8.2 KiB
So I've been rereading Mother of Learning
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Author: u/None *
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URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/3jhqlr/so_ive_been_rereading_mother_of_learning/
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Score: 13
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Created: 2015-09-03T14:34:36
Post:
And noticed Black Rooms mentioned.
"I kind of noticed that," Ibery said, glancing momentarily to the small group of people surrounding Zach. "But I wasn't thinking of hasting magic. Do you know what the Black Rooms are?" Zorian shook his head in negative. "There are rumors that powerful nations like ours have special training facilities that use extreme levels of time dilation. You go inside the facility, spend a couple of months, or even years inside, and when you get out only a day or two have passed outside."
How come Zorian still didn't go to explore that? I mean by now he's quite a capable mage and could actually be able to sneak in one of those assuming being very secret means they're also undermanned (which could of course be quite the opposite of the truth). And if not at least he would learn who is in charge of those and attempt to convince them to try it next restart.
Comments:
u/derefr [+14] (7 hours later)
Zorian is suffering from a lot of cached thoughts—specifically, things he decided were either too hard or "ugh" at some point, and then never re-evaluated.
For instance, he's probably better at heroing than his eldest brother is, now, but this hasn't caused him to re-evaluate whether his jealousy-inspired aversion to him makes sense. If it doesn't, then his brother becomes a very useful asset in solving his problems.
To quote DataPacRat's S.I.:
I was reeling [my rope] back for another try [at lassoing an object on the other side of the canal], wondering if I should ask Bun-Bun if she had any secret skills, when Joe put his hand on my shoulder. He pointed to the gate of the lock, holding the water back from running down the canal. "Why can we not walk on those?"
"Because it's for canal personnel only and I'm an idiot who still needs to unlearn a few things. I guess it takes more than a month to un-do three decades of living near the canal..."
I feel like Zorian is just constantly doing that sort of thing. Break the "people" rules already! You're in a time loop! As long as nobody is a mind/soul mage, the worst you can do is restart! Against non-mages, you don't even need that much; you can just teleport away! Spy on politicians! Use your riches to hire a huge mercenary force from neighbouring cities to multiply whatever effort you want to get up to! Put truth serum in the water supply! Go big!
u/Sceptically [+7] (10 hours later)
If he does anything too big he would most likely draw the notice of someone else in the time loops, which could be nasty. He really doesn't want to be killed permanently.
u/PlaneOfInfiniteCats [+7] (19 hours later)
There are ways around that.
Anything nasty enough (Say, continent-shattering explosion) may create enough problems for other loopers to prevent them from finding the cause in time.
Anything done near the end of the loop (hours or even minutes before reset) may be erased too quickly for other loopers to investigate meaningfully.
I agree with /u/derefr that Zorian is not utilizing loop's full potential.
u/Sceptically [+3] (a day later)
I agree with /u/derefr that Zorian is not utilizing loop's full potential.
I agree with that, but not with his suggestions of things Zorian could better spend his time on. Because those examples were all things likely to put him on peoples' radar, and at present the antagonists seem to have no idea he's still there looping. The worst he can do isn't to force a restart. The worst he can do is become someone they know about and are actively looking for. Which he could well do by leaving a body for people to investigate during the rest of that iteration of the loop.
Finding out more about Black Rooms, on the other hand, could give him more time to train, or a better understanding of the nature of the time loops.
u/PlaneOfInfiniteCats [+2] (2 days later)
I completely agree with your post.
Finding out more about Black Rooms, on the other hand, could give him more time to train, or a better understanding of the nature of the time loops.
I would add covert mind reading of non-mages, learning to learn faster, examining portal gates, contacting his elder brother and raiding restricted section of a library to the to-do list, though.
u/literal-hitler [+9] (28 minutes later)
He only has vague rumors that some nations may have them. He doesn't know which nations, where they might be, or if they actually exist (though the Checkov's Armory that is MoT makes me doubt that outcome). He'll probably go after that at some point, but he has other things that have more solid deadlines he needs to worry about first.
u/Charlie___ [+5] (an hour later)
He, in general, isn't very good at politics, and hasn't really noticed it yet (both politics, and being bad at it). This may be a deliberate choice by the author.
u/None [+3] (2 hours later)
Yeah, it probably is.
I was just wondering due to the fact, that he seems to be quite capable now and would probably figure out how to either get in in a couple of restarts. Like 10 years of training in one restart would give him quite an edge even over Red Robe.
u/None [+2] (7 hours later)
[deleted]
u/Sceptically [+3] (10 hours later)
Not nested. Dilated.
u/Transfuturist [+3] Carthago delenda est. (a day later)
They don't, actually.
u/FuguofAnotherWorld [+5] Roll the Dice on Fate (a day later)
And you know this because...?
u/Transfuturist [+1] Carthago delenda est. (a day later)
Perhaps you should explain why you think they would, instead.
u/FuguofAnotherWorld [+2] Roll the Dice on Fate (a day later)
Well this is going nowhere. If only either of us had a degree in time travel.
I feel like you can only shave time into bits so big before things start to go wrong. That's why I said likely, because I am definitely not sure. You said they don't; flat assertation, so I'm assuming you have a reason to be confident.
u/Transfuturist [+1] Carthago delenda est. (a day later)
I meant that they don't seem likely.
u/FuguofAnotherWorld [+2] Roll the Dice on Fate (a day later)
Cool. Well, there's not really anywhere to go from here since there's no explanation of how the time travel yet in story. Have fun I guess.
u/Nepene [+5] (2 hours later)
Those facilities are likely run by the military, so until he is very confident with his skills it would be a bad idea to use them. If he is overconfident with his efforts that could lead to perma death.
u/Kishoto [+2] (14 hours later)
How exactly would it lead to perma-death?
u/Nepene [+2] (20 hours later)
Military soul mages or mind mages would destroy his mind or wreck his soul.
u/Kishoto [+2] (21 hours later)
Is that confirmed in-universe, or is that just a logical conclusion you've come to?
u/Nepene [+8] (21 hours later)
https://www.fictionpress.com/s/2961893/29/Mother-of-Learning
Here he notes that military bases likely have mind mages or necromancers on the payroll, as a reason why he won't steal guns from military bases. The same reasoning applies to other places with access to mind mages and necromancers.
u/notmy2ndopinion [+3] Concent of Saunt Edhar (9 hours later)
I assumed that he was already in a "Black Room" -- the rumors are false, but the power-leveling is true!
(Red Robe has access to the Black Room?)
u/Gauntlet [+2] (5 days later)
I am also rereading currently and had the same thought. In the latest chapters he is capable but it has been a couple of years and its going to be tough to keep track of little things like that.
I can't wait for the next few chapters now he has a way to store information between restarts.