Basically, trying to invent a Touch-range spell that would keep the target cool and comfortable in extreme heat, like the desert sun or Texas summers.
Her ReIg lab total would be Re 5 + Ig 17 + Int 1 + Magic Theory (Ignem) 4 + Aura 5 + Lab Bonuses 3 = 35, so she could invent a spell of up to Level 15 in one season (technically 17, but ain't no such thing). Touch is +1, Sun duration is +2, so that leaves a maximum Base of 4. Which pretty much nixes any kind of Heat/Fire ward, looking at the guidelines on the Spell Guidelines pdf. (her Perdo Ignem lab total would be 34.)
The Sahara makes Texas summers look like winter in Chicago
Anyway, since I am the one responsible for administering rules to simulate reality, it is my honest opinion that a simple Ward against Heat & Flames is more than sufficient. But neither that nor the cooling spell will protect against the arid conditions. We have the camel spell figured out for that though. Roberto intends to invent it unless someone else want to first. Actually, I was thinking of grabbing the growth/shrinking spell from lab text (level 15), which gives me plenty of space remaining to also invent the camel spell from scratch.
So...generic Ward Against the Desert Sun, base 4, R: Touch +1, D: Sun +2, T: Individual, which would give the target protection of -? against damage caused by natural sun and heat?
At that level, ReIg15, this would grant a +5 protection against heat and flame. Tales of Power page 48, the Travel in the Desert insert; this states that the sunlight will inflict +1 non-combat damage if skin is left exposed. Which is why people wrap themselves in light linens head to toe.
I am conflicted. I want to encourage you, yet I do not understand what you are trying to do. Instead of thinking of a smaller version of a ward we already have, I recommend thinking bigger. Thing outside the box. The desert, as much as I try to over dramatize it, is really a minor concern. You should really be more concerned with [spoiler]the fact that you are headed into the Magic Realm and a Level 7 Ignem Boundary. Higher in the surrounding magic realm desert (which bakes you at +6 damage per round or more and some parts are just on fire). Anyway, That is +17 to magic rolls, +24 if they are Ignem, and jumbo bunch of extra botch dice.[/spoiler] And stuff like that.
This is pretty much ReIg :-/ And we've already got that covered, so do not worry
Alternatively, a simple CrAq diameter spell could create water to hydrate people and animals, wash away dirt, and if it disappears afterwards, who cares?
This is a very good, if difficult to follow, advice.
Problem is, vibria's specialty is creating fire
What about an InIg spell to talk with fires? Or a MuIg spell to change them to something else?
Or if you want to be a combat maga, there may (I'm having more and more doubts about my ability to think clearly this morning, so may be saying dumb things) be an interest to her in creating a CrIg(vi) spell that can damage intangible spirits, like "Draconic Flame". If interested, take this to the forums, though, I'm addled.
Solomon nods solomenly to the spirit, "We thank you for your offer, and we will discuss it with our Sodales. Or more immediate interest to me is how we will reseal the King in his crypt. We have the Iron tablet, but it appears to me that the protective enchantments placed upon it have atrophied over time, or perhaps been dispelled. Regardless, it appears the wards are no longer in place. Do you know what wards were originally placed on the tomb, and how we would implant them again?"
Actually, I forgot about the language barrier. The Specters speak ancient Greek and Coptic. Whatever Arachne says or hears would need to be translated by Solomon, so that line of inquiry is easily omitted.
The image of the Prince responds... This I cannot tell you, for I am not a sorcerer. This is why I plead to mighty wizards such as yourselves. But perhaps if I tell you the tale of our downfall and the measures we put into place as we died, perhaps you could gain some clue.
My father, the mighty and wise Kush, born in Africa and educated in Greece, served under Ptolemy during the reign of Alexander the Great and became a revered general. Upon the death of the great conqueror, the empire was split into four parts. Ptolemy became overlord of Egypt, and appointed Kush as governor and king over the Western Sahara. The land was much more luscious and bountiful then, at first. It was hot and arid at times, but fertile plains and summer rains kept us well provided for. Then it slowly started dying out. The sun grew hotter and the periods of drought became more frequent. Little did we know then that this had been a slow ongoing process for generations. In days even more ancient than mine, the land was ruled by Ozymandayas the king of kings, and was once overflowing with milk and honey and fruits of every kind. But ours was to be the last generation.
Our priests and scholars researched and prayed, our mystics peered into the fires and contemplated meaning in iridescent fumes. They discovered that wild spirits were ravaging the land, and that our palace sat upon a portal to the spirit world. Our wise king, my father, made a command decision and made the ultimate sacrifice.
The civilians were set away, and the soldiers were given a choice. Four hundred chose to stay at our kings side unto death and beyond. As a show of faith, our king was the first to be entombed. Each of us drank the poison and were mummified then entombed, our priests casting ancient spells of Chaldean and Egyptian magic. Virtue United is Stronger, and together in the afterlife we were able to prevent the ravenous jinn from crossing over into our world and halted the devastation of the land. Hundred of years we stood fast and kept them at bay, until that fateful day when grave robbers unwittingly broke the seal that protected our king's corpse, the anchor which made his spirit impervious to the magic of the jinn. Now vulnerable, the jinn stole my father's corpse and their king uses his own magic to bind my father's spirit into submission. Holding him as hostage, this prevents us from interfering or taking direct action.
Recovering our king will earn you a great reward. With the lid in place, he can recreate the ward that protects him. But this only protects against beings of supernatural origin. The original intent was for the soldiers to protect the crypt from human molestation, their ghosts enabled with the power to inflict harp with spectral weapons and the power to animate their own mummified corpses. But this band of grave robbers, they had a powerful sorcerer amongst them, one strong enough to abjure even the mightiest of us, King Kush. Only the sorcerer ever knew of our presence and the other robbers stole the lid blissfully unaware of what misfortune their actions would cause.
Solomon thinks for a moment before responding, "And what more can you tell us of this Malik, that we may best prepare ourselves for the confrontation before us?"
He is inconsistent and I would say irrational. Turning the tables, he has commanded us to guard our station against those who would intrude into his realm. Then he told us just to alert him. Then he stopped caring. He has made bargains through his agents many times over the years, and we are not to interfere or speak with those who bear his seal. Also, like all jinn he can change his shape, but yet he seems to manifest as a slightly different being from time to time. That is, he seems to be able to alter his powers and weaknesses. Always one and the same being, yet shifting in different aspects.
The Malik lost a war against King Solomon, blessed be his name. Our scholars learned that before we were entombed. The Malik once served a Phonecian king that rebelled against Solomon, blessed by God, and was smiten by the power of the righteous. Solomon, oh blessed prophet, commanded ten times as many jinn as the accured rebels, and the Malik was brought before the blessed king bound and and foot in chains of Basalt. All of the Malik's followers, his kin from the tribe of the 'afrit, were bound into bottles stopped with led then cast into the ocean. The Malik himself was bound into a pillar of assalt until the end of days.
But mysterious is the nature of the jinn and the magic of Solomon! The locus of these 'afrit are the bottles they are bound within. When opened they manifest in the material world, when sealed they reside in the City of Brass in a shining tower that is a vestige of their bottle. The Malik himself is bound to that very city as his locus, and has not manifested outside of it since his defeat.
You prod my memory magus, things I learned but I cannot remember unless spoken to about them.
The Malik learned a form of magic from that sorcerer I mentioned. That is what he used to bind the exposed ghost of my father. It is this magic that he uses to make bargains with other jinn so that they may do his bidding in the mudnane world. For a jinni cannot travel far from its locus unless it first strikes a bargain to do so.
The entire original story of The City of Brass is available to the covenant and also available online using the ling I just provided. Any player who actually reads this receives a free bonus worth 10xp in the appropriate Lore plus can use knowledge from that story in game. This takes no time in game, it is a free bonus for being a geek.
So, the base to speak with a fire is 20. Not happening any time soon.
Looking at the library, we have a text for Compass of the Vigilant Flame (InIg 5), but I can't find it in the book, the spell index spreadsheet from (I think) the Atlas site, or on the wiki...wait, let me check the dreaded Net Wizard's Grimoire. Yep. There it is. And the math looks right (which always surprises me, for some reason).
So, she has a high enough InIg LT (29, with the lab bonus) to invent that, Tales of the Ashes, and Shadows of Fires Past. If she were feeling adventurous, she could also invent Analysis of the Sacred Flame and score the grand slam, if she were to Experiment.
Thoughts? (I'm just trying to figure out something useful to learn for the trip in that one season.)
Or would something like Fire's Eternal Oblivion be useful? (a Pe Ig spell that would damage/destroy fire elementals.)
Both options are great ideas. The InIg spells may prove quite useful in innovative ways, and a good offensive spell is always nice to have (especially if it expands your selection of attack modes).
Actually, Melantha, her spirit companion, speeks ancient greek too And Latin (outdated). So she can translate to Arachné. But no bother, it's all fine if he doesn't want it
She'll just have to bind other ghosts^^
Arachné listens to Melantha's translation attentively.
Good thing your king can recreate the Ward. I doubt we'd have been able to renew such an ancient magic, meaning we would have had to do something new, and maybe less efficient.
Now, I wonder about this sorcerer. What was he after? Did he took something? What was he like?
Sounds like a perfectly rationnal reaction to me
I'd go the intellego route, to expand her skillset, but the alternative is good, too. Although I'd use a less "copied" name to make your own instead ^^
Solomon already knows Tales of the Ashes and Shadows of Fires Past, so unless the Compass of Vigilant Flame is really worth it, it might be better to work on something we don't already have covered. The PeIg spell might be more useful.
My thoughts for Solomon's activities leading up to the expedition are this:
Spring 1234 - Study Voice of the Nile book (32.5 xp for Demotic Egyptian [Coptic])
Summer 1234 - Open Talisman for further enchantment (the 2 Vim exposure xp will raise his Vim score to 14+3)
Autumn 1234 - Invent Strip the Magic Away a might stripper for magic realm creatures (he’ll make this lab text available to anyone interested in learning it in Winter of 1235)
Winter 1235 - Instill Personal Ward vs. Magic into his Talisman
My suggestion is that you take the Leadership class along with Vibria and Roberto in the Spring.
My recommended class schedule (sign up before they fill up )
Spring 1234[list]
[*]Leadership (Fausto): Vibria, Roberto, selected others and any soldiers lacking a Leadership score
Boot Camp I (Moe): Anyone lacking a score in Profession-Soldier not occupied by the Leadership class
[/:m]
[]Summer 1234
Single Weapon I (Fausto): Vibria, Roberto, and every single member of the fighting contingent for this expedition
[/:m]
[]Fall 1234
Single Weapon II (Fausto): fighters of the expedition that could benefit from some further training
Boot Camp II (Moe): anyone who still lacking a score in Profession-Soldier.
[/*:m][/list:u]
I saw that but I'm just not sure what to give up to take it. How important is Leadership for Solomon since we've already established he is not tactically minded and not going to be directly leading troops? He's really more of the Dr. Daniel Jackson (Stargate anyone) of this expedition
Interesting point. Then you lead the expedition but you don't command it. Or you command it but don't lead it. Or something like that
I am looking at comparative Leadership scores, and this is what we have going on...
Arnau 2+2 (soldiers)
Bernhard 4 (intimidation)
Roberto 3 (in combat)
Vibria 2 (soldiers)[sup]1[/sup]
Solomon 0
Arachne 0
[sup]1 after applying results from taking the Leadership class[/sup]
This takes into account Magi and Companions I know are (or think are) going. Any player who has a character or two that they want to send along, let us know
Remember, I am pulling Carmen & Alexandro out of this story for reasons I have explained.
I see it now. Your ability matrix has kind of a chaotic shape
But that works out great I was poking around and discovered some of our grogs have the highest leadership scores! Which is also good.
Which brings me to a point. Comparing combat scores and such to see who would make the best team compositions, I discovered an error in Vibria's armor. Bernhard too.
Items of Quality add to rolls, not scores. So armor of Quality would not add to Protection. Rather, the bonus adds to any and all soak rolls (even those armor normally offers no protection against). This is a good thing, for with Protection scores so out of alignment there was no way they could fit inro any sort of group. Now they can. Not that they need too. But the option should be available.
Hey, there's actually a guideline for what I wanted to do with Vibria's fire-elemental-damper spell. So, howabout:
[u]Ashes of the Living Fire (Perdo Ignem 15)[/u]
[tab][/tab]R: Voice, D: Mom, T: Ind
This spell destroy sufficient matter to reduce an Ignem elemental’s Might Score by 15.
[tab][/tab](Base effect, per Realms of Power: Magic p. 133 and referenced on the Spell Guidelines download; +2 Voice)
)