Summoning
Summoning
Casters seek to discover other creatures from other worlds. Some Anorians seek to return home, while humans wish to find the god that abandoned them. Other Casters desire the exhilaration of discovering other forms of life. Summoning is a means of controlling another creature to fulfill your own wishes. It is an art performed by the most daring, or stubborn, of Casters.
Despite how Nilata created Rigen it was not completely unique to Anore, or now Siliren. Similar substances of it exist on other worlds, usually under a different name. There are other worlds that are like how Siliren was, devoid of Rigen, but as Nilata demonstrated with the Change Days, they do not lie beyond its reach. Discovering another world requires a great deal of time and experimentation. The first to learn Summoning discovered there was power that flowed between worlds. They came to call it a Thera-stream which appeared to be a much grander version of the Orrah-streams of Siliren. The Caster researches the heavens with telescopes throughout the year to find a Thera-stream. Even the trained eye has difficulty distinguishing celestial debris from a Thera-stream.
A Thera-stream appears as a narrow but elongated stretch of gases that astronomers would associate as part of a nebula. Unlike a nebula, a Thera-stream is more transparent, lacking the dust and debris. They shift and warp from the pull of other moons, planets, and stars during their celestial rotations. Sometimes they’re stretched so thin they can’t be detected. This affects the ability to perform a Summoning spell. Success is only possible when a Thera-stream has a direct, unobscured, line from Siliren to the other planet or moon. This causes certain worlds to only be available during certain times of the year. Some worlds have a window of an entire season while others may have only a single night in the entire year.
One creature at the other end of a Thera-stream is pulled through by the Summoning spell, although a part of their essence remains behind to anchor them to their native world. A summoned creature appears and is subject to the Caster’s will. They can resist obeying the commands of the Caster, and ultimately break free if they are powerful enough. Some creatures may possess a positive attitude for the Caster and would be more willing to cooperate, while more hostile creatures may be inclined to destroy the Caster for their gall to interrupt the creature’s day. In either event, the Caster has some control over the creature though it may only come after a battle of wills.
Casters form a Summoning circle once they’ve established the location of a possible world. The circle is formed from Runistics to serve as a gateway to whatever creature is being pulled from the other world. In addition it serves as a tether to keep the creature bound to Siliren. There are several aspects to creating a functional Summoning circle and many of them are geometric in nature. Each shape is formed either with words in runistic form or surrounding a particular rune. The circle itself is a necessary piece of the Summoning spell. Circles serve as collection points for magic to gather, the largest circle being the gateway itself for the summoned creature.
Triangles are optional but serve as barriers and inhibitors. Most commonly they are used to keep a creature confined to the gateway itself. Casters that tend to summon the same breed of creature multiple times will form triangles to confine any abilities the creature has so they have no influence outside the gateway itself. Lines serve as connectors to assist the magic in continuing to flow and avoid surging in specific locations of the gateway. Diamonds function to assert the Caster’s will over the creature. Stars operate as the tethers keeping the summoned creature bound to the magic of the Summoning circle. Pentagons serve as the descriptors when seeking to summon a specific breed or individual creature. Squares dictate the duration of the summon.
An example Summoning spell would possess an outer circle for the magic to gather and the summoned creature to appear. The outer circle specifies the coordinates of the world the spell will connect to via Thera-stream. A specific creature is intended to be summoned, so a description of the creature is written out to form a pentagon within the circle. If the name of the creature is known it is part of the pentagon. The Caster is aware the creature he is going to summon has a strong will and tends to resist their commands. Thus they place several diamonds inter-connected by lines to suppress the creature’s ability to deny the Caster’s influence over them. It also tries to escape however it can, using a chilling breath to destroy or harm. A triangle is formed to keep the creature confined to the gateway, or perhaps two, and another triangle is formed to keep the chilling breath from extending beyond the gateway.
While the Caster could sustain the Summoning for a while, he places two squares of relatively large size to give the Summoning a duration of about two hours. To ensure that the creature remains subject to the specific confines of the Summoning spell a star is added. When the specified time elapses, or the Caster overpowers the creature’s will in wishing for it to leave, the summoned creature fades from Siliren and returns to their world. If the Thera-stream becomes obscured during the Summoning the creature often dies and it’s body dissipates, but in extremely rare occurrences the creature lives and stays on Siliren permanently.
Prerequisites
Summoning is a difficult spell to perform correctly and requires an advanced degree of knowledge. Before any skill points in Summoning can be acquired the Caster must have at least 75 skill points in Rigenology, at least 50 skill points in Runistics, and at least 50 points in Astronomy.
Initial Learning
An instructor is required to learn Summoning and cannot be self-discovered or self-taught. A Caster must be taught how to identify Thera-streams and how to employ their Runistic skills. The instructor must be at least an Expert in Summoning.
Skill Levels
Apprentice
Instructors primarily instruct the Caster on how to discover a Thera-stream and determine the windows of opportunity for attempting a Summoning spell. They also focus on teaching the various aspects of the Summoning circle. Apprentices are warned to never perform a Summoning on their own and only assist the instructor in designing Summoning spells that are simpler and safer. Apprentices can’t summon a creature for more than fifteen minutes even with the aid of an Instructor.
Journeyman
Now the instructor begins supervising the Caster’s own attempts at Summoning. A Journeyman requires many safeguards against creatures that experienced summoners consider mild. The duration of a summoned creature is about three hours.
Expert
At this stage the Caster begins to explore new worlds to begin summoning from. They require fewer safeguards and can impose their will more easily over some moderately strong creatures. An expert is also able to summon more than a single creature but will require larger circles when intentionally doing so. The duration of their Summoning spells can last for up to twenty-four hours.
Master
The Caster has a lot of confidence in their ability to summon creatures. Even powerful creatures have difficulty opposing the Caster’s will when safeguards are set. The duration of their Summoning spells can last for up to seven days.
100 Points
A master with 100 skill points is able to begin drawing the full essence of a creature to Siliren. This causes it to be able to remain permanently summoned but still tethered to the gateway and any safeguards defined within it. The Caster can still banish the summoned creature back to its world if the gateway and tethers remained intact.
Cost
Activating a Summoning circle requires 50 points from the Caster’s personal Spellpool per creature summoned. The base cost is 50 points regardless of their skill level. Once the Caster has reached 100 in Summoning the cost is reduced to 25 points per creature summoned. The Atmopool contributes 200 points per summon regardless of the number of creatures, or the Caster’s skill. Even a Caster with 100 skill points drains 200 points from the Atmopool.
| Skill Level | Personal Cost Per Creature | Atmopool Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Apprentice through Master | 50 | 200 |
| 100 | 25 | 200 |
The financial cost to performing a summoning varies. 1 gold in materials is required per creature for every summoning attempt. The Caster must also have possession or access to a powerful enough telescope to search for possible worlds to summon from. See the Price List for telescope costs.
Article Credit to Abraxas.
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