Invocation

Invocation is the art of charging an object with magic, allowing it to be later used to cast a specific spell, or to use a damage call or some other magical ability. Much of the time, invocation is a collaboration, combining the efforts of a crafter, an alchemist and a magician. The various Invocation skills grant knowledge of several rites.

Using Invocation Items

Invocation items always have a limited number of charges and a duration. Once all charges are used, or the duration expires, the invocation fades and the item is destroyed. Invocation items cannot be recharged or extended.

Using an item created by invocation follows all the same rules as casting a spell, except that the user requires neither the Invocation skill nor knowledge of the spell magics invested in it, and doesn’t spend their own magic points.

Charged items can be activated in any level of armour.

Invocation Items

There are two types of invocation item.

Charms

Charms are simple investments holding 1 charge of one spell. Investing these requires knowledge of the skill Charm Invocation. Common charms include:

• Trinkets, trifling baubles marked with mundane ink and invested with the Invest Trinket rite, that can hold a lesser spell until the end of the day;
• Sigil stones, stone or clay tablets marked with sigils in magical ink and invested with the Invest Stone rite, that can hold any spell until the end of the event; and
• Scrolls, paper or vellum sheets inscribed with spell vocals in magical ink and invested with the Invest Scroll rite, that can hold any spell for a year.

Talismans

Talismans are more complex invocations inlaid with symbols in magical alloy and invested to hold 9 charges of one spell for one year. Investing talismans requires knowledge of the skill Talisman Invocation and uses the Invest Talisman rite. Common types of talisman include:

• Amulets, items of jewellery invested to hold personal, defensive or information spells;
• Brands, weapons invested to inflict magical damage; and
• Wands, short batons invested to hold ranged spells.

The greatest of invokers are said to be able to create a staff, a powerful talisman invested with many spells and abilities. Every staff’s powers are different, and requires considerable research and investment.

Tattoos Tattoos made with magical ink can be invested with the same rites used to invest charms and talismans. This has the advantage that a tattoo cannot be lost or stolen, although in turn it cannot be shared around; only the recipient of the tattoo can use it. Specific mechanics for tattoos are given in the description for each rite.

Investment

There are typically four parts to an invocation. The description of each rite details its specific requirements.

• Base: Invocation items are usually crafted things, like scrolls, stones, wands, jewellery or weapons. With tattoos, the subject’s body is the base.

• Medium: All invocations require a magically-rich substance to convey the magic into the base. Mundane ink or powder is sufficient for an investment lasting no longer than a day, but anything longer than that requires magical inks or amalgams brewed by alchemists.

• Inscription: The medium is applied to the base in the form of an inscription representing the magics used: this could be the name (or full vocal component) of the spell; a symbol, pattern or colour representing the spell; the name or image of a god the invoker associates with the spell; or anything else that indicates the intention of the investment. It is not necessary to use sigils for most items (except sigil stones), but invokers who master the sigils can unlock greater power and versatility through further research.

• Rite: The investment itself takes the form of a rite; many invokers inscribe the base as part of the rite, although the inscription can be applied separately beforehand and merely invested in the rite. The standard rites are as listed below.

Invocation Rites

Rite
Invest Scroll
Invest Stone
Invest Talisman
Invest Trinket

Sigilistic Invocation

For all standard investments other than sigil stones, any representation of the magics invoked will suffice as an inscription; but to unlock the full potential of invocation, the magician must use the sigils, the ancient language of symbols discovered by the fae at the dawn of creation.

To inscribe a sigil stone – or any invocation item one wishes to invest using the sigils – requires the correct combination of sigils for any given investment. Some combinations are well known; others are yet to be unlocked.

Spell	Names of Sigils	Sigils
Aura of Defence	Elemental, War, Mastery
Fear	Spirit, War
Fumble	Corporeal, Corruption
Lesser Healing	Corporeal, Creation
Mend	Elemental, Artifice
Paralysis	Corporeal, Solid, Stasis
Repel	Elemental, Movement
Sleep	Spirit, Mastery, Stasis
Spirit Reading	Spirit, Hope

Once an invoker has identified the correct combination of sigils to represent the spell itself, further research can find sigils to enhance the investment: adding multiple charges, increasing the duration of the spell, triggering automatically when the inscription is broken or touched, altering the spell’s effects or even devising new effects entirely. Some sigils will require more than the standard amount of ink, or even require special inks that require separate research.