Sigil: City of Doors

On an anti-peak like many others before it, something seemingly ordinary occurred that soon would be revealed to be rather extraordinary. A new portal appeared an hour before anti-peak underneath one of the small bridges connecting Khazeet's famous watering hole with the rest of the Grand Bazaar.

Most bashers didn't pay this new portal much mind, or even notice its existence, until a tall Jann with a resplendent white beard and purple turban emerged from it and began putting up flyers all across the ward. The flyers bear the mark of Boccob the Uncaring, Lord of All Magics and Archmages, and contains the following text:


Greetings one and all,

A portal connecting the great City of Doors with the Library of Lore has been formed, and Lord Boccob estimates that its stability will be maintained for two months time. These two months offer the wizards and sorcerers of this city a glorious opportunity.

For the next two months, any arcane practitioner who can demonstrate their magical abilities, will have access to the Library of Lore and its magical laboratories. For what purpose, you ask? For the research and development of new arcane spells of the ninth circle and below.

Each mage choosing to take advantage of this opportunity may submit their research, experiments and theories for review by the Archmage of the Gods himself. At the end of this period, Lord Boccob will choose a single spell developed in this way to promote across the planes of existence, with the proud caster's name attached to its title.

May Boccob bless your enterprise.

----

((OOC Instructions and Rules))

Anyone playing a Wizard or Sorcerer of any level may post replies to this thread detailing their research, experimentation and overall RP surrounding the creation of a new arcane spell. (No, no warlocks at this juncture) I will choose what I believe to be the best RPed research and cleverest spell, and submit it to our Builders and Admins for approval. The idea of this thread is to spur creativity and reward such with the honor of joining the ranks of Mordenkainen, Melf, and others whose names are known across the multiverse for their spells.

Again, wizards and sorcerers of any level who are interested should try this out. This is not going to be a situation where the PC with the highest Lore and Spellcraft automatically wins. Creativity is key!

You MUST read the following rules before posting, however, as any posts not conforming to these rules WILL be deleted:

1) Each post must begin by listing the following information:
-PC Name
-Arcane Class Levels (Wizard, Sorcerer, Bard, Red Wizard, ASC) (Mystic Theurge, Arcane Trickster, Pale Master, and Eldritch Knight only count if already possessing levels in the previously named classes)
-Base Lore and Spellcraft skill ranks

2) You may NOT reply to another character's post or research unless specifically invited to by that poster. You may NOT RP interfering with or sabotaging another's research. No matter how clever your character is, Boccob is cleverer and might very well take all of your casting abilities for such an affront.

3) Spell ideas must be original, and they must be arcane. No copying cleric or druid spells and explaining them as arcane; such projects will NOT be considered. Proposed spells may, of course, be inspired by or drawn from source books.

4) Damage dice, DCs, Spell Level and Durations will be decided upon by our builders with consultation from our Admins. The final results of this decision process will not be up for debate, but rest assured that we will try to keep to the creator's intentions as much as practicality will allow.

5) IMPORTANT: Spells MUST be feasible, and reasonable. Our current spells should provide you with a good idea as to what is and is not possible with our current scripting skill-sets and the game's hardcoded engine. If you have an idea, but are not sure whether we could possibly manage it, please PM me and I'll pass your query along to our builders. By reasonable, I mean don't expect to invent a spell dealing 100d6 damage unless you've invented one hell of a drawback.

If I feel your project is veering in a direction that is not feasible or reasonable, I will post IC responses to your research to accordingly steer you on track. Otherwise you are expected to post of your own initiative.

6) One project per poster. You may make multiple posts (and are encouraged to do so), but stick to one idea.

7) Don't make any spells you don't want your character's name attached to. If you want to make a super evil spell, be prepared for everyone to know that you created it, and all the RP that goes with that.

If this meets with success and good RP, a thread much like this one will appear again in the future, giving more people a shot at fame and recognition among their spell-slinging peers.

I look forward to seeing what all you come up with!

((You made bards cry by not listing them as arcane casters))

((OOC))

Bards will be considered.

(( Eldritch Knights too, I hope? Since they have to be Wizards, Sorcerers or Bards in
the first place. ))

((OOC))

Yes, Eldritch Knight levels are considered legitimate Sorcerer or Wizard levels. The original post has been updated to reflect this.

-Mareth Ravenlocke
-Sorcerer 6 / Arcane Scholar 3 / Eldritch Knight 3
--Total Effective Caster Level: 15th (11 + Practiced Spellcaster)
-15 base Lore / 15 base Spellcraft

Mareth, ever intrigued by the flyers she can't help but see, makes her way to the Great
Bazaar, and thus, to the aforementioned portal. The shimmering gate opens to her simple
presence, as though the magick within her is, itself, the portal's key.

'Perhaps this was what was meant by 'those who can demonstrate their magickal abilities?''
she muses, as she steps through into the resplendent Library of Lore.

As her gaze sweeps over the myriad tomes and writings, Mareth can't help but feel giddy
with excitement at the opportunities promised! To create a spell and be recognized worthy
of joining the likes of Melf and Mordenkainen, whose arcane creations can be found in the
repertoires of magicians even on Golarion, though her home prime knows not the names
of their illustrious authors? That would be to her, of the same importance as a cleric might
consider sainthood.

And she knows exactly what manner of spell she wants to work toward, too, one that will
solve a particularly thorny problem she's been encountering in her trips into the planes: the
fact that she cannot both close the gap between herself and her foes and initiate an attack
with the same casting. To this end, Mareth would attempt to develop a spell that transforms
the caster into a lightning bolt and back again, allowing her to strike down from above and
hit her foes hard and fast.

After performing whatever registrations may be required to participate in this spell creation
contest, Mareth wanders off to peruse the shelves, looking for whatever resources she can
find on a few specific topics:

The schools of Evocation, Conjuration, and Transmutation in general. Lightning magick. The
Teleportation and Polymorph subschools. Specific spells of interest to her research include
the Elemental Orb spells, Arc Lightning, and Dimension Door, though information on similar
spells of any kind are also welcome.

'The first step,' muses Mareth, poring through her findings, '...is to figure out how I might
~become~ a lightning bolt, rather than simply evoking or conjuring one. Perhaps it's a wee
bit like polymorphing into an elemental?'


(( OOC question: Are there testing facilities in the Library? Safe rooms where Mareth can go
to test some of her ideas in an environment where she won't hurt anyone or break anything?
She's a Ghaele, so she herself is immune to electricity. She doesn't fear mishaps where her
own health is concerned. ))

Z'ssadra Tharress
Wizard 16 / Arcane Scholar 10
29 Lore Ranks / 29 Spellcraft Ranks (Higher with Skill focus Spellcraft)

Once Z'ssadra hears of the contest she finally leaves the comfort of the room she has been staying in, courtesy of her quite advanced skill in bartering and appraising for some decently well off silk-trader in the Lady's Ward. The Yuan-ti stretches languidly and seeks out the portal, stepping through almost eagerly for what has become quite a lazy woman.

She starts by flipping through her own notes, already deep into the theory of which she wants to devise, a spell which would ideally be halfway between Color Spray and Prismatic Spray. Something to confound her foes upon casting, leaving them unable to pursue her should she wish to do so in a dazzling display.

Her notes lead her to stroll through the library, seeking out even deeper knowledges on Prismatic Spray, Color Spray, and an assortment of other spells. After a deep moment of introspection she settles on Fear, Confusion, Hiss of Sleep, Deep Slumber, Cause Blindness/Deafness, Cloud of Bewilderment, Daze, and for good measure Orb of Fire.

Throughout the next month, she seeks out a way to extract the essences of each of those spells, seeking to combine them into a chaotic burst of colors that would leave any caught in the cone to be subject to its' effects at random. Any unlucky enough to be on the receiving end of the spell could come out with a small number of the afflictions at random, though none would ever be harmed physically.

(( Ideally, the spell would be 5th level, but that may prove to be too low for the spell. It would work much like Prismatic Spray without the damage or chance at instantly lethal effects, the seven chosen effects being Fear, Confusion, Stun, Daze, Blind, Deaf, and Sleep. However many can be in effect at once is obviously up to discretion, but 1 to 2 or 1 to 3 would be nice. ))

((OOC))

Yes, the Library of Lore holds many laboratories and testing chambers of all manner of shape, size, and construction. Feel free to RP using whatever sort of facility is conducive to your RP.

-Mareth Ravenlocke
-Sorcerer 6 / Arcane Scholar 3 / Eldritch Knight 3
--Total Effective Caster Level: 15th (11 + Practiced Spellcaster)
-15 base Lore / 15 base Spellcraft


In her wanderings, Mareth comes upon an empty room, insulated with rubber walls.
A quartet of conductive copper coils graces the four corners of this space. The sign
over the door reads 'Lightning Laboratory.'


"Perfect." she whispers, closing the door behind her and taking confident strides
to the centre of the room. Mareth closes her eyes and raises her arms out to her
sides in a slow, flowing gesture, like a dancer taking position for the start of her
performance. As her hands climb higher into the air beside her, she can feel the
magick, brushing on her fingertips in varying types of energy.

Mareth knows when she's struck lightning, as the Mantle of Air and Darkness on her
forehead, the source of her sorcery, emits a faint glow, as small tendrils of crackling
violet electricity play upon her fingertips. At that moment, she flips her hands
palm-up in a quick, jerking motion, clawing her long, slender fingers around threads
of energy that she can only sense, and not see.

The coils of copper wire in the corners of the room erupt into a dazzling display of
purple electric current, as Mareth tugs and redirects those channels of energy into
the metallic emplacements, charging them with an ever-growing amount of current.
Finally, when the coils seem about to melt from the heat of conduction, she jerks her
hands toward herself, causing impressive arcs of lightning to cross the distance from
the coils, through the air on primed pathways, and into her own body!

Mareth's lengthy raven hair sticks out in all directions, held rigid by the current that
flows through her. It's been a while since the last time Mareth's been struck by
lightning this intense, before the unfortunate mishap which threw her magick out of
sorts. Before she was so unceremoniously swept up into a portal and deposited in
Sigil, back when she used to fly amidst the thunderheads whenever there was a
storm. Back when she used to be able to fly at all. The entire room fills with the
smell of ozone, as the memories of home come flooding over her, both the pleasant
and the dreadful.

As the coils grow dim and cool, Mareth remains brimming with electric current,
guided and controlled to run a circuit through her bones, prevented from escape
through sheer force of will. Electricity takes the path of least resistance, after all. For
a sorceress, that path is often shaped as much by her will as it is by the medium of
conduction.

For a time, she simply lets the current run its course, feeling out its quirks. The path
it takes, the direction it goes, the feeling of what would be certain death for the
average mortal, reduced by her heritage to a pleasant, full-body tingling sensation --
almost therapeutic for her. After a while, though, she begins to get a sense of what
it will do, learns to start predicting it by intuition.

And then she tries to become part of that current. With a voice like rolling thunder,
Mareth gives voice to whatever verbal spell components feel right at the time. Her
fingers move through the air in a chaotic flow of positions and symbols which carry no
meaning outside of the emotions they invoke in her. She commits this working of the
arcane to the intent of shifting and melding her form with the pre-existing electricity
coursing through her, using it as a model for what she hopes to become, all the while
keeping an image in her mind of what form she has naturally. This image is present,
but separate, there to be called upon for reference when she wants to change back, if
her experiment succeeds.

-Drualtha D'lil Everhate
-Wizard 12/Eldritch Knight 10
-Total effective caster level- 25 (Practiced caster)
-30 base lore, 30 base spellcraft

Coming forth from the underground lair she'd been using for a makeshift laboratory, Drualtha would emerge back into what Sigil calls "Daylight". Her own opinions on Deities notwithstanding, her own studies hitting a wall she'd decide she had nothing left to lose.

Her experiments are focused on nothing less than total transmutation;the ability to turn a thing from one state permanently to another-beyond polymorph spells; the power to create and alter living and unliving matter on a scale previously unseen. She would theorize that proper use of transmutation taken to its logical conclusion could heal the sick and wounded by altering them to eliminate the illness or injury, to create verdant fields from wastelands, to turn lead to gold,or clay,or squirrels. To undo inflicted transformations,such as the Drider curse, to change the type of a being, or to turn fire to ice, or air to water. In short,mastery of the elements and of biology.

She's working to expand upon the workings she's already learned..polymorph self, shapechange, and the might and terrifying Mass Fowl. Armed with a book reclaimed from an ancient Dracolich detailing theories on how to transmute humans to Dragons, she would find herself in a laboratory every bit as eclectic as her own increasingly unhinged psyche...complete with living and unliving test subjects. Remembering her experiments on a human she would start with chickens.
Yes,she'd muse...Dragon chickens. A place to start,to prove her theories. To prove that it was not SHE who was mad..but that SHE was the only one sane enough to see the potential for how things COULD be.
Dragon Chickens first. Then the Worlds.

(Most likely this would be research of a 9th level spell, not unlike Wish, but focused upon the changing or restoring of things)