Is there a way to innovate on of Chamber of Spring Breezes (Argentius knows that one)?
It's creating a breeze of fresh air that is continuously moving through a room. I wonder if we could build on that spell to define the space?
Katherine Kurtz's books had this concept of warding squares (like dice) that were enchanted and used to define a space that would then be warded with various effects. I wonder if we could enchant a set of stones that define the space that the Spring Breezes impacted?
Could it be done at scale in the covenant compound itself?
Making wind is a two edged sword- it can bring in heat from outside as well as be cooling. However bringing cool air down from the mountaintops will likely work...
Thank you for all the tips, silveroak and temprobe!
I've got this now, seem OK? Would it be feasible for Lares to invent this, then cast as many as necessary each month (with Lares' Moon boost) to produce the cooling effect throughout the covenant?
CrAu(Ig) 10: The Chilling Fan
A wall of wind emanates from the caster, starting at their fingertips and continuing until it dissipates naturally. The wind is confined by any existing barriers, but if unconfined it can be up to a hundred paces wide. The temperature of the wind, determined at time of casting, can range from nice and cool to warm and toasty.
You would obviously need to learn/invent the moon duration spell sustaining spell as well, but in principle yes. Used for long periods of time this might have a warping effect on the covenant, though it being indirect it also might not.
Also if you left for a long adventure the effect would obviously be lost- it might be better to do this as an enchanted object.
Just to make sure we're on the same page: I meant that Lares would use the Moon-duration Maintaining the Demanding Spell that he has already invented. Is there some reason why this existing spell would not work here, necessitating the invention of a new one?
I do get the point about the long adventure, but Lares can manage inventing this spell in a season, unlike enchanting the object, which would be much more labor-intensive.
Also, since a big point of doing this community service is "ideological" in the sense that Lares is trying to convince the covenfolk of the usefulness of the magi, it doesn't hurt that he has to go out every month himself and concretely does this service for his people. Also, this would only probably be needed during the summer (unless its needed for warming in the winter?), so he can have his longer adventures in the Winter.
So if using Lares' existing Moon-duration Maintaining the Demanding Spell on this is feasible, then Lares will invent The Chilling Fan in the Summer and proceed to use it in the Autumn.
First, the way it's written "A wall of wind emanates from the caster, starting at their fingertips" leaves some ambiguity into whether you intend the wind to keep emiting from your fingertips as you concentrate. Maintaining it for moon duration may turn you into a walking fan. This would make your lab windy when you're working there, rather than chilling down the covenant during daytime. I would suggest clarifying.
Second, I think silveroak's probably right when he says this may be better as an enchanted item. To turn this into a permanent item, we're looking at:
Effect Level 14 : Spell level 10 (base 2, +1 touch, +2 sun, +1 ignem requisite), +1 two uses per day, +3 environmental trigger
This would require CrAuIg lab total of 28 to do in a single season as a lesser enchantment and 2 pawns of vis - not that hard to do.
Of course, yes, considering whether we need this four seasons per year is a very valid question.
I think you missed a magnitude for the unnatural effect, temprobe. That would make it the needed total 33, which is way out of the league of any of the characters, I think.
+1 unnatural would be needed for an indoor effect, however if the idea is to refresh the open spaces of the covenant rather than a building, we shouldn't need that extra magnitude.
If Argentius can apply Inventive Genius, I can get up to a 32 lab total (I think) without messing around with Verditius Runes. With a rune (and a higher vis cost), that may be doable. I'll have to research it if we go down that path.
The more pressing question is this: would I need at least a 1 in Au and Ig for the req or does a 0 in each still allow for the enchantment to happen.
Ah, great, that clears up a great many things. I don't think we need the magnitude for unnatural in that case (I didn't realize it was just for indoors casting, but you are right of course). So that means it's best to leave this up to Argentius, probably. Lares' total before shape and material bonuses is a measly 22.
Fan and bellows both give 4+ bonus to this, so both Argentius and Aetherius should be able to do this.
Lares will propose this (with the description amended as temprobe suggested) to the others then, instead, and focus on some other project in the meantime.
Oh I didn't factor those in at all. So yeah, it should be doable in a season.
Now the question is this: what can Argentius add to this item that ALSO allows it to blow an amplified (hurricane force?) and super-heated sirocco away from the covenant as a both a defensive measure in honor of The Red's agreement to spare Al Kufra. ...
That's harder. Rego Auram guidelines tend to fall under the ward category, or the control category. A ward would likely default to boundary, which couldn't be enchanted into an item. You could enchant an item with a Base 5 Control a very severe weather phenomenon to take a hurricane-like wind and throw it in another direction, but first it's likely high magnitude (including +3 sight which is required, a possible +2 group, and a non-momentary duration) and if you expect it to be triggered when that phenomenon closes in rather than when it's actively used by someone with a keyword, you'd dependent on a linked effect to an intellego auram effect. It's a nice project, but probably not for the coming year.
Continuing Lares's theme of "helping Al Kufra," I'm wondering about crafting a plow that might eventually have two effects:
The Loam Plow of the Oasis
MuTe: Change sand to loam.
PeHe: Destroy weeds or noxious plants.
What would be needed to enrich the soil to make it more fertile? CrHe has effects that speed up the growing of a plant, but I think it's impacting a single plant at a time. Is there a way to impact a group of seeds?
I'm imagining a plow that has a seed bag attachment so that as the grog plows a sandy field, it first changes the sand to fertile loam and then drops in a seed that grows faster than normal. The next day, the grogs harvest while another field is being transformed and planted.
This would take a few seasons to make but it could be a game changer to a desert community.
I think the MuTe would need to be a ritual rather than item, or it will revert back to sand after the duration. It could be cast monthly, of course - I suppose daily would be too demanding. But quite a difficult effect to enchant - you'd need lots of +size modifiers or lots of castings.
I think the CrHe can affect many plants. It's a high-base effect, though, so also quite difficult to pull off. Maybe start with something more minor? First take a more careful look at how they are farming at the moment, then try to figure out some way to "cheat" with magic.
I think fundamentally you would either want these as circle/ring spells or enchanted onto an item (plow, staff) that would inscribe a circle with a circle/ring duration. Then you can transform the sane into loam for a circle duration- killing weeds in desert sands is a bit redundant, actually being able to water plants will be a much bigger issue.
@silveroak Can you clarify your interpretation of the circle/ring rules for me? This is so as to avoid surprises if I were to make such a spell.
If we were to invent the circle/ring spell to transform sane into loam as you described, would it count as "breaking" the circle if the farmers entered and exited the circle? The previous discussion left me uncertain.
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