Why does Linden need the Staff?

[wayfriend]

Anyway, this is NOT the first time he's admitted to a possible oversight in the area of taking the obvious for granted.

IMO, this is because Donaldson is polite. He won't come out and say: hey, dude, it's there, just look harder. Instead, he takes a non-confrontational approach: I'm pretty sure its there, but maybe I made a mistake, you never know. He's not going to tell anyone that their opinion is wrong.

[Believer]

Covenant did use white gold directly on Foul to reveal him. I'm not sure if SRD forgot this or doesn't count it as a direct attack

[dlbpharmd]

Just to clarify my position: Linden's desire for the SoL was never a point of confusion with me. I took it at face value: Covenant told her to find it, therefore she needed it.

Malik wrote:

The issue of wild magic scaling out of control is confused, in my opinion, by the issue of venom. I thought it was the venom which made wild magic both strong enough and uncontrollable enough to threaten the Arch--in other words, I thought that was the entire point of the venom. If white gold represents these threats all on its own, then the venom was completely redundant.

This was my understanding as well. Findail tells Covenant (I believe in WGW) that without the venom he would have NEVER been powerful enough to challenge Foul. So, if wild magic tends to escalate out of control, then why didn't this happen with Covenant prior to Marid's attack? To me, the major point of the venom was to remove his instinctive distrust and moral inhibitions about the use of power, and also his psychological need for a trigger.

Relayer wrote:

But Linden does appear to have control over the wild magic. She's able to raise just a flicker of it to get the ur-viles attention, and especially when she heals Stave, she's fighting with it, but is still able to use it surgically to heal some of his internal injuries.

Yet she healed the Giant on Starfare's Gem in WGW with extreme precision. Why then, and not now?

Believer wrote:

Covenant did use white gold directly on Foul to reveal him. I'm not sure if SRD forgot this or doesn't count it as a direct attack.

I was going to make this point. Covenant DID use wild magic directly against Foul in TPTP. Perhaps SRD is thinking that Foul was fighting back with the power of the Illearth Stone, and not whatever power he intrinsically possesses (of which we still have little clue.) It was only when Covenant realized that Foul could not be defeated in this manner did he turn to Foamfollower and the dead Lords.

[Zarathustra]

Anyway, this is NOT the first time he's admitted to a possible oversight in the area of taking the obvious for granted.

IMO, this is because Donaldson is polite. He won't come out and say: hey, dude, it's there, just look harder. Instead, he takes a non-confrontational approach: I'm pretty sure its there, but maybe I made a mistake, you never know. He's not going to tell anyone that their opinion is wrong.

Well then, you can stop worrying about my question's effect upon him. If he's just humoring me, then he's not doubting himself.

On the other hand, it's one thing for me to say he's left something out of the text, another thing altogether for you to put words directly into his mouth (including your own made-up translation of his "true" thoughts!). He has no problem telling people when they are wrong. In fact, he politely did this with 98% of his answer to me. I'm not saying I got one over on him, or scored any points. But there's little reason to humor me after taking such care to answer my question in depth--unless he's genuinely, magnanimously admitting that he, too, is capable of mistakes. Why else were you so worried that he's doubting himself?

[wayfriend]

Well then, you can stop worrying about my question's effect upon him. If he's just humoring me, then he's not doubting himself.

That wasn't the part that worried me.

[Relayer]

Relayer wrote:

But Linden does appear to have control over the wild magic. She's able to raise just a flicker of it to get the ur-viles attention, and especially when she heals Stave, she's fighting with it, but is still able to use it surgically to heal some of his internal injuries.

Yet she healed the Giant on Starfare's Gem in WGW with extreme precision. Why then, and not now?

That's a good point. I thought it was because Stave's injuries were so severe that she just couldn't heal them all at once. I'll have to go back and reread the section w/ Stave to see what the details are.

As to the Giant (Mistweave)... what is it with Linden and the people she heals? They all seem to want to follow her around and become her 'servants' -- Mistweave, Bhapa, Pani, and Char (assuming that Sahah is still too weak to do so), and Stave (though the circumstances are a bit different).

This, of course is in direct contrast to Covenant (1st Chrons), who hurts people but then they still follow him around

[Zarathustra]

Wayfriend, which part worried you?