Q. Can you give us a brief recap of how spellcasting works, and what people have achieved with it so far?
Are runes single use only? It looks like this one is…
A. How it works:
- Pick a pentacle that has the powers you want
- Create an image of the pentacle by hand (drawing, carving, etc)
- If you want to affect a specific person, come up with an unambiguous way to identify them
- If you’re teleporting, you need 2 pentacles, one at the start & one at the end
- Give an order, using the Language of the Contract
- If you drew it perfectly, and pronounced it perfectly, and have enough understanding and strength and emotional investment to match the scale of whatever you’re trying to do, the thing will happen.
And yes, they’re single-use. The pentacle comes off the page (slab, etc) and manifests in its big glowy floating form, then vanishes.
Effects we’ve seen so far:
- Teleporting (first appearance, chapter 5)
- Compelling obedience from Beings that you aren’t the Master of (can be overridden by direct orders from Master) (first appearance, chapter 6)
- Enabling non-Masters to view a Being’s battles (first appearance, chapter 25)
Effects we’ve seen attempted, but not successfully:
- Acquiring knowledge (first appearance, interlude 2)
- Whatever Josh was trying to do (first appearance, interlude 4)