[UA] Magickal tests

[Kevin Elmore]

> Somewhere I read  the Latin phrase "If you can read this,
> you have too much education. Which is odd, as I can't
> read Latin, but I am overly educated.

Not too odd.  Most anyone who can read Latin is
overeducated.  But not all overeducated people can read
Latin, or solve differential equations, or tell you exactly
why the War of the Roses is identical to the Vietnam
conflict (I just made that up; maybe there is no connection
or a lot).

> 
> ObUA: some magickal ritual test to detect avatars of the
> scholar?  Or just me guessing correctly based on a
> limited knowledge of linguistics?

This shows up a bit in stories.  

The most obvious one I can think of is Babylon 5.  An alien
race sends a probe.  It stops at B5.  The message, once
deciphered, promises all sorts of technological advances if
the species that discovers the probe can answer several
technological questions.  

As it turns out, the species was more interested in
destroying anyone that could threaten it, so anyone who
answers the question receives a bomb.  In this case,
knowledge is poison.

Another example comes from the book "Rune" by, I believe,
Christopher Fowler.  In this story, the villain kills off
people by inserting runes of doom into their belongings. 
Once a rune is read, the person is compelled to kill
himself (major Self stress check there).  

One person was killed because the rune was written on both
sides of a piece of paper.  Place the paper on the desk and
look at either side:  Nothing.  Hold the paper up to the
light, and you can see both symbols at once, forming one
potent symbol of death.  

I always thought it'd be neat to write a secret message on
a scrap of paper that way.  Draw half the letters on one
side and the other half on the other.  See how long it
takes for the players to realize what it is.

Kevin



__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Spot the hottest trends in music, movies, and more.
http://buzz.yahoo.com/

_______________________________________________
UA mailing list
UA at lists.uchicago.edu
http://lists.uchicago.edu/mailman/listinfo/ua