Rune of punishement and immortality

[demon eye]

Actually, Windy was planning to use the Soul Eater for revenge against Harmonia. World domination was not on her mind. I don't see why Windy would not have chosen to use that ability if she had it. It would be easier for her to locate more True Runes, she would have a drop on the people who are amassing their forces against her and plainly, she would have been much more powerful thus more capable of obtaining what she desired.

I never said that you said the Gate Rune was responsible. I don't recall saying that anywhere in my post. I was just stating that I didn't believe that it was possible for those visions to come from her Gate Rune and backed it up with relevant evidence. And among that evidence I commented on your idea that she could have gained her powers after being blinded, which I showed that it was probably not so.

And it didn't seem like Luc shared much of his personal feelings with Leknaat. It seems like he kept a lot to himself and Leknaat was left out of the loop in much of his personal feelings. Hence, she was so surprised when he unveiled his plans to her. Of course, I understand what you mean by saying she couldn't call him a fool for his visions, but actually she can. She saw the vision he had as one of many possible visions. She could have called him a fool because he couldn't perceive the truth from his own personal desires which may have convoluted the message the True Wind Rune may have tried to show him. But, mostly, I agree with you.

And obviously she could not tell that Barbarossa had the Sovereign Rune. The simple argument would be that she didn't even know that Ted had the Soul Eater. If her lack of detecting the Sovereign Rune was simply based on its nullification of her magic then that would not explain why she could not sense the Soul Eater until Kraze's henchman informed her that Ted used it.

Activating a True Rune normally gives away its location when another True Rune bearer is in the viscinity, but Barbarossa had the Sovereign Rune active at all times and she still could not notice it. Whether you say that he was hiding his ability by the use of his Sovereign Rune or not is rather irrelevant as he would still have to activate the Sovereign Rune and she should be able to detect it once that happened.

Her ability of detection was clearly lacking and that shows that she was not as sensitive to the "aura" of the True Runes as Leknaat was (considering that the True Runes have an aura). She lacked that talent or did not develop it and Leknaat clearly exceled at that.

[Moonbay]

Her ability of detection was clearly lacking and that shows that she was not as sensitive to the "aura" of the True Runes as Leknaat was (considering that the True Runes have an aura). She lacked that talent or did not develop it and Leknaat clearly exceled at that.

This one paragraph sums up what we're both saying.

I think both had the same abilities--yet each developed a different one. Windy's ability was one the "offensive" side of magic, and Leknaat's was on the "defensive" side. Or--rather--Windy was Active, and Leknaat was Passive. Leknaat would have to be--in order to be the Executor of Balance. (That's how Leknaat could hide from Windy.) She really couldn't participate in events--but Windy sure could...LOL
I apologize for mis-reading your post about the Gate Rune. I took it the wrong way.

And thanks for clearing up the whole bit about the Sovereign Rune. I always wondered about that.

[demon eye]

You took the last paragraph of the whole statement I made. I was allowing the possibility that she may have had the ability because anything is possible, but the fact that she didn't use it shows that she more than likely did not have it. If she had the ability, talent, or an incling of skill at it, then she would have naturally been able to sense the True Runes because, as I stated earlier, Windy was the better and much more talented sorceress between her and Leknaat. Windy would have known better not to develop such a resourceful skill as detecting True Runes for the main fact that she was hunting one. She just didn't have that skill.

Detection is neither offensive or defensive. It's a neutral skill beneficial to both offense and defense. It's a developed sense that you either have or don't. Plus, Leknaat is clearly not passive. Her involvement in making sure fate and destiny flow in the direction it's supposed to, is clearly not being passive. She has to put all the pieces or should I say pawns in their proper places and it takes proactive methods to do that. Clearly, Leknaat was not as agressive about her methods, but then again she seems to not be after revenge but a more grandiose scheme than the short sighted Windy.

And are you sure that Leknaat was hiding from Windy and not watching her? She just happens to be the astrologist of the Scarlet Moon Empire when Windy's there?? Seems more than coincidence to me, considering the fact that she leaves that position right after Windy's so-called demise. And it seems like Leknaat has no problem participating in events. Recall that she was making moves 150 years before Suikoden 1 and coming to and from Harmonia at will during her times. Windy was basically destroying villages in search of the Soul Eater, which was nothing major. We have no idea all the things that Leknaat was doing. She is more than meets the eye and I'd say a bit more active than Windy.

[Moonbay]

YES! Finally--someone who agrees with me about her watching Windy. I mean, the best way to watch a person is by using covert means.

And I think I may have phrased the Active/Passive thing wrong. Maybe Overt/Covert would be better words? Windy never hid what she was doing. Leknaat--as you said, manipulated people:
"I have been hiding, setting up defenses--waiting for one such as you." This is what she said to Tir in Suikoden. And, you know--this makes sense. She was waiting for someone like Tir to wield the Soul Eater--and we all thought it had to do with destiny as a True Rune Bearer for another event. Yet--she tells him to never use it. Did she sense that the Soul Eater/McDohl combination would get rid of Windy?

She doesn't come right out and tell the people what their destinies are. She puts little bits of bait out for them to follow. Like ET and the Reese's Pieces. As in Riou and Jowy--she puts them in a position where THEY have to make the choice to wield the runes. She doesn't force them--like Windy did.

Oh, I've definitely believed there's more to Leknaat than meets the eye since the first game. And we've talked about how weak Leknaat is......What if it's all an act?

[Ushiku]

I don't really think Leknaat is weak, she's a great magician and was active in teaching Luc and Sarah use of magic.
However she isn't offensive in her means of shaping destiny as the exectutor of balance.

If she was so weak, she wouldn't have been able to force the Fog Ship Guide to return the Soul Eater to Ted.

Yes, it is true she admitted to Luc that her half True Rune wasn't as powerful as a full True Rune which Luc had, but she wasn't weak. I believe if she really wanted to get involved she could do. I don't believe that it was her link to Luc that made her have a limited role in Suikoden 3, but more that she wanted Luc to see for himself the danger of upsetting the balance.
If she wanted to, she could have easily informed the Fire Bringer of Luc's plans, but instead she let fate play its part, and was partly curious of what would happen if Luc did suceed.
Although she wasn't on the side of either the Fire Bringer or the Destroyers, she did have that link to Luc and could have prevented his death if she alerted the Fire Bringer of his plan to steal the other True Elemental Runes in a bid to destroy his True Wind Rune.

But importantly, she did not.
I believe that Leknaat is much more powerful than her actions suggest, and that she could use her position as executor of balance for personal gain, but she doesn't, and is generally neutral even if she does help the tenkai stars sometimes.