MercutioV@AOL.COM wrote:
I was totally not prepped for a Slayers/Tolkein fusion debate. ;)
However, even the Laguna Blade couldn't defeat Maryuoh Gaav,
one of Shabranigdo's lieutenant monsters, so it's sort of up in the air. I
think the Laguna Blade "wielded" by a male spellcaster wouldn't do jack
(which is fine, since Lina's the only living being who knows it and can
actually cast it, save the potential exception of Xel); the "will not die
by the hand of man" clause in the Witch-King's destiny may make it
effective. Hard to say.
Remeber that prophecy, as anybody whose ever read a Robert Jordan novel
knows, is HIGHLY interprative. "Will not die by the hand of man" could just
mean that a man, using his hand, would be unable to kill Angmar. OTOH, a man
using his SWORD.........
The witch-king's line was "no living man may hinder me."
On a more interesting note: I think this fusion idea has a lot of
interesting possibilities, mainly because the low-key magic of the Istari
(Gandalf, et. al.) is so much NOT the hyper-dramatic DBZ magic style of
Slayers.
Keep in mind that Gandalf is not low-key by CHOICE. Olorin (Gandalfs real
name), when he agreed to go into the East with the other Maier chosen, also
agreed to abide by certain power limitations, as did Radagast and Saruman and
those two unnamed blue guys. Technically, without any restrictions placed
upon him, Gandalf has as much or more raw power as Sauron; most people forget
that Sauron was a Maier himself before he threw in with Melkor.
Adding in Lina, would, IMHO, involve giving her a Tolkinesque
backstory. I had pictured her as an Istari with a lot of raw power but
little fine control. On the other hand, I've no problem with twisting
ME history until it squeals; look what I did to Arwen.
The snag here is to NOT let Lina blast her way through the
countryside; because frankly, she COULD.
In the Third Age? Definitly. Although what would be the point? By the time of
Tolkiens original novels, half the continent is a depopulated wilderness. She
can blast her way through that if she wants, but it won't do much real good.
She could also try to march into Barad-dur and get down and funky with
Sauron himself. If the story is going to work, Lina would have to know
Sauron outmatches her and Sauron + flunkies could stomp on her if they
really put themselves to it.
I think the CHARACTERS from
Slayers with a much more low-key approach (toning down the blast radius on
most spells is a good start, eliminating extreme stuff like the
world-blasting Giga Slave and the city-busting Dragu Slave)
I'd make the Dragon Slave her most powerful spell and give it about a
25-35 yard blast radius. I'd also make it more or less not reducible,
and have Sauron able to sense it and instantly pinpoint its location.
would make
wonderful additions to a much more sombre Tolkein cast. The idea of
Princesses Amelia and Gracia of Rohan is really catching me, for some
reason.
Agreed. I can also see Prince Phil as Boromir, and Sylphiel as Galadriel.
Okay, sure, she isn't QUITE as serene as she needs to be, but c'mon,
Galadriel is pushing 8000.... you ain't serene by then, you're doing
something wrong.
I wouldn't call Galadriel serene so much as world-weary.
I'd be wary of adding too many slayers characters. One guy wearing
deely-bobbers in a line of identically dressed businessmen is funny.
Six guys wearing deely-bobbers is rather less funny.
Lest I lose you all in Tolkein-blather, however, I'll say this: I
like this idea. I wish *I* had the time to do something with it. But if
you do it, do it right, dangit.
Well, I DID lose people in all the Tolkien blather (yes, I'm a hardcore
Tolkien nut.... what of it?) but I wholeheartedly agree; do this. This will
rock as a story. Sure, you'll need to add WAYYYYYY more dialogue than Tolkien
had, but it should still be cool.
I haven't GOT a story. I just have a little bit of one.
If anyone wants to try this, fell free. I don't have time or
inclination to do it justice. With TRatW and Missy Foxglove, I'm
overcomitted already.
--David