FIRE
SPELLS:
QUILROSH'S
FIREBALL
(LEVEL
III) |
The Quilrosh Fireball is a typical and often used offensive spell, where a loosly kept together sphere of fire is created in front of the mage out of focussed air. The product is hurled immediately towards a target once the mage cannot control the forming of energies anymore. Fireballs, though not easy to create and aim, can have devastating effects and are indispensable part of the standard repertoire of every professional fire mage. Its use needs to be trained sufficiently though before applied in a critical situation.
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Spell Effect. As the
name already implies, the result of the Fireball spell is a sphere consisting
nearly completely of the energies of aggressive
fire, fabricated out of air.
The size of the ball depends on the mage's level and thus his capability to
still be able to focus on an area in front of him while dangerous fire ouniá
gather, forming a formidable weapon. It
is essential for a fire mage to know when to
stop building the Fireball and to let go of the accumulted energies as overdoing
it or fizzling of the spell might lead to a
sudden uncontrolled release of chaotic fire.
In the early years this spell had been taught in scholarly fashion, several
reported incidents showed how perilous the manipulation of pure chaotic
fire energies can be. At least two
casualties are confrimed. Since then it has become primary directive of fire mages
to cast spells like Quilrosh's Fireball only in a defensive way, without overly
pushing its effect and releasing the ball as soon as first signs of
instabilities can be experienced by the caster.
And while the actual spell effect is the Fireball produced by the caster, the
ball is not only for show. Once released the Fireball shoots with incredible
speed towards the target of the spell. Depending on the Fireball's original size
the now freely swirling fire ounía can
cause severe damage to objects or even a group of people. Fireballs for sure are
no spells to toy around with. They should remain the domain of trained battle
mages.
Casting Procedure.
Quilrosh's Fireball was named after the
Ximaxian Fire Archmage Quilrosh
Hocthum (ca. 2050 b.S.). He was one of the first
fire mages ever who successfully managed to reproduce a highly efficient
focus on an element (in this case air),
which was not in the elemental field he had studied so thoroughly. Thus he was
mainly responsible for a major breakthrough in scholarly elemental
magic, which until then was limited to a great degree
to the strengthening and loosening of forces within a structure only of the specific element the mage
had mastered.
The casting procedure is simple, yet it was a revolutionary concept in
Quilrosh's time: The mage focusses on a spot of
air right in front of him and tries to
pull aggressive fire ounía to this specific
point following the straight line between his hand and the focussed area. This
procedure makes the space between caster and focus an object where its specific
cár'áll can be addressed. Guided by the mage's hand pointing at the
focussed spot, more or less automatically the shape of a ball forms as the
energies in the affected air between
caster and affixed spot start to circulate. They flow back and forth to the
source of the casting, picking up more and more aligned ouniá in this process
and building links between
fire ounía and other elemental ounía
connected to the
fire within the focussed
cár'áll, creating a solid structure (see illustration regarding
the flow of the element of fire in the
structure of the Fireball).
The Fireball increases in size until the mage cannot handle keeping the focus
and controlling the pulsating fire
structure anymore. As it is the tension between the focal point and the caster's
hand that keeps the Fireball at bay, breaking this tension will result in an
attack at things or persons being positioned behind the focus area: The newly generated structure is then released, and as the
auratic force of the caster doesn't pull the Fireball back anymore, it shoots
right ahead.
Magical Formula.
Not defined yet.
Target. The focus of
the spell is a spot of air in front of
the mage, which is manipulated by the caster in order to generate a high
concentration of chaotic fire. Once no
more energies can be gained due to the caster's personal limits, the pulsating
fiery sphere is released in the
direction the mage is pointing. Guiding Quilrosh's ball during its course
towards its target is impossible, however. Whatever the Fireball hits, the
effects are likely to be devastating, be it creature or object.
Reagents. As in
various other spells related to the chaotic nature of the
element of fire, the caster should coat
the hands in a fine powder of sulfur, or touch volcanic stone. Especially
magather, also often called
"burning stones", are common
reagents for mages intending to cast Fireballs.
Magical School.
Elemental Magic, Fire School.
Spell Class.
Sphere II, the spell accumulates chaotic
fire at one spot, generating a powerful
energy source, which has to be released immediately.
Range. The ability to
focus on spots at a greater distance away comes with the increasing of the
mage's level. Still the influence of the caster in igniting and keeping the
building of a Fireball intact until releasing it, is crucial, and therefore the
Fireball should be generated as close as possible to the caster. Having lost the
caster's reigns, the Fireball's energies will disperse the farther it has been
hurled, so the target of the spell should be within reasonable range to be
affected.
Casting Time. The
building of a Fireball is dependent on various influences. For one it is within
the descretion of the caster to determine an intended size. High level mages
might be able to generate fist-sized Fireballs practically instantly and
head-sized ones in a matter of several
blinks, an undertaking for
which mages of lower levels might take up to half a minute. Additionally the
conditions in which the spell is cast and the possibility to perform the spell
under full concentration can be decisive. Battle mages should be able to
evaluate a situation effectively and decide to cast or not to cast such a
dangerous spell, everyone else is advised to be extremely careful.
Duration. A Fireball
dissipates in a swirling motion as soon as the mage quits holding its chaotic
energies back. The time between the releasing of the Fireball by the mage, its
impact on the target and thus its ultimate dissolving lasts only a few blinks,
often accompanied by death and destruction, though.
Counter Measures/Enhancing Measures.
There's nothing better one can do against a Fireball as to trouble the mage
already during casting the spell and force him or her to let the spell
fizzle. Due to the fact that the casting of
a Fireball is a very complicated process, which requires a lot of concentration
on the mage's side in order to keep the flowing energies at bay, disturbing the
process of its creation can cause an uncontrolled backlash at the mage. Injuries
the caster sustains after a fizzling
therefore are not uncommon. The further the casting has already progressed when
interrupted, the more dangerous it will be for the mage as the chaotic
fire might come to an unwanted
explosion. It is possible, however, that an interruption of the mage during
casting also can lead to an immediate release of the Fireball towards the
intended target...
As for enhancing measures: Fireballs can be generated easier under conditions
where active fire ounía are already
dominant and only need to be "brought into shape" by the mage, e.g. during hot
weather or at regions with desert climate. It is also possible to fuel a
Fireball e.g. by having another person holding a torch into the developing ball.
Nevertheless, this practice isn't very common and has actually been forbidden by
the Ximaxian Academy for regular
spellcasters, as only Archmages are capable of working successfully with
additional fire to enhance the spell
without getting injured. Novices who believe that they can cover their own
inabilities by applying such an external enhancing measure, can only be
seriously warned not to even think of trying it!
Information provided by
Artimidor Federkiel
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