Differential aptitude for magic (also Zinrah slaves)

[Ayszel]

I was reading through the djed and magics and was wondering what was the more likely cause of differences in magical aptitude between people. I assume it is a combination of the following, but was wondering if someone could give me more insight into the idea. Despite equivalent practice I assume one individual will be naturally more talented than another with magic. Is this due to differing levels of djed within their bodies or an innate difference in their ability to use equivalent amounts of djed. I know that with training one can become a more efficient djed user, but this question refers to the differences between two equivalently leveled magic users differences.

On a side note: In Zinrah there are slaves to be had but no costs are listed. Besides paying for their living expenses what would be an accurate cost? I saw the slaves in the price list that cost approximately 100gm for a basic humanoid adult but was wondering whether Zinrah would have more expensive slave because it is so remote or whether it would have less expensive slaves because torture is such a common part of their culture (in this case, buying time with a slave rather than the slave itself to take home).

Thanks for your time guys!

[Matthew]

I may be misunderstanding the question, but if two users have equal levels in a spellcasting skill, then they are equally skilled. Unless the wiki article for a race says they have an increased amount of Djed, then I am under the impression that everyone else has a roughly equal amount of Djed within them. You could say that your character is more innately skilled, but it wouldn't make much sense if their skill points in the specific magic skill was low. Generally, Mizahar characters don't start out as "fighting" or "magic" prodigies. Some characters certainly say they are extremely quick learners or naturally talented at using it, but they still have to work their skill points up to match that claim. Hopefully that helps.

As for the Zinrah question, I don't have the answer. But I will point this thread out to someone who does.

[Traverse]

I am not quite sure where you found the 100 GM price in the price list for slaves, but a semi-recent edit by Gossamer to slaves has a short list in the price list and a slightly longer detailed page on Slaves here with an average human being 300-350 GM I would keep the prices the same in Zinrah, unless someone wanted a race or type of Kelvic that would be very unlikely to find in the city. Though Zinrah wouldn't have many slaves, it also has a small population to cater to so I don't see a huge inflation on prices. The majority of their small stock would be human, who would generally be captured from outside or just within the region and brought back, and there is talk of a little slave trade between the Rajor of Kenash and the Dhani of Zinrah to get a small but at least steady stream of slaves flowing into the city. Most of the captured enslaved beings in Zinrah would be Myrians, but, however damaged or injured the Myrian, no one in Zinrah unless insane would use a Myrian as an actual slave. Those guys would be kept under lock and key, tortured, maimed, and played with until death (or if the trade thing works out, shipped off to Kenash ). So most of the slaves you'd see wandering around are humans, any of the humanoids races would be extremely rare. I'm sure a couple Charodae have made it to the city, but not lasted very long, with a few Kelvics at any given time as well. Hope that answers everything.