill, garbage, small animals and insects. When it has eaten many times its body weight, it will give birth.
The hordes of Othaghor have devastated many isolated communities. No one has seen these Elderspawn in centuries, which contributes to many ordinary citizens considering them myths. They are not.
Is there a limit to how many Vessels can be bound to a person?
This is a subject of debate and research in the Aurelian Empire. The Vessel gets its power from the Kameira or Elder parts that went into its creation, but it's connected to the Soulbound through Intent. Basically, it has to be connected to you personally in order for a bond to be born.
The Magisters would see any claims of a Soulbound with three Vessels very skeptically. They would never believe a report of a Soulbound with four.
But in theory, the limit is however many objects you see as part of your identity.
"Tell me about mountain climbers in Elder Empire."
The body of Kthanikahr, the Worm Lord, weaves through a mountain as though through a rotten apple. The Great Elder is miles long, and the stench of his decay is overpowering. Still, some brave the corpse--and the cordon of Imperial troops around the area--to scale the peak and try to harvest a strip of the Worm Lord's skin. It is said that a charm made from this leathery strap can repel Elderspawn, so dozens make the trip each year...and only a handful return.
Is there an awakened object that was awakened to be the aqivelent of an AI (artificial intelligence)
In a certain sense, yes. There are records of a dozen Soulbound whose Vessels were books. These Soulbound exhibited superior memories, enhanced insight, and a remarkable ability to organize their thoughts and impressions.
What is the deepest point in the Aion Sea (that's the Elder Empire sea, right? Forgive this one's idiodicy if he's wrong.), how deep is it, and what is the most horrible creature that lives there?
The Vebross Pit is a legendary location at the bottom of the Aion Sea, passed down through Navigator tradition.
No one has ever explored it--there are many shallow locations in the Aion Sea that have never been explored, to say nothing of the true depths--but many Navigators employ Soulbound with water-scanning and scouting powers. All of them report impenetrable depths around a general location near the center of the Sea, and that area has been referred to as the Vebross Pit.
The ocean seems almost dead around the Pit, with no sightings reported of anomalous events, Kameira, Elderspawn, or anything but natural fish. Therefore, the Navigators once preferred routes over the Pit.
But that only lasted a short time.
Navigator ships began to go missing. This is not in itself too unusual, but when it continued for three or four years and started to cost the Guild money, the Guild Head sent out an expeditionary force to investigate the Pit.
The Witnesses accompanying the expedition returned reporting a phenomenon that happened at night. As the moon rose, a vast humanoid face seemed to rise from the depths. It grew closer and closer, until the captain of their vessel realized that the face was big enough to cover the ocean for miles.
Their force escaped with no losses, and from then on, the Vebross Pit was classified by the Navigator's Guild as an Unknown Danger Zone. A captain plotting a course through such a zone must leave all Guild assets behind, as they are likely to be lost.
What is generally held to be the must ridiculous awakened object that turned out to be much more useful than anticipated?
A wide-brimmed hat invested to keep its wearer cool. When a Magister spent weeks attempting to Awaken it, his colleagues thought he was crazy. He was actually called into the Guild to question the use of his time.
Now he makes a fortune selling them. They can't be mass-produced, so each hat is a work of the Reader's art. There's a waiting list.
Wearing such a hat is like wearing sunglasses while your head is stuck in an air-conditioned room.
What is the greatest battle ever to take place in the arena
Baldesar Kern, the current Head of the Champion's Guild, was never a gladiator. But he did have one fight in the arena.
He had attempted to persuade a rival of his to back the Guild, but his rival was not convinced of Kern's strength. Therefore, Kern agreed to meet his rival's representative in the arena.
His rival's "representatives" turned out to be a half-dozen Kameira trained and equipped for battle. There was a lizard bigger than a horse with red-hot teeth, a lion-headed ape with a pair of axes, two shark-creatures that may have been Elderspawn, a worm that burrowed through the sand, and a puppy-sized flea that conjured clouds of smoke.
Baldesar's battle with this army of creatures lasted over an hour, and is widely considered the greatest battle ever to take place in an Izyrian arena. It became a mark of honor to say that you were there that day.
At the end, his rival had no choice but to support the Champion's Guild, and the Champions were victorious. As they always are.
Do people with great Intent leave bodies that can be Awaken?
Objects gather Intent when they are used by a human for a purpose. You would have to use a body for a particular purpose in order to invest it, which is required for Awakening. Body PARTS are often Awakened.
In Asylum could the emperor have "Awakened" himself if he wanted to?
Commonly accepted Reader theory in the Aurelian Empire states that human beings are already Awakened. That's what makes us sentient and aware, and why Intent doesn't seem to build up in our body as we age.
