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The occult and mysticism in the world of the Minotaur Hotel.

A topic by Anjimito created Apr 24, 2020 Views: 372 Replies: 1
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We already know that the world of MH is full of mystical energies. Be it the fantastical creatures roaming the earth and using glamour to charm humans or chthonic entities erecting eternal prisons the setting is basically founded on the occult. However in order to avoid deus ex machinas and poor writing one should make something known as "magic system" or even better - a "good magic system". What are the developers's intentions with the occult in the story?  What is the basis for the magical abilities in the world? Were "gods" the source of magic or simply the channelers of those powers? Are their artifacts strictly magical or were they using an advanced combination of technology and magic? 

I've got so many questions that my post looks like an "ancient aliens" intro already. However I've got a fair share of theories as well. First off - the materialization ability of the protagonist seems to be using the Labirynth itself as a catalyst for the condensation of energy. If that's the case then it would stand to reason that one might learn how to materialize matter even without the help of the Labirynth. What I mean is : protagonist provides will and imagination and the labirynth provides the energy condensation into the shape and form willed by the protagonist. WHICH ALSO MEANS that with a well developed imagination he could create a lot of different effects like chocolate-flavoured grapes or flammable gold.  A protagonist with an interest in the mysteries of the occult might even become able to shape the labirynth allowing him more freedom - beyond the limitations that "gods" put in place - and maybe even win Argos's affection as his new "god"!

You might not be able to tell, but I'm somewhat interested in those things. I'll happily engage in a discussion concerning such topics either in the story or in real life.

Developer(+1)

Hello! I'm happy knowing you put so much thought into this, as this gives me the opportunity to mention some of the fun stuff going on in the background that not too many people asked about. I won't mention anything which spoils some of the mysteries in the game but on the topic of magic systems/world building I used to be a pretty big proponent of "hard" magic systems with very precise, specific rules and extensive appendixes. I changed quite a bit over time and Minotaur Hotel is one of my stories where I diverged the most of that approach.

As a little piece of behind the scenes information, the "magic system" we use was largely inspired by a thought experiment in a book I was reading during some academic research I was engaged with back when I started writing Mino Hotel. I won't say which one now but eventually I will, and that will give people a bit of insight on how the "magic system" works deep down. What I can say right now, however...

What I mean is : protagonist provides will and imagination and the labirynth provides the energy condensation into the shape and form willed by the protagonist. WHICH ALSO MEANS that with a well developed imagination he could create a lot of different effects like chocolate-flavoured grapes or flammable gold. 

...Is yes. In the upcoming build 0.3 this will be explored but the labyrinth will materialize things if the master can provide information on what it ought to be like or if it's catalogued in the appropriate language. By this I mean that, yes, if a master is "capable enough" he could create things which do not exist otherwise, and later down the line the master will learn about deeper/more impactful ways to alter the labyrinth down to more fundamental levels. That will become more apparent with time, that the labyrinth's inner workings function on hierarchical levels.

That said there are things in the labyrinth which are set in stone. So far we've seen that contracts have a binding effect in the labyrinth, for instance, but they can't go against these stated principles of the labyrinth. The master can't write a contract that sets Asterion free. To make a law analogy, ordinary laws/contracts cannot go against constitutional law. But, much like real law, you can find loopholes!

This contractual approach to how the labyrinth works and what goes into materializing objects is one of the more surface ways to tinker with the labyrinth, mind you.

Now, in all of this I did not speak much about the occult and the gods because that's something we are going to see as the story goes along. I hope these stray thoughts were interesting to you, and as we go along we will explore these ideas in ways which, I hope, you'll find entertaining.