I've been reading through Cradle & Crescent in preparation for my game set in the Theban Tribunal and I came across this spell, a part of Storytelling magic. If the name was not enough to convince me of the author's nerd-clout, the spell's effect -- which is to convey a long message with a single, brief disguised phrase -- would have sealed it.
Best TNG episode ever.
Since this post has hit 100+ reads without any comments, I feel obliged to explain the joke in Cradle & Crescent for those Ars players who, perhaps because they live in another country, have never seen Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The spell "(Spirit), His Arms Wide" is a reference to "Darmok", one of the most famous Star Trek episodes ever. In "Darmok", the Enterprise meets a race called the Tamarians. Although the words the Tamarians speak are easily translated, their meaning is not. The Tamarian language is based on allegory and shared references. So, for example, when the alien captain says to Picard, "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra" what he means is, "Let's do what two famous rivals did in my country, long ago, work together to defeat a common enemy, and in the process become friends." Deciphering the Tamarian language is the primary challenge of the episode, and has been the subject of fan writing and academic papers ever since.
One of the Tamarian phrases in the show is "Temba, his arms wide." in Tamarian, this means "I'm giving you a present." In Cradle & the Crescent, the spell (Spirit), His Arms Wide allows the caster to disguise a long message inside a short phrase, exactly as the Tamarians do.
Seen? Sure. Enough of a hardcore fan to know what episodes are famous for something? Eh, no... Not even close.
Maybe they should share their language more properly like Tamaranians then? :mrgreen:
And thank you for the explanation, it was VERY needed.