>Gryphon wrote:
>
>Her Lunar spells tend to blow things up...
>
>True 'dat. Actually, I was kind of surprised to see either of them
>using Finishing Strikes (been playing a lot of Valkyrie Profile of
>late, though I think I've stalled out on a stupidly hard boss), but I
>suppose anything goes in a Rose Duel.

She hadn't really intended to use magic at all. But then T'skaia went and did a bit of thread magic (probably because he felt that she'd proven all that she needed to prove, and... well, yeah, anything goes :). And if you're a sorceress, and someone flings magic at you, returning in kind is pretty close to an instinctual reaction. :)

>Still, she could have used (if you're borrowing more from the Sega
>CD version) De-Protect or (if you prefer the Playstation version)
>Power Drive.

A few points:

1. Mia's still developing her L33T S0RC3R355 5K1LLZ. In Lunar terms, she's probably only around tenth level or so. She hasn't had all that much chance to practice, either -- casting spells in the Great Library of Yedor is probably frowned upon. :)

2. Most of Mia's Lunar spells do damage to the target, and that's not her intent here. Power Drive (I've only played the PSX version) would be an option, yes... but there's probably an element of opponent intimidation and (although she'd never admit it) a bit of showing off involved. An icy wind looks cooler than the Power Drive effect, and it's harder to miss. ;)

3. It had to be an ice-based attack, so that Nall would feel something weird. ;)

>Anyway, it's not a huge issue, just something I (as a Lunar fanboy)
>would have liked to see.

Don't fret, I'm also a Lunar fanboy. You'll see her usual tricks eventually, I'm sure.

Though I'm still hashing out with Gryph exactly how her sorcery works, in terms of casting. As it stands, it's kind of a cross between the Lunar "just call your shot" method and the Slayers incantation-based system. I figure there's probably a way to "hang" spells (if you've read the second set of Amber chronicles, you know what I mean) by doing most of the incantation and semantic bits ahead of time, so that you can cast complex spells just by uttering keywords at the appropriate moment. (You'd likely need something physical or metaphysical to hang them off of, though.)

(Thus, the fact that Mia had to recite the whole spell during the duel is a sign that she hadn't prepared anything ahead of time. I doubt she'll get caught off-guard again. :)

>Of course, what I'm really waiting for is a chance for Nall to
>prove he's a white dragon. Mmm.

Well, he doesn't have to prove it to Mia. She never doubted it. :)

--truss.
"Pain."