Post by Malefact on Oct 10, 2003 6:49:00 GMT -5
[ModNote: Continued from Teacher...]
Until the arrival of the official tutor, I shall forward this lesson. Should they wish it to be removed in favour of their own course, that's fine by me. I don't know how they have defined the syllabus so I shall approximate it as best I can.
So, the Art Of Spellcasting!
Firstly, we need to define what a spell is. A spell is a means of focusing magic with the intent of causing an event. The event can be anything we choose. The formation of spells is outside the scope of this course, however. We shall concentrate on the delivery of spells that have already been formed.
The spell itself has no real substance, nor can it be directly addressed. Instead, it is referred to my means of an alias. The alias usually takes the form of a word or incantation. We shall begin by looking at the word form.
Take a very simple spell, like POP. Casting is the act of activating the magic to cause the event. The magic itself has already been configured to cause the event. Spellcasting is the act of triggering it.
A spell is casted by spellcasting. The process is thus:
(1) Call out in a loud, clear voice: "spellcasting!"
(2) Spell out the alias, letter for letter, from the order of first-written to last-written. Do not make any mistakes.
When the last letter is announced, the spell will usually activate. There are, however, potential problems:
Suppose you have the spells FREE and FREEZE. Suppose you are in the process of spellcasting FREEZE. Surely having delivered the first four letters, the FREE spell will activate instead? That is not the case. If there is ambiguity, the spell will not be activated. This failsafe is built into all ready-made spells - a practise all mages should honour.
However, what if you wish to activate FREE? It will not activate because there will be ambiguity between whether you refer to FREE or FREEZE, in which case the latter spell will be waiting for the last two letters to be announced.
How can this be overcome? Simple - use of the index finger or wand. Raise the finger or wand when the final letter is being called, usually pointing at the intended target of the spell (if the target is yourself, novices should touch their forehead instead). This is the accepted physical phrasing to signify the end of the sequence of letters.
So, to spellcast FREE instead of FREEZE:
(1) "Spellcasting!..."
(2) "F...R...E..."
(3) *point at target*
(4) "E!"
The spell will activate as required.
Until the arrival of the official tutor, I shall forward this lesson. Should they wish it to be removed in favour of their own course, that's fine by me. I don't know how they have defined the syllabus so I shall approximate it as best I can.
So, the Art Of Spellcasting!
Firstly, we need to define what a spell is. A spell is a means of focusing magic with the intent of causing an event. The event can be anything we choose. The formation of spells is outside the scope of this course, however. We shall concentrate on the delivery of spells that have already been formed.
The spell itself has no real substance, nor can it be directly addressed. Instead, it is referred to my means of an alias. The alias usually takes the form of a word or incantation. We shall begin by looking at the word form.
Take a very simple spell, like POP. Casting is the act of activating the magic to cause the event. The magic itself has already been configured to cause the event. Spellcasting is the act of triggering it.
A spell is casted by spellcasting. The process is thus:
(1) Call out in a loud, clear voice: "spellcasting!"
(2) Spell out the alias, letter for letter, from the order of first-written to last-written. Do not make any mistakes.
When the last letter is announced, the spell will usually activate. There are, however, potential problems:
Suppose you have the spells FREE and FREEZE. Suppose you are in the process of spellcasting FREEZE. Surely having delivered the first four letters, the FREE spell will activate instead? That is not the case. If there is ambiguity, the spell will not be activated. This failsafe is built into all ready-made spells - a practise all mages should honour.
However, what if you wish to activate FREE? It will not activate because there will be ambiguity between whether you refer to FREE or FREEZE, in which case the latter spell will be waiting for the last two letters to be announced.
How can this be overcome? Simple - use of the index finger or wand. Raise the finger or wand when the final letter is being called, usually pointing at the intended target of the spell (if the target is yourself, novices should touch their forehead instead). This is the accepted physical phrasing to signify the end of the sequence of letters.
So, to spellcast FREE instead of FREEZE:
(1) "Spellcasting!..."
(2) "F...R...E..."
(3) *point at target*
(4) "E!"
The spell will activate as required.
