Roleplayer #5, April 1987

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New Spells from the Aery Guild

Farstire of Blythe (more commonly known as the Blythe Spirit) has stepped up her campaign to embarrass the mages of Caithness. This time, she infiltrated the Aery Guild of Carrick and, as proof of her raid, has made public four spells previously held solely by the guild. These spells, she mentioned in her accompanying note, are most appropriate to the Aery Guild: capriciously destructive and vilely odorous.

### Stench . . . . . Area

Produces a vile odor of sulfur and brimstone. Apprentices often use this spell for jokes; it has certain practical applications as well. Until it dissipates, it has the effect of a dose of choking gas (1-1 damage per turn to anyone failing their HT roll). The gas is heavy and will "roll" downhill.
Master wizards are uncomfortable with this spell, fearing the possible source of the brimstone . . . because failed attempts to cast it often produce especially infernal results.
Duration: 5 minutes.
Base Cost: 1. Cannot be maintained.
Prerequisite: Purify Air.
Item: Staff, wand, or jewelry. Energy cost to create: 60.

### Windstorm . . . . . Area

Lets caster create a circular windstorm with an "eye" of calm inside (a good place for the caster to stand). The diameter of the eye is half the diameter of the storm. By concentrating, the caster can move the windstorm any distance up to its own diameter per turn; the eye moves with it.
Anyone within a full-strength windstorm must roll vs. ST each turn to avoid being knocked over by the wind. All DX-based skills are at -5. Ranged attacks will hit only by luck (a critical success on the die-roll).
Duration: 1 minute after reaching full strength.
Base Cost: 2. Cost to maintain: Half the original cost (round up) per minute, after the storm reaches full force.
Time to cast: The storm starts immediately, but the caster must concentrate for a number of seconds equal to the storm's diameter in hexes; only at the end of that time will it reach full strength.
Prerequisite: Shape Air.

### Whirlwind . . . . . Area

As above, but far more powerful -- like a tornado! A whirlwind has an "eye, "just like a windstorm. It can also be moved by the caster, like a windstorm. The caster can move the storm, and turn it off at will, but he has no other control over its behavior.
Even a natural whirlwind is capricious, and magical ones are doubly so. Expected effects of a whirlwind include: Creates a loud noise; throws missile weapons off course when they pass through or adjacent to it; lifts and throws objects; blinds and disorients those it does not knock down. A whirlwind can lift objects up to 10 times its hex diameter (in pounds). If something is lifted, roll 1 die, subtract 1, and multiply the result times the wind's diameter. This is the distance from which the object falls! Thus, there is a 1 in 6 chance that anything picked up by a whirlwind will be set down unharmed. The maximum fall is 5 times the whirlwind's diameter; no more than 50 yards.
Detailed GMing of the effect of a large whirlwind is difficult. In general, assume that it causes massive discombobulation of all concerned, and go from there.
Duration: 1 minute after reaching full force.
Base Cost: 5 to cast; 2 per minute to maintain after the whirlwind reaches full force.
Time to cast: as for a windstorm.
Prerequisite: Windstorm.

### Odor . . . . . Area

Produces any odor the caster is familiar with. The odor lingers for about an hour, gradually diminishing (outdoors, it spreads out and then is quickly borne away on the wind). Produces no other physical effects -- for instance, the odor of a poison is not poisonous.
Duration: 1 hour. Fades gradually; cannot be maintained.
Base Cost: 1.
Prerequisite: No-Smell.
Item: Jewelry; constantly surrounds wearer with one scent (set at time of casting). Energy cost to create: 40.
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