Also, I forgot to mention, but there is a practical example of tomes consuming their pages on use. In FE4 and 5, the Drained Tome icon resemples an empty hard cover with no pages. And in Super Smash Bros, Robin has durability on his tomes, and after they run out, they discard the hard cover; again, with no pages. So we can add that to the list of facts about how tomes work.
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That does make me ask and think - on games with the ability to repair tomes, do they just keep a stock of pages to re-affix into the book?
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I could see that, like having spare iron and such to reforge blades.
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Most likely. Just like they would keep metal ingots to repair weapons
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Makes me think about rarer weapons in that regard though - do they simply have blank/stock paper ready to be affixed into the tome? Do they have someone make scribbles on it? Or are they already catalogued for each tome and variant?
If Dark Magic is feared and less accepted, how do blacksmiths have papers to replace them?
What about legendary or personal tomes? If pages are consumed as it is cast, the less pages there is, the less context it can be taken from, being unique pieces of work.
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They either have copies of the pages, or they re-print them.
Also, in the games where Dark Magic is feared, you can’t repair it in shops:
There are no dark magic playable units in FE4.
In Thracia you have a Repair staff. No repair shops
In the GBA games you have Hammerne. No repair shops.
In Awakening and Fates, Dark Magic doesn’t have a bad rep. And your broken weapons auto-combine in the convoy.
In 3H there are no tomes. Only spells.
IDK if you can repair legendary weapons in FE4 (Though, if you can, it probably shouldn’t be the case). And in 3H I THINK you can… but I recall it needing a special ore that the legendary weapon is made out of… Correct me if I’m wrong. I also remember that the Sword of the Creator repairs itself a little bit itself every map.
So yeah. There are only repair shops in FE4 and 3H. And in theory, I belive that you shouldn’t be able to repair legendary weapons. Unless it’s with a Hammerne staff.
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You aren’t wrong. For saint weapons you need mythril, for hero relics you need umbral steel. And you can repair legendary weapons in FE4, it’s just expensive af because… Well, they are divine weapons, it can be cheap to get the materials for that.
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Alright, I haven’t really kept up with the magic book debate but I think I get the gist of it, this being wether or not printing exists in FE based on the price of magic books. Personally, I think this whole discussion is moot.
Consider that printing=/=printing. There are many different forms of printing, some of them are thousands of years old. Yet it wasn’t until Gutenbergs invention of the movable type printing press that books truly took off as a “mass medium”.
Additionally there is the question of material. The massive success of printed books would not have been possible if paper hadn’t already been a thing. If all your magic books are made from expensive parchment that isn’t easy to print on, then it doesn’t matter how sophisticated your printing technology is, those books are still going to cost a pretty pound of gold.
Essentially, I believe it’s difficult if not impossible to determine whether or not printing exists in any FE setting based solely on the price of spellbooks.
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I think Hammerne staff is the one where the target of heal staff is not a person but an item.
Because the sword can also be repaired.
It would be possible to return it to its original normal form.
If the sword cannot be repaired, it could be recharged with magical power like a battery, or a page used like a coupon could be added.
However, these theories are disproved in that the sword can be repaired.
Therefore, I believe that heal would restore it to its original normal form, just as heal heals an injury.
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Printing technology is necessary for the widespread use of eyeglasses.
The availability of books in large quantities at low cost through printing technology increased the demand for reading, which in turn led to the widespread use of glasses.
The fact that the cost of a magic book and a sword is not much different makes me think that there is no printing technology in the FE world yet.
Magic books, like swords, are probably handmade one by one by craftsmen.
If there is no mass-producible printing technology, there is almost no demand for glasses either, since there is little demand for reading text.
They would only be used by wealthy aristocrats and a few people like researchers.
Besides, heal staff may be able to cure eyesight, and if so, the demand for glasses will be even less.
I think this explains why very few characters in the FE world wear glasses.
This dialogue is very funny. I love how he offers a ‘misprinted’ version of the tome, it made me think of how maybe the tome is better or unique or even cursed, compared to other ‘sleet tomes’. I am so glad you shared it with us! I’d love to see more of your work.
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Don’t let the army know he was printing the pinnacle of war tomes - the Steel Tome featured in FE: Warriors
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It has the exact same stats as the Fimbulvetr, except the might, which is 5
I’ve spent years reading Wikipedia articles about the occult, astrology, magic, demonology, religion, mythology and plenty more. As a result, I have more than one idea of the “structure” or “structures” involving magic.
For the purposes of this discussion and relevancy, I’ll start by defining “magic” as a spell or incantation used to conjure and control various elements that have physical properties. This distinguishes it from miracles, false-miracles and any other phenomenon that is not directly tied to the will of any intelligent being (mage or other).
Anima is self-explanatory (fire, wind, lightning, ice) and so is light (photons), however dark is a bit more obscure. Still, I would describe dark magic as having control over space and creating portals by ripping into the fabric of physical reality.
(This could explain how the villains, such as Nergal and Ephidel always have the power to warp everywhere, by being dark-magic users.)
I have many personal theories and ideas surrounding magic itself, but I’ll keep things short. Magic is the word used to describe the various phenomena. A magic spell is a gesture or action done via the will of an intelligent being. Tomes contain a lot of information, not only instructions on how to perform magic.
Spell-casters are conduits for magical spells. There’s a reason why staves, sceptres and wands have the same basic shape. It’s about funnelling energy or magic through the body, or through a structure and directing it via the wand or staff. Magic can still be performed without such tools, directly through the spell-casters body.
In the animations, we often see runes charging before the magic is performed. This shows us that magic is relevant to geometry or math, which may also be linked to astronomy and astrology.
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Bro really said: “MY TIME HAS COME!”
how come this thread started from asking about glasses to… magic discussion
my brain cannot braining
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Was that in response to my post? Or something else?
Thinking about it, what is the difference between, say, a Light Brand, a Runesword or so compared to a tome? Swords whose magic can be used by swordfighters whilst most mages themselves cannot?
If it is magic cracked down to being used by non-mages, is there any reason why mages apparently can’t use them?
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Yes, it was to yours. You said that you have spent years wikipedia about occult stuff, so it was like you felt this is your moment to shine and I tried to make a pun about it. Joke gone bad, I guess 
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Don’t think about it, just enjoy it 
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