Disclaimer: No canon here. Based on the works of Diane Duane.
Datclaimer: Don't kill me.
Wizards speak a "universal" language related to celestial, but even more
basic: they can talk to _anything_, although rocks and air are only rarely capable
of sparkling repartee. A Wizard using the Speech will percieve a conversation
as though it were with a fellow sentient, but must beware of false perceptions
of accuracy which he or she may give to something that cannot truly supply it.
Note that the Speech is _not_ a secret language: anything that hears it can
understand it just fine, although eavesdropping on a Wizard creating a
claudication will seem so much gibberish to any but another Wizard.
Wizards use Songs, rather than Sorcerous Rituals, but they use them in ways
which Celestials (and others) perceive as very odd. Wizards call songs
"Claudications" and speak them more than Singing them. This allows a Wizard
to spend extra time explaining his reasons and requirements for using the Song
to the Symphony more carefully. Each extra increment of time over the minimum
necessary to speak the claudication spent in this manner will reduce the
disturbance created by one.
A Wizard may use the Speech to use a claudication mimicing the more active part
of an Ofanite's resonance. If she has the permission of the possessee, she may use
a claudication mimicing the Kyriotate resonance, but any damage inflicted upon
the possessee and unhealed at the end of the possession will be inflicted at
doubled strength upon the Wizard. If the deal is agreed to in full beforehand
a Wizard may invoke a Geas with The Speech, but this requires no claudication.
A Wizard on Errantry who has determined that a particular Celestial has a
particular role to play in the resolution of said Errantry may use The
Speech to Geas the Celestial in question into performing it at a level
of Geas equivalent to the Errantry itself. The CD of the roll acts as a penalty
to the Will roll to resist the Geas.
Claudications mimicing a resonance must be prepared beforehand, like any other.
They require no Mana to use, and cause no disturbance.
A Wizard uses his skill in The Knowledge to Prepare claudications. This takes
from around ten or so minutes at no penalty for common claudications to days
or years at whatever the GM thinks appropriate for the more Secret sort. The
check digit of this roll is the maximum level at which the Wizard may use the
claudication in question later. The Wizard may keep trying till she gets it
right, of course, but beginning a new preparation wipes the old one clean ....
Every Wizard has his or her own way of accessing the Knowledge; from a magic book,
to Runecasting, to voices in his head, but the method may not be stolen or used by
any other, and is very hard to block by any means, so the differences are largely
cosmetic.
The Knowledge always includes a full and complete listing of the local Wizardly
heirarchy and support structure, including the Wizard himself, including
Wizardly skills and specialtys, and status (available, on vacation, on
Errantry, etc.).
The Knowledge can be used to mimic the Angelic resonances of a Seraph, Cherub,
Elohite, Malakite, or Mercurian. It can also mimic the passive part of an
Ofanite's resonance. Each such mimicry requires around 5 to 10 minutes, assesses
only one subject, creates no disturbance, costs no mana, but does require that
the relevant choir's dissonance condition be adhered to during the attempt.
Breaking the dissonance condition causes the resonance attempt to fail
automatically.
A Wizard who has just had a full nights sleep may spend about ten minutes
meditating in The Knowledge to regain Essence for the day. A successful roll
will recover the check digit in Essence. Alternatively, about an hour of meditation
will substitute for the sleep, for the Wizard on the go. This can be done
once per day.
A Wizard who spends about a day searching and scavenging may attempt to
create Talismans: make a roll against the Knowledge,; if succesful, the CD
is the number of your "prepared" claudications which you may bind to certain
objects (a willow branch picked by night and stripped of its bark under
moonlight, a NiCaD C-cell battery with a band-aid over the + terminal, the
radio antenna from a '58 Chevy, etc.). For each, amke another roll against
The Knowledge: if you fail, whatever you found wasn't quite right; if you
succeed, the CD measures half the amount of extra Mana the object is storing
_for that claudication only_ and how many days the Talisman will remain good.
(i.e. a CD of 6 on the radio antenna gives 12 mana for the Song of Corp. Fire,
good for 6 days.)
Note that a claudication bound to a Talisman may not be used without the Talisman,
goes away when the Talisman runs out of Mana, and still takes up its slot.
A Wizard may use The Knowledge as a psuedo-Celestial "resonance", which assesses
a situation for Celestial or Ethereal involvement, and informs the Wizard if it
affects the Destiny of the Symphony as a whole. This resonance may be activated
by the GM, if the Wizard blunders against an Errantry (q.v.).
A Wizard on Errantry may use her "resonance" in The Knowledge to determine the
particulars of Celestial Involvement in the Errantry in question, and also what
needs to be done to resolve the Errantry. He may also determine if any particular
Corporeal, Ethereal, Celestial person or thing is vital to such resolution and
something of what its task in such a resolution would be.
CD 1: The presence of an Errantry, Superior involvement, Planetary level threats.
Confirmation of a detailed Celestial resolution.
CD 2: The level of the Errantry, Word-bound or Pagan God-level involvement,
Species threats. Presense of a Celestial resolution.
CD 3: Celestial or Ethereal Involvement, threats which will resolve themselves in
Ten years or less. Confirmation of a Suspected Celestials Involvement.
CD 4: The Names or Words of involved Celestials, Century threats. The Name of one
Non-Word-bound Celestial who is involved in the resolution.
CD 5: Details of Celestial or Ethereal Involvement, Millenial threats. The Name of
one Non-Superior Celestial who is involved in the resolution. One thing which a
Celstial must do so that a resolution is possible.
CD 6: Details of Word-Bound involvement. The Names of those Celestials who
can resolve the Errantry, and what they are supposed to do.
Note that all of the above results can be a little blurred, as necessary.
Potentially, _any_ Song might show up as a Claudication in The Knowledge, if
it were ... necessary. Including ones that don't otherwise exist at all ....
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EDG <[email protected]>
In Nomine Collection Curator