A subreddit dedicated to the dead-famous book series about the skeleton detective, Skulduggery Pleasant. Discussion about books and potential media greatly encouraged!
Question
I don't know if skullduggery is special or something but hes the one who drew the sigil for Valkyrie's reflection in the first book implying that other sorcerers can draw sigils. If that's the case then why don't more sorcerers learn how to draw sigils?? This question has bothered me for a while about the books
Edit: typo
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I feel like being locked into Signum Linguist by your surge would make your sigils more powerful and give you a large well of energy to power more sigils. It may also give you a better memory in relation for sigils
I'm pretty sure its stated in one of the books that most mages know some basic sigils, and many can also understand the language of magic to some extent. But I have always thought that choosing signum linguist as your discipline is like that one adept that could read, write and speak every mortal language. You get a deeper knowledge and understanding for the languages of magic if you choose it as your discipline.
Well, they actually had a character who's chosen discipline was language speaking. I'm not sure which book this is in, but when Scapegrace's army of zombies gets out of his control, the characters are all in a hotel somewhere (I believe it was the Midnight Hotel but don't quote me on that), and when Skulduggery and Valkyrie are looking for Sorcerers to help fight, they find an older looking Sorcerer who's entire discipline is speaking every language ever written or spoken - but that didn't include the languages of magic. Personally I like to think that the discipline is a mix of a different expressions of magic - like how an elemental can manipulate 4 different elements, or Tanith being able to Wall-Walk and unlock doors without needing a key - such as some sort of sigil-specific memory enhancer, the ability to pool more magic into their sigils than other Sorcerers, and maybe something that allows them to etch the sigils into things with inhuman precision. We also don't really know where or when these sigils were discovered in the first place, and perhaps they can only discovered by a Signum Linguist through a discipline-specific ability
Yes, that adept whose discipline was language speaking was the one I was referring to when I said "that one adept that could read, write and speak every mortal language". They were an adept, not someone whose discipline was specifically language speaking
Ahh shit. I misread your comment, sorry
No worries!
Everyone can but being a signum linguist gives you special ability and skill with them
In one of the books it mentions the "tree of magic", where the main disciplines are bigger branches, and people can learn small aspects, smaller branches or twigs in the analogy, of any discipline, which is why Serpine could use his red hand, and why Tanith can lock and unlock doors
I thought that was serpines main shit, you're telling me it wasn't?
Serpine is canonically an Energy thrower. His Red Right Hand was something he learned from a Necromancer temple, a sidegrade if you will. Its like taking martial adept in DnD. Does it suddenly make you a fighter? No, but you can now use one of the fighter class's perks.
Serpine is an energy thrower the red hand is a "gift" from the necromancer.
But you can't fully diverse complete branches like that usually. Necromancer never fully give powers away, they always either just lend it or have some form of plan with it.
Actually, you can. This is brought up and discussed in The Malicifent Seven, where Tanith is used as a prime example with the separate abilities Wall-Walling and being able to reinforce doors and unlock them at all being parts - or branches - of the same discipline.
But you aren't wrong about Serpine and Necromancy.
In malifcient seven it sounds for me that wall walling is the tree while door opening and locking is a branch of that wall walling tree.
Or no wait, you are saying that, so why do you disagree with me?
The thing is I the post i answered to they said something like that you could go completly off discipline for basic branches.
So essentially that serpine could learn lock picking even though he is an energy thrower.
At a guess? It takes a lot of dedication and work to really excel as one. To the point where if you want to, you’ll have to specialise.
I thought it was said that any sorcerer can use sigils but they have to have a reference to draw it from and such. Can't just do it. Then signum linguists have a speciality in it, like China can draw sigils from mind, maybe even create original ones like others I can't remember the names of have. And with that gives them better knowledge of reading/understanding/creating them.
Doesn't explain why sorcerers don't just have signum linguists sigil them up though.
Also, now I'm remembering China being like top level signum linguist. Think there was another sorcerer becoming one and they just weren't grasping it as well as her and still had to read them off paper to copy them onto something else so yeah idk.
Other signum linguists include NJ, one of China's trainees who shows up in DotL, and Wilhelm Scream, the aforementioned who had to read sigils off of paper and uses a math set to make them (his appearance is in the Maleficent Seven). Eliza Scorn is supposedly one because of how her daggers of light don't fit other disciplines, including Energy Throwing.
Cant signum linguists also draw sigils using their hand, or is that just everyone can?
China had a tattoo that made her nail really hot so she could carve sigils with it
Makes sense, I didn’t see anything mentioning it when I read it. Thanks for the clarification!
Eliza Scorn was the other prominent Signum Linguist who we’ve seen and she was kinda a rival to China
I always interpreted it as being that SL is a very difficult thing to learn. Remember when Skulduggery first got his facade and one part of the one of the sigils on his collarbones was out by a fraction of a millimeter (I think) and it didn't work properly as a result.
I always assumed that as it takes decades or centuries to master and the dangers of getting it wrong, it's not something many people decided to specialize in on top of their magical discipline and day to day lives.
I also always assumed that China's discipline was her beauty/charm magic, and the linguistics was just something else. Eliza Scorn is also said to have this beauty/charm magic in the second series.
Dude I LOVE this interpretation! This would make both of our interpretations true
I always read it as it's not a discipline but something anyone can do, and China just hasn't had hers revealed yet. Or hers is her beauty, and the vigils are something she has just specialised in.
I don't think hers is beauty be cause her brother has that similar effect on people in the opposite way. Where they just want to get away... I think it's just something in their family.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it was like a curse or something place on them because they left their religion behind. I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised especially of how China talks/thinks about her mother
On the note of China’s discipline, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s something that might help her with research or her role as a former-information broker. Like the language discipline. Like yeah, China’s been around for ages, and has possibly learnt most of the commonly/uncommonly spoken language by both communities, but if there was like a book/ source of information in some rare obscure language literally no-one alive would be to read/ speak, of course she’d want to be able to gain access to its knowledge.
Since there's no official definition of what a signum linguist actually is, and aside from China and NJ we don't have any other SL's to draw from (and even NJ shows up for one purpose as a trainee), I think the thing that separates an SL as a discipline is the use of body sigils.
Any other time we see people use sigils on their body, it's passive stuff, or draws it's power from a separate source. The auxilium is an example of the first - a sigil that simply signals someone else when tapped. The Merryn sigil, and even all of Melancholia's sigils, count as the second: Merryn draws power from the Necropolis, and Melancholia's simply looped her Surge (possibly then drawing power from the Source itself).
What we never see anyone else do is incorporate sigils into their body that are powered by their own magic to create full offensive and defensive effects. China can create waves of force by tapping her biceps, knock her knuckles together to add extra force to her punches, use sigils on her legs to move faster, jump higher, and land safely, create energy shields between her hands, heal from a gunshot, and even erase headaches. It's implied that these all drain on her magic and sometimes even create strain on her body, and this is just some of the stuff she can do by herself, not to mention the sigils she has that affect other stuff, such as the furniture in her apartment and the bookshelves in her library.
While everyone else from Skulduggery to Ghastly to Mevolent to Craven all use sigils, or even study them to get better at creating new sigils, no one else uses sigils incorporated into their body like this because their magic has already solidified into a discipline.
Only signum linguists can draw sigils with their fingers. Others have to use chalk (like skulduggery did in the first book) or a pen. Also the discipline is based a lot around your understanding of the language of magic.
China had a tattoo that let her superheat her nail to carve sigils with her hand. Most the time we see her carve sigils with a pen anyway.
I don't think so, China still has to carve her sigils with a pen knife, they need to have like super precise depths and stuff like that