Sigils
From 910 Arena Wiki
Contents |
History
Sigils, or things that work in a similar fashion to Sigils, can be seen across history. The concept of a written magical formation is a very old one, and sometimes even a naturally-occurring one. The Sigils this article deals with are the kind refined by Roon, the current Enchanter.
How They Work
Sigils function based SOLELY on shape and location. No magical ability from the 'caster' is required, although any magic injected into it's creation will of course strengthen it's effect.
Sigils work by acting as a conduit for any ambient magic around them. Ambient magic is constantly in a kind of Brownian motion, but when a Sigil is drawn it acts as a kind of magical circuit board. Magic tends to follow shapes and movements enacted in the real world, and Sigils direct it, little by little, into the shape it needs to move around in order to construct a magic effect. Sigils cannot do complicated things by themselves, but can be linked by those who know what they are doing, encoding them like huge magical Rube Goldberg machines. There are limits to what a Sigil can do, of course, as the more specific the effect desired the more complicated the Sigil must be. A Sigil to raise the temperature of a 1x1 square foot of normal air by 1 degree will require 268 connected lines in varying patterns, including perimeter lines, circles, and other geometric patterns.
Sigils do not backfire or explode when they are broken. The effects of what they are doing simply cease, although if that 'effect' is to contain a large explosion then, of course, the explosion would be released. Similarly, if a line is not quite connected, a mark is smudged etc. the Sigil will not function at all.
Common Forms
Sigils are still a very new branch of magic, and a process only fully understood by Roon himself. The Sigils that ARE in existence have been stolen and copied from him, although variants of this process of spellcasting exist all over the worlds.
The three widely-known Sigils are the Isolation Sigil, the Sealing Sigil and the Safeguard Sigil.
- The Isolation Sigil cuts off the part of the universe it encompasses (A cylindrical section 500 ft high, assuming the Sigil is 2 ft across) from the rest of the universe. The process, like much magic, does not make much sense when looked at from a physics-based perspective. people can see and hear whatever is inside the Sigil, as can those who are inside hear and see what it outside, but for all other purposes the Sigil is inaccessible. It would take around 5 minutes to draw manually for someone who knows exactly what to draw (Like Roon). For someone drawing it for the first time, it could take anything up to and beyond 20 minutes depending on the situation.
The Sigil essentially knits the area of the universe around it together, meaning that if you try to go into the Sigil from one side you will step out the other with no ill-effects (apart from disorientation). Similarly, if you try to step OUT of the Sigil, you would simply re-enter it on the other side. An extended time in the Sigil would cause one to run out of air, as it is essentially walled off by a gross disregard to Quantum Mechanics.
- The Sealing Sigil does what it's name suggests. Anyone or anything caught in the center of the Sigil shall be completely paused in time and space, unable to cast spells or move but somehow able to think (if the thing is able to think normally). An experienced user could draw this Sigil in 4 minutes. Any faster (without magical aid) would likely cause mistakes and result in the Sigil being nonfunctional.
- The Safeguard is a Sigil constructed by Roon in an effort to make his job a bit easier. It is not as powerful as The Enchanter's influence on magic, but does a similar thing; evening out the presence of any ambient magic in it's zone of effect and, in addition, USING that magic to power itself. The more powerful the magicthat defies it, the stronger the Sigil becomes. A skilled magic user could resist it's effects for a short while before thier own spells power the Sigil up to a high enough level to nullify any further spellcasting ability. The Safeguard is a much more complicated Sigil to draw, requiring a good 10+ minutes to draw well for even an experienced user (again, depending on the size and experience of the person in question).
A Note on Rette Konn
Rette Konn uses Sigils often, although she managed to draw them in a much quicker time because she is often augmented/using a Form Rune to help her do so. She is also very well versed in thier appearances and functions.
