Myth: A New Age CYOA

[Karwelas]

No, no. Of course I prefer to wait King out.

 

[Baltika9]

So, uh, are we done with additional votes for this chapter?

 

[Fangshi]

Well, you have forty eight to thirty six hours before I close the vote so you have plenty of time to add things if you want.


Speaking of which:

Since you voted to work on the Iron Will spell using your own energy here is what happened. It was nothing too dramatic/devastating/exciting so I won't type it out as a whole scene or anything.

- The King had no problem letting you try. With Taide's help you diplomatically informed him of what you were doing and he let you do it. That made the rest of the task easier.

- First Attempt: You managed to nail down the emotional aspect from the Warrior's Mask on the first attempt but you had trouble marrying the ferocity of that spell with the calm and collected mindset of your Calm Casting ability. The end result was a mental state that had been strengthened but also was difficult to restrain and properly control. [You rolled perfectly to set up the foundation of the Warrior's Mask, moving yourself into that primal, irresistible mindset but you botched the second set of rolls].

- However, since Derry has such a high WIS she is capable of learning even from her errors, and she did. [I gave you a difficult roll to see if you could learn anything from your failure and you rolled damn near perfectly giving you a new insight in the field of meta magic].

- As a result you created a new meta magic spell:

The Conqueror's Path - A happy accident, this spell was cobbled together from your first, failed attempt to create Iron Will and is based upon the mental application of the underlying theory that fuels the Warrior's Mask. It is a quick spell to activate and one that comes naturally with aggression. The closer your mental state is to that of the ancient warlords and conquerors the more potent this spell will be. This spell increases the potency of your spells, for a short burst of one minute per casting. It does so at the cost of their accuracy and energy consumption. This spell requires a state of mind that is wholly incompatible to that of Calm Casting, the two can not be active at the same time and the use of the one will diminish the effects of the other if used in succession.

Essentially it is the 'anti-Calm Casting', good for hurting people indiscriminately but not of much use where precision and self control are needed.

- Thankfully, you were not actively chaining spells so you did not have a loaded attack spell go off on you.

- After calming yourself [a few fairly simple will checks and five minutes later] you made a second attempt. The King was keenly interested in what you were doing by this point, you suspect he was even taking a few mental notes.

- Second Attempt: This went better. This time you were careful not to let the ancient mindset required for the Mask take over. Instead, as soon as it began to manifest you switched over to the Calm Casting spell and began to channel all of that aggression inward on itself, bending the mask inward into a lump of glowing metal that began to melt, dripping in your mind. [You essentially had an easier set of the same rolls to show that you were progressing with the idea.]

- Once the Mask's emotional state was chained you were able to weave back into fanning it to life. You turned that aggression against your own emotions, against the very things that make you a full person. You killed those feelings for a time, coating them with the molten metal of the trapped Mask spell. Quickly, before you could do any permanent damage, you once more took up the strains of the Calm Casting spell. You immersed your burning mind in the frigid waters of complete stillness and clarity.

The end result was a mind, a will, encased in solid iron.

[So this was the proper, full set of rolls for the second step. Most of the rolls drew on your WIS to guide you through the process by intuition and to hand the extreme pain of shutting down your own ability to feel. If you had gone too far you might have lost a bit of yourself but such are the risks of magic. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. You rolled well, average to above average, and succeeded in crafting your new spell.]

Iron Will - Combining the burning intensity of the Warrior's Mask with the complete, cool composure of Calm Casting you have developed a spell that grants you near complete mastery over your own mind and emotions. The Iron Will spell encases you mind behind a thick shield of will and should serve to prevent tampering by all but the most powerful and skilled entities. You believe that any being still capable of reaching your mind will be forced to do so directly, in such a way as to give you clear warning, or through long and careful preparation for even the strongest of defenses are not completely impenetrable. This focus on defense does come at a cost though. The Iron Will spell must be maintained and will begin to fail as soon as you stop actively casting it. The defenses will last for about thirty seconds from the time you end your casting. Additionally as the spell requires keen focus and complete control over yourself all spells you attempt to cast on yourself while Iron Will is active will be twice as draining. All spells you attempt to cast on or at others while Iron Will is active will be three times as draining. The Warrior's Mask, the Conqueror's Path and Calm Casting, as the component spells of Iron Will, can all be cast while under the effects of Iron Will but are one and a half times as draining when cast on yourself and twice as draining when cast on others.

So you now have a spell that will protect your mind but render it quite difficult to cast anything while it is active. Keep in mind that the penalties to casting while Iron Will is active will be further exacerbated by the penalties you face for casting an unmastered/learnt spell. So while this is useful you will be burning a lot of energy, very quickly with it.

At the moment if Derryth (at full energy) tried to cast both Iron Will and one of the component spells she will completely exhaust herself rather quickly (in minutes) if she did not have a ready supply of power sources to draw from. Casting something like Greater Firebolt while Iron Will is active is right out for now, you simply lack the skill to pump out that much power while maintaining your defenses. Nine could do it, Mazzarin could do it easily, Faceless could do it too but then they are all top ten archmages and you aren't, not yet.

You also used up three quarters of your current magical reserves but you still have the energon cubes...

 

[Absinthe]

What would happen if we cast the Warrior's Mask with the Conqueror's Path? Also, how soon could we add war cries to our repertoire of vocal magic? They seem well-suited to Derryth between the Conqueror's Path, the low charisma requirement, and the high emphasis on willpower.

Hey Nevill, seriously, what is your plan for getting the Seekers to accept your plan? Even beyond their hatred of demons and suspicion of the fey, as mages they are really possessive of their secrets. Even if the Seekers could get glamored into going along with it, they would be pissed once the glamors wear off.

I think we should negotiate for something better here, and we have a working Iron Will spell for negotiating now.

 

[Nevill]

I think Finvarra already has them pacified to prevent the outbreak of hostilities.

And if they get pissed, well, too bad. If they had their way, we would have fought Cropper and his pals without even talking to them, would have our team infiltrated by the Watcher's agents (because we learned they were compromised only after talking to Cropper), and would have a totally unwarranted fight with the fairy lord on our hands. They have disobeyed a direct order while being under a mistaken assumption, too. Looking back at how they conducted themselves, I see that their actions so far benefit neither us, nor the Kingdom. They are proving to be more trouble that they are worth, and do not justify their reputation of a professional outfit.

We have barely prevented an absolutely unnecessary bloodshed that could have wiped out their whole company (as we can see, Finvarra vastly outmatches them in terms of magical power). Did it even register on the Old Man's radar, I wonder?

Their distrust of the fey is still not a reason to attack them. I will not force the Seekers to comply, but I will not put myself between them and Finvarra either, not unless the fairies try to actually harm them, at least.

If they wouldn't want to serve under us after that, I will just give them to the royal prince, as was originally intended, and they will become his problem. We'll also see if they think they can ignore his orders as well - something tells me that we are being surprisingly lenient as far as commanders go. My guess is that if the Seekers sabotaged a diplomatic event like that while under the Prince's orders they would be fired on the spot. Maybe even literally so.

If we weigh the usefulness of the Seekers and of the potential alliance with another force in the south, I see no reason to sacrifice the latter to gain... what exactly? The Seeker's respect? I don't see any.

If you think you could negotiate for something better, that is fine, but I do not see a platform from which we could negotiate.

The King stated he is not going to leave until he scans our army. What exactly have you got to stop him? You can threaten a confrontation that may well result in a wipe of both parties and count on him being the wiser one, but something tells me that it is not going to be productive for our long-term relationships.

Mind you, I do not say that my way is better, as I do not know how they will react to what they find in our heads. All I am saying that I will try to push for our alliance in good faith, and I won't willingly become the reason for a breakdown in our negotiations.

 

[Absinthe]

I think Finvarra already has them pacified to prevent the outbreak of hostilities.

For the time being. After the fey pack up and leave? That's our problem.

And if they get pissed, well, too bad.

For all we know the Seekers could go to war over this. Mages take their secrets very seriously. And if the Seekers do leave, that sets a bad precedent for our other newly disgruntled men.

If they had their way, we would have fought Cropper and his pals without even talking to them, would have our team infiltrated by the Watcher's agents (because we learned they were compromised only after talking to Cropper), and would have a totally unwarranted fight with the fairie lord on our hands. They have disobeyed a direct order while being under a mistaken assumption, too. Looking back at how they conducted themselves, I see that their actions so far benefit neither us, nor the Kingdom. They are proving to be more trouble that they are worth, and do not justify their reputation of a professional outfit.

To the contrary, the seekers haven't done anything yet without our say-so. And we haven't even met up with the army or the military conflicts where we would probably need the services of a company of battlemages. Hell, I'd want them just as magical batteries so we can cast a ton of heals to recover the wounded when we need to.

And this isn't a reasonable request, we're asking our whole army to agree to being brain-scanned by the fey. Even our scouts were pissed at being interrogated, putting the whole army (mostly mercenaries) through it is going to damage our leadership because they will resent that shit. Worst case scenario, we won't have an army afterwards because everyone is pissed and the Seekers break contract, leading the others to get out too. You don't seem to realize this Nevill, but our leadership of our forces at the moment is rather tenuous. Most of these people aren't loyal types to begin with and selling them out like this will have repercussions.

If we weigh the usefulness of the Seekers and of the potential alliance with another force in the south, I see no reason to sacrifice the latter to gain... what exactly? The Seeker's respect? I don't see any.

To maintain the loyalty of our men, including the Seekers. Also, to preserve our secrets.

If you think you could negotiate for something better, that is fine, but I do not see a platform from which we could negotiate.

The King stated he is not going to leave until he scans our army. What exactly have you got to stop him? You can threaten a confrontation that may well result in a wipe of both parties and count on him being the wiser one, but something tells me that it is not going to be productive for our long-term relationships.

If it worked for Berty it can work for us. We're not denying him everything. His men wanted the compromised scouts, and we will let him have all of them. And if you want you can offer to have him to place some men with us to observe and assist our mutual endeavors as an alliance against the dark (Fangshi, voting 2A). That way he still has some assurance of our behavior and we get both the Seekers and the fey on our side. He doesn't have enough reason to resent this and risk a battle instead. As for long-term relationships, I think he is more likely to respect us in the long term if we stand up against this outrageous request than if we negotiate for terms of surrender.

Mind you, I do not say that my way is better, as I do not know how they will react to what they find in our heads. All I am saying that I will try to push for our alliance in good faith, and I won't willingly become the reason for a breakdown in our negotiations.

What you're proposing isn't a real negotation. You're bending over backwards and trying to preserve your interests. My suggestion may be a forceful negotiation, sure, but it's a negotiation nonetheless and a battle of wills is much more likely to work here than a battle of diplomacy where his charisma will crush us anyhow. Plus we have a working Iron Will spell for the occasion now. And if you want an alliance, you will need him to respect us more as equals.

 

[Nevill]

You assume they'd just pack up and leave. They could go to war over this.

Well, they are free to go to war, then, and I will gladly give them the necessary space while an army that outnumbers them 5-to-1 buries them. Some people just aren't learning animals.

To the contrary, the seekers haven't done anything yet without our say-so.

I am pretty sure this qualifies as acting without our say-so.

The Old Man begins to channel, you grab him by the shoulder and hiss in his ear, “What are you doing!”

“Killing a few demons,” he answers coldly.

“Not without my orders,” you insist.

“Then give the order,” he replies, his voice sharp as a razor. He breaks free from you and in a blink speeds his way back to his section of the line. With or without your help it seems that the Seekers are set on fighting this battle. Perhaps you should have expected that given their known attitude toward the 'unnatural'.

It was only by our plan to involve the necklaces and having Maz' projection scare the Seekers into submission that we got them to comply.

They have disobeyed a direct order and almost got us into more trouble than we could afford.

And this isn't a reasonable request, we're asking our whole army to agree to being brain-scanned by the fey. Even our scouts were pissed at being interrogated, putting the whole army (mostly mercenaries) through it is going to damage our leadership because they will resent that shit.

Boo-hoo. Weren't the scouts that were pissed (the captain, to be precise) found to be the Watcher's agents?

Thing is, we also need this scan to weed out the infiltrators. It would be nice to do it on our own terms, but c'est la vie.

I still think the Watcher's spies led the fey army to our group in order to have us kill each other. These things cannot be allowed to continue, and any uncompromised mercenary would understand that.

To maintain the loyalty of our men, including the Seekers.

I don't see a problem with loyalty.

If you asked an average mercenary if they would prefer to be scanned by a fey for the Watcher's influence, or risk ther life in a confrontation over their right not to be scanned because REASONS, what would they choose, I wonder?

If it worked for Berty it can work for us.

Finvarra knows Berty, he knows not to fuck with Berty, and he knows Berty is not compromised, so there is no point in duking it out with him. We aren't Berty, though, which is why he insists on scanning us, and even Berty does not seem to dissuade him from that idea.

I don't see what you are arguing with me for. You should probably be asking the others why they voted the way they did.

 

[Fangshi]

What would happen if we cast the Warrior's Mask with the Conqueror's Path?

The spell would become more powerful so your armoured skin would be thicker, you would be bigger and stronger. You would also have less fine motor control as a result and you would wear out quicker.

Also, how soon could we add war cries to our repertoire of vocal magic?

You could probably come up with them fairly quickly since it would just be a question of channeling your magic through a single sustained note. You already have the vocal control to do it and the basic theory necessary, you just need to experiment a little. See what different tones and different emotional states can create in isolation. It would be safer to do in the Dreaming where no one will accidentally die but you can just as easily do it in the physical world if you can find volunteers to be practiced on.


And the tally:

Spoiler

Current Tally:
Jester 1E, 2x, 4x
Nevill 1F, 2A, 4A
Baltika9 1F, 2x, 4x
Azira 1F, 2A, 4A
Kz3r0 1F, 2A, 4A
Absinthe 1G, 2A, 4x
Karwelas 1F, 2A, 4A
Grimgravy 1D, 2abstain, 4x

1.
5 votes F
1 vote D
1 vote E
1 vote G

2.
5 votes A
1 vote abstain
2 votes undeclared

4.
4 votes A
4 votes undeclared

 

[Nevill]

You would also have less fine motor control as a result and you would wear out quicker.

How much quicker?

I am trying to figure out if it is a good idea to cast in on an elephant before a charge to protect it better. They would not need fine motor controls all that much.

You could probably come up with them fairly quickly since it would just be a question of channeling your magic through a single sustained note.

Is our musical magic going to be limited to simply meta-magic, that is, channeling existing spells through notes?

Doesn't it have some cool spells of its own?

Or are we talking creating spells right now?

 

[Azira]

Sure, why not a 4A vote?

 

[Fangshi]

How much quicker?

Right now I am trying to figure out if it is a good idea to cast in on an elephant before a charge to protect it better.

About one and a half times quicker for a substantial increase in skin thickness. (The elephant's skin is normally about 2.5cm thick, with the regular Mask spell it is nearing 6cm, with the Conqueror's Mask it would be nearing 10-12cm depending on the part of the body.)

Is our musical magic going to be limited to simply meta-magic, that is, channeling existing spells through notes?

Well musical magic is just another way to cast. It is not a school of magic but a completely different way to go about using your magical reserves. So it does not have spells of its own. What it does have are genres, stances, instruments and other components that aid in or alter spell effects and casting.

You will get more into that once you start having lessons. So far all you have done is pick out your instruments (you chose to forego learning any in the short term in favour of working on your voices) and learn the bare basics of how to channel magic through your voice.

Doesn't it have some cool spells of its own?

Sort of, the songs woven by a full band playing musical magic can be devastating (see: Morpheus annihilating the Singing Beasts) but to cast that spell/play that song Morpheus required the proper stage equipment, a band of expertly trained musicians to support him and substantial experience.

It is like looking at what Mazzarin can do and saying, "Why can't I do that?"

The answer is simple, you are still a baby compared to the heavy hitters (I mean you are not even 100 years old yet), you are not even anywhere in the same general league as most of them.

For the time being (since you have only had the one lesson) you can probably manage to channel spell effects through single sustained notes or pairs of notes. You might even be able to use the traditional songs you know with simple and subtle magical effects to improve morale, terrify your enemies, or impress a patron. It will be subtle rather than spectacular in most cases but I was under the impression that, that is what the 'Dex wanted to start with.

 

[Nevill]

Well, the question then becomes what benefit is there in channelling spells in a diffferent way? Does it give them some extra properties? Does it make them easier to cast or modify? Does it allow us to cast more? Does it make chaining spells easier? What is the difference?

Say, we could cast Assault like we always did, or we could cast it as a sort of Command: Fall spell. Is there any reason to prefer one over the other?

 

[Fangshi]

Well, the question then becomes what benefit is there in channelling spells in a diffferent way?

The answer is right there in the question. You will be doing things differently, your spells will feel and look differently, they will be constructed differently, they will be more intuitive, less rational, they will be more surprising for your enemies if they have never dealt with anything like it before.

Take TWM as an example since he is closer to your power level and you have the most experience dealing with him. He was able to marry his normal spellcasting with musical magic to devastating effect multiple times.

Does it give them some extra properties?

It certainly can if you play with the components that make up the spell.

Does it make them easier to cast or modify?

That really depends on what you are trying to do and how well you know the 'song' you are trying to play relative to any 'normal' spells that you may know that could do a similar/the same job.

Does it allow us to cast more?

You are still drawing from the same source(s), your inner reserves of energy or external 'batteries', so not on its own but again it would depend on the specifics.

Does it make chaining spells easier?

It could depending on what you are trying to do.

What is the difference?

Alright, at the moment when you cast normal spells you are using what you know about magical theory to build a structure through which you can channel your internal energy (or energy given to you) to check the laws of the physical world and achieve magical/miraculous effects.

There are many, many different types of magical theory all bound to specific schools of thought, philosophical currents and political academies. The magical theory you use (and the magical theory all of your mages use with the possible exception of Christine as you do not know her theory) is generic. This is because none of your mages have gone through 'proper' academic training.

Derry learnt her magic from Henry, then Miosguinn, then Nine, Faceless and finally Mazzarin, with a little help from the Royal Academy and a lot of work on her own/with Taide and Lys.

Taide followed much the same path, through a series of patrons, to Derry, to Miosguinn, to Nine, and finally Mazzarin. Again, she received help from Derry, Lys and the fellows at the Academy.

Brigit learnt her magic from her mother and a series of mercenary mages her father hired for specific jobs, she picked up what she could, when she could, until she met the rest of the Lost, Miosguinn and later Nine.

Serpent learnt everything he knows from D&T, Brigit and Christine (particularly Christine).

Amena learnt from the tower library on her own with some basic direction from Eris.

Christine learnt from her mother.

Lyssa learnt from Mazzarin and, presumably, from other teachers before that but she has never mentioned a 'proper education' and you are fairly certain she lacks the temperament for it. Her recent improvements have all been down to her own efforts, collaboration with D&T and the influence of the fellows.

Mel seems to just be a natural talent when it comes to mechanical magic, beyond that Taide is not aware of much ability on Mel's part.

So all your people use the general magical theory they have managed to cobble together throughout their lives. This is a qualitative theory and one based on combining sympathetic components or opposed elements to create varying degrees of harmony and discord. It is not an exact science and it relies heavily on the caster's mental and emotional state to achieve anything. The dwarves have attempted to turn it into a more 'modern' science and so far have only had mixed results.

So to craft a spell using your traditional theory you usually have to construct a theoretical/conceptual framework using analogies and metaphors to bring about the proper emotional and mental states. For example, when casting firebolt back in chapter one Derryth would use anger/rage to help facilitate the creation and projection of fire, this is a very elementary trick that any competent pyromancer would know and the same principle can be applied to all the elemental sub-schools. This is also why expert elementalists tend to be a bit unstable (or at the very least they all seem to have similar personalities, fire mages are quick to anger, earth mages are patient but implacable, that sort of thing), they get so used to maintaining a specific mental/emotional state that their humours become permanently unbalanced and they become unbalanced as a result.

A much more advanced example of the same process is what just happened when you created the Iron Will.

Musical magic also has it's own theory behind it and the more you learn the clearer that will become. You will find that certain notes work well together and certain chords/intervals/etc are much more powerful than others. For example, the flatted fifth. It also depends on the genre you are playing, the instruments you are using and the stance/style that you assume while playing.

In many ways musical magic is more intuitive and more 'natural' than standard magical theory. It can be very formal, and very intellectual, but it is also quite primal and you will often simply 'know' when you have hit upon something that resonates.

Let's take the guitar as an example given that it is used in damn near everything :

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/less...y_knowing_these_top_4_chord_progressions.html

Spoiler

This lesson is for beginning guitarists looking for an easy way to learn a lot of songs quickly. There are loads of exceptions to these guidelines, but we're not trying for a comprehensive collection of chord progressions here. Instead, we'll be using the 80/20 rule (the Pareto Principle - 20% of your work yields 80% of your results) and looking at the 4 most common chord progressions used in thousands of songs. Once you have these basic progressions under your fingers, you'll find it simple to adapt them to one of the exceptions. Maybe a couple of the chords are flipped, or it starts in the middle.

Here's what we'll discuss: - The 4 chord progressions that will get you through thousands of songs; - I'll address common questions about this subject; - What to do with this information now that you have it; - The most common keys you should practice these progressions in; - Tips and ideas for songwriters. I'll give you these progressions in Roman Numeral (or Nashville) format so they can be transposed to any key. The example chords will be for the key of C major.

The General Purpose Progression
In any key, the I, IV, and V chords (e.g. C, F, and G) are called the Primary Chords and they'll form the bulk of many progressions.
So your first progression is any combination of those chords:
I IV - "Imagine" by John Lennon or "Everybody Talks" by Neon Trees.
I V - "The Gambler" by Kenny Rodgers or "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" from "Cheers."
I IV V I - "Basket Case" by Green Day or "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt.
I V IV I - "All the Small Things" by Blink-182 or "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga.
I IV I V I - A basic 12-bar blues.

The Pop Progression
This next chord progression is the most overused in all of pop music as evidenced by Axis Of Awesome's video "4 Chords."
I V Vi IV (C G Am F) - "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper, "Someone Like You" by Adele, and countless other songs.
There is a common variation of this one that goes vi IV I V.
It's exactly the same progression, but starting from the vi (Am) and going around the progression - "Complicated" by Avril Lavigne, "Grenade" by Bruno Mars or "What If God Was One of Us?" by Joan Osbourne.

The Jazz Progression
A zillion jazz standards are built around this progression: ii V I (Dm G C) - "Satin Doll" by Duke Ellington or "Autumn Leaves" by everybody.
It's also seen in the pop world in songs like "Boyfriend" by Justin Bieber and parts of "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen.
Never again will you see those two artists mentioned in the same sentence.

The 1950's Progression
This chord progression and its variant were well used in the 1940's and 1950's for both ballad and uptempo songs.
I vi ii V (C Am Dm G) - "Sherry" by The Four Seasons or "Fool on the Hill" by The Beatles.
I vi IV V (C Am F G) - "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen or "Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Nelson.
The only difference between these two progressions is the Dm (in the first) and the F (in the second). Dm and F share two of the same notes (F and A) making them common substitutions for one another.

Common Questions
Now that we've very brazenly narrowed down the last 100 years of popular music to four chord progressions, let me answer a few of your questions to put this in perspective:

Why do these progressions get used so often over other possibilities? - Because they work. That's not to say that every song written with these chord progressions is going to be a hit. But popular songwriting is a delicate balance of doing something that can be considered new and fresh, but still retaining a comfortable sound that gives the passive listener something comfortable and familiar to grab on to to pull them into the song.

How can two songs using the same common chord progression sound so different? - The chords are only one part of what makes a song. We have lots of other tools at our disposal to create different sounds with the same old ingredients, such as:

• Playing in different keys - i.e. F major instead of C major.

• Arrangement - Which instruments are being used playing which notes of the chord on which parts and how are they mixed in the recording?

• Chord extensions - Adding 7ths, 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, and other alterations to a chord can give it a drastically different sound even if the root relationships are the same.

• Rhythm - Listeners latch onto rhythms before anything else. So by changing up the groove, you can make old stuff sound new again.

• Melody - There are countless melodies that can be played over a given chord progression, all making the song into something new. Though you'll often find periods in musical history where even melodies and rhythms get recycled a lot. (Like now.)

• Lyrics - Above all, what really makes a listener connect with and love a song is the lyrics.

What To Do With This Information Now
Now that you know these basic chord progressions, you've got a shortcut to learning hundreds of songs. Go find any three songs right now here on UG and see which of these progressions they use. As I mentioned, you will find loads of songs outside of these three progressions. However, it's usually just one more basic chord thrown in or changing the order of the chords. By getting your basic progressions down cold, you'll already have the moves under your fingers. Here are three I grabbed at random:

"Cemetery Gates" by Pantera - vi I V IV - a flip on the second "'50s Progression".
"...Like Clockwork" by Queens Of The Stone Age - vi I V ii - a variation on the "Pop Progression".
"Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons - ii IV I V - a flip and variation on the "Jazz Progression".

Which Keys Should You Practice These In?
The beauty of the Roman Numeral (or Nashville) system is that it's easy to transpose to whatever key you need. But again, in the interest of the 80/20 rule, focus on just the most common keys when practicing these progressions. Once you've got them down, the other keys (especially on guitar) will come very easily. Practice in these 5 common and important keys: C, D, E, G, and A.

Tips And Ideas For Songwriters
As a songwriter, you have the choice of using these progressions or not. In my opinion, it comes down to where you want to challenge the listener. That often comes down to a balance between the lyrics and the music. If you're writing lyrics that are going to be difficult for the listener to keep up with, but you need them to for the song to work, then maybe you want to use a simpler progression so they're not subconsciously trying to figure out what's going on musically at same time. In a lot of my work, I write a ton of jokes and wordplay into the lyrics. Or maybe there's a really defined plot to the story you want them to follow along on. Or maybe you just have a really important message you want to get across. In those cases, I'll use a simpler chord progression that's easy to latch onto so the listener can focus on the lyrics instead. If, however, you're writing a song where you want to music to take center stage, whether that be an instrumental piece or something with a lyric that's easy to comprehend, then you can go with a more challenging chord progression and musical arrangement. Can you create a song with complex lyrics and complex music? Of course you can! You can do anything you want. See how your audience responds to it and go from there. Now you've got the 4 most common chord progression, some sample song ideas, and the most common keys you should practice them in. When you have them down to the point where you're bored with them and desperately seeking out songs with more interesting progressions, congratulations! You're a better guitarist than when you started

Now, you don't need to know all that for the purpose of the CYOA. To boil it all down to something simple:

'Traditional'/'Generic' Magical Theory is:
- highly theoretical but interpreted through analogy and metaphor
- based on a system of 'natural affinities and aversions'
- subject to a great deal of variation through different schools/traditions many of which are contradictory at their core
- based around the construction of discrete vehicles used to channel magic in very specific ways (the result of this is that if you want to change part of a spell to do something differently you are essentially creating a new spell each time)
- on the whole easier to cast for mortals as it relies on fixed recipes that can be invoked even when under stress
- often quick to cast with the exception of rituals requiring material components and preparations
- is often aimed at a single target or handful of targets though it can be aimed less discriminately based on the spell/school in question

Musical Magic is:
- Powerfully intuitive, though it can be expressed in more formal theory
- Based on a single underlying system
- subject to an amazing variety of expressions despite its universal base
- based around the weaving together of many simpler elements to achieve complex series of spells, songs as they are known within this tradition, (the result of this is that you can change almost any element of a song whenever you want). There is endless room to experiment and improvise which naturally increases both the freedom and the danger provided by this casting method.
- on the whole is easier for mortals to learn (as it is largely intuitive) but is harder to cast and maintain as it requires constant attention and a fair degree of precise control
- is often slow to cast as it often requires physical components, preparation and teamwork with the exception of the most basic commands, shouts and single performances
- is often cast over an area of effect rather than at specific targets or a target though it can be aimed more precisely based on the components used and the control of the performer(s)

Say, we could cast Assault like we always did, or we could cast it as a sort of Command: Fall spell. Is there any reason to prefer one over the other?

If you just played/sang a single note it would be closer to Command: Fall. A single order projected at the target(s). A simple song could take a similar form to an all out mental assault though and if you and Taide were doing a duet it might not be all that different from some of the examples of your mental attacks throughout this chapter, depending on how you went about it.

 

[Baltika9]

Adding 4A to my vote.

 

[Fangshi]

I am going to close things now.

The winning options are:

- Submit to the scan under certain conditions and hope your people don't revolt once they have their senses back

- Propose an alliance

- If you survive then begin work on an animal division under Lys' formal supervision

I will try to have the update out within thirty to forty six hours.

 

[Nevill]

- Submit to the scan under certain conditions and hope your people don't revolt once they have their senses back

Pfft. Just promise the loyalists the share of the traitors. There will be nary an objection from regular mercs.

 

[Fangshi]

Pfft. Just promise the loyalists the share of the traitors. There will be nary an objection from regular mercs.

from regular mercs.

 

[Nevill]

Since when have we started to refer to the Seekers as our people?

In any case, what do they expect us to do? Fight? For what cause?

Doubt any of our men would want to die for the Seekers' right to secrecy.

 

[Fangshi]

I doubt this will shock too many people but the odds of the update being out tonight have taken a turn for the worst.

Expect it to be posted either within the next two hours or in about twenty four hours.

If it is any consolation it is a nice big one.

 

[Nevill]

If it is any consolation it is a nice big one.

 

[Fangshi]

It is making slow progress. A few things that need to be fixed, several pages that should probably be added to make it fit together better, that sort of thing. You have a lot of ground to cover in this update. It will probably take a few more days given my schedule.

Though I suppose I could just cut it down by about half and remove some of the choices if you want it now...

 

[Nevill]

Naah, take your time. As long as no one dies and we get our doges.

 

[Baltika9]

I'd like to have Enrico Dandolo as our doge.

 

[Fangshi]

As long as no one dies

Well, it is not like you are about to screw over a bunch of paranoid and violent battlemages or anything...

we get our doges.

You will have a great many choices to make. More animals could be one of them if you want to go down that route, you will just have to see.

I'd like to have Enrico Dandolo as our doge.

Be careful what you wish for, you might wind up with this:

Spoiler

 

[Nevill]

Well, it is not like you are about to screw over a bunch of paranoid and violent battlemages or anything...

Guide to being a Seeker.
1. Fail saving throws vs. Charm en masse.
2. Blame your commander for not fighting off a force you yourself couldn't.
3. Feel insulted about being bailed out by the same commander.
Seems legit.