I haven't dealt with arcane connections much, and the times I have have felt quite straightforward. But I realised yesterday that I am unsure what is meant by some spells that refer to "a place you have an arcane connection with" (Seven-League Stride) or "any place to which you have an arcane connection" (The Leap of Homecoming, and Rego Corpus guidelines Level 35).
Does this mean, for example, that a piece of my hair is fixed as an arcane connection in my lab, thus allowing me to transport myself there and other people there? It feels a bit odd that I can use it to transport other people there, but I can accept that.
Or, does it mean I need an arcane connection to the place itself, for example, a piece of the wall of my lab, or a flower that grows in that particular glade? This would seem to make more sense in terms of transporting someone to that particular place.
I can't remember exactly where, but I recall seeing other examples like this where I wasn't sure what "you need an arcane connection" meant, as in, a connection to what - to myself or to the thing in question? And where do I need it, on my person or in my lab or in some other place?
This may all be covered in the rules, but I haven't been able to find it. In fact, the Arcane Connection rules on page 84 only muddy the waters, as they say arcane connections allow the magus to cast spells on a target they cannot see. But for the Seven-League Stride, for instance, the location you need the connection to is not the target of the spell.
So the first part is the easiest to answer, in that if you take one of your hairs it's an arcane connection to you because it was a part of you. However, you are not a part of your hair so you are not an arcane connection to the hair. The part is a connection to the whole, the whole is not a connection to the part. Your examples of arcane connections to places would both be perfectly valid.
Personally I don't think you necessarily need an arcane connection to the location itself, so if for example you had a hair from someone else you could use the connection to them to move to their location. You could interpret it the other way, this is just my own take on it.
Generally though the confusion seems to be from the difference between a spell using the range arcane connection and certain guidelines which use arcane connections. The thing about "arcane connections allow the magus to cast spells on a target they cannot see" refers to the range Arcane Connection in which case you have to use an arcane connection to the target. However, this is not what spells like the Seven League Stride use, they are personal range with the magus as the target. In these cases the guideline itself is dictating how an arcane connection can be used in a specific way.
Other notes: When using an arcane connection in a spell you always have to have it on your person, because you are using it in the spell which is being cast by you at your location. This is also true for Arcane Connection range spells and when using an arcane connection to increase penetration. You also can't necessarily take people with you with these spells as they are personal range and individual target. You would have to invent touch/group versions to bring or send other people.
So to summarise for these spells the target is the Magus, who must have something in their possession to use in the spell which is an arcane connection to the place they are going (not a connection in that place to them).
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Thanks Argentius. That makes sense.
There is one other example I remember reading which may still cause confusion - I remember the phrasing was something like "You can see a place where you have an arcane connection" (I can't remember what type of spell it was - if I find it, I'll post it).
So "where YOU have an arcane connection" implies the connection is to you, and yet, as you say, you cannot affect a place because you have an arcane connection (e.g., your hair) there. So by saying "where you have an arcane connection" perhaps it means what you say and just was poorly worded, i.e., you have an arcane connection to the place. I realise it would be more helpful with the specific example so I'll see if I can find it.
different meaning of have- not that the connection is a part of you (interesting thought- are you an arcane connection to your lab, your place of birth, other places of significance in your life?) but that you have in your possession an arcane connection.
Yes, that is probably what is meant, thanks.
Argentius did a really good explanation of how ACs work.
There were discussions on the forums before about Leap of Homecoming and similar teleport spells, and how Arcane Connections work. You're going to have to decide how it works in your own saga - if you need a shard of a wall to teleport into the room, or if you can use an AC to a person to teleport next to them. A common example was teleporting to where your familiar was.
My home saga ruled that Leap of Homecoming could not teleport you to a person, only a place. Teleporting to a place is hermetically possible, but would require a different spell.
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