Still More questions - HP Only Version (Patreon)

Hey guys and girls, hope this Tuesday finds you well. I’ve been working on story outlines and editing the last chapter of King of Champions. I should have the edited chapter up Thursday, depending. I have to apologize guys, I know the chapter wasn’t up to my usual standards, but I really wanted to get it out by the end of the month. That always fights against me.

Anyway, I have some more questions for all of you. Shocking, I know, heh.

This month we’re going to split them up into different fandoms, so we can keep the conversations from overlapping overmuch. This one is going to be the Harry Potter, while I will post the Ranma questions tomorrow.

First, is A Third Path To The Future and a question that has often plagued me.

I had thought at one point that Emma Frost would be killed in the course of the story. She came close several times, but I could never quite convince myself that she would really die in the scenarios she faced. This has brought to my mind the idea of killing off main characters, and whether or not, at this point in the story, it makes any sense at all?

My first implication is no. With the emergency teleportation array, their own skills, and so forth, it would not make sense, for, say, Hela or Ororo to be slain in battle with Thanos. That the very idea is drama for drama’s sake, and is unnecessary. But I would like to see your opinion on it.

Next is Fate Touched In Middle Earth. Here my question have to do more with world building and the far future rather than anything immediate.

1. Question one, on the nature of the fellowship. As everyone should be aware, the fellowship is what the band of travelers that Frodo Baggins and Aragorn are part of after leaving Rivendell. The original consist of, four hobbits, Merry, Pippin, Frodo, Sam, two humans, Aragorn and Boromir, one Gandalf, one dwarf in the form of Gimli, and one elf, Legolas. Now obviously I’m going to change quite a bit here. Like, a LOT. But the ones I am most uncertain of are the hobbits. I have solid plans for the rest, but not the hobbits. I’ve recently decided I will be showing some bits of Bilbo and Frodo over the next few decades (in the story LOL) so should I go whole hog and just get rid of Sam, Merry and Pippin? Or just Pippin? Their role in the later stories are important in a way, but only when tied to other characters – Treeebeard and the Ents in particular, then Merry and Eoywn against the Witch King. Specifically, I am thinking of leaving Pippin behind entirely, and maybe Sam as well, although that is more up in the air. I do not think that the Ring Bearer’s journey will be anywhere near canon, so the need for Sam to bolster Frodo’s spirits will not be there.

2. More of a world building question: what would a purely dwarven army look like? My idea at this point is heavy infantry-based, with a large engineering corps. Think old roman legions, able to throw up defenses quickly. For larger units, artillery – ballista, catapults – would make an appearance, but would also constitute the majority of the army’s baggage train. Otherwise, the dwarves would all be expected to carry everything they might need in the field. Heavy use of quick fortifications, formations for some dwarves, while shields and axes for others. All dwarven armies would be highly organized, but most – beyond the aforementioned pike users – would still be individual warriors in battle rather than have a major emphasis on unit cohesion, dwarves can also see in the dark just as much or better than orcs, so can do forced marches, encampments or even battle at night.

3. ‘Man, master of Horses’. This is for my Tolkien lore fans. I have read the Silmarillion, and there are instances of riders being mentioned, but… I don’t think there is any mention of major cavalry units being used by the elves, to say nothing of charges or horse archers used en masse. So is Treebeard right, was Mankind the ones to really master horses and use them in war? If so, I will need to make a point of this in the fic when exploring Gondor, not just Rohan.

4. This is something Beleriond brought up.  Traditionally, elves would exchange rings during the wedding ceremony. But should this tradition have changed since the Wars of the Ring, when the One Ring’s existence was discovered? Could go either way, really.

And now for King of Champions.

1. How interested are people in seeing more training time, specifically combat training scenes? I got a large majority of the class/school time stuff over with in the last chapter, although it will continue in the next chapter, alas. But I’m interested to see if people want to read about Team ANVL and the training exercises that Harry has devised for them, or their fighting against Team RWBY. Again, I probably would only show a few of these, and then start to skip around to important events. That way we can start speeding up the story. But really, which is more interesting: Arturia dealing with a Grimm assault or Team ANVL fighting one another and learning more about their varying abilities?

2. I didn’t show Salem’s reaction to the events of Initiation in the last chapter. But I am wondering if I should at all. Should I show Salem’s thoughts/actions regularly or only occasionally? Is she more Sauron, certain in her position, with only big events or mysteries making her react. Or is she more like Tyrannus, who needs to modify her plans and react as things change?

3. Since no one commented on it in the chapter thread, I figured I would ask here: what did everyone think of Tia's Semblance? I am wondering if I made her overpowered, or her power a little too straightforward.