Conjuration

I noticed then a true wonder from the corner of my eye that did verily Amaze and Awe me. The Lady Elizabeth, all glowing in a heavenly light, was striding forth and quite suddenly appeared to be no longer striding but floating towards us, her bosoms heaving.

As suddenly as this was noticed, the aura fantastic was gone and the Lady was standing there, as before, with no sign of the trick remaining. Yet whilst I remember it, I cannot believe that it was not real.
– Francis Delotte writing of his master the conjuror Lady Elizabeth Stocke.

Conjurers are the jacks-of-all-trade and combine the various ideas of all the different schools. They can't summon powerful beings or turn lead into gold, but they can create illusions, affect weather locally and most importantly, find and capture tokens.

A conjurer has two types of spell available - the base and the advanced. The base spells are the staple of the conjuration diet and will be the most used simply by virtue of being quicker to prepare and use. Advanced spells are more complicated and powerful (usually in their coverage and range rather than starting to make people explode). Spells also vary in the way that they are cast: several spells are instantaneous and are applied during the ritual; others are only prepared during the ritual and are memorised, to be activated at the conjurer's will. Then there are spells which could be either, depending on what the conjurer needs!

A normal conjurer can memorise 2 base and 1 advanced spells at a time (alternatively 3 base and no advanced), but this can be increased with the relevant quirks.

Conjuration is only school of magic in which you can create your own spells.

Conjuration allows one to cast a range of different spells, useful in many situations.

A conjurer can prepare several spells and cast them at any time they desire, to escape from peril or in direct contact with their target.

Conjurers are instrumental in finding some of the rarer tokens required for advanced Sorcery, Theurgy and Witchcraft spells and are likely to be the first port of call for the practicioners of those magics - they can derive profit from this. Of course, they should also have few problems in attaining the tokens they need for their own spells.

Conjurers have access to a set of very minor spells that can be used with little preparation to create a very small illusion (perhaps to win favour with a difficult child) or make rain avoid them slightly during a storm.

The major advantage of a conjurer is their ability to create entirely new or vastly improved spells. Across the centuries many conjurers have come up with tomes and tomes of different and varied spells suited to almost every single minor situation out here. The most common or similar spells have become the norm for tutorship at the various magical colleges. Once in the world however, conjurers will start to build up a small collection of their own personalised and specific spells. In recent decades the trend has been towards spells adapted for use in the new water environment and many classic spells have been heavily influenced by these demands.

There are two ways to create new spells - Fabrication and Advancement. The former allows creation of entirely new base spells in the format of the other spells. This is done in consultation with a GM who will be able to help you adjust AP cost and arrange for a suitable token (this will be a modification of players' ideas as much as possible). Advancement is the combination of two base spells you already know to create a more powerful spell combining the effects or slightly altering them. This is also done in consultation with the GM but there will be less modification needed as it is straightforward.

Create spells cost 4AP.

You create an entirely new spell. Similar ones may exist in the world, but they will require a lot more time to research, learn and master than making it up again on your own. Theoretically any spell you care to make can be added to the game world, obviously keeping in line with the original spells presented below. You can't create an Armageddon world-destroying spell, or one that permanently changes your skin into a metal-like substance, but you could probably create something like a fireball or enchant your cape to be impervious to explosions for a day or two.

What you need -

The spell's effect; whether it is instant or has to be commited to memory or both; what ritual and token it requires; its AP cost; the name of the spell.

Advanced spells are created simply by combining two spells and working out the effect. The actual effect of the spell may not be limited to one thing and may in fact have multiple effects that the conjurer can affect by the way that they cast them. You simply need to state the two spells you wish to combine and describe the primary (main and obvious) effect that you believe it should have.

Two examples of advanced spells that the conjurers will have available to them:

Maximilian's Magnificent Light (combining Illuminatio and Awe): This spell has been used to create extreme illusions that can fill a whole town square. Alternatively it can be used to turn night to day in a small area.

Cost: 4AP Token: an isolated image and sunlight

The Undrowning (combining Stasis and Hydrisolation): The spell has been recently developed after decades of work by Lord Archibald Devinsdair, a one-time student of the Milton Academy. It is a combination of Stasis and Isolation (technically Hydrisolation) which allows sunken land to be made useabla gain. Lord Devinsdair has since performed the spell successfully but one or two times creating a mile square of dry land beneath the waves (he took the opportunity to stroll through his former castle and manor that was taken by the flood).

The effect seems to last for at least two months and could almost certainly be stretched.

Cost: 4AP Token: earth, sand or stone from the land you wish to affect burned by alchemical or draconic fire

Conjurers have access to a set of very minor spells that can be used with little preparation to create a very small illusion (perhaps to win favour with a difficult child) or make rain avoid them slightly in a storm. These can be used for small effects, mostly to impress people or little - they are rarely of use for actually properly affecting things. They cost no AP in turnsheeting - one small trick can be attached to every action of 2AP or more that you do. In court, these can also be occasionally used, if you try to attempt something innovative and original, check with a GM first.

Awe allows the conjurer to create wonderful images and sounds to amaze or terrify. They can create a fantastic display of fireworks and lights or conjure up the image of a terrifying dragon complete with roaring and bellowing. Alternatively it can be used as a distraction, to tempt guards away from their posts and slip in unseen.

Cost: 1AP. Larger and more complicated illusions may require 2AP to be taken seriously (consult with a GM if you are not sure).

Ritual: The conjurer lights several candles and reads the incantation over the token before burning it. With the picture - it's ashes are rubbed into the temples while with the images or sounds the container (heated) is brought to the temples. The conjurer can then shape an image or sound in the next week - the illusion can be kept up for approximately half an hour if required, or less if it's a more striking or powerful one.

Token: Either a picture recovered from the oceans or an isolated image or sound.

Similar to the Awe spell, uproar is designed to trick the sense of others, in this case, in a dramatic way. It can be used to inspire, anger, demoralise a group of people for a short while. Occasionally conjurers have been known to use this spell in battle to lift the spirit of their troops or push them to acts of heroism.

Cost: 1AP

Ritual: the cloth is sewn into a larger piece while an incantation is read and then covered in myrrh. The conjurer crumples the cloth in his hand while the last part of the incantation is read and the myrrh is drained. The conjurer is then ready to cast the spell in his own time.

Token: cloth from a ship's sail.

The spell can be used to make the conjurer look like a non-specific individual of either sex, altering their features and disguising them. The spell usually lasts for twelve hours, but its length can be increased with additional AP.

Cost: 1AP

Ritual: the tobacco is placed in water and heated to boiling point while the incantation is read. The steam is inhaled by the conjurer and remains of the tobacco are chewed. The water is (when a little cooler) splashed on the face. The effect is immediate.

Token: a handful of smoked tobacco

A more powerful form of the Fair and Outward Form spell. It allows the conjurer to disguise them as a specific individual (NPC or PC) for a limited amount of time. In certain circumstances the illusion may be easier to detect - such as when in the area of effect of 'Cry God for Harry'. It usually lasts for approximately 5 hours but can be lengthened with extra AP.

Please note that it is illegal to wear another's image in the Archipelago of Albion

Cost: 2AP

Ritual: the personal item is placed in the centre of a circle of candles and the incantations are read. Wax from the candles is then dripped on the item to cover it and the incantation is finished, as the wax hardens it is washed away with hot water and the token uncovered to be touched to the conjurer's face. The effect is then immediate.

Token: an item belonging to the target that has touched their face (such as a handkerchief or pipe)

This spell is very popular since it can make something invisible for a short while (usually no more than 24 hours) hiding the item entirely from view. The largest thing that has been made invisible was a cow and conjurers have been unable to much improve on this, believing that the spell itself is not powerful enough. The item can still be identified by touch, smell, or if it is heard (this is how the cow's position was determined to prevent it escaping).

Cost: 2AP

Ritual: The crushed diamonds are placed in a small glass or saucer of water and then the incantation is begun. After it is complete the water is agitated and sprinkled on the item to be made invisible.

Token: crushed diamonds

The Lodestone spell allows a conjurer to find things. This is a useful spell for finding tokens, but even more useful for finding sunken treasure and other curiosities of the Deep. It can only be used once per casting.

Cost: 1AP

Ritual: The conjurer applies the mark of scrying onto his/her palm with a knife and lets the blood drip onto the mirror while reading the incantation. Once the incantation is finished the conjurer presses the hand with the mark to the mirror surface and asks for the directions to the desired object - the blood on the mirror will then point in the direction of whatever the conjurer is looking for. Note that unless the PC has some way to heal this mark, they must physrep a bandaged, gloved or marked hand during the next Court meeting.

Token: A mirror polished with a priest's cassock.

Please Note: Just because Lodestone can point you towards something does not mean you will automatically achieve it with only the AP requirement of casting the spell. This spell could, for example, reliably point you to the precise location of London's buried wealth; it will not do anything about the facts that 1. it is deep under water and then under some bricks or earth, 2. It's guarded by sea-lions, 3. Aaaaah fucking sea-lions.

Statis allows the conjurer to preserve the state of an object for some time. This can be used to keep razor-blades sharp, milk fresh or, technically, walls standing. The latter of course will be far more difficult as the spell is worn down by things attempting to change its state - while it can resist the powers of bacteria, or your stubble, it has more trouble with cannon balls or gunpowder. The razor-blade can be kept sharp for months, the wall is likely to lose it's enchantment after an explosion (i.e. it will resist that explosion with the spell, but the next explosion will directly affect it).

Cost: 1AP

Ritual: the gold rubbed on the table in a clockwise direction while the incantation is read and then hit several times with a hammer. The gold nugget is then covered with something and concealed by the conjurer. The spell is then ready to be used at any time the conjurer desires.

Token: a nugget of gold unfashioned (i.e. it has not been made into jewlery)

The spell of Isolation was quickly adapted to explore the deep seas that are now everywhere. It is usually used for parting water since it is able to turn it viscous and partially solid. It is relatively common now for Conjurers to be hired so that treasure-hunters can 'dig water'.

It is possible to use the spell to keep oneself in a bubble of air or some contraption linked to that. Unfortunately the Conjurers who experimented with this sadly die a lot of the time before they manage to make it back up and disappear beneath the waves - nodoby is quite sure why.

Cost: 2AP

Ritual: the conjurer prepares the Hydrisolation procedure by touching what he is to manipulate. The incantation is read over what he is to manipulate and the token is burned and the ashes scattered.

Token: something that belonged to an island hermit (such hermits usually inhabit very small islands all by themselves)

Developed originally by Alexandro Magnifico for the purpose of shooting pennies out of a fountain and causing them to explode in a shower of fireworks, the spell has since been revised and adapted by Albion conjurers for a more important task. Exaqua allows one to raise up treasure from beneath the sea and transport it onto land or a suitable vehicle (i.e. bathyscaphe). This of course requires knowing where exactly the object is (and roughly what it is), or what exactly the object is (and roughly where) - sadly occasional vagueness and a poor supply of information have resulted in terrible accidents. The bathyscaphe of Sir William Nighlock, Conjurer Gentleman, was found by his colleagues to contain the dead Conjurer togeher with a terrible angry and cramped squid. Sadly the golden squid statuette was never recovered.

Cost: 2AP

Ritual: the token is placed in a dish of sea-water and the incantation read, salt is sprinkled over the token and a lead cover placed over the vessel. A lone candle is lit and the next part of the incantation read, the whereabouts and details of the object are read aloud and in the conjurer's mind at the appropriate moment. The dish is bound and the spell ready for use. This specific spell can then be activated at any time by the conjurer by completing the incantation near the location of the item and smashing the vessel (the small one with the lead cover, not the dinghy your are in).

Token: the nails of a man saved from drowning (exprimentation has revealed that the presence of the conjurer during the drowning and rescue leads to the token being made almost useless), Conjurers have been known to perform this ritual using a minor Franzberg device. While they survived and indeed attained the item they sought from the depths they lost the power of speech and the ability to eat anything green.

The conjurer can create localised weather effects - hail, sunlight, fog, anything that nature produces. This will usually affect about twenty or so square metres though effect can be increased with AP.

Cost: 2AP

Ritual: chips are removed from the weather vane and scattered in a circle. The weather vane is placed in the middle and the following are applied to its four parts - fire (it is warmed by a candle), air (blown on), earth (rubbed with dirt) and water (sprinkled with some) while the incantation is read. The spell can then be used by the conjurer at any desired time.

Token: an unrusted weather vane

Creates a strong source of sunlight in any one point. This can be kept up for a long time depending on strength (as a 'lantern' this can be kept up for about twelve hours). Occasionally it can be used to create a very small fire or heat something to extreme temperatures for just a few seconds - perhaps to melt a lock.

Cost: 1-2AP

Ritual: the conjurer reads the incantation while bathing his hands in water then in oil and finally in the sunlight. If he lets them dry naturally then the source of light or heat would be his own hands, but if a specific object is held in the hands while they dry then that object becomes the source. The spell can be used at any time the conjurer desires.

Token: sunlight