The Nature of Ponch

[Fox]

No you don't!!! It takes the both of us to to that!! hahahahah
Sharklord (Cool name by the way!!) You bring up loads of great points! Now what Daryll said! I don't remember that but I'm guessing your right, its a shame he could not expand on his comment though. But then if he did that DD could not suprise us .
I love the idea about the cat and dog thing! That would explain alot! But I still think that even for a dog Ponch is strange!! There is something special about him like theres something special about Ronan!
Ahhh, one of my favioute thoughts, parallel universe theory!! I love that idea! and I have to say the thought crossed my mind as well and I think ages ago I did say that could they not find another universe and cut and paste a bit of space time? hahahah, look at me trying to sound like I know what I'm going on about!! I was also wondering if it would be possible to transfer everything into another universe where there is no problem? Just think of it every living being transported to another universe thats the same apart from this new problem!! nah what a stupid Idea!!

I think we all know that at some stage in the next book Ponch is going to find something pretty important to solving this problem BUT I don't think he will solve it all! Wheres the fun in that? I also think that maybe he will go missing towards the end of the next book, don't ask me why but if he is changing/evolving then he may need to do it by himself! Maybe his version of an ordeal? think about it a wizard gets there powers and then they do the ordeal, Ponch is getting his powers so maybe he has to do an ordeal as well??
Fox

[Dairine_SpotLight]

Ponch. It just makes sense that there is a whole thread dedicated to him.

Fox's idea is pretty good, at least that's what I think. Maybe Ponch will develop into a sort-of wizard? It does say that pets get strange. Although DD never said anything about Tom and Carl's koi - I know, bad example, *cough* - being on Ordeals, Ponch is differnet from normal wizardly pets, as was shown by his "creating" alternate universes. i thought that was cool. A dog creating alternate universes...what I wouldn't do to own a dog like that! *period of slavering away*

A Finder is one of the new 'notions' in WaW, or so far as most people think. My guess is that a Finder Finds things by the scent of magic..or maybe something about Ponch's nose...but that's just me.

[sharklord]

Yay! The topic lives! Now all we have to do is keep talking until someone else finds out that we're saying new stuff!

--about my name, thanks Fox, it was in memory of Ed, from Deep Wizardry, who is, in my opinion, the COOLEST SUPPORTING CHARACTER EVER. (... or else the High and Dry will very soon be Low and Deep, and my mastery will feed well indeed.)

-- since when has DD ever given us all the pieces of the puzzle at once? I was only able to make my points after two books and three excerpts of hints (starting w/ AWA)!

-- as for the cat and dog thing, I'm sure there is more to it than Ponch just being a dog. I was just thinking that that might be a basis for his new and unusual powers.

-- the suggestion that Ponch might go on Ordeal is a very interesting point also, Fox. I'm still on the fence on wether Ponch is getting powers like wizardry (because he doesn't do spells per se), or if he is getting some sort of power which doesn't need an Ordeal to work...like a Pillar or something. They have immense power not directly connected to wizardry...<span class="ev_code_WHITE">You've found my marbles! See! I am sane!</span>

-- Just out of curiosity, and to give us something to talk about when we're out of theories on Ponch: What do you think a dog might experience as part of his ordeal?

[sharklord]

Wow! Dairine_SpotLight (cool name) posted almost at the same time as me... never had that happen before. So, remember all that i had to say was before I read her post.

[Dairine_SpotLight]

That's food for thought. A Pillar. Nita says to Tom in A Wizard Alone, "An abdal...you know, one of the Pillars?" I've reached the conclusion that a Pillar is a abnormal wizard - so Ponch could be one. I mean, if there's cat-wizards, there could be dog-wizards, too, right?

Thanks for the compliment. You're right - Ed is definitely the coolest. Then again, I do have a thing for sharks.

What could be on a dog-wizard's Ordeal? Watching the Lone Power in the form of a cat stealing his dog biscuits? Hmm....

[Peter Murray]

Catching up:
Fox, if the parallel universe is the same apart from the new problem, everyone would already exist there. If you found a universe where no sentient life evolved on Earth (not even dinosaurs), you'd have to make a lot of changes to make it suitable for everyone, which would make it hard to avoid non-wizards finding out wizardry exists.
And then there's all the other planets...

Sharklord:
Now I have this image of the Lone Power disguising himself as a bone...

Dairine_SpotLight
There's quite a lot in A Wizard Alone about what Pillars are. I got the impression that Pillars aren't necessarily wizards, though at least one is.
There's a reference in Book of Night with Moon to a dog-wizard, so they definitely exist.

[nitafan211]

Yay! The topic does live! Okay, vry good point everyone. ROFL!!! The LP a bone? Um, what would a wizard do on ordeal? Maybe Ponch would make an alternet universe, and can't get out until he battles the LP? I dunno what I am talking about.....

[AlidaART]

Oh yes--you're right sharklord. I'd forgotten about that. Sorry I haven't been here. This topic intrigues me, but I'm afraid I've said all I can say. I'll leave the rest to the Higher Power...

(Why does this sound suspiciously dead-end?)

[sharklord]

I'm thinking that in Ponch's Ordeal, he might see the Lone Power as a squirrel among thousands of squirrels and it would be his task to pick It out with his Finding skills. Although the LP being a giant Milk Bone is intriguing...

I'm pretty sure that Pillars don't have to be wizards, and it seems to make sense because Pillars serve their purpose even without wielding the power invested in them. As a non-wizard, a Pillar would be afforded extra protection in that even if someone told him he was a Pillar, he still wouldn't know what it meant and would have to be convinced in the existance of wizardry. I definitly feel that we can expect some answers in WAW concerning what in the world Ponch is...

I'm still maintaining that Ponch may not be a wizard (although thinking about his possible Ordeals are quite entertaining) because he hasn't shown any interest or aptitude for anything beyond his "field"--finding stuff (apart from creating universes, but I already said my piece on that). It seems to me that if he were to be becoming a wizard, that all powers would be showing up at the same time. I'm guessing that he was meant to be a usefull sidekick to Kit while not being competitive with the partnership beween Kit and Nita.

[Fox]

PM my understand of Parallel universes is VERY limited! In fact I have no knowleage! But my understanding was that becasue there are an unlimited about of universes then what ever you was looking for no matter how unlucky would exist somewhere. So all they would have to do is look for an exact copy of our own universe but with no life! I know that sounds totally unlikly and I agree with you now, hahaha mind you they could always get Ponch to make a new universe for them!!

I can't believe how many posts there are!! It almost brings a tear to the eye , Ok Ponch as a pillar!! Thought about that too, but I'm sure they said In one of the books that earth at anyone time only has ONE pillar? But a good idea, it would certainly explain the wizards leakage!! with all theat power coming through Ponch there would have to be leakage of some sort!!

Ponch on ordeal!! I was kind of thinking that the LP would take the form of one of thoses werewolf things! You know they beasts in the first book! they ones that were once humans but now are like evil wolfs (apart from the eyes!!). I recon the LP would be one of them and try and take on Ponch, a proper dog fligh!!
Fox

[sharklord]

Just as a small point. When I said like a Pillar, I didn't mean that I thought Ponch was a Pillar, I meant that he was a being like a Pillar. Because like Fox said, I'm pretty sure Daryll is the one and only Pillar for the area. Also I think Fox is pretty much right about his understanding of alternate universes. I think that the bigger and longer the event the harder it is to patch (wasn't that the deal with time patches BoNWM (the story, not the real one)).

[Dairine_SpotLight]

Fox: The perytons. You're talking about the perytons.

Sharklord: So far we've come up with bones, cats, alternate universe prisons, anbd a squirrel. Somehow that seems a bit to much for Its dignity. I guess Ponch isn't a wizard after all. Too bad, though..we can stil hope, right?

Pops: There's a reference to dog-wizards in TBoNwM? I haven't read it, so I wouldn't know. I'm saving up my allowance though. I live in Asia, so I have to consider shipping, too. Amazon.com, you hold the key to my dreams!

[Dairine_SpotLight]

Looks like Sharklord posted just before I did. My, isn't this getting to be a lively discussion!

You know, there's still a chance of him being a Pillar. He knows about Darryl, though, spo he knows what Pillars are..but we can't be sure, 'cause what can we know about dogs?

Man, I definitely need to read the Feline Wizards series. I have to see if I can find that mention of dog-wizards. I'm falling back on my crazy fan-ism.

Ronan proves to be a bearer of an important message in the WaW excerpts. Does Ronan know something about Ponch? Maybe...

[sharklord]

Yeah, the cats say (not a spoiler for the story, but I'll white it out anyway):
<span class="ev_code_WHITE">that the dog wizard has more power in her dewclaw than Arhu, the new cat wizard, has in his entire body. Proof again that dogs are better than cats! Okay, they didn't say that last part...</span>

Good luck getting ahold of BoNWM, it's a great read!

[sharklord]

This is in response to your Posting that must've come in while I was typing (not so bad for a supposedly dead topic), D_S.

I'm thinking that Ronan (must resist urge to call him Ronan, the barbarian) was told to look out for a Finder, because that is what he asked for. So, can we guess that he might be informed to a Finder's abilitys and therefore indirectly inform us along the way of what Ponch is supposed to do?