Hello experts, my Greek Jerbiton has been exiled in a cold, wet, dark region and he is missing the vibrant food and spices he enjoyed. So, he is planning to recreate the conditions appropriate for his favorite plants and trees to grow, then possibly opening a spice trading business. The growth should be natural and sustainable. So he is going to invent what is in modern language a greenhouse.
First item to be discussed, the Orb of Greek Sunlight, an invested device that allows to replicate the appropriate sunlight conditions. To do this, I am considering using InVi30 Divine Heaven's Aspect (spell from Hermetic Astrology), with an Arcane connection from his home garden, and a CrIg (Base 5) with a linked trigger to generate the sun cycle.
- Does it seem reasonable ?
- Should I add a level of complexity on the CrIg to allow adjustement of intensity ? It does not need to perfectly replicate the local weather, just be close enough for the plants to have a good acclimation and grow naturally.
Heat will be provided by another CrIg effect, not link to the Divine Heaven since it does not provide any information related to the local weather. It will have a simple environmental trigger to be cooler at night (on/off switch), relying on the residual heat for the night.
Fortunately, water won't be an issue as it is a rather abundant resources, at most some basic ReAq with assure ample watering...
I don't know what is the level of agronomic knowledge, but I think it is fair to assume that a farmer or a learned mage can infer that under different weather and sun, plants might not grow the same way, so replicating ideal conditions will significantly increase chance of success.
Second point to discuss...
Thanks to the Orb, my mage could have his farm underground. But let's say, he wanted to have it outdoor, with large glass panels...
Keep in mind, that I need Inst. duration since I don't want the glass to turn to sand and collapse on the garden.
So I found the Invisible Glass-worker to shape glass (ReTe4), I found various spell to shape and mould iron, but none to turn sand into glass. A Muto spell would require virtus to make the change Permanent.
What can be done only through hermetic magic ? Would it be a Re Te(Ig) - mages know and see that sand is turned into glass by skilled glassworker, so it should be possible to do that through Rego magic ?
Alternatively, an Alchemical reagent should be able to make high quality glass the same way alchemical steel is made. I remember reading somewhere in this chapter, that once a formula reageant was known, a mage could easily replicate it with Craft magic, speeding up the process of manufacturing said reagent.
Lastly, the most straightforward way: create a large amount of pure glass with the appropriate CrTe 10(base 3, +1 touch, +2 for size, about 10 cubic paces of glass), and then use ReTe to shape it. It will cost a few pawns of virtus, but at the end might be the most simple way.
Thanks for your input to come.