A Sylph description is a bit too much transcendental

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Aldarisvet
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A Sylph description is a bit too much transcendental

Post by Aldarisvet »

I was translating and...

Just what a nonsense is that

http://units.wesnoth.org/1.15/mainline/ ... Sylph.html

Tremendously powerful in unfathomable ways, the sage-like Sylphs are masters of manipulating the bridge between the mundane and arcane worlds. Long years spent peering into the ethereal realm have eroded the ability of these elves to view the physical world; in return, they are granted an abstract sight, gaining the ability to view one or even several different aspects of reality’s essence. Like the many shards of a broken mirror, the myriad fractures of the material world reflect the light of the arcane through its many different facets. Careful practice allows one to follow these threads from pane to pane, observing how each outcome evolves through the sea of free will. While direct weaving of the connecting fabric is usually impossible to achieve, indirect manipulation is feasible by machination in the corporeal plane where the reflection of the earthly sphere is thinnest. The ability of a Sylph to locate these ‘reflection pools’ and steer them is one of her greatest — and most feared — abilities.

______________________

First to say, I like the conception of this description and new elves descriptions in general.
But these sentences - I can only guess what the author was meaning. I myself think I catched the idea. I've read Castaneda and so on. Most translators would fail, I am sure. I think most of native English will fail to understand what is written here. I was able to translate this to Russian adding some details from myself. But as it is it looks like a product of using "Lophophora williamsii".

From that point - "follow these threads from pane to pane" the text looks as absolute nonsense, rambling nonsense. I cannot even say exactly what is wrong - everything is. The conception must be explained more carefully, so it would be understandable.
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Re: A Sylph description is a bit too much transcendental

Post by Yomar »

I agree.
I mean. I like the description, sounds like that it was taken from a fantasy book, but for BFW I think something simpler would fit better.
Some parts don't make much sense anyway, like "they loose the ability to see the physical world" how do they fight then ?
How they coordinate various things ?
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Re: A Sylph description is a bit too much transcendental

Post by Celtic_Minstrel »

I don't see anything indecipherable in there. Perhaps it's a little over-flowery, but it seems to basically make sense to me.
Yomar wrote: May 25th, 2020, 4:29 pm Some parts don't make much sense anyway, like "they loose the ability to see the physical world" how do they fight then ?
How they coordinate various things ?
Um… what? That's the part that doesn't make sense to you? Blind people exist, you know. They can even fight (given training). Sylphs being able to fight without sight is not in the least bit unrealistic. If you take the text literally, they're probably only blind, so that would mean their hearing is functional, and that's plenty for fighting. Even if they were blind and deaf it might be possible to via the sense of touch (which could include regular pressure but also feeling air currents and such). Don't forget that being deprived of one sense tends to sharpen the others - a blind, non-deaf person has sharper hearing than most, for example.
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Re: A Sylph description is a bit too much transcendental

Post by Yomar »

I think uou saw too many movies like "The Blind Fury" I'm not aware of any blind general, the Sylph can fie just by flyinng and crashing on a tree or rock, anyway its a fantasy game, (Btw how do you explain Sylphs vision range ? Without coming up with some complicate theory.) so ok, but hat's only one of the parts, some are wery hard to comprehend especially for ppl whose primary language is not English.
I think that descriptions should follow the same philosophy of the game, keep them clear and simple.
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Re: A Sylph description is a bit too much transcendental

Post by AOW »

It is foolish to think that a disabled person has a greater advantage than a normal person, but you can simply imagine it as a spiritual cognition seeking a higher latitude.
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Re: A Sylph description is a bit too much transcendental

Post by Whiskeyjack »

granted an abstract sight, gaining the ability to view one or even several different aspects of reality’s essence
the myriad fractures of the material world reflect the light of the arcane through its many different facets
The answer is really not that difficult: magic...

Is it so hard to imagine the Sylph sensing something like the essence of "life"? With the length of elves' lives, training to navigate, e.g., a forest should be quite possible. And if you sense your opponent, you don't need to see them to blast them with arcane powers. This obviously wouldn't be that great for hand to hand, but then, that also isn't the units identity. As for dodging - the unit can fly. Imagine the Sylph going up a tree - 30% hit chance is your unit throwing a sword or something :D
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Re: A Sylph description is a bit too much transcendental

Post by Aldarisvet »

For my that Sylph description was clear reminiscense of elder female elvish sage from Arcanum game. She was called Silver Lady. From Quintarra.
She indeed existed in two words. She indeed was half-blind because her vision was blurred with visions of future possibilities. Who remember such a game nowadays?
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Re: A Sylph description is a bit too much transcendental

Post by AOW »

Aldarisvet wrote: July 23rd, 2020, 7:57 pm For my that Sylph description was clear reminiscense of elder female elvish sage from Arcanum game. She was called Silver Lady. From Quintarra.
She indeed existed in two words. She indeed was half-blind because her vision was blurred with visions of future possibilities. Who remember such a game nowadays?
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Re: A Sylph description is a bit too much transcendental

Post by HonzaCZ »

Celtic_Minstrel wrote: July 21st, 2020, 5:12 am I don't see anything indecipherable in there. Perhaps it's a little over-flowery, but it seems to basically make sense to me.
Yomar wrote: May 25th, 2020, 4:29 pm Some parts don't make much sense anyway, like "they loose the ability to see the physical world" how do they fight then ?
How they coordinate various things ?
Um… what? That's the part that doesn't make sense to you? Blind people exist, you know. They can even fight (given training). Sylphs being able to fight without sight is not in the least bit unrealistic. If you take the text literally, they're probably only blind, so that would mean their hearing is functional, and that's plenty for fighting. Even if they were blind and deaf it might be possible to via the sense of touch (which could include regular pressure but also feeling air currents and such). Don't forget that being deprived of one sense tends to sharpen the others - a blind, non-deaf person has sharper hearing than most, for example.
I think that an one armed, mentally challenged peasant in a wheelchair would be a better fighter than a trained blind person.
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Re: A Sylph description is a bit too much transcendental

Post by Celtic_Minstrel »

The blind person would win every time. Wheelchairs are noisy with all those motors and stuff. If you're fighting a (trained) blind person, they'll know exactly where you are from the slightest sound.

Plus, training is really the primary factor. If it was an untrained blind person, or a trained wheelchair fighter, it might be a more even match.
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Re: A Sylph description is a bit too much transcendental

Post by AOW »

The expressions in Asian martial arts movies are sometimes artistic concepts, you know. It's impossible for a person to step on a vertical wall or fly for a short time without relying on external forces (of course, Elven trainees as magical creatures are likely to be able to do so). I guess armed wheelchair hunters come from a recently popular Internet meme.

Blind masters may be able to guide inexperienced young people in martial arts training, but their disadvantage is obvious when they step into the chaotic battlefield. What's more, blindfolded combat in training is to challenge themselves through certain restrictions. They don't blindfold themselves in real combat, just like catching flying flies with chopsticks (which is far from a master martial arts skill, which can be done by many experienced people) training accuracy, but it doesn't mean you need to fight with chopsticks. Considering the magic affinity of female elves, Sylph is more likely to be the result of strengthening the magic feeling than the real blind.
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Re: A Sylph description is a bit too much transcendental

Post by Celtic_Minstrel »

I've never suggested a blind person has an advantage against a seeing person (other than that of surprise, which will wear off), only that their disadvantage isn't as great as you might think, and that they would have an advantage over a one-handed person in a wheelchair.
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Re: A Sylph description is a bit too much transcendental

Post by WhiteRabbit333 »

It's not the worst description I've seen, but it is a bit too flowery. Especially the last bit, which I think does need a bit more of an explanation that isn't so over top, as I've had to read it a few times over to get what they were saying. But it's by no means bad.
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Re: A Sylph description is a bit too much transcendental

Post by ForestDragon »

Celtic_Minstrel wrote: July 21st, 2020, 5:12 am Perhaps it's a little over-flowery
I'd say that's a bit of an understatement...
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Re: A Sylph description is a bit too much transcendental

Post by ChrundleTheGreat »

Whiskeyjack wrote: July 22nd, 2020, 9:07 am
granted an abstract sight, gaining the ability to view one or even several different aspects of reality’s essence
the myriad fractures of the material world reflect the light of the arcane through its many different facets
The answer is really not that difficult: magic...

Is it so hard to imagine the Sylph sensing something like the essence of "life"?
I agree, im actually working on a campaign where there is an important character who is a sylph, from the description i always assumed they were sort of psychics who could sense and perceive more than the physical world but still also the physical world, i guess they can’t “see” as such, but the have a new arcane sense besides their other four regular senses, a more powerful and insightful one to percive the world around them(and other forms of reality).
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