Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Magical Item - Returning arrows

Recall that pesky tendency for arrows to get lost in the bush? Wouldn't it be nice to recall them magically back to your quiver? Well here are some magical arrows that do exactly this. Return when called upon.

First step, we need a recall phrase, something simple like "return to me now". Doesn't get that much obvious than this. Then we need to have our trusty magic user translate it to proper incantation.

revertetur ad me nunc

Now comes the tricky part, the magic. To enchant the arrow the magic user must bestow some magical effect upon it and make it stay there. The magic power must also come from some willing source, and in the case so some less scrupulous magic user, from a source less capable of escaping said fate.

In Era magic items require power points to operate. Namely Q'ort points which are the equivalent of mana. These power points need to be drawn from the user and stored in the arrow. Every character in Era has magic power points to a greater or lesser degree. Magic users just know how to channel this power into spells. They take this power during rituals and use it to enchant items like the arrows.

For this incantation the magic user will draw 2 Q'ort points from the to be user (or some other source, aka sacrifice) and store them in the arrow. These points are drawn permanently until the arrow is destroyed. So the user doesn't have those points available at a later time (unless a less scrupulous source is used). If the arrows are lost they would signify an issue of lost points unless more magic is used to restore or "remotely destroy" the arrow.

To enchant the arrow the magic user engraves the phrase "revertetur ad me nunc" on the arrow like this:


This process is repeated for each arrow to be made magical and each arrow costs the owner 2 Q'ort points. Once the ritual is completed the arrows may be recalled by speaking the phrase "revertetur ad me nunc". This will consume 1 additional Q'ort point from the owner and will bring the arrow flying back to the quiver. This additional point is a temporary loss and will be recovered at the character's Q'ort recovery rate. The arrow must be able to fly directly back to the owner. An obstacle such as a door that closes will prevent this, even if there is a way around it through some passage. Arrows can't solve puzzles and won't be able to "navigate" back to the owner beyond simple line of sight.

A more advanced version of the spell will allow teleporting the arrows back to the quiver, but this should cost more Q'ort to enchant and to use. This is left to the GM to determine, a suggested value is 3 Q'ort points to enchant and 4 to use.

PS: all characters may increase their Q'ort points over time through training. The rate of progression is set during character generation and it is based on initial attribute assignments.

Thank's +Jason Fritz for the comment that inspired this magical item.

Runic translator http://www.bmeijer.com/fun_stuff/runic_translator/index.html

Image http://lb-digital.deviantart.com/art/Magical-arrow-283986185

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