Books - Illusionary Arts

A closed shimmering grimoire is on the floor.

Phasing in and out of reality, this lost grimoire sits here calmly passing the time. Odd that it should change colours and transparency. Its spine is decorated with what seems to be an rice-paper dragon and its pages are guilded in platinum specks.

The rice-paper dragon exhales octarine fumes slowly but steadily.

Table of Contents
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2 - Union of the Phoenix and Divine Dragon
3 - Calm Embrace of Illusionary Beauty
4 - Cherry Blossoms in Bloom

Crondor’s Fabulous Detection

What’s it called? Crondor’s Fabulous Detection (in short, CFD)

What does it do? This is one of the spells (in fact, the first one) that you have to use when recharging an object. Well, you don’t really *need* it for the process, but knowing if the recharge is more or less safe is something important if you don’t like blowing up into pieces. Crondor’s Fabulous Detection will tell you through a colour code if it is safe to try to recharge a magical artifact. After you’ve succesfully cast the spell on it, it will glow in a certain colour. The colours are (from safest to most dangerous recharging) purple, green, red, blue, orange, pink, yellow, cyan, indigo, vermillion.

Where is it? You have to travel almost to the back of the Unseen University Library to pull it out of the unnamed Arts & Crafts volume which, from Spellcheck Project, we are led to believe it may be called Intermediate Artifact Magic, fourth ed.

What does it require? A staff and a gold ring (see below, note 2) which aren’t consumed. Also, evidently, a magical artifact on which to test the availability of it for safe recharging.

What skills do I need? Staff, Gold, Turning

Has it worked? A correct output of the spell should read as something like this:

You prepare to cast Crondor's Fabulous Detection on the xxx (magical artifact).
You tap your staff grandly on the floor, considering the strength and solidity of an ancient oak tree.
Concentrating on the solid strength of the gold ring, you compare it with the xxx.
You probe the magical power in the xxx by turning it over and over in your hand and your mind.
The xxx glows purple / green / red / blue / orange / pink / yellow / cyan / indigo / vermillion.

Help Information:

Crondor's Fabulous Detection - Evaluate artifact strength.

Crondor's Fabulous Detection is a first order miscellaneous spell which attempts to probe the strength of an artifact to discover if it can stand up to recharging.

Notes:

In the past, the first stage of this spell employed the skill crafts.points instead of Staff, and therefore, didn't require any component. Recent changes have eliminated this skill from all the spells that used it in the past (all of them ‘Silver Star' specialities). The output line for the first stage used to be also different:

You ponder the flexibility of wood and metals and all things arcane.

It seems paradoxical, from the wording of the second stage, that a gold ring isn’t required as a component too. As long as it isn’t consumed, it wouldn’t be much of a disturbance for wizards, who tend to carry lots of gold rings anyway, and this would be more in tune with the output.

Notes (2):

When I first included this spell, some time ago, I am pretty sure it only employed one component, which was a staff. The last lines I wrote in the note seem (as of today, 24th of February 2008, when I am adding this addenda) to have become true, as now the spellcheck does mention a 'gold ring' as a necessary component...

Binding

Binding involves the attaching of a magickal effect to an object. Thys ys ufed, for inftance, yn the manufacture of magickal weapons and armour: a wyzard might bind an effect to allow better night vifion ynto a helm or a better grip for climbing ynto a pair of gloves.

Magical Items - Zodiac Charms

We still haven't had the chance to talk about the spell Thousand Dancing Celestial Fates. Suffice it for now to know that the result of this spell is a magical artifact: the Zodiac Charm.

What's its use? I remember the comic confusion and vagueness ('an object of terrible power', 'a charm of incredible power') that described the properties of the charm both in the Help File and at Spellcheck Project. Only much later, when I made myself with one, did I start to discover things about it.

The first property of the charm is its beauty. Its description points it as a rich and seducing piece of jewellery:

> look charm

This is a magical charm. An artifact of mystical property, indeed! Octiron has been transmogrified into a strange, silverish-purple coloured, opaque glass or crystalline form, and shaped into a series of octagonal plates, linked together to form a bracelet. On the main plate, two beady eyes gaze curiously back at you with a greenish glow. The charm seems to shimmer iridescently as it reflects the ambient light. It's amazing how intricate the details are on this charm. It almost brims with the flames of sentient life. Circling the plates that form the charm's latch is a fine, spidery writing, which shimmies and shivers with subtle sparks. Perhaps this strange artifact has a use, or maybe it doesn't. Who knows? Who cares? It's shiny!

Sparks of octarine fly across the surface.

It has the hazy octarine sparkle of a magical talisman.

It appears to have something written on it.

It is in excellent condition.

The charm may be worn, and is in a perpetual state of mutation, as the animal it represents is constantly changing, but always among the 12 creatures that figure out in the Auriental Horoscope: snake, rooster, dragon, ox, horse, pig, rabbit, tiger, monkey, sheep, dog and rat. At the same time, the charm is quite a spammy piece of jewellery, which gives messages from time to time. Some of the ones I've collected are:

Violet ribbons of vapour rise from the eyes of your dragon/pig charm.
Red ribbons of vapour rise from the eyes of your dog charm.
Orange ribbons of vapour rise from the eyes of your horse/sheep charm.
Yellow ribbons of vapour rise from the eyes of your rat charm.
Orange/Green wisps of smoke pour from the mouth of your rooster charm.
Blue wisps of smoke pour from the mouth of your dragon/rat charm.
Indigo wisps of smoke pour from the mouth of your tiger/snake charm.
Yellow wisps of smoke pour from the mouth of your rabbit charm.
A tiny *roar* comes from your ox/rabbit charm.
A series of sparks dance across your sheep charm.
Smoke starts pouring from the mouth of your dragon charm and the smell of molten octiron wafts through the room.
Lightning crackles across the eyes of your tiger/horse charm.
Your rat/rabbit charm inhales its surroundings.
Your dog/rat charm exhales a bit of thaumic smoke.
Your horse charm glimmers from within.
Your rooster charm growls for all it's worth.
Your horse/ox charm emits a bright flash of colour.
Your monkey charm momentarily shines in all the colours of a rainbow.
Your sheep/monkey charm looks around with curiosity.
Your tiger charm taps you on the chest and smiles at you.
A small bolt of lightning shoots from your horse charm and chars a bit of ground

But its main use (at least, its 'magickal' use, which cannot reduce itself to 'being shiny') is as a stopper of fights and combats which you don't want to continue. To do so, one must 'gaze' at or into the charm. Automatically, the gazer will be transported into a fantasy land, and all the brawls in which he was in become suspended. The effect is quite similar to the one provocked by the spell Mugwuddle's Muddling Mirage, only that it works the other way round, trapping you in the place:

>gaze into charm

This is a fabulous land. A herd of green, nubile lemurs is flopping about on a purple swamp, while an indigo rock flops nearby.
It is a very weird nibblebing's aftermoon.
There are as many obvious exits as you could wish.
You are suddenly transported to a magical land.
You gaze into the eyes of your charm and the world suddenly grows hazy and turns upside down.

After a small amount of time, you will return to the 'real' world once again. The message changes into:

With a *POP*, reality reasserts itself.
You stand up.

You have to keep in mind that you can't 'make' the charm for yourself (like Gaelen says: 'You will, of course, have to cast this on someone else since you already know how charming you are), so you need somebody else to cast Thousand Dancing Celestial Fates for you if you're interested in the artifact. Afterwards, when you read it, you will find in it the name of the caster and he/she for whom it was cast:

>You read the pig charm:
Crafted by Tiak for Winswand.

One last thing: remember the charm is a very fragile thing, and shouldn't be worn while you're fighting; otherwise, it will deteriorate and break very soon.

Books - Heavenly Arts

A closed gemmed volume is on the floor.

A small, dancing lotus moves over the face of this majestic volume while lightning crackles along the spine and edges. A masterfully crafted book, it seems to almost dare you to open it. Gems line the spine of this tome and sparkle dangerously.

The dancing lotus leaves trails of octarine sparkles across the face of this volume as it moves.

Table of Contents
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2 - Journey of the Heavenly Storm Dragon

3 - Patient Taming of the Quantum Weather Butterfly

Collatrap’s Instant Pickling Stick

What’s it called? Collatrap’s Instant Pickling Stick (in short, CIPS)

What does it do? It creates a magical pickling stick that allows you to pickle body parts, fruits or vegetables, therefore preserving them for an indefinite period of time. It is specially useful for keeping many spell components (like eyes or carrots) from rotting while they await to be used in your component pouch.
The Pickling Sticks counts, for magical artifact effects, as a ‘wand’, and is generally quite a good improver of that skill.
Amongst its kith and kin (which are the easy, early spells found in the Gym), it is the most useful spell of all. I personally tend to carry it in my head most of the time.
Incidentally, the stick can be used as a weapon (albeit I wouldn’t recommend it…).

Where is it? You will have no problems to get it, as it it part of the spells that lie in the Begynners' Magick tome, at the Gyms of all the main Wizard Guilds of the Discworld.

What does it require? Like most early and/or beginner spells, no components whatsoever.

What skills do I need? Conjuring, Evoking, Wand, Dancing

Has it worked? A correct output of the spell should read as something like this:

You prepare to cast Collatrap's Instant Pickling Stick.
You sniff the air carefully.
You think about cured skins and pickled eyeballs.
You close your eyes and think of wands.
You spin slowly to the floor.
Suddenly, a small stick appears in your hands. It pulses with energy.

Help Information:

Collatrap's Instant Pickling Stick - stop things decaying.

Collatrap's Instant Pickling Stick conjures into reality an artifact which may be used to preserve corpse parts and other tissues against decay.

Cursing

Cursing ys the method ufed to affect the beliefs and other attributes - though ufually belief ys sufficient - of someone. Thys tends to be the province of wytches, whereas wyzards prefer being more direct.