Mechanics of the Amplification of AonDor

[+ILuvHats he/him]

This was so obvious once I made the connection, but it took me until now to realize this little tidbit.  So in case there's anybody else out there like me who didn't see this, I'll share my thoughts.  

Elantris doesn't seem to actually increase the total amount of Dor the Elantrians can access spread across Sel.  What I mean by this is that there is a direct correlation between the increased ability to draw on the Dor in the near vicinity of Elantris, and the more rapid drop-off of this ability as the distance to Elantris increases, compared to other Selish magic systems.  The ability to draw from the Dor is being leeched from more distant locations and being added onto the ability to do so closer to Elantris.  To put it another way, if there were a mass number of Elantrians spread evenly over the geographical area where the magic works both before AND after Elantris was built, the amount of Dor that could be drawn upon would be equal.  There would simply be a skewed distribution of how much could be accessed after the city was built, with people closer having more power then before and people farther having less power than before.  

The reason I didn't realize this was because the term usually used to describe how Elantris functions as an Aon is that it amplifies AonDor, but amplification doesn't imply magnification.  I imagined the city Aon as adding to the power of AonDor from nothing.  In actuality, it's magnifying the power, like light shining through a lens, which makes a lot more sense because in this case there is a mass conservation of the power of AonDor.

This is probably old news, but I got excited when I connected the dots, so I thought I might as well make this post.

[Quantus he/him]

Im of two minds on this.  On the one hand it makes sense in general, the Dor is a big ol' ball of Power in the Cognitive realm, and all the various Selish magics are different ways to form channels for that power via some use of Symbols, so the area that used a geographic Symbol is going to be more Geographically limited than the ones who use a symbol language of Bodily Motion or Bone carvings.  On the other hand, I dont know if you can really talk about Elantrian before and after the City was built, in that I dont think Elantrians could have existed at all before the city was built, so to try and quantify how much of the Dor they could have accessed without the city seems like a fallacy.  It would be different if the region of the city had more direct and measurable effect on how much the Dor other Sel Magics could access while equidistant from their own center of power.

[Scion of the Mists]

It's an interesting idea, but I think it's a lot simpler and intuitive for Elantris to actually amplify, rather than magnify, the Aons.  

We can see from the Chapter 62 annotations that the power of the Aons in Teod is unchanged.  

Quote

WEAK AONS
Elantris is like a massive power conduit. It focuses the Dor, strengthening its power (or, rather, the power of the Aons to release it) in Arelon. This far away from Elantris, however, the Aons are about as powerful as they were before Raoden fixed Elantris.

If you consider it, it makes logical sense that the Aons would be tied to ELANTRIS and Arelon, yet would work without them. The Aons had to exist before Elantris–otherwise, the original Elantrians wouldn’t have known the shape to make the city. Their study of AonDor taught them a method for amplifying Aon power.

[+ILuvHats he/him]

Ah.  I didn’t remember that annotation.  So AonDor has always been more limited in its range than most other Selish magic systems, it seems.  Bummer, I thought I was onto something.  

[Scion of the Mists]

23 minutes ago, ILuvHats said:

Ah.  I didn’t remember that annotation.  So AonDor has always been more limited in its range than most other Selish magic systems, it seems.  Bummer, I thought I was onto something.  

All the Selish magics are limited by range: AonDor, Dakhor, Forgery, etc.  There's a drop off in power as you get further from the origin (seen by AonDor) and then a cutoff point where the magic won't work anymore (e.g. Forgery doesn't work in Elantris).  

I don't think that AonDor is more limited or has a steeper dropoff than the other magics by itself.  However, the addition of Elantris makes for a very steep drop off as the amplification is even more localized than the base magic itself.  

[+ILuvHats he/him]

9 hours ago, Scion of the Mists said:

All the Selish magics are limited by range: AonDor, Dakhor, Forgery, etc.  There's a drop off in power as you get further from the origin (seen by AonDor) and then a cutoff point where the magic won't work anymore (e.g. Forgery doesn't work in Elantris).  

I don't think that AonDor is more limited or has a steeper dropoff than the other magics by itself.  However, the addition of Elantris makes for a very steep drop off as the amplification is even more localized than the base magic itself.  

Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m still of the opinion that AonDor has a steeper drop off than most other selish magics.  We know per this WoB that AonDor has a worse drop off rate of usage than Dakhor magic.

Quote

Brightlord Maelstrom

When a Dakhor monk leaves his homeland do his bones still give him his abilities? Is it only the creation that's location-dependent or is it also the ability that's location-dependent?

Brandon Sanderson

The further you get away, the weaker the power the bones will give you will get. It's way better than Elantris at bringing the power with you. That's where it is in the notes right now, I have not written the second book, I could totally change that.

Also, we know that ChayShan functions in Arelon near Elantris, though we can’t compare it to how powerful it is in JinDo.  And IMO, I don’t believe AonDor will function at all in the Fjordell empire since it’s already multiple times less powerful in Teod, which is only a fraction of the distance to Opelon where the Fjordell empire is.

So based on these 2 data points, one of which is rock hard while the other is debatable, I’d argue that AonDor has a smaller range than most other Selish magic systems, though we won’t know for sure until we see more of Sel.

Edit:  Nvm, I think I misinterpreted your post.  I see what you're saying now.

Edited November 27, 2018 by ILuvHats

[Calderis he/him]

4 hours ago, ILuvHats said:

Also, we know that ChayShan functions in Arelon near Elantris, though we can’t compare it to how powerful it is in JinDo.  And IMO, I don’t believe AonDor will function at all in the Fjordell empire since it’s already multiple times less powerful in Teod, which is only a fraction of the distance to Opelon where the Fjordell empire is.

I imagine it more as the entirety of the region functions as a plateau for all magics, some with a more level top than others (Dakhor maintains strength better than Forgery for instance). 

Elantris just happened to build a mountain on top of that plateau. 

The strength of Aons that we see in Teod is very similar to the strength of Aons we see in Elantris when Raiden had figured out the chasm line, but had not yet fixed Elantris. 

I think that level is the baseline that will carry through the entire third of the world that those magics (AonDor, Dakhor, Chayshan, and the potions) function within. 

[+ILuvHats he/him]

1 hour ago, Calderis said:

I imagine it more as the entirety of the region functions as a plateau for all magics, some with a more level top than others (Dakhor maintains strength better than Forgery for instance). 

So the strength of a Selish magic would be mostly uniform throughout the region it functions in, with maybe a gradual slope, and once you reach the end of it there's an abrupt drop in power?  It makes sense.  I guess I just imagined it differently.  I also thought the range of a magic was centered around the geographical feature its based around, with a set radius.  So there could be overlaps where multiple magics could work, but there could also be places where only a single magic could function.  But you make it sound like Selish magics will function anywhere in their "section" of the world.  So Dakhor, AonDor, ChayShan, and whatever else will function anywhere in Opelon and Arelon no matter the distance to their origin, but not outside these two continents.  Hmmm.  Looks I need to be properly educated.

[Calderis he/him]

@ILuvHats to be fair, most of this is speculation. We have very little information regarding the boundaries.

But forgery supposedly has a steeper than normal drop-off, and yet we see both in and Bloodsealing in a area of the Rose Empire that is not MaiPon with no mention of a decreased effect. And of the ones in Elantris, we have no evidence of a reduction in power in anything other than AonDor itself. 

It's all speculation and assumptions... But The Monks function identitically in both Arelon and Teod. Hrathens potion works exactly as ordered and we have no idea how long of a distance it had to travel, and Chayshan again seems to function without issue... 

For now, this is my headcanon until we get something to really counter it.