January 11, 1372


Soon after midnight, Occa returns.

Orlon, by the way, has joined you, too.

Occa gets out some brandy and a cigar. "Well, he will try to do what he can for us. We will see."

He sighs loudly again and says, "Maybe the community chest will help. We will see."

He says, "A lesson in scroll making is needed. Gather round all of you who are interested."

Occa says, "Scroll preparation is simple, but does have some rules that must be followed." He pauses to let this sink in. The stench of his cigar begins to choke you all slowly. Your eyes begin to water.

"First, you must be an enchanter or better to make scrolls. Scrolls must also be inscribed upon pure papers such as papyrus, parchment and vellum. A virguin quill must be used for each spell transcribed and it must be a special quill from a unique creature. Chicken quills will not do. It must be something like a griffon, harpy, pegasus and so on. As a side note, the more expensive papers and materials will improve your chances. For example, I have found that using vellum improves my chances of the scroll working."

He then stands up and places his hands behind his back as he begins to pace. "The ink must also be special. The base is sepia from a giant squid or octopus. Other ingredients could include gems, holy water and special plants. It must also include ingredients that seem relevant to the spell you are scribing. I would check the guild for ingredients and we can come up with some inks. I expect the guild will also have a recipe book or sell the inks outright. Once you have the paper, the quill and the ink, you are ready to go. It generally takes 1 day for each level of the spell you scribe. You must not do anything else during this time. Oh and you must draw a magic circle and burn some candles. You cannot be interrupted!"

He sits back down. "The chance of failure is small, but there. As the power of the spell increases, so does the chance of failure. That is why I would use vellum. It will reduce your chance of failure. Of course, the better the mage you are, the better your chances of success."

He stares into the distance. "Oh, one other point to remember. If you are scribing more than one spell, you may do so. However, if one fails, then you can no longer add to that scroll. Any questions?"


next day...

return to January 1372 page