Assuming that no one owns up to having any exceptional Intellego abilities, Cygna will mention that she would like to find out what happened in Flint. [color=red]"Unfortunately, whoever razed the town left not even enough of a single body to enable me to sing Whispers Through the Black Gate"
She is of the opinion, though, that nobody would have a better answer for that than those who were there. To that end, she would like to invent, or assist in the invention of a Rego Mentem spell that summons any ghosts within range.
I'm looking at Base 15 ("Summon a ghost.") to start. R: Voice (2), D: Diameter (+1), T: Individual, which brings the spell level to 30, to summon a random ghost within voice range.
Cygna's lab total is Int 4 + Re 5 + Me 18 + MT 5 + Aura 5 = 37. Leona's lab has +3 Rego and +3 Mentem, which bumps that up to 43. By herself, without experimentation, she could do it in three seasons. She would still need an additional 17 points to pull it off in one season.
With Claudia's help (Int 4 + MT 9 = 13), she would still need to experiment, but if she were (with the lab bonus of +1 for Experimentation), she could almost certainly pull it off in one season.
Incantation of Summoning the Dead requires that you be on the spot where the person died, or that you have the corpse, and it is an Arcane Connection range spell. It doesn't make any sense to me that a version of the same spell with lower range should be more powerful-- if you can stand on the spot where they died and cast it at a lv40 spell, it makes no sense that it should be easier to cast the same spell from further away. Hermetically, you can't use magic to affect something you cannot perceive, so conjuring up a ghost requires an Arcane Connection.
Also, don't forget that summoning a ghost is always a ritual.
That said, Sophia has probably mentioned her pater was excellent with ghosts, and there's probably a lab text of Incantation of Summoning the Dead in his lab somewhere, if only she had some way to see in there she could probably find it for you.
Sinmore or Attravere may have mentioned at some point that they met a little girl who claims to be able to see ghosts...
"Reaally?" Attravere inquires, quite surprised. "How is he taking to politics?"
Attravere sighs, "That is a bit of a tale. I'm sure you're aware of the disappearance of some of Gallus Florensis' Magi in the last five years. As nearly all our current Magi are in their first decade post-gauntlet they have been seeking to set their sancta, laboratories and other affairs related to their recent return, in order to and as a result none had been able to take on an apprentice save Magus Aequi. I am certain things have changed now that we've had a chance to get situated."
Aulus shifts uncomfortably. "Truth be told, he has no aptitude for it. Even when he knows the proper way to respond to a situation, he cannot restrain himself from making smart-aleck remarks."
Aulus shrugs. "Well, if any of them come forward, I could be persuaded to relinquish my claim... but it would be a great favour, as the boy really is quite talented and would be a boon to my House. I would hope that in making such a sacrifice, you would be willing to return the favour.
"It has come to my attention that Voluntas will be making a power play at the upcoming Tribunal. I would consider it a personal favour if I could count on all the support you could muster, to aid Blackthorn. They are heavy-handed, true, but what this Tribunal needs most is stability, and that, they offer in spades. Voluntas' scheming prevented the Tribunal from meeting quorum twice consecutively, just to prove that if they don't get their way, none of us will be able to function. We can't let such dangerous megalomaniacs profit from holding hostage our way of life. Will you help us oppose their bid?"
Stupid errata I was thinking that Incantation for Summoning the Dead would be more powerful because you're trying to summon a specific ghost, while with the version I was thinking of, she would just get whoever was available regardless.
[color=red]"Would a spell like Eyes of the Cat help?"
[color=red]"Can she speak with them also, or just see them?"
[color=red]"Oh," Cygna says, a little disappointed. [color=red]"What about a spell to move all the parchment in the room out of the room?"
((I thought this would be ridiculous until I looked it up. ReAn, base 1 to "manipulate items made from animal products." R: Touch (+1), D: Concentration (+1), T: Room (+2), for a spell level of 5. Even if it had to be R: Voice, that's +2, spell level 10. Cygna would be happy to sing that for her.))
"Huh? Oh! Ann? The little girl? I don't recall her saying anything about ghosts. I only briefly met her though and Sinmore was speaking with her when I showed up..." Attravere looks to Sinmore.
((Either Sophia's mispoken, or I'm totally misinterpreting the "Room" target. Having the Target as Room allows you to target what's inside the room without having to perceive the individual items in the room, since the Room itself is the Target. That's how spells like Prying Eyes are able to see what's going on inside of a room, even through the wall.))
Note it would be possible to InAn all the parchment at Diameter, but assuming base 4 to locate an animal product, the final spell level would be 25 (R:Voice, D:Diam, T:Room), which would be a hell of a roll for a spont.
I'm confused. So, Prying Eyes only works if you're inside the room? Incantation of Putrid Wine only works on wine you can see, and not on all wine in the room (even if it's closed in a cabinet)? How does Vision of the Haunting Spirits work if you must perceive the spirits before you can make them visible (even if the spirits are hiding behind something)?
(Room of Stale Air, Gloom of Evening, Notes of a Delightful Sound, Scent of Peaceful Slumber, and Wind of Mundane Silence seem to work with either interpretation, and The Ear for Distant Voices, Summon the Distant Image have Arcane Connection which bypasses the "perceived" thingie.)
I had thought there was something in the rules that said that since you were Targeting the Group/Room, that you could affect unsensed members of the group/things in the Room since you were Targeting the Group/Room, but I'm not finding it now.
Note: I'm not saying you're "wrong," merely that I disagree with the interpretation that you must perceive everything in the Target before you target anything in the Target, and that this interpretation seems to nerf the Room Target somewhat.
Offering a sympatheric nod, "Ah. That was to be expected. I think it would take quite a formidable taskmaster to teach him to hold his tongue."
"Of course. It would be quite a sacrifice and I would be terribly remiss not to offer kindness for kindness." Attravere seems playfully affronted at the suggestion he would not repay a debt incurred. "We do what favours we can - for our friends. Those we've come to know, to trust and to like. Within my house we say that having good friends is one of the greatest boons any person can possess outside of family. As I first mentioned, I'd like to build a good relationship between our covenants. Something like this would be a great first leap toward that."
"I confess, I'd hoped to offer reciprocation by a means which played to some of my strengths. I could use many lessons in the politics of our tribunal - it has never been my forte. With your political acumen you are certainly aware that Mercere do not vote, magical or no, with very few exceptions. Things like the murder of one of our housemates being one of those rarely permitted circumstances." Attravere sighs, seeming a little crestfallen at Aulus' request. "I can speak with my covenantmates on your behalf, of course, but I can make no promises or guarantees and those are the currency of my house. Those and information."
Prying Eyes works because it's Intellego, which is explicitly excepted from the Limit of Arcane Connection. You do still have to be able to sense the room itself. I'm not familiar with Putrid Wine. You're right that Vision of the Haunting Spirits can conflict with the LoAC depending on the situation in which it's cast. If you know there's ghosts there (you can hear them, or see things they're throwing around, or feel the chill as they pass through you, etc) then the spell will affect them. If there are some being unobtrusive and not emitting any species that the caster perceives, then the spell won't work on them.
Room of Stale Air = the caster can perceive the air in the room, and the magic only directly affects the air, not the people who breathe it. You can PeAq an entire lake if you can see or touch the lake; the fact that all the fish in it are gonna die isn't affected by the LoAC because you're not using PeAn on the fish you can't see, you're only affecting the water, which you do see.
Gloom of the Evening = not sure what the question is, you're in the room (it's range Touch) so it's only light that's touching you that that gets Perdo'd.
Notes of a Delightful Sound = you're affecting the acoustic quality of the room, and you can perceive the room.
Scent of Peaceful Slumber = yes, you have to perceive all the targets.
Wind of Mundane Silence = You could make an argument for it not working on spell effects which themselves cannot be perceived, but the spell description doesn't say anything about needing to perceive it so I suppose they're assuming you can perceive the effects somehow.
I haven't seen anything like that, but if you find it please point it out.
Note that "perceive" doesn't necessarily mean "see." You can touch it, hear it, smell it, or taste it.
IMO, the target is the room. One can perceive the room insofar that they know what the border of the room is based on the structure, or do they? However, one can't see inside the room because of the darkness. One can cause any Animal item to do anything inside the room, because the target is the room and any animal items therein. Could there be unintended consequences for such a spell? Almost certainly. Quite a risky spell.
((Note that I've already said that I'll abide by your interpretation...I'm just arguing for the sake of arguing, here ))
"Intellego magic is much less tightly bound by this limit than other kinds," but close enough for most purposes.
What I was trying to say (and I might not have gotten it across very well) is that you can sense a room from outside as well. I look at a wall, and a door, and I know that there's a room there. If I'm understanding you correctly, you seem to be saying that you can only sense a room from within. I could not, for example, cast a Target: Room spell and affect anything that's against the wall next to the window, because I cannot sense specific parts of the room. To me, that's almost akin to not being able to affect blood within a body with a Corpus spell because I can't see the blood.
What if I'm not in the room? What if I'm at the window? Would I be able to Perdo the light in the Room that is the Target of the spell by touching the window that is part of the room, or would I actually have to be inside the room to have any effect?
Ditto.
So, if I know there's a man in the room with me (who happens to be quietly hiding behind the sofa and I can't see him), and there are three or four other men in the room. I can't cast Scent of Peaceful Slumber and have "everyone in the room" fall asleep? Again, that seems counter-intuitive, to me, goes a long way toward defeating the purpose for having the spell, and makes it a lot less effective than I think it should be.
I've just always understood that Target: Room targets everything in the room, and that Range: Touch in conjunction with Target: Room allowed you to affect everything in the room from inside or outside the room. For example, Prying Eyes allows you to see inside a room as long as you can touch its walls. I've always been under the impression that you could do so by touching one of the outside walls. Granted, this is an Imaginem, which raw says doesn't jibe real well with the Limit of Arcane Connection. But it seemed to me that by Targeting the Room, you were de facto targeting everything within the room, and that it was necessary for you to perceive in some way the Target of the spell (the room) without necessarily having to perceive all the individual components of the room (the stuff inside it). But if I have a Perdo Herbam spell that destroys every piece of furniture in the room, with R: Touch, D: Mom, and T: Room, it seems to me that I should be able to touch one of the walls of the room, cast the spell, and destroy every piece of furniture in the room...even the chair next to the window that I'm looking through and touching to cast the spell.
It's entirely possible that I've been wrong all these years, too, but if it were up to me I would say that T: Room affects everything in the room. But, it's not, and like I said, I can live with your interpretation.
It's also possible that we have different interpretations of what's considered part of the room. I believe that the outside walls are, regardless of the Technique.
Being able to affect things you can't perceive really does mean there is zero reason for Intellego to exist.
Want to find a needle in a haystack? Don't bother searching, just Rego Terram it out. Want to read someone's mind? Force them to tell you everything they know. Think there might be something invisible around? Just Muto it visible.
At least part of the problem is that the limit of Essential Nature made Muto pretty useless, and as a direct result Rego got heavily buffed because there was stuff magic still should have been able to do but Muto can't do it anymore, and I think the Arcane Connection limit is supposed to help keep Rego in check.
I was thinking that