More of a skill than a spell, Runistics can use little to no Rigen from the Runic Writer, depending on what the purpose of the Rune is. Runistics has many capabilities, from allowing other Spells and their Rigen costs to be stored and carried for use at a later time with little to no time costs, or for protections Spells to be placed outside of a Caster’s body, onto others creatures or even buildings. The possibilities are endless.

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Rigen flows through the atmosphere and living creatures in unique ways. Most Spells require the conversion of Rigen in its natural bonded or unbonded state to form the Spell being cast. With Runistics, the Rigen is converted prior to casting, thus eliminating the time it would take a Caster to cast the spell. The creation of instant Spells is not only extremely powerful, but also expensive, and so Runic Writers can make a very good living off the skill.

Runes serve as a conduit for Rigen that can serve multiple functions. Its primary function is to focus the flow of Rigen in its different forms. Not only does this reduce casting time, but it also prevents the waste of Rigen that often occurs with lower skilled Casters. Runes also create a more stable ‘environment’ for Rigen, and so the risk of many Spells are lessened or even mitigated.

Another use of Runes is to store Rigen in a specific state to be used later. This way a Runic Writer can store their own, or a clients, Rigen, wait for their personal Spellpool to regenerate and then have their entire Spellpool at the ready, plus the Rigen that is stored in the Rune, putting them at a Rigenic advantage in high Rigen use situations.

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Mediums and Material

Runes can be made on nearly any material available, and each has their own risks and advantages. Delicate mediums, such as parchment or glass are more likely to become damaged after the use of a Spell stored in the Rune on its surface, but also allow the Rune to be carried easily on its lightweight material. Stone and wood have more defense against the power of the Rune, making them less likely to break and allow for more than one use of the Rune inscribed on them, but their large size and weight make it a bad choice for long term travel. At lower levels the medium is almost guaranteed to be somewhat damaged, if not completely destroyed after the first casting of a spell off its Rune, but higher levels are more adept at storing the Rigen and therefore the Rune has a higher chance of being used more than once.

Medium	Examples	Maximum Number Of Uses
Pliable	Parchment, Canvass, Paint, Cloth	1
Sturdy*	Leather, Wood, Crystals, Soft Metals	3
Dense*	Stone, Ivory, Gems, Hard Metals	5

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Creating Runes

Runes have five different components in their images that each serve different purposes. All of these components can be used in a single Rune, creating a complex Rune that has a better chance for the Medium to survive, and is more effective for casting complicated or advanced spells. But only the first component, the Glyph, is required.

• Glyph: Serves as the focal point where Rigen activates or changes to generate a desired spell or effect. Runistics can employ more than one glyph at a time.
• Pathway: What guides the flow of Rigen through the Rune. Allows for a more stable casting as the Rigen stored in the Rune has specific directions to follow. Improper creation of pathways, however, can create an opposite effect and put the caster at high risk of injury and backfire.
• Repressor: Similar to a pathway except they prevent the Rigen from flowing out of the medium. Most often representing a circle or other geometric shape that surrounds the rest of the Runistic components. A repressor assists pathways to make them more stable, but also is a cruicial component for Runes that are planned to be used more than once on a single charge. This is a very advanced component.
• Divarication: Used when a flow of Rigen needs to be split or merged along a pathway. Often required when more than one glyph is in use or when Paramancy is expected. Can merge two different effects in a spell. This is an extremely advanced component.
• Prompt: What specifies the requirement for activation. Can be a trigger word or a situational condition such as “A blood moon”. This component allows for the casting of a Spell contained within a Rune to be activated without the need for a Caster.

Every Caster has their own unique way of forming a rune. There are a few widely shared methods that Casters may base their designs off of. This allows for another Caster to possibly decipher the details of another Caster’s rune. Popular methods include geometrics, hieroglyphs, logograms, and ideograms.

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Embedding Spells

Once a Rune is created it initially has no Rigen stored within it. A Runic Writer then has a few options on what to do with the Rune next. One option is simply selling the empty Rune to someone who can fill it themselves. The most common option, though, is filling the Rune with a Spell – either themselves or with the help of another Caster.

While nearly any spell can be stored in a Rune, the Spell in question cannot be added by the Runic Writer if they themselves do not have any skill points in the Spell. If the Runic Writer has skill in a Spell then they can store the Spell in the Rune without any outside help. However this is often not the case, so the Runic Writer must find someone who is skilled in the Spell they seek and employ them to help fill the Rune.

Someone with skill in Runistics must be there to aid in the embedding process. Meaning that a Caster cannot fill an empty Rune on their own if they do not have skill in Runistics. Additionally, even if they did, its extremely difficult to fill a Rune written by another Caster, but the original writer can teach them how, and would have to teach how each different Rune can be filled.

The Runic Writer and the Caster then work together in filling the Rune, with the Caster calling forth their Rigen and beginning to form the Spell, and the Runic Writer helping to guide the Rigen properly into the Rune. At completion they have a Rune filled with one use of the Spell. Storing Rigen that has not been formed into a Spell is possible as well, however, only the Caster that gave the Rigen is able to make use of it later as the Rigen was bonded to them. The only other Casters that can utilize a Rigen storing Rune that was filled by someone else, is someone with Siphonics knowledge.

There are ways, through use of components, to fill a Rune with multiple uses of a Spell without needing to refill, but this is a higher level technique. Most Runes, when emptied of their stored Spell, can be refilled as long as the medium is not too badly damaged. Refilling an empty Rune can only be done by a Caster that knows both Runistics and the spell that was originally stored within the Rune.

It is also possible for another Runic Writer to fill or refill a Rune they did not create. It is more difficult and since each Rune is so unique to the original creator, the risk of backfire increases.

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Prerequisites

Casters must have a good understanding of Rigen and the way it tends to naturally react with an environment. Before any points can be earned in Runistics a Caster must be at least an Expert in Rigenology.

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Initial Learning

Runistics requires an instructor to show what patterns can be used to manipulate the flow of Rigen, as well as explain the five components of Runistics. The instructor must be at least an Expert in the skill.

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Skill Levels

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Apprentice

With the help of an instructor, the Runic Writer learns about each of the five components for forming their Runes, but cannot, yet, use all five effectively in a Rune. Glyphs, Pathways, and Prompts are usually a Caster’s focus at this stage. Prompts are limited to simple triggers. Apprentices are focused on learning to contain spells into a medium, often a scroll, but can only store apprentice level spells. A majority of their attempts are bound to be unsuccessful as they attempt to discover their own style. Their style is likely to be heavily influenced by their instructor’s. Runes that are solely for storing unused Rigen can hold a maximum of 5 spellpool points, which can only be used by the Caster that supplied them.

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Journeyman

Casters have found a style that they favor and are fine tuning it to work better. They are capable of containing Journeyman quality spells in their mediums. Under the guidance of the instructor, a Caster starts learning how to use Runistics to make their spells more efficient. This potentially could be expanding on the uses of Pathways and learning how to use Repressors. A Journeyman is able to create a Rune that is able to reduce the final spell cost (not spell base cost) of any Personal Rigen spell by 2 points, and reduce the final Atmopool costs of any Harnessed Rigen spell by 4 points, to a minimum of 5 points. Runes that are solely for storing unused Rigen can hold a maximum of 10 spellpool points , which can only be used by the Caster that supplied them .

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Expert

A Caster now has established their own style of forming runes and is expanding on their complexities. Experts now can create more specific Prompts to include situational conditions such as “when the sun sets” or “when someone steps on this”. The Expert level spells can now be stored in mediums safely. An Expert Runistics Caster is able to gain an extra use out of all types of Mediums before they are destroyed from use. In addition, an Expert is able to generate a Rune using only the Pathway and Divarication components, which allow Expert and lower level spells to be cast through a focus at reduced costs. Runes can now reduce the final spell cost of Personal Rigen spells by 4 points, and final Atmopool costs of Harnessed Rigen spells by 6 points, to a minimum of 5 points. Experts also learn how to incorporate Divarications into their Runes, completing thier knowledge of all 5 components, and allowing the ability to incorporate Paramancy into their Runes. Runes that are solely for storing unused Rigen can hold a maximum of 15 spellpool points, which can only be used by the Caster that supplied them.

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Master

The complexity of a Master’s runes is boundless. Master level spells can now be stored in mediums safely. Runes can contain more than a single spell effect regardless of whether Paramancy is being used or not. With this level of mastery a Caster with Runistics is now able to create their own enchanting lab equipment. A Master Runistics Caster is able to gain a total of two extra uses out of all types of Mediums before they are destroyed from use. Runes can now reduce the final spell cost of Personal Rigen spells by 6 points, and final Atmopool costs of Harnessed Rigen spells by 8 points, to a minimum of 5 points. Runes that are solely for storing unused Rigen can hold a maximum of 20 spellpool points, which can only be used by the Caster that supplied them.

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100 Points

A Caster with 100 skill points in Runistics is able to perform legendary accomplishments. The Caster is now able to etch runes into objects in ways that do not risk the health of the medium upon casting. Pliable Mediums designed by a level 100 Caster gain three extra uses before they are destroyed from use. Sturdy Mediums designed by a level 100 Caster gain an extra five uses before they are destroyed from use. Dense Mediums designed by a level 100 Caster can be used almost unlimitedly, so long as the Caster pays close attention to its maintenance and the condition of all Runistic Components it has. Runes can now store level 100 spells safely. Runes can now reduce the final spell cost of Personal Rigen spells by 8 points, and final Atmopool costs of Harnessed Rigen spells by 10 points, to a minimum of 5 points. Runes that are solely for storing unused Rigen can hold a maximum of 25 spellpool points, which can only be used by the Caster that supplied them.

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Cost

Runistic’s cost is more financial as it eventually serves as a way to reduce the Rigen cost of spells. Supplies must be constantly refreshed, see the Price List for the costs of parchment and ink, or other materials you character would prefer to use.

The table below shows how many Personal Spellpool or Atmopool points can be reduced per use of a created rune. For example if a Journeyman Rune is infused with an Apprentice Hydromancy spell, then casting the Spell within the Rune would cost the base amount of Spellpool points listed on the Hydromancy page minus 2 points, and the base amount of Atmopool points minus 4 points. However these results must not go below 5 points.

Initally embedding the Spell into the Rune would cost the Caster half the base amount of Rigen normally required to cast the Spell.

Runistic Level	Cost Reductions (Personal/Atmo)
Apprentice	N/A
Journeyman	-2 / -4 (Min 5)
Expert	-4 / -6 (Min 5)
Master	-6 / -8 (Min 5)
100	-8 / -10 (Min 5)

When the Caster chooses to create enchanting lab equipment, the financial cost to create is equal to half of the Price List value.

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Risks

The application of Runistics is a medium level risk. Even with a lot of experience, it is difficult to tell if the Rune has enough repressors to contain a spell, or if a mistake was made in the layout of the pathways. Violent combustion, misfires, and backfires are always possible, even to a Master with 100 skill points. Such risks include the Caster being the target of a harmful spell, the spell becoming warped into something completely different, Rigen turning volatile and severely injuring people nearby, or the medium combusts and starts a Rigen induced fire.

An option, and not a requirement for solo/social threading, for those that want to add a little spontaneity to their writing, is they could Roll in Siliren’s Discord server Dice Channel to see if they experience a mishap. The table below is a suggestive guideline, and can be ignored or adjusted as any player sees fit. This could be the table of reference for Moderators during Moderated Threads, though they can adjust it as they see fit as well.

Spell Level being Channeled/Stored	Runistic Roll Result to Avoid Mishap*
Apprentice	65+
Journeyman	75+
Expert	85+
Master	95+
100	105+

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Article Credit to Abraxas.