From: wsb1@dolphin.upenn.edu (Bill Brickman)
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 1995 13:57:52 -0400 (EDT)
Mike, we were talking (til all hours of the night, it seemed) last night, and we came up with a list of spells no covenant, especially a Spring covenant, should be without-- and guess what covenant doesn't have 'em? Basically, it's hard to spontaneously do some of the most basic things: Finding out how much vis you have, finding auras, etc-- the levels needed are too high. However, if these spells, which are so damn standard as to be common as dirt, are written down in a readable form, then anyone with the text can cast them, as per "Text Casting" Rules.
I am suggesting a retcon, before next session, that Vasha's pater, Vatic (a.k.a. Vaticanatus), had several such spells in a grimoire he left for Vasha, intending that Vasha would learn them on his own time so Vasha could find vis sources, auras, etc. You see, with running the shop and all, Vatic didn't have that much time to teach Vasha, thus Vasha's "Stingy Master" flaw, but always intended to leave Vasha well trained.
Here's the list (minus Aegis of the Hearth, which the covenant has written down in some book.):
InVi15 Scales of the Magical Weight -- Utterly necessarily, and hard to spont due to its level, this is the spell used to determine how much vis is in an object.
InVi20 Perceive the Magical Scent -- Unless you have someone with "Magical Sensitivity", an Exceptional Talent, you have no way of finding an aura unless you walk into it and cast. Yes, people often feel odd in strong auras, etc, but it's hard to nail down if it's an aura or not. Casting a couple spells will tell a mage if he's in an aura, but won't help him "douse" for auras. This spell helps track down far off vis sources, magical objects, auras, basically everything.
MuVi 15 Gather the Essense of the Beast -- In some beasties, and some vis sources, the vis comes prepackaged. In others, it doesn't. For instance, a magical stream might have pawns of vis in it, but not necessarily 1 pawn in every glass you pull out of it. You have to gather the essense of the vis into a portion of the object, so you can pull it out, e.g. concentrating the vis in the spring into a glass which you pull out, or focusing the magic of a boar into one of its tusks, which you can then carry around much more easily than a whole boar. Note, this spell focuses all the vis into a single chunk-- there is no way with finesse to "split" it, according to most thought on the subject.
Those are the *most* necessary spells. Here are some other "really really good ideas":
InMe 25 Thoughts Within Babble -- The all-purpose language spell. The makers of the game set it at a high level to make people want to learn languages, which is fine, when you have something to go on, but often times, you don't. This spell is generally out of sponting level (excepting magi like Asid), so having a travelling scroll version is very nice.
CrTe 25 Wall of Protecting Stone -- The easiest way to build stone walls, five pawns of Terram plus this spell, and you can build a really good wall. The kind of wall you need around mage's labs, a thick, strong wall, that's all one piece, and so better than most built walls. Five pawns may be a bit much, but the "inst" duration is much better for building, don't you think?
Anyway, these are the "travelling" spells of the Order, and with them, a mage can do much better on vis hunts, starting off a covenant, etc. Smart magi starting new lives at remote sites should definitely take the season to copy themselves a mobile version, if not just taking the season to learn 'em.
As Lydia pointed out, this kind of stuff should really, really, be down somewhere, at least in the FAQ of the list.
Bill