
Magicians & Spellcasting
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Magic is not what it once was. The Magician guilds, four in number, still exist- but where once they plumbed the edge of eternity, now they gather in their libraries trying to salvage the work of a shattered and broken age.
Spells are less powerful since the Calamity left its mark, and those magicians who remain require more of the world in order to cast them. While spells can fairly simply be handed to another Magician within the same Guild to cast, the work which the Magician has to put into gathering and expending components, knowledge of domains, and the social pressures of the guild make this uncommon. Certainly there is no use in sharing spells with magicians of other guilds, for the spells would not work and the immense ire of the guild which owned the scroll would fall squarely upon the poor magician who acted with such misplaced generosity. These arcane arrays, gifted by the guild, are copied using a very specific and secret method that imbues the scroll with a certain connection to the fractured elements beyond, allowing the Magician to channel the energies through her body.
In order to gain these arcane arrays, or Arcana (Arcanum, singular), the Magician most often implores her guild for a copy to be made for her, and the guild then sets a task by which she must earn this gift.
The guild’s structure is such that it encourages spells to only be given through loyal service to the guild, and they frown upon those who gift spells to other Magicians who have not shown their fealty properly to the guild as a whole. Rank plays directly into the amount of spells you are easily gifted from your Guild. It is not unheard of for a Magician to find an ancient Arcanum in their travels, or take one from another Magician of compatible schooling, but it is expected that Magicians who come into the possession of spells that were not sanctioned by the guild will report them, and send them to the guild. A Magician may choose to overlook this expectation at risk of punishment. Though for every stick, there is a carrot; Magicians who find particularly potent or lost spells can see great rewards from their Guild. After all, this lost knowledge is coveted, and brings the whole of the Guild power.
Magicians Within the World
Long ago, the Magician guilds were some of the last bastions of independent political power that existed as a part of the Empire, and yet also separate. As a guild, their services were for hire and their goals were their own. Their influence stretched across the Throne and beyond, toppling dynasties when they chose, passing knowledge and secrets to their students and hoarding ever greater levels of power.
While the world has changed since those times, the Magicians guilds still remain, though in a diminished form from what they once were. It is written in some historical accounts that the magicians themselves were the primary reason behind the great Calamity which shook the foundations of the earth and changed the trajectory of history. Thus, some believe that their plummet in power and strength is punishment from the gods for striving to grasp what man was never meant to have. Others say that the magic of today is not the same as it was centuries ago, and that the current state of magicians is the result of magic growing weaker over time- stretched thin by eons of magicians pushing their limits.
It would be false to imply, however, that the guilds are not still feared- for anyone who can manipulate the very elemental forces of the world is not someone to trivialize. But the long reach of the guilds of yore has broken, and most people within the world will go their long lives only encountering a couple magicians, if at all. Most of the guilds have enclaves here and there, great libraries and places to train their students, but outside of their seats of power magicians tend to keep to themselves. Whereas generations ago, the Guilds may have recruited and sought students, negotiated tuition fees, and taken on students from great and powerful noble families, in today’s modern world they have grown more insular and removed. If students are taken on, it is usually only after a rigorous testing process measuring dedication, determination, and potential loyalty to the guild.
Opinions on magicians are, of course, varied. They are thought of as scholars and retainers of forgotten knowledge, always delving into strange places that are perhaps better left untouched in search of lost magics and components. They also are regarded as self-centered, pursuing personal power and gain at the expense of all else. And they also are distrusted and believed to be the force behind much ruin and misery, for when they harness powers they cannot control, it is often innocent bystanders who are hurt.
Some scholars of magic indicate that magicians did not used to have to use physical components in their spells, and that magic could be harnessed more quickly, but after the Calamity they had to turn to darker paths to make sure that their magics still worked. These paths required strange or distasteful components- and it is rumored that those objects necessary for more powerful spells border on the necromantic or the plain wrong. That said, those who find themselves in possession of odd and distasteful objects- whether the skin of a flayed man or soil stolen from a Salgothic enclave- and suffering a lack of coin, may seek out those representatives of the local guild to see what they’re interested in buying. Overall, though, most people simply see magicians as individuals best left alone.
Different cultures and parts of the world have differing levels of exposure, concentrations of types of magicians, and opinions on them.
The Gothic people generally see the arcane arts as one more source of potential power, and are perhaps more exposed to magicians than other cultures. Praesa, the city of guilds, has representation from each of the magician guilds within it, and some of the other Gothic cities have guild presence and dealings, depending on their masters. Emmanuel de Brisac of Lethia does not tolerate the magician guilds to operate openly in his city and find them vexing, but Sophia the Thresher and Sorath the Artificer of Fenristadt seem intrigued by the arcane arts, especially among the air and fire guilds who both have structured outposts within the city. They and their lieutenants have been known to hire and contract magicians more than once. Magicians of all guilds tread carefully within other cities and territories, as their rulers’ whims are not always clear, and some view magicians as a threat to their authority.
The Salgothic have a strained to outright hostile relationship with the magicians of the guilds. Their histories indicate that the magicians of old were at least partially responsible for the murder of the relgiious leader Benalus, and many argue that availing oneself with arcane energies is a moral weakness. After all, if magicians were meant to be, would they cause such havoc to the world around them? Would they require such unsavory pieces to their powers? Generally, it is agreed that if one is going to seek extra power, it should be through faith and prayers to the divine, or to simply become better. They view magic as a crutch for those looking for shortcuts at best, and at worst as a gateway to darker and sinister powers and gods.
Within the lands of Seravia, the Lords are very clear about their feelings toward the magicians. While their work, histories, enchanted objects, and tomes are beloved by them, the magicians themselves are not generally allowed to practice within their lands. This may be due to fear or a reluctance to have any potential challenges to power – after all, religious practices are not well tolerated either, or it could be a simple matter of economics. However, the Sons of Adam do tend to work with the magician guilds, seeking out their enchantments in order to gain as many advantages as possible. And it is believed that the guilds still do maintain a presence in Seravia – it is simply concealed from the majority. It is even rumored that some Lords, in particular Countess Heideveld, permit magicians in their courts for study, among other purposes.
The Hesha, meanwhile, don’t have as negative a reaction to magicians as some of the other cultures throughout the world. Magicians are usually welcome upon sailing ships either as a paying passenger or as a working crewmember, although there are some superstitious captains and crew who believe that magicians bring bad luck. Duchess Hamiah Veladria a Mute Witness seems to especially hate the idea of any magician touching that which is hers or stepping foot on her armada. House Shazaad, on the other hand, is known to have a very positive relationship with the Water Guild, and it is said that their special shallow draft boats are most used in navigating around the horn of the Fens and its islands in order to reach an island to the far east of the peninsula. This island is rumored to house the Water Guild’s greatest temple.
The Nemien as a whole also tend to think highly of magicians of the Water guild, to the exclusion of other magicians. Their primary religion, Aa’boran, uses water as a metaphor for their manyworld vision of reality- as well as an instruction tool and meditation aid for reaching a higher understanding of the perfect self. As such, Magicians of Water are believed to have already achieved enough of a mastery over the self and enlightenment to allow them to manipulate the very flow of reality. Their strength in the arcane is seen as strength of self, and they often double as teachers and guides within the Nemien. However, this friendship and reverence only extends to magicians of water. Members of the other guilds are not welcomed in the same way, although Nemien always strive to remain impartial when it comes to outsiders.
Those who practice the arcane arts are considered the worst of the Blight by the Forgotten Ones, as they twist the world to force it into something that is unnatural. Man is well-equipped to interact with the forces of nature, but should not harness or command them in the way that magicians do. Those magicians who hail from the Earth guild are especially reviled, for their magic directly distorts and perverts the natural world the Forgotten Ones so fiercely try to protect. In general, the clans of the Forgotten Ones will not harbor magicians, and those Forgotten Ones that are found somehow practicing such arts face exile unless they immediately abandon and recant such studies.
Among the Outlanders, by contrast, magicians are welcomed with open arms. Some of this attitude is likely related to a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie among the Outlanders to a person who has chosen to be set apart from society, and has also learned the extremes of self reliance. Magicians do not seem to need anyone besides their own strong wills and perhaps their guild of teachers. And out of those iron minds and skilled hands…what wonders can be created. Magicians are often warned when travelling through Outlander territory that they should guard themselves against overly aggressive negotiations or outright kidnapping from bands who badly wish to have a magician on hand who can solve their difficulties and resource shortcomings. In addition, the resources of the Outlands are often useful to the Magician guilds, and so trade between the various warbands and the guilds is common.
Structure
Magicians are members of only one of the four Guilds of Magicians. Settled in lands of their own, powerful enough to resist outside authority, they are basically a community unto themselves. There are very few in the world with the dedication, the force of will, and the intelligence to learn and use sorcerous power properly. Of those people, fewer still are those who are lucky enough or clever enough to be invited into one of the four Guilds that hold an unbreakable monopoly over such secrets.
Each Guild represents one of the Elemental Forces that make up the world: Fire, Water, Earth, and Air – each with different beliefs and approaches to their studies. The life of a magician is at once a difficult and uphill climb, and a life of privilege as well. For though the Guilds guard their knowledge jealously, and have their own agendas, they keep their loyal agents well taken care of.
The four guilds have long been at cold war with one another, and working with magicians of other guilds is a good way to earn the displeasure of one’s own guild. The channeling of each of the elements requires different training and connections that the Magician must make. The Fire, Earth, Air, and Water guilds each share the 12 words of power, but when speaking them call on a different domain beneath their element.
The magicians in each Guild are stratified into a hierarchy called Circles. The most powerful magicians still alive are of the Fourth Circle, and no man living has been known to reach a Fifth or higher Circle. There once were such magicians who had reached the fifth circle, and their legacy is left behind in some very advanced scrolls. The ability to initiate new magicians, for example, is done through a Circle 5 scroll, but the ability to newly create such spells is now lost. Those at the highest level of the Guilds work diligently to surpass themselves, and be the first to achieve greater power such as there used to be.
Circles are a social and practical approximation of a given Magician’s power and skill. A Magician’s Circle rating is their social rank within the Guild hierarchies as well as how efficiently they can wield magic. A Second Circle Magician is more respected and powerful than a First Circle Magician and so on. Besides the increased respect afforded to a Magician of a high Circle, the biggest benefit of a magical Circle is the deep increase in raw magical power that the Magician can command, and thus able to cast mightier and mightier magics, in the form of spells.
While the preference of the Magician Guilds is that they take promising apprentices under their wing while young so that indoctrination can start early they will of course take on older recruits, especially if an interesting case can be made for them, they display unusual talent or aptitude, or there is an unusual display of loyalty or means of assuring loyalty. No induction is performed without the guild’s knowledge and permission, and usually the induction would be done by an NPC since it is a high level spell. While a guild member that brings forth a promising new initiate may speak for their candidate, the onus is on the prospective member to prove themselves.
The Guilds
Magicians of the four guilds rarely mix well together, and often are in direct competition or even open hostilities against the others. They jealously guard their scrolls and techniques, kept far away from the other guilds, and should a member of one guild be known to be fraternizing with another guild, it is very likely that the member will progress no further in their studies – or much worse.
However, given how much magicians have in common with one another, and with much of the world against them, it strikes outsiders as odd that they do not band together more often.
The question of why magicians don’t work together is a common one among those who are not initiated.
The view from the inside makes the answer to this question more obvious. The goals of the four guilds are not the same, and despite how similar they may seem to outsiders, the way each group sees the world is very different. So it is that every time the guilds try to partner with each other the story is the same- partnership leads to horrid betrayal, in-fighting, and everything falls back apart.
The Fire Guild
The Domains of the Fire Guild:
Korakh | Flame | Reshtur | Glory |
Sihil | Faith | Durhna | Attraction |
Yrael | Resolve | Vendicur | Passion |
Ujoctl | Pain | Zargomel | Change |
Gurhoka | Havoc | Tunaor | Animation |
Soltek | Fear | Manach | Sight |
Fire Magicians are those who command the power of heat, flames, and other domains symbolically associated with fire. They are as well suited to life on a battlefield as they are at the game of politics, for they have mastery over several emotional domains as well as physical ones.
Before the Calamity, the Fire Guild, also called Dextera Inflammatio, was known primarily for their use as mercenaries and military support in the various wars of the Throne, their destructive services of flame and havoc available to the highest bidder. But over the centuries, and with the loss of many of their former positions of strength, their goals have changed.
Hungry for the glory of a bygone age, the Fire Guild has dedicated itself to trying to rebuild the shattered remnants of the Throne. Many of those in power believe that their path lies in bringing about the next great empire of mankind, and they are hard at work doing so. Many Fire Guild enclaves function as small kingdoms unto themselves, with different locations experimenting with different methods of governance and control. One such outpost lies in the volcanic ring of islands outside of Ryker’s Gate, and goes by the name of Emberlight. It is rumored that the guild there regularly collects bright children by any means possible, whether through purchase or kidnapping, and raises them in a competitive environment of pure meritocracy in search of a leader who can lead them in a new age. It is said that another such enclave by the name of Luciole lies in the Wastes to the west of Balise, and that far to the south of the Thousand Cuts is another on the hidden island of Sparo.
Magicians of the Fire Guild are always in search of arcane objects that could further their goals, and their presence in war and politics is ever increasing as they grow more bold.
Fire Guild Starting Spells
Name | Domain | Complexity | Mechanics | Fallacy 1 | Fallacy 2 | Fallacy 3 |
Lash Out | Gurhoka | 2 | The magician may cause a target within arms reach of a thrown spell indicator to experience rage and attack the player nearest them | The Hidden | Body | Attraction |
Minor Confusion | Gurhoka | 4 | After casting this spell, a touched target loses the abilty to understand normal speech for ten minutes | Creation | Repulsion | Body |
Flame Bolt | Korakh | 1 | If the magician is able to throw the indictator within arms reach of the target they may call "Magical Fire Strike" to make a torso attack. This cannot be parried, but can be dodged and armor can be used. | Spirit | Purification | Creation |
Hot Hands | Korakh | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator within arms reach of a subject and superheat the weapon, calling "Arcane Fire Disarm" to force the player to drop it | Repulsion | Attraction | Change |
Sense Heat | Manach | 4 | The touched target may wear heat vision goggles in game for an hour | Stasis | The Found | Decay |
Torchlight | Manach | 1 | The magician may cause a touched object to glow with an equivalent light of a torch for an hour | Attraction | Creation | Change |
Pluck Heartstrings | Reshtur | 2 | After casting this spell the magician may add the arcane tag to a single Pathos call used in the next hour. | Stasis | Decay | The Found |
Weavespeak | Reshtur | 2 | After casting this spell the magician may add the arcane tag to a single Ethos call used in the next hour. | Creation | Spirit | Stasis |
Corrupting Aura | Sihil | 3 | The magician may lay hands on a target in order to make a rite that has the same target indvidiual as this spell have one additional vulgarity. This effect expires at the end of an hour if it is unused. | The Found | Body | Creation |
Enrage | Sihil | 4 | After casting this spell the touched target temporarily has their devotion prefix change to hatred for an hour | Change | Destruction | Spirit |
Ray of Doubt | Sihil | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator and call "Arcane Fire Weaken Faith" on anyone within arms reach of it. | Destruction | Decay | Purification |
Flight Response | Soltek | 2 | The magician may throw the indictator within arms reach of a target and call "Arcane Fire Fear" to inflict that target with fear | Destruction | Attraction | Repulsion |
Ironheart | Soltek | 3 | The touched target becomes immune to fear for an hour | Repulsion | Stasis | Spirit |
Awaken Wardrobe | Tunaor | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator within arms reach of a target and call "Stun (Limb)" on a clothed or armored limb of their choice as they animate the cloth of the target. | Destruction | The Hidden | The Found |
Triptrap | Tunaor | 3 | The magician may set off a trap that they have found from a safe distance. The magician must be within spell indicator range of the trap to do this. | The Found | Purification | Repulsion |
Bloodboil | Ujoctl | 1 | The magician may call "Pain" on a single limb on touch | Purification | Change | Attraction |
Deaden Senses | Ujoctl | 3 | The touched target is immune to pain for an hour | The Found | Purification | Decay |
Convince | Vendicur | 3 | After casting this spell the touched target reacts to the magician more positively for the next hour. The Magician may use the call "Arcane fire feel: you want to agree with me." | Destruction | Spirit | Stasis |
Destabilize | Vendicur | 4 | After casting this spell the touched target gains the Tempermental flaw for an hour. | Change | Spirit | The Hidden |
Castle of the Mind | Yrael | 3 | The magician's resolve is increased by 1 for a liminal space for the purpose of possession checks | Attraction | The Hidden | Repulsion |
Ray of Uncertainty | Yrael | 3 | The magician may throw a spell indicator and call "Arcane Fire Weaken Resolve" on anyone within arms reach of it. | Destruction | The Hidden | Creation |
Arcane Armory | Zargomel | 3 | The magician may change the weapon quality of a specific touched weapon for an hour into a different normal quality. | Destruction | Decay | Body |
Minor Transmutation | Zargomel | 7 | The magican may change one common resource in their hand to a common resource of a different type, such as soft iron to soft wood. | Change | The Found | Purification |
Encouragement | Durna | 3 | The magician may throw a spell indicator and all within the line of the spell are affected by the call, "Arcane fire Feel: Everyone feel lusty." | Body | Change | Purification |
Out From Under | Durna | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator within arms reach of a target and call "Arcane fire trip" as they pull the person roughly in the magician's direction | Stasis | Decay | Body |
The Fire Guild
The Domains of the Fire Guild:
Korakh | Flame |
Sihil | Faith |
Yrael | Resolve |
Ujoctl | Pain |
Gurhoka | Havoc |
Soltek | Fear |
Reshtur | Glory |
Durhna | Attraction |
Vendicur | Passion |
Zargomel | Change |
Tunaor | Animation |
Manach | Sight |
Fire Magicians are those who command the power of heat, flames, and other domains symbolically associated with fire. They are as well suited to life on a battlefield as they are at the game of politics, for they have mastery over several emotional domains as well as physical ones.
Before the Calamity, the Fire Guild, also called Dextera Inflammatio, was known primarily for their use as mercenaries and military support in the various wars of the Throne, their destructive services of flame and havoc available to the highest bidder. But over the centuries, and with the loss of many of their former positions of strength, their goals have changed.
Hungry for the glory of a bygone age, the Fire Guild has dedicated itself to trying to rebuild the shattered remnants of the Throne. Many of those in power believe that their path lies in bringing about the next great empire of mankind, and they are hard at work doing so. Many Fire Guild enclaves function as small kingdoms unto themselves, with different locations experimenting with different methods of governance and control. One such outpost lies in the volcanic ring of islands outside of Ryker’s Gate, and goes by the name of Emberlight. It is rumored that the guild there regularly collects bright children by any means possible, whether through purchase or kidnapping, and raises them in a competitive environment of pure meritocracy in search of a leader who can lead them in a new age. It is said that another such enclave by the name of Luciole lies in the Wastes to the west of Balise, and that far to the south of the Thousand Cuts is another on the hidden island of Sparo.
Magicians of the Fire Guild are always in search of arcane objects that could further their goals, and their presence in war and politics is ever increasing as they grow more bold.
Fire Guild Starting Spells
Name | Domain | Complexity | Mechanics | Fallacy 1 | Fallacy 2 | Fallacy 3 |
Lash Out | Gurhoka | 2 | The magician may cause a target within arms reach of a thrown spell indicator to experience rage and attack the player nearest them | The Hidden | Body | Attraction |
Minor Confusion | Gurhoka | 4 | After casting this spell, a touched target loses the abilty to understand normal speech for ten minutes | Creation | Repulsion | Body |
Flame Bolt | Korakh | 1 | If the magician is able to throw the indictator within arms reach of the target they may call "Magical Fire Strike" to make a torso attack. This cannot be parried, but can be dodged and armor can be used. | Spirit | Purification | Creation |
Hot Hands | Korakh | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator within arms reach of a subject and superheat the weapon, calling "Arcane Fire Disarm" to force the player to drop it | Repulsion | Attraction | Change |
Sense Heat | Manach | 4 | The touched target may wear heat vision goggles in game for an hour | Stasis | The Found | Decay |
Torchlight | Manach | 1 | The magician may cause a touched object to glow with an equivalent light of a torch for an hour | Attraction | Creation | Change |
Pluck Heartstrings | Reshtur | 2 | After casting this spell the magician may add the arcane tag to a single Pathos call used in the next hour. | Stasis | Decay | The Found |
Weavespeak | Reshtur | 2 | After casting this spell the magician may add the arcane tag to a single Ethos call used in the next hour. | Creation | Spirit | Stasis |
Corrupting Aura | Sihil | 3 | The magician may lay hands on a target in order to make a rite that has the same target indvidiual as this spell have one additional vulgarity. This effect expires at the end of an hour if it is unused. | The Found | Body | Creation |
Enrage | Sihil | 4 | After casting this spell the touched target temporarily has their devotion prefix change to hatred for an hour | Change | Destruction | Spirit |
Ray of Doubt | Sihil | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator and call "Arcane Fire Weaken Faith" on anyone within arms reach of it. | Destruction | Decay | Purification |
Flight Response | Soltek | 2 | The magician may throw the indictator within arms reach of a target and call "Arcane Fire Fear" to inflict that target with fear | Destruction | Attraction | Repulsion |
Ironheart | Soltek | 3 | The touched target becomes immune to fear for an hour | Repulsion | Stasis | Spirit |
Awaken Wardrobe | Tunaor | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator within arms reach of a target and call "Stun (Limb)" on a clothed or armored limb of their choice as they animate the cloth of the target. | Destruction | The Hidden | The Found |
Triptrap | Tunaor | 3 | The magician may set off a trap that they have found from a safe distance. The magician must be within spell indicator range of the trap to do this. | The Found | Purification | Repulsion |
Bloodboil | Ujoctl | 1 | The magician may call "Pain" on a single limb on touch | Purification | Change | Attraction |
Deaden Senses | Ujoctl | 3 | The touched target is immune to pain for an hour | The Found | Purification | Decay |
Convince | Vendicur | 3 | After casting this spell the touched target reacts to the magician more positively for the next hour. The Magician may use the call "Arcane fire feel: you want to agree with me." | Destruction | Spirit | Stasis |
Destabilize | Vendicur | 4 | After casting this spell the touched target gains the Tempermental flaw for an hour. | Change | Spirit | The Hidden |
Castle of the Mind | Yrael | 3 | The magician's resolve is increased by 1 for a liminal space for the purpose of possession checks | Attraction | The Hidden | Repulsion |
Ray of Uncertainty | Yrael | 3 | The magician may throw a spell indicator and call "Arcane Fire Weaken Resolve" on anyone within arms reach of it. | Destruction | The Hidden | Creation |
Arcane Armory | Zargomel | 3 | The magician may change the weapon quality of a specific touched weapon for an hour into a different normal quality. | Destruction | Decay | Body |
Minor Transmutation | Zargomel | 7 | The magican may change one common resource in their hand to a common resource of a different type, such as soft iron to soft wood. | Change | The Found | Purification |
Encouragement | Durna | 3 | The magician may throw a spell indicator and all within the line of the spell are affected by the call, "Arcane fire Feel: Everyone feel lusty." | Body | Change | Purification |
Out From Under | Durna | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator within arms reach of a target and call "Arcane fire trip" as they pull the person roughly in the magician's direction | Stasis | Decay | Body |
The Earth Guild
The Domains of the Earth Guild:
Korakh | Stone | Reshtur | Resistance |
Sihil | Fortitude | Durhna | Weight |
Yrael | Strength | Vendicur | Plants |
Ujoctl | Rot | Zargomel | Structures |
Gurhoka | Disease | Tunaor | Force |
Soltek | Metal | Manach | Animals |
The Magicians of Earth are those who command the power of stone and strength, nature and rot.
Where once the Earth Magicians were known for their construction of infrastructure, cities, and miles of roads, they are now better known for their exploration of the new nature of death. Within their halls the question is the same- how did it come to this? How could there be so much death, and yet more people than ever? How could the world fall apart, and how could nature fail? Such questions have led the magicians of Earth into frenzied experimentation, a deep desire to understand the natural philosophies and mechanisms underlying the natural world. They want to know for a certainty why there are seasons, why the sun rises and sets, why some animals are predators and others prey, why do some live and others die? Underneath these scholarly questions is a driving determination to wrest control of life and death from the lax reins of an uncaring fate.
And so those of Earth study the domains of rot, disease, plants, and animals in their quest- even as they focus their strength on fortifying their own lives. Many among the guild are convinced that the only way that nature could go so awry was if it was through the actions of the deity of earth- Vecatra- and the alien magics of her followers. It is well known among mercenaries and traders that earth magicians will pay well for priests of the deity should someone be fortunate enough to find one- although what they do with these priests is best not thought too much about.
The Earth guild, also called Infragilis Vigilo, is known to have one large stronghold in a crystal forest to the Northeast of Troctown, although finding Arbremir is easier said than done. It is rumored that they also have another outpost far to the north of Fernwehn on a lonely peak- isolated far from the teeming masses that fill the rest of the world.
Earth Guild Starting Spells
Name | Domain | Complexity | Mechanics | Fallacy 1 | Fallacy 2 | Fallacy 3 |
Empower the Plaguesoul | Gurhoka | 2 | The magician may touch a target and advance any diseases in them by one step. The disease otherwise functions as normal. | The Found | Change | Purification |
Plaguebind | Gurhoka | 4 | The magician may transfer a disease within a touched target to a structural opening within touch range, like a door. Anyone who passes through that opening in the next hour is exposed to that disease as if they had been exposed naturally. | Attraction | Decay | The Found |
Earth Bolt | Korakh | 1 | If the magician is able to throw the indictator within arms reach of the target, they may call "Magical Earth Strike" to make a torso attack. This cannot be parried, but can be dodged and armor can be used. | Stasis | Decay | Spirit |
Flesh to Stone | Korakh | 3 | The magician may turn a target within arms reach of a thrown spell indicator into stone for a combat scene. This indicator may be dodged, but once stone the target cannot be damaged. | The Hidden | Body | Stasis |
Eyes of the Cat | Manach | 4 | The magician may change their eyes into that of a cat, allowing them to use night vision goggles for an hour. | Purification | The Found | Destruction |
Feathered Messenger | Manach | 3 | The magician may enchant a nearby bird to carry a message to another earth mage they know the name of within the event space. This is not instaneous, and even nearby mages will typically recieve the spell within several hours of sending. Once the bird has delivered the message, they will return to the caster, bringing a new message if one is given to them | The Hidden | The Found | Creation |
Coghold | Reshtur | 2 | The magician may jam any engineering device that they can hold with their hands and cause the device to not function for an hour | Creation | Change | Spirit |
Potent Flesh | Reshtur | 3 | The touched target of this ritual may call one "Arcane Resist" against toxins or poisons. If unused, this ability expires at the end of an hour. | Destruction | Decay | Repulsion |
Ray of Withering | Sihil | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator and call "Arcane Earth Weaken Fortitude" on anyone within arms reach of it. | Body | Repulsion | Attraction |
Rough Hide | Sihil | 1 | The touched target's skin is treated as light armor for an hour. This ability cannot stack. | Attraction | The Hidden | Spirit |
Enhance Durability | Soltek | 2 | The magician may touch any metal and, for one combat scene, it is treated as if it is one level higher in regards to sundering per the Masterwork rules. Iron is treated as steel, undermountain bonze as adamantium, and so on. | Spirit | Attraction | Purification |
Reforge | Soltek | 1 | The magician may fix one item of metal that has been sundered that is touched by the magician. | Body | Repulsion | Decay |
Clash of Giants | Tunaor | 2 | The magician may lay hands on a target in order to make a rite that has the same target indvidiual as this spell have one additional vulgarity for the next hour. | Body | Creation | Destruction |
Stone Sap | Tunaor | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator within arms reach of a target and call "Arcane Earth Blackout" to shove that target to the ground. | Stasis | Change | Repulsion |
Lesser Turning | Ujoctl | 4 | After casting this spell, the next target the Magician touches has their Devotion change into the Magician's Devotion for 1 hour. | Change | The Hidden | The Found |
Moth's Kiss | Ujoctl | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator within arms reach of a target and call "Sunder" on any light armor or clothing that the target is wearing as it rots and falls off. | Destruction | Repulsion | Body |
Anklebreaker Vines | Vendicur | 3 | The magician may draw a circle no more than ten feet across in a natural space and cast this ritual to call "Arcane Earth Stun Limb" on anyone who sets foot within it as plants reach up and grab their feet. This effect lasts for an hour. | Decay | Attraction | Creation |
Woodcall | Vendicur | 2 | The magician may cast this spell to find one common or uncommon herb of their choice in the woods. | Body | Creation | Stasis |
Giant's Grip | Yrael | 3 | The magician may use this spell to utterly destroy a normal, non-masterwork, item that they hold in their hands for a minute of time. | Stasis | Purification | Attraction |
Ray of Sapping | Yrael | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator and call "Arcane Earth Weaken Strength" on anyone within arms reach of it. | Change | Decay | Destruction |
Unnatural Alteration | Zargomel | 3 | The magician may alter the structure of a touched item in order to change what it is on a cosmic level. This has the affect of Inflicting one vulgarity on a rite that is being performed using this item, or forcing a spell to subsitute a fallacy. This effect expires at the end of an hour. | Creation | Repulsion | The Hidden |
Voyeur's Gap | Zargomel | 4 | The Magician may place their hand on the building and create a tiny peephole which the Magician may look through . The player may look inside the building OOC while holding a lit indicator inside from the vantage point of their peephole. This peephole is visible to those who can see magical auras and can stay open for up to an hour. | Stasis | Destruction | The Hidden |
Clumsy Curse | Durna | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator within arms reach of a target and call "Arcane Stun Legs" as their legs are weighted to the ground. This lasts as long as a standard stun effect | Purification | The Found | Spirit |
Pull of the Stoneheart | Durna | 3 | The magician may make an object within touch range weigh enough that it requires a feat of strength to move, for an hour. | Purification | Spirit | Change |
The Earth Guild
The Domains of the Earth Guild:
Korakh | Stone |
Sihil | Fortitude |
Yrael | Strength |
Ujoctl | Rot |
Gurhoka | Disease |
Soltek | Metal |
Reshtur | Resistance |
Durhna | Weight |
Vendicur | Plants |
Zargomel | Structures |
Tunaor | Force |
Manach | Animals |
The Magicians of Earth are those who command the power of stone and strength, nature and rot.
Where once the Earth Magicians were known for their construction of infrastructure, cities, and miles of roads, they are now better known for their exploration of the new nature of death. Within their halls the question is the same- how did it come to this? How could there be so much death, and yet more people than ever? How could the world fall apart, and how could nature fail? Such questions have led the magicians of Earth into frenzied experimentation, a deep desire to understand the natural philosophies and mechanisms underlying the natural world. They want to know for a certainty why there are seasons, why the sun rises and sets, why some animals are predators and others prey, why do some live and others die? Underneath these scholarly questions is a driving determination to wrest control of life and death from the lax reins of an uncaring fate.
And so those of Earth study the domains of rot, disease, plants, and animals in their quest- even as they focus their strength on fortifying their own lives. Many among the guild are convinced that the only way that nature could go so awry was if it was through the actions of the deity of earth- Vecatra- and the alien magics of her followers. It is well known among mercenaries and traders that earth magicians will pay well for priests of the deity should someone be fortunate enough to find one- although what they do with these priests is best not thought too much about.
The Earth guild, also called Infragilis Vigilo, is known to have one large stronghold in a crystal forest to the Northeast of Troctown, although finding Arbremir is easier said than done. It is rumored that they also have another outpost far to the north of Fernwehn on a lonely peak- isolated far from the teeming masses that fill the rest of the world.
Earth Guild Starting Spells
Name | Domain | Complexity | Mechanics | Fallacy 1 | Fallacy 2 | Fallacy 3 |
Empower the Plaguesoul | Gurhoka | 2 | The magician may touch a target and advance any diseases in them by one step. The disease otherwise functions as normal. | The Found | Change | Purification |
Plaguebind | Gurhoka | 4 | The magician may transfer a disease within a touched target to a structural opening within touch range, like a door. Anyone who passes through that opening in the next hour is exposed to that disease as if they had been exposed naturally. | Attraction | Decay | The Found |
Earth Bolt | Korakh | 1 | If the magician is able to throw the indictator within arms reach of the target, they may call "Magical Earth Strike" to make a torso attack. This cannot be parried, but can be dodged and armor can be used. | Stasis | Decay | Spirit |
Flesh to Stone | Korakh | 3 | The magician may turn a target within arms reach of a thrown spell indicator into stone for a combat scene. This indicator may be dodged, but once stone the target cannot be damaged. | The Hidden | Body | Stasis |
Eyes of the Cat | Manach | 4 | The magician may change their eyes into that of a cat, allowing them to use night vision goggles for an hour. | Purification | The Found | Destruction |
Feathered Messenger | Manach | 3 | The magician may enchant a nearby bird to carry a message to another earth mage they know the name of within the event space. This is not instaneous, and even nearby mages will typically recieve the spell within several hours of sending. Once the bird has delivered the message, they will return to the caster, bringing a new message if one is given to them | The Hidden | The Found | Creation |
Coghold | Reshtur | 2 | The magician may jam any engineering device that they can hold with their hands and cause the device to not function for an hour | Creation | Change | Spirit |
Potent Flesh | Reshtur | 3 | The touched target of this ritual may call one "Arcane Resist" against toxins or poisons. If unused, this ability expires at the end of an hour. | Destruction | Decay | Repulsion |
Ray of Withering | Sihil | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator and call "Arcane Earth Weaken Fortitude" on anyone within arms reach of it. | Body | Repulsion | Attraction |
Rough Hide | Sihil | 1 | The touched target's skin is treated as light armor for an hour. This ability cannot stack. | Attraction | The Hidden | Spirit |
Enhance Durability | Soltek | 2 | The magician may touch any metal and, for one combat scene, it is treated as if it is one level higher in regards to sundering per the Masterwork rules. Iron is treated as steel, undermountain bonze as adamantium, and so on. | Spirit | Attraction | Purification |
Reforge | Soltek | 1 | The magician may fix one item of metal that has been sundered that is touched by the magician. | Body | Repulsion | Decay |
Clash of Giants | Tunaor | 2 | The magician may lay hands on a target in order to make a rite that has the same target indvidiual as this spell have one additional vulgarity for the next hour. | Body | Creation | Destruction |
Stone Sap | Tunaor | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator within arms reach of a target and call "Arcane Earth Blackout" to shove that target to the ground. | Stasis | Change | Repulsion |
Lesser Turning | Ujoctl | 4 | After casting this spell, the next target the Magician touches has their Devotion change into the Magician's Devotion for 1 hour. | Change | The Hidden | The Found |
Moth's Kiss | Ujoctl | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator within arms reach of a target and call "Sunder" on any light armor or clothing that the target is wearing as it rots and falls off. | Destruction | Repulsion | Body |
Anklebreaker Vines | Vendicur | 3 | The magician may draw a circle no more than ten feet across in a natural space and cast this ritual to call "Arcane Earth Stun Limb" on anyone who sets foot within it as plants reach up and grab their feet. This effect lasts for an hour. | Decay | Attraction | Creation |
Woodcall | Vendicur | 2 | The magician may cast this spell to find one common or uncommon herb of their choice in the woods. | Body | Creation | Stasis |
Giant's Grip | Yrael | 3 | The magician may use this spell to utterly destroy a normal, non-masterwork, item that they hold in their hands for a minute of time. | Stasis | Purification | Attraction |
Ray of Sapping | Yrael | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator and call "Arcane Earth Weaken Strength" on anyone within arms reach of it. | Change | Decay | Destruction |
Unnatural Alteration | Zargomel | 3 | The magician may alter the structure of a touched item in order to change what it is on a cosmic level. This has the affect of Inflicting one vulgarity on a rite that is being performed using this item, or forcing a spell to subsitute a fallacy. This effect expires at the end of an hour. | Creation | Repulsion | The Hidden |
Voyeur's Gap | Zargomel | 4 | The Magician may place their hand on the building and create a tiny peephole which the Magician may look through . The player may look inside the building OOC while holding a lit indicator inside from the vantage point of their peephole. This peephole is visible to those who can see magical auras and can stay open for up to an hour. | Stasis | Destruction | The Hidden |
Clumsy Curse | Durna | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator within arms reach of a target and call "Arcane Stun Legs" as their legs are weighted to the ground. This lasts as long as a standard stun effect | Purification | The Found | Spirit |
Pull of the Stoneheart | Durna | 3 | The magician may make an object within touch range weigh enough that it requires a feat of strength to move, for an hour. | Purification | Spirit | Change |
The Water Guild
The Domains of the Water Guild:
Korakh | Waves | Reshtur | Blood |
Sihil | Faith | Durhna | Paths |
Yrael | Speed | Vendicur | Balance |
Ujoctl | Pressure | Zargomel | Purpose |
Gurhoka | Cleansing | Tunaor | Cycles |
Soltek | Clarity | Manach | Reflection |
It was once the way of Magicians of Water, also called Sahirim many generations ago, to dive deeply into the nature of time, that they might study its ebb and flow. However, somehow, somewhere along the way, the Temple lost access to this path. Only theories remain as to why this might be, but those who now try to walk the path of time no longer can return to their own lives. Instead they fade, disappear, and never come back. Those few time spells that do remain, and which do not cause such disappearances, are mostly in the hands of the Magicians of Ta’talma- sequestered behind the barriers of their underwater city. Necessity being the mother of invention, the domain of Reshtur was replaced by a different meaning and domain over the generations. It is now associated with Blood- and the magicians who utilize it do great work in healing, battle magic, and cleansing.
Ta’talma is hard to find, even by those who know the way. It is accessed via an island to the Southeast of Balise, East of the Circle of Iron, and beyond that, only those highly schooled in the arcane arts of Water may proceed. When asked directly about the city, the Magicians of Water of will often deny it, arguing that any Hesha knows that the ocean floor is overtaken by armies of Malefic Creatures. How could such a city survive?
It is true that there aren’t many other known outposts or great temples of the Water Magicians, but that doesn’t mean that they are scarce. Some of them travel among the Nemien, or the Hesha, while still others seek out objects of power and new spells throughout the Wastes or cities.
The goals of the Water Temple are spiritual in nature and highly secretive. The higher circles conduct ritualistic spells and research that seem closer to religious exercises than magic. They desire to devise a means by which our reality may shift to one in which the darkness of the world is overcome, or one where several disasters never actually happened, so that the world might be whole and healed. To do so, however, they will require more power, more strength of will, and possibly a re-connection to the Domain of Time.
Water Guild Starting Spells
Name | Domain | Complexity | Mechanics | Fallacy 1 | Fallacy 2 | Fallacy 3 |
Calm the Current | Gurhoka | 3 | The touched target may treat a single insanity as a level lower than it is for a liminal space | Destruction | Common Forestry Material | Uncommon Gathering |
Eye of the Hurricane | Gurhoka | 3 | The touched target may supress a single insanity of any level for an hour. | Decay | Common Hunting Material | Uncommon Gathering |
Lesser Purge of Influence | Gurhoka | 3 | The magician may remove the effects of a single Rank 1 ritual that a touched target is currently under. This cannot be used on intiation rituals like baptism. | Purification | Common Farming Material | Uncommon Gathering |
Water Bolt | Korakh | 1 | If the magician is able to throw the indictator within arms reach of a target they may call "Magical Water Strike" to make a torso attack. This cannot be parried, but can be dodged and armor can be used. | Repulsion | Herb with Irritant | Common Forestry Material |
Water Seal | Korakh | 2 | The target of this ritual may call "Arcane Water Strike" on the first person who damages them in combat to make a torso attack, as long as that individual is within weapon range. If this ability is not used it expires at the end of an hour. The target must be within weapons reach at the time of casting the seal. | Decay | Herb with Steroid | Common Hunting Material |
Reflect the Self | Manach | 3 | The touched target's Devotion changes into the Magician's Devotion for 1 hour. | Creation | Common Mining Material | Uncommon Gathering |
Shield of Mirrors | Manach | 3 | The target may reflect the next ranged attack that strikes them with the call “Magical Water Strike” to make a torso strike. Defenses can be used on this strike as normal. If not used, this reflection ends at the end of the combat scene. | Purification | Common Farming Material | Uncommon Gathering |
Leech Laceration | Reshtur | 2 | The magician may call “Arcane Water Battered” to apply the battered condition to someone who is wounded within the reach of a medium weapon. The battered condition applies to an area that is not injured, as the spell moves through the target’s blood. | Repulsion | Herb with Focus Aid | Common Farming Material |
Sanguine Fortitude | Reshtur | 5 | The touched target is immune to draining of their sanguine essence for a day, whether that is through the bite of a dhampir, the knife of a surgeon, or through other means. This spell remains in effect even if the target dies and lasts for the event. | Spirit | Body | Uncommon Forestry Material |
Fortify the Heart | Sihil | 1 | The magician may suppress despair for a touched target for the duration of an hour | Creation | Herb with Irritant | Common Mining Material |
Shimmer of Guilt | Sihil | 3 | The magician may gain an understanding of one depravity (at the choice of the target) that the touched target currently has on their soul. | Creation | Common Hunting Material | Uncommon Gathering |
Dispel Minor Illusions | Soltek | 2 | The magician may dispell a single sense illusion for up to two targets within touch range | Decay | Herb with Steroid | Common Forestry Material |
Part the Tide of Shadows | Soltek | 4 | The touched target may wear night vision goggles for an hour | Stasis | Destruction | Uncommon Mining Material |
Alchemical Surge | Tunaor | 2 | The magician may lay hands on a target to halve the duration of an alchemical concotion that has recently been consumed by them so that it takes effect quicker and clears the body quicker as well. | Body | Herb with Fortifier | Common Farming Material |
Purge Dependence | Tunaor | 1 | The magician may lower one addiction compulsion that the target is currently under by one step by laying hands upon them. | Decay | Herb with Irritant | Common Hunting Material |
Eye of the Ancestor | Ujoctl | 4 | The magician may inflict the touched target with an additional Honor Code Tenet for the Event. | Repulsion | Decay | Uncommon Farming Material |
Weight of Waves | Ujoctl | 3 | The magician may call sunder on an item on a target within arms reach of a thrown spell indicator. | Stasis | Common Forestry Material | Uncommon Gathering |
Brief Sympathy | Vendicur | 4 | The Magician equalizes their health with a target within arms reach of thrown a spell indicator, making the target suffer all physical Calls and Conditions, including Wounds and Battered, that the Magician suffers as the Magician suffers them, for 10 minutes | Repulsion | Attraction | Uncommon Mining Material |
Crane's Grace | Vendicur | 2 | The touched target may ignore the next call of Trip or Push. If this spell is unused it expires at the end of an hour. | Stasis | Herb with Focus Aid | Common Forestry Material |
Rapid's Rush | Yrael | 3 | The magician may escape from conflict even if they do not meet the requirements. If unusued, this spell expires at the end of an hour. | Attraction | Common Farming Material | Uncommon Gathering |
Spellbend | Yrael | 2 | The touched target of this spell is able to quickly to the side when next targeted by a spell, calling “Arcane Water Dodge” to dodge the spell. This dodge may not be used to dodge attacks without the arcane modifier. If this spell is unused it expires at the end of an hour. | The Hidden | Herb with Irritant | Common Hunting Material |
Instill Brief Certainty | Zargomel | 3 | The touched target may perform an act that would normally cause a Personal Failure without suffering the negatives from doing so. This spell lasts for up to an hour, or whenever a personal failure occurs, whatever is shorter. | Body | Common Mining Material | Uncommon Gathering |
Wraith's Resonance | Zargomel | 4 | If the magician is able to throw the indictator within arms reach of an incorporeal subject, they may call upon their strength of will to strike even that which cannot be struck and call "Magical Water Strike Incorporeal" to make a torso attack. This cannot be parried, but can be dodged and armor can be used. | Creation | Spirit | Uncommon Hunting Material |
Babble | Durna | 3 | The magician may send a letter through water to another mage they know the name of within the event space. The mage must put the message in a glass vial and write the recipients name on the vial. This is not instaneous, and even nearby mages will typically recieve the spell within several hours of sending. | Decay | Common Mining Material | Uncommon Gathering |
Flow Over Stone | Durna | 3 | The magician may walk through one full body barrier. If this ability is not used it expires at the end of an hour. | Stasis | Common Farming Material | Uncommon Gathering |
The Water Guild
The Domains of the Water Guild:
Korakh | Waves |
Sihil | Faith |
Yrael | Speed |
Ujoctl | Pressure |
Gurhoka | Cleansing |
Soltek | Clarity |
Reshtur | Blood |
Durhna | Paths |
Vendicur | Balance |
Zargomel | Purpose |
Tunaor | Cycles |
Manach | Reflection |
It was once the way of Magicians of Water, also called Sahirim many generations ago, to dive deeply into the nature of time, that they might study its ebb and flow. However, somehow, somewhere along the way, the Temple lost access to this path. Only theories remain as to why this might be, but those who now try to walk the path of time no longer can return to their own lives. Instead they fade, disappear, and never come back. Those few time spells that do remain, and which do not cause such disappearances, are mostly in the hands of the Magicians of Ta’talma- sequestered behind the barriers of their underwater city. Necessity being the mother of invention, the domain of Reshtur was replaced by a different meaning and domain over the generations. It is now associated with Blood- and the magicians who utilize it do great work in healing, battle magic, and cleansing.
Ta’talma is hard to find, even by those who know the way. It is accessed via an island to the Southeast of Balise, East of the Circle of Iron, and beyond that, only those highly schooled in the arcane arts of Water may proceed. When asked directly about the city, the Magicians of Water of will often deny it, arguing that any Hesha knows that the ocean floor is overtaken by armies of Malefic Creatures. How could such a city survive?
It is true that there aren’t many other known outposts or great temples of the Water Magicians, but that doesn’t mean that they are scarce. Some of them travel among the Nemien, or the Hesha, while still others seek out objects of power and new spells throughout the Wastes or cities.
The goals of the Water Temple are spiritual in nature and highly secretive. The higher circles conduct ritualistic spells and research that seem closer to religious exercises than magic. They desire to devise a means by which our reality may shift to one in which the darkness of the world is overcome, or one where several disasters never actually happened, so that the world might be whole and healed. To do so, however, they will require more power, more strength of will, and possibly a re-connection to the Domain of Time.
Water Guild Starting Spells
Name | Domain | Complexity | Mechanics | Fallacy 1 | Fallacy 2 | Fallacy 3 |
Calm the Current | Gurhoka | 3 | The touched target may treat a single insanity as a level lower than it is for a liminal space | Destruction | Common Forestry Material | Uncommon Gathering |
Eye of the Hurricane | Gurhoka | 3 | The touched target may supress a single insanity of any level for an hour. | Decay | Common Hunting Material | Uncommon Gathering |
Lesser Purge of Influence | Gurhoka | 3 | The magician may remove the effects of a single Rank 1 ritual that a touched target is currently under. This cannot be used on intiation rituals like baptism. | Purification | Common Farming Material | Uncommon Gathering |
Water Bolt | Korakh | 1 | If the magician is able to throw the indictator within arms reach of a target they may call "Magical Water Strike" to make a torso attack. This cannot be parried, but can be dodged and armor can be used. | Repulsion | Herb with Irritant | Common Forestry Material |
Water Seal | Korakh | 2 | The target of this ritual may call "Arcane Water Strike" on the first person who damages them in combat to make a torso attack, as long as that individual is within weapon range. If this ability is not used it expires at the end of an hour. The target must be within weapons reach at the time of casting the seal. | Decay | Herb with Steroid | Common Hunting Material |
Reflect the Self | Manach | 3 | The touched target's Devotion changes into the Magician's Devotion for 1 hour. | Creation | Common Mining Material | Uncommon Gathering |
Shield of Mirrors | Manach | 3 | The target may reflect the next ranged attack that strikes them with the call “Magical Water Strike” to make a torso strike. Defenses can be used on this strike as normal. If not used, this reflection ends at the end of the combat scene. | Purification | Common Farming Material | Uncommon Gathering |
Leech Laceration | Reshtur | 2 | The magician may call “Arcane Water Battered” to apply the battered condition to someone who is wounded within the reach of a medium weapon. The battered condition applies to an area that is not injured, as the spell moves through the target’s blood. | Repulsion | Herb with Focus Aid | Common Farming Material |
Sanguine Fortitude | Reshtur | 5 | The touched target is immune to draining of their sanguine essence for a day, whether that is through the bite of a dhampir, the knife of a surgeon, or through other means. This spell remains in effect even if the target dies and lasts for the event. | Spirit | Body | Uncommon Forestry Material |
Fortify the Heart | Sihil | 1 | The magician may suppress despair for a touched target for the duration of an hour | Creation | Herb with Irritant | Common Mining Material |
Shimmer of Guilt | Sihil | 3 | The magician may gain an understanding of one depravity (at the choice of the target) that the touched target currently has on their soul. | Creation | Common Hunting Material | Uncommon Gathering |
Dispel Minor Illusions | Soltek | 2 | The magician may dispell a single sense illusion for up to two targets within touch range | Decay | Herb with Steroid | Common Forestry Material |
Part the Tide of Shadows | Soltek | 4 | The touched target may wear night vision goggles for an hour | Stasis | Destruction | Uncommon Mining Material |
Alchemical Surge | Tunaor | 2 | The magician may lay hands on a target to halve the duration of an alchemical concotion that has recently been consumed by them so that it takes effect quicker and clears the body quicker as well. | Body | Herb with Fortifier | Common Farming Material |
Purge Dependence | Tunaor | 1 | The magician may lower one addiction compulsion that the target is currently under by one step by laying hands upon them. | Decay | Herb with Irritant | Common Hunting Material |
Eye of the Ancestor | Ujoctl | 4 | The magician may inflict the touched target with an additional Honor Code Tenet for the Event. | Repulsion | Decay | Uncommon Farming Material |
Weight of Waves | Ujoctl | 3 | The magician may call sunder on an item on a target within arms reach of a thrown spell indicator. | Stasis | Common Forestry Material | Uncommon Gathering |
Brief Sympathy | Vendicur | 4 | The Magician equalizes their health with a target within arms reach of thrown a spell indicator, making the target suffer all physical Calls and Conditions, including Wounds and Battered, that the Magician suffers as the Magician suffers them, for 10 minutes | Repulsion | Attraction | Uncommon Mining Material |
Crane's Grace | Vendicur | 2 | The touched target may ignore the next call of Trip or Push. If this spell is unused it expires at the end of an hour. | Stasis | Herb with Focus Aid | Common Forestry Material |
Rapid's Rush | Yrael | 3 | The magician may escape from conflict even if they do not meet the requirements. If unusued, this spell expires at the end of an hour. | Attraction | Common Farming Material | Uncommon Gathering |
Spellbend | Yrael | 2 | The touched target of this spell is able to quickly to the side when next targeted by a spell, calling “Arcane Water Dodge” to dodge the spell. This dodge may not be used to dodge attacks without the arcane modifier. If this spell is unused it expires at the end of an hour. | The Hidden | Herb with Irritant | Common Hunting Material |
Instill Brief Certainty | Zargomel | 3 | The touched target may perform an act that would normally cause a Personal Failure without suffering the negatives from doing so. This spell lasts for up to an hour, or whenever a personal failure occurs, whatever is shorter. | Body | Common Mining Material | Uncommon Gathering |
Wraith's Resonance | Zargomel | 4 | If the magician is able to throw the indictator within arms reach of an incorporeal subject, they may call upon their strength of will to strike even that which cannot be struck and call "Magical Water Strike Incorporeal" to make a torso attack. This cannot be parried, but can be dodged and armor can be used. | Creation | Spirit | Uncommon Hunting Material |
Babble | Durna | 3 | The magician may send a letter through water to another mage they know the name of within the event space. The mage must put the message in a glass vial and write the recipients name on the vial. This is not instaneous, and even nearby mages will typically recieve the spell within several hours of sending. | Decay | Common Mining Material | Uncommon Gathering |
Flow Over Stone | Durna | 3 | The magician may walk through one full body barrier. If this ability is not used it expires at the end of an hour. | Stasis | Common Farming Material | Uncommon Gathering |
The Air Guild
The Domains of the Air Guild:
Korakh | Wind | Reshtur | Illusion |
Sihil | Intellect | Durhna | Seeking |
Yrael | Speed | Vendicur | Thought |
Ujoctl | Movement | Zargomel | Insubstance |
Gurhoka | Communication | Tunaor | Control |
Soltek | Memory | Manach | Subtlety |
In the annals of the Throne, the Magicians of Air, sometimes referred to as Praeceptor Caecus, were noteworthy if only by their absence. Their deeds are not seen in the recordbooks. Rather, they are seen by the abrupt change of alliances, the leaking of information at just the right time, in the sudden death of a leader, or the loss of an item of power. Assassins, spy masters, secret enforcers of those in power, boogeymen. Everyone claimed to know of someone who was of the Guild of Air, but few could point one out, and it was likely better that way. The most terrifying thing about Air Magicians was that if one was near, it was suddenly uncertain if thoughts were indeed private or even one’s own.
But with the fall of Empires and the reshaping of the world, the balance of power shifted. All those well-laid plans of generations seemed laid to waste as magic itself seemed to change and warp. The Guild of Air dwindled, losing contact with many as entire cells of magicians would go dark. Those who remained consolidated what resources they could, and the Air Guild managed to put on a new face and step out from the shadows more fully into view. Nowadays, they operate openly, seeking contracts, resources, and opportunities to travel in order to obtain more scrolls and components. However, they often find themselves more in competition with the Tarrantists than they do with their fellow magicians. Those who follow the Deity of Desire, Power, and Rebellion often find themselves offering similar services and temptations as the Guild of Air, but rather than partnering together for power, the two rival groups instead constantly work at cross purposes- desperately trying to prove themselves superior than the other.
Those of the Air Guild are skilled in communication, and so rarely gather in large groups- but they have small outposts and halls spread throughout most of the known world. One small outpost is on the eastern edge of the Mirror Reef, and is known as Terni. Another is rumored to be to the northwest of Towerfall, near the frozen north in a place called Nordhal. And while they, of course, have a presence in Prasea, it is said that their true place in the area is to the mountains to the north of that city, in a glen called Ventis.
Despite all of their changes and re-creation, when it comes to their goals the only thing that has changed for the magicians of air is the field. The end goal of ultimate power remains the same as it ever was.
Air Guild Starting Spells
Name | Domain | Complexity | Mechanics | Fallacy 1 | Fallacy 2 | Fallacy 3 |
Comprehend | Gurhoka | 1 | The magician may roughly understand the contents of a printed text they can touch in a language they do not speak, although they do not understand it perfectly and cannot read any lore master notes upon it. The text may not extend past two pages | Repulsion | Body | Decay |
Whispering Wind | Gurhoka | 3 | The magician may send a thought message of less than twenty words to a another air mage within the event space. This is not instaneous, and even nearby mages will typically recieve the spell within several hours of sending. | Repulsion | Stasis | The Found |
Choke | Korakh | 2 | The magician may remove the air from the lungs of a touched target. After casting the spell, the magician starts to recite their last rites three times. As long as they remain in contact with the target, once they have completed their last rites twice the target is downed, and on a third repetition the target is dead. | Purification | Decay | Stasis |
Wind Bolt | Korakh | 1 | If the magician throws the indictator within arms reach of the target, they may call "Magical Air Strike" to make a torso attack. This cannot be parried, but can be dodged and armor can be used. | Stasis | The Found | Decay |
Guard Truth | Manach | 2 | The magician may cause the touched target to be immune to truth-telling abilities, and anyone using an ability to force the target to tell the truth will find themselves unable to tell if the target is telling the truth or not for an hour. | Spirit | Herb with Clarifier | Attraction |
Trackless Step | Manach | 2 | The touched target of this spell may ignore "tracking" calls for an hour, whether or not they are in stealth or moving | Stasis | Attraction | Change |
Lesser Glamour | Reshtur | 3 | The magician may change the surface appearance of a touched item for an hour. The magician must create a sign to inform people of the illusion and remove it after the hour. | Decay | Creation | The Found |
Lesser Illusion | Reshtur | 3 | The magician may create a stationary illusion where they stand that affects one sense (smell, touch, sight) for an hour, no bigger than a person. The magician must create a sign to inform people of the illusion and remove it after the hour. | The Hidden | Body | Purification |
Ray of Stupification | Sihil | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator and call "Arcane Air Weaken Intellect" on anyone within arms reach of it. | Repulsion | The Hidden | Stasis |
Unmake the Night | Sihil | 4 | The magician may cast this on a malefic within arms reach of a thrown spell indictator to remove one positive instinct from the malefic creature (chosen by the malefic) for an hour. | Purification | Change | Repulsion |
Misremember | Soltek | 4 | The touched target remembers going about their business uneventfully for the past 10 minutes | Attraction | Spirit | Body |
Touch the Past | Soltek | 3 | The magician may cast this spell and gain the touchstone memories of a touched target as a quest item- at the discretion of the target. This does not remove the memory from the target, and the magician cannot use that memory as a touchstone memory for themselves. | Purification | Creation | Destruction |
Inhabit | Tunaor | 3 | The magician may, after touching a target, possess them for an hour if their resolve is 1 or below. If their resolve is higher than this the spell fails and must be recast. The magician must have a phsyical representation for their own body. | The Hidden | Creation | Stasis |
Triggerclick | Tunaor | 2 | The magician may set off an engineering device at a distance without taking its effects. They must throw a spell indicator packet and have it land within arms reach of the target, but they may then cause a target engineering device on that target to go off. | Spirit | Purification | Decay |
Autonomy | Ujoctl | 3 | The touched target of this spell gains an immunity to the stun effect for an hour. | Spirit | Destruction | Change |
Quickpick | Ujoctl | 1 | The magician may unlock a lock that they hold in their hands | Spirit | Creation | Destruction |
Lesser Telepathy | Vendicur | 3 | The touched target and the magician may any time during the duration of this spell have a short, silent two-way conversation. This effect expires after the target and the magician have spoken ten words, or at the end of an hour, whichever happens sooner. | Spirit | Change | The Found |
Think Alike | Vendicur | 3 | The magician may throw a spell indicator and send a thought to anyone within arms reach of the indicator as long as that message is less than ten words.The magician may go out of character to send the message | The Found | Decay | Attraction |
Misdirect | Yrael | 3 | The touched target, if they have Legerdemain 3, may place a single clothespin on another without them observing it, as long as they are within arms reach. This power is only usable once and, if it is not used, it expires in an hour. | Destruction | Body | The Found |
Ray of Inelegance | Yrael | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator and call "Arcane Air Weaken Speed" on anyone within arms reach of it. | Change | Creation | Purification |
Astral Object | Zargomel | 4 | The magician may make a touched object incorporeal for an hour. This object will remain in the space where the magician places it even if the item it is atop of is moved, and can only be manipulated by someone with the ability to manipulate incorporeal items, but cannot be thrown or otherwise used as a ranged item as it has no kinetic energy. It must be something the magician can lift that is smaller than a person and not a living creature. | The Hidden | Spirit | Destruction |
Passwall | Zargomel | 3 | The magician may walk through one full body barrier (walls). This spell expires at the end of an hour if it is unused. | Spirit | The Hidden | Attraction |
Gap in the Plate | Durna | 2 | The magician may touch a weapon and change its quality to driving for an hour. | The Hidden | Change | Body |
Sense Friend | Durna | 4 | The Magician may know the direction of a well-known character (NPC) with which the magician is famiilar. After casting the spell the magician may go to staff, who will agree to let them know when that NPC is available if they are within reach. | Repulsion | Attraction | Destruction |
The Air Guild
The Domains of the Air Guild:
Korakh | Wind |
Sihil | Intellect |
Yrael | Speed |
Ujoctl | Movement |
Gurhoka | Communication |
Soltek | Memory |
Reshtur | Illusion |
Durhna | Seeking |
Vendicur | Thought |
Zargomel | Insubstance |
Tunaor | Control |
Manach | Subtlety |
In the annals of the Throne, the Magicians of Air, sometimes referred to as Praeceptor Caecus, were noteworthy if only by their absence. Their deeds are not seen in the recordbooks. Rather, they are seen by the abrupt change of alliances, the leaking of information at just the right time, in the sudden death of a leader, or the loss of an item of power. Assassins, spy masters, secret enforcers of those in power, boogeymen. Everyone claimed to know of someone who was of the Guild of Air, but few could point one out, and it was likely better that way. The most terrifying thing about Air Magicians was that if one was near, it was suddenly uncertain if thoughts were indeed private or even one’s own.
But with the fall of Empires and the reshaping of the world, the balance of power shifted. All those well-laid plans of generations seemed laid to waste as magic itself seemed to change and warp. The Guild of Air dwindled, losing contact with many as entire cells of magicians would go dark. Those who remained consolidated what resources they could, and the Air Guild managed to put on a new face and step out from the shadows more fully into view. Nowadays, they operate openly, seeking contracts, resources, and opportunities to travel in order to obtain more scrolls and components. However, they often find themselves more in competition with the Tarrantists than they do with their fellow magicians. Those who follow the Deity of Desire, Power, and Rebellion often find themselves offering similar services and temptations as the Guild of Air, but rather than partnering together for power, the two rival groups instead constantly work at cross purposes- desperately trying to prove themselves superior than the other.
Those of the Air Guild are skilled in communication, and so rarely gather in large groups- but they have small outposts and halls spread throughout most of the known world. One small outpost is on the eastern edge of the Mirror Reef, and is known as Terni. Another is rumored to be to the northwest of Towerfall, near the frozen north in a place called Nordhal. And while they, of course, have a presence in Prasea, it is said that their true place in the area is to the mountains to the north of that city, in a glen called Ventis.
Despite all of their changes and re-creation, when it comes to their goals the only thing that has changed for the magicians of air is the field. The end goal of ultimate power remains the same as it ever was.
Air Guild Starting Spells
Name | Domain | Complexity | Mechanics | Fallacy 1 | Fallacy 2 | Fallacy 3 |
Comprehend | Gurhoka | 1 | The magician may roughly understand the contents of a printed text they can touch in a language they do not speak, although they do not understand it perfectly and cannot read any lore master notes upon it. The text may not extend past two pages | Repulsion | Body | Decay |
Whispering Wind | Gurhoka | 3 | The magician may send a thought message of less than twenty words to a another air mage within the event space. This is not instaneous, and even nearby mages will typically recieve the spell within several hours of sending. | Repulsion | Stasis | The Found |
Choke | Korakh | 2 | The magician may remove the air from the lungs of a touched target. After casting the spell, the magician starts to recite their last rites three times. As long as they remain in contact with the target, once they have completed their last rites twice the target is downed, and on a third repetition the target is dead. | Purification | Decay | Stasis |
Wind Bolt | Korakh | 1 | If the magician throws the indictator within arms reach of the target, they may call "Magical Air Strike" to make a torso attack. This cannot be parried, but can be dodged and armor can be used. | Stasis | The Found | Decay |
Guard Truth | Manach | 2 | The magician may cause the touched target to be immune to truth-telling abilities, and anyone using an ability to force the target to tell the truth will find themselves unable to tell if the target is telling the truth or not for an hour. | Spirit | Herb with Clarifier | Attraction |
Trackless Step | Manach | 2 | The touched target of this spell may ignore "tracking" calls for an hour, whether or not they are in stealth or moving | Stasis | Attraction | Change |
Lesser Glamour | Reshtur | 3 | The magician may change the surface appearance of a touched item for an hour. The magician must create a sign to inform people of the illusion and remove it after the hour. | Decay | Creation | The Found |
Lesser Illusion | Reshtur | 3 | The magician may create a stationary illusion where they stand that affects one sense (smell, touch, sight) for an hour, no bigger than a person. The magician must create a sign to inform people of the illusion and remove it after the hour. | The Hidden | Body | Purification |
Ray of Stupification | Sihil | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator and call "Arcane Air Weaken Intellect" on anyone within arms reach of it. | Repulsion | The Hidden | Stasis |
Unmake the Night | Sihil | 4 | The magician may cast this on a malefic within arms reach of a thrown spell indictator to remove one positive instinct from the malefic creature (chosen by the malefic) for an hour. | Purification | Change | Repulsion |
Misremember | Soltek | 4 | The touched target remembers going about their business uneventfully for the past 10 minutes | Attraction | Spirit | Body |
Touch the Past | Soltek | 3 | The magician may cast this spell and gain the touchstone memories of a touched target as a quest item- at the discretion of the target. This does not remove the memory from the target, and the magician cannot use that memory as a touchstone memory for themselves. | Purification | Creation | Destruction |
Inhabit | Tunaor | 3 | The magician may, after touching a target, possess them for an hour if their resolve is 1 or below. If their resolve is higher than this the spell fails and must be recast. The magician must have a phsyical representation for their own body. | The Hidden | Creation | Stasis |
Triggerclick | Tunaor | 2 | The magician may set off an engineering device at a distance without taking its effects. They must throw a spell indicator packet and have it land within arms reach of the target, but they may then cause a target engineering device on that target to go off. | Spirit | Purification | Decay |
Autonomy | Ujoctl | 3 | The touched target of this spell gains an immunity to the stun effect for an hour. | Spirit | Destruction | Change |
Quickpick | Ujoctl | 1 | The magician may unlock a lock that they hold in their hands | Spirit | Creation | Destruction |
Lesser Telepathy | Vendicur | 3 | The touched target and the magician may any time during the duration of this spell have a short, silent two-way conversation. This effect expires after the target and the magician have spoken ten words, or at the end of an hour, whichever happens sooner. | Spirit | Change | The Found |
Think Alike | Vendicur | 3 | The magician may throw a spell indicator and send a thought to anyone within arms reach of the indicator as long as that message is less than ten words.The magician may go out of character to send the message | The Found | Decay | Attraction |
Misdirect | Yrael | 3 | The touched target, if they have Legerdemain 3, may place a single clothespin on another without them observing it, as long as they are within arms reach. This power is only usable once and, if it is not used, it expires in an hour. | Destruction | Body | The Found |
Ray of Inelegance | Yrael | 2 | The magician may throw a spell indicator and call "Arcane Air Weaken Speed" on anyone within arms reach of it. | Change | Creation | Purification |
Astral Object | Zargomel | 4 | The magician may make a touched object incorporeal for an hour. This object will remain in the space where the magician places it even if the item it is atop of is moved, and can only be manipulated by someone with the ability to manipulate incorporeal items, but cannot be thrown or otherwise used as a ranged item as it has no kinetic energy. It must be something the magician can lift that is smaller than a person and not a living creature. | The Hidden | Spirit | Destruction |
Passwall | Zargomel | 3 | The magician may walk through one full body barrier (walls). This spell expires at the end of an hour if it is unused. | Spirit | The Hidden | Attraction |
Gap in the Plate | Durna | 2 | The magician may touch a weapon and change its quality to driving for an hour. | The Hidden | Change | Body |
Sense Friend | Durna | 4 | The Magician may know the direction of a well-known character (NPC) with which the magician is famiilar. After casting the spell the magician may go to staff, who will agree to let them know when that NPC is available if they are within reach. | Repulsion | Attraction | Destruction |
Casting
In order to cast a spell, a magician must be in possession of two things: the scroll and the ritual fallacies called for in the scroll. Each spell, while the product of rigorous testing and refinement, is a carefully calibrated set of instructions that can be easily understood and performed by anyone with the correct training and enough magical power.
Each Arcanum scroll is marked with the sigil of the domain that it falls under. Each school associates different domains with the sigils, but the order of sigils is the same. The wheel looks like as follows:
This wheel references a Nanach, instead of Manach. Manach is the usual use.
In order to cast a spell, the Magician must perform all actions prescribed on the Arcanum scroll. A Magician is always in possession of 12 Sigils of Power, one 12-sided Fate die, her school’s sigil wheel, and her spell indicators.In order to cast a spell, the Magician must perform all actions prescribed on the Arcanum scroll. A Magician is always in possession of 12 Sigils of Power, one 12-sided Fate die, her school’s sigil wheel, and her spell indicators.
When casting a spell, the magician draws a Glyph made of the symbol of their guild upon the ground, along with the symbol of the Domain in the center, and places the Fallacies around it. At the bottom, she places the scroll she wishes to perform facing up and open to the sky. She recites the incantation, does any physical motions dictated by the techniques in the scroll, and offers up the Fallacies to the universe to be consumed. For each Fallacy provided to the spell, it increases the chances of success. You may substitute inaccurate fallacies, but doing so risks Anacrusis, a backlash of magic that can have dire results. It must also be noted that even inaccurate fallacies must be close in flavor and intent to the original fallacy called for. For example, if a spell calls for the tears of a mother in mourning, but none are available, the Magician may choose to substitute any tears they can find. Should they substitute ale for the tears, the spell simply will not work. She draws and places one sigil from her bag, blindly, in the center of her Glyph. If this Sigil falls within the range of her Complexity, the spell is successfully cast. If it does not, she loses the Fallacies and the spell does nothing.
She may then throw a spell indicator to mark the path of her spell. These indicators are colored depending on the guild, and must glow at night.
- Air – white
- Fire – red
- Earth – green
- Water – blue
If magical energies are being held or cast by the Magician, or there are magical effects on her, this must also be represented by glowing lights on the magician (LED lights or glowstick jewelry). The casting of magic is thus very obvious – for the caster is awash in light, is gesturing with obvious hand signs, and reciting strange incantations over a scroll and glyph on the ground.
Success or Failure
It is a difficult thing to for a magician to successfully navigate the turmoil of spellcasting and to yoke and wield magic at her command. She has to take into account her measure of her overall will, confidence and skill, the orderly nature of her mind and spirit, as well as the magical power crystallized in her from her access to the deeper Circles of mystery.
Casting a spell is a combination of intense information processing and channeling unbridled magical energies through the Magician’s mind and body. The experience is different for each of the Guilds, each magical discipline being performed differently, but the experience is always incredibly intense, something akin to performing advanced mathematics in your head while on being on fire or drowning. As such, it is a godlike feat of will each and every time it is performed.
Every spell has a Rank and a Complexity level, which affects the performance of casting a spell. Casting a spell becomes more or less difficult based on if you equal these ranks. If the Magician has all the Fallacies and matches the Complexity and Rank of the spell, the magician can almost certainly succeed in her casting of the spell.
The Complexity of the Magician is determined through two sub-categories: Her Intellect, and her Will, which is determined by the sum total of her Intelligence Attribute and her skills in the Discipline branch of the Willpower tree (Willpower 1 and 2 count as Discipline 1 or 2 for the purpose of this calculation.
If you are a higher complexity than the complexity of the spell it will add one sigil to each side. The same holds true if you are a higher rank than the circle of the spell, it will add one sigil to each side.
These numbers determine the number of Sigils that a magician has to add or subtract to the success of their spell using the sigil wheel of her school. If a Magician matches the Complexity and Rank of the spell, then the spell will function if she draws the Sigil marked on the scroll from her Sigil bag. For example, if a spell is cast within the Korakh domain, then they must draw the Korakh Sigil for it to succeed.
In addition, a magician’s Intellect and Fallacies add to the Sigils that they may draw. For every rank above 0 that she has in Intellect, she may add one additional Sigil on each side of the spell domain as possible successes. In Example: If a spell is cast within the Korakh domain, by a caster with Intellect 1, she has access to Ujoctt to Silhil.
For every Fallacy she supplies, substituted or not, she may add one additional Sigil on each side of the spell domain as possible success. So if the same Magician provides 3 Fallacies, she can draw from Duma to Resthur and succeed.
However, if a magician does not match the Rank and Complexity of the spell, it is quite likely that they will fail. For every Rank the Spell exceeds the Circle of the Caster, you must minus two Sigils from each side and for every digit in Complexity of the spell that exceeds the caster’s, you must also minus one sigil from each side. In our example, if the Rank of the spell exceeds the Circle of the Caster by one, then they only have access to Sigils Vendicur through Gurhoka to make the spell work. If the Complexity of our spell is 5, but the Magician only has a complexity of 4, she will subtract one additional Sigil from each side, leaving her with only Tunaor to Yrael. A failed spell results in the loss of any fallacies used within it for no effect, although Anacrusis is still rolled if any part of the casting caused Anacrusis.
Anacrusis
Anacrusis is the name Magicians have given for a series of negative conditions that arise from overtaxing a subject, area, or object with too many competing magical forces. In general, a person may only benefit from one Enchantment effect spell at a time before additional anacrusis sets in. If an Enchantment is cast on a person, both the casting magician and the target are subject to any Anacrusis incurred. The Magician must check which Anacrusis effects are released and tell the subject what Anacrusis effect they have been subjected to.
Anacrusis is incurred by Fate dice, and the risk of it increases by each substituted Fallacy. Staff may also ask the Magician to roll on an Anacrusis chart at their discretion for reasons such as being in an area of high magic concentration, too many spells cast in quick succession or at once, too many spell failures, or attempting a damned or overly powerful spell. In general, if the same spell is cast on the same target within the same day it will generally cause a roll on the Anacrusis chart. If a Fallacy is not substituted, but is instead left out entirely, the Anacrusis is increased by one Anacrusis chart higher than otherwise.
Rolling the 12-sided Fate die for Anacrusis is as follows: If you substitute one fallacy, the effect is determined on the minor Anacrusis chart. Two, and you reference the Major Anacrusis chart. Three, and you look at the Ruinous Anacrusis chart. What number the Fate die turns up is the effect that occurs on yourself (and/or your subject) depending on the casting according to the chart.
If in casting the spell you would ever get more than 3 Anacrusis it doesn’t work and you automatically role on the Major anacrusis chart. As such, spellcasting is almost never attempted in these circumstances.
Minor Anacrusis Chart
Roll | Name | Effect |
1 | Awful Feeling | You glow with a sickly light that you must phys rep. You are under the effect of the Off-Putting Flaw for the next hour and must inform everyone you meet of the fact that they feel uncomfortable within arms reach of you. |
2 | Temporary Elemental Brand | You manifest markings or physical changes that are in alignment with your chosen element of magic. This takes the form in a change of eye or hair color or arcane markings. Staff may also consider additional suggestions for costuming. This lasts for the remainder of game. |
3 | Familiar | You have attracted the attention of some creature or entity. Provided you do not anger or hurt them, they do not mean you any harm. In fact, they may bring you gifts or useful information. Let staff know if this is your result. |
4 | Haunted | Pace out ten paces in either direction and mark a circle, inform all within that circle that they are overcome with the sounds of the screams of the damned and suffer the Terror effect. This effect overcomes all within that circle for at least an event and must be marked by an environment tag. |
5 | Intestinal Distress | You are suddenly overcome with nausea and feel your stomach twist painfully. You double up in pain as you start to spew from both ends, violently retching and soiling yourself with no time to care for the impropriety of it. You are rendered useless for ten minutes and you are Battered. |
6 | Crushing Guilt | You feel the weight of everything you have ever done suddenly press down around you as if it were a physical force. You are under the Weaken: Strength 2 state. |
7 | Overwhelming Rage | You suddenly are overcome with rage and anger, and begin to lash out at all those around you. If there is no one nearby you must seek out someone to start an argument, and are under the effects of the Temperamental flaw until the next sunrise. |
8 | Rusting Cold | As you shiver and shake, overcome with sudden terrible cold, any metal on your person suddenly freezes and breaks- needing to be repaired before it can be used again. |
9 | Unweaving | All natural fibers you have on your body start to unweave and break, becoming brittle and unable to support their form. Any items you have on your person made of cloth, glue, or fastened with thread (all light armor) need to be repaired before they can be used again and your clothes start to fall from your body. |
10 | Fearful Cloud | Pace out ten paces in either direction and mark a circle, inform all within that circle that they are overcome with a feeling of unease and suffer the Fear effect with you as the target lasting for at least an hour. This effect travels with you. |
11 | Flowing Blood | You suddenly begin to bleed from the eyes and ears, and must phys rep this as you suffer from the Bleed effect. You must bandage both ears and under the eyes in order to alleviate the effect. This lasts for about an hour. |
12 | Found in the Ashes | Your spent Fallacies are returned to you as if they were never lost in the first place. |
Major Anacrusis Chart
Roll | Name | Effect |
1 | Rotting Stench | The air around you suddenly grows close and a terrible smell invades your nose and the noses of those within ten paces of you. Inform everyone that the smell makes them want to retch and gag, and any items you or anyone within ten paces of you has that are ingestible (potions, food, holy water, herbs, etc.) are spoiled and any beneficial effects they might have are ruined. |
2 | Pyre | All of your clothes burst into flame, destroying any non-metal items you are wearing, and you suffer a wound every 5 breaths until you put out the fire in some manner. |
3 | Abject Confusion | You are overcome with a sense of confusion, and have great difficulty making sense of anything going on. You do not recognize anyone around you, do not remember how you got here, and have great difficulty speaking. This is exceptionally demoralizing, and you suffer from Weaken: Faith 2. The effects remain until your Faith returns to normal. |
4 | Dark Hole | You feel as if the world has torn open before you and a sentient darkness stares back at you with malicious intent. But more than that, you are convinced that it has agents here in the world that wish you harm. Gain a Severe Phobia of the last thing that caused you harm. If this roll comes up again, discuss alternate Insanities with staff. |
5 | Pests | You are suddenly doubled over in pain and feel incredibly wrong as clouds of flies pour from your lips. Inform all of those within twenty paces that they observe the torrent of bugs and that these bugs nip and bite at them as they rush from your body. All those within twenty paces lose any and all accumulated Hope. |
6 | Stolen Voice | The words are ripped from your throat as your vocal chords seize. You can no longer speak or cast magic until the next sunrise. |
7 | Surge of Power | The currents of chaos turn back upon you and you feel the threads of magic reinforcing your being. You gain +1 to the Attribute of your choice for the remainder of the event. |
8 | Linked Kin | You feel a sense of deep foreboding that passes after several moments, but know deep in your heart that something is wrong with your closest living kin. See staff to have them roll on the Major Anacrusis chart for them and inform you of what happened. |
9 | Dread Whispers | You feel as if your mind is overtaken by strange presences and voices that seek to distract and confuse you, and you continue to hear strange whispers for the remainder of the event. You may not spend Discipline for the remainder of the event. However, these voices also tell you things that may yet serve a purpose. You may ask Staff one Lore or plot-related question that may not be answered clearly. |
10 | Surrounded by Foes | You are overcome by a black rage as you realize you are surrounded by your worst enemies who are actively causing you and/or those you love tremendous harm. You attack everyone in your immediate vicinity by whatever means you have at hand, whether with weapons, magic, or something else. This lasts until you are Downed, lose consciousness, or all threats are neutralized. |
11 | Kick of the Wind | You feel a force slam into your body, knocking the wind from your lungs with great force. You suffer from Stun Body and after you have rested you are Battered. |
12 | Force of Nature | The wild winds of magic crack and rip through the area with the energy of a lightning storm. Roll on the Mild Anacrusis chart and apply that result to everyone within 10 paces of you. |
Ruinous Anacrusis Chart
Roll | Name | Effect |
1 | Amnesia | You suddenly feel your mind go blank as your memories are taken from you. You suffer from Blackout and when you awaken you have lost four of your touchstone memories. |
2 | Arcane Stigmata | Your skin bulges and splits, causing blood to pour forth from you and giving you Weaken: Strength 2, Speed 2, and Fortitude 2 conditions, and you are Downed. |
3 | Summon Malefic | Your hair stands on end as you hear the growls and inhuman howls on the winds and fill you with foreboding. Inform staff, for you are now a beacon for any Malefic creatures or monsters in the area. |
4 | Elemental Manifestation | As you cast, you feel terrible pain as your non-dominant limb suddenly becomes your arcane element before disappearing- earth crumbles, fire goes out, wind floats away, etc. You lose a limb, acquire a permanent crippling maim, and gain Bleed. |
5 | Arcane Shield | After casting, magic continues to pour from you without your control, forming an elemental barrier around you. You cannot be touched or harmed in any physical way for one hour. |
6 | Gnawing Hunger | Your stomach burns and twists, causing you immense suffering. You first suffer immense pain, and then after 25 breaths are Downed as you begin to digest yourself. You cannot be stabilized while Downed, and will die an agonizing death. |
7 | Permanent Elemental Brand |
You manifest markings or physical changes that are in alignment with your chosen element of magic. This takes the form in a change of eye or hair color or arcane markings. Staff may also consider additional suggestions for costuming. These changes are permanent.
In addition, your personality shifts slightly. For Fire, your passions rise and you gain the Outspoken Defender flaw in defense of Magic, the Guild, and Magicians. If you already have this Flaw, only violence will satisfy you. For Water, gain the Honor Code Tenet: “Never admit that I do not know best.” as you radiate an air of calm authority. For Earth: You become more direct, sometimes to the point of rude. Gain the Honor Code Tenet “Always say what I mean.” For Air, you become a little more probing of the people around you, questioning them as you become a bit more suspicious. Gain the Minor Delusion: You are being lied to. |
8 | Whispers in the Dark | A voice that is not a voice is telling you things that you do not want to hear, and do not want to know. Your eyes roll back as you feel yourself lose consciousness and an outside entity takes over your body. See staff for the mission that the creature in your body carries out. When you come back to yourself, you are left with memories and knowledge that is not your own. |
9 | Shared Burdens | As you cast the spell your arcane energies roll out of you, affecting those around you. You roll the Fate dice once to determine the number of people your anacrusis affects and then roll on the Major Anacrusis table for each of the people closest to you. If there is no one nearby, you affect the next people you encounter until you have met the requisite limit. |
10 | Magical Void | A terrifying fountain of pure arcane energy shoots out of you and into the area around you. Not only are you unable to cast any spells for the remainder of the event, but any enchantments in your line of sight fail for the event and any other casters in your line of sight can also not cast spells for the remainder of the event. |
11 | Violent Nightmares | You, and everyone within your line of sight, suddenly remembers their most vivid and painful traumatic memory. If they do not have a painful memory their mind creates one, taking a previously happy touchstone memory and turning it dark and terrible. For the rest of the event you and all those in your line of sight have terrible nightmares that interrupt their sleep and suffer from the Flashback flaw. |
12 | The Demon | A black rift opens before you. See Staff immediately. |
Fallacies
The word “Fallacies” has carried over from a time immemorial that the guilds harken back to, where there were certain ways to create spells that made them easier to cast. Now, in this time of scavenging and repurposing, it has been applied to a new use on the spells they manage to maintain — that of sacrifice.
The Fallacies of a spell, many of which are numbered in 3s, are components which assist the Magician when she casts her spell. While one can cast a spell without these exact Fallacies, it frequently works out poorly for the Magician who risks it, striking them often with Anacrusis.
Many Fallacies are morbid or creepy in nature, making it uncomfortable at times for people to deal with Magicians. Fallacies have one of 14 different traits, 12 of which are common and two of which are rare. These common traits are Stasis, Change, Decay, Purification, Destruction, Creation, Body, Spirit, Repulsion, Attraction, The Hidden, The Found. The rare traits are Void and Quintessence. Spell scrolls will call for fallacies of a certain trait, and any wyrd item with that trait can be used to fulfill that requirement. One or two wyrd items may be used for all three required traits as long as all three traits are present. Wyrd items may be physically represented by an opaque vial rather than requiring individual phys reps for all items.
The Arcane
Each Spell has a written formula that depicts in detail all relevant information in the form of an arcane array. This array and its relevant information in total is called an Arcanum (Arcana plural). In an encoded form, the Arcanum explains all of the details of the spell, from its overall power, its duration and its range, to the effect it will produce, and how to cast the spell. Any trained Magician who is handed an Arcanum should be able to understand by reading it the purpose and casting of the spell it depicts, and can do so as soon as they read it thoroughly enough to understand the information contained on the page.
The Arcanum’s intricate formulae also include what is called its Axioms, a set of complex mental ideas that are difficult or impossible to communicate to others, even though the Magician can grasp them as she reads it. The Magician’s training and overall understanding of the magical forces of her Elemental Principle allow her to apprehend the deeper tacit knowledge that the Arcanum expresses. Axiomatic information is why a very skilled Magician of an opposing Guild cannot simply cast spells of another Element, even should they have a stolen spellbook in their hands.
Example Spells
Four example spells, one from each school of magic, can be found below:
Water Spell Example:
Flow Over Stone

Fire Spell Example:
Castle of the Mind

Earth Spell Example:
Woodcall

Air Spell Example:
Wind Bolt

While the array can look complex, the Magician can see what they need easily from the scroll. Breaking down Woodcall for example, into its component parts can be described as follows:
Magician Guild:
Looking at the center of the circle, the bolded lines illustrate which school the spell belongs to. In the case of of the spell at right, it belongs to Earth. The symbols below go in the following order: Fire, Earth, Air, Water.

This can also be found by looking at the incantation on the right side of the spell thesis, as the incantation is unique for each school of magicians and the first part of it is consistent across all of their spells.

Domain:
The domain can be found at the very center of the spell, in the symbol at the very middle. These are the same symbols as the magician’s wheel above. However, it also the last word of the incantation on the right part of the spell thesis. In this case the domain is Vendicur.

Domain:
The domain can be found at the very center of the spell, in the symbol at the very middle. These are the same symbols as the magician’s wheel above. However, it also the last word of the incantation on the right part of the spell thesis. In this case the domain is Vendicur.

Complexity:
The number of the complexity can be found right below the Domain symbol. In this case, it is a complexity 4 spell.

Complexity:
The number of the complexity can be found right below the Domain symbol. In this case, it is a complexity 4 spell.

Rank:
The rank of the spell can be found on either the left and right of the array by counting how many bars have symbols in them. In the case of the spell we’re examining, there is only one bar with a symbol in it on either side of the array- so this is a Rank 1 Spell.

Rank:
The rank of the spell can be found on either the left and right of the array by counting how many bars have symbols in them. In the case of the spell we’re examining, there is only one bar with a symbol in it on either side of the array- so this is a Rank 1 Spell.

Fallacies:
The fallacies of the spell are found listed in the outer circle of the spell. In this made-up case, the spell requires Fibres, a Pig’s Tail, and Mushrooms from a Fairy Ring. Most spells will have three fallacies that are traits rather than specific items.

Fallacies:
The fallacies of the spell are found listed in the outer circle of the spell. In this made-up case, the spell requires Fibres, a Pig’s Tail, and Mushrooms from a Fairy Ring. Most spells will have three fallacies that are traits rather than specific items.

Incantation:
Found at the right of the spell thesis, this is the incantation that must be spoken to cast the spell.

Incantation:
Found at the right of the spell thesis, this is the incantation that must be spoken to cast the spell.

Mechanics:
Found at the left of the spell thesis, this is what the spell actually does and how it is performed.

Mechanics:
Found at the left of the spell thesis, this is what the spell actually does and how it is performed.

Gestures:
At the bottom of the spell thesis are the gestures that the Magician must perform while speaking the incantation of the spell. These number in four, and should be repeated for as long as it takes to perform the incantation. More complex spells have more complex gestures, however, all of the gestures are listed in the next section.

Gestures:
At the bottom of the spell thesis are the gestures that the Magician must perform while speaking the incantation of the spell. These number in four, and should be repeated for as long as it takes to perform the incantation. More complex spells have more complex gestures, however, all of the gestures are listed below.

Full List of Gestures












Acquiring New Spells
A Magician who is released from her guild’s tutelage and gifted Journeyman status starts with 3 spells at Rank 1 that their guild has chosen for them based on their selected domains. Beyond that, they are limited in gaining new spells by sending requests back to the Guild for services rendered and proving of their worth. In order to increase in rank, a Magician must spend 4 times the rank of the circle in XP and request a test from their guild- which after fulfilling they may be promoted in game by their guild and have access to spells of a higher rank. While some Magicians are gifted spells from the Ranks above their own, it is uncommon, and those are more likely found or stolen from others who weren’t paying enough attention. You cannot enter play at a level above Rank 1.
Casting a Spell and its Effect
The factors of the spell can be done in any order, or simultaneously, so long as they are performed accurately. These factors are laid out in the scroll and usually include hand gestures, incantations, and specific preparations of the fallacies. It will also include a list of the necessary fallacies. If these steps are not roleplayed accurately and correctly, the spell does not successfully cast, although the fallacies are still used up.
A spell is completed by performing the incantation and handsigns on the spell scroll. While incanting the Magician will glow the color of their Element.
Air – white
Fire – red
Earth – green
Water – blue
At successful completion the Magician may choose to either cast the spell immediately or hang it. If they are casting it immediately the Magician affects their target by whatever range is defined on the spell, and calls out the actual game effect of the spell so that other players know how to react, which will be listed on the Arcanum. If they are instead hanging it they follow the rules on hanging spells below.
Spells always include their Quality when they call a game effect that originates from magic, such as “Arcane Fear”, “Arcane Push”, etc.
In the case of any spell that involves a lasting effect on an object, also known as an Enchantment, the Magician must speak the name of the spell to the recipient in order to complete the spell. The name of the spell contains axiomatic details, and is spoken as in-character information. Also in the case of an enchantment spell anyone under the effects of an enchantment must glow in the color of the element placed upon them (such as with glowstick necklaces or LEDs), else there is no enchantment.
Magicians can end their spell at any time. They can indicate this to others by loudly calling “Terminus” or doing their final handsign in a sweeping gesture, and the cancellation will take place as long as the one under the spell is able to hear the call out of character- meaning they must be within oration range of the caster.
Hanging Spells
Hanging a spell is what a Magician does when they hold a spell they have cast and do not immediately trigger it. Any Magician may hang one spell per available arm (to a total of two). In order to represent the act of hanging a spell a magician must glow on the hand that they are hanging the spell on in the color of their element. Air – white, Fire – red, Earth – green, Water – blue as long as the spell is hung. While the spell is being hung the arm functions as if it is injured, and may not hold anything above a few pounds. You may still gesture feebly, open doors, use a fork, and other minor tasks, as well as casting another spell to be hung. If a Magician wishes to avoid glowing they may roll at a level of anacrusis one higher than they otherwise would, in order to illustrate the trauma of the maelstrom being held within one’s body. The first spell that is hung without glowing rolls at a level of anacrusis one higher than they otherwise would while the second spell hung without glowing rolls at two levels of anacrusis higher than they otherwise would. A spell may hang until it is triggered or until the Magician goes to sleep.
Upalas
Upala stones are elemental stones that can be used by (almost) anyone to activate a single spell hung by a mage upon the stone. Once activated the spell is expended but the Upala remains, and can be reused by a mage to hang another spell. They are not materials, and cannot be used in schematics.
While Upalas have extensive uses, they are also weighty with meaning and difficult to use, especially when they are carrying a spell. Individuals often report the feeling of an active Upala to be oddly distasteful and strange, and no matter who they are, only one Upala with a spell hung on it may be carried by any individual. Active Upalas can also be hotbeds of anacrusis as the world twists and changes around them, to the extent that you have three or more active in a contained space you must roll an anacrusis roll on the container every liminal space.
Mages find that carrying an Upala uses up one of their hung spell slots and that they are unable to use Upalas with spells on them that are outside of their school of magic.
Interrupted Casting
Once the Casting or Triggering has begun, it must continue until its conclusion or be lost. If the Magician flubs or falters on a piece of the invocation, she may start over the entire Incantation for that line, or start over that Sign from the beginning without ruining the spell. If she stops completely for more than a few moments, she must start the spell over again from the beginning. It is not possible to complete part of an incantation and then hold on to it to finish at the appropriate moment.
The Spellbook
Because of the difficulty and detail required to cast the spell, the Magician must have access to her Arcana in order to cast her spells. She is assumed to regularly peruse and refresh herself on the details of her Arcana periodically to maintain her familiarity with it. For this reason, Magicians must have and maintain a spellbook with every Arcanum they know and keep it precious and secure. If she loses access to her spellbook or a specific spell within, she loses the ability to cast that spell until she gets another copy of the missing Arcana.
Triggering Spells
Triggering a spell is putting a hanged spell into play. In order to do this, a Magician must complete the final hand sign on the spell scroll and announce the effect. This initiates the effect of the spell. This ability allows the Magician to prepare combat spells or shorter duration spells ahead of time and trigger them when needed.