Winswand's Grimoire

Billiards - Green, Purple and Violet balls

2010-07-24T09:56:00.004+02:00

I'm not sure what's the skill that actually *moves* these, as there's no tms to take into account, and the effects could be confusing. From a careful reading of them, the magic that is most likely used is animating.

1) 10-pointer: hover. "Holding Erratic Mechanic Exoth's sycamore walking stick firmly, Erratic Mechanic Exoth hits the cue ball towards the green ball. / As they hit the green ball leaps into the air and hovers, breaking many laws of physics but obeying the laws of magic, only to land in a side pocket a moment later".

2) 15-pointer: weave. "Greybeard Nimboos the Wise taps the surface of the table with his Cheese Hammer causing both the cue ball and purple ball to start moving. / They weave in and out of each other on a reckless path across the table until the cue ball finally hits the other ball and pushes it into a corner pocket".

3) 20-pointer: leap frog. "You hit the cue ball with the end of your blackened iron staff sending it towards the violet ball. /As it approaches the other ball they start a game of leap frog until the violet ball hops into the side pocket".

4) 30-pointer: spell name. "Savant Starwiz of Demons stares intently at his red staff and touches it to the cue ball. / The ball rolls slowly towards the violet ball and hits lightly. / As though shocked, the violet ball leaps into the air and spells out Starwiz before landing in a corner pocket."

Wonker's Wicked Wobble

2010-07-07T23:25:00.005+02:00

What's it called? Wonker's Wicked Wobble (in short, WWW)

What does it do? One of the best spells available out of the group that have being catered for the Silver Stars, Wonker's allows you to turn your opponent's weapons into rubber. The effect lasts for some time, and it has some interesting consequences:

1) The weapon adds a new line to its description, which goes as follows: "It seems to be fighting to maintain its rigidity, occasionally going completely limp and floppy, before regaining a more solid form. A pungent smell of burnt rubber wafts from it."

2) The victims will automatically attack the wizards that have 'rubberized' their weapons.

3) Rubber weapons became more cumbersome to employ and to cause damage. They became blunting objects unable to make the usual specials you are allowed with metal pieces with pointy bits (and thereby making many npc's very easy to kill). From this, it might be gathered that they aren't much use against blunt weapons.

From all this, we can gather that Wonker's is quite a useful spell as a fight-starter, and it can be very handy against rivals who like to launch lots of specials on you with swords or daggers. In a way, it works in a tandem with Stacklady's to form a group of defensive/offensive spells: both are offensive (although Stacklady's no longer causes auto-attack), but their trick is that they work not by doing damage, but by weakening or almost entirely elimating your opponent's possibility of harming you.

Where is it? One of the moulding and crafting spells, it lies inside the unnamed book that is known by some as Intermediate Artifact Magic, fourth ed., in the depths of the Unseen University Library.

What does it require? A rubber knife. In theory, most casts shouldn't consume then, but be ready for very frequent replacing. Miscasts, or even good casts can end up with the knives either melting away, bouncing the rubbery effect back on your own weapons and/or turning into a peppermint (at least, something nice to eat...).

What skills do I need? Gold, Binding, Rod, Enchanting

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Wonker's Wicked Wobble on the xxx (weapon in enemy).
You wobble from side to side and bring the malleability of gold to the forefront of your mind.
You draw on the floppiness of the rubber knife.
You weave a rubbery replica of the xxx from the strands of your thoughts.
You project an image of the model which floats above you.
The rubbery creation flies into the xxx's rubbery xxx, and with a 'Glup!', melds into it.

Help Information:

Very little is known about Wicked Wobble. Some sketchy notes for the spell were discovered when they found the deceased Wonker - well a rubber statue that resembled his university iconograph. Nasty things those magical backfires.

All that is known, is that the spell can be targetted on weapons (normally in the inventories of enemies) to alter their structure.

Example

cast Wonker's Wicked Wobble on hairpin in aquilo

Billiards - Aqua, Cyan and Blue balls

2010-07-01T08:40:00.004+02:00

This set is affected by the water skill. Results in each class have been confirmed, although I haven't obtained all of the possible results in any single ball (missing one of the 10-pointers and two of the 30-pointers).

1) 10-pointer: pond. "Erratic Mechanic Exoth taps his dark brown oak staff on the cue ball. / It springs into motion and hits the blue ball into the side pocket, which has taken the form of a small pond, with a splash"

2) 15-pointer: hailstone. "You hit the cue ball with the end of your blackened iron staff. / It rolls down the table and hits the aqua ball which turns into a huge hailstone and zips into the side pocket"

3) 15-pointer: jet of water. "You line up your blackened iron staff and shoot a fine jet of water at the cue ball setting it into motion. / It gently knocks the aqua ball into the side pocket"

4) 20-pointer: jet of steam. "Savant Starwiz of Demons touches the table with the end of his red staff causing the surface to bubble as though boiling. / The cue ball is suddenly propelled upwards as a jet of steam erupts from beneath it. Its trajectory changes in mid-air and it lands on the cyan ball which is pushed into the side pocket"

5) 30-pointer: wave. "You rock back and forth on your heels while cradling your blackened iron staff and staring at the table. / The surface of the table is briefly transformed into a pool of water. A huge wave rises up, causing the cue ball to crash down onto the aqua ball, sending it spinning into the corner pocket"

Pragi’s Molten Gaze

2010-06-27T10:20:00.004+02:00

What's it called? Pragi’s Molten Gaze (in brief, PMG)

What does it do? A recently introduced spell, this lesser brother of the Pragi fireballs will help you changing the colour of your eyes. The colour is determined by the current one present in the shimmering glass nugget you need for the casting (these colours can be fixed into one you like, although there's the danger of blowing up the nugget if you try with insufficient skills). A good cast will add a line of description to your appearance that goes like this: "The irises of his eyes glow with a strange emerald green light."

The cast will also make the nugget temporarily 'colourless', as a clear glass nugget. This effect doesn't last long.

Overall, a new addition to the toy spells. Not much use in it, really, but some people like to have flashing eyes, and there's no coloured lenses in the disc...

Where is it? We're in the toy-spell arena here. It can be found, therefore, in all the Gym tomes at the magical teaching institutions, inside the Begynners' Magick tome.

What does it require? A shimmering glass nugget (the expensive things you buy for casting the light moth spell), which isn't consumed in the process.

What skills do I need? Animating, Fire, Evoking, Channeling

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Pragi's Molten Gaze.
You toss a shimmering glass nugget into the air, where it hangs suspended in front of your eyes.
You fix the nugget with your gaze causing it to spin around on its axis.
It spins faster and faster, blurring as it returns to a molten form.
You probe the molten nugget, seeking out its chromatic essence.
You create a conduit between yourself and the nugget, urging it to release its colour.
The colour drains from the nugget and a flash of emerald green light shoots out from it and into your eyes.
Your eyes start to glow emerald green.
The clear glass nugget cools and solidifies as it drops back down.

Help Information:

Pragi's Molten Gaze - change the colour of your eyes.

Pragi's Molten Gaze is a miscellaneous spell that, when cast successfully, drains the colour of a shimmering glass nugget into the caster's eyes, causing them to glow. The nugget will regain its colour after a short amount of time.

Gone and back again!

2010-06-25T21:44:00.006+02:00

Well, dear lads and lasses... Examinations and studying in the Roundworld have sadly taken me away from the Disc for the last month or so... What should be my surprise when upon returning, I find myself invested by the Gods as Senior Wizard of the Ancient and Truly Original Sages of the Unbroken Circle. I vagely remember presenting myself to an election... probably abusive bouts of alcohol at the top of the Tower of Art are to blame for all this...

Anyway, thanks to all the members of our Order for the trust they've deposited in me; I'll try my best to further our interests, both group and personal. All little circlers with any difficulty may contact me and solicit help whenever they wish...

But it isn't all limited to new wardrobe and room pleasures for me... I see a posting by Kaylar that informs us of the following:

The Librarian has discovered a new spell, Pragi's Molten Gaze, hidden in a notebook found in a pocket of L-space. He has carefully coaxed it out and it has now taken up residence in the tome of "Begynners' Magick".

To make room for this newly discovered spell, Finneblaugh's Thaumic Float has been moved from the beginners' tome into "Invoakatyons in thee Mysterie of Wynd". As it is now knocking around with the big scary spells, it decided to toughen up and add an extra stage to itself.

Time to change a few things in the grimoire, then...

Billiards - Grey and Black balls

2010-05-31T13:14:00.007+02:00

This set is affected by the air skill. Results in each class have been confirmed, but as yet I haven't achieved with grey the 10 pointer and the 30 pointer effect. Full parallelism with the black ball is almost certain.

1) 10-pointer: fart. "Erratic Mechanic Exoth thinks about baked beans and points his sycamore walking stick at the cue ball. / A rude sound and a jet of air with the stink of a hundred privies comes from its end and pushes the ball towards the black ball. / The two balls collide and the black ball zooms into a corner pocket"

2) 15-pointer: jet of wind ("Greybeard Nimboos the Wise produces a jet of wind from his Cheese Hammer and points it at the cue ball. / The cue ball slams into the grey ball, knocking it into a side pocket") and wings ("As you point your blackened iron staff at the cue ball it grows two tiny wings and flies straight towards the black ball. / The balls collide and the black ball rolls into a side pocket.").

3) 20-pointer: tumbleweed. "You hit the cue ball with your blackened iron staff making it roll towards the grey ball. / As the two balls collide the grey ball turns into a tumbleweed and is blown into a corner pocket by a magical wind."

4) 30-pointer: whirlwind. "You spin your blackened iron staff round and round before briefly touching it to the cue ball. / A huge whirlwind erupts beneath it, picking it up and dropping it on the black ball before dissipating. The black ball is forced into motion and rolls into a side pocket."

Von Hasselhoff's Skin Condition

2010-04-24T09:58:00.009+02:00

What's it called? Von Hasselhoff’s Skin Condition (in short, VHSC)

What does it do? This is one of the necromancer spells. When cast on someone, it causes them a horrible skin disease that lowers their stats and gives some damage over time.
The spell doesn't cause much damage, but it can be annoying, as its effects take some time to pass. If the component (a whole human skin) didn't weigh so much, it would probably get a great deal more use than at present, when it is seldom seen except as an expedient for taskmastering some healing while on the way to other spells (like Wungles's).

Where is it? Part of the set of spells that torment the flesh and employ dead corpses as component source, it belongs to the Body Parts for the Advanced Student grimoire, at the Unseen University Library.

What does it require? A human skin, which is consumed in the process.

What skills do I need? Convoking, Healing, Charming, Binding

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Von Hasselhoff's Skin Condition on xxx (target)
You roll the skin up and tear several holes into it.
You take the rolled up skin and slowly twist it until it begins to break and bleed.
You utter random magical-sounding gibberish from deep within your throat.
You stroke the skin gently then point at xxx.
A wave of darkness washes over xxx and after it passes you see xxx’s skin seem to twist around her/his body, tearing painfully away from the flesh and fat underneath and leaving horrible wounds in its wake.

Help Information

Von Hasselhoff's Skin Condition - Give the target a horrible skin condition.

Like so many inventions, Von Hasslehoff's spell was a failed result of another experiment. Attempting to cure acne actually resulted in this horrific skin disease that is painful and debilitating to the target. Von Hasselhoff died famous among necromancers, but still pimply.

Billiards - Beige and Brown balls

2010-03-31T09:48:00.009+02:00

This set is affected by the earth skill. Until very recently, I ignored the 10-pointer message, but thanks to Exoth I have stumbled upon it at last. He also got a tm from it too, definitely confirming the suspicions.
All results have been confirmed for all levels.

1) 10-pointer: fresh earth. "Erratic Mechanic Exoth hits the cue ball with his dark brown oak staff, sending it towards the beige ball. / The two balls collide and the beige ball rolls into a corner pocket leaving behind only the smell of freshly dug earth."

2) 15-pointer: rock. "Krotos taps the cue ball with his Nonsense, sending it rolling towards the brown ball. / As the balls collide, the brown ball turns into a perfectly spherical rock and rolls into a corner pocket."

3) 20-pointer: zombie hands ("You hit the cue ball with your blackened iron staff. / Suddenly, a row of tiny, and rather zombie-like, hands rip through the surface of the table. / The cue ball is picked up and passed from hand to hand until it is dropped on the beige ball which rolls into a corner pocket.") and mountains ("You hold your blackened iron staff horizontally above the table and mutter a few words. / The surface of the table is briefly transformed into a miniature mountain range and the cue ball rolls down a mountain, hits the beige ball causing it to zoom into a corner pocket.")

4) 30-pointer: earthquake. "You hold your blackened iron staff aloft and bring it straight down, striking the floor with it dramatically. / A minor yet highly localised earthquake shakes the room, causing the table to rock and the cue ball to knock the brown ball into a side pocket

Union of the Phoenix and Divine Dragon

2010-03-28T13:45:00.005+02:00

What's it called? Union of the Phoenix and Divine Dragon (in brief, UPDD)

What does it do? This is one of the two light spells that are available for wizards. If Master Woddeley's creates a blue light that follows you around and lightens the place before it goes out, this one summons a moth with similar effects.
Both spells are very similar, the differences being quite minor. The Union is a bit more demanding in skills, gp expenditure, mindspace and components. The compensation tends to be that it is longer lasting, can be cast on someone else, and the light source is less spammy. It also has a very pretty hue, depending on the colour of the nugget when the spell is cast. As I haven't used it in a long time, I don't remember if the moth keeps changing colours, like the nuggets, but I think they do.
Overall, the spell is nice and pretty, but not much use. Woddeley's is more handy, and you can also buy a permalight to avoid day-night problems and have that extra mindspace freed.

Where is it? It counts as an agatean addition to the regular run of spells, so it lies inside the Illusionary Arts grimoire, at the Bes Pelargic Wizard's Guild.

What does it require? A glass nugget, which isn't consumed in the process.

What skills do I need? Channeling, Summoning, Charming

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Union of the Phoenix and Divine Dragon on xxx crystal nugget.
Magical, mystical forms appear in your mind.
Grasping the glowing glass nugget, you hold it above you.
You whistle into the wind a calm and peaceful tune.
A (xxx) moth flutters into the area and flits towards you.

Help Information

Union of the Phoenix and Divine Dragon - Summons a moth to light your way.

This spell will summon forth a glowing moth. It will heartily stay by your side until it's summoned elsewhere.

Billiards - Red, Orange and Yellow balls

2010-03-20T09:30:00.004+01:00

This set is affected almost surely by fire. No tms have confirmed it, but the output messages are quite clear. This is also the set that has the higher number of possible effects, as there are quite a lot of levels that have two effects per point class. This happens at 15, 20 and 30 points.
I've only achieved all possible results for the red ball. The 30-point effects for yellow and orange are based on analogy.

1) 10-pointer: few sparks. "Erratic Mechanic Exoth manages to produce a few sparks from his mahogany staff and they nudge the cue ball forward. / The cue ball hits the red ball, propelling it into the corner pocket".

2) 15-pointer: few sparks (same as 10-pointer message) and burst of sparks ("You use a burst of sparks from your blackened iron staff to propel the cue ball towards the yellow ball. / The balls hit and the yellow ball shoots forward and lands in a corner pocket")

3) 20-pointer: flame-soot ("You hit the cue ball with your blackened iron staff, sending it towards the orange ball. The two balls collide, causing the orange ball to burst into flames, leaving a trail of soot leading to the side pocket") and stream of sparks ("You hold your blackened iron staff above the cue ball and send out a huge stream of sparks from one end. / The cue ball leaps into the air and lands on top of the orange ball, causing it to bounce into a side pocket")

4) 30 pointer: volcano ("The cue ball is transformed into a tiny volcano, which rumbles and throws out sparks before sending a little river of lava down. / The lava slowly prods the red ball into a corner pocket") and pyrotechnics ("You rub your blackened iron staff vigourously and point it at the cue ball, igniting it with a white flame. / The still burning ball zips across the table at an incredible speed, hitting the red ball and causing it to rocket into a corner pocket with a small pyrotechnic display ")

Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator

2010-03-17T17:30:00.005+01:00

What's it called? Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator (in brief, TPA)

What does it do? This spell is such a staple fare for wizards it is almost needless to explain what it does. Nevertheless (just in case some newbie reader is around), TPA is your main magic protection spell, after the floating shield. The big brother (and more effective version) of Sorklin's Field of Protection, it will create a protective shield around you which will suck up hits until destroyed.
Four things of importance about it:
1) The number of hits it receives will make it change colour (giving you a clue of how much longer it is going to last). It starts with invisible, then dull red, bright red, wobbling orange anf flickering yellow. Once in the last stage it is almost broken, and some damage may pass through it even before it 'breaks'.
2) Even after it has been hit, if the damage stops, it will recover over time (say, a wobbling orange will go back to bright red, and so on). Nevetheless, a recovered shield will be weaker than before. Also, time acts against the shield: after a certain amount of it, the shield will break even without any damage.
3) The magic shield is meant to work as a 'backup' to the floating shield (EFF), allowing you offensive casts and some hits to pass the floater without disturbance. Once a floater is down, it will buy you pretty little time (depends against whom and how many you're fighting) to run away before breaking, so keep an eye on the 'breaking' message (There is a sudden white flash. Your magical shield has broken). It is a good idea to turn the line into a colour trigger, for easy glance in combat.
4) It can be cast on yourself and on others (in fact, it works great for others, dodge or parry/armour users, as they will get few hits using their defences, unlike wizards, and the few they get will be negated by TPA)

Where is it? As the idea behind it is making a shield out of almost thin air, it belongs inside the Invoakatyons in thee Mysterie of Wynd grimoire, at the Unseen University Library.

What does it require? A handful of ash and a shield, of some kind. The ash is consumed in the process. The shield has to be a 'real' one (i.e., one that you can 'hold') or the efficiency of the cast will be very low. It is good idea to get your hands on the lightest available (right now, medium leather).

What skills do I need? Evoking, Air, Chanting, Enchanting, Channeling

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator on xxx
You consider the function of a shield.
You send your thoughts probing into the air around xxx.
You recite a rumbling roll of rustling rhymes.
You lif the ash and scatter it around xxx.
You weave a magical impact shield around xxx.
With a noise that sounds like “Plink!”, everything around xxx flashes red for a moment.

Help Information:

Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator - Magical Impact Shield.

The Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator is a first order defensive spell which places a magical impact shield around the target.

Billiards - Magenta, Mauve and Pink balls

2010-03-13T12:01:00.003+01:00

We continue with our research efforts in the field of magical billiards. Although there's still many gaps to fill in, a sort of chart is already appearing from all the testing...

Balls seem to work in groups - that is to say, a certain group of balls are affected by the same skill check (or checks. I personally suspect it is always the same one, as results seem to be pretty consistent, but as there is some variation, it can't be ruled out that there's perhaps 2 or 3 possible skills tested per hit, with one skill being the more frequent, like it happens with the top hat).

The set composed by Magenta, Mauve and Pink seem to be ruled by conjuring. That seems to fit with the only tm that has been confirmed as yet, with the description of the effects and the fact that I quite consistently get the 30-pointer effect with them, having high levels in the said skill (highest of all spirituals).

The ladder of points/effects, for which I have gotten results in all the levels and for all the balls implied, would be as follows:

1) 10-pointer: Grasshoper. "Krotos sends a spark of magic from his Nonsense to the cue ball which starts moving towards the magenta ball. / As the balls touch the magenta ball is transformed into a small grasshopper which hops into a side pocket".

2) 15-pointer: There's two effects here, Rabbit and Dove. "The cue ball flies off the table, rebounds from the wall and hits the mauve ball which turns into a cute, fluffy bunny rabbit. The rabbit twitches his nose before hopping into a corner pocket". "You skillfully hit the cue ball with your blackened iron staff, sending it zooming towards the pink ball. / As the balls collide the pink ball turns into a white dove which flies around the room before diving into the side pocket".

3) 20-pointer: Demon. "Using your blackened iron staff you conjure up a small and angry demon who takes out his displeasure at being pulled from whatever he was doing by kicking the first thing he sees: the cue ball. / The ball is propelled off the table where it hits the wall and, with remarkable luck, lands on the magenta ball, setting it rolling into a side pocket. /The demon vanishes with a pop".

4) 30-pointer: Egg & Eagle. "Savant Starwiz of Demons waves his red staff over the cue ball, briefly transforming it into a large egg. / As the egg cracks, a huge eagle emerges from it and starts to fly around the room. / The eagle suddenly swoops to the table, picks up the pink ball and deposits it into a corner pocket before vanishing".

Turnwhistle's Effulgent Autiridescence

2010-03-09T16:58:00.003+01:00

What's it called? Turnwhistle's Effulgent Autiridescence (in short, TEA)

What does it do? Well, Turnwhistle's allows you to turn any item you want into the equivalent of a yellow stone ring (that is, an item that will give 'light' while worn at the cost of using some of your gps). It is a pretty straightforward thing. The 'light colour' of the transformed item will depend on what was the light the glass nugget had when the spell was cast (see below).
There isn't much use for the spell, as wizards tend to use magic for seeing in the dark (or permalights) and I doubt there's much of a demand for what amounts to customized yellow stone rings. Still, it is nice to have all sorts of spells.
The spell has an 'anti-matter' equivalent in Skeetbraskin's Fuliginous Perdition, which returns the items affected by it to their original, 'lightless' state.

Where is it? Being a part of the crafting business (in this case, light-object crafting), it belongs inside the Intermediate Artifact Magic, fourth ed. volume, at the Unseen University Library.

What does it require? the focus of an octogram, a lantern, a shimmering glass nugget and an item of clothing, armour or jewellery upon which to cast the spell. In the past, the nugget was consumed in the process, but I believe the one that dissapears now is the lantern...

What skills do I need? Divining, Convoking, Evoking, Binding

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Turnwhistle's Effulgent Autiridescence on the xxx.
You light the lantern and turn the xxx meditatively in your fingers, noting how it reflects the light.
You turn the lantern carefully and place it into the heart of your shimmering glass nugget.
You reach into the heart of your shimmering glass nugget and draw out the essence of lantern light, letting it play around your fingers.
You wrap the xxx carefully in the essence of lantern light, braiding the colourful strands in a complex weave.
The xxx flashes through all of the rainbow's colours before settling into an aqua/vermilion/jade green glow, which sinks into its surface without a trace.

Notes:

When you wear the item, you get the following lines (change colour to appropiate one):

A jade green glow spreads out from your middle to envelop you.

He is surrounded by a jade green glow.

Help Information:

Turnwhistle's Effulgent Autiridescence - instil an item of clothing, armour, or jewellery with the essence of daylight.

Turnwhistle's Effulgent Autiridescence allows the skilled Wizard to imbue a garment or accoutrement with the priceless gift of light in dark places. Said garment or accoutrement will maintain its light by leeching the wearer's concentration a little from time to time.

Billiarding!

2010-02-25T13:19:00.007+01:00

I was pretty sure I had spoken some time before about Wizard's Billiards, but after a cursory glance at the older entries, it doesn't seem to be the case. Let us therefore proceed our exploration of this issue...

Wizard's Billiards are a game you can play in the Bes Pelargic Wizard's Guild. From the central tree, go to the room to the north and you'll be in a lounge with a billiard table, among other amenities. Upwards there is another easily to use room. East and west of the upper room there's two more exclusive lounges (The Exclusive Lounge of Reckless Encouragement and The Exclusive Lounge of the Venerable Ancestors ) that provide good alcohols beside the tables...

As for these, they look as follows:

This is an elegantly crafted billiards table in a majestic Agatean theme. The wood which is used seems to be a type of rowan and the top is covered in a well-kept, royal blue velvet. The legs are made to resemble those of dragons, complete with claws. The scrollwork on the outside of the table is fit for the Emperor himself.
It occasionally pulses with octarine light.
On the billiards table are a beige billiard ball, a grey billiard ball, a black billiard ball, a mauve billiard ball, a pink billiard ball, a magenta billiard ball, a violet billiard ball, a purple billiard ball, a cyan billiard ball, an aqua billiard ball, a brown billiard ball, a blue billiard ball, a green billiard ball, a yellow billiard ball, an orange billiard ball, a red billiard ball and a white cue ball.

To start playing, you first need to be get hold of a staff. Then, you need someone against whom to play. You the proceed to invite, or be invited, by you rival with the line: "play wizards billiards with xxx".

Now, the game starts! If you look at the table, you'll see the balls that are still available. To hit one, the line is: "hit cue ball at xxx (the colour) ball on table with staff"

Depending on skills, different hits will have different effects (with a sum of 10, 15, 20 or 30 points). You can check how things are going by 'looking' the board.

Those are the basics. In following entries I'll speak about what my research and suspicions are about the skillchecks involved in the balls (or sets of balls) and the messages you get for each kind of hit.

Torqvald's Many Colours

2010-02-23T11:26:00.003+01:00

What's it called? Torqvald's Many Colours (in brief, TMC)

What does it do? This Torqvald's is a very easy and simple to learn toy spell. After casting it, you will 'feel colourful', and change colours from time to time. The effect adds a line to your description (He is a lovely shade of translucent green) , and you get notice of the changes from time to time (You feel red-ish), until its effects wear off (You feel suddenly colourless.).

As you can gather, it isn't a very useful kind of magic, but the rainbow look is nice. You can get the same effect by twisting certain magical clockwork bands, though (they act as an auto-cast of the spell).

Where is it? Like all toy spells, it rightly lies in the Begynners' Magick tome, at the Gyms of all magic-teaching institutions.

What does it require? Nothing at all

What skills do I need? Air, Channeling, Charming

Has it worked? A correct output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Torqvald's Many Colours.
You ponder shifting light and swirling colours.
You channel magic into your skin.
You use the magic to convince observers of colour where there is none.
You fell colour flow in your veins.
You feel colourful.

Help Information:

Torqvald's Many Colours - Create the illusion of changing colours.

Torqvald's Many Colours is a miscellaneous spell that causes the caster's skin to appear to change colours randomly.

Torqvald's Illusion Generatrix

2010-02-13T15:40:00.002+01:00

What's it called? Torqvald's Illusion Generatrix (in brief, TIG)

What does it do? This is the top-notch Hoodwincker spell. After a successful cast, it will create a new spell (it has a weird name, the first part of it being your own name. One of mine's, for example, was Winswand's Zethir Huphiv), that needs to be designed and written by yourself after the cast. You are first informed of how many characters you can use (this depends on skills and background magic). Then you start text-editing. You can add colours and similar items. One you're done and saved, the spell appears in your head. Its size will very depending on number of characters (the more, the bigger), and it will use a combination of components that varies for each spell, but tends to incluse a pinch of ash and a bronze ring (not consumed).
The new spell is an 'illusion'. That means that when you cast it, the lines of text that you've written for it will appear to other people in the room as if they where 'natural' happenings. That makes it nice and fun for playing little pranks, like death messages, hp damage and fake stealing messages.
So, what's its use? Really, none at all. It's just a toy spell, played for fun (arguably, *the* best toy spell, as it allows you to create your own personal illusion spells). I can hardly think ways to make it useful, but there may be some in pkdom, as it is fast to cast (deceive pursuers about damage or place you've run to?).

Where is it? Even though it isn't that easy to cast (not hellishly difficult either, that's true...), it lies inside the Cunjuryng for Begynners volume, at the Unseen University Library.

What does it require? a small bucket, a silver ring, a book end and a quill. Except for the bucket, all the components are consumed in the casting.

What skills do I need? Air, Binding, Conjuring, Charming, Channeling, Conjuring (2), Charming (2)

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Torqvald's Illusion Generatrix.
You examine the quill.
You hold the bucket tightly.
You ceremonially place the quill in the bucket. / You drop the quill into the bucket.
You summon the powers of the mind's eye.
You neatly toss the ring into the bucket. / You flip the ring into the air and catch it in the bucket.
You hold the end raised in one fist.
You make three passes with the end over the bucket and drop it in; the contents of the bucket vanish! / You wave the end over the bucket and drop it in; the contents of the bucket vanish!
Please enter the text of the illusion which you wish your new spell to create. For this illusion, you may use up to xxx characters. Leave a totally blank line where you want a carriage return in the text of your illusion.
Enter your text. Use ** on a line by itself to exit.

Help Information:

Torqvald's Illusion Generatrix - creates an illusion.

Torqvald's Illusion Generatrix is a miscellaneous type spell that is popular amongst high level wizards with an artistic streak. It allows you to envisage an area illusion, creating a completely new and hitherto unknown spell in your mind that will activate the illusion when cast.

Thousand Dancing Celestial Fates

2009-12-20T11:12:00.006+01:00

What's it called? Thousand Dancing Celestial Fates (in brief, TDCF)

What does it do? I've already had occasion in the past to speak about this spell, or at list, of its results, so I will be quite brief. The spell allows you to create for someone else (not for you) a Zodiac Charm, which is a nice piece of very spammy jewellery. For information about how does it look, how does it change and the messages it produces, take a look here.
As to its uses, it allows you to suffer the same effects as a failure in the casting of Mugwuddle's: that is, to be trapped for a time in a hallucinatory world. What that would be good for, aside from the fun, is arguable.
The charm counts as 'armour' so be careful not to wear it while fighting, or it will break rather soon, and then you'll need to find a caster with the spell and components (quite expensive ones, too).

Where is it? We're in the crafts domain here, and this is the only spell at the moment found in the agatean volume called Advanced Arts and Sciences of the Cunning Artificer, at the Bes Pelargic Wizard's Guild.

What does it require? A sliver of octiron, a staff and the focus of an octogram. The sliver is 'consumed' in the process.

What skills do I need? Crafts Points, Turning, Whittling, Enchanting, Binding

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Thousand Dancing Celestial Fates on xxx (someone else).
You step into the middle of the octogram and clench the octiron sliver in your firm, magical grasp.
Opening your hand, you stare at the sliver in your palm and force it to rise and ask it to spin.
As the sliver spins, you start whittling away at it with your mind.
The sliver starts to take form.
Noting the new form of the sliver, you concentrate on it fully and begin filling it with the taumic energies encircling you.
The spinning mass begins to slow down.
You catch it in midair and grip it firmly, binding the enchantment completely within the object.
A xxx charm wiggles in your hand!

Help Information:

Thousand Dancing Celestial Fates - Summons an object of terrible power.

Thousand Dancing Celestial Fates will call into existence a charm of incredible power.
You will, of course, have to cast this on someone else since you already know how charming you are.

Stacklady's Morphic Resonator

2009-12-09T22:55:00.003+01:00

What's it called? Stacklady's Morphic Resonator (in brief, SMR)

What does it do? This one's easy: it turns the victim into a frog. Or rather, it mutates them into a frog "that looks an awful lot like the victim".
Aside from the fun, what are the effects and advantages of turning someone into a member of the amphibian population? Well, while the spell lasts, some stats are lowered, and the frogs cannot speak, only croak, meaning that frogged wizards, witches and priests won't be able to cast spells or rituals. Also, you cannot hold weapons with webby hands, leaving the slimy adversaries with no other offensive options than unarmed melee.
Being turned into a frog does paradoxically have small advantages. The swimming and dodging bonuses of the victims increase greatly under it (although in some cases, the persons have higher dodge bonuses in their normal state).
Overall, this is an incredibly useful spell, which works more by 'disarming' your oponents and their attacks for a time, rather than dealing raw damage. It comes very handy for specific opponents, and doesn't start a fight, despite being classed as 'offensive'. Its only major handicap is that it takes a long time to cast, and (less, but important too) the components used.

Where is it? Being a spell dedicated to changes of shape and form, it belongs inside the Ye Booke of Polymorphe grimoire, at the Institute of Illusionary Learning, in Djelibeybi.

What does it require? A pinch of powdered frog and another one of purple powder. Both are consumed in the process.

What skills do I need? Channeling, Evoking, Enchanting

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Stacklady's Morphic Resonator on xxx (target).
You slowly close your eyes, envisioning the shape of a frog.
You try to draw out the characteristics of a frog from the powder.
Narrowing your eyes, you cast the enchantment forward.
The frog that looks an awful lot like a xxx's throat suddenly swells out in front, and he looks alarmed. He opens his mouth and screams:
The frog that looks an awful lot like a xxx croaks (ribbit).

Help Information:

Stacklady's Morphic Resonator - change a target into a frog.

Stacklady's Morphic Resonator is a first-order offensive spell that causes the target to temporarily change into a frog.

Sorsalsean's Seismic Eruption

2009-12-03T10:10:00.006+01:00

What's it called? Sorsalsean's Seismic Eruption (in short, SSE)

What does it do? This is the famous 'earthquake' spell. After casting, it will make the floor rumble in the room where you're in, and some consequences will be falling on the floor and (others aside from the caster), beign violenty thrown out of the room.
As to its uses, they are quite limited, but real, and similar to other recourses (cfs. priestly rituals) which make people get out of a place you don't want them in. Otherwise, it is just a funny spell which is quite easy to cast as a Circle...
In the past, it was said that the 'falls' could imply some reasonable or even heavy damage. This isn't so anymore.

Where is it? The earth-rumbler is one of the earth-and-rock related spells that lies inside Thee Dyscyplyne of thee Stoane grimoire, at the Unseen University Library.

What does it require? A pebble, which is consumed in the process

What skills do I need? Earth, Evoking, Chanting, Channeling, Dancing

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Sorsalsean’s Seismic Eruption.
You stare vaguely at the ground.
You begin to gather geothaumic energy into yourself.
You shout loudly, hoping to transfer the remaining energy into the ground.
With a flick of a finger, you transfer the remaining energy into the ground.
You drop a pebble, and tap your foot impatiently.
An earthquake rips through the room!

Notes:

While it is working, people will be tripping and leaving the room, and you'll get the following output messages from time to time:

(The ground starts to shake violently.)
(The earth roars with ferocious intent.)
A brief sudder indicates that the earthquke is not quite over yet.
An aftershock rips through the ground, shaking the room from side to side.
The earth quivers slightly and then everything is calm again
The earth rumbles in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Help Information:

Sorsalsean's Seismic Eruption - Shake everyone around a bit

Soralsean's Seismic Eruption is a first order offensive spell that involves inserting magic fields beneath the surface of the Disc to disrupt a small area's geothaumic balance. The resulting effect is an earthquake.

Sorklin's Field of Protection

2009-11-26T10:45:00.004+01:00

What's it called? Sorklin's Field of Protection (in brief, SFP)

What does it do? This spell is the poor man's Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator. It creates a magical protective shield around the caster (or the person on whom it is cast) which will soak up a number of hits before breaking. The stages of shield resistance are shown by the colour it adopts, ranging from invisible (top protection) to flickering yellow (about to break). For more information on the colours, check the future entry on TPA.
The spell is only of marginal use for very young wizards, as it doesn't spend a component and has quite low requirements. Nevertheless, you should be working to switch to its upgraped version as soon as possible.

Where is it? As it protects in a very small degree and doesn't consume components, it belongs to the class of Begynners' Magick spells found at the gyms of most magic-teaching facilities.

What does it require? A shield, that is used for focus and isn't consumed in the process.

What skills do I need? Evoking, Air, Channeling

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Sorklin's Field of Protection on xxx.
You consider the function of a shield.
You send your thoughts probing into the air around yourself.
You weave a magical impact shield around yourself.
With a noise that sounds like “Plink!”, everything around you flashes red for a moment.

Help Information:

Sorklin's Field of Protection - float a small shield around.

Sorklin's Field of Protection is a zeroth order defensive spell which places a magical impact shield around the target.

Skeetbraskin's Fuliginous Perdition

2009-11-24T10:34:00.003+01:00

What's it called? Skeetbraskin's Fuliginous Perdition (in brief, SFP2)

What does it do? One of the (relatively) new daemonologist spells, Skeetbraskin's works as a counter-spell to Turnwhistle's Effulgent Autiridescence. The latter turns any item into a light source similar to yellow stone rings. The former cancels that effect and makes the item normal and 'light-free' again.
Overall, the spell is quite useless, unless you are a very regular caster of TEA. Still, I wouldn't complain about the addition of any new spell, whatever it may be...

Where is it? As it brings forth evil slime for its light-extinguishing purposes, it follows it should lie inside the My Firste Demon-Summoning Booke! By Beatrix Faust grimoire, at the Unseen University library.

What does it require? Nothing. An item that has previously had TEA cast over it.

What skills do I need? Summoning, Abjuring, Conjuring, Banishing

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Skeetbraskin's Fuliginous Perdition on xxx.
Whispering the secret names of darkness and pain, you dip your left hand into the shadows beyond the edge of the Disc and withdraw a handful of oozing, writhing, squamous slime.
You snarl a Word of Compulsion at the demonic slime coating your hand, abjuring it from devouring your fingers.
You raise your hand dramatically, lofting a writhing blob of cold, corrupt darkness at xxx.
You shake the remainder of the demonic slime from your hand, sending it spattering across the lower dimensions whence it came.
The demonic slime lands on xxx with a loud GLUP, sinking into the surface and leaving behind a faint lightless black patina. The world seems a little darker now.

Help Information:

Skeetbraskin's Fuliginous Perdition - summon demonic slime from the darkness beyond the edge of the Disc to remove inherent light from an object.

Skeetbraskin's Fuliginous Perdition is a zeroth order offensive spell which will turn an item enchanted with Turnwhistle's Effulgent Autiridescence into an ordinary non-glowing item.

Scolorid's Scintillating Scribbling

2009-11-15T18:53:00.003+01:00

What's it called? Scolorid's Scintillating Scribbling (in brief, SSS)

What does it do? It allows you to employ some magic and your finger for writing messages on things. The said lines will be invisible to all except for those of the magic persuasion (wizards and witches).
The characters admit the use of colour, and when you look at an item affected by the spell, you will see the scripture 'Written in softly glowing letters'.
Overall, it is a toy spell that can come quite useful for easy recognition of blorpled ring locations, being cheaper than engraving...

Where is it? We're talking about one of the first spells every wizard is able to cast, so it aptly resides inside the Begynners' Magick grimoires that are to be found at most magical facilities in the Disc.

What does it require? A finger (choice of 1 in ten!), which isn't consumed in the process. Maybe unsharpened... Okay, no component at all.

What skills do I need? Evoking, Binding, Convoking, Enchanting

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Scolorid's Scintillating Scribbling on xxx.
You hold your hand as if you had a pen on it.
You slowly straighten your hand so the finger is pointing at xxx.
The end of your finger starts to glow slightly.
Enter the words you wish to write on xxx. You may use up to 88 characters.

Help Information:

Scolorid's Scintillating Scribbling - write cute things.

Scolorid's Scintillating Scribbling is a miscellaneous type spell that allows you to write messages of power and splendour on an object.

Sageroff's Sentry Summoning

2009-09-25T19:40:00.003+02:00

What's it called? Sageroff's Sentry Summoning (in brief, SSS2; the first SSS is the much more used Scolorid's)

What does it do? Well, this spell summons a little deamon that will sit on your shoulder and chat a bit. Its main apparent function would be to defend your equipment, but as the help file states, it just 'watches over' it, meaning it will inform you when you're stolen, but it won't do anything to help you stop or prevent the stealing.
Being as it is, it comes as the most useless spell in existence. Being just warned can be done easily, and with retentive effect, by just bothering to spend a bit more in adventuring.perception. The idea behind the spell is probably of a funny, non agressive wizard equivalent of priestly wards. It needs great reworking to even come into player use and minds, though...

Where is it? Being a Shadow's business thing (imp invoking from Hell and those sort of things), it lies inside the My Firste Demon-Summoning Booke! By Beatrix Faust grimoire, at the Unseen University Library.

What does it require? a candle, a mirror, a knife and an apple. Only the fruit is consumed in the process.

What skills do I need? Fire, Charming, Summoning, Abjuring, Banishing

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Sageroff's Sentry Summoning on xxx (target of protection).
You light the candle.
You let the candle smoke play over the mirror, calling for any imps that might be listening.
You slice the apple into chunks, and attempt to entice friendly imps with the apple.
You command the imp to stand watch.
You banish the dark creatures that have followed the imp.
With a popping sound, a small imp appears over your left shoulder.

Notes:

The summoned imp is quite a spammy chatterer, and has a bunch of funny phrases. I've noted down the following: “The imp whispers: You should brush your teeth more often. Phew!”/ “The imp whispers: Hey, I think there's already a fiery pit of torment waiting for you back home” / “The imp whispers: When the demon lords sweep forth and conquer the Disc, all this will be mine” / “The imp whispers: I wish I were a real demon. I wouldn’t be stuck watching some loser’s stuff then, let me tell you” / “The imp whispers: Man, you’re boring. This is the exiting life of adventure, eh? I’d rather be a chiropracter” / “The imp whispers: Do you have any idea how boring it is to sit and watch someone’s stuff?” / “The imp whispers: Hey, can you see anywhere for the king of hearts?” / “The imp whispers: Hey, let’s play a game! Repeat after me: Hpathags Scoruvnum Calistat, Nevex K’z’k fthaugn! That will summon elder demon Lords of Darkness to steal your soul” / “The imp whispers: I think I lost count of your items... one or two don’t matter, do they?” / “The imp whispers: I’m going to nap for a bit. I’m sure nothing will go missing, right?” / At the end, “The imp waves and departs for its own dimensions”.

Help Information:

Sageroff's Sentry Summoning - Summon an imp to guard your inventory.

Sageroff's Sentry Summoning is a defensive spell that summons an imp from the Pit (well, a pit, anyway) to watch over your equipment. It will warn of theft, but do nothing to prevent it.

Rugged Victor's Rodentia Vivisection

2009-09-23T15:41:00.007+02:00

What's it called? Rugged Victor's Rodentia Vivisection (in brief, RVRV)

What does it do? Here's a magic pesticide. This spell allows you, upon casting, to automatically kill a rat with a rather gruesome death. It generally includes burstings and similar side effects.
The spell belongs to the toy-group, although it is handy at low levels for rat-killing, and it always looks great. I'd say it is my favourite useless spell, and I carry it from time to time because of the treats it gives me (see notes).

Where is it? As it isn't the most useful xp granting piece of sorcery you can find, it belongs inside the Begynners' Magick grimoire present in the different gyms of wizardly institutions.

What does it require? A rat tail, which isn't consumed. It is a good idea to pickle it, or it will rot.

What skills do I need? Charming, Dancing

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Rugged Victor's Rodentia Vivisection on the rat.
You flash the rat your best smile.
You turn your foot to the left and shake the rat’s tail in the air ominously.
The rat dies.
A rat... (see notes)
The corpse of a rat quivers, and oozes into nothingness.

Notes:

After making the rat explode, many things can happen. Some of them are as follows: organ dispersion (“A rat tooth bursts out of the corpse of a rat; A rat right rear paw burst out of the corpse of a rat; A rat spleen bursts out of the corpse of a rat...”), tadpoles (“The corpse of a rat starts to twitch violently. A small tadpole suddenly bursts forth from the corpse of a rat!...”), baby rats, or even sweets (“A caramel loveball bursts out of the corpse of a rat”).
For those of the freakish persuasion, the loveball tastes great and looks like this:

This small piece of sultry caramel seems to tantalise and befuddle the senses, as if saying "come on, eat me, you know you want to..." Coquettish swirls and cheeky rivulets run all through the voluptuous caramel, as though it longs to be caressed by your long red tongue and mashed by your strong, virile teeth...

Help Information:

Rugged Victor's Rodentia Vivisection - make your furry friends explode with happiness.

Rugged Victor's Rodentia Vivisection is a first order offensive spell that instantly destroys a given rodent. Rodents may or may not reveal a hidden bounty when destroyed.

No actual rats were harmed during the coding of the spell.

Rubayak's Power Storage

2009-09-20T12:50:00.003+02:00

What's it called? Rubayak's Power Storage (in brief, RPS)

What does it do? This spell is about recharging. As you probably know, there's different ways of getting an item recharged. The main one uses some pinches of purple mineral powder. Some mention a certain weak dust that can be harvested by sweeping Sandelphon's altar. The third is Rubayak's Power Storage. When you cast the spell, you 'store' all your guild points inside a shell. After many casts, the shell can be used as recharging fuel. Once used, the shell is spent.
The spell isn't of much use, as the difference between purple powder and itself is abysmal: you need to spend tons of gps into the shells to be able to recharge something bigger than a pickling stick. Overall, a good concept that is marred by balancing equations.

Where is it? You can find it inside the Introeductyon too thee Strukture of thee Multyverss grimoire, at the Unseen University Library.

What does it require? A black shell, in which to store the power. The shell isn't consumed in the casting, but much later, when you use it along with the 'recharge' command.

What skills do I need? Binding, Channeling, Enchanting, Enchanting (2)

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Rubayak's Power Storage on the black shell.
You carefully inspect the black shell.
You collect power suitable for artifacts from within yourself.
You lift the black shell to eye level in front of you.
You funnel your power into the black shell.
The interior of the black shell glows a very faint pink for a moment.

Help Information:

Rubayak's Power Storage - store power

Rubayak's Power Storage allows you to store power in a spiral of containment for later use. It will drain all of your guild points and how well the power is stored will depend on your skills.

See also
recharge

Reckless Encouragement of Arcane Peacock

2009-09-18T18:57:00.003+02:00

What's it called? Reckless Encouragement of Arcane Peacock (in short, REAP)

What does it do? If the victim is a wizard, a witch or a priest (that is, someone that has rituals or spells), a good cast of this spell creates a 'craving' in them for the casting of a certain spell/ritual. If the crave isn't satisfied, it brings about many bad things (maluses, or total apathy in being subjected to attacks in the case of npc's).
The spell is great fun, an can be moderately useful when cast on the said persons, as they will be totally defenceless. The problem is that even in these cases, more than half of the times it doesn't come into effect, and you get no information of failure, so they can defend themselves. Besides, the same effect is catered more effectively by Stacklady's. Nevertheless, it is something good to have.

Where is it? It might come as a surprise that it belongs to the Divinational Arts grimoire, at the Bes Pelargic Wizard's Guild. On second thoughts, the spell *does* require divining the craves of the casted, or some ability to inspire them...

What does it require? A tigerwood staff, which isn't consumed (even in miscasts).

What skills do I need? Air, Channeling, Divining, Binding, Enchanting

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Reckless Encouragement of Arcane Peacock on the xxx.
You swing the tigerwood staff around your head focusing on the subtle roar emanating from it.
Concentrating on the sound, you channel the dull droning of past lectures, spell trainings, and rituals you've attended in the past. Ew.
You swing the tigerwood staff so fast a rip in time starts to form! You start mapping a way for the excitement you once felt for the arcane to come forth, into you!
As the map becomes more clear, you rip the route away and fling the energies like a mental whip, cracking the xxx in the forehead!
You focus on this mental connection and enchant it with all the excitement of your youth pumping it into the xxx's mind.

Notes:

As was previously stated, you don't get a message that tells you if the spell has succeeded, appart from the 'proper' line of casting messages, which may mean the victim if unaffected. To be sure, you'll have to wait and see the npc cast a spell or a ritual.
Otherwise, you do get two failure messages. In case the victim doesn't belong to the three categories stated above, they will 'seem to shrug off your assault'. If it's tougher and resists the attack, the craving goes back and affects you, with the following messages appearing: You can't seem to force the feeling into the xxx. It seems it will have to stay in yourself... / A weird feeling washes over you. / You feel an overwhelming urge to cast xxx

Help Information:

Reckless Encouragement of Arcane Peacock - Causes a dangerous craving.

As reckless as this spell sounds, it does in fact cause an uncontrollable craving within your target. Should this craving not be satisfied, your target will slowly start losing the ability to maintain concentration on his or her skills, thus making them weaker.

Professor Flambardie's Grim Amulet

2009-09-11T15:13:00.005+02:00

What's it called? Professor Flambardie's Grim Amulet (in brief, PFGA)

What does it do? After a good cast, this spell creates a 'twisted black amulet', which besides being a nice-looking piece of jewellery for daemonologists, is a requisite component for (and grants some protection from) the two main daemonic spells: Kelleflump's Irritating Demon and Doctor Kelleflump's Deadly Demon. In both cases, the amulet (which has already been described here) lasts a certain number of uses (probably skill-dependant, and usually not more than 12 or so casts even with good bonuses) before melting away.
The spell is a must if you intend to go around throwing evil imps at people. Because of its huge size and gp expenditure, along with relatively scarce components, the best way is to have a scroll of it and gathered components in a vault, and from time to time, re-stock your collection.

Where is it? As with all the hellish-dealing spells, it lurks inside the My Firste Demon-Summoning Booke! By Beatrix Faust grimoire, at the Unseen University Library.

What does it require? Lots of things: the focus of an octogram, a wand (not consumed), a small green crystal and a silver medallion (the last two consumed in the process).

What skills do I need? Amulet, Water, Wand, Summoning, Binding

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Professor Flambardie's Grim Amulet.
You weigh the silver medallion in your hand, taking the measure of its form and material, and polish the surface clean and bright with a thought.
You take the Rhokshial's crystal firmly between thumb and forefinger, anointing the tip of your wand with the pure elemental essence of vitriol.
You sketch a series of eldritch runes onto the silver in dark, smoking lines of vitriol. As you draw, the runes writhe and twist, forming disturbing messages of madness and woe.
You whisper the three hidden names of the darkness, and the seven dread titles of the Lords who lurk in the rugose night beyond the edges of the world we know. One word more forces itself from your throat, the harsh-edged consonants scraping painfully across your palate, and echoes against unseen walls.
There is a sudden gust of chill, dank wind, carrying the moist unpleasant odour of old dead peat bogs and rotting garlic. You gather it firmly in your hands and twine it around the amulet, which twists and writhes, thrusting out spikes and hooks to catch and hold the demon-haunted air fast.
Your newly formed twisted black amulet glows with sullen power.

Help Information:

Professor Flambardie's Grim Amulet - Creates a protective amulet

Professor Flambardie wrote this spell to make sure that wizards would no longer be summoning demons without adequate equipment. Do be careful.

Should I go to the retro?

2009-09-09T11:25:00.008+02:00

A long, long time ago, I made my first visit to the retrophrenologist. In that occasion, I decided I could do with a bit more strength at the cost of some dexterity. Now I am wondering if I should sacrifice that gained strenght and send it towards wisdom...

As it stands, my current rearrange is as follows:

Constitution 11 Dexterity 12 Intelligence 18 Strength 14 Wisdom 10

More wisdom would imply the following advantages: a highter ma.sp.sp bonus (and therefore, a bit more of the always needed midspace for spells) and higher bonuses in the spiritual skills (something that would make my quest for the Deadly Deamon easier to attain. To get 330 bonuses in banishing, abjuring and summoning, I need now about 352 levels in each. With the new rearrange, it would be enough with 336 levels). It would also slightly improve my dodge.

The setbacks (at least in the skills I use regularly) would be in adventuring.health (ouch! a very basty one! I'd need to climb 65 levels more -up to 400- just to recover the bonus I have now), magic.spells.offensive (here I'd need 23 levels more to catch up), fighting.melee.sword (10 levels here) and fighting.points (29, but then I'm at a quite modest 201 levels, so it wouldn't be much of an effort). And, of course, a roughly 10 per cent increase in burden.

All in all, I feel like I'm not going to make changes, as the lowering of health would be really annoying (I need all the health I can get for the remote future when I start daemon and dragon-casting), and the difference between 333 and 352 levels is a bugger, but doable in 3 skills (on a rough guess, 5-6 millions xp each?). The extra mindspace I think will have to wait for some future and expensive expenditure. Nevertheless, I am open to comments and suggestions from you, anonymous readers, on the topic...

Pragi's Lost Gaze

2009-09-07T11:40:00.003+02:00

What's it called? Pragi's Lost Gaze (in brief, PLG)

What does it do? The spell is a slightly modified version of Pragi's Fiery Gaze. It also creates a ball of fire room spell that consumes your adversaries, but the difference is that with this version, you can cast from 'outside' the targeted room. This has the very obvious advantage that the fire victims won't be able to retaliate and hit you back.
The concept is quite good, but in practice, it doesn't work very well, as the damage it does is considerably lower than its brother-spell and (what is much more important), the components are a bugger, and extremely heavy (I can hardly carry them around with more than normal strength). Overall, a nice concept, but an impractical result because of balancing needs.

Where is it? It's one of those exotic spells that abide within the sticky pages of the Spelles of thee Oryent grimoire at the Djelian Institute of Illusionary Learning.

What does it require? An eye, a hand, a left leg and a right leg. All the body parts are consumed in the process.

What skills do I need? Evoking, Evoking (2), Enchanting, Animating, Animating (2), Fire

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Pragi’s Lost Gaze.
You get the two legs and prop them up beside each other.
You shove the hand on top of the legs. The whole structure looks a little shaky.
You walk slowly around the strange looking pile muttering ‘bingo’ under your breath.
The legs jerk a bit and the whole structure seems to hold together more strongly.
You carefully place the eye in the cupped hand.
You wave your hand around above the pile leaving a strangle purplish glow in the air.
The pile stands at attention and looks at you eagerly. Be quick now, the fuse is not very long.
Use the ‘direct’ command to direct the shuffer elsewhere.
The shuffler shuffles out (n,e,s,w…).

Help Information:

Pragi's Lost Gaze - a lost Pragi's looking for a place to explode.

This spell creates a wandering bunch of explodable eyes that will wander off into another room under your direction. After a time it will explode and shower everyone in a surprised wreath of flames. Pragi is said to have thought this spell was a little ungainly in construction, not enough body parts.

Notes:

Take care of the 'direct' command and type quite quickly after the cast, or the fireball will explode in your face, with all attendant rigour.

Staves again...

2009-09-02T11:48:00.004+02:00

So... after the infamous roll-back, I was left without a custom staff. Not that I make much use of them, as I hardly employ the polearm branch for fighting, and the current Sto Lat staves have no magic virtues attached to them. As for exhibition, I almost prefer the blackened iron staff, which also has the sufficient strength for some petty uses I can think of, and which looks quite gorgeous.

Nevertheless, I have contacted Funderburk again, and presently enjoy a new staff, that looks like this:

You get a butterscotch yellow oak staff from the clean nest.

look staff

Slender and wieldy, this staff is six feet of oak shaped and balanced to be almost perfect for spellcasting or banishing demons the violent way. It has been smoothly stained butterscotch yellow. It has been polished to a gleaming sheen with beeswax which breathes the scent of smoke and brimstone into the air around it.

Pragi's Fiery Gaze

2009-08-28T18:30:00.005+02:00

What's it called? Pragi's Fiery Gaze (in brief, PFG)

What does it do? It creates from an eye a ball of fire that roars and burns everyone in a room. That's it. It sounds straight-away and simple, but don't let that fool you: this is the best and most important spell in the Disc for any wizard.
So, why is it so valuable? Well, the amount of damage it does, with decent skills, is quite good (see notes). Its component is near-inexhaustible, meaning you'll be able to cast the spell continuously as long as you have a knife and fresh kills; its gp expenditure (40) is quite reasonable; and it seems to tm incredibly well (although this might be a result of it being the most frequently cast spell there is).
Setbacks? It doesn't have many. Probably the worst is that it does very little or no damage to 'rocky' and similar life forms. Some would complain that, being a room spell, it hits *everything* in a room, including things that casually wonder in. This makes it unconfortable in some places.
All in all, my favourite spell and one you are probably employing as much as I am...

Where is it? Well, as its mechanism is turning a ripped eyeball into a fireball, it fittingly belongs to the Ae Thouesand and Onne Thyngs ae Boye cann Do with Corpse Partes grimoire, at the Unseen University Library.

What does it require? An eye.

What skills do I need? Evoking, Channeling, Enchanting, Animating, Fire

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Pragi's Fiery Gaze.
You lazily close your hand around the eye.
You poke your tongue out at the world.
You struggle to hold your hand closed as red sparks shoot out from between your fingers.
You let go of the eye. It hovers above your hand.
The eye ignites and a small ball of fire forms above your hand.
You move your hand and the ball of fire zooms out into the inmediate vicinity and sweeps over everything.
The fire xxx (see notes).
The fire dies away.

Help Information:

Pragi's Fiery Gaze - Great balls of fire.

Pragi's Fiery Gaze is a first order offensive spell that forms a ball of fire from an eye, washing the fire around the area to burn things.

Notes:

Like the other so-called Pragi clones, the damage that you have done to your oponents with this spell can be determined from the outputs you get while casting about how badly your rivals have been 'burned'. We have the following possibilities of percentage damage (in relation to victim's top hps):

The fire singes the xxx (0-15%)
The fire burns the xxx (15-35%)
The fire crisps the xxx (35-55%)
The fire melts the xxx (55-75%)
The fire incinerates the xxx (75-90%)
The fire vaporises the xxx (90+%)

Polliwiggle's Puissancy Probe

2009-08-18T14:53:00.003+02:00

What's it called? Polliwiggle's Puissancy Probe (in short, PPP)

What does it do? Well, not much, really. It has the most chances of wining the 'most useless toy spell' competition... What the spell does is measure the magic 'puissancy' (that is, power) of anyone you cast it on. I imagine it is a general equivalent to the 'consider' command, but as relates to wizardly skill prowess.
I've personally got the following results on casting: ‘amazingly puissant’, ‘fairly puissant’, ‘moderately puissant’ and ‘not at all puissant’

Where is it? It could be anywhere, really, but as you could say it is a spell for those of an inquisitive nature, it sleeps inside the Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Everything grimoire, at the Unseen University Library.

What does it require? Nothing. Someone on which to cast it.

What skills do I need? Divining, Divining (2)

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Polliwiggle's Puissancy Probe on xxx.
You stare hard at xxx, watching the flows of magic around him.
You turn your head and watch xxx from the corner of your eye.
From the flows of magic, you guess that xxx is ... (see above).

Help Information:

Pollywiggle's Puissancy Probe - Judge a target's magical proficiency.

Pollywiggle's Puissancy Probe is a 0-th order miscellaneous spell that allows the caster to judge the strength of the target in magic (roughly).

Patient Taming of the Quantum Weather Butterfly

2009-08-16T17:29:00.003+02:00

What's it called? Patient Taming of the Quantum Weather Butterfly (in short, PTQWB)

What does it do? Well, it invokes some of the power of the Quantum Weather Butterfly, meaning that you can change for a time the temperature in the room you're in, making it hot or cold. The spell takes a bit and its results are quite showy (while working, a fantastic magical lotus is added to the room description). As for its uses, it is mainly a decent-level toy spell, although it can come handy when you're in very hot or cold (deadly) places, and give you taskmasters in the elementals branch if you aren't a Circle wizard.

Where is it? Well, this is one of those agatean pretty and weird spells added some time ago, so it lurks under the cover of the Heavenly Arts volume at the Bes Pelargic Wizard's Guild.

What does it require? No components, but the focus of an octogram.

What skills do I need? Water, Earth, Air, Fire, Binding

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Patient Taming of the Quantum Weather Butterfly.
You close your eyes as you stand at the edge of the octogram, and allow your fluid thoughts to spread out in tranquility, your mind a peaceful leaf on the calm seas.
Focusing on the earth at the very centre of the octogram, you force it to rise into an arcane, eight-sided dais.
You consider the weather in all its grandness, and send your thoughts into the high winds, divining the mysteries of warmer/cooler weather.
Searching back into the recesses of your mind, you push through to a point in time and space where the weather was warmer. With these thoughts in mind, you send them before you, creating great warmth. / Searching back into the recesses of your mind, you push through to a point in time and space where the weather was cooler, and send thoughts of high heat there, displacing the coolness and bringing it closer to you.
Your concentration at a maximum, you start to form these thoughts into a single, solid lotus of fire/ice, which hovers before you in the centre of the octogram.
You summon a fantastic lotus upon an earthen dais within the centre of the octogram. It spins slowly.

Help Information:

Patient Taming of the Quantum Weather Butterfly - Summons the powers of the Quantum Weather Butterfly.

Though the Quantum Weather Butterfly is constantly busy, this spell allows you to summon just enough of its energy to change the weather in the room you're in.

Notes:

Like the Spear, this spell can only be cast outdoors.
You have to cast this spell either with warmth or with coldness. In both cases, the lotus appears, but with slightly different descriptions:

This is a lotus of intense fire. It sparks on the dais as it spins slowly.

This is a lotus of magically frozen, thaumic ice. Crackling noises can be heard from it as it spins above the earthen dais.

Objandeller's Thaumic Funnel

2009-08-04T19:35:00.002+02:00

What's it called? Objandeller's Thaumic Funnel (in short, OTF)

What does it do? Objandeller's is one of those helpful adjucts and low-level spell required for anyone who wants to do some enchanting. Basically, it creates a thaumic funnel, which is a component required in both of the enchanting spells we have around (Brother Happalon's and Master Glimmer's) to channel the magic into the items that are to be enchanted.
Overall, a very easy spell, and handy to keep in mind while enchanting (as funnels tend to dissapear or twist into something else quite easily during the process).

Where is it? It is a modest piece of the conjuring family, so it abides inside the Cunjuryng for Begynners grimoire at the Unseen University Library.

What does it require? nothing at all

What skills do I need? Water, Channeling, Dancing, Binding

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Objandeller's Thaumic Funnel.
You scratch an ear thoughtfully, and think carefully about water.
You consider the pouring and piping of fluids.
You spin, tracing a finger through the air, getting lower and bringing your finger in towards you.
You slowly release your breath and concentrate.
There is a sucking noise, as of a drain unclogging, and a small, blue funnel falls into you hands.

Help Information:

Objandeller's Thaumic Funnel - Creates a thaumic funnel.

Objandeller's Thaumic Funnel is a miscellaneous type spell that creates a thaumic funnel, which is used for channeling thaumic flows. This is particularly useful when enchanting items.

See Also
Brother Happalon's Elementary Enchanting

Old Bellicus' Brazen Knuckles

2009-07-29T12:19:00.003+02:00

What's it called? Old Bellicus' Brazen Knuckles (in brief, OBBK)

What does it do? The spell actually turns your knuckles into brass, which means that your pulls and punches will greatly increase the damage they give. Essentially, then, it acts as a boost for unarmed combat, which a priori could be a sound election for a wizard (lower burden, more hits and, with this spell, a bit more damage).
The problems with the spell are quite a few, though, making it effectively useless. Its effects are extremely short lasting (with well over guildmax and requirements, the Knuckles don't last even for a minute. A duration similar to other spells -cfs. Stacklady's- would be necessary just to make it worthwhile), and there's the danger of very easily killing yourself with it, if you re-cast the spell again while still under the effects of the first cast: your whole body will turn to brass and stop breathing.
Overall, then, not a bad concept, but it needs some tweaking and improving.

Where is it? As it touches on transmutations into minerals and metals, it fits beside the other spells of Thee Dyscyplyne of thee Stoane grimoire, at the Unseen University Library.

What does it require? A brass ring, which is consumed in the process.

What skills do I need? Evoking, Binding, Earth, Fire, Binding (2)

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Old Bellicus' Brazen Knuckles.
You inspect your hands.
You touch each knuckle to your lips.
You place a brass ring on one finger and remember the solidity of the earth beneath you.
You mutter to your knuckles and the ring that they might like to become better acquainted.
You do something cunning to the molecular structure of the ring.
The ring softens and flows, the metal sinking into your knuckles.
Your knuckles become brassy, and seem to hum very faintly.

Help Information:

Old Bellicus' Brazen Knuckles - Harden your hands.

Old Bellicus' Brazen Knuckles is a first order offensive spell which transmutes the knuckles of your hands into brass for a while

Twin Tweaks

2009-07-29T12:06:00.004+02:00

As the Disc is unaccesible at the moment (let's pray it isn't another rollback!), I have the time to comment of two little tweaks made on spells (an information I'll also add to the corresponding spell descriptions), and make a new entry on a whole new one...

As to the tweaks, Mallaggar has informed me that Heezlewurst's Elemental Buffer lasts quite a long time now, and when it runs out, it shows a distinctive message, it being thus:

There is the sound of a cymbal being struck very lightly and a faint whiff of lemons.

The other change has affected Ellamandyr's Hyaline Amulet. The created amulet will last for exactly 1 (discworld) year, before melting away and leaving the following message:

Your delicate hyaline amulet softly and silently melts away with the turn of the year, leaving only a lingering touch like a snowflake.

Narquin’s Mist of Doom

2009-07-19T16:43:00.004+02:00

What's it called? Narquin’s Mist of Doom (in short, NMD)

What does it do? It causes your opponents and yourself a bit of damage. Generally, more to them than to you. The mechanism is as follows: first one cuts oneself, and from the blood invokes a poisonous mist. Then, the said mist is sent towards your adversaries.
As to the uses of the spell, I tended to find it reasonably handy at low levels. A newbie wizard that wants to get beyond the Occular Lance but is still unable to Pragi can make a certain use of this spell and the fire-bunnies. The main handicap, aside from the relatively low damage, is the auto-damage made in casting, which can stop the spell. This can generally be avoided with some more robustness (i.e. other.health).
The mist also affects trolls efectively, so if you have the will and the mindspace, it might come handy as a troll-finisher, if you don't have or don't want to spend torches and candles...

Where is it? We're talking about some interesting and amusing nigromancy here, so the spell lies inside the Body Parts for the Advanced Student grimoire, at the Unseen University Library.

What does it require? A knife. And having blood in your veins (some hps are spent). If you are under the protection of a troll skin, it might be necessary to use the jagged sparky knife, but it isn't recommended (some say the uses of the knife weaken the trollskin).

What skills do I need? Summoning, Healing, Abjuring, Animating

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Narquin’s Mist of Doom on xxx.
You beckon to the spirits of blood.
You cut your arm and let your blood spill out and pool at your feet.
You call to the bood to rise forth and bond with air.
You send forth the mists to consume xxx.
The black mist washes over xxx causing his skin to crackle and burn as if it were splashed with acid.

Help Information:

Narquin's Mist of Doom - Damage yourself and your opponent.

Narquin's Mist of Doom is a first-order spell that uses the caster's blood to cause DOOM to a target.

Rollback Raiding!

2009-07-16T11:31:00.003+02:00

As you probably well know, some kind of accident in the space-time continuum has produced a roll-back a few days ago which automatically deleted 10 days out of existence in the recent past. As a result of this most unfortunate incident I've lost the custom staff I had ordered, a good bunch of experience spent in dancing lessons of the magical persuasion, and a few hard-won taskmasters (in binding, offensive, channeling and cursing). Still, it could have been worse, I gather...

So, there remains nothing else to do but sulk a bit and work on recovering the losses, hoping the black holes of chronotopoi don't get a custom of assaulting us and disarming our hard-won abilities...

Narquin’s Hand of Acquisition

2009-07-04T16:00:00.008+02:00

What's it called? Narquin’s Hand of Acquisition (in short, NHA)

What does it do? Well, this spell (one of a kind with the Dismal Digit of Doom) will allow you to reanimate a dead body's hand, so that it can do the easy task of fetchting items for you that might be lying in the next-door rooms. That sums it up, really.
As to its use, it might come handy (*snarf, snarf*) for retrieving Endorfin shields or choice weapons without having to re-enter the combat arena, but otherwise, I consider it a toy spell in the main, and don't employ it much.

Where is it? You're talking about dead bits and pieces here, so the spell aptly lies inside the Ae Thouesand and Onne Thyngs ae Boye cann Do with Corpse Partes grimoire, at the Unseen University Library.

What does it require? What do you think? A dead whale? A cup of sherry? No, of course not. A hand. From a dead body. And it is obviously consumed in the process.

What skills do I need? Convoking, Healing, Animating

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You project your thoughts into your hand and think ethereal.
You use magical energy to repair the tendons and other necessary portions of the hand.
You hold out your hand and hold the corpse’s hand in it.
The hand levitates out of your hand and looks curiously at you

Help Information:

Narquin's Hand of Acquisition - erect a limp wrist.

This spell lets you animate the hand of a dead person and force it to nick stuff from nearby rooms.

Notes:

Once you've done a succesful cast, you will also get the following 'directing' message:

Use ‘grab’ to grab things. You command the hand typing "grab *item* from *direction*"

A Wizard's staff has a knob (or will have) at the end...

2009-07-01T21:19:00.004+02:00

My Roundworld persona has been a bit busy during the last 2 months, but I will try to make a return to Disc and blog to continue the spell-listing and other miscellany affairs and informations...

The Sto Lat Artificer Guild isn't just a place with new spells in it. It hides secret wizard cafeterias, powerful and magical plumbing devices, sparkly items to be fetched from the gardens and some ateliers in which a sorceror of the crafty persuasion can make all kinds of custom staves and jewellery galore. There's as yet an unaccesible room which might (so I hope so) in some remote future allow for the carving of magical knobs at the end for wizzie polearms...

For the moment, the top-notch looking staves are a cute rarity, which thanks to a wizardly alt of Master Funderburk's I am able to enjoy now, and have indeed bonded to a star sapphire ring. My personal mystic mauve oak staff (yet to be deluded to some fancy name) looks something like this:

Slender and wieldy, this staff is six feet of oak shaped and balanced to be almost perfect for spellcasting or banishing demons the violent way. It has been smoothly stained mystic mauve.
It has been polished to a lustrous sheen with beeswax which breathes the scent of smoke and brimstone into the air around it.
Sparks of octarine light run across its surface.
It emits a slight octarine glow.
It is in excellent condition.

Nargl’frob’s Empyrean Spear

2009-06-03T22:17:00.002+02:00

What's it called? Nargl’frob’s Empyrean Spear (in short, NES).

What does it do? Well, what can one say about NES? This is the famous lightning spell. It will invoke a ray of pure plasma from out of the sky with which to burn one of your oponents to ashes. That's basically it.

It tends to be quite a popular spell, as the amount of damage it does (quite variable nevertheless; see notes) is quite high, and it affects trolls. The handicaps, though, are quite a few: big gp expenditure, can only be cast outdoors, the component it employs is quite heavy and hard to carry massively, it is slow in the casting and (if you aren't careful to stop holding pointy weapons), it can do you horrible backfires, and even kill you.
Overall, I'd say this spell is a must for any wizard (more so if you're of the Circle persuasion), but I tend not to use it much myself, mainly because I don't have enough torches on me, or because I'm indoors. Being an individual ofensive spell makes it specially useful for the kind of tough, solitary buggers one finds on top of Djelibeybi walls, and such...

Where is it? Well, being about modifying the climate a bit to come to your help, it only befits it to be at the Weather Magick grimoire, at the Unseen University Library.

What does it require? A torch, which is consumed in the process.

What skills do I need? Water, Air, Fire, Earth, Evoking

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Nargl'frob's Empyrean Spear on xxx.
You think of a dark damp cave.
You dream of bats.
You hurl the torch straight up into the air.
You wiggle your toes to get a good ground.
You loudly exclaim: Let there be light!
A bolt of lighting arrives from above, washes through your body and leaps off towards xxx.
The bolt *** (see notes).

Help Information:

Nargl'frob's Empyrean Spear - Zap something with lightning.

Nargl'frob's Empyrean Spear is a first order offensive spell that involves poly-elemental (weather) magic to summon and direct a bolt of lightning at your target.

Notes:

The spell produces a variable amount of damage that can be guessed at depending on the last line after casting and hitting the victims. The chart is as follows (thanks for it, Sekiri!):

The bolt misses more or less (0-37 hps)
The bolt causes their hair to stand on end (37-225 hps)
The bolt sizzles around them (225-600 hps)
The target is surrounded in hazy blue light and you smell burning flesh (600-900 hps)
Blue light streams from every pore on their body (900-1275 hps)
The bolt smashes into them. Greasy smoke curls away from their feet (1275-1650 hps)
The bolt burns a hole straight through them. You can see right through (1650+ hps)

(New) HEB

2009-05-26T11:04:00.005+02:00

As has been said, Heezlewurst's Elemental Buffer has experienced a few changes lately to make it a bit more useful. The main this has been its reduction from mind size 60 to mind size 30. The gps it spends have also lowered (at least for only one crystal) to under 150, but it has been implied that using more crystals 'scales drastically'.

As to the output, it has varied very slightly. The spell stages are the same as they used to be:

You prepare to cast Heezlewurst's Elemental Buffer on a small yellow crystal.
You examine a small yellow crystal.
You sense the magical field of the octogram.
You observe the symmetries of a small yellow crystal and the octogram.
You hold a small yellow crystal tightly in a fist.
You drop a small yellow crystal into the centre of the octogram.
A small yellow crystal and the octogram seem to twist and merge into a hazy yellow stream of light, which rises and surrounds you.

During the duration of the spell, a new line is added to reflect your magic protection: You are protected by an elemental shield against damage xxx (yellow is gas, blue is cold; presumably, green is still acid, red fire attacks, and all fours 'plasma', which might come handy for Spears or Dragons, perhaps.

The duration and the amount of protection/damage soaked have also increased (in the second case, maybe even doubled), which might make it a big piece more useful, at least for PK wizard fights...

Spell tweaks

2009-05-20T13:33:00.006+02:00

sc
So... since the appearance of developer blogs, we have been kept informed of some tweaks and small changes to spells. The ones that most affect us are Touchstone's work, and they will be mentioned here, alonside with the correspondent changes made on the entry of the affected spell.

So, let's see what we read in the Blogs:

Yet More Fixes To Spells

Crystal balls will now be blocked by Kipperwald's Perlustration Prevention, in the same way Floron's Fabulous Mirror is.
Scolorid's Scintillating Scribbling no longer counts colour codes towards its 88 characters.
Skeleton warriors will now accept & equip weapons and armour their owner gives them, and should also follow through divine hand now.
Turnwhistle's Effulgent Autiridescence will now consume the lantern rather than the shimmering glass nugget. I've also added an extra stage, using convoking.
Kelleflump's Irritating Demon will now show the hp monitor every time it does damage to you on a backfire, or to a PK target.

Giving Old Buffers A New Lease Of Life

It's been brought to my attention that Heezlewurst's Elemental Buffer has been both underused and underuseful for a while now.
Accordingly, I've halved the spell size, slightly more than halved the gp cost (because it scales drastically with more crystals), and increased the floor on the amount of damage it will protect against.
Go wild.

Some More Changes To Spells

Myrandil's Vicious Seizure: Previously, we got the same failure message ("An inebriated barge sailor tries to leave, but is held in place by the hands.") when they didn't have enough gp as when they failed the skillcheck. I've silenced that, so combat in fields of undead hands should be less spammy now.
Small blue lights and glowing moths will now actually stop fighting you when you get the message "You get fed up with seeing the small blue light dodge aside, so you stop fighting it." They should now be less lethal.
It should now be less possible to knock floating shields and utensils out of orbit with very weak attacks. Their vulnerability to stronger attacks remains unchanged, but note that there's still a random factor involved.
Stacklady's Morphic Resonator will no longer make you attack the newly emfroggened target. They may still decide to attack you.
Master Glimer's Amazing Glowing Thing can no longer be cast on items you're wearing. Or on the funnel you're using to cast it with.
Have fun!
Touchstone

Spell Changes

Some changes to spells:
There was a bug whereby spells wouldn't use up their reagents if you were wearing them, but would still work. Now they'll neither use them up nor work (it will give the same failure message as it does when you use something you're keeping).
Doctor Kelleflump's Deadly Demon no longer requires you to be evil to cast it. The same spell sometimes backfires even when you succeed; your demonological amulet will now protect you from that, if worn.
Narquin's Mist of Doom can now be cast using any sharp/piercing knife, on the basis that even if it doesn't have a long enough edge to make slashing attacks you can still slice open a cooperative target.
Wungle's Great Sucking can no longer be cast on targets who do not have a heart.
The fireflies summoned by Hag's Blessing are now slightly less lethal when attacked accidentally.
In other news, Master Brimstone (in the Sto Lat Academy of Artificers) has been persuaded to relax his restrictions on how quickly you can use his recharging alcove again. Gaelen can be extremely persuasive.
Have fun!
- Touchstone

It only remains to make the corresponding changes as affects size, components, etc...

Myrandil's Vicious Seizure

2009-04-25T10:57:00.005+02:00

What's it called? Myrandil's Vicious Seizure (in short, MVS)

What does it do? Well, it is a very 'handy' (haw, haw) spell. Myrandil's will make a bunch of dead hands sprout from the earth, in a variable number (probably dependant on skills). The said zombie hands will grab the ankles of all the people in the room (two hands per person), and stop them from walking out of your hits and spells. Or at least, try to; the retaining capability is a skillcheck of your magic.offensive bonus (in the past, the abjuring bonus) against the retained person's dodge. Anyway, it will spend some gps of theirs in the attempts to break free (whether they are succesful or not).

Overall, it looks like quite a useful spell (especially in PKdom, or against npcs that run away from magic, like those in Bes Pelargic), but the quite elevated amount of gps that each casting requires, and the relative ease to break free from the grip (even at over 300 bonuses some of the noblemen leave the room in which I've trapped them) make it only a toy spell for me.

Where is it? Being one of the top notch necromantic spells, it is to be found inside the Body Parts for the Advanced Student grimoire at the Unseen University Library.

What does it require? A hand, which is consumed in the process.

What skills do I need? Summoning, Abjuring, Healing, Animating

Has it worked? The proper output should read something like this:

You prepare to cast Myrandil's Vicious Seizure.
You summon the spirits of the dead from below.
You gesture grandly at the earth and command forth dead hands to grab your enemies.(You command dead hands to grab your enemies.)
You send energy through the muscles and nerves of the hand and the fingers move in grasping motions.
You send forth energy to animate the dead!
You feel the ground underneath begin to boil...
Suddenly, xxx rotting, clutching hands burst from the ground.
Two hands grab xxx's and a xxx's ankles!

Help Information:

Myrandil's Vicious Seizure - Seize your enemies.

Myrandil's Vicious Seizure is a first-order offensive spell that summons the hands of the dead to hold your enemies.

Crondor's Marvellous Sequestration

2009-04-09T14:46:00.004+02:00

What's it called? Crondor's Marvellous Sequestration (in short, CMS2).

What does it do? This spell will allow you to store a staff in a parallel set of non-euclidian dimensions, while still being easily retrievable from there through the mediation of a star sapphire ring, created by the same spell.
As may be evident, it proves quite useful, specially for those of us who don't employ staves as a weapon but need to go back to them from time to time for some spell castings and octogravings. Being as they usually are quite heavy stuff, it is very convenient to have them hidden nearby without burdening you and always accesible.
As to setbacks of the spell, the main one would be that you have to cast it yourself and it only works on the staff it was cast on. The ring skill requirements (over 280 bonuses) are quite demanding too, and the guild points spent per cast (350), staggering.

Where is it? It is one of the new (in fact, the last recorded here) Sto Lat artificer spells, and lies inside the fabled Thee Secrets of Artifyce and Crafte grimoire.

What does it require? The focus of an octogram and a staff (on which you cast the spell). Then, a sapphire ring (blue crystal rings count too, but check before that it has run out of charges) and a handful of purple powder, both of which are consumed in the process (if succesful, the ring will be 'transformed' into a star sapphire one).

What skills do I need? Staff, Ring, Convoking, Enchanting, Binding

Has it worked? A succesful output reads something like this:

You prepare to cast Crondor's Marvellous Sequestration on the xxx (staff).
You gesture with the staff, tracing out the flaws in the world around you where a little pressure might let something slip through to another plane.
You wrap your mind around the sapphire ring, reshaping it into an idealised form and tracing strange fantastical constellations of stars on its surface.
You bring the staff and the ring together, letting the band slip down the shaft and wrap snugly around it.
You sprinkle the purple mineral powder over your staff and sublimate it with a flicker of magic, spinning it out into octarine threads.
You wrap the threads of enchantment around the staff and ring, binding them indissolubly to one another.
The ring, transmuted into a gleaming star sapphire set in an engraved silver band, slides easily off the staff.

Help Information:

Crondor's Marvellous Sequestration - Places a wizard's staff between here and there.

Crondor's Marvellous Sequestration is a zeroth order miscellaneous spell which turns a sapphire ring into a mystical star sapphire with an arcane connection to the caster's staff, allowing him to slip it into a pocket of some other reality for awhile and retrieve it later.

Be aware that there are some hazards associated with this spell.

Notes:

After a positive cast, a new magic item is created: a star sapphire ring. It looks like this:

This immense faceted sapphire sits clasped firmly in the setting of a broad silver band. A star formed from silver light seems to hover just beneath the surface of the gemstone, shifting this way and that as it tilts, and the band has been engraved with constellations of thickly clustered stars.
The star sapphire is empty, ready for a staff to be stored there. / Within the star sapphire, you can see a xxx (staff), ready to be retrieved.
It has the hazy octarine sparkle of a magical talisman.
It is in excellent condition.

Once made, you can 'store' your staff inside it, or 'retrieve' it after you've sent it there. Both actions are skill-checked, and aside from failures, you can even end up with the staff coming out and hitting you. The normal failure/success messages are:

>store staff between here and there (you have to be holding it):

You prod vaguely at the air with the xxx (staff), but don't manage to shift it out of this plane. / You lift your xxx (staff) and twist it slightly to align it with the currents of elsewhere. You twist an arcane thread around it, attaching the other end to your star sapphire ring as its anchor to this plane, and release it to drift between here and there.

>retrieve staff from elsewhere:

You tug on the arcane thread attached to your staff, but it refuses to return to this world. / A xxx (staff) hurtles towards you from a great distance, tumbling end over end. You try to catch it, but you mistime your grab and it smacks you across the head. / A xxx (staff) sails through a hole in the fabric of space and time and lands neatly in your inventory.