I am certain this question is asked by those who know just enough Ars to have reached this point but have not learned enough not to ask it so here goes:
The spell destroys all light falling on the caster, effectively making the magus a living shadowy form.
( base 3 extinguish all light, +1 Touch, +1 Diam )
I figured range Touch because you are only destroying the light that actually touches you. The spell does nothing to affect species so I figure you can still see even though you appear to everyone else as a black shadow of your shape. Since no light is striking you, there is nothing to shed species from yourself.
I may be overlooking a obvious flaw in my Ars thinking.
Hmm... as I understand the Medieval paradigm in Ars Magica, visual species are carried by light, but they are distinct (and shed by objects, regardless of light). If there is no light, they cannot be carried, but there is nothing about the direction of the light: there is light, or there isn't. If there is, visual species are carried, if there isn't, they aren't
So if you extinguish all light around you so that your> species cannot cross and be seen by someone else, it seems to me that every other species that try to reach you is stopped by that same lack of light. Effectively, you would be blind. But, you are right, you would just be a very deep shadow to observers.
Maybe with one more magnitude you can arrange things so that your eyes are exempt from the spell: you would be a shadow with visible eyes, and you would get to see (+1 magnitude, fine manipulation to exempt eyes from the spell).
It destroys light that IS TOUCHING the person... Meaning that light will have "delivered" their species before being destroyed. No blindness.
Looks just fine. Beware though that how effective it is will wary very much according to the surrounding light conditions. If there´s too much light around for example, it will make you stand out. If someone shines light around you, again it will make you stand out very well.
But its a very useful spell used well.
I need to look this up but I think ( in A&A) that you see by light projecting from your eyes. If this is the case, would this spell prevent you from seeing?
Cloak of Darkness
PeIg 20
R: Sight , D: Diam. , T: Part
All light around the head of the target is completely extinguished ,
leaving the victim mobile and unhampered ,
but engulfed in a tight-fitting cloak of darkness ----
an aurora of opaque , black flame that moves with the target
for the duration of the spell.
The target is blind , unless affected by a spell
that permits the caster to see in complete darkness ,
such as Eyes of the Bat.
Though it really surprises me. I would have thought, exactly as the OP stated, that removing light in an area would prevent stuff in that area from shedding species - not that it would also destroy all species in the area, as the description seems to suggest. EDIT: After re-reading HoH:S, I see now that species are carried, rather than excited, by light, so if you destroy light, you lose the species. But as was suggested, if light is destroyed only when it touches you, it should still manage to deliver the species ... hmmm ...
Cloak of Darkness creates darkness all around someone.
Walking in Shadow kills light on touch, giving the spells two completely different mechanics based on their descriptions.
My previous objection still stands without any great problems. CoD is made to blind the target, WiS is not made to do that. Both effects can be had from the same spell basics, but they are applied differently.
My objection is that since light carries species (the same way air carries sound: in every direction, regardless of the direction of the wind), either it carries them both way (and you are visible) or not at all (and you are a cool but blind shadow). That said, the spell is cool and deserves to be allowed for that reason alone Maybe, as I mentioned before, you become a black shadow except for the eyes ?
(+1 magnitude, fine manipulation to exempt eyes from the spell).
Maybe, as I mentioned before, you become a black shadow except for the eyes ?