David has given me an interesting puzzle. What about the use of magic which works, but is specifically mis-aimed? Also, what about using spells to divert the spell energy to another effect?
If you call on the evil force which is imprisoning A to stop its attack, and free A....except B (your presumed evil force) is not evil, and is not doing the attack, but A is doing the attack.....if after this you bind the attacking force from word or deed....
At this point, I think you've freed A, stopped A's attack, and bound A up again in a new spell.
Of course, A is an archmage, and uses the spell's energy to create a few loopholes in her new confinement.
Later David tries to get A to accept redemption which I wasn't sure was possible since A is Queen of the Vampires....but vampires are not always irredeemable in every world.
And oh, yes, although it didn't get developed we had a supernatural hostage crisis...
Hostage: David's dop--a ghost
Location: Cave in Iraq
Hostage-taker: Lilith, queen of the dead.
Cops encircling place: Archangels
Controlling commander back at HQ: David
The whole idea of a supernatural hostage-taking has some potential, but it didn't get developed. It just sort of happened too...not really my plan exactly although it was the logical end result.
Eric
Later David tries to get A to accept redemption which I wasn't sure was possible since A is Queen of the Vampires....but vampires are not always irredeemable in every world.
The Vampires in Cynthia's world were damned, e.g. they had died, been judged, and were bound for hell, but had thrown a monkey wrench in the process that created a temporary delay. If she was the first vampire in this world, then she probably made a deal with the Devil that exacted a cost of some sort, leading to the corruption of her form. It may be said that she isn't truly dead, even if she is hanging only by a thread. Even if she is dead, God has the power to raise the dead. I could also trot out "In God, all things are possible." The only point of no return is when she faces judgment and I don't think she has. She would have done everything possible to avoid it.
From my character's perspective, whatever she's been twisted into, she's still human and a soul that God loves. Like I said, Vampires were unredeemable not because they were too twisted, but because they were damned. The ghouls, which were very much like them, could be and were redeemed on a couple of occasions while "we" were there. Moses and Solomon couldn't have offered her what I offer her now, so I figure it's God's purpose that we're at this impasse.
One thing I think--and I'll admit the rules are a tad vague on this point: holy magic has an inherent advantage that someone else is in control on some level. That is, with arcane magic of the sort Graeme usually does, he taps the power and tells it what to do; with holy magic of the sort David usually does, he petitions intelligent powers, who understand both what he is saying and what he intends, and so adjust accordingly.
I'm assuming that "A" in this case is Lilith; the representations confuse the explanations. I believe that David took action against the "evil force" that was holding "Lilith". However, there was no "evil force" imprisoning Lilith, and therefore there was no valid target. I think in that case it would have to botch to hit the intended target, since the target is described but non-existent. God, or whatever minion of God is attending to David's prayers, would know that David was confused on this point, and would not unleash God's power against God's own servants.
Probably instead, depending on the bias, David would get a message/messenger, trying to clarify the instruction.
Think of it as if the general in the office ordered the artillery commander in the field to open fire on the enemy infantry at certain coordinates, and the artillery commander could see from his position that the infantry at those coordinates were dressed in friendly uniforms and flying a friendly flag. His first action would almost certainly be to contact headquarters for clarification, and in the process of providing that clarification explain why he is confused.
It's entirely different if the general in the office is simply pushing buttons that activate the remote cannon fire; that's the arcane situation.
--M. J. Young