Naruzeldamaster
Sage
see...that's the plan, the weathermen cartel pay the wizards to create storms and whatnot to make their predictions accurate.
this is seen as highly unethical and is all done under the table but it works.
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Why would oracles who can see the future not lead society and governments?
- Thread starter Erebus
- Start date
this is seen as highly unethical and is all done under the table but it works.
pmmg
Myth Weaver
They must not be on friendly terms here in Appalachia.
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Naruzeldamaster
Sage
You know that was initially a joke idea, but like, the more I think on it the more I think it'd be a funny side plot...
I could just picture Wizards in modern times getting by through some 'mafia' business of controlling the weather.
Various weathermen paying bounties and such to get their accuracy up while driving their rivals rates down...
The weathermen think they're winning, but the real winners are the Wizards who are barely doing any work and laughing their way to the bank.
So there are two issues here. I guess the first is political: a weatherperson in that world would also have to be an effective negotiator and politician, as well as a forecaster. The second is technical: pushing a storm away from one location would probably lead to a storm elsewhere, perhaps even in a location quite remote from the region being protected from the storm. In that case, the forecasters would somehow have to incorporate the weather-modifying effects of mages into their forecast models. So maybe the way it would work is that one of the mages would put in a request for weather modification at least a week in advance, and then the forecasters would incorporate that modification into a forecast and see what might happen. If the worst that could happen might be a big storm out at sea, then the proposed weather modification might be accepted. If on the other hand the likely outcome was flooding in the capital city, that weather modification might be turned down. Of course, there would also be times when the forecasts were wrong, when the meteorologists approved a certain weather modification that was still followed by floods in the city. Perhaps a related issue in that world is that because the weather is not perfectly predictable, neither is the effect of wizardry on them. Sometimes the mages would do their darndest to deflect a storm and they would still get rained on...
The words of the poet hang over the chair of every seer and are sewn into the robes of every prophet:
you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows
you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows
BiggusBeardus
Minstrel
I have similar seers in my setting. Not all the divine baby stuff, but women that can see potential futures.
Two ways to look at this:
1) They simply don't desire to govern things. I mean, if I had all kinds of supernatural powers myself, I wouldn't want to rule shit. It's too much responsibility. It would depend on the ambition and desires of the seer.
2) If kings and leaders DO come to these women for advice on everything and then those leaders act on that knowledge, are not the seers calling the shots, just without calling themselves "leader?" They'd be like puppet masters.
Not everyone wants to rule.
Two ways to look at this:
1) They simply don't desire to govern things. I mean, if I had all kinds of supernatural powers myself, I wouldn't want to rule shit. It's too much responsibility. It would depend on the ambition and desires of the seer.
2) If kings and leaders DO come to these women for advice on everything and then those leaders act on that knowledge, are not the seers calling the shots, just without calling themselves "leader?" They'd be like puppet masters.
Not everyone wants to rule.
Prince of Spires
Istar
A common trope which would help limit the oracles is that you can't see your own future. That way, there's no simple way to come to rule a country, since you'd be acting just as blind as everyone else. Of course, you could partially overcome this if you'd work together with a group of oracles who can see each other's futures but not their own. But that just gives you a lot of room for conflict (after all, it just takes one to sabotage the plan).
You could also have different oracles working against each other. If there are more than one, then if one tries to take over the world, then the others would intervene, creating a kind of status quo. And since they all have perfect knowledge of the future, it would be like playing chess against yourself where you can see all possible moves you can make.
Another possible (and easy) limitation is that you can simply have their god decree that they can't. From your description it looks like they get some of their power from a god of some kind. If that god simply says they can't rule countries and have him take away their power when they try, then they won't rule countries.
Or maybe they realize that everyone who rules at some point gets replaced. It only takes a bad harvest and a foreign power sensing an opportunity to lead to being decapitated. Which is not fun, especially not if you are immortal. Instead, you could just direct power in such a way that you are in control without actually being on the throne.
You could also have different oracles working against each other. If there are more than one, then if one tries to take over the world, then the others would intervene, creating a kind of status quo. And since they all have perfect knowledge of the future, it would be like playing chess against yourself where you can see all possible moves you can make.
Another possible (and easy) limitation is that you can simply have their god decree that they can't. From your description it looks like they get some of their power from a god of some kind. If that god simply says they can't rule countries and have him take away their power when they try, then they won't rule countries.
Or maybe they realize that everyone who rules at some point gets replaced. It only takes a bad harvest and a foreign power sensing an opportunity to lead to being decapitated. Which is not fun, especially not if you are immortal. Instead, you could just direct power in such a way that you are in control without actually being on the throne.
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