SpellRelay/Flowers
The ninth theme is Flowers
Anything and everything to do with flowers.
Mocking Hand of He Who Hath Strewn Much Grass - Terrestrial Circle Sorcery -- Somori
Cost: 20 motes to cast + 5 motes for every extra 100 square feet.
The great pleasure gardens of the Realm are maintained by a great deal of hard work, in emulation of the slow growing principles of Sextes Jylis. Occasionally, however, a Dynast requires a beautiful garden in a hurry. Perhaps his has been destroyed in a foolish duel between newly Exalted children or brutally destroyed by one of his superiors to make a point. The sorcerer twists the Essence of Wood into many spectacular shapes and grows strange new varieties of flowers within a few instants. There is some little control over what exactly appears in the garden, it could be fragile and delicate flowers with a scent of the Icy North, bright purple flowers with mild hallucinogenic effects or perhaps carnivorous plants that smell of rotting flesh.
The sorcerer describes a mood he is trying for and rolls Intelligence + Craft(Gardening or Flower-Arranging) to determine the beauty of the garden. Anyone within the garden adds the sorcerers number of successes to all Social rolls that are stunted to take advantage of the mood as bonus dice.
The maintenance requirements of such a garden are huge, however, for each success gained by the sorcerer in casting a spell, 10 man-hours per day must be spent for each 100 square foot area of the garden. Each 10 man-hours of work that is not fully done degrades the number of successes by one across the whole garden. (ie, over a 200 square foot garden with 4 successes 80 man-hours of work are required, if 0-40 hours of work are done the garden rots within the day, 60-70 would leave the garden with 2 successes). Needless to say, any Dynast who creates and maintains any sizable garden using this spell is making an obvious statement of his wealth.
The Blooming Of Black Roses - Shadowlands Circle Necromancy -- Falcon
Cost: 20 motes
As he utters the words of this spell, the necromancer releases his essence into a gently churning cloud. At the conclusion of the minute-long ritual, the cloud boils away into vapour, leaving shadowy rosebushes growing across an area with a radius of (the necromancer's Essence x 10) yards. These bushes are insubstantial, but the jet-black roseheads give off a not-unpleasant musky aroma at night.
Over a number of days equal to the necromancer's Essence, the black roses leech the living essence from plants in the area and feed it to the dead. Anyone defined as 'dead' on the table on p25 of the Abyssal book (basically, ghosts and Abyssals) regains 3 motes of essence for every hour they spend in the black rose garden. The GM is free to adjust this rate of regeneration in areas of particularly sparse or heavy vegetation.
When the magic is finished, the roses dissipate into wisps of shadow and disappear. The plants in the area retain all their natural colour and appearance, but crumble to ashes at the lightest touch or in the gentlest breeze. Some maintain that, if carefully harvested, the seeds of such plants can be made into potent drugs for the living or the dead, but the truth of the matter remains unknown. The land remains as fertile as it was before the casting of the spell.
This spell only works in Creation. If cast in a Shadowland, it provides benefits only during the day, but lasts twice as long.
Alalea - Celestial Circle Sorcery -- Paincake
Cost 40 motes (10 invested) - 1 willpower - 1 Invested HL can replace the 10 motes
Alalea was the name of a beautiful flower from the full Height of the First Age, now extinct, created by a Dragon Blooded Wood Aspect named Lillia. Drift-Lily, as she was known by her friends and lovers, was famed for her beauteous creations which she lovingly spread across the majority of creation in one form or another.
This spell finds the object of the target's deepest affection and love and ties the two together irrevocably. The spell was created by the Twilight-Caste Hearkening Flower after her consort Tempestous Wind had a brief friendship with Drift-Lily while out of Flower's domain. Hearkening Flower hoped to tie the two together and prove Wind's unfaithfulness, but instead linked Drift-Lily with her beloved flowers. The Sorceress watched the young Dragon Blood live the brief life of a flower with malicious pleasure and when she died, the beautiful gardens she once tended ended with her. The word "Alalea" became synonymous with the sound of falling petals, and the original meaning was lost forever.
Treat the person afflicted with this spell as the object of their deepest affections, what or whoever they may be. Any damage taken by the object is shared, as is the object's life-span. (Abilities or powers are not shared) ST discretion is advised.
From Weeds - Labyrinth Circle necromancy -- WillCoon
Cost 30 motes
The Abyssal necromancers are known for twisting essence patterns into horrific perversions of their original shapes and functions, and it is rare that their motivations are solely utilitarian. Some small comfort may be drawn, then, from the existence of this spell.
From Weeds was created by an exceptionally talented Abyssal who had fallen in a moment of passion, and soon thereafter came to regret his second Exaltation. He longed deeply for the joys of light and beauty that he found himself denied in his ever-crumbling keep in the underworld. He missed the sun, he missed the laughter of children, he missed the scent of dew-covered rose blossoms. And yet, if he reached out for these things, death followed him. This, coupled with his fear of his master, ensured that he would never openly rebel. But still, he remembered, and the torture of his remembrance was louder than the whispers in his head, and less kind. So he began the work that eventually became this spell, studying the delicate balance of give and take within the essence of the Labyrinth circle.
The spell does simply this: drawing upon the hate-filled dreams of the deathless Neverborn and the corrosive essence of the underworld, it calls into being a small garden of real, living, beautiful flowers. They are very resilient, and will grow nearly anywhere, including in the underworld, with a bit of care.
There do not appear to be any negative side effects to this spell.
It is said that, when the creator of this spell died, his deathlord discovered his garden, and assigned a number of ghosts to keep it properly tended and unharmed.
Saffron Banner of Entropy - Void Circle necromancy -- DeathBySurfeit
Cost 50 motes
This vast enchantment's conception was no trifling matter; as a seedling within the mind of its creator, it spread like a blight within her soul. Her dull-beating heart counted the moments as measure after measure of her mind become committed to this great magic's formulation. Mortals, gods and ghosts alike were slain, the last light in their eyes inspiring her to found and tend vast fields of red crocuses that turned the soil beneath rich with the blood of those who worked to nurture their dull, primal malice. As the rusty sun set across her balcony, it finally came to fruition. This vast work of necromancy holds to the tenet that decline powers the forces of life; those souls that burn brightest burn out fastest. Its use stands testament to that ideal.
To cast this spell, the necromancer must first acquire one of the ruby crocuses used in the spell's conception. Their native habitat is unknown to all but the greatest Underworld sages, although the first enchantress maintains a perilous orchard full of them. This must be planted, alive, into fertile soil under the light of midday sun, and the vast swathes of necromantic energy committed to it in a spectacular display of bloody power. From that moment, it begins to meander and bud across all available surfaces although these secondary blooms are not hazardous like the first. It grows in this fashion until the next midday, spreading a number of miles in each direction equal to the necromancer's permanent Essence; this is the spell's area of effect. During this time, the essence used is committed to the crocus, which will thereafter glow an otherworldly red hue and rise to dim and spiteful intelligence. Severing this flower at any time will prevent the spell from working, and cause the remainder of its kin to wither and shrivel into black coils that resemble wrinkled, grasping hands.
Assuming the spell is not stopped, on the strike of high noon the sun freezes in place; as the day progresses, it ruddies but does not shift its position. At dusk, it unfolds outwards to hang as a brilliant sanguine flower, gently cascading its petals to the world below. The crocuses unfurl to meet it, and their pollen sifts in clouds of luminescent red motes around their area. Thereafter, the sequence of days progresses normally, though marked with the same bloody hue. Moving beyond the spell's area will shatter the image of the sun, which is purely illusory.
Within the spell's limits, mortal creatures are led to believe the sky really is falling; nothing can shake them of the conviction that these days are their last. All but the staunchest and most temperate will set forth to accomplish their fantasies, indulge in bacchanalia, renege on old grudges, or grow mad with fear. Unless they have a Willpower in excess of the necromancer's Essence+Occult, they will fail any Temperance checks they are required to make. The most strong-willed, Exalts and other magical creatures can dispel this notion, but it remains as an awkward intuition; the difficulty of all Temperance checks is instead increased by 1 within the spell's limits. This continues until the crocus is found and slain; the longer it is left to grow, however, the larger (and consequently more prominent) it becomes. It is tantamount to the clarity of the spell's founding principles that despite causing no direct harm, this enchantment can and has shattered entire kingdoms.
Dionaea's Eye - Solar Circle Sorcery -- Paincake
Cost 50 motes 2 Will
This spell may only be cast upon a bitter enemy who hates you as much as you hate them.
When casting this spell, it requires that a large quantity (10HL--Only 1 of which needs be yours, and 1 of which must be the target's) of blood be fed to a specially prepared predatory flower. This flower will grow fat and fell, covering an area equal to the caster's essence in square yards. It requires sufficient space to grow, and is the focii of the spell; Adamant countermagic must target this plant to dispel the magic, otherwise the countermagic merely delays the effects of the spell by its caster's Essence in months.
When cast upon an Unexalted target with two or fewer Essence than the caster, they are caught without a saving throw. (Unless the target is an Exalt, in which case they receive a saving throw of their Intelligence+Integrity, at a +2 Difficulty)
The spell's target and reality diverge upon the completion of this spell. The plant's growing heart beats in time to the victim's, and his eyes will slowly turn a swirling cacaphony of colors, green at their center. The person so beset will begin to act erratically, as the sorcery warps his mind. His friend's laughter will discomfit him, his wife's smile will be tinged with secrets. All the while, in his sleep he dreams. His dreams are filled with phantom images; a strange dance and flowering plants, and upon waking people close to him will swear to smelling exotic perfumes on his breath. He cannot remember his dreams, only the mesmerizing eyes, leading him he knows not where.
Meanwhile his friends may or may not have noticed his growing eccentricities. Their voiced concerns bite like malicious criticisms and he becomes paranoid and withdrawn. Close friends are cast away as their schemes are more and more apparent to his eyes, and he must spend willpower to act in any way counter to his new reticence each scene. His dreams grow more intense; a heady forest populated by nightmares with the faces of his friends, and only the eyes lead him down safe paths.
Imagine walking down a path in utter darkness with only a ghostly pair of eyes leading you; unable to look to either side. The path you walk is a plant's tendril, and it hangs in a high emptiness; surrounded only distantly by others of its kind. They lead only to a gaping, alien maw that whispers ceaselessly. What words it whispers none can say, for it speaks only the language of madness.
Should the character spend a year and a day in this state, he will be permanently altered, and only the affects of Solar Circle Sorcery can hope to reverse the effects. His mood swings are by now violent and predictable, and his actions will go against his nature. He will celebrate victory when he has partaken of a small defeat, and more obvious defeats will send him into a confused, impotent rage. His mind will become a playground of inconstancy and he will literally see the world as a new thing. His dreams walk as life, and the walls of his home will be painted with nightmares. People's faces will twist to his sight and he will have lengthy discourses on his favorite subjects, but the words that leave his mouth will have no meaning. The cruelty is in the final duality of the spell; in the end he becomes aware of his own state. His despair grows as he remembers his old glories, and suicide is not beyond him. Should he die in this state the hideous plant, now fully grown, will swell and burst in a glorious blaze of light. Within it will lie a cold lump of solid coal; the virtues and mental acuity once associated with their owner, twisted away from him by dark sorcery. As he dies witnesses will swear to have viewed a massive green-toothed maw closing over his body and wrenching his spirit away, and the lingering afterimage of a pair of seductive eyes will burn in their minds for days.
Comments
Ooooh Daaaaarrrllooooooth, where aaaareee youooo? =D I assume you've got an idea cooking, since this *was* your thread in the relay, sirrah. =D I can hardly contain my enthusiasm. - Paincake
if you want a horizontal rule, it's ---- (that's four minus signs put togeather) at the start of the line. I'm eagerly awaiting someone starting off the relay, but it's not good manners to add something for the start of it myself since I finished off the old one. I got to choose the theme after all, so it's only fair to let someone else decide where it's initially going to go. It makes more sense for charm / MA relay where the first charm can often dictate the feel of the rest of the tree, but there you go.
-- Darloth
Since you're waiting, I'll jump in with one of my first spells. More of a fluff spell, but there's only so many combat spells one person can read... -- Somori
- I agree! Great spell. - Issaru
Oh, poo. What's wrong with combat? Then again, there's combat, and then there's Combat.. Really nice spell, sirrah. i hope you all like my Dionaea (Flytrap) spell, it was my girlfriend's idea. (her idea was better four days ago, before sleep caused my mind to fudge her idea. My followthrough on it wasn't too great either. =\ Hope you all like anyway. -- NOTE, I WITHDREW THE SUGGESTION AS IS. CHANGING TO REPRESENT ORIGINAL IDEA. It may not suit the flower theme afterwards, thus, withdrawn. =) Cheers! - Paincake
- The thing with combat is that it can get boring. There's only so many times you can read the phrase "does x damage", I learnt this after playing D&D for most of the last three-four years. The spell chapter in there is so damn *boring* -- Somori
I hope you put it somewhere else. It was cool, although it didn't particularly fit the theme amazingly well, no.
-- Darloth
Thanks for the props, sir! =D I liked the spawn of a great idea and my musings I created, but it wasn't quite what I was after. Maybe the original will come to me soon. - Paincake
How do you like the new spell? - Paincake
- I like the idea and it could be a very cool thing to use in play. I'm not too sure on the actual effects though, does it work any physical changes or changes to the Anima of Exalted targets? Any psychological effects like making the two sides of the binding think alike? Currently it looks like it's just a way to damage someone by hurting someone close to them. Oh, and is all of this two way? -- Somori who actually wants this idea to work, despite all the questions
Well, the truth is, since I almost never use dice in my own campaigns, I have a very foggy idea of what's ok to do with such and such motes, etc. I don't actually know if its even fair for the spell to do what it does, at its current cost. I also don't have Savant&Sorcerer on hand, I bought most of the books with a friend and he ended up keeping them all. (LOL I've actually kept the one he bought by himself, the DB book) Otherwise, I would add things here and there. Mostly, it was for others to cast upon the player, not the other way around. The health level commitment was to show an actual physical level of investment into hating the afflicted target. Any suggestions? Paincake Who plays it by ear.. most of the time.
- Hmm, ok, since you asked for help. 40 motes to kill someone as a Celestial spell? Sounds fair so long as there is a roughly even chance of surviving it. You can play off the idea of hate and love as essence flows and use those to act as a conduit. Limiting targets to beings the caster hates with a passion (reasonable or not, so long as it's a strong emotion) would mean that your players aren't using it as a spell to assassinate all their enemies. It wouldn't be appropriate for competitive metagamers of course.
- You effectively have three actors in this spell, the caster, the target and the targets beloved. The caster making a roll of Intelligence+Occult vs. the Essence scores of the target and the beloved (objects/non-sentient creatures add nothing) seems like it's the balanced thing. The number of successes would determine the time it takes for the spell to take full effect (1=5 years,2=5 months,3=5 weeks,4=5 days,5=5 turns,6+=Instant). Over this period, the target and the beloved will both accumulate mutation points at a rate so that they will die from over-mutation at the end of the period. If the target recieves mutation points from any other effect the points from this spell overwrite those other mutations (in an order of the ST's choosing). These mutations represent all the changes being done to both people to make them more like each other and when the spell ends both the target and their beloved will be the same hybrid of both the original beings. This spell is useless against Lunars. A Fair Folk may use a Cup Dodge to avoid this effect whilst in the Wyld and will receieve it's Essence in automatic successes if it makes the attempt.
- Err, braindumped. I will need to fix that description to make it clearer later. But my lunchbreak is over soon. -- Somori hopes that you won't be too offended at me rewriting your idea...
- I think you're not quite getting the original intent of the spell right. You're discussing an actual mutation process that turns one thing into another (or a hybrid) which to me doesn't seem like the author's intent. In my opinion, this is much more a binding of destiny effect, where when I take damage, you take damage (that is, if I love you) and when you die, I die. Hence, if a Solar Dawn caste is unlucky enough to love a simple mortal, and this spell takes effect (and isn't countermagicked), the Dawn Caste's life expectancy has just dropped to maybe 50 years. Even weirder, when said Dawn caste takes 11 levels of damage, and would normally ignore it due to his 5 Ox-Bodys, his poor love just took 11 damage as well, and unless equally resilient, will perish - taking the Dawn caste with them. Also, the idea of hates is a fun one. I like the foil of your hatred binding their love to an unreasonably high level. -- GreenLantern
- Kinda. I read the goal as magically screwing with a hated person unto death by linking them deeply to what they love most. This is Celestial Circle, the province of Amalgamation of Monsters so I wrote some gross-effect mechanics which easily support the fluff. Even if Pain doesn't like my interpretation of his idea, I hope it inspires him to create a bigger and more involved effect for what he has. -- Somori
I am looking into rewriting my idea, along fleshier lines. (as in, fleshing out, not mutations.) Thanks for the help though. The current incarnation is just what I need to fit this theme. The Flowers theme is aptly met; if a Solar loves a mortal, their love will end in sorrow. If they love a friend or ally, or their love is an equal, their peril is all too real. Worry will engulf the pair. It is a spell for love's torture, a spell with a sad origin in an innocent girl whose heart belonged to her creations and a petty tyrant-sorceress. The mechanics of the effect are little to me, and all I want help with. How do I make it legal, and flavorful, without over/underpowering it? - Paincake
- stops in mid-flow* So you definitely want to leave it as a damage copier? In that case all you really need to do is mention that it commits the Health Level and a not-insignificant amount of Essence (5-10) or the Willpower. -- Somori who can get carried away when he thinks he has a good idea
Eee, I'd love to chip in, but the only idea I have is Void-circle in scope. I'm terrible like that. Anyone have a Labyrinth effect they want to submit, or should I soldier on and submit it anyway? ...DeathBySurfeit
- Here you go. No idea if this is of the right level/cost, metaphysically speaking, but... ~WillCoon
- Oooh, I'd have placed that one as a Shadowlands jobbie myself, but then who am I to complain? At least I have hazy justification for posting now. Hope it's worth bugging you so! Feedback remains as delightfully welcome as ever...DeathBySurfeit
- Your Jack-Vance-Fu is strong - Dasmen Vanishes into the depths of the earth.
- Am I missing a reference here?...DeathBySurfeit
- You mean it was unintentional? "The Dying Earth" (a series by Jack Vance - very important refence in roleplaying in some ways because its the source of 'fire-and-forget) is a world under a dying, red, sun. No one knows how much time is left, weither a centery or a day, and so it has degenerated into a place without converction, without morals, and without restrant. Your spell, with its red sun effect and how it make people behave basicly turns a little peice of wherever into a copy of the Dying Earth. Dasmen Who is too amused by such an obvious Jack Vance reference being pure chance to leave in a niffty way.
- That was entirely unintentional, yep. Small world, huh? ...DeathBySurfeit
- Drat. I got distracted by a birthday party and someone posted to fill the Labyrinth spot. Oh well, to see what could have been,look here.-Ambisinister who is finally finished moving into his new place and can waste time again
Wow, I really like your style WillCoon. That was a classy spell you crafted. I feel like it is certainly within rights a Labyrinth-Circle Necromancy, because it takes a complex weaving of evil magic to produce something benign like flowers. =) Keep up the wizardry, sirrah. I like the red pall you throw down DeathBySurfeit, it is pleasantly horrific. I only have one question, regarding whether there is an exact area of effect. - Paincake
- Glad you liked it! And it has a radius equal to the necromancer's permanent Essence in miles; this was insinuated, but on re-reading it could definately do with some clarification. And it's got some now. Thanks for bringing that one to my attention...DeathBySurfeit
Elegantly done. Like I said, a horrible fate for the afflicted population. I believe you get to choose the next theme, DeathBySurfeit =D. You posted the first Void/Solar circle spell, I suggest you think up a new theme and as soon as a Solar entry is delivered to us here we can begin on it. (I trust this is the actual ruling?) - Paincake
- Thanks, and I'm not sure quite what the actual ruling is. Someone care to clarify? I'll have a nifty theme ready nevertheless, though...DeathBySurfeit
- Ah, according to the description in CrunchRelay, our sixth poster chooses the next theme. Never mind, though; with the number of spells I throw out, my choice will come about sooner or later...DeathBySurfeit
How was it for my refined Dionaea spell? I hope it actually works.. I can take it down a different road if necessary. Please, let me know. I'm also thinking of the next theme, and I hope you'll like it. - Paincake
I think for the next theme, Ruination. - Paincake
The Dionaea is pretty nice... but... what in the nine hells did you DO to the page?! It looked like it ended/started halfway down or something. I think I've got most of it. I used an old revision from SpellRelay and edited your stuff in manually, just to be sure something hadn't been overwritten. Also, you had extra brackets. I like your stuff, but more organization of how you write it down and minimization of collateral damage would be much appreciated.
On to actual comments on the spell, though, what's the saving throw for first edition(perhaps Endurance? Perhaps not.) and what's the saving through for an unexalted target with essence higher than or equal to the caster? (Essence 5 dragonkings, spirits, elementals, and weird behemoth-travesties all fall into this catagory). A few mechanical suggestions might be useful, although I do agree that a spell like this should be left mostly vague, but perhaps better guidelines as to initial effects and how fast they grow would be good. Finally, I can't interpret: "Their concern bites with their doubts" - is it a typo or just some meaning I'm not familiar with?
-- Darloth
