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. Common charms include:
- Trinkets, trifling baubles marked with mundane ink that can hold a lesser spell until the end of the day;
- Sigil stones, stone or clay tablets marked with sigils in magical ink that can hold any spell until the end of the event; and
- Scrolls, paper or vellum sheets inscribed with spell vocals in magical ink 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. 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 able, with research, to create a staff, a powerful talisman invested with many spells and abilities. Every staff’s powers are different, and each staff must be invested for the individual who will wield it.
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 with allies. 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, amulets or brands. With tattoos, the subject’s body is the base, while with spell boundaries, the very ground serves the purpose.
- Medium: All invocations require a substance to convey the magic into the base. Mundane ink or powder is sufficient for short-term investments, but anything lasting longer than a day requires magically-rich inks or amalgams brewed by Alchemists.
- Inscription: The medium is applied to the base in the form of an inscription representing the magics used: 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 invocation; or anything else that indicates the intention of the investment.
- 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.
Sigilistic Invocation
For lesser investments, 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.
Sigilistic Invocation (also known as sigilism) is a powerful and versatile form of Invocation that requires knowledge of the correct combination of sigils for any given investment. Some combinations are well known; others are yet to be unlocked.
| Spell | 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 |
Two standard sigilistic investments are known to all practitioners:
- Sigil Stones: A sigil stone is an inscribed tablet of stone (or clay, wood or other material) inscribed in magic ink, holding a single spell lesser, greater or exalted spell known to the Invoker, until the end of the event.
- Spell Boundary: A spell boundary is a line or circle of powder placed on a surface or across the threshold of a doorway and invested with 9 charges of one offensive spell known to the Invoker until of the day. When anyone other than the Invoker (or a person or group of people specified by the Invoker) crosses the line, they are struck by one charge of the spell.
Other applications of Sigilism abound, with creativity and research.