I recently downloaded the meeting notes that involved GM Skurzzak and some of the moon mages who were at the guild that night way back in July of 1996. I didn't read the date of the post correctly and thought it was July of 1997. Reading the notes and feeling my mind boil I thought it best to vent some of the steam and script out some of my thoughts. To this end I began work on a little treatise about the moon mage guild and my thoughts and feelings on the subject.
    By the time I realized that the post was over a year old and 9 months before I had even started playing DragonRealms, it was too late, I had gotten my teeth into this venture. So, to this I now put pen to paper (or cursor to screen, if you will) and beat out my thoughts, feelings, musings and ideas for your pleasure or displeasure (though I certainly hope not). Please disseminate at your will and use any of the ideas that you find worthwhile. I would like to hear back from you, though, as I do like to hear from you folks at Simu who work so hard :)
    Addendum: Well, it would appear that we no longer have Chadi and Zaishaya as our guild leaders and it is up in the air as to who will be the next Moon Mage Guild guru. Well, for now this is for my fellow Moon Mages, the senior and general staff of Simutronics and everyone else in DragonRealms.
    And so, with no further ado, here in its entirety is Descolada9's Treatise on Moon Mages:

    Just what the heck is a Moon Mage, anyways?
    In Dungeon&Dragons the mage is both a butress and a weak link. Physically wanting and, in time, magically strong. The mage (and illusionist) fights rarely, holding back from the front lines and throwing spells of an offensive and defensive nature, and at times, employing utilitarian spells that make adventuring easier. With the proper magical aids a mage can become a frightening mage/fighter, employing such devices as girdles of strength and staves of numerous powers.
    In Dungeon&Dragons, however, all the colleges are available to the mage, with the option of specialization. In DragonRealms the spell colleges are more split between the moon-reliant spells of the Moon Mage and the Elemental magics of the War Mage. This split has, to an effect, caused a rift between the classes and the mutability of professions in the realms.
    While the majority of War Mage spells are geared to offense/defense and the Moon Mage is, to an aspect, utilitarian, there has been an increasing crossover of spells with Moon Mages having a few potent spells and the War Mages receiving a few utilitarian spells. The greatest tilt, however, is the fact that Moon Mages have NO defensive spells. This greatly eschews a Moon Mage's fighting capabilities and decreases their party worth.
    In the Generic Universal Role-playing System, or GURPS as it is often referred to, anyone can learn spells and a mingling of colleges is extremely useful. Furthermore, a figher or thief type character can attain a crucial edge with certain spells, fighting or stealing while invisible, using a few simple spells to increase their attack and defensive capabilities.
    The mage type character is a dangerous creature with many spells, and with dilligence a deadly profiency with a few weapons. A mage with a few offensive contact spells and a staff can be a frightening opponent.
    In DragonRealms the Moon Mage has a very limited number of spells to date to choose from and many skill walls in weapons to work against. Furthermore, while they have prerequisites to circling, the mechanical lore requirement has few practical uses outside of Alchemy (relatively simple and all are capable of making potions) and carving of canes, staves and bows. Yet it holds back many players. On the upside of Mech Lore is the need to forage for grindables, which gives foraging and a little perception to the Moon Mage.
    Overall the Moon Mage is meant to be the most open and diverse of characters. With so few requirements, one can do most anything with the Moon Mage character. Be you a predictor, a teacher, alchemist, thief or hunter. Most of these things can be done from this guild, but there are a few drawbacks that one has to work against to attain goals in certain pursuits.

    So what role does the Moon Mage play in the DragonRealms world?
    Very good question. Supposedly we are the information seekers of the realms. Okay... What information? Any information there is in the realms has already been found and disseminated. Bards are the attenders of weddings and reciters of lore. Warrior classes find the new hunting lands and search them out, learning the ways of the monsters and how best to defeat them.
    There are no lost temples, strongholds, caverns or forts, etc that have not been thoroughly searched. No great quests or deeds for us to do... Actually, the new and strange areas are, as I said, first found by the hunters and warriors of the land and explored by them. All too often we find Moon Mage with his head in the clouds bumbling across the scene of a fire long after the fire has been put out.
    We see when merchants arrive from time to time. By the time we find them, so has half the realms, caused by a single person being in the right room at the right time and then spreading the information of the merchant across the gweths. We supposedly see insights into invasions, but I have yet to find proof of this statement. We saw the Bloodworm comet, a sign of impending disaster, appear in the constellation of the Mongoose, as could any who scanned the skies. And to learn the meaning of the comet we had to rely upon an NPC to give us the information. We were unable to glean the meaning of the comet on our own. We can do predictions that curse more often than help and their effects are minimal at best most times. And there is nothing more annoying or embarassing than predicting a great boost in the Trading skill for a non-Trader.
    Moon Mages make passable hunters but their weapon skills move slower than most. Are Moon Mages the master of magic? No. Clerics have higher magic prerequisites and move faster in learning magic by using simpler and lower costing spells to move their magic along appreciably. The same can be said of most of the other guilds, having simple spells with low prep requirements and getting more exp from the casting of these spells. At higher levels one of the few spells that give exp is the Moon Blade spell, which has a minimum cost of 10 and on average nights only a handful castings of this spell can be done in a row before needed to rest to regain mana. A War Mage in a high elemental area can repeatedly cast low cost offensive spells that do damage and give decent experience. At higher levels the Moon Mage almost HAS to go out and hunt to move Primary Magic appreciably unless they wish to sit at the guild and script their actions for hours on end. And this scripting has been done again and again and again to the point that it has brought about the derision of the other classes in the realms.
    As for the Power Perceive skill we move slower and with more difficulty than any other class in the realms. Any other magic-using class can do a perception of magic availability in three different rooms and nearly daze themselves from these three simple perceptions.
    What of our secondary skills, survival and lore? We do not seem to have any special bonuses or requirements in these areas as do Bards, Rangers, Traders and Empaths. While we learn some perception from stellar observation and foraging these gains are minimal. Meanwhile thieves are allowed to steal from each other in their own underground guilds, obtaining unfair sums of perception and stealing skills. Most other guilds have discouraged this activity from their congregational areas, forcing people to pay exorbitant amounts for jugglables or sending stealing practice elsewhere.
    How about being available to disarm and pick boxes for people? But why go to a Moon Mage, who is not required to learn weapon skills, ergo not required to hunt, when Rangers and Thieves are required to learn weapon skills and at least lockpicking? Does it not make sense that other guilds are going to be better at these skills? Also, Rangers and Traders are less likely to charge for this service if they actually NEED the experience.
    Shall we charge for predictions? Very few tip for predictions and more often we have to literally pay people to take them. Sometimes people will tip for a Locate, but again, this does not happen often. Our greatest chance for money making other than hunting is the moon gate. This wonderful spell has been repeatedly misused, people don't tip for transport and Traders reportedly can't take caravans through the gates. Supposedly we are to use the gate for passage to deaders and rescue parties. But the idea of charity only goes so far. Empaths at least get tipped on a regular basis for healing and they learn skill for healing. We get nerve damage with the Moon Gate. According to Shalnhh the spell was meant to be cast with group harnessers. Well, if a person is going to assist in the harness for the spell, it is quite unlikely that they will pay for the privilege.
    So where does that all leave the Moon Mage? Well, if you are looking for a chat spot with friends in DragonRealms, you might as well be a Moon Mage. If you want to be a Moon Mage and make something of yourself then spend your starting money on armor, weapons and a shield. Take a combat related spell such as Burn or Calm and go hunt. You will learn evasion, weapon skills and a great deal of PM/HM while making a living for yourself. In your off-time you can do whatever you like. Just because you hunt doesn't mean you have to do it constantly. Also, don't spend all your TDPs on INT, WIS and DIS, but spread them out on all your stats. In the long run you'll live longer.
    But you don't want to hunt, yet would still like to be a service to the world? Well, then, you should dump most of your TDPs into your mental stats. Now get out of the guildhouse. You will need to learn skills people need such as magic, teaching, mech lore and perception. People always need these. Befriend fellow novices and offer to pick their boxes. Learn all you can about your class and all the others as well. Someday a Moon Mage may actually achieve the status of Sage (without scripting or circle-chasing their way to it). Your best bet, though, is to start acting like a sage now. Be curteous, gentle and kind. Help all who need help. In time your reputation will grow as well as the respect you garner.
    Then there are carefree wanderers who have no purpose in the world but to see what's out there. We can be any one of these things and more. But be forewarned, if you don't hunt your weapon skills may not move well and your pockets may always be empty. But it is up to you. Jack of all trades and masters of none...
    Damned good villians
    Any member of any class has the potential to be great in many ways. Those with diligence in their crafts and dedication to their skills can be frightening people. Some desire to act as less than neighborly or the sappy "Can't we all get along"person. Such are actually national treasures, waiting to make themselves known and to put themselves down in the annals of history and infamy. They make things exciting for the rest of the lands, what with the few invasions (most of which happen only in Crossing), the war that we all waited for but never saw materialize (seemingly a gimmick for the migration). Andraethu is now lying low and the Mibgluc is still running free. We need some form of excitement to break the monotony of the realms.
    Everyone has heard of Nambel and at least one story about his many crimes. Among some groups it is even a fulfilling sport to try and hunt him down and make him ride the comet. He has given us an outlet for our stress and energy.
    Recently other Moon Mages contributed their names to the list of villians in the realms, using their powers to cause players to drop objects of value and then running with them to pawn or sell. Unfortunately this was responded to with yet another one of our spells being downtweaked, though I cannot see the difference with the stealing of items like this and the things that thieves are allowed to get away with. Yet only one guild is punished. The simple theory that one should punish the perpetrator and not the guild does not seem to register with some of those on high.
    Our powers are our greatest assest and punishing us all like this makes our guild as a whole weaker, more vulernable and less desirable to people.
    And so from time to time a member of our guild snaps under the weight of dissatisfaction, stress and pressure and either gives themselves over to a career of villiany or begins attacking at random, possibly in the end hoping for some small satisfaction, respect for their abilities (respect, something we lack from others all too often) or to merely ride the comet and put an end to it all....
    The Battling/Hunting Moon Mage
    Many Moon Mages dislike hunting or have no desire to hunt. Yet the secret they don't know is that a moon mage is a good hunter and that all things which make a moon mage can be done while hunting. While waiting for monsters to show, forage or focuse on runes or observe the stars. If you aren't in a generator room you have plenty of time to do just about anything, even make potions. To start with hunting with our small repertoire of battle-oriented spells is what makes us a potentially powerful guild. I actually recommend learning Burn as your first spell. Get the armor of your choice as well as maybe a shield and weapons.
    Little tip here for you:  there is plenty of free armor, shields and weapons lying all over the place. You simply have to go look for them and learn when to duck ;)
    Okay, you have armor, weapon, maybe a shield, now what? A word on possible starting spells: Burn is good and my favorite choice. TKT is good, except for ground clutter ( if you choose TKT, start with rats, less ground clutter and easier to actually hit them at first). Calm is also a decent choice, but be cautious. Calm is best used to make a creature docile so that you can escape or wait for more creatures to come into a room. If you strike a calmed creature they will become enraged. I would recommend Dazzle over Calm for slowing down monsters.
    Ready to get at it? Okay, here's what you do:
    Engage the creature
    Prep spell (followed by targetting if needed)
    Attack
    Cast
    Parry
    Attack
    Prep spell
    Cast
    Parry
    Repeat this process from spell prepping. Now, isn't that simple?
    If using a long-RT weapon then the RT from attacking and parrying should be more than sufficient to desensitize your body to the magical energies of the college you just used. Or use the spell colleges interchangeably (Burn, then Dazzle, then Calm, etc). For shorter RT weapons, you need to gauge the amount of time it takes until you are ready to cast from the same college.
    You need to use low preps in order to be able to cast repeatedly. Transduction spells seem to give the most experience for being cast. Repeatedly using multiple low-prep Burns will rapidly move your experience, doing so faster than any other spell if you sit at the guild and do multi-casts of Moon Blade or Teleport (which can be dangerous).
    If hunting with friends then you have a chance to hold a class or be a part of one, and no matter what you are learning (Usually you can only teach weapons, armor and evasion while in combat), you are still gaining skill in Scholarship.
    So, in the long run, hunting is a beautiful thing and I urge all moon mages to do it. Yet there is one problem with hunting that I have touched on earlier. Moon Mags learn weapons and armor slower than many other clases. Despite having higher mental stats on average than most other classes, moon mages have more skill walls than other hunters with the exception of Traders and Empaths. This makes little sense in actuality. Why is the Moon Mage being penalized for being productive? War Mages, Rangers, Paladins and Clerics all have combat-related spells but aren't penalized in this way, in fact they are required to learn their weapon and armor skills. Evidently the option to hunt or not to hunt is the price we have have to pay. But without hunting how are we to make money? And like it or not, this is a mostly money-reliant game world.
    Another reason for the penalty may be due to the fact that Moon Mages circle faster than most classes. With the profession's low requirements it is relatively easy to move fast through the ranks, especially if you happen to script your way to these circles. There are a number of downsides to moving up fast. Firstly, it becomes harder to gain skill at higher level than at a lower level of both skill and circle. There is a glaring example of this fact in Targetted Magic. TM exp is partially calculated upon the curve of your circle as well as how much skill you have and how hard a creature you are fighting.
    Now let us say that you have rarely hunted while chasing that high circle and the cool title that waits up there. Now that you are at least a Mystic or Moon Mage, you want to finally go hunt. Well, if you don't have much by way of weapon skills you are going to have a hard time fighting just Wood Trolls. No problem, you say, I can burn them all. Look up, no moons out tonight and that grendel just ran into the room and is measuring you for the cooking pot. Don't forget the two wood trolls to your left as well. Boy, I hope you at least managed to learn evasion on the way up, otherwise you are going down.
    At the same time a Barbarian half your circle is sitting in gargoyles and having a routine day, making upwards of a plat just so he can learn enough Multi-Opponent skill to go circle. Don't know about limp-wrist Philosophers, but I'd feel slightly embarrassed if I was 30th circle and still hunting goblins...
    Claims to the Highest Circle and why one should not make the claim.
    The biggest complaint from other guilds about Moon Mages is that we can circle fast if we are of a mind to. So in the short run you have moon mages with high levels, so-so skills but the ability to Thump/Curse and the boosts from the high circle itself. Now why do we circle so fast? Here is one theory as to why: Many moon mages start their carrers by dumping all their TDPs into their mental stats so that they can learn fast and increase the strength of their spells while managing mana use. Furthermore, to my understanding the mental stats do the following for a person: Intelligence determines the duration and size of experience pool as well as the strength of spells. Discipline determines how much experience is gained to the pool from an action for which we gain experience as well as determining how much harness we actually use in the preparation of our spells. Wisdom affects the absorption of experience and the resistance to spells cast at you. Because of this it is reasonable that most moon mages would throw most of their TDPs into these areas.
    Now we are deficient in physical stats and like it or not, sooner or later we will need those physical statistics. So, we are painted into the trap of fast circling. First to attain the high mental stats and then later to attain the physical stats that will ensure our survival. The 100 TDP bonus usually afforded as 9th circle for most other guilds is held back until 14th for moon mages. Perhaps in the end this all balances out and it is possible for the moon mage to be passable in his or her own self-defense and their hunting pursuits, but few are capable of excelling at physical skills.
    A final note, higher circles slows the gain of skill in such things as weapons, but increases the chances of attacking and damaging. So higher circle moon mages can hold themselves to an extent against the creatures that lower-circled members of other guilds already fight. A strange balance, indeed.
    Many join this guild thinking that they will attain quick power. Well, if they script or circle-chase their way up they may very well attain the quick power. But they will have a lop-sided character. Yet this has been enough for a few intelligent characters to become a general menace as they abuse their powers. Also, circle chasing by some unbalances the entire guild for those who work hard on the whole array of skills available to us to learn. It only takes a few rotten apples in the basket to earn the animosity of the whole realms.
    I come now to the question of higher or more prerequisites to circling. Should the masters of magic have higher magic requirements. In the areas of Primary Magic and Harness Magic I say only if we gain higher experience from lower-cost spells. In the area of Power Perceive I will wait until Shalnhh has made the fix to the skill that he has said he will (I have faith in him ;) A raise in the requirements of Magical Devices can be safely raised as this skill is not that hard to attain. As to Targetted Magic I cannot say that we should have any requirement to this skill as gaining experience is a hard thing to do and requires selective hunting to attain it. Also, a requirement in TM could greatly squash the freedom of the moon mage character itself.
    With Offense/Defense skills I have already shown my own personal feelings toward hunting. However, if there is ever a requirement then the skills walls should be lowered to make gaining much needed experience here easier. Also, it takes away the role-playing freedom that many love in the guild. Yet I would suggest higher requirements in evasion as you never know when an invasion is suddenly going to happen in the room that you are sitting in or in the guild itself.
    With survival skills I would recommend raising in at least perception. However, I would like to see more ways for us to gain perception. Currently we gain perception in small increments by observing the heavens and foraging. We can go to areas with high concentration of hiders for a good deal of experience and there are jugglables out there, but they go for exorbitant prices that non-hunters will not be able to afford. There are stealing parties that one can attend (make sure you don't NEED that money in your pocket) and these parties used to be great at attaining large amounts of perception and stealing skill (which all should learn, except Paladins, to stop thieves from delving into your pockets). The moon mage communal area used to be right outside the guild where we could forage, grind, observe the sky and, yes, steal from each other. But some were offended by this and soon the practice was banished from outside the guild. So of course many moved inside and hosted stealing parties. Out of sight, but not out of mind and now we can't forage from inside the guild. Also, there are now very few people at the communal area of the Moon Mage Observatory and the same decrease in numbers has struck at the Ranger Glade where they were also banished from stealing from each other and tracking each other.
    Many don't stay at the tower or in groups and don't like to learn stealing, but still watch the heavens. It would be nice to gain better perception experience from star-gazing than what we currently attain. Particularly when one calculates the time involved in observation. And there are some in the guild who have no desire to spend our lives with a permanent crimp in our necks.
    Having higher lore requirements probably could be pushed higher. Higher requirements in teaching, scholarshop and appraisal wouldn't hurt with the mystique of being the scholars of the realms. But, please, no more mechanical lore. I swear that it is one of the most hated skills in the realms.
Predictions and constellations
    Simple question: What constellations do I know? We have a spell book that tells us what spells we know. Why don't we have a journal of the constellations that we know. It would seem to make sense to making notes on the constellations and overall astrology. That and it is annoying to have to go through the whole list of available constellations until I find one that I actually know.
    The next question is what do the constellations influence in terms of predictions? Since each constellation pertains to the aspect of an Immortal I wonder if this is the influence on our predictions? Perhaps observing the Raven, sign of Kertigan, is the reason I got that prediction about Trading. Does that mean that if I observe Drogol's sign of the Shark I will get a negative prediction in lore? That would leave the question of the effect of the moons and sun on our predications.
    It would add an aspect to our guild if we could do more research into the meanings of the constellations and their relevance. While this might be stepping on the toes of clerics, what if we could go to the individual shrines and learn from the gods or at least read some scripture or pictographs that would give insight to how the aspects relate to constellations and how those constellations will affect our predictions?
    And while there I can see many moon mages writing furiously in their journals the notes that we have derived from the scriptures or pictographs, etc. Also, taking poetic derivatives from the scriptures, etc, would add an option and a role-playing depth to doing predictions. After deciphering the prediction we could chant poetic passages that best fill the meaning of the prediction. A thought at least...
    Cloud Cover (again and again and again....)
    From time to time someone comes to me and asks for a prediction. I'm carrying no predictions in my subconscious at the time so I look up to the skies to gleam knowledge. Doing so I find that the clouds have obscured all heavenly bodies from view.
    Sheepishly I inform my client that I cannot do a prediction since the clouds obsure the skies. They lose interest and go away. Meanwhile I am left with a hollow feeling. There are two things that people generally ask of me: to Locate someone or do a prediction for them. Many times I cannot harness enough for both the Clear Vision and Locate spell. Even when I can get the Locate spell to work half the time the subject is either indoors, hiding or too far away for me to find them. The person asking for the Locate then goes and finds a War Mage to do the locating and will more likely ask a War Mage on a more regular basis than a moon mage.
    When someone asks for a prediction they are asking us for a service and they are offering a chance to do some roleplaying. Yet we are hindered by cloud cover, throwing our role playing chances in a totally different direction and losing us a chance to earn a person's respect.
    I can appreciate the realism of changing weather patterns and cloud obscurement. But continuing in the vein of realism it only stands to reason that over the centuries a moon mage would have found a way to overcome this obstacle. The best solution I can think of is upgrading the Piercing Graze spell, currently the butt of the guild's spell list. Making Piercing Gaze capable of piercing the clouds gives us a better chance to do predictions, despite the inclements of the weather and gives us greater freedom in roleplaying.
    Prediction Tools.
    One of the most long-awayted additions to the game for moon mages are the prediction tools. Few things make the moon mage more valuable or gives roleplaying depth than our predictions. Already many moon mages have differing styles of using the powers of prediction. The coming of new tools will only add a greater amount of dimension, depth and pleasure of playing. And besides, War Mages can make their own talismans, so we ought to be able to make our own prediction tools.
    We already have the prediction bones from Krrish (though admittedly their use is still beyond many of us). We can, reportedly, look foward to Toka cards, Scrying bowls, and other objects to experiment with.
    The one unfortunate thing about the new tools, however, are the rumors that they will only be available from shops. ::sigh:: Elanthia's reliance upon shops is getting a might irritating. If any newbie with a bit of hand-me-down money can buy a prediction tool without actually having to work for it, then it cheapens the whole prediction system. Too many take for granted the easy way around things. But, darn it, there are many things in life one must work for and prediction tools should be one of these things. Many guilds require knowledge of mechanical lore. To what use is mechanical lore? The making of potions, which are not hard for anyone to make. Bows, still best made by rangers, and quartstaff weapons. There are also lockpicks that supposedly only thieves can make (why only one guild would have an exclusive object they can make is beyond my understanding). If this is the extant of mechanical lore's uses, then what is the point of learning so much of this skill?
    In my opinion mechanical lore would be better used for the creation of weapons, armor and our prediction tools. I would certainly place greater value and appreciation in divination tools that I myself had made.
    How would one make these divination tools? In the same long, careful way that one would make a quality bow or lockpick.

    Bowls of Scrying.
    For starters bowls should be just big enough to hold comfortably in both hands. Also, it is not the material of the bow that determines its efficaciousness but the ability of the mage. However, there are ways to influence its power to greater or poorer extants through the use of mystically sensitive materials. But the final determination for the strength and clarity of bowls and other tools should remain in the province of a mage's skill and circle.
    Some materials that bowls can be made from include, but are not limited to, silver, gold, platinum, copper, brass, wood, stone and earthenware. To make a bowl from precious metals one would buy a sheet or circle of the metal from a shop along with shaping tools. Since most precious metals are soft or, in the case of platinum, brittle, a forge would not be necessary. The tools would inclue a form of miniture anvil or shaping stone to fit the shape of the bowl, tamping hammers and etching tools.
    The first step is, of course, to shape the bowl. Once completed one could then etch symbols of mystical origin and influence into the bowl. The higher the skills and circles of the mage the more symbols one would be able to create.
    For the gaudy mage one could add traceries of precious metal and inset gemstones of quality to the bowl. But someone just might try to steal it or kill you for it if it becomes worth lots of platinums.
    The final step would be to attune the power of prophecy into the bowl by means of power perception, primary magic and magical devices skills. A mage would hold the bowl in both hands and focus on it as well as any other magic device. One would know when the attuning process was complete when they feel the bowl is sensitive to the power of prediction. For example, if the attuning process requires the bowl to be filled with water then the completion of the imbedding would occur when the water ripples and a vision starts to appear upon its surface.
    Stone and wooden bowls could be easily foraged or fine pieces of stock bought. From there one would carve or chisel the material and then go through the same steps as before.
    Failure in the endeavour to create and attune the bowl could happen at any stage including the first attempts to shape the bowl up until the time you are trying to attune it.

    Dem bonz, dem bonz, deeeeemmmm boooonzzzz
    Yes, we can already get these lovely ivories from our favorite handicapped s'lai. While he is a nice, cuddly s'lai and seems to know more about moon magery than most of us (I want some of those starcharts!), making our own bones would get some moon mages to go out and learn hunting skills.
    First of all the quality of the bones would be dependant on skinning skill. After skinning a non-disintegrating kill (no troll bones, boggle bones, fenrae creature bones and certainly no death spirit bones!), would then debone a kill and get a set of bones. Later the moon mage would polish the bones and then proceed to carve symbols into the bones. After finishing this process, hold the carved bones in your hand and focus on them repeatedly until you feel them become sensitive to the power of prediction. Not very hard, actually.

    Deal out your future.
    First of all, with the implication of Gypsy Marauders I don't think toka card users should be called Gypsies, but rather TarotMasters. This is merely an opinion, however.
    Making Toka cards would be a slighty more detailed and involved process than the previous ones I have commented upon. First I put forth the suggestion of a new Lore Skill called Artistry. One's ability to draw the cards would depend in part on this skill. As to how to gain experience in Artistry one would need to make or purchase paper and then either a charcoal stick and/or brushes, inks and paints. Other than the charcoal stick all other supplies could be done by a mage with the use of their mechanical lore skill and from the gifts of the lands. Brushes would be made using carved sticks, the hair of kills and a bit of twine or wire. Paints would come from berries, barks and roots. Paper could be made from papyrus.
    From there one would need to practice their artistry by doing drawings or paintings of landscape scenes, portraits of other players, recording for posterity the heroic victory of another player character, etc.
    Once you have yourself a good deal of artistry skill get yourself some pasteboard cards and go to work. For the images of the cards I would recommend depictions of the Celestial bodies such as the constellations, the three moons and the Sun. This would give a total of 43 cards, which is about twice as large as the Tarot Major Arcana (would Kssarh be the Fool? ::duck::)
    Once you have finished the cards, focus on them until they grow cold in your hands and are sensitivie. Perhaps a card might suddenly fall from the deck and the eyes of the depiction would flash intelligently to show their readiness.
    For using the cards perceive either yourself or your subject and begin shuffling the cards until they grow cold again, meaning they are ready to be dealt and to show a prediction.
    Failure could happen during the drawing and painting of any of the cards or, during the stage of sensitizing, might suddenly all blow away in the wind and be lost to you forever.
    What if you don't want to be an artist or a bowl shaper or a deboner of small, furry, cuddly animals (like gerbils! (lip smacking good!))? Then I would suggest you buy a tool from another mage before the tool has been sensitized. Due to the personal nature of tools a tool should work for only the person who sensitized them.

    Mirror mirror on the wall, just what does Tezirah want, after all?
    When I first came to the realms I heard of the Progeny of Tezirah on repeated occasions. I don't hear about them as much any more, but the last I heard was that Erzebet was herself a member of the Progeny.
    Mirrors, of course, are the symbol of the Progeny and some still search for her mystical mirror. Until found, and shared, the rest of the Progeny experiment with other mirrors and hope to produce effects similar to Tezirah's.
    To make one's own mirror requires a few simple tools. A crucible to melt the quartzite sand in, a mold to pour the glass into. Some polishing tools to get a more perfect sheet of glass. Then some silver to coat the back of the glass.
    To heat the quartzite and silver to melting stages the Burn spell ought to work nicely. (But Burn doesn't get that hot, some would say. It won't melt quartzite! Then buy yourself a magnifying glass and some dark goggles).
    Mech lore will base the skill of making the mirror, whether there are air bubbles in the molten glass, or if the glass breaks either during cooling or when the silver is poured on it.
    To empower the mirror, again focus on it until the glass mists over or frosts over. From then on perceive yourself or your subject and focus on it until the vision comes to you.
    The attempt to make the mirror might fail during the pouring of the glass, air bubbles in the cooled glass, the silver improperly poured, causing distortion in reflection, a ripple effect in the mirror. During sensitization the mirror might suddenly shatter explosively, causing damage to the mage.
    Failure might not merely mean a useless item, but a cursed item. The curse would not be apparant to the moon mage immediately but they would come to know of it in time. A cursed item might seem to give strong, positive predictions, when in reality they are dooming the person who received the prediction. This would be a rare thing at best and might even require a quest or some such to remove the negative aura not only from the tool but from the mage who owns the tool itself. It would add a certain bit of excitement and fun to the whole thing (Heh!).
 
    To gaze or not to gaze, that is the question...
    I have heard that to get predictions, no matter what the divination tool we use, will still require us to observe the heavens first. If this is the case, then what is the point of having tools at all? In going with the realism approach I will remind you that astrologers, card-using fortunetellers, bone tossers, scryers and the like all used their own separate tools specificly as well as their knowledge and personal powers to attain predictions or to make something up and make it look good ;)
    Celestial observation should be reserved to the Astrologist moon mage and predictions attained from tools should be reliant solely upon the tools you use as well as your personal skills, stats and circles. To have to use the skies to make a prediction when you use tools cheapens the value of the tools themselves.

    How else to find the future now.
    Throughout IRL history there have been many ways that people have tried to draw knowledge of the furture. Just as food for thought I give examples of some of them here.
    Gastromancy.
    Sounds rather disgusting, but it's not. Gastromancy is when one person places another in a hypnotic trance and then asks questions of them in hopes that the subconscious mind will find clues of the future. The entranced person has no knowledge of what they see, hear or say but their words are often cryptic and can be interpretated in many ways.
    In DragonRealms the moon mage would place another moon mage in a trance and then ask them a question such as, "How will JoBoo's weapon skills advance in the near future?" A possible reply of the entranced mage might be along the lines of a great victory in battle or a sudden beheading of JoBoo himself!
    Oneiromancy.
    Oneiromancy is much like Gastromancy except that it involves but a single mage. The mage places themselves into a trance-like state and receives portentous dreams that they then decipher. Oneiromancy means, literally, dream dancing.
    Lithomancy.
    Lithomancy uses gemstones and a black, embroidered cloth to give insight to the future. A mage would take a handful of polished gems or crystals and cast them across his piece of cloth. A reading would be derived by seeing which gems landed on which symbols. The color and type of gem would affect the symbol that it fell upon, thereby activating the symbol. Overall this is on the same line of complexity as the bones that we currently use...
    Cartomancy.
    Cartomancy is of course the use of cards to predict the future, as in either regular playing cards, tarot cards with their major arcana, or the Toka cards that we are waiting upon.
    Entrail Divination.
    Let's roll up our sleeves and get right into it, eh? Instead of skinning a kill we gut it instead and see how the entrails lie either in the carcass or upon the ground. Pick your way through the entrails a bit and see some deeper meanings of life in general. Or just play in the gore if you like ;)~ I know that there are plenty of people out there who would just love to be able to do this. Also keep in mind that there are plenty of people out there who would stop ribbing Moon Mages about hunting small monsters if they watched us at play in a kill. Remember, there are many forms of mystique, it all depends on how one goes about it. The power of the prediction gained in this way would be commensurate with the difficulty of the creature killed. So getting a negative prediction from a gargoyle is something one would want to shy away from.

    The value of predictions
    For the time being our predictions have little value to either ourselves or to those we predict for. This is due in part to the fact that our predictions can be an unwieldly thing to control. As of yet I am unsure as to the exact nature of meaning between the heavenly bodies and our predictions. Because of this it can be a very bad thing to do predictions without a firm grasp as to what it is that we are predicting. A hunting profession with a desire for some boost in their weapon or armor skills would no doubt be put out by a prediction that strongly harmed their main weapon skill(s) for a long duration. Who would tip for something like that? Almost as bad is a nearly insignificant positive prediction that has a short duration. After all, we can stretch the truth only so much. An experienced player will be able to tell whether or nor they got a good prediction in truth or if they were merely conned.
    So we must find a way to make predictions valuable to those that we do predictions for. If we can prove that our predictions are of a great boon to those we predict for then they will be more likely, in the long run, to give us payment in return for our services. Until such time, however, I would not hold out on gaining a valuable income from our prediction abilities.

    Magical Devices.
    This is a touchy subject with me, especially when I look across the realms and notice just who is getting what is expected to come in the near future. So far one must simply ask themselves, what makes sense? Okay, Barbarians are great with weapons, and they are big and strong. So the making of weapons would ideally fall to them to make high quality weapons. Since they are about as attuned to magic as the Cartoon Network is to good programming, it would be hard for them to enchant a blade. So we would gain the highest quality in weapons from Barbarians, and then would take them to a magic using person to do the actual enchanting.
    Paladins would excel in the production of armor and be able to invest such armor with the holy might of their gods.
    Clerics could give us items that bring us protection from the creatures of the dark. Permanently consecrated weapons and items that reflect the aspects of specific gods.

    Rangers might make high accuracy bows, enchanted leather armor, gloves with the Hands of Larissa spell upon them, masks with Wolf Scent, etc.
    Empaths would, um... How about tokens of Innocence? Sorry, only thing I can think of off hand. Don't konw much about the Empath guild...
    War Mages (hold on to your hats, this goes by pretty fast...) would be able to harness their particular Elemental powers to make weapons that had electrical qualities by imbedding ilmenite, fire with the use of scheelite, frost with clear selenite. Cloaks with the spell Spirit Cloak upon them. Boots with Steadfast. Spectacles with Earth Sense. Do you see the direction we are taking here?
    So, you ask yourself, what does this leave Moon Mages? Runes.... yeah, and?! Okay, some ideas are boots with the Shadows spell. Spectacles with Clear Vision upon them. Sword hilts that produce Moonblade upon them. Maybe helms that protect against Mind Blast (what's the point, the spell is useless now anyways after the latest tweaks). Can't really think of much else besides that. Maybe cloaks with Refractive Field...
    So, we are once again left on the short end of things. Most people will want the armor and weapons, followed by the possible creations of War Mage devices. We are, once again, the low-end utilitarian mages.
    Well, here goes my version of how things non-clerical should work with magical items and their creation. First and foremost is the idea that all enchantment should have to involve Moon Mages. This, quite simply, is the only way that we can get our foot in the door on the enchantment systems and to use the making of magical items as a viable money making system for Moon Mages.
    This does not mean that the other guilds would not have anything to do with item enchantment. In fact the beauty is making enchantment into a symbiotic relationship. Even though we generally have very high Mech Lore skills and many Moon Mages use plate armor and fight with nice weapons of all varieties we doubtlessly will not be allowed to make armor and weapons. Fine, I won't argue about that. (After all, only thieves can make lockpicks. Insane, ain't it?) So someone wants some enchanted magical armor. First step is to order quality armor made by a paladin who, with about 100 ranks in Heavy Plate and Mech Lore apiece, makes some quality armor. Then the purchaser has the option to have his armor consecrated with say, PFE or some such or get it enchanted by a Moon Mage to do any number of things. I'll let others hash out the enchantment.
    Someone wants a weapon. A Barbarian with 100 ranks in the weapon class and mech lore makes a weapon of quality. Again the purchaser can either have the blade consecrated or enchanted.
    So far you can see how the symbiotic relationship is working. The maker of the item and the enchanter/consecrater both get paid and both get experience. Simple and everyone is happy.
    Er, no...?
    (Could someone please bar the doors and order up the reserve units of S'lai guards? I think I hear the War Mages coming...)
    Well we have all heard rumors about the Schools of Magic and such and how the War Mages will be able to make wonderful enchanted items, blah blah blah...
    All I have to say is that the War Mages have no business being able to make enchanted items on their own. Why do I say this? Quite plain and simple and the ever overriding cause for changing anything and everything in the Realms: BALANCE
    War Mages already have the following: Familiars, better weapon skills, more spells, a real Power Perception ability, targettable magic, etc.
    Furthermore, War Mages are an amalgamation of magery and fighters. They are not a pure class of magic. Moon Mages were always meant to be the scholars and innovators of magic as well as the delvers into new things and things arcane. War Mages are not able to give the absolute dedication to magic that Moon Mages are able to. Therefore there are many areas where their skills may very well be lacking when it comes to precise and exacting work of enchantment.
    (Um, pour the burning pitch now, I thnk they've broken the doors down...)
    That is not to say that War Mages have no place in the realms in regards to the making of magical items. I am just saying that they should not be able to work completely on their own. If they are given this ability we are, again, left out in the cold and game play balance is horribly tilted.
    In actuality any item that would require a WM spell on it could be obtained from a War Mage who places the spell on a scroll for a one-time use or to be placed into the magical item (actually gives a point to the name War Mage Scroll). Of course a War Mage would charge for each such scroll made and be required to have a certain amount of magical skill and mech lore to make a scroll that contains the spell in entirety and which can be transfered from the scroll effectively.
    (So does this mean we can just Burn down the Schools of Magic?)
    Ah, don't tease... Actually the Schools of Magic would be of use to both the War Mages and the Moon Mages. Working together I am sure the two professions would come up with some very interesting and powerful spells, tools and devices. But the fine points are for others to work out.

    New Magical Items
    Okay, these are some ideas that I've actually worked out a bit and which would be left entirely to the Moon Mages to make themselves. Hope you like :)
    (Rifles through notes and a few notebooks, frowns in consternation)
    Perchance I lost some of my research... Ah well, here are the two things that I can still find. Sorry not to be able to find the rest... ::sigh::
 
    Light Crystals:  Many treasure boxes have rock crystals in them (yummy yummy) and usually we just go ahead and appraise them a few times and then go sell them. However, there is a use that we might have for them. It might be possible to enchant crystals to store mana and when rubbed would give off a lunar glow. Worn on a chain or thong they would be of great use in underground exploration. It would also be a cheaper alternative to the gaethzen orbs that don't seem to work all that well and which are inhibitive to players who are actually trying to cast spells while holding the gaethzen orbs. A light crystal would be a cheap, small toy, but one with pratcical uses

    Trumps:  Okay, anyone who has read much of the works of Roger Zelazney will automatically call me a rip-off artist. I confess, it was Zelazney's Chronicles of Amber dekalogy that I got this idea from. The trumps for DragonRealms would be cards depicting an actual player character on them. \par \tab A Moon Mage with some Artistry skill would make a protrait of a PC who had ordered the item. Upon completion of the portrait it would take a good while for the Moon Mage to enchant the card. Among other things a permanent form of Focus Moonbeam and Teleport would be placed on the card. Upon completion of the Trump the purchaser would be able to give the card to another to use to make instantaneous contact with the person who is depicted on the card. This would be of particular use when said person has died and needs to be pulled out in a hurry. Also, it would allow the holder of the card to be taken to the person depicted on the card at the depicted person's will.

    Magical Robes:  An item whose time that has come. Plain and simple. Nuff said.

    Spells
    First of all, we need more spells, some more spells and some more spells!!! I think this point is clear. Okay, now that we have that out of the way let us move to a discussion of Targetted Magic, the bane of many a Moon Mage, other than Power Perceive. We have only one spell that gives us Targetted Magic, namely Telekintetic Throw. We are horribly inhibited when it comes to areas where we can use. A cluttered room is our greatest bane when it comes to using this spell.
    I have made the argument before and I will make it again that we should be able to choose the item that we use in Telekinetic Throw. Those that argue that it would make us too powerful have a flawed argument on their hands. It can be argued that a War Mage in a strong elemental mana room has an unfair advantage. Lightning bolts can be dodged, but it is a hard thing to do. Thrown objects can be dodged as well, just like with arrows (and hopefully someday I will be able to dodge crossbow bolts...) As the current system stands we are required to invest massive amounts of our TDPs in mental stats in order to move larger objects and all wooden weapons (why I can hurl a battle-axe more easily than a wooden club is beyond me). This leads to weak Moon Mages and many Moon Mages who circle-chase and script themselves to high levels to attain the power to move heavier objects with effective mana costs. On the majority of nights a single prep 20 spell will greatly deplete our harness reserves. So one says that being able to spend prep 8s on a smaller objects will give us an advantage when it comes to PvP battles (a thing I don't like anyways and in which we are usually the weaker creatures). However, I argue that Fire Shard prepped at the same cost and with the same amount of targetted magic behind it is just as effective and hurts just as much.
    Many young characters start out their careers in goblins. A young Moon Mage who has TKT as a starting spell will soon find they can't effectively hunt in goblins, trolls, scouts, reavers and the majority of other places because of the clutter that quickly builds up in these areas. Yet a WM with Fire Shard as a starting spell has only to worry about the mana in the room. This is a game inbalance.
    An example of how TKT, IMHO, should work:
    prep t t 8
    target
    cast

    Now, isn't that simple and doesn't it make sense? It only insults the guild and its great members of the past to say that no one has ever found a way to make the spell work in the way described above. Nuff said.
    Piercing Gaze is, for the most part, a joke. I do not really know of anyone off hand who has the spell. I don't have it and at the moment, have no use for it. What should be done with the spell? Reset it so that it pierces cloud clover so that we can see the constellations even during the regular cloud cover. Again, one would think that during all the centuries of the MM guild someone would have thought to rework the spell to make it effective in such a manner.
    Burn is usually used in hunting and PvP. It is the effective alternative to our targetted spell. Unlike the Clerical spells that don't have to be targetted yet gives targetted magic experience, we only get good primary and harness magic experience from it. Another use for it for those that don't like to hunt would be to make Burn effective to open boxes. A single bolt of Burn would, most times, burn out the area around the lock of a box and effectively disarm it. (I wouldn't recommend using Burn to open naphtha boxes, though. Same principle as leaving poison traps on the ground when a Ranger composts). This would make Moon Mages effective outside of the hunting grounds and would probably save a lot of newbie lives in the process as well ;)
 
    New Spell Colleges
    Here are a few ideas for new spell colleges in conjunction with the spell ideas that I have come up with. Let me know what you think of them and the spells that follow.
    Movement, used to help in movement on land, in the hunting grounds, etc.
    Illusionary Arts, where else would they place the Illusion spell, anyways? Provided it ever comes out...
    Mega and Enchantment. You need to be high level to gain these and would be used to make enchanted items spells of incredible power that would only be available after quest and high circle. (Of course I worry about high circle snerts getting ahold of these...)
 
    From Shanala's Journal
    Most of these spell notes were written by Shanala either while sitting on the shores of Lake Gwenalion or in Shard while meditating in the Great Tower (watching for birds to doo doo on the crystal dome ;P
    Keep in mind that she is still only sixteen years of age and actual research isn't her forte...
 
    Haste: This spell would improve the ability of the caster or the target of the casting to evade and parry while in combat. Also allows for quicker recovery of balance while in combat. Would give a 10-20% bonus to one's abilities with duration dependant upon the amount put into the spell and the mana management of the caster themself. Movement College

    Zone of Haste: Same as above but would require Haste as a prereq and would be cast on an entire party. Movement College

    Far Gaze: Not even sure why I thought of this one, but it ended up in the journal anyways ::shrug:: Would allow a Moon Mage to see more than one room over. Example: prep spell, cast. Peer e, you see the room directly east. Peer east again and see another room farther over. Be able to see farther with higher skill. Perception College

    Invisible Eye: Allows Moon Mages to see a fellow mage who is RFing or others who are hiding. Also would show thieves who are using their own invisibility skill. The spell would probably have a high mana cost and short duration, so may not be the most cost effective. May be a possibility that CV would be required to be cast first. Perception College
 
    Repulsion: This spell would push monster(s) away from the caster and fellow party members. Can specify a character or race of monster. Depending on skill and amount put into it you might be able to fling a goblin two rooms over and only make a swamp troll giggle... Movement College

    Mass Mind Blast: Very powerful and hard spell to use. Downfall of this spell is that it would cause nerve damage and physical pain to the caster. Would be used to cripple everything in a room. The mana going into the spell would be split amongst the individual creatures or characters in the room. Not much point in grass eels, but might actually be effective in marauders... Psychic Projection College.

    Zone of Refraction: Same as Refractive Field but used to hide an entire party, which would make a Moon Mage bodyguard most useful to Traders or to a Moon Mage leading an empath to a person in need of healing help. Transduction College

    Aura of Fear: Causes other players and creatures to retreat in fear from the caster. Would be best used by younger mages, seeing as how the majority of creatures will retreat from you anyways at higher levels. Psychic Projection College

    Mana Well: This ritual would be used to increase a Moon Mage's sensitivity to Moon Mana on nights when there there isn't much (ie., when there is only one moon out, or none). A group of Moon Mages with high ranks in Power Perceive would work together in a chanted ritual that would probably have a long round time. Upon completion of the ritual, they would be able to harness mana better, as if there were actually more or better moon mana available. For example, on a no moon night the ritual would give the equivalant mana of a one moon night, taking the next closest phase of the moons in the lunar orbits. On a one moon night you would receive the mana of two moons, again dependent on the course of the lunar orbits, etc. On a three moon night you would receive no bonus. The drawbacks are that you actually need high ranks of PP, a hard commodity to come by for Moon Mages and would also leave the members of the ritual physically weakened, reducing their stamina, strength, agility and reflex. Mega College

    Dispell Magic: This spell has a very simple, yet special, purpose. It is meant to dispell the effects of RF, Calm, Confusion, Dazzle, enchantes and other duration spells such as Swarm, etc. While the possiblities for abuse are great, it is also a spell that has need in the Realms. Especially when other spells are being abused. Two spells that I would like to see immune from Dispell would be Focus Moonbeam and Moongate. To have Dispell cast at these two could be horribly injurous, particularly to someone who is operating a gate or who is prepping a teleport, thinking they have plenty of time left on their moonbeam.
    Dispell would require high amounts of PM and mental stats. Also, when dispelling, the Dispeller's skills and stats would be compared to the original caster's for effectiveness of the dispelling. Mega College

    Lunar Light: This spell would simply cause either a nimbus to surround the caster or an orb of light to appear near the caster and work as a light source in darkness and in underground areas. With enough skill might even help in finding room-based traps (such as in UnderShard). Moonlight Manipulation

    Illuminaire: ::drool, slobber, drool:: A single, intense, concentration of moonlight or sunlight and/or starlight that expells in a quick flash of destructive energy. It would work against the undead (I'm sorry, there has to be a balance between clerics and everybody else, I mean, come on...). Low level monsters would find themselves pretty much atomized (think Hiroshima) and higher level monsters would be blinding, have massive injuries to eyes, skin, etc.
    Some drawbacks to the spell, however. Lotsa mana to cast and lotsa PM and HM required to do so as well. The caster and any other PC in the room with the caster would be stunned for a period of time. Also, any monster killed by the spell would have nothing left to be skinned off of it and there is the possibility that any valuables would be destroyed. Also, boomers and naphtha boxes might have a chance of being set off by the Illuminaire. This would be a last ditch, life and death, spell. Mega College

    History: Yes, I am capable of thinking of a few utilitarian spells (and there is still a need to rob a few utilitarian spells away from the War Mages). When cast, History would tell you who had been in the room recently, say in the last few minutes or so. Also, the spell could be targetted to a specific person and the caster could be told if such a person had in fact been in the room in recent time. Some might wonder why have a spell such as this when we have Locate? Well, Locate has quite a few limits, including when a person is hiding, inside or invisible. History, while not able to scan large areas, will tell a person whether the target of the cast had indeed walked that way while hidden, invisible, etc. Perception College

    Carrier: Yet another spell to be cast in conjunction with other Perception spells. After casting a Locate spell and getting a definate fix on that person, casting Carrier would then tug the caster in the direction of the person at the point they were at when the Locate found them. Would not work like Tracking wherein the tracker is automaticly in the same room as the person they are tracking. A caster in Crossing casts Carrier on a person they Located in Haven. The caster would feel a tugging sensation that draws them northwards towards Riverhaven. Yet the caster still has to negotiate the bridges, tunnels, muck, flow and the ferry on the way to Haven. Would be of use in finding a character in a hunting area that the caster has never been to or when the caster of Locate does not recognize the area that they saw during the Locate. Perception College

    Faerie Glow: Cause Foraging is a pain ;)~ The casting of Faerie Glow would limn herbs in a faint glow that would make it easier for people in the room to forage. The glow is quite faint, though, so it does not mean that a forager is instantly going to find the herbs in the room. However, they will notice the glow when foraging for a specific herb and have approximately a 25% better chance of finding them. Moonlight Maniplution College or Perception College

    Lunar Wrath: These are targetted combat spells that are dependant upon the different moons. Also, their effectiveness is determined by one's mental stats, magic skills and the power of the moon on a particular day.
    Xibar: When cast on a creature or a person a sudden cloud of ice crystals forms around the target and causes cold damage to them. When the cloud is strong enough it may also cause stuns and will do frostbite damage to the skin and harsher damage to exposed areas.
    Katamba: A cloud of suffocating darkness that causes fatigue and if inhaled, causes internal damage to the targetted creature.
    Yavash: A cloud of burning gas that causes damage to the skin, exposed areas, stuns and if inhaled internal damage as well.
    The spell would require large amounts of harness. Transduction College
 
    Know Familiar: Simply designed to determine whom a familiar or companion belongs to. Perception College

    Enable Tool: Used to make enchantments on a divination tool. Single use is to embed magic into an object. Mega/Enchantment College

    The rest of Shanala's Journal contains doodles and drawings of Cutie Kitty and some people she knows in strange forms of caricture...

    Well folks, for now this is all of I have for the treatise though I have a few more ideas in store for the future that I might get around to writing someday... For now, enjoy, grumble, curse, etc., and let met know what you think.

Descolada9 ;)~

If you loved the images on this page anywheres near as much as I do, then I encourage you to check out the links page and bookmark the Witch Way link that you will find there under Graphics.  There is a lot more there that the creator has made public domain.  Personally all I can say is "Thank the Goddess" :)
 
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