Sigil Scrawling and Scrolling

Though decisive majik – inborn gifts that one could use with a thought – were lost to humans after the Reign of Maraa, there was no prohibition of majik that required careful study and skill. What is left to humans is ritual majik, a category which includes sigil scrawling and scrolling.

Scrawling is a process that starts with dust of the bare ground. The practitioner creates a majikal symbol, or sigil, upon the ground. The student of wizardry must be capable of drawing perfect freehand circles and unwavering freehand lines at precise distances from each other. Certain rings can be used to aid in the endeavor, but it is an art that requires the most rigorous training and devotion to attain.

This part done, the drawer connects his or her hand to the completed sigil’s mystic point, then performs an incantation in the most precise vocal tones. This kindles the majik from the earth, and it flows, leading to the result.

A common saying in Cavendia’s Royal Navy is, “Majik misfires more often than grandpa’s matchlock,” for a minor mistake in either of the aforementioned proceedings will result in no result at all.

In modern times, dust of the unpaved ground is difficult to locate in the growing urban centers, let alone on seafaring ships. Sigil scrolling is more common. To save the trouble of scrawling a perfect sigil in battlefield conditions or at the time of dealings with a client, a prepared sigil on scroll paper may be used.

The trouble with this system is of course the princely expense of scroll paper, for only the fibers of the jade papyrus plant which grow in the southernmost extremes of Cavendia in summer and in some areas of Sutherbury are acceptable. Even then, the scrolls must be dyed in indigo and be touched by nothing but bare hands or they lose their utility. The fact that the government has a twenty-foot stone wall girt with iron spears and a one-hundred-fifty-man commissariat guarding the papyrus garden at Bitham should suffice to tell of its rarity and price.

The sigil ink, bound with meska or acacia gum and principally consisting of oak gall extract and iron sand, is inexpensive but unfortunately volatile. Therefore the scroll becomes inert if not used within half a year to a year of its creation.

Sigil scrolls are more difficult to prepare due to the irregularities of their surface, unless a majiker’s table is used. These uncommonly rare tables are made of red sandalwood from a tree toppled rather than cut down. The table legs must reach all the way into the ground in order to siphon the majik of the earth into the scroll.

The majiker’s tables are of course even more exquisitely priced than scroll paper, being as they are slow growing and important to other industries.

These difficulties, combined with the fact the sigils lose power after their spell-work is once kindled, have given rise to majik practice as we know it today: the work done by elite wizards of rigorous schooling, who keep mighty estates and earn a mint in return for services to illustrious clients and government concerns, such as Royal Wizard Erilaz.

These men must devote themselves utterly to personal discipline in retaining their gifts. If they are sick, they cannot draw the perfect designs or speak the precise tones the more difficult spells require.

Therefore wizards do not drink, smoke, or snuff. They keep their distance from ordinary people, never shake hands, and often lead very structured lives to facilitate cleanliness and personal health.

As visitors to Tuttlebridge University will have read, etched as if by a colossus over the main doors of the famous Elijadiah School of Majik, “Who Whilst Maketh His Majik Pure, Holdest His Flesh In Cellar Store. Be’eth Fix’ed And Seek to Hold, That Which Flee’th by Crack’ed Mold.”

A Selection of Spells

Commander Thurston Sharp’s experience with majik is highly limited, but all naval officers who attend academy and attain to the rank of Lieutenant or higher must take regular training in majik. During his years of service he learned the following:

Diamabrade – induces the body to cleanse and seal cuts and wounds.

Pastopanche – temporarily prevents illness of the stomach, including vomiting, dysentery, incontinence, and stomachache.

Fontimulamit – separates dirt, salt, grain, and other impurities from a source of water. It is most useful when a patch of mud or beach sand is dug into until water appears. The spell then purifies the central portion of the created bowl or pool.

Here are other spells, listed in the Almanac of Majikal Values, an annual publication which lists the average prices for majikal services.

Of these and other spells done by Royal Wizards, one will notice a distinctive bent towards those areas of life upon which technology has yet to make its entry and impression.

Flex’od Cimmum – turns soil, draw nutrients from deeper soil, aerate and prepare for planting a field of roughly two acres.

Krimeverurst – placed upon a portal or container of goods will harm the flesh of any thief or tamperer.

Qualimphyrone – induces the body to prolong internal respiration so as to grant a man in water to remain under for two to three times his natural limit. *Note* this spell’s use by civilians is illegal and limited to Her Majesty’s Shipwreck Salvage Corps.

Olestivex Sancterafe – prevents garden and field pests from ants to deer from eating a landowners produce.

Generow Viocteralve – the most powerful spell of healing, which corrects lameness, lost sight, unnatural growths, and other disorders. However, the problem often returns slowly, necessitating expensive repetitions of the treatment.

Stilistiahofenfut – cures lameness in horses for up to a period of several years.

Emphunataal Morstasia – redirects gales of wind to counteract the damage of mighty storms over a small area.

Fristrictionin – prevents flames from kindling in an area, used commonly upon stores of munitions and powder or where lamp oil and other fuel is produced.

Licnerkolfaxry – a purgative spell to remove odors and miasmatic disease. Used at tanneries, areas of sewage clottage, and other localities of offensive reputation to the nostrils. A luxury among upper class water closets.

Ozonoct Hultunsun – reverses and cure rot in plants, most notably strawberries, wine grapes, and tomatoes.

Ivirro Ad – clears the body of heat, notably fevers, and prevents sunstroke. Used as a scroll in Sutherbury by desert travelers or to alleviate fainting during summer.

Invirro Ax – the brother spell of Ivirro Ad, this cantrip is used in cold environments to replenish internal heat. Used upon whaling ships or northern expeditions, most extensively by cold water shipwreck recovery divers.

Clarsuren Pizhisost – materializes ice in any environment from air. Moist, colder air produces more ice.

Mawchukus – alleviates syphilitic outbreaks for a period of a year or more.

Deleterious spells, also called martial spells, are illegal among Cavendian civilians. Those who study upon Tanzia however, are not bound by any legal restrictions. Of these we have some limited knowledge:

Aprundrinon – slows a charging foe to the speed of one in a morass. The physical strength is resisted by a majikal ‘water snare’ or ‘mire snare.’ Especially useful for a gun bearing soldier when fighting in a melee.

Ferokeanalt – induces the water and fluid of a body to boil. Once cast, the attack must “mature,” therefore like poison it must be given its necessary period to take effect. Useful if the wizard can hide or get away, but not if defense is a necessity of the instant.

Final Word

*NOTE* Not included here are the destructive spells known to Servants of Maraa. Of these, there is no accurate catalog, and men who tread Tanzia must remember when facing Servants: there is no predicting what hurts they may inflict upon body and mind.