World of Ortho Q&A

Over the years since its slow start on Royal Road, A Hero Past the 25th has inspired a steadily increasing amount of comments and questions by the readers. It’s certainly heart-warming to see people take an interest in the world I’ve created—although, in some cases, the questions are less interested and more like, “ha, I’ve found a plot hole, haven’t I?”

More than anything, I like to see speculation and I like to see readers attempt to answer each other’s questions on their own, based on what they read. That’s why, I generally abstain from responding, as heavy as the urge is to go and declare authorial truths.

In some cases I caved in and wrote responses, either on RR or Twitter, optimistically thinking the answer would add something interesting to the story and improve everyone’s enjoyment of it. Or, you know, just to show that I did think about it and it's not a plot hole.

Here’s a compilation of some of those questions and answers. If you haven’t reread the earlier chapters or followed me on social media, you might’ve missed them. Some are directly quoted, others I’ve paraphrased to bring out the point better. A few of these questions have gone unanswered for years, and are explained now here for the first time.

If you like speculating and coming up with your own theories, you can skip this post entirely. But if you’re interested in random, largely inconsequential trivia related to the series, then hope you enjoy reading! If you happen to have any other questions not answered here, feel free to add in the comments.

Naturally, there are some spoilers included, so don’t read these if you’re new to the series and have plans to read it later.

Setting

Q: Why does Izumi, a fictional Japanese person, use the imperial system of measurements that only Americans use?

A: You could just as well ask why does Izumi, a Japanese person, speak English. The story explains that her speech and thoughts have been automatically converted into the local Common Speech—and this naturally includes the measurements used.

Now, what sense would it make for the inhabitants of another planet to use the metric system, which is based on the circumference of Earth? Wouldn't they rather use measures that are readily available to everyone, like feet, inch (thumb), fathom (span of arms), etc? The imperial system is hardly a modern American invention!

Q: Should Benjamin Watts talk about space rockets so casually, when he was from the 1930s? It was only science fiction in his time.

A: A French adventure short film, A Trip to the Moon by Georges Méliès, came out in 1902, featuring a thrilling rocket trip to, well, the Moon. The movie was inspired in part by Jules Verne’s novel, From Earth to the Moon, which came out in 1865. The concept was hardly unheard of in the 30s. I don’t think a person with Ben’s knowledge talking about space travel is any more unbelievable than us talking about it today in 2021. After all, a manned flight to another planet is still just scifi to us, yet commonplace in fiction.

...Of course, this answer is entirely beside the point, since the speaker isn’t the real Benjamin Watts. For someone with access to knowledge about divine constructs, summoning, and the past achievements of elves and cruleans, space flight doesn’t seem all that incredible anymore.

Q: Shouldn’t almost everyone know at least some variation of Brandt to light a torch/candle/oil since it's supposedly so easy anyone can learn it, but they use things like lamp’s fire instead.

A: Brandt is a popular trick among seasoned wayfarers, but not to the extent that everyone knows it. After all, literacy rate in general is fairly low in the human realm and many lands shun sorceries out of superstition and prejudice.

Besides knowing how to draw the rune and naming it, understanding the exact meaning and function is also important for the magic to happen. Some dummies just never get it.

Q: Some characters swear, “gods damn it!” or some variation of this. Shouldn’t it be “Lords damn it!” since Gods aren’t in the world anymore?

A: Lords might be more appropriate, technically, but Divine worship isn't popular everywhere in the human realm, and to an average local, Divines and Gods are equally mythical and remote as concepts, the distinction unclear.

Even some readers get these two classes of entities confused, and so do numerous uneducated peasants. Which is why certain figures of speech persist. After all, Gods! sounds just that much more effective.

Q: Is the elf language made up?

A: No, elves are absolutely real.

Jokes aside, it’s not random gibberish they say. I tried to come up with a language that sounds like a mix of Latin and Mayan languages, something suitably exotic for an ancient, inhuman civilization. I didn’t spend decades coming up with grammar rules or writing systems like Tolkien, but every line does have a direct translation, and the word use is as consistent as possible.

Plot

Q: What effects will Matheus’s disappearance have on the Felorn forest?

A: The role of the Lord of Streams, the same as most of his kind, is more that of a general manager and overseer. Because of this, not much is going to change in the forest itself even in his absence. There are still lesser spirits and elementals to support the ecosystem for the foreseeable future. But it was Matheus who kept the nearby settlements safe, and now nothing keeps the more dangerous animals from venturing out to harass the human towns and villages, and nothing stops people from starting some wide-scale deforestation projects. Various conflicts will become unavoidable.

Q: Why didn’t Izumi take Bramms’ shield, despite the massive power boost it grants to the user?

Being able to hold a weapon is only a basic prerequisite for battle. Victory still needs to be earned through legitimate feats of arms, and the gigantic shield leaves its wielder more exposed than protected. Unfortunately, it doesn't come with a technical manual...Successfully wielding the shield takes not only exceptional athletic ability, but also intuitive understanding of centrifugal force and the flow of kinetic energy. And many, many years of diligent practice. So it’s not a wonder Izumi would prefer her sword.

How many centuries will it take for another self-taught prodigy like Bramms to show up? It may be a once-in-a-civilization kind of deal.

Q: How come Izumi could use her runes even after leaving Aiwesh’s domain in Verse 4?

A: There's a difference between what could be called "territorial blessing" and "personal blessing". The former is limited to the land over which the spirit has claimed ownership, while the latter is bestowed upon a target. The blessings Waramoti received from the Three were also of the latter type, allowing him to fight wars outside the Empire's borders while enjoying the benefits.

Izumi's ability to comprehend the meaning of runes is thanks to Aiwesh's blessing, but the act of executing them is actually unrelated to this, and is mechanically closer to summoning. When naming a rune, the caster (unknowingly) opens a direct link to the spirit, through which the magic happens. Space and distance don't matter.

Additionally, since it's done at the caster's initiative, many of the natural limitations on Aiwesh's power are bypassed. It's not Izumi's own magic, yet the consequences are all attributed to her, from the system's point of view.

Q: How big a burden is it for Aiwesh to support Izumi’s runes, when even Carmelia would’ve been quickly exhausted at that level of output?

A: Divines are on a whole different level when compared to humans or emiri. For any spirit on this level, the burden of fueling magic as simple as a rune is not even worth mentioning. Aiwesh’s element is Light; during daytime, she can draw absurd amounts of mana directly from sunlight. It'd be like trying to drain the sea with a bucket. Even if you happened to do it 30 times faster than an average person can, it wouldn't make much of a difference. The mana pool is replenished quicker than a rune or two can consume it.

But due to this great potential, Divines are closely monitored by the Covenant system. The most obvious rule is to not abuse Authorities to interfere with lesser life forms. The first level of punishment for breaking this is restricting the spirit’s access to mana. Never mind becoming unable to fight, spirits cannot maintain form at all without energy but cease to exist, so the threat is quite serious.

Incurring multiple levels of penalties is what ultimately caused the Three of Bhastifal to fall and left them toothless against Aiwesh’s all-out offensive. The rules are somewhat more lax when dealing with entities of equal rank.

Q: How come the elves didn’t bring more Divines with them from Amarno? Do they have a specific Lord they revere?

A: The emiri recognize Divine spirits as the tools of the system they are, and never engaged in the kind of religious worship that other cultures do. They hold healthy respect for the power and purpose of the Lords, but don’t go out of their way to arrange special ceremonies, or pray for boons. They consider such as beneath them.

The emiri refugees brought Carbannact with them to Alderia primarily as a handy tool, because of his ability to improve the environment, and that tells us more than enough about their attitude towards spirits. The only Lord the emiri genuinely look up to is the servant of Valios, the late God of Air, who created them.

Q: Why are elves so bad at guarding things?

A: This requires some understanding of the emiri mindset. They’re not terribly attached to life or earthly possessions. Up until the modern age, they didn’t have active law enforcement at all. If a burglar breaks into your house, steals your things and kills you in your sleep, this is considered primarily your own fault, for not being alert and strong enough to handle the burglar. Prisons and prisoners are a strange concept for these people. If someone is so unfit to live among others that their movements must be restricted, they consider it best just to execute the person. Having to coddle someone as weak as Naliya was in many ways a new situation for them.

But maybe we’ll learn more about this odd race’s ways another time.

Q: In The Village of Liars, why didn’t Yubilea warn Izumi about the true nature of the villagers? Also, why didn’t Izumi use Statha to locate the manticore faster?

A: Keep in mind that at this point of the story, Yubilea hates Izumi. She wasn’t going to lift a finger unless Izumi were already on the verge of death, their mutual destruction imminent. Not that she would’ve been of much help, even if willing: Yubilea didn’t know eating the spirits’ food would put a person under their spell, nor did she know how to end the vendetta. Having her appear at all would’ve been only a jarring waste of pages.

As for the latter question, Izumi generally avoids using Statha, because of how bad it feels. The whole point of her accepting the quest was to live out her Witcher fantasy, and track down the beast by regular means.

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That's all for now!

Stay safe and enjoy the rainy season!