Talk:Isiem
Some Nightglass spoilers ahead...
Isiem is a shadowcaller, which appears to be a wizard/cleric of Zon-Kuthon hybrid ("trained in both arcane and divine magic, blending studious wizardry with religious power granted directly by Zon-Kuthon"). The book also refers to shadowcasters once in a more generic sense (and not in reference to Isiem), and that word doesn't show up again in either Nightglass or Nightblade. Even after Isiem joins the Midnight Guard and deserts the shadowcallers, he's always referred to as a shadowcaller.
Complicating things further, Inner Sea Magic has a shadowcasting section with class-agnostic lore about Nidalese shadow magic but only uses the term "shadowcaster":
“To ensure the grip of his Umbral Court would remain forever unbroken, the Midnight Lord bequeathed to his mortal servants the secrets of blending shadow and magic. Though most shadowcasters practice wizardry (and indeed, wizards can choose the shadowcaster archetype if they wish to fully embrace this style of magic—see page 39) ...
”
Ascaros, meanwhile, is a shadowcasting sorcerer but trained as a shadowcaller anyway, going so far as to keep his bloodline secret—so he's a shadowcaller despite not being a wizard.
So I'm not entirely clear where Isiem exactly fits here. If I had to choose, I'd rule that:
- Practitioners of shadowcasting are known as shadowcasters (per ISM).
- Most any magic user can be a shadowcaster through sufficient devotion to Zon-Kuthon, regardless of class (per ISM).
- The Shadowcallers are an organization of Nidalese shadowcasting wizards based out of Dusk Hall in Pangolais (per Nightglass).
- Therefore, Isiem is a shadowcaster (profession?) and a shadowcaller (organization member).
Thoughts?
–Oznogon (talk) 19:05, 20 March 2015 (UTC)
- I just asked Sutter to look at this and he said that the bullet points are pretty much correct. Anyone can be a shadowcaster, but only those shadowcasters trained in the Dusk Hall are shadowcallers. Isiem isn't technically a shadowcaller anymore, however, since he's not working for them anymore. Despite this, he might still refer to himself as a shadowcaller and others might as well, just like you would likely still refer to someone who is no longer an active Navy SEAL as a Navy SEAL.—
Yoda8myhead (talk) 19:23, 20 March 2015 (UTC)
