Major Magicians
In which is listed some of the major magicians in the English tradition, and their minor works, suitable for the novice. Scraps of these works survive, and are generally known among people who study magic.
Terms:
- Vessel
- An object which receives and stores a spell. Generally speaking, must be an allied or neutral object.
- Timer
- Anything that defines a clear point in time - a candle burning down, an hourglass running out, someone crossing a threshold. It generally can't be more specific than that, i.e. when Bill crosses the threshold.
- Allied / Neutral Object
- Any object owned by or which personally knows the caster would be an allied object (e.g. the caster's shoes, the stones of the caster's house, roads the caster walks often).
- Any object that doesn't have any specific antipathy to the caster, or which isn't allied to an enemy of the caster would be a neutral object (e.g. a random stones in the forest).
- This concept can be applied to beasts and plants, as well - some spells will require an allied or neutral creature.
- Subject
- A person, other than the caster, on whom the spell works. Typically requires something which is connected to the person to function.
- Mathias Penshawe, Ab Oculis Avium (From the Eyes of Birds)
- De Manu, Locus (From the Hand, the Location)
- PL: 4
- Duration: Concentration
- Summary: Hands glow brighter near magic sources.
- The caster's hand glows in the presence of magic - glows more brightly the closer the source.
- Visionarios Piscinam (Visionary Pool)
- PL: 4
- Duration: Concentration
- Summary: Peer into a mirror or silver dish to see through any mirror the caster has seen.
- Ab Obiecto, Oculum (From the Object, an Eye)
- PL: 5
- Duration: Concentration
- Summary: Touch an allied or neutral object to place an invisible phantom eye on it. See through this eye instead of your own, but lose all other sensory input.
- Miles Tilghman, A Book to Ease Your Toil
- A Spell for Warming Tea
- PL: 4
- Duration: 1 round
- Summary: Allied/neutral object takes one round to reach 100°C (or less).
- One object friendly or neutral to the caster increases temperature. It will get to about 100°C (or less, if desired) after 6 seconds, and stay at that temperature as long as the caster concentrates.
- Won't work on items much bigger than a big teapot.
- A Spell for Watchful Nights
- PL: 4
- Duration: One Night
- Summary: Subject won't need sleep for 36 hours. Then, they enter a coma for 12 hours (no normal means will wake the subject).
- A Spell for Calling Friends
- PL: 5
- Duration: Variable Delay / Instantaneous
- Summary: Caster designates a vessel and a timer. Vessel will chime like a church bell (loud!) when the timer runs out.
- Francis Holcott, The Edge of the 7th Ring
- The Distant Finger
- PL: 4
- Duration: Concentration
- Summary: Caster can touch anything with one finger up to 30' away as if her finger was long enough to reach.
- Roll a normal to hit with a -1 penalty every yard.
- Peace for a Moment
- PL: 4 + X
- Duration: Concentration
- Summary: Prevents an ongoing enchantment of one-half X (rounded up) from affecting the caster.
- Dorothy Ackworth, Memories of the Unknown
- Impossible Reminiscence
- PL: 5 + X
- Duration: X Days
- Mechanism:
- Summary: Subject finds it impossible to recall a single fact or image: a name, a face, a location, where they left something...
- Something like an event would be too complex for this spell, as it involves multiple actions, actors, objects, etc.
- Searing Glimpse
- PL: 5
- Duration: Instantaneous/Permanent
- Summary: At any point in the future, you can recall every detail of the present instant with perfect clarity, as if you were frozen in that instant.
- Avis Cossington, 32 Roads Have Died, And I Linger Here
- The Merest Labyrinth
- PL: 6
- Duration: 20 minutes
- Summary: Makes the room inaccessible by replacing it with a labyrinth.
- Creatures already in the room may leave normally, but creatures outside
will simply find a labyrinth that leads them back to where they began. Tunneling in, etc, will only lead into the labyrinth, not the room.
- Misleading Crumbs
- PL: 6
- Duration: 20 minutes
- Summary: Misleads a creature about the direction of its goal. Does not work if the creature can currently see its goal.
- For example, a beggar is heading to the town square. Under the influence of Misleading Crumbs, the beggar would start making wrong turns until the beggar was heading in exactly the wrong direction.
- The subject would have no memory of the route they took after the effect wears off.
