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Aparturum: Best Spell Ever

Discussion in 'Fanfic Discussion' started by disposablehead, Nov 4, 2011.

  1. disposablehead

    disposablehead Seventh Year

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    Please let me know if I get any of this wrong. Aparturum opens a one-sided portal into the Nevernever. The other side is transparent. The size and orientation of the portal is dependent on the caster, while the corresponding location in the Nevernever is dependent only on the location of the spell. Is this right?

    Ok, assuming that an Aparturum portal acts as any magical construct should, and cannot be dispelled by anything short of direct magical action, then this is the most overpowered spell imaginable.

    Defensively: Instead of a shield spell, just open up a portal, and the fire/ice/whatever spell is now another dimension away. Need to barricade something? Just open up a portal to the Nevernever, and now, not only is the only entrance gone, but there are trolls eating your enemies skulls.

    Offensively: If this can poke holes in concrete, it can certainly do so to skulls. Set a portal at foot-level, and then people loose feet. A charging werewolf suddenly falls into a collapsing portal, and you have instant bisection.

    If you pass through the wrong side of a portal, you should disintegrate. I have no idea if this is at all supported by canon.

    There have to be some limits. Extremely magical creatures: Fae, dragons, loup-garou can probably ignore this. A magician can close a portal if they find it and direct their attention to it. Extremely magical, semi-sentient items like the swords of the cross or the Denarians can probably deal with portals easily as well.

    That said, anyone insane enough to possibly piss of the Fae could use this very dangerously. Any thoughts?
     
  2. Agayek

    Agayek Dimensional Trunk DLP Supporter

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    Aparturum is just Dresden's incantation to open a Way. The location in the Nevernever it opens to is dependent on the caster's location and mental state. All it is is a doorway.

    The reason it's not used as combat magic is twofold. First, you'd have to deal with whatever's on the other side, and knowing the Nevernever, it will rarely be friendly. It's not terribly useful as a spell if it drops an angry Erlking on your lap or whatever.

    Second, it takes a major act of will for most humans to create a Way. The only one we've seen do it easily is Rashid, and he's the freaking Gatekeeper. It's not a terribly tiring spell, but it does take some degree of concentration to pull off. It's simply not feasible to use that much concentration in the middle of a fight.

    Plus anyone with magical talent can force it closed as soon as you open it.
     
  3. Seratin

    Seratin Proudmander –§ Prestigious §– DLP Supporter

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    I can't see any wizard being overly comfortable with running around and oening portals to another dimension left right and centre. Besides, how can you be sure that something coming out of the portal won't be nastier than the thing you're currently fighting?
     
  4. disposablehead

    disposablehead Seventh Year

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    I was talking more about the puncturing-the-fabric-of-reality aspect of it. You see an enemy, you say high, and you drop a portion of their frontal lobe into the Fairyland. And against anything weaker than a full-on wizard, say, a room full of red court vampires, this would be pretty lethal.
     
  5. Exile

    Exile High Inquisitor

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    Also- in most cases I've read, the caster has to physically part the way himself. With a staff or knife or even his hand. So he'd have to be in physical combat to open up a way in somebody's skull. You can't just place a portal all willy-nilly. That would just be over powered. Not to mention, as mentioned earlier, how taxing that spell is.
     
  6. Blazzano

    Blazzano Unspeakable

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    While I agree with the above posts talking about the drawbacks of opening a Way in a fight, there's always a few exceptional cases. Times you can disregard the standard wisdom, in other words.

    We've already seen one slick, intelligent combat use of a Way opening, during Dresden's fight with the Ick in the Erlking's hall. Dresden used it as a personal shield of sorts - it didn't actually contribute directly to the killing of his opponent.

    Perhaps that means we've met our series quota for Way-opening for physical offense or defense. Or perhaps not - I'm not sure.

    By the way, disposablehead, what do you mean when you say that it pokes holes in concrete? I assume you're referencing some specific incident, and it's slipped my mind which one you could mean.
     
  7. disposablehead

    disposablehead Seventh Year

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    This could be a figment of my imagination, but I think in Proven Guilty the spell cuts into the concrete it was placed in. Can't really remember.

    Alright: the dimensional portal spell requires a strong act of will, which could be feasible for combat, but would require an intense specialization. It also requires a physical parting to go with the magical one. Could you do this with a bullet? or a whip? It seems like there is some way this is breakable.
     
  8. Churchey

    Churchey Supreme Mugwump

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    Besides Harry's use of the portal during his fight with the Ick, the only other time I've seen this was in Nuhuh's Demon's Feign, Merlin's Pain, where the Merlin of the White Council used ways to send killing curses into a particular branch of the nevernever. Besides being fanon, the Merlin is also The Merlin, the most powerful wizard on the white council.

    In Proven Guilty, the portal opened to the area near the Arctis Tor had to be guarded by the Summer Knight in order to prevent creatures of the Fae from entering the real world. You could assume this is enough of a reason to avoid using that spell whenever possible.
     
  9. Koalas

    Koalas First Year ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

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    Ugh. This isn't DnD. Wizards are not standing around considering the combat applications of non-combat spells. The only reason Apparatum even worked in the fight with the Ick was that it was being used against rocks. Rocks. Anything with the slightest intelligence can get around a portal. Anything with magical know-how, as proved by Cowl, can close it through an effort of will.

    And finally, as stated multiple times by Dresden himself as well as someone in this thread, opening portals willynilly is absolutely retarded. That's how you get things like Lea's centipede rampaging through downtown Chicago. All the monsters and beasties are in a different dimension then us vanilla humans. Don't make it easier for them to cross over, especially when a shield would perform just as well.
     
  10. Whoop365

    Whoop365 First Year

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    I see the concept, but as sais before, it weakens the barrier between the two. So the person would have to have the power to do it multiple times, the lack of responsibility, and would have to know that wherever they were weakening the plane between the nevernever and earth that it would not come back to bite them. For instance, if Dresden started doing this all the time, then eventually a bunch more fairies would be able to crossover into Chicago. A bunch of weak faries that couldn't open up a portal before would still be a pain in the ass.

    Also it could be said, that the whoever lives in the nevernever wherever these portals keep opening, is probably going to be pissed at whomever is doing it.
     
    Last edited: Nov 8, 2011
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