From: Argrath@aol.com
Date: Sat 21 May 1994 - 22:21:29 EEST
Nick writes:
>A while back, Martin wrote:
>> I guess if you can't defend your position from within
published material,
>> you'll have to invent it.
>And I still can't work out if this was a celebration of
creativity and >imagination, or a sneering put-down.
Gee, Nick, how do you mean that? <extremely weak g with raised left eyebrow>. I hope those aren't my only two choices. How about interpreting it as a simple statement of fact? Or how about the following translation: "Gee whillickers, why didn't you say at the *outset* that you were making it up out of whole cloth, instead of claiming that it was derived from published works, thus causing us to spill needless electrons on the screen arguing over whether it was or not?"
I agree that some more useful stuff would be nice to see on the Daily, as opposed to 'Tis/'Tisn't/'Tis. Although I think I've been doing my part, I'll keep on keeping on with the following, which I wrote when Mike Dawson thought he could get AH to do something along the lines of the old Plunder:
The Jewel-Bird
DESCRIPTION
A hummingbird made of gems. It is ruby-throated, the green
of its wings and head is emerald, the black markings and beak are
obsidian, and the white of its body is white jade with green
tint, all carved to resemble feathers. Its eyes are clear
diamonds. It is seven centimeters long, with a twelve centimeter
wingspan. It weighs about 60 grams.
ORIGIN
This was the work of a Second Age Arkati craftsman named
Wilchia. He lived and worked most of his life in the court of
the king of Handra. He made several of these birds for his
patron, who gave them away as gifts to foreign potentates. As a
result, a jewel-bird could turn up almost anywhere.
KNOWLEDGE
Stories of the Marvelous Jewel-Bird, and the sorrow it has
caused, are popular in some parts of Maniria. In the most common
version of the story, the bird caused kinstrife which ended with
a king and his six sons dead, and the kingdom in ruins. A blind
troll then makes off with the bird, but does not know its command
word.
A few people know that there is more than one.
Yelm, Yelmalio, and other solar cultists see the bird as
blasphemous. They may try to free the spirit in the bird,
believing that it must be a bird spirit.
POWERS
The bird is primarily a toy. It is said to banish grief and
despair, but that is not always true. It delights those who can
appreciate it. It annoys people who can only think about the
waste of magical resources going into something trivial.
The bird has a brass frame inside, enchanted to hold a bird spirit. A command word activates the bird, and causes it to fly. Due to the restrictions in the enchantment, this is the only magical effect that can occur. One cannot target spells against the spirit without putting a hole in the bird first.
When someone says the command word, the spirit in the bird casts its spells. Animate Brass makes the bird flap its wings as fast as a real hummingbird would, but the bird flies through use of the sorcerous Fly spell. The spirit sees the world through a Sight Projection. The spirit has INT 13, POW 18. It knows its three spells at 95%, and knows none of the sorcerous manipulation skills. It acts just like a real hummingbird, and has a tendency to wander away if it can. In the stories about it, this is how the trouble starts.
There is another spirit in the object, in a POW spirit binding enchantment. It has POW 18.
PROCEDURE
Make a brass frame and put a magic spirit and a power spirit
binding enchantment on it. The magic spirit should know Animate
Brass, Fly, and Sight Projection. Then craft a king's ransom
worth of gems to look like feathers and attach them to the frame.
Then make a user restriction on the binding enchantment so that
no one but the enchanter can use it, and "attack" and "target"
conditions that cause the spirit to cast its spells when someone
speaks the command word. Link the magic spirit enchantment to
the POW spirit enchantment.
--Martin
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.7 : Fri 10 Oct 2003 - 01:34:29 EEST