[Glorantha] My sorcery-academy project.

[Mikko Rintasaari]

Some of my questions may have seemed a bit odd, so parhaps a bit of
explanation is in order.

The inspiration for the game is in a large part Ars Magica, and in another
part Ursula Le Quinn's Earthsea books, and the magic in them. I focus a
lot on the actual mechanics and minutea of the magic, and less on the
heroic adventure painted in broad sweeps that is HeroQuest. That's why
some of my questions to here may seem very technical and even meaningless
in the HeroQuest paradigm. [Edit, another inspiration is Shek Pvar, the
magicsystem of Hârnmaster. It is rather similar to Ars Magica]

One of the most attractive features of Ars Magica is that every Magus (as
the wizards there are called) is capable of creating new and original
magic. There are 15 arts in magic, and nobody has time to be good at all
of them. You can focus on a few, and be powerful but limited in scope, or
learn a broad base of arts, but not be very powerful in any one thing.

Translating these ideas to Glorantha, the primal runes are the most
obvious way to proceed. If you want to put somebody to sleep (or heal),
you need to study Harmony and Man, if you want to learn a spell for
throwing bolts of fire you need Movement/Change and Fire. And so on.

One can improvise weak magic on the fly, but usually one uses very rigid
and specific spells that create a very specific effect. The spells vary in
power, from the first circle to the nineth and even beyond. Roughly
speaking 1-3 circle spells are fairly easy apprentice spells, 4+ are Adept
level spells (w1) and 7+ are the mark of a master (w2).

Casting spells causes fatigue, and this is why I've been trying to scope
out the various sources of power that a Gloranthan sorcerer can draw on.

This is just the bare bones of a description. For instance the opposing
Runes (Life vs. Death), and dominant element (Fire vs. Darkness) limit
each other. Not only is there a maximum total value you can have in the
opposing pair of Runes, but they also hinder each other. You can have a
balance with some Life and some Death, but focusing on just one gives you
much more power in your chosen field. Illumination (of a limited sort) is
possible, and makes handling opposing Runes easier. The various schools
and academies have different skill levels, knowledge and connections to
the Runic powers, and no school teaches all the runes. A mage can try to
learn on his/her own (without a master/books on a rune), but this is much,
much harder and slower.

The Academy in question is called the "Mages of the Indigo Circle". It's a
sorcerous academy, but one with a fairly good reputation in the city-state
they inhabit. The origin of the name is a secret, and comes from the fact
that under their main building there is a cavern of blue crystals that is
a fragment of the Blue Moon. The Mages of the Circle have a tiny blue moon
crystal embedded under the skin of their forehead, and can draw power from
the crystal cave that functions like a node (it's a weak spot with no
barrier to the essense plane). This sort of membership is only reserved to
very committed people, and the school teaches normal runic sorcery to any
student of wizardry/sorcery they do not see as a threat. More advanced
training of course requires more commitments to the school and or greater
donations.

I'm looking at the Annilla / Blue Moon RQ-stuff for inspiration on the
secret magical techniques of the school, and for the effects of having a
connection to the crystal cave. I'm thinking that the random prophecies of
Annilla are a pretty good inspiration. Propably the mages will also get a
mental flaw to represent the randomness and madness of the blue moon.

Still, prophecy and invisibility are rare things on Glorantha, and the
Blue Moon is the keeper of secrets. The Lunar magicians in the Janube area
would propably be very interested in the secrets of the school, but the
Circle has managed to keep their independence so far. Unfortunately the
heroic founder of the Circle has met with a magical accident recently and
his mind is wondering outside his body (in several fragments). This is
kept a secret by the rest of the academy, of course, but the absence of
the founder is starting to be fealt. This is where the young player
characters come in. :)

	-Adept

Thinker, dreamer and adventurer