The evolution of the Astlan magic system

[The Author Guy]

I should pull that out from the depths of my “library”

There are combinations. Most “spell books” are normal books with instructions, they may be magically protected, or “weather proofed” etc, but they are just books for the most part.

There are, however, true magical books inscribed with runes, on special paper, with special ink, and when reading these aloud, properly, the runes are invoked, much like they are when engraved. However, there are limits to what you can do with even special paper, particularly if the runes are to be reused.

Then of course, there are certainly runic scrolls, typically these are one time use devices created by Rune Wizards (the oldest type of wizardry), invoking/activating them consumes the scrolls materials which are the material components of the spell. Typically the ink contains whatever herbs, minerals, etc are needed for the spell.

Then of course, there are just normal scrolls. Book binding is not always feasible.

[Iume]

[Iume]

Was reading a blog post that talked about IRL the evolution of grimoires: http://www.tfrohock.com/blog/2016/10/9/grimoires-travel-fast

I got to wondering, how would such a thing play out on Astlan. Does it follow D&D-type rules where the type of paper, parchment or other writing surface matter along with the type of ink? Does it even have magical scrolls? I’m trying to recall but I do not think we’ve seen magical scrolls in this localverse.

We know of runic gateways, we know of pentagrams, and both are constructed using specific shapes and specific materials. But what of scrolls and books of magical incantations? Are they just normal books or are they something special?

[Author]

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