GrenwichMeanTimeLord wrote:
Slamlander wrote:
Imp-Chan wrote:
Also, the priestess's face has exactly the same panicked expression I had the last time I misplaced my evil twin (don't worry, I found him again). Maybe she's panicking not because a calming effect from Luminosita was dissipated, but because she lost her actual connection to Luminosita, which she's used to feeling because she pumps energy into it all the time?
It's consistent with religious magic, where worshipers feed energy into a focus with a bit of positive
feel good in exchange. Get rid of the focus and the feedback loop is broken.
Which leaves the idea that you've all of a sudden got a sizeable number of people who have become used to channelling whatever magic they have into a construct, and that energy now has noplace to go.
Oh sure, they had no idea what they were actually doing, this is true, but that just makes it worse.
The blind channellers have been doing this for so long that they've probably got pretty good at it. So now you've got a lot of people who are used to externalising magical power, with no force taking that power out to "ground" it safely, and no training in what to do with it.
Strange things might start to happen... a whole bunch of raw magic, a lot of people suddenly desperate, disillusioned and more inclined to personify their desires and fears than deal with them personally.
The fallout at ground zero of the godboom is Poltergeists!
Possible. It depends on how the author wants to use this particular plot device. Usually, without a focus, the energy is simply dissipated because the focus has to be active. The priesthood is there to provide activation and, in this case, direction.
Also, the
public destruction of Luminosita would lead to wholesale disillusionment and maybe even a negative flow. This might even generate some serious atheists among the population and even a bunch of anti-theists (most atheists are really anti-theists ... those who would refuse gods the right to exist).
Note that this is different from Anilis; a true goddess. Real gods do not need religious magic in order to manifest themselves, as they are entities in their own right. It's only god constructs that need to be the focus of worshippers, as in Terry Prachette's
Small Gods. Now, there's a case like what you are talking about, where the religious magic creates it's own focus and the god manifested thereby gains strength by the number of worshippers. Pratchette may parody and satire but, his work is almost encyclopedic about the various plot devices used in the Fantasy genre. Eddings'
Rivan Codex is also good.
AncientVikingMaster wrote:
Second of all... I wonder if all the unused energy will coverge into a series of mini-Luminositites all running around and screaming bloody murder, hacking at each other with their psychic axes, getting chased by housecats... it'd be cute!
Then... everyone could have their own personal pocket god... you know, for the quick prayer on the go or the occasional miracle.
You would enjoy Prachette, read
Small Gods.