Living Tree Tower Talisman

Games Discussion Ars Magica
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Tree tower talisman (Long term project)

The aim is to make a huge slow (human jogging speed) flying Tree tower, to start I propose to make a tree of +3 size after breaking down a few walls and the roof of my lab.

When the tree is the correct size i.e about 600-800 tons of tree. Base 1 cubic pace X size +3 = 1000 cubic paces of wood 50% for trunk rest is roots and branches.

CrHe guideline Level 3: Create wood in an unnatural shape, such as a living wall or bridge.
As a Rego effect to grow rather than create wood in an unnatural shape, such as a living wall or bridge.

Now to shape the tower rooms windows and doors. REHe Base 3, +1 Touch, +3 Size +2 sun with a finesse roll for design. For 6 rooms 3 paces high and 5 paces in diameter with a 1 pace between and a 1 pace thick outer wall.

I plan to add an animation affect to burrow the roots after landing and then conjuring a copse of trees, brambles and patches of briars in a pre-set maze-like pattern with patches of confusing fog as necessity time and V allows.

Steps

First collect the seed or sapling of a preferred tree.

I'll be using a sapling under the effects of a ReHe effect to grow the tree with a "Dolls house" like tower inside.

Open it as a staff S&M available should be.
What ever a staff does.
What even a linden tree does. (except make some really good tea)
Also living wood
a Carving of Behemoth (in the dolls house, this is kinda meta)
A crown (trees have crowns, this is known)
A basket under the crown by weaving\pleaching the branches, mostly for naps.
A doorway
Also a door.
Several rooms
A mask like face carved into the trunk
Carving of a thunder bolt into the bark ala Harry Potter.

Bring the tree to maturity overnight casting CrHe base 15 touch 1

Touch up the dolls house with mystical carpenter

Bring the tree to size 3 by casting CrHe base 15 touch 1 two more times, and update with mystical carpenter.

Attune the Talisman

CrHe Enchant for Life support (keeps a plant healthy) : base 1 sun 2 Continuous : two uses per day and an environmental trigger +4

MuTeHe Enchant for size change to +3 to -5 (based on Te guideline) : base 4 sun 2 +1 because the spell allows for variable shrinking) Continuous : two uses per day and an environmental trigger +4 (this will be for the tree only, a secondary set of linked enchantments will be needed for the contents of the rooms/structure)

Vessel of the Clouds (Mod) Base 3, +2 Sun, +3 Size, +1 unsupported surface, +1 for any direction. Continuous : two uses per day and an environmental trigger +4

Now it should look like a small flying bonsai tree

1 Like
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There is a simpler method to creat the original tower tree. In MoH there is a Fortress of Oak spell (p39) which is a Cr(Mu)He(Te) version of Conjure the Mystic Tower and creates a living tree which is about the same as a tower created with CtMT but uses an acorn rather than a sapling.

3

Hi

Yes, thanks for the input. I'd just rather not spend the time making a spell/ritual only to use it one time.
I also enjoy building things in stages.

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How much vis do you expect a size +3 tree to need to open? A tree about the size of a person is around 10 pawns already.

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Also the Size change needs to be Structure Target or else it wonā€™t affect things that are not the structure itself, like beds and lab equipment.

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Awesome, that is a great catch, thanks. Also the flight spell should be personal range.

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I'm guessing it should be around 1000 pwns when fully opened. That is why I'll need to make it a talisman, also sharing parma with the building is nice.

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Also, how do you plan on enlarging it again? Suppressing the size change spell? With ReVi? A moon suppression effect should work. you also need a PeVi effect to cancel the suppression.

You should open it when it is a ā€œsaplingā€ (huge dollhouse might be a more accurate description of its size at that point) because you need to open it and then attune it as a Talisman.

Is 1000 pawns a typo? Because having anywhere near a score of 500 in two arts is not actually a thing youā€™ll be able to do.

1 Like
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If you havenā€™t you should really check out how the Herbam Verditius guy from MoH enchanted his living tree talisman.

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Hi, thanks for that catch, I might need to make it a concentration effect and/or take the perpetual shrinking and growing spell effect to allow the unshrinking at will.

As far as I am aware, a talisman has to be attuned before being opened, and then it can be opened repeatedly as enchantments are added.

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No, you open it using the normal rules for opening an item. Then, in a following season, you can attune the item as a talisman at which point it still only has 10 (or however many) vis slots opened but it can be increased up to the magusā€™s highest Technique + Form in later seasons. You can even enchant effects into it before you make it a Talisman but the stipulation around that is none of that work can be done by someone else (lab assistance is acceptable but you must be the primary).

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Awesome, thanks. I've never made a talisman before and reading the description and process it didn't come up. I have just reread the talisman section P98 in Core and I must say I disagree, unless there is another mention that I should be looking at.

As I understand it you get the item spend a season bonding with it and then you can start to enchant it.
I am happy to be corrected if this is not the case.
"A magus may attune an item with instilled effects as his talisman, as long as he instilled all the effects personally."

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First sentence of the second paragraph of Talisman Attunement:

You can only attune an item as your talis-man if you prepared it for enchantment your-self.

Preparing an item for enchantment is opening it with raw vim vis.

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Page 98 in Core rules says: "You can only attune an item as your talisman if you prepared it for enchantment yourself. "
The previous section (on p 97) talks about how you prepare an item for enchantment - it takes a season and a bunch of vis depending on size and material of the item.

After that you can attune the item as a talisman and imbue it with effects,

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Hmmm, seems like a waste of a season that way. I can see what you mean. I'll ask my ST with regards to that, but it is hardly and issue, opening it as a sapling or a compound item will do in this case.

Again, many thanks for sharing your knowledge.

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This

is a very clear post about talisman rules.

Bob

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Thanks, Bob.

I shall study that post closely, plan and calculate accordingly. I have done some updates.

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Update, I have collected a suitable sapling. It has a excellent power. Please let me know if I'm missing something, the tree has the following power when grown and as far as I can see it will not have any effect on the proposed steps and enchantments.

Shroud (6 points, Init 0, Mentem): The tree can obstruct intruders, to prevent them reaching a certain area of the forest. They may ļ¬nd their way blocked by impenetrable undergrowth, difļ¬cult terrain, or a wild animal, and instead choose a more favourable route that leads them the wrong way. This provides an effect like the spell The Shrouded Glen.

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How did you managed to get the range and/or target of this spell down to a point where it does not need to be a ritual?

In principle I agree with you that an effect (or series of effects) like what you describe ought to do the job in keeping most random people away from a location similar to how The shrouded glen works. However I have trouble imagining the spell. Or more accurately when I imagine it, it turns into a ritual Re(Cr, Mu)He(An,Te) spell with a range of either Vision or some now range I dont know. (Precise combination of arts may vary).

And at this point I have just managed to create a less effective, higher level ritual spell to achieve what the shrouded glen already does. Not to mention that the requisites means that basically no-one can ever cast it because no-one has the enormous scores in all the arts necessary to cast it.

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Hi

That is a power this magic tree comes with, I'm thinking that is uses it's root system with a series of touch range Cr spells... I got it from a Faerie queen.