MK Colleges

This page relates to the Ephemeral Elephants adventure.

Skilled adepts, as you are used to them (in the sense of someone who know all the generals of a college & at least a few specials) are no more common in the MK than in Alusia. However some experts in particular trades have some magical ability without being magic-users as such. Skilled adepts are usually "Wayist" scholars or heroes (& vice versa). They gain their power by manipulation the "flow" of forces, and often employ signs & sigils that evoke the Way:

Many trade or professional skills often involve "magic", which may be talent, spell, or rituals of a college you recognise. In this way ... ALL master smiths will be will be practitioners of the elementary college of Metal; SOME master woodworkers are practitioners of the elementary college of Metal; master troubadours or Entertainers are often Bards or illusionists; mechanicians are often elem. Mages; etc.

Some scholars know how to perform Rites — involved, ceremonial methods of Wayist knowledge that often mimic the effects of College Rituals known on Alusia.

Thaumaturgies

• Bardic Magics; Binding and Animating; Ensorcelments and Enchantments — these are quite recognisable & behave as you would expect (although your employer is not evil).
• Illusions — functions more as a college of Minor Creation than one of deception
• Mind — has different spells & rituals, but is clearly mind-magics (Aside: it is not possible to "fly" by Telekinesis)
• Namers — there is conjecture that the magic-nullifying stonework in the Governors' palaces is some Namer ritual; although that seems too powerful for the college.

Elementary & Elemental Colleges

These are similar to Alusian colleges, except not all are equally potent & the colleges are less "oppositional" than you might expect. Some element-controlling magic requires passive concentration. The Elementary colleges are the 5 true elements; the elementals colleges are the pseudo- or mixed elements (like celestial, or the life-related Wiccan). There are no Elementals (as in "summonables"), but some colleges have golems that are quite like the binders.

• Earth — common, powerful, respected. Essential to major construction, earthworks, etc.
• Fire — rare, but too common; secretly disrespected; sometimes used in combat.
• Metal — i.e. "Smith" as a form of magical knowledge & ability; mostly utility & transformatory magic; little directly combat magic (although Sharpness is a common weapons spell on swords).
• Water — weaker that in Alusia, but still dangerous.
• Wood — for the most part this is the "Rune" college.

• Air — comparatively weak, in addition to the fact that their various flying gliding, cloud-binding magics do NOT work.
• Wiccan — mostly unchanged from the Aulsian version.
• Celestial — common; used to military advantage. No Shadow or Solar mages known.
• Ice — this was unknown until the time of Yellow Scarves rebellion and only YS rebels have learnt it; therefore ice-mages are suppressed if ever discovered. It is presumed to be from the Book of Knowledge given by Saint Hermit of the Southern Land to the founder of the rebellion, Horn STRETCH, who anointed himself "Great Teacher" and "Duke of Heaven". Before the arrival of Ice, there were very sound philosophical reasons for knowing that there were only 8 elem. Colleges.

Other Colleges observed in Alusia

Necro does not exist.
Summoners cannot (?) exist. Although you might falsely assume you were brought by a "Summoning Heroes" ritual, it is actually a different months-long rite; nor may you be dismissed worth a mere counterspell.
Many rituals have some Runic basis and, just as there is only one language that corresponds to the so-called Naming Tongue, written characters have intrinsic power as symbols of those True Words, and sometimes writing has quasi-magical Rune or Glyph-like qualities. Most of the spells & rituals of the Rune college, as you Alusians know it, are in the Elementary College of Wood Magic.
Planar Magic or Dimensional Weaving cannot (?) exist, although the dimension integrity of MK has been breached in the past by denizens from the lower depths (non-demonic or non-hellish as you would consider them).

Special Magic rules for PCs

1. If you have a spell at Rank-20 with over 100% base chance, you may at anytime elect to prepare & cast it without the need for WP checks or casting dice rolls. Provided you are not standing in a prohibitive counterspell, or being actively resisted, etc ... then your spell will not fail, but neither will it have a multiple effect. This is predominantly only of use during the too-light periods.
2. Ax Is may cast his general spells (which include all those Rank-6 counterspells) without having to prepare first.
3. If out of fatigue, a mage may cast spells, but at the cost of [expected FT cost + 1 + Rank] Endurance points; usually has the additional effect of blood dripping/gushing from nose, eyes, etc.
4. It's usually high mana.
5. If you triple a spell, you get FT back. (i.e. casting generals is a slow FT recharge).

Counterspells

Which of the Alusian counterspells work against Metal? I assume Rune works against Wood. Kit