Sunday 22 November 2020

A Spell to Free a Soul

Hello nerds. I am busy and this is good. I have one hundred spells that I've written, and I'm currently editing them so they're mechanically comprehensible by People-Who-Aren't-Me. Then I need to write the delicious version. Then I need to write poetry or lyrics in the appropriate style, as the words of the actual spell, for some or all of them.

So if anyone knows a good poet who wants a job writing a hundred short poems about witch nonsense in styles emulating Actual Witchcraft, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Book of Solomon, Thomas Malory, Monks-Who-Can't-Draw-Elephants (or what I suspect their poetry would sound like), etc., let me know in the comments below where I can find examples of their work. This would be good because learning to do Poetry is probably hard.

ANYWAY. Here is one of the spells. One can use it to remove a soul from a body. It doubles as a really good source of ghosts, mindless beasts, intelligent elk, political assassinations/mad kings, and adventure.


Voyage of the Vastness

a.      Ritual:

                                   i.    The caster prepares an Anchor. This is a small container the size of a stone-fruit, in which the following reagents are placed: Three drops of the target’s blood; a pinch of powdered silver; a pinch of grave dust; and any one of a) three drops of elf blood, b) a soul, or c) the tears of a hero. The anchor is sealed with the whispered song of the spell

                                  ii.    The Anchor is given-to or placed-on the target (if attached to an amulet or the like). Once the target is in possession of the Anchor, the spell will take effect within three heartbeats. The Anchor will not spill or open under mundane, nonmagical circumstances.

b.      Effects:

                                   i.    Project the target’s soul from its body, into the ley-filled ether between worlds. The target now acts from the perspective of its soul-form. This form is invisible and silent in the normal world, and floats at the speed of a butterfly. It may pass through solid objects. The soul can hear, though there is a persistent sound of whipping winds. It can see in grayscale, in both light and darkness, though slightly obscured by a grey-white fog. Magical creatures, some rare innocents, and anyone who can see souls/fae/elvish-realms may be able to detect the soul.

                                  ii.    The state of the uninhabited body depends on the moon:

1.      If Waxing, it is seemingly lifeless, unresponsive, cold, and still. It can survive on greatly reduced oxygen, and will starve/dehydrated in weeks rather than days;

2.      If Waning, it acts as a soulless beast, behaving per its animal cunning in pursuit of its fundamental needs. It will do anything it can to keep the Anchor in its possession. It will try to escape restraints unless this will bring obvious harm to the body.

                                 iii.    The target’s soul-form may inhabit another living and soulless body, though there is a risk of madness from this possession. Leaving a possessed body can be done freely if the body is asleep or in the light of the full moon. Leaving otherwise may be challenging, and may still take an inexperienced witch several minutes to achieve.

                                 iv.    Lasts until either: a) the target’s soul is destroyed; b) it re-enters it’s original body; or c) the Anchor is opened or removed from the possession of the original body – this will maroon the soul in its current location, unable to freely move into or out of bodies unless this or a similar spell is cast again on them. When the spell ends, the anchor will open (if not already) with a cold sigh, revealed emptiness.

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