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2007b6.jpg
Apple Dreamer
2007b6
Reloading spells takes Azarthraine another hour of preparatory meditation, then fifteen minutes for the actual reading and ritual. He's got one 8th circle slot, which will have to go toward renewing the Mind Blank on Bulgruf every day until either some method for extending it's 24-hour duration becomes available, or you're willing to risk multiple loads of spells in unsustainably rapid succession. (With military discipline, two loads per day are permissible for up to a week, under exigent conditions, with close medical supervision and other duties kept to a minimum; three is possible at least in theory, but there's no credible record, anywhere in the lineage of Zelkor's predecessors and all their students, of anyone managing even as much as five full spell loads inside two days and then being actively useful for much of anything else within the next year or more.)
Two seventh-circle spell slots, each of which could hold Control Undead, Reorient Gravity (currently affects a bit more than 500 cubic yards per casting and lasts at least fifteen minutes, or longer duration across a smaller area; arbitrarily shapeable in theory, but edges flow like soap bubbles), Prismatic Spray (a very versatile technique, albeit unpredictable, and a key part of the combo he used to destroy Aaban Bonegnasher), or a 6th circle or lower spell with slack for enhancements - so far he's been using those for Supreme Disintegration.
Three 6th circle slots. Apart from Supreme Disintegration, notes include an analytical effect that should be able to puzzle out all the nuances of any enchanted item or magical trap (a dozen or more such targets per casting, though using it properly requires several hundred gold worth of occult lenses and other portable lab equipment). There's a bundled set of 'artificial haunting' techniques for rapidly locking down a building, mostly useful if there are inadequate troops available to defend it more conventionally; that one also requires some material support not immediately available, though there are better prospects for field-expedient improvisation. As for spells that could actually be used today, there's Greater Eldritch Conduit, which doesn't do much by itself but allows other spells to be cast through tenuous arcane links, and Whip of Ants which (apart from it's obvious combat uses) can be applied to earthworks, or retrieval of items from narrow crevices. The summoned ants can even chew through stone, though not in any sort of hurry. After his hand got stuck in that hole in the wall, Azarthraine had been planning to rest up and prepare that spell, but some slime-beast approached, he broke his arm struggling, and... well, you know how all that turned out.
Five 5th circle slots. In addition to Transmute Iron to Lead/Lead to Iron, there's a modular set of curse components, Dance of the Unicorn (produces a soft, cleansing mist over at least a twenty-yard radius, decontaminating exposed surfaces and removing smoke or noxious gas from the air), Lesser Planar Binding (could in principle be set up anywhere with a smooth dry floor, a bit of chalk, and ten minutes of sketching, but proper safety requires elaborate laboratory conditions), a trick for distorting space to effectively create a 75' deep pit on any flat surface even if it's nowhere near that thick, diagnostic/maintenance kit for golemetry (benefits from the same portable lab equipment as the more general 6th circle analytic spell, but high-level queries or crude overrides are possible barehanded), and the ever-popular Sending (25 words or a single image delivered to any reasonably familiar individual, reaches anywhere in the same realm of existence and sometimes beyond, telepathic packet includes capacity for a similar-sized reply).
Five 4th circle slots. Among the spells he fully memorized, the only 4th circle one is Illusory Wall (which is actually permanent). The finished spells in his research notes back that far are mostly brutally practical techniques prototyped during the Rhestmere Incursion: quick-summonable monsters, armor enchantment to keep moving when the wearer is incapacitated, a forty foot wide inferno that (mostly) spares any allies caught within, anchor to block teleportation (important supplement to a planar binding diagram).
Five third-circle spell slots. From the fully memorized stuff, there's Deep Slumber (doesn't work on elves, but knocks out a whole room full of almost anything else with a brain, so hard they can't be awoken by loud noises or shaking; sometimes even effective on intelligent undead), Locate Object, and Gemstone To Clothing Of Equivalent Or Lesser Value. From his notes, the overarching theme is early experiments on time manipulation: Haste for combat advantage, Pup Shape to temporarily revert animals or magical beasts to a cute and mostly harmless childhood form, Sundered Serpent Coil which was the failed product of a deeper inquiry into the origin of life (but turned out to be decently useful as an area-denial weapon, or temporary restraints), and the disappointingly literal Shifting Sands. Vengeful Comets and narrow-radius portable wards are available as defensive measures. An inverted ward must be included in any remotely serious attempt at Lesser Planar Binding, as the 'trap.'
Ten second-circle slots, thanks to a tattoo that somehow carried over when he reincarnated. In addition to the fully-memorized Knock (unfastens up to two locks per casting, including temporary suppression of magical locks) there's the very unpleasant Fleshcurdle (another crucial part of the combo used on Aaban Bonegnasher), Fox's Cunning, and Lesser Angelic Aspect. Azarthraine was somewhat distracted from proper study back at that point in his career by efforts at shorter-term self-perfection, and romantic aspirations which ended in tragedy. Don't ask.
Six 1st circle slots, though often he'd use those for a wider repertoire of minor effects. In addition to the fully-memorized Color Spray (harmless but intensely distracting, inspiration for that 7th circle Prismatic effect), there's an overnight camp-ward optimized for detecting invisible intruders, a technique for propping up inadequate tools at the expense of personal vitality (like Greater Eldritch Conduit, it's only useful in support of other spells), and Snapdragon Fireworks which is a civilian-grade Magic Missile variant (bright lights and loud noises, scatters very distinctive alchemical and aura traces all over, adequate for self-defense or signaling, mostly useful for entertainment).
Far too many minor spells to list. Any trivial effect he doesn't already have in complete form could probably be hacked together in a few hours from portions of other known-stable formulae.
Even with actual geas held in abeyance, though, that creature which asked Bulgruf to retrieve Azarthraine's spellbook might be planning to follow up somehow. It seemed quite a bit smarter than the average pig.
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