Why are Evocation Veils spirit-only?

[killking72]

Water covers entropy, and Carlos can put a bullet-disintegrating shield up without harming himself, so I don't see why you couldn't put up a light-warping shield. The shield doesn't actually touch you, there's space between it and you.

I mean if someone were to say I'm going to put up a shield of entropy around me that destroys photons entering. I'd say that you don't control everything and there's any kind of fallout, I'd probably have the veil fall on you in a place and hit you, hard.

And yes I know he can put up a shield of entropy that disintegrates stuff, but that's not close around his body

[Taran]

Fallout and damage is reserved for when you fail to control a spell so I hope you'd offer a FP for taking damage even if they successfully cast the spell

[Mr. Death]

Wouldn't not letting any photons through result in an empty black blob where you're trying to veil?

[killking72]

Wouldn't not letting any photons through result in an empty black blob where you're trying to veil?

Yea that's what was thinking. I was just writing down what someone else had as an example

[Tedronai]

You could project the shield on only one side of yourself, which would  leave you visible to anyone looking from another direction, but from the direction shielded, all they would see is a blob-like shadow on the objects behind you.

[Sanctaphrax]

This seems like as good an excuse as any to post this.

[vultur]

Wouldn't not letting any photons through result in an empty black blob where you're trying to veil?

Yes, but that's not really what I had in mind. Carlos's shield doesn't totally dematerialize things passing through it, it disintegrates them into small pieces and scatters them. Similarly, a water veil would bend/refract/scatter light ... much like an Aleran air veil... not completely annihilate it. It wouldn't be total invisibility (at least unless you were really good at it), but it could probably be quite effective, especially in a visually complex environment or a fast-moving chaotic situation where people don't have much time to look (would be harder to do it against, say, a blank white wall with nobody else around).

And yes I know he can put up a shield of entropy that disintegrates stuff, but that's not close around his body

This wouldn't necessarily be, either.

EDIT: "lair veil"? Agh, typos...

[vultur]

This seems like as good an excuse as any to post this.

Hmmm. Well, we are told making a veil you can see through easily from the inside is harder...

My guess is it works this way. The veil normally bends light around you, then puts it back on the path it would have followed after passing through the empty space if you had not been there. But to allow you to see, it doesn't bend light that is directed toward your eyes.

This would cause your eyes to be visible, though, so the next step is to use a second (EDIT: one-way) layer of veiling in front of your face to absorb outward-directed light reflected from your eyes (the light you actually use to see is absorbed, not reflected).

The photons that hit your eyes still don't pass through the "empty space" where you are standing (either absorbed by your eyes or by the eye-covering second layer of veiling), but this should appear only as two eye-sized spots of shadow on the surface behind you -- not very noticeable.

Unless I am missing something...

EDIT: removed redundant sentence fragment on light passing through

[Mr. Death]

Yes, but that's not really what I had in mind. Carlos's shield doesn't totally dematerialize things passing through it, it disintegrates them into small pieces and scatters them. Similarly, a water veil would bend/refract/scatter light ... much like an Aleran air veil... not completely annihilate it. It wouldn't be total invisibility (at least unless you were really good at it), but it could probably be quite effective, especially in a visually complex environment or a fast-moving chaotic situation where people don't have much time to look (would be harder to do it against, say, a blank white wall with nobody else around).

Actually, an entropy shield would more likely make it look like frosted glass than invisibility or even near invisibility -- entropy being randomness, after all. It might be useful for hiding your features, but would be useless for hiding the fact that something is there.

[Troy]

I take issue with the idea that Spirit is the best element. If this is true, then it is only because of self-imposed limitations by the culture of this forum.

For more information, there is my very first thread on this forum: Purview of Evocation

If those self-impose limitations were removed, I think every element would have the versatility and uniqueness to make specialization in anything other than Spirit really cool.

[UmbraLux]

The book is inconsistent, it states "A block is a block is a block" three pages before stating "A special kind of block called a veil is the special province of spirit magic."  However, when you dig into the "block is a block" sidebar you'll note a point which I go by.

Specifically, there's no difference except those you can define by assessments and declarations. 

A spirit veil may bend light around you while an earth veil either refracts light in a crystalline fashion or perhaps gives you the chameleon-like ability to blend into your background.  Air might be timely distractions, dust in the eyes, or combine with fire to create a heat mirage and water could simply make you transparent.  They're all functionally the same until someone creates or tags an appropriate aspect.