Beatrix replies, [color=blue]"Unfortunately, with Günther's size, I will need a differently shaped sanctum than any of these. I can provide the vis for your spell, and I can cast a 4th-magnitude Wizard's Communion for my own and to assist with the others. We can discuss the details of the building privately so as not to take up everyone's time."
(OOC - Only one magus in Communion? With Bea's 20 levels, and presuming this spell is 35th level, 50 more levels of Wizard's Communion are required. I highly suspect that will take at least one more in addition to these two. Fortunately, it looks like there might be a few magi involved.)
A some point a little later Bea discusses the construction with Eilid. It would be 3 floors of 2000 square feet each (just over 25' radius or 50' diameter) with a 7' thick foundation. (That is based on Conjuring the Mystic Tower's dimensions.) A slightly domed roof to deal with snow would probably be good. The third floor would actually be a little smaller on the inside with a balcony around most of it, so that the inside plus balcony have the same footprint. Of course there are some interior details (antechamber in 3rd floor, rooms for different people in the first floor, etc.), but writing it all out here seems a pain. Bea isn't concerned with the location so long as it is solid and within the good aura.
(OOC - Anyone have good suggestions for a good, free drafting program for Mac OS X, one that will do such floor plans nicely? That would be a lot easier that writing it all out.)
It's level 30, so makes a cottage half the size of a Mystic Tower.
It would be half that. But it's still quite large.
I'm afraid the ones I use are ones I bought. I'd be happy to whip something up for you if you gave me a sketch.
Here's what I did for Gavin's cottage (assuming two levels at about 750 sq ft for each level). I may have to adjust if there's more space (it sounds like I may be off by a factor of two). Let me know if that's something you'd like.
Oh. Thanks. Darn. It's large, but her familiar is Size +7. That's not just a little big. I wonder if she could cast the spell twice somehow with them stacked or similar. It would cost more vis but two castings would handle the volume needed.
(OOC - Nice job. I think I will take you up on your offer if it's not too hard. I'll get you something soon. I'll go with a rectangular shape like you did - it's so much easier.
I have figured out that two spells would work fine; just took a little thinking. Technically, that would make two pieces, but they can be interlocked in such a way that they're essentially one because the magic just creates them in place. So Bea will provide a little extra vis and things will be all set.
Also, how do Range and Target work with Wizard's Communion? I thought it would be Voice (to a spell cast by another) and Individual (one spell). But I see Group for Target. So is the distance to the other magi? Right now Bea essentially has level 15 (sorry, error saying 20 earlier) using R: Sight. But R: Touch would bump it up to 25 instead if she just needs to touch the bunch of magi. This is where her Deleterious Circumstance becomes problematic.)
Basic dimensions: 60'x35' (I'm ignoring wall thicknesses in all the measurements, but there is a little spare thickness that will account for it so there are no worries.) There is a beam running 62' down the center, with a sloped roof to each side.
3_floors
3rd floor: 10'x35' on one end is a balcony, the roof still extending over it. There have to be posts at the two outer corners to support the roof. There is a big set of double doors between the balcony and the main room. 10'x35' inside on the opposite end is an antechamber. The main lab section then measures 40'x35'. There is a staircase leading up in a corner. There is a huge (30' diameter) summoning/casting circle (this will be not just a Major Feature but also a Major Focus) centered in the room. There will have to be a vertical post along the middle of the room to support the central beam for the roof (40' is a long stretch unsupported, but 20' should be fine); it can be right at the center of the circle. A large desk and tablet would be at the center of the circle, placed up against the post.
2nd floor: Basically a huge room with some supports for the floor above it. Those supports would have to be 10' in from each end, centered under the 3rd floor walls, as well as one dead center, under the support inside the 3rd floor. The central support is actually an arched portal itself. This room will have a summoning/casting circle like the one in the 3rd floor. At one end there is an altar to Mercury and at the other a pallet. The walls will be covered by a leafy vine of some sort. There is also a staircase coming up from below stacked with one headed up to the next floor.
1st floor: This will have a bunch of rooms and some different entries. I'll have to sketch this out somehow for clarity. As a basic idea there will be one entrance that leads to her home with rooms for her children, the nursemaid, and a potential future apprentice. This same entrance leads to the stairs headed up to the labs. This way her living quarters and the labs upstairs all lie within her sanctum. There is another entrance to a welcoming room, which will be reasonably large. There will be a door off this to her quarters. There will also be several rooms right off this for guests, generally Redcaps. That way the Redcaps can stay nearby while not being within her sanctum. There is another entrance to a small, fairly bare lab space, mostly for Lili's use, though Bea might use it once in a while. The lab contains a throne, a tablet, and a desk. I have to lay all this out so it will fit nicely, but that's the gist of it.
If that's the size of a double casting, I'm way, way small with the size of my cottage (which is from a single casting of the spell). I guess I got confused by the name "cottage," which implied something smaller to me. I'll have to redo my own cottage to make it an appropriate size.
The spell shouldn't be called Cabin of Earthen Wood, it should be called Magus' Magnificent Manor, since it really makes something akin to a manor house.
Oh, I think you're right. It's not half the size, but a tenth of the size of the Mystic Tower. But then how could it make an oversized lab? I'm confused.
If everyone who knows Wizard's Communion chips in, that's a total of 97, so any ritual of up to Level 48 can be cast. So, Eilid's good casting Cabin of Earthen Wood with at least two people casting their Communion.
I have no problem with that. It would involve two casting rolls for everyone doing Communion and for Eilid, plus another Finesse roll.
I tend to hand-wave a lot with WC and say it just works the way it's supposed to, without thinking about it too much. Range is Voice, so you have to be within voice range of the other magi when you cast it. Group is that it works on up to ten spells that are cast within one round.
If I base it on the volume of the structure, it would be about 9,000 cubic feet. But since it's actually based on the volume of wood created, I'm just going to handwave to whatever sounds reasonable. Small manor house sounds doable. I'm thinking all the standard or +1 stuff would take a single casting. The lab with the bed for the ginormous dragon would take two.
Handwaving is rough for me here. Bea cannot use a normal version of Wizard's Communion well. So she would use a non-Voice-range version. At that point I'm working with a new version of the spell.
OK, so I'll go with 2 then. Bea can supply the vis for two.
Ah. I missed that it was a "Favorite Spontaneous Spell" and not a Formulaic one. So, with her Deleterious Circumstances, it would be halved, and then halved again for being Spontaneous.
But, rereading the spell description, can you even use WC as a Spontaneous? It says the magi add the level at which they know it to get the effective level of the Wizard’s Communion. I'm inclined to say "no", but will think about it and listen to input and opinions on the question.
Upon further review, the ruling on the field is overturned.
By casting Wizard's Communion spontaneously, you add 0 to the effective level of the spell (which must be twice the level of the spell being affected). However, you still count as one of the denominators in determining the new de facto level of the target spell.
So, if Eilid is casting a Level 30 Aegis of the Hearth, with the help of three other magi who know Wizard's Communion and three others who don't (the max allowed for a Level 30 spell), that gets the effective spell level down to 4. With her Casting Total of 32 + die roll, she's all but assured of having enough Penetration to keep stuff out.
That whole "know" bit has come up before. The problem is that "know" meaning just having the formulaic version is entirely inconsistent with the rest of the spell and with the normal rules for spells. Here is why:
If "know" means only having the formulaic version:
Since you don't have to cast it, you can't botch it. That is inconsistent with the spell's own description.
You have to cast all other spells for their effects to work.
It is not a ritual, and being a ritual is what stops a spell from being workable spontaneously.
You get a ritual's (versions above level 50) effect with no vis, against rules for rituals.
If "know" means the level at which you cast it:
You can botch it, consistent with the spell's own description.
You must still cast it like any other spell.
It is consistent with spontaneous spells replicating only non-ritual effects.
So with Peregrine's new comments, do you have any further thoughts on the house?
Also, a simple sketch would be really helpful to me, even if it's just hand-drawn and scanned. I work better visually than verbally in these sorts of things.
So, it looks like Eilid will be casting Cabin of Earthen Wood for Hope, Beatrix (double), Laerleggr, and Gavin to make their labs/cottages. That right?
I was thinking that this would be from Covenant stores, since it's Insula Canaria's responsibility to provide adequate housing and lab space.
Right. So that would make it Hope, Beatrix, and Laerleggr, for a total of 24 pawns. We have 23 Creo and Herbam pawns in stock. But I'm pretty sure we can scrounge up another pawn somewhere.