The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers

What is a Saint? (Series Spoilers)

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Rasins:
That's a bit different, but along the same lines.  Shows the importance of belief in the DV.

Quantus:
Ive always seen it as there being a quantitative difference at play.  Belief (distinct in this usage from Faith) has an associated Power/Energy; the fact that both Shrouds had Power is proof of that.  But the fact that they have wildly different power levels is also worth nothing.  It's not anywhere near as...absolute(?) as it is in other settings where, for example, the Greek/Roman split of the Olympian Gods would make actual new beings, or bifurcate the existing ones, and nothing anywhere close to American Gods style where even the implication of being in A New World is enough to spawn whole new entities. 

Look at this as a Counter example:  Kids believing in things "has freaking Power", but Santa Clause is at least a century behind the Coca-Cola image that all those kids are believing in.  Similarly Hades isnt much bothered by accuracy or absence of Worship.

jonas:
That might be the distinctive quality there though. Are they effected more by Belief and worship or disbelief that they are simply fictional? I'd wager the former effects them much more than the later. As one has a greater amount of, well faith if nothing else, applied to it.
Commercialized as santa is we turn around and tell our kids he's fake and nobody has any strong emotional ties to these new age Hades stories. He's not scary or awe inspiring or any other evocative emotion that might actually have some sort of magical juice tied to it. He's just a tropey bad guy who usually facilitates releasing real monsters. Bet the Kraken is getting bigger these days lol.

Quantus:

--- Quote from: jonas on July 06, 2017, 08:24:30 PM ---That might be the distinctive quality there though. Are they effected more by Belief and worship or disbelief that they are simply fictional? I'd wager the former effects them much more than the later. As one has a greater amount of, well faith if nothing else, applied to it.
Commercialized as santa is we turn around and tell our kids he's fake and nobody has any strong emotional ties to these new age Hades stories. He's not scary or awe inspiring or any other evocative emotion that might actually have some sort of magical juice tied to it. He's just a tropey bad guy who usually facilitates releasing real monsters. Bet the Kraken is getting bigger these days lol.

--- End quote ---
I think both of those would play a role, though I dont know which carries more weight.  But I'd argue that the the Worship and Belief of a vast swath of the Children on the planet (since far more children are raised believing in Santa than raised with a real belief in Christianity) would be at least as powerful, and would not be lessened by the fact that most of those Children will eventually be (incorrectly) told that Santa doesnt exists.  Any individual believers Loss of Faith would not impact the Power as a whole, unless it became a full-on Trend that reduced the total. 

jonas:

--- Quote from: Quantus on July 07, 2017, 03:34:55 PM ---I think both of those would play a role, though I dont know which carries more weight.  But I'd argue that the the Worship and Belief of a vast swath of the Children on the planet (since far more children are raised believing in Santa than raised with a real belief in Christianity) would be at least as powerful, and would not be lessened by the fact that most of those Children will eventually be (incorrectly) told that Santa doesnt exists.  Any individual believers Loss of Faith would not impact the Power as a whole, unless it became a full-on Trend that reduced the total.

--- End quote ---
That's very optimistic of you lol. I suppose I'm applying a polar express mentality to it. Belief fades, it gets tarnished, heck people go out of their way to destroy it betimes. Though wether or not that merely cuts off future intake or withers away what was added is a whole nother subject. It might be that santa is the most believed being on the planet, in short periods of time by a huge amount of the populace giving a gob of true belief as only children can.

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