u/AdBrief4620

Eldest was released in 2005 so it predates ‘woke’ but there was already the term ‘political correctness’. Referring to being very careful never to say anything that could be considered or even construed as offensive.

This line really sticks in my mind:

“There is a proper way to greet the sentinels in Ceris, certain patterns and forms that you must observe when presented to Queen Islanzadí, and a hundred different manners in which to greet those around you, if it’s not better to just remain quiet.”
“With all your customs,” Eragon risked saying, “it seems as though you’ve only made it easier to offend people.”
A smile flickered across her lips. “Perhaps.”

Whether or not you think ‘PC’ and ‘woke’ are good (progression, kindness and sophistication) or if you think it’s bad (puritanical, inauthentic and maladaptive), I’m interested whether this was coincidental or not. As well as what u/ChristopherPaolini thinks on the topic? 🧐 He must witnessed the societal change and made the comparison.

We see that demons specialise in 1-2 types of magic and then absolutely master them. Even the warrior demons typically have a single specialism of magic enhancing their combat. There is perhaps only one possible exception to this which I won’t mention here for anime watchers only.

Sure demons know several spells but it’s VERY unbalanced.

Which makes me wonder, what magic did the demon king, the most powerful demon, specialise in?

Or was he special because he mastered many types of magic? Possibly but typically demons work on mana size.

I’m genuinely stumped as there is so little to go on. I think it has to be something that’s less of a hack than some of the sages of destruction. Ie no mana scales, future sight or illusions. Nor do I think he’ll be a warrior as that seems to be for lower level demons, maxing out at generals.

My best guess? Some sort of physical magic that could give a decent fight against two warriors close range as well as mana blasts and perhaps teleportation. He’ll have to be fast and he has some of the best mana detection and control given he sees through Frieren immediately.

Mostly the title. Elder scrolls seem like his thang.

This is a great tool to express artistic vision and the luddites better get used to it.

When used correctly, nobody loses out. No way would u be hiring an illustrator at this stage of the process. The images are bringing to life my ideas in a way I cannot, due to a lack of technical skill.

When used like this it’s no different to using digital tools for art instead of paint. Or using a word processor for writing drafts. Or a producer/musician making music synthetically without the skill to play a musical instrument.

The only issue is when you use this new tech entirely for the the creating process like a prompt that says “make a book cover for my book, here is the plot”. Even then, it’s not so bad.

I’m giving you some images as exposure therapy to desensitise you.

Looking for constructive feedback please.

I had a previous front cover concept that was a lot more complex but I just feel a bit bored of those covers and they are harder to draw. However I think they enrich the reverse cover.

This novel is a classic journey of the hero, sword and sorcery story.

Fern just wants genocidal grandma to chill.

Credit: myself and my fat fingers on iPhone.

There seems to be hardly any of them. I know the continent as a whole is not as highly populated by any race, even humans, to the degree our world is.

Nonetheless, even on the northern plateau, they are rare. Sure there are limitations, Frieren etc don’t walk every inch of the continent and try to stick to safe routes. We also don’t see every single experience they have.

Just my intuition but it feels a bit like the Viltrumites in Invincible (if any of you are familiar) we only really see demons alone or in groups of about 3. Unless there are LOADS at Ende, I’d guess there are maybe 100 or so. Again, that’s just a feeling but if correct that would put them on the at risk of extinction. Not quite the elves level (they are basically one bad year away from extinction) but bad. You could probably make a similar argument for dwarves, who we’ve seen even fewer of but with them, they are gregarious and could have villages elsewhere.

*Warning, this post contains hypotheticals. In the past I’ve found this makes Redditors angry for some reason. Sure, these things wouldn’t happen because…they didn’t happen. So please don’t get annoyed. The idea is to change one premise decision or trait of a character then model the resulting sequence of events*

Would Serie accept Frieren as an apprentice if she asked her?

Specifically, if Frieren went to Serie after >! losing her first duel with Macht? !<

From what I understand, Frieren >! losing to Macht and having a golden arm for about 100 years !< is what made her give up on defeating the demon king. Presumably she reasoned that if she couldn’t even imagine >! defeating Macht !< then what hope did she have of defeating the demon king? She says to Himmel that she gave up 500 years ago out of cowardice. I’m assuming this is what she’s referring to (although it’s not certain, she’s lost to others too).

I believe that it wouldn’t be an unreasonable thought for Frieren to start wondering how she could ever defeat the demon king. Training by Serie, the greatest mage and one that is obsessed with progression and combat would cross her mind. Although Frieren values the enjoyment from learning magic rather than the goal of mastery, that is sort of at odds with her aim right now. She might see Serie has a point or she might conclude that she simply needs to adopt that approach temporarily to become strong enough.

So imagine this *hypothetical* where Frieren decides to ask Serie to take her as an apprentice. Frieren either sucks it up and admits she was wrong or gives up on defeating the demon king.

The irony is that Frieren is out there fighting, training and gathering spells, whereas Serie is the one sat around learning every grimoire in existence. Their stated philosophies are at odds but their actions are not so different, if anything they are slightly contradictory.

Now before you say “you didn’t understand the story because…” yes there is a problem. Besides the obvious one of Serie disliking Frieren and being petty, Serie also doesn’t want to defeat the demon king, she doesn’t want peace. Would she refuse to teach Frieren on that basis? Similarly, would Frieren still be Frieren if she did? Would she still be a mage who could imagine peace?

I actually think Serie would accept Frieren as an apprentice and yes Frieren would still want to defeat the demon king. HOWEVER she would fail nevertheless because she wouldn’t have her future companions.

Why?

- Serie is petty but not petty enough to hold back promising mages. Frieren would be the ultimate apprentice and would live long.

- Frieren admitting she was wrong would please Serie.

- I don’t think Serie is *that* invested in keeping the demon king alive. Sure, she won’t fight him, but I suspect she wouldn’t stop others. In fact, she may like the idea of her apprentice blasting her way to his palace.