Fallen
10-03-2005, 12:44 PM
The following was taken from the official boards. It is a lecture concerning the spell of Scroll Infusion.
----
You recite:
"Next we have Mekthros, who will speak on Scroll Infusion"
Mekthros nods.
Mekthros says, "Fair enough. Alright, I'll keep this brief."
Mekthros says, "I don't think I even like most of you."
Mekthros says, "There's a guide floating around that answers most of the basic
questions about infusion."
Mekthros says, "It's fairly comprehensive, and should address most of the
details of the system."
Mekthros says, "That being the case, I'm mainly here to answer questions."
Mekthros says, "Some of the finer points aren't covered in the guide."
Mekthros says, "I'll also answer questions about basic scroll infusion."
Mekthros says, "Which are fine."
Mekthros says, "If it's in the guide somewhere, we can talk about it here."
Mekthros nods.
Mekthros says, "Apparently an introduction is a good idea."
Mekthros says, "Scroll Infusion is basically a way to enhance the number of
charges on a scroll."
Mekthros says, "In order to begin the process, you're going to need a canvas on
which to draw runes, some ink, a cup of water, and a brush."
Mekthros says, "About half of the common runes that sorcerers know are devoted
to Scroll Infusion."
Mekthros says, "I'll run through them briefly to get a good idea of what they
each do, and how they relate to the spell."
Mekthros says, "In order for a scroll to be infused, the spells that one wishes
to raise in charge level need to be unlocked first."
Mekthros says, "As a basic rule, if a scroll's ever been invoked or infused
before, none of its spells can be unlocked."
Mekthros says, "So if you're looking to unlock a scroll, you'll want to hold off
on using it prior to the actual attempts to unlock its spells."
Mekthros says, "The simplest way to make a canvas onto which a rune can be
scribed is to head to the backroom of the Landing general store."
Mekthros says, "They sell smooth stones there."
Mekthros says, "You get an aish'vrak potion from an alchemist, and pour the
potion on the stone."
Mekthros says, "Your skills won't matter on the actual pour. It's a guaranteed
success."
Mekthros says, "When you've poured the potion on the stone, you've made that
smooth stone a runestone."
Mekthros says, "You can then, with your brush, scribe one of six runes on the
scroll that are relevant to the Infusion spell."
Mekthros says, "Runes are activated by waving them at a scroll. Each wave of a
runestone attempts to unlock one spell on a scroll."
Mekthros says, "The different runestones unlock a spell for a certain number of
potential charges, and can be used on spells of different power levels."
Mekthros says, "The most basic rune is beiron'fyn, which unlocks one spell 5th
circle or lower for 5 potential charges."
Mekthros says, "The second is erikar'fyn, which unlocks one spell 10th circle or
lower for 10 potential charges."
Mekthros says, "The next is ikar'fyn, which is one spell 15th or lower for 15
potential charges."
Mekthros says, "And the strongest rune available to us currently is quiss'fyn,
which unlocks one spell 20th or lower for 20 potential charges."
Mekthros says, "So, we'll use the smooth stones as a basic template."
Mekthros says, "An aish'vrak-prepared smooth stone will hold six charges of any
charging rune."
Mekthros says, "So that would be six waves of the stone."
Mekthros says, "There are two additional runes which are fairly important, and
smooth stones hold 50 charges of each of these."
Mekthros says, "There's the odeir'cos rune, which gives information on a
scroll's spells when you wave it at a scroll."
Mekthros says, "It'll tell you if any of the spells are unlocked, how many
charges they have left, and how many charges can potentially be added to them."
Mekthros says, "Arguably the most important rune is ag'loenar, which is the
charging rune."
Mekthros says, "When you've got a spell on a scroll unlocked, and it can
potentially be infused, you need to hold the ag'loenar rune in the hand opposite
the scroll to do so."
Mekthros says, "If you attempt to INFUSE a scroll without holding a stone
scribed with ag'loenar, the infusion will fail."
Mekthros says, "When you draw a rune onto a stone, you might draw it perfectly,
or you might get the basic design down, and it's not a work of art."
Mekthros says, "This isn't going to impact how "well" the rune works, or the
number of its charges."
Mekthros says, "As long as you get a decent version of the rune onto the stone,
it's all the same."
Mekthros says, "I'll do one or two examples to try to illustrate what's going on with the runes, and charging."
Mekthros says, "I've got a scroll with, say, Self Control (613) and Spell Shield
(219) on it."
Mekthros says, "It's never been used before, and it's locked."
Mekthros says, "I'd go buy a smooth stone and an aish'vrak potion, and pour the
potion onto the stone."
Mekthros says, "If I wanted to unlock Self Control first, I'd draw an ikar'fyn
rune onto the stone, and then wave the stone at the scroll."
Teekka asks, "Where do you buy the brushes for this?"
Mekthros says, "The alchemist."
Mekthros says, "Everything's available at the alchemist, except the smooth
stones."
Mekthros says, "Those are in the backroom of Landing's general store."
Mekthros says, "So, back to the scroll. I want to unlock Self Control first, so
I draw an ikar'fyn rune, and wave the rune at the scroll."
Mekthros says, "At which point my skills in magic item use, arcane symbols, and
a few other things are checked."
Mekthros says, "On a success, I unlock the spell, and it can hold up to 15
charges of Self Control at any given time."
Mekthros says, "Note that this doesn't put 15 charges into the spell. It just
gives me the potential to add them."
Mekthros says, "The next spell is Spell Shield, which is 19th circle."
Mekthros says, "Ikar'fyn won't unlock this."
Mekthros says, "I'd need a quiss'fyn rune to unlock Spell Shield, so I'd draw
that, and then wave it at the scroll."
Teekka asks, "Same stone?"
Mekthros says, "A stone can hold one rune of any type at any given time."
Mekthros says, "So you'd need a different stone."
Mekthros says, "Which means another aish'vrak potion, and such."
Mekthros says, "Once you've got the two spells unlocked, you'd create an
ag'loenar runestone through the same process."
Mekthros says, "And, when you've got that in your hand, cast Scroll Infusion at
the scroll."
Mekthros removes a dog-eared strip of vellum from in his dark ora case.
Mekthros points at a dog-eared strip of vellum.
Mekthros says, "Scroll."
Mekthros removes a smooth stone from in his dark ora case.
Mekthros points at a smooth stone.
Mekthros says, "Ag'loenar runestone."
Mekthros begins drawing a faint, twisting symbol as he utters an arcane
invocation in hushed tones...
Mekthros says, "Spell prepared."
Mekthros gestures at a dog-eared strip of vellum.
Mekthros focuses on the strip of vellum for a moment.
Mekthros says, "Cast at the scroll."
An ethereal wisp suddenly leaps from Mekthros's smooth stone to his strip of
vellum. The vellum glows dimly for a moment.
Mekthros says, "Infuse mana into the scroll."
An ethereal wisp suddenly leaps from Mekthros's smooth stone to his strip of
vellum. The vellum glows dimly for a moment.
An ethereal wisp suddenly leaps from Mekthros's smooth stone to his strip of
vellum. Nothing else happens.
Mekthros nods.
Mekthros says, "Right, so."
Mekthros put a dog-eared strip of vellum in his dark ora case.
Mekthros put a smooth stone in his dark ora case.
Mekthros says, "If you've got numerous spells on a scroll that qualify to be
unlocked with a given runestone, the spell that the rune unlocks is random."
Mekthros says, "You can't control it. So if I used quiss'fyn on that 613-219
scroll, it could've unlocked 613, or it could've unlocked 219."
Mekthros says, "I can't determine what spell gets opened for infusing."
Mekthros says, "The only way to do that is through prudent use of runestones.
If a scroll's got a 10th circle spell and an 18th circle spell, and you want to
unlock the 10th circle spell..."
Mekthros says, "You wouldn't be using quiss'fyn to do so."
Mekthros says, "Just keep in mind that the lower the circle that the rune
impacts, the less charges it unlocks a spell for."
Mekthros says, "So it's something of a tradeoff."
Wakahashi quietly asks, "What about the unlikely event of a plus 20 circle
scroll?"
Mekthros says, "In that event, we'd need the currently unavailable dikar'fyn
runestone."
Wakahashi sighs.
Mekthros says, "Which unlocks spells up to 25th circle for 25 potential
charges."
Mekthros says, "For the moment, spells at 21st circle or higher cannot be
unlocked through this spell."
Mekthros says, "I suppose we'll briefly go through skill competence."
Mekthros says, "The only way to really learn your limitations is to use the
spell."
Mekthros says, "As you unlock and attempt to charge various scrolls, you'll get
a general idea of what you can, and can't, do."
Mekthros says, "Your charging and unlocking limitations are fairly hard-set."
Mekthros says, "Luck is not going to help you much."
Mekthros says, "It might allow you to fit an extra charge or two into a spell
above your safe limits, based on your skills, but no more than that."
Mekthros says, "Likewise, you'll learn which spells you're going to fail to
unlock consistently."
Mekthros says, "As you become more skilled, your options will naturally
expand."
Mekthros says, "When you infuse a scroll, mana is channeled to one spell that
can be charged."
Mekthros says, "Only one per infusion. So even if I'm a master infuser, and
I've got Spirit Shield (202) and Manna Bread (203) on a scroll..."
Mekthros says, "And they both have charges that can potentially be added..."
Mekthros says, "It's still going to take me two infusions to charge them both."
Mekthros says, "There are a few types of failures."
Mekthros says, "The failure varies based on whether you've failed a WAVE attempt
(an attempt to unlock a spell on a scroll) or an INFUSE attempt (an attempt to
add charges to a spell on a scroll)."
Mekthros says, "Wave failures can potentially destroy your scroll on a
catastrophic failure."
Mekthros says, "Infuse failures cannot."
Mekthros says, "Both wave and infuse failures have the potential to "lock" your
scroll."
Mekthros says, "A scroll can be locked in a few ways. The most common is that
it stops being able to receive mana, and charge its spells."
Mekthros says, "A less common failure is on a wave attempt, where it stops you
from unlocking further spells on a scroll, but leaves the already unlocked
spells as they are."
Mekthros says, "So you can still add mana to the ones you've unlocked, but any
that you haven't, you're simply out of luck on."
Mekthros says, "Failures that alter the scroll are irreversible."
Mekthros says, "Generally, failures are indicated by a white aura around the
scroll, or the stone."
Mekthros says, "And these are failures that negatively alter the scroll or the
stone."
Mekthros says, "There's a list of all potential failures in the guide near the
end."
Mekthros ponders.
Mekthros says, "Ah. Probably the most important thing to understand about the
system."
Mekthros says, "The lifetime of scrolls is indicated by their value."
Mekthros says, "Value is the entire force of the scroll."
Mekthros says, "It is what we drain when we infuse or invoke a scroll."
Mekthros says, "When a scroll's value reaches zero, it will lock permanently."
Mekthros says, "The spell is powerful, but this is its limitation."
Mekthros says, "Some spells drain a scroll's power faster than others.
Traditionally, for instance, defensive magic damages a scroll more than
offensive or utility magic."
Mekthros says, "The pawnbrokers across Elanthia are fairly astute when it comes
to how worn down a scroll is."
Mekthros says, "You can get an estimate of how much longer the scroll's going to
last by asking them to appraise it."
Mekthros says, "The lower their appraisal, the more worn down the scroll's
going to be."
Mekthros says, "There's a common practice among infusers which is a poor idea,
which I suppose I'll also mention."
Mekthros says, "Keep in mind that INFUSEing a scroll or INVOKEing a scroll
drains value."
Mekthros says, "So if you've got a spell on a scroll that you aren't using, or
Mekthros says, "Invoking it in an attempt to remove it from the scroll will
damage the lifetime of the other spells on the scroll."
Mekthros ponders.
Mekthros says, "Questions."
Kastrel softly asks, "Aside from lower level spell selection, is there any
benefit to using the lower level runes?"
Mekthros says, "Yes, essentially. The higher level rune that you use, the
easier infusing will be."
Mekthros says, "The lower level rune you use, the easier unlocking will be."
Mekthros says, "So it's a tradeoff."
Teekka says, "Maybe one day you can show me hands on how to do this all? I
learn best from actually doing something myself."
Mekthros says, "The possibility exists, but is unlikely. As I said, I don't
even like most of you."
Mekthros says, "Next question."
Teekka says, "You don't even know us."
Mekthros says, "Entirely true. I am a miserable, judgemental bastard."
Whasthar asks, "Pawn scrolls, i seen appraise of 5 spell per scroll in the 10k
range and used, and 2 spell scroll worth less than 1k and unused, how do you
tell the scrolls from pawn are unused by just the appraised price alone?"
Mekthros says, "You can't, unfortunatley."
Mekthros says, "The value of the scroll isn't indicative of whether it's used or
not."
Mekthros says, "So if you're buying scrolls off the tables on the pawnshop back
room, you've no way to know if they're used or not."
Mekthros says, "You basically have to buy them and find out."
Hrvac confidently asks, "Where is this guide to be found that youve been
speaking of?"
Mekthros says, "The guide's in the formal documentation for the spell. If you
take a look at the guild's official explanation of what the spell does, you'll
find a reference to the guide there."
Venrath asks, "Does encumberance affect your likelihood of success when waving
the unlocking runestones?"
Mekthros says, "No."
Mekthros asks, "Other questions?"
Spaewife raises her hand.
Mekthros says, "I'm not sure I like you enough to take a question."
Mekthros says, "But go ahead."
Mekthros asks, "You're an empath. Do we not pay the door guards enough?"
Spaewife asks, "Ok if I am having someone unlock and charge scrolls is better
then to have them leave all of them rather than remove them and that changes the
chance of them being infused more or less if they do leave them?"
Mekthros says, "Alright, this is something that's been tried before."
Mekthros says, "You can't remove spells on a scroll to increase the chances of
unlocking the ones that are left remaining."
Mekthros says, "The instant you invoke a spell on a scroll, it can't be unlocked
any more."
Mekthros says, "It's permanently locked for unlocking."
Mekthros says, "So you need to get all of your unlocking done before you infuse
or invoke the scroll."
Mekthros says, "Either one will ruin it for future unlocking attempts."
Rhellium asks, "Re-infusion?"
Mekthros says, "Recharging doesn't require you to unlock the spells again."
Mekthros says, "They'll be unlocked, just missing more charges."
Mekthros says, "Recharging is just a matter of getting an ag'loenar runestone
and infusing the scroll."
Rhellium says, "And can be fully re-charged again."
Mekthros nods.
Mekthros says, "Absolutely, assuming the power of the scroll holds."
Wakahashi quietly asks, "Do the scrolls still degrade, i.e. lose holding
capacity as used?"
Drauz firmly asks, "Can you use up the other spells?"
Drauz firmly asks, "So that they won't be charged?"
Teekka says, "It drains the scroll."
Speaking softly to Drauz, Kastrel asks, "Wasn't that already answered?"
Mekthros says, "I think we went over that. No, to Drauz's question."
Mekthros says, "And yes."
Mekthros says, "Invoking a scroll is going to decrease its lifespan just like
charging it."
Whasthar asks, "So rule of thumb for the scrolls as a whole, don't unlock the
spell ya don't use?"
Mekthros nods to Whasthar.
Mekthros says, "Exactly."
Mekthros says, "Or try not to, anyway."
Whasthar asks, "And don't use those lock spells at all?"
Mekthros nods.
Mekthros says, "And don't use the locked spells at all. Right."
Whasthar says, "Because using the scroll in itself weaken it for further use."
Perilschild says, "I think its important that .."
Perilschild says, "You don't actually have to be able to read the spell on the
scroll in order to reinfuse it."
Perilschild says, "You may be able to still detect it with odeir'cos."
Perilschild says, "Or .. will .. be able to actually if its still reinfusable."
Perilschild says, "Many people throw scrolls away that could be reinfused in
such an instance."
Mekthros says, "A valid point."
Auriia asks, "Am I correct in assuming the scroll must be Re-infused before
using up all the charges of a spell?"
Mekthros says, "Good question. No, actually."
Mekthros says, "If a spell is unlocked, it will vanish off the scroll visibly if
it reaches 0 charges."
Mekthros says, "But, it will not be gone, as an odeir'cos wave will show."
Mekthros says, "It is entirely possible to bring it back from 0 charges."
Mekthros says, "At which point it will return to the scroll, and you can see it
there again if you read it."
Venrath asks, "As long as the scroll still has value?"
Mekthros says, "As long as it still has value, yes."
Hakwea quietly says, "And of course, at zero value, it can not be sold."
Mekthros says, "No additional questions. The guide's listed in the formal spell
description."
Mekthros says, "Reading it is educational."
Venrath asks, "What question would you have asked if you were in the aucdience,
that was not asked?"
Mekthros says, "I'd have asked why I was so damn charming."
----
You recite:
"Next we have Mekthros, who will speak on Scroll Infusion"
Mekthros nods.
Mekthros says, "Fair enough. Alright, I'll keep this brief."
Mekthros says, "I don't think I even like most of you."
Mekthros says, "There's a guide floating around that answers most of the basic
questions about infusion."
Mekthros says, "It's fairly comprehensive, and should address most of the
details of the system."
Mekthros says, "That being the case, I'm mainly here to answer questions."
Mekthros says, "Some of the finer points aren't covered in the guide."
Mekthros says, "I'll also answer questions about basic scroll infusion."
Mekthros says, "Which are fine."
Mekthros says, "If it's in the guide somewhere, we can talk about it here."
Mekthros nods.
Mekthros says, "Apparently an introduction is a good idea."
Mekthros says, "Scroll Infusion is basically a way to enhance the number of
charges on a scroll."
Mekthros says, "In order to begin the process, you're going to need a canvas on
which to draw runes, some ink, a cup of water, and a brush."
Mekthros says, "About half of the common runes that sorcerers know are devoted
to Scroll Infusion."
Mekthros says, "I'll run through them briefly to get a good idea of what they
each do, and how they relate to the spell."
Mekthros says, "In order for a scroll to be infused, the spells that one wishes
to raise in charge level need to be unlocked first."
Mekthros says, "As a basic rule, if a scroll's ever been invoked or infused
before, none of its spells can be unlocked."
Mekthros says, "So if you're looking to unlock a scroll, you'll want to hold off
on using it prior to the actual attempts to unlock its spells."
Mekthros says, "The simplest way to make a canvas onto which a rune can be
scribed is to head to the backroom of the Landing general store."
Mekthros says, "They sell smooth stones there."
Mekthros says, "You get an aish'vrak potion from an alchemist, and pour the
potion on the stone."
Mekthros says, "Your skills won't matter on the actual pour. It's a guaranteed
success."
Mekthros says, "When you've poured the potion on the stone, you've made that
smooth stone a runestone."
Mekthros says, "You can then, with your brush, scribe one of six runes on the
scroll that are relevant to the Infusion spell."
Mekthros says, "Runes are activated by waving them at a scroll. Each wave of a
runestone attempts to unlock one spell on a scroll."
Mekthros says, "The different runestones unlock a spell for a certain number of
potential charges, and can be used on spells of different power levels."
Mekthros says, "The most basic rune is beiron'fyn, which unlocks one spell 5th
circle or lower for 5 potential charges."
Mekthros says, "The second is erikar'fyn, which unlocks one spell 10th circle or
lower for 10 potential charges."
Mekthros says, "The next is ikar'fyn, which is one spell 15th or lower for 15
potential charges."
Mekthros says, "And the strongest rune available to us currently is quiss'fyn,
which unlocks one spell 20th or lower for 20 potential charges."
Mekthros says, "So, we'll use the smooth stones as a basic template."
Mekthros says, "An aish'vrak-prepared smooth stone will hold six charges of any
charging rune."
Mekthros says, "So that would be six waves of the stone."
Mekthros says, "There are two additional runes which are fairly important, and
smooth stones hold 50 charges of each of these."
Mekthros says, "There's the odeir'cos rune, which gives information on a
scroll's spells when you wave it at a scroll."
Mekthros says, "It'll tell you if any of the spells are unlocked, how many
charges they have left, and how many charges can potentially be added to them."
Mekthros says, "Arguably the most important rune is ag'loenar, which is the
charging rune."
Mekthros says, "When you've got a spell on a scroll unlocked, and it can
potentially be infused, you need to hold the ag'loenar rune in the hand opposite
the scroll to do so."
Mekthros says, "If you attempt to INFUSE a scroll without holding a stone
scribed with ag'loenar, the infusion will fail."
Mekthros says, "When you draw a rune onto a stone, you might draw it perfectly,
or you might get the basic design down, and it's not a work of art."
Mekthros says, "This isn't going to impact how "well" the rune works, or the
number of its charges."
Mekthros says, "As long as you get a decent version of the rune onto the stone,
it's all the same."
Mekthros says, "I'll do one or two examples to try to illustrate what's going on with the runes, and charging."
Mekthros says, "I've got a scroll with, say, Self Control (613) and Spell Shield
(219) on it."
Mekthros says, "It's never been used before, and it's locked."
Mekthros says, "I'd go buy a smooth stone and an aish'vrak potion, and pour the
potion onto the stone."
Mekthros says, "If I wanted to unlock Self Control first, I'd draw an ikar'fyn
rune onto the stone, and then wave the stone at the scroll."
Teekka asks, "Where do you buy the brushes for this?"
Mekthros says, "The alchemist."
Mekthros says, "Everything's available at the alchemist, except the smooth
stones."
Mekthros says, "Those are in the backroom of Landing's general store."
Mekthros says, "So, back to the scroll. I want to unlock Self Control first, so
I draw an ikar'fyn rune, and wave the rune at the scroll."
Mekthros says, "At which point my skills in magic item use, arcane symbols, and
a few other things are checked."
Mekthros says, "On a success, I unlock the spell, and it can hold up to 15
charges of Self Control at any given time."
Mekthros says, "Note that this doesn't put 15 charges into the spell. It just
gives me the potential to add them."
Mekthros says, "The next spell is Spell Shield, which is 19th circle."
Mekthros says, "Ikar'fyn won't unlock this."
Mekthros says, "I'd need a quiss'fyn rune to unlock Spell Shield, so I'd draw
that, and then wave it at the scroll."
Teekka asks, "Same stone?"
Mekthros says, "A stone can hold one rune of any type at any given time."
Mekthros says, "So you'd need a different stone."
Mekthros says, "Which means another aish'vrak potion, and such."
Mekthros says, "Once you've got the two spells unlocked, you'd create an
ag'loenar runestone through the same process."
Mekthros says, "And, when you've got that in your hand, cast Scroll Infusion at
the scroll."
Mekthros removes a dog-eared strip of vellum from in his dark ora case.
Mekthros points at a dog-eared strip of vellum.
Mekthros says, "Scroll."
Mekthros removes a smooth stone from in his dark ora case.
Mekthros points at a smooth stone.
Mekthros says, "Ag'loenar runestone."
Mekthros begins drawing a faint, twisting symbol as he utters an arcane
invocation in hushed tones...
Mekthros says, "Spell prepared."
Mekthros gestures at a dog-eared strip of vellum.
Mekthros focuses on the strip of vellum for a moment.
Mekthros says, "Cast at the scroll."
An ethereal wisp suddenly leaps from Mekthros's smooth stone to his strip of
vellum. The vellum glows dimly for a moment.
Mekthros says, "Infuse mana into the scroll."
An ethereal wisp suddenly leaps from Mekthros's smooth stone to his strip of
vellum. The vellum glows dimly for a moment.
An ethereal wisp suddenly leaps from Mekthros's smooth stone to his strip of
vellum. Nothing else happens.
Mekthros nods.
Mekthros says, "Right, so."
Mekthros put a dog-eared strip of vellum in his dark ora case.
Mekthros put a smooth stone in his dark ora case.
Mekthros says, "If you've got numerous spells on a scroll that qualify to be
unlocked with a given runestone, the spell that the rune unlocks is random."
Mekthros says, "You can't control it. So if I used quiss'fyn on that 613-219
scroll, it could've unlocked 613, or it could've unlocked 219."
Mekthros says, "I can't determine what spell gets opened for infusing."
Mekthros says, "The only way to do that is through prudent use of runestones.
If a scroll's got a 10th circle spell and an 18th circle spell, and you want to
unlock the 10th circle spell..."
Mekthros says, "You wouldn't be using quiss'fyn to do so."
Mekthros says, "Just keep in mind that the lower the circle that the rune
impacts, the less charges it unlocks a spell for."
Mekthros says, "So it's something of a tradeoff."
Wakahashi quietly asks, "What about the unlikely event of a plus 20 circle
scroll?"
Mekthros says, "In that event, we'd need the currently unavailable dikar'fyn
runestone."
Wakahashi sighs.
Mekthros says, "Which unlocks spells up to 25th circle for 25 potential
charges."
Mekthros says, "For the moment, spells at 21st circle or higher cannot be
unlocked through this spell."
Mekthros says, "I suppose we'll briefly go through skill competence."
Mekthros says, "The only way to really learn your limitations is to use the
spell."
Mekthros says, "As you unlock and attempt to charge various scrolls, you'll get
a general idea of what you can, and can't, do."
Mekthros says, "Your charging and unlocking limitations are fairly hard-set."
Mekthros says, "Luck is not going to help you much."
Mekthros says, "It might allow you to fit an extra charge or two into a spell
above your safe limits, based on your skills, but no more than that."
Mekthros says, "Likewise, you'll learn which spells you're going to fail to
unlock consistently."
Mekthros says, "As you become more skilled, your options will naturally
expand."
Mekthros says, "When you infuse a scroll, mana is channeled to one spell that
can be charged."
Mekthros says, "Only one per infusion. So even if I'm a master infuser, and
I've got Spirit Shield (202) and Manna Bread (203) on a scroll..."
Mekthros says, "And they both have charges that can potentially be added..."
Mekthros says, "It's still going to take me two infusions to charge them both."
Mekthros says, "There are a few types of failures."
Mekthros says, "The failure varies based on whether you've failed a WAVE attempt
(an attempt to unlock a spell on a scroll) or an INFUSE attempt (an attempt to
add charges to a spell on a scroll)."
Mekthros says, "Wave failures can potentially destroy your scroll on a
catastrophic failure."
Mekthros says, "Infuse failures cannot."
Mekthros says, "Both wave and infuse failures have the potential to "lock" your
scroll."
Mekthros says, "A scroll can be locked in a few ways. The most common is that
it stops being able to receive mana, and charge its spells."
Mekthros says, "A less common failure is on a wave attempt, where it stops you
from unlocking further spells on a scroll, but leaves the already unlocked
spells as they are."
Mekthros says, "So you can still add mana to the ones you've unlocked, but any
that you haven't, you're simply out of luck on."
Mekthros says, "Failures that alter the scroll are irreversible."
Mekthros says, "Generally, failures are indicated by a white aura around the
scroll, or the stone."
Mekthros says, "And these are failures that negatively alter the scroll or the
stone."
Mekthros says, "There's a list of all potential failures in the guide near the
end."
Mekthros ponders.
Mekthros says, "Ah. Probably the most important thing to understand about the
system."
Mekthros says, "The lifetime of scrolls is indicated by their value."
Mekthros says, "Value is the entire force of the scroll."
Mekthros says, "It is what we drain when we infuse or invoke a scroll."
Mekthros says, "When a scroll's value reaches zero, it will lock permanently."
Mekthros says, "The spell is powerful, but this is its limitation."
Mekthros says, "Some spells drain a scroll's power faster than others.
Traditionally, for instance, defensive magic damages a scroll more than
offensive or utility magic."
Mekthros says, "The pawnbrokers across Elanthia are fairly astute when it comes
to how worn down a scroll is."
Mekthros says, "You can get an estimate of how much longer the scroll's going to
last by asking them to appraise it."
Mekthros says, "The lower their appraisal, the more worn down the scroll's
going to be."
Mekthros says, "There's a common practice among infusers which is a poor idea,
which I suppose I'll also mention."
Mekthros says, "Keep in mind that INFUSEing a scroll or INVOKEing a scroll
drains value."
Mekthros says, "So if you've got a spell on a scroll that you aren't using, or
Mekthros says, "Invoking it in an attempt to remove it from the scroll will
damage the lifetime of the other spells on the scroll."
Mekthros ponders.
Mekthros says, "Questions."
Kastrel softly asks, "Aside from lower level spell selection, is there any
benefit to using the lower level runes?"
Mekthros says, "Yes, essentially. The higher level rune that you use, the
easier infusing will be."
Mekthros says, "The lower level rune you use, the easier unlocking will be."
Mekthros says, "So it's a tradeoff."
Teekka says, "Maybe one day you can show me hands on how to do this all? I
learn best from actually doing something myself."
Mekthros says, "The possibility exists, but is unlikely. As I said, I don't
even like most of you."
Mekthros says, "Next question."
Teekka says, "You don't even know us."
Mekthros says, "Entirely true. I am a miserable, judgemental bastard."
Whasthar asks, "Pawn scrolls, i seen appraise of 5 spell per scroll in the 10k
range and used, and 2 spell scroll worth less than 1k and unused, how do you
tell the scrolls from pawn are unused by just the appraised price alone?"
Mekthros says, "You can't, unfortunatley."
Mekthros says, "The value of the scroll isn't indicative of whether it's used or
not."
Mekthros says, "So if you're buying scrolls off the tables on the pawnshop back
room, you've no way to know if they're used or not."
Mekthros says, "You basically have to buy them and find out."
Hrvac confidently asks, "Where is this guide to be found that youve been
speaking of?"
Mekthros says, "The guide's in the formal documentation for the spell. If you
take a look at the guild's official explanation of what the spell does, you'll
find a reference to the guide there."
Venrath asks, "Does encumberance affect your likelihood of success when waving
the unlocking runestones?"
Mekthros says, "No."
Mekthros asks, "Other questions?"
Spaewife raises her hand.
Mekthros says, "I'm not sure I like you enough to take a question."
Mekthros says, "But go ahead."
Mekthros asks, "You're an empath. Do we not pay the door guards enough?"
Spaewife asks, "Ok if I am having someone unlock and charge scrolls is better
then to have them leave all of them rather than remove them and that changes the
chance of them being infused more or less if they do leave them?"
Mekthros says, "Alright, this is something that's been tried before."
Mekthros says, "You can't remove spells on a scroll to increase the chances of
unlocking the ones that are left remaining."
Mekthros says, "The instant you invoke a spell on a scroll, it can't be unlocked
any more."
Mekthros says, "It's permanently locked for unlocking."
Mekthros says, "So you need to get all of your unlocking done before you infuse
or invoke the scroll."
Mekthros says, "Either one will ruin it for future unlocking attempts."
Rhellium asks, "Re-infusion?"
Mekthros says, "Recharging doesn't require you to unlock the spells again."
Mekthros says, "They'll be unlocked, just missing more charges."
Mekthros says, "Recharging is just a matter of getting an ag'loenar runestone
and infusing the scroll."
Rhellium says, "And can be fully re-charged again."
Mekthros nods.
Mekthros says, "Absolutely, assuming the power of the scroll holds."
Wakahashi quietly asks, "Do the scrolls still degrade, i.e. lose holding
capacity as used?"
Drauz firmly asks, "Can you use up the other spells?"
Drauz firmly asks, "So that they won't be charged?"
Teekka says, "It drains the scroll."
Speaking softly to Drauz, Kastrel asks, "Wasn't that already answered?"
Mekthros says, "I think we went over that. No, to Drauz's question."
Mekthros says, "And yes."
Mekthros says, "Invoking a scroll is going to decrease its lifespan just like
charging it."
Whasthar asks, "So rule of thumb for the scrolls as a whole, don't unlock the
spell ya don't use?"
Mekthros nods to Whasthar.
Mekthros says, "Exactly."
Mekthros says, "Or try not to, anyway."
Whasthar asks, "And don't use those lock spells at all?"
Mekthros nods.
Mekthros says, "And don't use the locked spells at all. Right."
Whasthar says, "Because using the scroll in itself weaken it for further use."
Perilschild says, "I think its important that .."
Perilschild says, "You don't actually have to be able to read the spell on the
scroll in order to reinfuse it."
Perilschild says, "You may be able to still detect it with odeir'cos."
Perilschild says, "Or .. will .. be able to actually if its still reinfusable."
Perilschild says, "Many people throw scrolls away that could be reinfused in
such an instance."
Mekthros says, "A valid point."
Auriia asks, "Am I correct in assuming the scroll must be Re-infused before
using up all the charges of a spell?"
Mekthros says, "Good question. No, actually."
Mekthros says, "If a spell is unlocked, it will vanish off the scroll visibly if
it reaches 0 charges."
Mekthros says, "But, it will not be gone, as an odeir'cos wave will show."
Mekthros says, "It is entirely possible to bring it back from 0 charges."
Mekthros says, "At which point it will return to the scroll, and you can see it
there again if you read it."
Venrath asks, "As long as the scroll still has value?"
Mekthros says, "As long as it still has value, yes."
Hakwea quietly says, "And of course, at zero value, it can not be sold."
Mekthros says, "No additional questions. The guide's listed in the formal spell
description."
Mekthros says, "Reading it is educational."
Venrath asks, "What question would you have asked if you were in the aucdience,
that was not asked?"
Mekthros says, "I'd have asked why I was so damn charming."