Does going into Twilight count as leaving a Circle?

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

Does going into Twilight count as leaving a Circle?

  • Yes
  • Sometimes (e.g. you disappeared)
  • No

0 voters

One of my players just asked me a puzzling question.

If you are within a Circle and go into Twilight, does that count as leaving the circle? Is the effect broken for you when you return from Twilight - assuming, obviously that the Circle itself was not broken?

I can see arguments for both sides - on the one end, you technically leave the mundane world (for the Twilight Void - or not), which some durations take into account (q.v. for example those Merinita mystery durations, which do end if you go into Twilight), on the other hand, you really are outside of time for the duration and do not quite physically leave the place you were in - in fact, sometime you really don't (e.g. are turned into stone). On the gripping hand, you might adjudicate this on a case-by-case basis depending on the Twilight event, but that may see a bit too arbitrary for some.

So, what's your opinion?

2

Personally, I don't think that "disappearing" counts as "leaving the circle".

I believe that, in context, that phrase is meant to describe a person inside stepping outside without physically damaging the ring. A mage who vanishes to an undefined plane may no longer be physically present, but they did not "break the circle" in the sense intended.

3

I think that normally you would still be affected by the Circle effect upon your return from Twilight --- assuming that you return into the still extant Circle.

Whether you are affected by the Circle effect while you are in Twilight is less clear. Certainly any physical part of you that remains in the mundane world and inside the Circle (your body, you turn into a tree, etc...) would still be under the Circle effect. But I'm not sure whether the part of you that is in Twilight would still be affected. Probably depends on the context.

4

Out of gut feeling I would say no, you do not leave the circle. If you return to ME and you are outside the circle THEN you count as having left it. Before you are simply in a limbo, neither inside nor outside. Until your body moves out of the circle (can happen if you are having an epilepsy fit, for example) you count as inside. When in the limbo I would rule that you are not affected by the circle either.

Cheers,

Xavi

5

My gut feeling is no as well, especially since some manage to maintain a physical presence despite Twilight.

6

This is a good question.
Criamon-style answer:

Is transforming dirt to dust Muto or Perdo ?

If one hand claps in a forest, but there is no one there to hear it, is there still a sound?

You ask of myself: "Does going into Twilight count as leaving a Circle?"

I say: the mage who thus enter twilight would need to resolve this question for himself.

My own answer would be silence.

7

I would say his magus doesn't know the answer but he may try it.
Maybe he just want to trick with this effect.

8

A magus entering twilight can no longer be affected by any spells, attacks, aging, or damage. That means he is no longer a valid target, whether he vanished or not.

However, if the circle is not broken, and he re-appears, then it's quite possible he'll get re-affected then. Depends on the spell.