Well, I guess they'd count as the kind of designated enemy people love to see foiled. It certainly makes for a more plausible Nastybad Empire, anyway.
I was thinking about the magic stuff some more today myself, and came up with some possibilities relating to the shape of an array:
- - -
Linear arrays tend to produce a directional effect, obviously enough, whether a sudden burst like an attack spell, a more sustained but still tightly focused effect like a magical tool or communications device, etc. They're the simplest form of spell, that nearly anyone who puts any effort into it can learn to create well enough to generally achieve the intended effect, though of course accuracy in the inscription and skill in using it is still the difference between success and costly, possibly dangerous failure.
Circles are the next step up in difficulty, and tend to produce effects with a strongly defined edge around a defined volume, making them better for defensive or many industrial processes. Magic that lasts longer than the caster actively conentrats on it almost always involves a circle, as energy cintinues to flow around and around the spell pattern until it bleeds away. Not only must the individual characters be inscribed as accurately as for a linear spell, they must also be spaced perfectly around the perimeter and flow seamlessly in keeping with the logic of the spell when it reaches the beginning point again. The edge of teh effect is also typically at least twice as strong as the interior, which can be intentionally reinforced via a double circle that puts a second layer with a reversed boundary just inside the first, this being the basic principle behind combat shield spells.
For an area effect that is dense and uniform thourghout much of its volume before startign to fade or in more energetic applications flare and trail off at the egdes, you need a cruciform spell, Two lines crossing once will do, and is the peak of what all but the most learned or talented can achieve, as the difficulty of balancing each segment of each line rises quickly, and the intersection point must always be a single character that fits into both spells.
For a simple cross, regular polygon, or small, regular lattice (hashtags and so on are in this category as well) that's not so bad - four and lately nine intersection illusions have become popular both as projected for a crowd or in smaller form as ornaments in the homes of lords with more money than sense - but star-form spell inscriptions are the mark of a master, and producing a safe and functional pentacle unaided is the typical masterwork required to qualify for the rank. Adding a circle-form spell around the outside is also common unless harshly pressed for time or mana, to provide protection in case the inscription is faulty or becomes damaged later, and one few casters will begrudge the extra expense to have.
Theoretically, following this logic, point spells should exist and be even simpler, but a single character used as a focus for a caster's concentration instead acts like a linear spell, for reasons that nearly every mage will have a different idea about. Most boil down to either the act of reading the symbol predisposing the caster to think of it as being directional, the material or lines forming it actually making it directional regardless of intent or clarity of focus, or the minimal physical anchor leaving it susceptible to influence by the normally negligible ambient magical energy in the environment. Attempts to circumvent this effect usually end in explosions or the caster learning to work without a physical focus at all, which some take to mean that a mind, will, or soul is the only point-class spell, having no form, size, or other measurable characteristic save for a location and the ability to shape mana. Whatever the truth may be, the gods are at best vague and more commonly silent on such matters even to their most favored, with the rare exceptions who claim to have received enlightenment either unable or unwilling to share any more detail.
- - -
So?
I was thinking about the magic stuff some more today myself, and came up with some possibilities relating to the shape of an array:
- - -
Linear arrays tend to produce a directional effect, obviously enough, whether a sudden burst like an attack spell, a more sustained but still tightly focused effect like a magical tool or communications device, etc. They're the simplest form of spell, that nearly anyone who puts any effort into it can learn to create well enough to generally achieve the intended effect, though of course accuracy in the inscription and skill in using it is still the difference between success and costly, possibly dangerous failure.
Circles are the next step up in difficulty, and tend to produce effects with a strongly defined edge around a defined volume, making them better for defensive or many industrial processes. Magic that lasts longer than the caster actively conentrats on it almost always involves a circle, as energy cintinues to flow around and around the spell pattern until it bleeds away. Not only must the individual characters be inscribed as accurately as for a linear spell, they must also be spaced perfectly around the perimeter and flow seamlessly in keeping with the logic of the spell when it reaches the beginning point again. The edge of teh effect is also typically at least twice as strong as the interior, which can be intentionally reinforced via a double circle that puts a second layer with a reversed boundary just inside the first, this being the basic principle behind combat shield spells.
For an area effect that is dense and uniform thourghout much of its volume before startign to fade or in more energetic applications flare and trail off at the egdes, you need a cruciform spell, Two lines crossing once will do, and is the peak of what all but the most learned or talented can achieve, as the difficulty of balancing each segment of each line rises quickly, and the intersection point must always be a single character that fits into both spells.
For a simple cross, regular polygon, or small, regular lattice (hashtags and so on are in this category as well) that's not so bad - four and lately nine intersection illusions have become popular both as projected for a crowd or in smaller form as ornaments in the homes of lords with more money than sense - but star-form spell inscriptions are the mark of a master, and producing a safe and functional pentacle unaided is the typical masterwork required to qualify for the rank. Adding a circle-form spell around the outside is also common unless harshly pressed for time or mana, to provide protection in case the inscription is faulty or becomes damaged later, and one few casters will begrudge the extra expense to have.
Theoretically, following this logic, point spells should exist and be even simpler, but a single character used as a focus for a caster's concentration instead acts like a linear spell, for reasons that nearly every mage will have a different idea about. Most boil down to either the act of reading the symbol predisposing the caster to think of it as being directional, the material or lines forming it actually making it directional regardless of intent or clarity of focus, or the minimal physical anchor leaving it susceptible to influence by the normally negligible ambient magical energy in the environment. Attempts to circumvent this effect usually end in explosions or the caster learning to work without a physical focus at all, which some take to mean that a mind, will, or soul is the only point-class spell, having no form, size, or other measurable characteristic save for a location and the ability to shape mana. Whatever the truth may be, the gods are at best vague and more commonly silent on such matters even to their most favored, with the rare exceptions who claim to have received enlightenment either unable or unwilling to share any more detail.
- - -
So?
--
‎noli esse culus
‎noli esse culus