Riloth the 19th the 124th

Reverently, I flipped through the pages as the spellforms within it strobed in my Willsight. Each spellform glowed a pure and brilliant white, unlike anything I've seen thus far in this new and strange vision.

The book was huge, nine inches wide, twelve tall, and three thick. The pages all bore different colors and levels of wear, suggesting that some had been added and that it had been rebound many times.

I don't even know where to begin. I see now why wizards guard their spellbooks so fervently. Frankly, I'm shocked this one had not been trapped. It wasn't even just the spells—though those were very welcome—but all of it. Much like I use you, this wizard—whose name I still didn't know—used his spellbook as a spell repository and research journal. He listed recipes for the magical white ink, methods of measuring Will, and most importantly dozens of spells. Not all the spells were unique, but it seemed that this wizard specialized in spells of the Fonts of Lightning and Barriers.

Let's start with them, since they were the best part.

Each spell had a page dedicated to a spellform. The paper of these pages was of exquisite quality—though nothing compared to your pages of course. Not only did the spellform shine a white I'd not before seen, but the pages on which they sat also were devoid of any aura at all and appeared the same in my Willsight as my regular vision.

The wizard wrote a neat summary of each spell opposite its spellform, listing its Will cost measured in "Grain," its effects and requirements for casting.

Offensive spells listed approximately how many castings were required to slay certain creatures. A bit morbid, but I can’t think of a better method. Each spell was given a tier, which—aside from the label of cantrip—was an unknown concept to me.

When multiple versions of a spell were present, each was given a version number, and had detailed notes on what had been charged in the mental construct, spellform, and effect.

It might be best to go by each Font, as that's how the spellbook was laid out. I will copy his formatting and only list the versions that seemed the best where multiple existed.

For the Font of Light, the wizard only had one spell, and of course a cantrip.

Light - Tier 1 Light spell

Cost: 2 grains of Will

Casting time: 2 seconds

Somatic component: Rotate the ring finger on the right hand in a circle while channeling Will through it. Do this in front of the target. See diagram for details.

Effect: Cause the target to glow, emitting a bright white light for up to 1 hour. The spell illuminates an area up to 20 feet in all directions in bright light, the effect lessens beyond that range.

Torch- Light cantrip

Casting time: 2 seconds

Somatic component: Rotate the ring finger on the right hand in a circle while channeling Will through it. See diagram for details.

Effect: Summons a globe of light before your hand, which lasts until you lose focus on it. The light illuminates an area up to 10 feet away in a weak white light.

His Light spell differed from mine in two significant ways. Firstly, his spell made the object in question glow, instead of the light appearing above it. Secondly, his spell required a “somatic” component, which is a fancy way of saying “gestures.” The spell cost him “two grain,” which I will get into later, and was listed as a first tier spell. His cantrip expression of the Light Font was called “Torch,” and required the same gesture, but seemed to operate the same as my own in all other regards.

Mind Spike - Tier 1 Mind spell

Cost: 7 grains of Will

Casting time: 3 seconds

Somatic component: Form a circle with your hands, touching thumb to thumb and index finger to index finger. Hold the circle out before you with your target’s head visible through it.

(The entire head need not fit if proximity does not allow it.)

Effect: Cause mental anguish to rack a target. If the target survives you will know their location for up to one hour, so long as you remain in the same Realm as they do.

The effect is not lethal unless used on small creatures. When used against humanoids, it usually renders the target unconscious, but hardy individuals can remain awake unless they are fatigued.

Sending- Tier 3 Mind spell

Cost: 15 grains of Will

Casting time: 6 seconds

Somatic component: Form a circle with your hands, touching thumb to thumb and index finger to index finger. Place this in front of your mouth and circulate Will through the circle.

Verbal component: Speak your message through your hands while casting the spell. At the completion of the casting, the spell will send the message to the recipient.

Effect: Sends a message to the mind of an acquaintance, with no limit on the range, so long as they are in the Realm and not behind prohibitive wards.

For the Font of Mind, he had two spells.

Mind Spike seemed like a very useful spell for rending captives more compliant. I could see why he would have traded for such a spell.

After reading Sending’s description I was rather impressed, despite my best efforts to feel superior. My mother had not painted a flattering picture of Tower wizards, but three spells in and I was already starting to doubt her opinion.

Wow, this is much more efficient than my own Message spell, assuming that is that fifteen grains is not too exorbitant a cost.

Interestingly, he had no cantrip listed for this Font. Cantrips for wizards are generally cast by performing a partial casting of a spell, including only the gate—the spell's point of entry into the Arcane Realm—and the path the spell must take to get to the required Font from there. The spell component of the construct is omitted, and a small manifestation of the Font’s power is drawn into the caster. The Will expenditure is so minimal because the Will cost of a spell is a function of the path's complexity multiplied by the spell's complexity. When the spell itself is replaced with a bare fragment of Will, the cost becomes insignificant.

For the spells above—and one other, which I am holding back for a dramatic reveal—the wizard had listed only one version of each spell, and each had listed the wizard from which he’d learned the spell, and what version of his own spells he’d traded to acquire them. From reading through the whole tome, I gathered that Tower wizards specialized in one or two Fonts, and spent most of their studies researching new and improved spells for them, only getting other spells through trade.

Not exactly the enlightened utopia of magical sharing and cooperation they paint themselves to be.

Shock - Lightning cantrip

Casting time: 1 second

Somatic component: Outstretch your dominant hand and splay the fingers while moving it downward and simultaneously moving it side to side. Channel Will through all five fingers while doing so. See the diagram for exact measurements of the movement.

Effect: Send lightning through an object or creature within 6 inches of the casting hand. This effect will stun most creatures briefly, but may kill small animals such as rats. It has no noticeable effect on creatures larger than men.

Lightning - Tier 1 Lightning spell v3.6

Cost: 4.1 grains of Will

Casting time: 1 second

Range: 30 feet

Somatic component: Outstretch your dominant hand and splay the fingers while moving it downward and simultaneously moving it side to side. Channel Will through all five fingers while doing so. See the diagram for exact measurements of the movement.

Effect: Summon an arc of lightning to leap towards a target from your hand. The lightning has a minor homing feature, inherent to the nature of all Lightning spells. As such, the pointing of the casting hand is as critical as picturing the target in your mind.

This spell can slay kobolds and goblins outright. If tightly packed, a group of four or five can die in one attack. Larger creatures such as humanoids are more likely to be stunned momentarily than slain, but repeated castings can prove lethal. For creatures such as an ogre or larger, this spell is not recommended.

Lightning Bolt - Tier 3 Lightning spell v2.4

Cost: 14.2 grains of Will

Casting time: 3 seconds

Range: Up to 100 feet

Somatic component: Outstretch your dominant hand and splay the fingers while moving it downward and simultaneously moving it side to side. Channel Will through all five fingers while doing so. See the diagram for exact measurements of the movement.

Verbal component: Tee-roh-mah, channel Will with each and speak them according to the rhythm index.

Effect: Summon a massive bolt of lightning that will shoot out up to 100 feet from your location. The bolt will strike anything within 5 feet of its path and continue until the targeted point of termination.

This spell can outright kill creatures up to and as large as an ogre, though it is not guaranteed. Those not killed will be momentarily stunned.

Caution: Objects may light afire when struck.

Tier three huh? These spell forms look way more complicated than the tier twos. I wonder what tier the spells I know are.

The Font of Lightning was one of the two this wizard specialized in. He had the Shock cantrip, dozens of versions of “Lightning” and “Lightning Bolt.” I only wrote the versions here that seemed the most optimized. The spells he received from others had no listed version.

This “Lightning” seems to be a direct analog to my own Lightning Bolt, and his Lightning Bolt appeared to be what my mother called “Chain Lightning.” This is rather confusing.

Did my mother just make names up? Do the Stormcallers just use different spells entirely? From the description of Lightning, I think it does more damage than my own Lightning Bolt.

How do I channel Will through my voice or hand? Is that like imbuing?

Call Lightning - Tier 3 Lightning spell - v0.5

Cost: unknown

Casting time: unknown

Range: Suspected to be able to target creatures within 100 feet

Expected effect: Summons a storm cloud overhead, from which the caster can call down bolts of lightning to strike foes below it. So long as the caster maintains concentration, they can call down additional bolts every 4-10 seconds. The individual lightning bolts are expected to be in the range of a tier 2 spell.

Sources: Lesser Lost Spells by Wilstun Aberton; Kaset of the Storms, a Biography by Tia Mossborn

This page was very interesting. There was no spell form, only a description of what the spell was theorized to do, and references to the research the wizard had done into recreating it. From his notes, he was in the process of developing a new spell—or rather rediscovering an old one that was lost in the Flood.

Odd that there's a version number with no apparent spellform. Where did he keep the spell? It must still be in his vault. I suppose that makes sense if matching spell constructs to spell forms is as difficult as matching intent to runes. Finish the spell, then figure out how to write it down.

There were a lot of notes about Lightning magic, but it was clearly not his passion. Barrier spells on the other hand—so many notes. Even I’m saying that, and I’ve been compulsively writing in you for months on end.

To give you a scale, the Lightning spells he modified each had fairly large changes, sometimes those changes proved fruitless, but they usually had significant impacts on the efficacy, cost, or casting time—even if they made it worse. The most common changes were alterations to the somatic component of the spells.

The Barrier spells on the other hand... pages upon pages of spells, each with the most minor variances and copious notes on where he thought they could improve. Some changes didn’t even alter the casting time or Will cost a measurable amount, though he often noted that they “felt” better or worse. The man was obsessed.

Each change was given a new decimal version number, and major changes—such as adding or removing verbal and somatic components—were given a new whole number. Pages upon pages. Shield was on version 2.29 before he relented and added in a verbal component in his pursuit of... something. Efficiency? Knowledge for knowledge’s sake? Maybe some combination of the two.

Buckler - Barrier cantrip

Casting time: <1 second

Somatic component: Splay the fingers of a hand while keeping them in plane with the palm. Channel Will into the palm.

Duration: 1 second

Effect: Summons a 1 foot diameter ward just before the hand. The ward is capable of absorbing or deflecting the impact of a weapon attack of moderate power or tier 1 spell. It remains for less than a second. If the ward is overpowered, it will fail. Stronger attacks can be deflected without the spell failing.

Mage Armor - Tier 1 Barrier spell - v2.5

Cost: 4.2 grains of Will

Casting time: 6 seconds

Somatic component: Splay the fingers of a hand while keeping them in plane with the palm. Press the hand on the chest of the target and channel Will into the palm.

Verbal component: Kin-as-pan-sh-ph

Duration: 8 hour

Effect: Summons a protective shell around the target's torso, upper arms, and thighs. The shell contorts to the bearer's body and exists one inch above the skin.

This variant leaves an opening around the waist to allow for belts and scabbards to be donned after casting.

Physical armor that cannot be compressed to fit within the shell will cause the spell to fail.

So... It seems like I've been calling something Mage Armor that was very much not Mage Armor.

Why didn't Ren correct me?

The lack of concentration on this is a definite plus, but mine has the benefits of a full-body covering.

Shield - Tier 1 Barrier spell - v3.2

Cost: 3.8 grains of Will

Casting time: <1 second

Somatic component: Splay the fingers of a hand while keeping them in plane with the palm. Channel Will into the palm.

Verbal component: Bo

Duration: 5 seconds

Effect: Summons a hemispherical ward the height of the caster just before the hand. The ward is capable of absorbing or deflecting the impact of a weapon attack of significant power and spells up to the third tier. If an attack passes the plane of the palm before the casting is completed, the spell will still take effect, though it will not stop the first attack.

Powerful attacks can overpower the ward, causing it to fail, but some of the force will be absorbed by the spell.

Stronger attacks can be deflected without the spell failing.

Now this Shield was a spell I was excited to try out. If I can learn to cast this as fast as the book owner, it would prove invaluable. It looks like it could even save me from a golem's strike if it wasn't dead on.

Protection from Poison - Tier 2 Barrier spell V2.3

Cost: 8.5 grains of Will

Casting time: 3 seconds

Duration: 1 hour

Somatic component: Splay the fingers of a hand while keeping them in plane with the palm. Place the hand on the target.

Effect: Infuse a body with protective energy that grants immunity to poisons, venoms and toxins for one hour. This will not undo the damage an active poison has already done but will prevent it from further harming the target.

If the substance is still in the body when the spell ends, the target will resume taking harm.

This effect is less effective against magical or particularly potent poisons, though over-channeling can help in both cases.

Aside from maybe being a temporary hangover cure that I no longer need, I can’t see myself trying too hard to learn this one. Does Dagmar’s morning stink count as a toxin?

Counter Spell - Tier 3 Barrier spell v4.7

Cost: 13.8 grains of Will

Casting time: <1 second

Somatic component: Splay the fingers of a hand while keeping them in plane with the palm. Place the palm between the opposing caster and yourself.

Effect: Counter the effect of an enemy spell of equal or lesser tier.

The spell conjures a barrier in the Ethereal Realm between the opposing caster and the Arcane Realm, preventing the magic from manifesting in the Material. Due to the infinite temporal fluidity of the Ethereal Realm, the barrier exists there only at the time of the casting, and a sustained barrier cannot be made.

This spell can counter all manner of magic, including wizardry, sorcery, Blessings, and the magic of primals.

If an attempt is made to counter a higher tier spell, this spell will fail unless the caster empowers it with additional Will, but even this does not guarantee success.

You may over-channel this spell if you suspect the spell you are countering is of a higher tier, this will avoid the need for a Will contest.

This spell has no effect on active or ongoing magical effects.

Dispel Magic - Tier 3 Barrier spell - v2.4

Cost: 14.3 grains of Will

Casting time: 6 second

Somatic component: Splay the fingers of a hand while keeping them in plane with the palm. Place the hand as close to the magical effect as safely possible.

Verbal Component: Bin-di-p-sh-kis-rich

Effect: Dispel an active magical effect of equal or lesser tier by briefly disrupting its connection to the Fonts that sustain it.

The spell conjures a barrier in the Ethereal Realm between the active effect and the Arcane Realm, preventing the magic from manifesting in the Material. Due to the infinite temporal fluidity of the Ethereal Realm, the barrier exists there only at the time of the casting, and a sustained barrier cannot be made.

This spell can dispel all manner of magic, including wizardry, sorcery, Blessings, and the magic of primals.

If an attempt is made to dispel a higher tier spell, this spell will fail unless the caster empowers it with additional Will, but even this does not guarantee success.

You may over channel this spell if you suspect the effect you are dispelling is of a higher tier, this will avoid the need for a Will contest. The ritual version of this spell cannot be over-channeled.

It's odd that counter spell and dispel magic are of the Barrier Font, but I suppose it makes sense in hindsight.

What does ritual casting mean? I’m sure the answer is in here somewhere, this guy sure is thorough.

I can't honestly see any of those tier threes being useful for my immediate concerns. Counterspell would make the fight we just had much easier, but we did alright. I definitely need to learn it before death becomes more permanent for myself. I don’t expect this will be my last run-in with the Tower.

As per Dispel Magic, maybe...

"Dagmar!" I shouted, "I have a question."

"Of course you do," she groaned, but turned to listen anyway.

"Would a spell that disrupts a magical effect’s connection to the Font briefly work on the golems?"

After some contemplation she said, "No, probably not. The golems are closer to ensouled items than they are to enchantments. The soul stones inside them do most of the real magic and the runes are just enhancements that would recharge quickly after the spell."

Hopes crushed, I returned to my reading.

Tiny Hut - Tier 3 Barrier spell - v4.9

Cost: 15.2 grains of Will

Casting time: 56 seconds

Duration: 8 hours

Somatic component: Splay the fingers of a hand while keeping them in plane with the palm. Extend the hand vertical and hold it there for the duration of the casting.

Verbal Component: Bin-ha-ji-p-ch-ent-was-qi repeated at 7 second intervals, each component on a second.

Effect: Conjure a sphere of protection with a radius of 10 feet. The dome appears transparent from the inside but from the outside appears a solid color which is the most prominent color of the surroundings.

Only individuals inside the dome at its inception can pass in and out unimpeded. Anyone else will find the dome completely impenetrable.

The spell ends if the caster leaves or Dispel Magic is used on it.

I found the weird green bubble! This too could prove useful outside of these resets.

Looking through the pages upon pages of barrier spells, Tiny Hut gave a clear picture of this man's persistence. The original version of the spell cost twenty Will and took three minutes to cast, but lacked verbal and somatic components. Through this wizard's relentless efforts he significantly reduced the casting time and cost, though both still seemed high.

After reading this spell I finally flipped through the pages in search of more detail about verbal components. Eventually, I found a table of annunciation guides for the proper pronunciation and a table that outlined the timing for each word. It was incredibly detailed, and had diagrams of tongue and lip placement and postures as well as specific pitches for some of the components. Each was accompanied by small rune-like squiggles that shone white in Willsight. On cross-examination, I was able to identify these as components of the spell forms in which they were used,

How in the world does this improve spell casting?

This led down a rabbit hole of reading through indexes, in which the wizard had listed thousands of spellform components, with details on their purposes in spell construction along with small imbued spell form fragments.

Well, this will definitely be useful.

Magic Circle - Tier 3 Barrier spell - v8.2

Cost: 11.2 grains of Will

Casting time: 72 seconds

Duration: 1 hour

Somatic component: Splay the fingers of a hand while keeping them in plane with the palm. Extend the hand towards the prepared circle, as close to it as possible without crossing into it.

Verbal Component: Shi-bin-at-oh-qi-tor repeated at 6 second intervals, each component on a second.

Preparation: Inscribe a circle on the ground, up to 10 feet in radius, using any available materials. Refer to circularity tolerance chart for details on its construction.

Effect: Creates a cylinder up to 10 feet in diameter and 20 feet high that can contain a being of other-Realmly origins. This includes demons, fiends, fey and celestials as they have no connection to the Material Realm, as well as elementals which are semi-permanent manifestations of the Fonts in our own realm.

For unknown reasons, the circle is also effective against all forms of undead. Though this is contrary to the working theory as to the mechanism of its function.

Creatures summoned into the circle or present inside at the time of casting are unable to leave the circle by any means, magical or mundane. It is also extremely difficult for a creature to depart the Material Realm while inside and only the most powerful of entities have been recorded as doing so.

If the spell is cast from inside the circle, it does not restrict the travel of creatures outside the circle, but acts as a protection for the caster. Creatures outside the circle of the affected type are unable to enter the circle or affect the inside with magic of any origin.

When would I ever need this? Who would be mad enough to willingly interact with any of these creatures? I suppose the undead defense is useful, but with this casting time, it serves no practical combat application.

And that brings us to the last but certainly not least spell in the book. There is a Font, which my ethereal mind has graced, but sadly my knowledge has proved insufficient to draw upon its true wonders. That Font, of course, is Identity. I know Mend, which is of that Font, and the cantrip Polish, which is the pale, pale, imitation of my true heart’s desire. But here, in this inferior-to-you-yet-still-invaluable spellbook, I have found it.

CLEAN!

Clean - Tier 1 Identity spell

Cost: 5 grains of Will

Casting time: 5 seconds

Somatic component: Hold your hand between yourself and the target, while focusing on the object. Touch the flats of your pinkie and thumb tips together with the three remaining fingers held equidistant apart in a triangle and completely vertical.

Effect: Clean an object, removing all foreign contaminants as determined by the object's identity.

As with all identity magic, the effectiveness declines if the object is neglected for decades or was not crafted.

Unlike Mend, the effectiveness of the spell can be returned if the object is once more handled by individuals.

Overchanneling is required to clean objects larger than approximately 10 cubic feet. Will requirements generally scale linearly with surface area.

Warning: all ejected contaminants are ejected from the target. Do not cast indoors on objects of extreme filth.

Seeing the name neatly printed at the top of the page, I jumped up and cheered, unable to control my excitement.

“I found it!”

Dagmar rushed over from where she’d been inspecting Fanos’ gear.

“You found a force spell?” she asked with uncharacteristic eagerness.

“Oh, um no,” I said, flipping through the pages. “There actually doesn't seem to be one in here at all.”

“Well what did you find then?” she demanded. “And how did he cast those force darts?”

“Not yet. Those, I think, were in the wand. I’ll need to inspect it, but I have a few pages left,” I answered, hoping she didn’t press my point, to no avail.

“Well, then what got you so excited?”

“I, uh,” I paused, embarrassed at my own outburst, “I found the spell Clean.”

“Oh, well, that's useful. Go figure out how to use the wand.”

“Wait, you think that's useful?”

“Of course. Just because I wake up filthy every reset, doesn’t mean I enjoy it. Cleanliness is very important, we simply don’t always have the luxury of time. Cleanliness is important, but not as important as duty.”

At that, she walked back to her inspection.

I continued searching through the book. The wizard also had Mend and Polish, though they both used that strange somatic component, so I had no idea how similar they were to my own versions.

Once I reached the final spell, I closed the book, dejected.

Where was the force dart spell?

I walked toward Dagmar, who was still sorting through the loot, and shared the bad news.

“Hmm, then that’s what this must do,” she said, lifting the wand from the carefully arrayed magic weapons.

She thrust the wand into my chest point first.

“Figure out how to use that. It's enchanted, not runed. I have no clue how it works.”

In Dagmar’s lectures about runes, she explained that Gnomes made wands by carving runes into shafts that allowed the casting of simple spells with a simple imbuement of Will. They were less Will efficient than most spells, due to the difficulty in matching spell components to runes, but they had the benefit of being faster and more reliable under pressure. The spells were mostly limited to simple point and shoot effects like Firebolt or Shield. They often refer to them as blasting rods.

Traditional wands on the other hand are made like any other enchanted items. A spell is created that imparts the desired effect onto the item, and the enchanter experiments with materials until they find one that holds the enchantment best. Any item can be enchanted, but the effect won’t last long. Since the spells to enchant items are extremely complicated and Will intensive, it's not worth spending your whole day on an item that will lose the enchantment after a few hours. It takes an expert enchanter to match enchantments to materials, and they guard their recipes fiercely.

Since wands do not need to withstand the abuse of being swung fast and hard into armored foes, the material options available are much greater. Infusing manticore venom into a metal blade is a lot trickier than turning a manticore’s bone into a stick. Dagmar said that material properties are also critical for runed wands, though they cheat and have their Stoneweavers mold gemstones into rods.

I grabbed the wand, and rubbed my chest, the force dart attack from the today before suddenly clear in my memory.

“Okay, but if I figure it out, I get to shoot you with it.”

Dagmar considered it a moment and then said, “Fair, but then after that we are even.”