I don't think so. There are examples of items, such as the map in SE which use R:Arc. Not listed as a requirement of Arc in the Ars book. What's the source for that rule?
reviewing I am mistaken- arcane connection range does not make a spell a ritual... please chalk this up to exhaustion...
T-Arcane is not Ritual material in ArM5. That was 4th edition.
@Arthur
@Peregrine_Bjornaer
Since you seem to be somewhat active now.
And everyone else who may be around, of course.
The year is 1245. Autumn is fading into winter.
The covenant is having a council meeting, adressing basic matters of governance.
After more pressing questions have been adressed.
Sodales, if I may?
I have been thinking, and I have 2 things I'd like to submit to you.
One is a gift, the other, a request for your advice.
But first, the gift.
I intend to develop a spell to keep, as much as possible, Arcane connections fresh. Sadly, nothing as durable as fixing a connection, but it should still be of considerable benefit.
The only requirement is that the connection will need to be inside a circle, which is why I intend to keep them, for example, in suitable vials.
In a gesture of good spirits towards my covenfolks, I propose, once I've invented this spell, to cast it on any recipient of your choosing, free of any charge.
The request for advice, now.
I am pondering the opportunity to create a magical item that would allow our covenant to defend against an army, be it mundane or not.
Here's the geist of it: Invent an item that cast a Ring duration spell able to lift a huge rock. Have such rocks crafted, whether magically or not, with a base wider than the submit. Put a metal circle around it, cast the spell, and we have a constant flying rock.
Now, with an arcane connection to that rock, we can use and intangible tunnel, and, through control of the item, position this rock high in the air, anywhere around the covenant. We could to this several times, as much as we need.
Note how arcane connections to the rocks can be made to last longer to the the use of the previous spell. I'm thinking about chess pieces with a hollow, round base. Anyway.
If need be, any magus could, later, use a Tunnel to just unravel the spell, dropping a huge, non-magical rock on any attacking army.
Yet, I am questioning the wisdom of it.
Not so much the getting attacked part. In my opinion, we need to be ready, and it is my job to plan for unforeseen trouble.
But anyone getting access to the board and controlling wand could, theoretically, use this against us. Truth be told, though, such a level of treachery would probably spell our doom anyway.
Another thing is that this could attract undue attention. Still, we could make the rocks invisible.
The last bit worries me a little more.
I am doing what I can to ensure that anything I do keeps being useful after my death. But should no one renew the connections, we would be left with a bunch of useless rocks, maybe invisible, just hanging around forever around the countryside.
I don't know. What do you think about it?
Note: this is surprising. She's usually way more sure about her ideas.Game Info:
Sustain the Fleeting Connection (CrVi 25)
Decrease the rate of decay of an Arcane Connection as if the connection were two steps higher on the table in ArM5, page 84. If this increases the Duration to Years or greater, the duration of
the connection continues to be measured in a period of years.
Base 10, +1 Touch, +2 Ring, +0 Circle
I intend this as (IIRC) type 2 rings, the one in which the spell affects anything inside the ring while it is inside, and cease to affect it once it leaves the ring.
Whatever floating rock (ReTe 25+)
IIRC, lift up to 100 cubic paces of stone
Base 3, +1 touch, +1 stone, +2 Ring/Circle, +2 size, any potentially remaining magnitude going into moving this faster than a crawl.
It'd maybe be better to do this as a type I circle, but this could mean having to keep a bunch of circles in the covenant, and if any is broken, drop the rock. No way, the ring stays around the rock.
"I must say that the idea of having several huge invisible rocks floating above us, which could drop at any time, would worry more than reassure me."
Marcellus shakes his head, "Would they not risk drifting due to winds? There are creatures out there which might detect them even if they are invisible. Could they not interfere with the flotation spells and thus drop them on top of us? Circle spells are fragile, after all. Even such mundane thing as rust, or a strike of ligthning, might eventually damage a ring and to break the spell."
Yes, these are the kind of things that went through my mind. No so much the risk of drift, since it is not a floating effect, but other unintended consequences. Granted, these are not very likely, but I prefer to err on the side of caution.
The alternative to that would be circles tied to the rocks that we would keep here, which, in a way, make them safer and easy to break if we want to drop a rock, but I worry about time, memories, and neglect.
Scratch that, then. Thanks for your input, sodales.
Marcellus nods, "There was the difficulty of aiming the rock, too. Leaving them on the ground sounds much safer. In fact, have you though about an effect similar to the Invisible Sling of Vilano, but sized for bigger rocks, like those of a catapult? Or a roup version to throw a hail of rocks? Either would be less complex to use -- and probably more accurate -- then invisible rocks floating high up in the sky."
In my opinion, aiming would not be such a problem of these, since these were supposed to be used against an army or big targets like siege engines, not an individual.
A sling effect is more versatile, but this runs into the problem that we don't really have a place in which to store boulders and... Crap. Unless... No. This would require Muto anyway, and I suck at Muto.
There's also the following: My initial plan required the intervention of a magus. As a feature, ensuring that it could only be implemented by someone from the Order. The more destructive the effect, the more hesitant I am to leave it to the sole control of a mundane that may be mind-controled.
So, something to create pits? This could work, but my first plan had secondary benefits, such as allowing us to create small floating towers. Which, I now realize, could be at risk. Still, I like having something that can have multiple purposes.
Sigh. This is not easy.
"Though Muto Terram is not a specialty of mine, enchanting a container to hold shrinked rocks would be relatively easy. At worst, I would need a season or three of study to improve my knowledge in that area, and would be happy to create such a device as a covenant service."
"As for requiring the intervention of a magus," offers Marcellus, "that would easily be attained by making the triggering action be something only a magus can perform -- maybe casting a simple spell. Even something that an apprentice might be able to spont might do. Although there is an attraction to having a means of defense that doesn't require a magus. In case of an attack, any magus present might already be quite busy. Maybe just a way to unlock access to the enchanted item?"
Hum... Create my own vault? Sounds like a bit much, but why not. A kind of lesser vault. With an easy enough access, but not apprentice level. I want someone who can't be suborned by lesser magics, just in case someone tries to turn this against us.
Now, thinking about shrunken rocks. What could we do with them?
Defensively, we could keep a lot on hold, to throw at any invading army, fine.
We could also plant some around the countryside, so that if an invader breaks a circle, he just release a big lump of rock over his face. Likewise, put a peeble into a crack, wait for it to reverse to its original size.
This could also maybe be used to speed up constructions, by allowing our grogs to carry huge quantities of stone.
When a time allows Vocis speaks up, "If I may; a question on your desired toward the attackers? Seems the boulder idea is certainly viable and intimidating, but will kill many. I take it that is no issue? And also that you would not wish to disable rather than strike down the attackers?"
OOC: I'm reading, and though to suggest something.
(Yes, you are quite welcome! 
)
Yes. Obviously, this is not subtle, nor very precice. I intended this as a defense against an army, or siege engines. A kind of last resort, should our Covenant be attacked. The idea was both to cripple the opposing forces, and to convince them to go elsewhere.
But I take from your question that you have something more to suggest? If so, please do. I am always interested in hearing alternative ideas.
Vocis speaks with a note of enthusiasm in his voice, "well I tend to look to my own specialisations when thinking about these problems, and I was considering development of a mass illusion to inhibit attackers. Such as an imaginary blindfold for each enemy combatant would greatly reduce their efficiency, and then perhaps a second spell to nullify or contort sound within their ranks. Would such effects be useful?"
Obviously. And I appreciate you going for a less destructive option. I don't think it is the way to go unless it leads to a more frightened opponent, but I very much respect that.
Still, I have 2 issues.
The first is targeting.
It would probably be easier to try and go for some huge effect, like flooding the zone with species, not unlike if they were encased in stone, or casting a large scale Perdo Ignem effect.
The second is that this would require either a huge effect, or several uses, both being a roughly fair trade
We'd go for something around...
She takes a wax tablet, scratches
A rough estimate puts me with a 7th magnitude effect if going with Ignem, probably 2 less if going with Imaginem (1).
Which runs into a third problem. My own deficiencies. I am yet unable to weave such an enchantment in a single season. And you are proposing 2 of them.
Unless... A key component of my initial idea was to restrict the offensive capabilities to magi, by requiring the use of an Intangible Tunnel effect, or a similar spell. This could shave 2 magnitudes out of the final design (2), making them just about doable.
Annnnd connections for a tunnel can very easily be planted beforehand, and regularly refreshed.
This actually could work and be reasonably frightening, albeit more limited in potential applications.
Is there a way to remedy this? Do you have an idea?
Or... I may be approaching this the wrong way. The good news, Master Vocis, is that you are the one I would have approached for this.
Baring a few essential magics, I am not a illusionist. Truth be told, I feel best at ease with Perdo and Rego, and it shows: I seldom think about confusion, misdirection, and, in the end, tend to result to brute force methods. Which in turn makes me predictable.
And I'm thinking I may have stumbled upon something with planting arcane connections and using Tunnels. I have my own ideas (3), but should you have any, I'd be very much interested by anything you might suggest. Even outside this field, I must say.
(1) She thinks that this'll need sight range, sun duration, and about 3 magnitudes for size, starting from either base 1 or 3. So final level around 25 or 35
(2) So, level 15 or 25
(3) spoiler in order to not influence your first ideas
Quick ideas: Obviously, it allows magi to teleport in and out, send grogs in an out, but these are high-end effects. This may, however, be combined with all sort of other effects that may have more pacifist uses. It also lets magi use some of their spells to the same effect while protected inside the covenant, including low-level illusions. So maybe, what I should create instead is a relatively high level Intangible tunnel effect. Oooor if I can, something that creates several visible tunnels so that several magi can use them at once.