Magic of the Arcanamirium

[Set]

“You have to believe we are magic,
nothing can stand in our way.
You have to believe we are magic,
don’t let your hand ever stray...”

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In the City at the Center of the World, the greatest gathering of magical scholarship known north of Quantium resides in the Arcanamirium, a combination of trade guild and academy for practitioners of the arts arcane that takes up several city blocks.

The mandate of the Arcanamirium is to make the magical commonplace (and, to be sure, some oppose that mandate...), to demonstrates the benefits that can be provided by arcane magic to all and sundry, and to turn a coin doing so.

Some experiments have shown limited success;

The demand for fresh water in Absalom is always greater than what can be brought in from the inner isle, drawn from the ground, magically created, or alchemically purified from seawater. New sources are always welcome.

A dark-eyed halfling sorceress named Belaza, Varisian in temperamant and dress, and known to specialize in magics related to mists, storms and electricity, has initiated a project in blocks between the Arcanamirium and the docks, creating what are called 'fog-catches.'

Fog-catches Stone basins are fashioned, and kept clean by a permanent prestidigitation effect. Eight lacquered wooden panels (in some cases decorated with imagery or runic symbols representative of the eight schools of magic, but not always, as it was noted that citizens shunned those decorated with necromantic imagery) lie flat over the pool, protecting it from the light of the sun, and a 10 ft. pole of polished copper, surmounted by a blued glass sphere that crackles with faint electrical energy (which sheds light equivalent to a continual flame spell), stands in the middle of this arrangement.

Every evening, as fog rolls landward, fog is attracted the poles, by some eldritch magnetism, and condenses to slide down the pole into the basin beneath. During a thick fog, the pole will have a constant stream of water pouring down its length into the pool, and each reservoir has indentations at each of its eight ‘sides,’ that lead to a gutter that empties into the city sewers, so that the pools do not overfill and flood the surrounding area. So long as no deliberate contaminant is introduced, the water is fresh, cool and pure, but the prestidigitation effect cannot handle larger contaminants, such as the body of a rat or pigeon.

Detractors of the Arcanamirium claim that the water has been magically tainted somehow, to make the drinkers more susceptible to the mages enchantments, and apprentices are assigned to visit each of the surrounding catches on a daily basis, to make sure that nothing has been done to tamper with them. (The glass orbs have no magical property beyond that of continual flame, albeit of an exotic appearance, and serve mostly as a ‘lightning rod’ for thieves, as the magic that collects the fog is in the unremarkable copper poles, which, so far, have not drawn the attention of local thieves.)

[Set]

Other developments, meant to improve the lives of the common folk, turn out to be less successful...

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A well-intentioned but ill-advised experiment into creating firewood that replenished itself and could be burned over and over again led to an unwise researcher raising saplings 'watered' with magically enhanced troll’s blood.

He deemed the experiment a failure when the troll’s-blood infused wood proved incapable of repairing damage done to it by fire, and he simply abandoned the project. Three nights later, dozens of stunted starving ‘twig-trolls’ pulled themselves up from the ground and wrought havoc on the surrounding territory (well outside the city walls, fortunately, as he needed arable land to cultivate his 'crop'), seeking to ‘water’ themselves with the blood of living creatures.

While not a terribly powerful threat individually, twig-trolls tend to attack in groups, and attempts to eradicate them have been stymied by their natural regeneration and ability to regrow from the smallest severed portion.

Twig-Troll CR 1
This stunted little creature looks like a goblin-sized stumpy shrub, almost as wide as it is tall, and bearing characteristics of both troll and treant. It waddles towards you, waving it’s branches threateningly.

XP 400
N Small plant
Init +0; Senses low-light vision; Perception +4

DEFENSE

AC 16, touch 11, flat-footed 16 (+1 size, +5 natural armor)
hp 14 (2d8+5); regeneration 1 (acid or fire)
Fort +4, Ref +0, Will +0
Defensive Abilities cannot be flanked; DR 5/-

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft.
Melee bite +2 (1d6 plus attach)
Special Attacks blood drain

STATISTICS
Str 10, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 2, Wis 10, Cha 2
Base Atk +1; CMB +1; CMB 11 (15 vs. trip)
Feats Toughness
Skills Perception +4, Stealth +8 (+12 if stationary and pretending to be a normal plant); Racial Modifiers +4 to Stealth checks to pretend to be a stunted shrub or ugly sapling
Languages none
SQ plant traits

ECOLOGY

Environment Isle of Kortos
Organization solitary or pack (2-5)
Treasure none

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Attach (Ex) When a twig-troll hits with a bite attack, it automatically grapples its foe, inflicting automatic bite damage each round.
Blood Drain (Ex) A twig-troll drains blood at the end of its turn if it is attached to a foe, inflicting 1 point of Constitution damage. Twig-trolls are never sated, and continue draining blood until they or their target is dead.

Surprisingly strong, and unnaturally hard to kill, for their small size, these malformed little creatures look like a thick trunked bush of some sort, more like a stunted tree than a typical shrub. They waddle forth on many root-like legs that give them great stability, and wave their ineffectual limbs around as they advance towards warm-blooded prey. They usually have four limbs capable of lifting small items, but these branches are not useful for offense, merely aiding the creature in maintaining a grip on anything it has bitten, until it has drained as much blood as the target has to give. It can see from all directions, having pits in its trunk that act like eyespots covering all approaches, although it only has a single maw, in the confluence of its larger branches, at the very top of its body.

Once it has drained four Constitution points worth of blood, its body cannot hold anymore, and instead vents it out from between its roots, leaving a pool of blood that other twig-trolls may hungrily devour. It continues to draw blood, whether ‘full’ or not, until the prey is dead, and has no concept of surrender or self-preservation. If a twig-troll is slain, and some part of its body, such as a severed branch or root, remains unburnt in this blood-saturated ground, a new twig-troll will sprout from the remains within 24 hours.

[Set]

More mundane magic from the Arcanamirium.

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Warmers and coolers – prestidigitation is used to make these items remain constantly hot or cold to the touch (~35 degrees for coolers, ~105 degrees for warmers). The heat doesn’t radiate from the item more than an inch or so, but someone can grip a ‘warmer’ in their hands to stave off frostbite, or have items of clothing enhanced with this property (with boots, gloves, vests and scarves being most common).

Items of clothing, or other cloth goods, such as saddles, saddleblankets, blankets, carpets, bedclothes, etc. can be enhanced with this property, although they must be specially designed (double cost, or more for a fancy design) with metal adornments, such as fine wire threaded designs, buttons and snaps, or decorative metal sequins. Anyone sleeping under a warmer blanket, or wearing warmer clothes receives a +2 bonus to Fortitude saves to resist the effects of cold weather, and has energy resistance 1 vs. nonlethal cold damage. Anyone similarly protected by cooler clothing or coverings receives a +2 bonus to Fortitude saves to resist the effects of very hot weather, and has energy resistance 1 vs. nonlethal heat/fire damage. Some sailors claim that a warmer hammock is sufficiently warm that no blanket is required!

This enhancement adds 50 gp to the cost of the normal clothing, blanket, saddle blanket, or similar item. (This is the cost to create, the Arcanamirium charges an extra 100 gp. for items so enhanced.)

The enhancement is more commonly placed on disks of ruddy copper (for warmers) or white tin (for coolers), sometimes etched with holy iconography of Sarenrae or Pharasma, respectively. These disks remain hot or cold to the touch, and are placed beneath pillows or in kegs of ale or pools of water, to keep them warm or cool, as desired. The disks do not radiate heat or cold to a significant degree, but anything touching them may be warmed or chilled appropriately, with water serving as the most effective conductor of temperature. These disks are individually sold for 100 gp each, but the Arcanamirium often sells them in bulk to customers who have large supplies of fish to keep chilled, extensive wine cellars, etc. for 750 gp per ten.

The Arcanamirium has begun to advertise the potential of these items in its own on-campus bathhouse, originally intended for students and faculty, but now open to off-campus visitors, for a fee.

One pool is kept constantly cool as a mountain stream through the use of cooler tiles, and a second larger pool has warmer tiles scattered around it, resulting in certain areas being warmer than others, depending on the concentration of tiles (with patrons sometimes sitting directly over a tile, when they want maximum warmth). Decorative permanent illusions adorn the walls near the pools with scenery of the appropriate climates, with images of snow-capped mountain peaks adorning the wall near the ‘frigidarium,’ and illusions furthering the appearance of a desert oasis near the ‘caldarium,’ enhanced by actual desert plants, growing in carefully tended sandy garden areas near the pool. Before the warmers were added, boys would fetch buckets of hot water to keep the caldarium waters warm enough for the tastes of the patrons, and even with the warmers in place, some patrons prefer the rush of warmth introduced by the buckets of scalding water to the steady temperatures of the tiles.

While the caldarium is much preferred by visitors, the students enjoy stopping by the frigidarium between classes, or on their dinner break, tossing crumbs to the many tiny fish that inhabit the cold waters, recently imported from icy streams of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, and with an appetite not just for crumbs, but for nibbling the toes of students who dangle their feet in the water. Students willing to submerge themselves more fully in the chilly waters receive what is called a ‘tickle-bath,’ as the tiny fish pick at their skin, leaving them spotlessly clean. Warming up in the caldarium afterwards is almost a requirement.

Thanks to the public display of the effectiveness of their warmers and coolers, several mercantile concerns throughout Absalom have placed orders for the disks, using them to keep fresh cargos cold and viewing pools and bathing areas warm.

[Set]

A few spells used to make coin, from the Arcanamirium;

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Cleanse
School necromancy; Level Sor/Wiz 1
Casting Time 1 minute
Components V, S, M (a pinch of charcoal ash)
Range close (25 ft. +5 ft./2 levels)
Target organic matter within one 5 ft. cube per caster level (all of which must be touching)
Duration 30 days
Saving Throw Special; Spell Resistance none

You create a stable field of negative energy that suffuses, but does not harm, unliving organic material within the area affected. The field sits gently upon the surface of the affected material, and protects it from mold, mildew, lichen, fungal infestation, vermin or even such larger produce-devouring creatures as rats, effortlessly killing any organism too small to see that contacts the affected goods. Vermin or rodents of fine or greater size are allowed a Will saving throw to resist the unsettling effects of the negative energy, but will generally avoid foodstuffs or material that radiates negative energy unless charmed, magically conjured or starving.

The negative energy summoned is fragile, and the presence of sunlight will dispel the protection automatically on all goods exposed. This will generally only affect the top layer, but a thorough stirring or unpacking in the presence of sunlight will end the effect on the entire load of produce, which is generally done as soon as the items reach market, as the protected goods appear cold, sinister and unsavory to paying customers as well, not just rats and fungus.

This spell is in common use in Geb, and the Gebbite student who presented it made no pretense to having created it herself.

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Sterilize
School necromancy; Level Sor/Wiz 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a flask of ‘denatured air’ or a flask of water containing a suffocated fish of fine size)
Range touch
Target one creature
Duration instantaneous (see text)
Saving Throw Fortitude negates; Spell Resistance yes

With a simple touch, you cause a painful surge of negative energy to momentarily flood through the subjects body. If the target fails, or waives, its’ saving throw, it is nauseated for 1 round as the negative energy wracks the body, and suffers 1 pt. of Con damage and 1d6 hit points of nonlethal damage. The reason one might choose to waive the saving throw is that the subject’s body momentarily becomes incapable of supporting life, affording the subject an immediate saving throw to purge the effects of disease with a +2 circumstance modifier to the role (and suffering none of the effects of a failed daily saving throw, if failed) and rendering the body infertile for 6d8 hours, if the subject is male, or 7d4 days, if the subject is female. Multicellular organisms, such as internal parasites, or a fetus, are allowed individual saving throws to resist (although organisms capable of leaving such an inhospitable environment, such as tapeworms, may choose to do so, even if they avoid destruction).

‘Denatured’ air is air that provides no sustenance, typically created by dropping a tindertwig into a small bottle and then sealing it up quickly, allowing the flame to render the air unbreathable.

Only the boldest noble scions are willing to endure the pain and discomfort of this spell, but workers in the more successful houses of ill repute are made of sterner stuff, and set aside a portion of their earnings to pay for this service, having learned to ‘time’ how the spell functions in accordance to their own cycles, so that they need only present coin once every twenty-eight days.

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Long Torch
School transmutation; Level Sor/Wiz 0
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components S, M (ten drops of water)
Range touch
Target one candle, lantern or torch
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no

With this spell, you transmute the properties of wood, wax or lantern oil, causing a single non-magical candle, lantern or torch to be capable of burning ten times as long. The item to be affected must be lit during the casting of the spell, and if extinguished by any means, the effect ends and any remaining increased duration is lost.

The long torch spell is of limited use, but is more prized for its value as a source of magical items. Candles, torches and flasks of lantern oil enhanced by this magic are available from the Arcanamirium, at costs significantly in excess of what one would pay for 10 such items. Firewood can be enspelled as well, allowing one to set a single log on the fire for the entire evening. The cost is higher than a full nights firewood, and a detractor might note that the purchaser is ‘setting money on fire,’ but some customers prize novelty (or notoriety) more than coin.

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Fuel Flare
School transmutation; Level Sor/Wiz 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components S, M (a flask of alchemist’s fire)
Range 30 ft.
Area cone-shaped burst
Duration 1 round
Saving Throw Reflex partial; Spell Resistance no

You cause all non-magical candle, lantern or torch-sized fire sources within the affected area to flare up suddenly, consuming all fuel present (destroying a candle or torch completely, and emptying a lantern of fuel), and possibly harming someone holding a torch in their hand. During the round of effect, all who would normally be within the radius of full illumination of these light sources must make a Reflex save to avoid being blinded for 1 round, and then dazzled for 1 minute afterwards. Someone holding a torch also takes 1d6 fire damage, if they fail this save. Those that save are merely dazzled for 1 round (and take no fire damage, in the case of a torch-bearer, being assumed to have dropped the torch before being burned). On your next action, the flare-up is done, and all affected light sources go dark.

A further development from the journeyman who developed long torch, this spell was, as he protested, a logical development off of his previous research, but proved of limited mercantile value, save to the sorts of unsavory customers who would only sully the reputation of arcane magic in the city. He was advised that if he wished to continue this 'logical development of his previous research,' his next discovery should be something along the lines of protecting the city against outbreaks of fire...

A new spell is not enough, for the Arcanamirium. It must be one that can be marketed as helpful to the common man.

[baron arem heshvaun]

As per usual, great stuff Set.

I am such an unabashed Set fanboy.

Thank God I have gf or I would totally be accused of having a geek man crush.

So Set umm ... what are you wearing?

[Scott Andrews]

+1!

[Set]

Thanks!

I sort of noodled around in my head effects that wouldn't drastically change the world, but would make life a little bit easier or more convenient or cleaner or whatever. Nothing that would change society the way cheap teleport gates would, or endless food supplies, or whatever, but stuff that might even provide adventure seeds.

Instead of endless free water, the fog-catches have limitations, and can be tampered with. Instead of free continual fire items replacing any need for firewood or coals in the smithy or hearthfires, the warmstones are only really useful for keeping water warm, slow-cooking a stew, etc. It was important to me that the spells and items produced by the Arcanamirium not be world-changers, but more luxuries and conveniences (and have built in limitations, such as the limits on how to use cleanse only during transport, and the possibility of summoned or particularly hungry vermin *still* taking a share of the produce).

to baron;
A look of surprise and alarm, why? :)

[Set]

Attempting to regain his favor, the inventor of long torch and fuel flare spent a year abroad, adventuring to increase his fortunes and avoid the disapproving eyes of his teachers. When he returned, he locked himself in the laboratory and came forth with the following spell, having benefitted from his 'practical studies in the field.'

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Constant Hearth
School evocation; Level Sor/Wiz 4
Casting Time 1 minute
Components V, S, M (a 100 gp diamond)
Range touch
Target one fire that can be no larger than 5 ft. square
Duration instantaneous

You create a stationary fire of campfire size, suitable for a fireplace or firepit. This fire gives off both heat and light appropriate to its size, and burns without fuel indefinitely. It cannot be used to create secondary fires, and while items placed within it are damaged, they never ignite, burning away to ash without ever combusting. Not even a candle can be lighted by the flames of a constant hearth. The fire cannot be moved, once created. Any means that might be used to quench a normal fire of its size, such as thorough soaking, or burial under dirt, will quench a constant hearth, but it will continue to burn without fuel potentially for centuries.

Expecting to recapture his fleeting 'golden child' status as an apprentice with this eminently practical development, of great use in a city prone to the occasional chill, and with limited access to firewood, he was disappointed to discover that a new apprentice had already solved this particular issue, and that his offering was too little, too late...

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[Set]

Dismissed by some of her taller fellow students as a servant, Maliya Shaness, halfling Illusionist Extraordinaire (even if she was the only one who addressed herself so), took it in stride, and went on to earn her own favor.

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Shadow Light
School illusion (shadow); Level Sor/Wiz 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a pinch of wood ash)
Range touch
Target object touched
Duration 10 minutes / level
Saving Throw Will negates; Spell Resistance yes

You create a source of light composed of quasi-real energy from the plane of shadow. Anyone who makes their saving throw, can both see this light source, and see via the illumination it provides, as if it were a normal light source (normal light in a 20 ft. radius, and increasing light levels by one step for an additional 20 ft.). You are assumed to automatically make this saving throw, and by communicating the nature of the spell to your allies, can provide them a +4 bonus to the saving throw, allowing them also to benefit from this shadow light. Those who fail their saving throw, which is checked whenever a subject enters the 40 ft. radius that the spell quasi-illuminates, neither sees the shadow light itself, nor benefits from any illumination it provides. To those who can see by its light, shadow light is a dark bluish-violet in color.

Maliya smirked at the advice that, as an illusionist, her best line of research was in spells of cosmetic value, to glamer away wrinkles and liver spots, and create the illusion of full heads of hair, and a few extra inches in the right places. She instead turned to shadow magic, seeing very real uses for light sources and fire sources that were only real to certain individuals, and lacked some of the downsides of an actual fire.

As with fuel flare, another spell popular with people whose intentions are less than honorable, the maven in charge of Maliya’s research was displeased with this line of research, until her pupil went on to develop shadow flame.

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Shadow Parasol
School illusion (shadow); Level Sor/Wiz 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a daub of ink, an ink vial is good for eight castings)
Range touch
Target creature touched
Duration 10 minutes / level
Saving Throw Will negates; Spell Resistance yes

Shadow parasol shrouds the target in a mobile field of shadowy energy that makes it difficult to see them clearly. Within their own space, the lighting is dropped by two categories (to a maximum of total darkness), and in all adjacent squares, the lighting is dropped by one category. If you cast this spell on yourself or an ally, you can choose for the shadowy conditions to have no effect on the recipients own vision, but if you cast this spell as an attack, you can choose for the target be as penalized by their own shroud of darkness as anyone trying to perceive them. Any spell with the [light] descriptor cast upon the subject dispels the effect, except for the light cantrip, which only has a 50% chance of success, and the flare cantrip, which has no effect other than to possibly dazzle the target.

Instructed to develop a shadow-creating spell that would allow a large group of people to gather in the hot sun, and be shaded and protected from its harsh rays, Maliya lost focus and instead developed this interpretation of a shadow parasol spell. While it’s potential to trap a foe in a private field of darkness was at least a concession to its more obvious use to allow a lawless individual to sneak about easier, her tutor was so concerned that her spell research seemed to be focused on making crime easier, that she scryed upon Maliya for signs of meeting up with the sorts of lawless individuals who would most obviously benefit from such magics.

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Shadow Flame
School illusion (shadow); Level Sor/Wiz 3
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a lump of charcoal), F (an item that has continual flame cast upon it)
Range touch
Target one enspelled item
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw no; Spell Resistance no

With this magic, you add quasi-real energy from the plane of shadow to the illusory flames of an item enspelled with continual flame causing it to generate quite real warmth, equivalent to a torch. This flame remains only partially real, and cannot be used to ignite anything or set off any secondary fires, but the heat it produces is sufficient to burn anyone placing their hand within the flames, or to cook food, or stave off a winter chill. Shadow flame cannot be extinguished by lack of air, and burns even underwater, but is snuffed out by natural sunlight, extinguishing at the end of even a single round of exposure to direct sunlight. Magic with the [light] descriptor can also cause the shadow flame to snuff out, being as effective as dispel magic if cast upon the object bearing the shadow flame enhancement. If the shadow flame is dispelled by either of these methods, the underlying continual flame enhancement is also dispelled.

While item imbued with ontinual flame generally produce flames of red, orange and yellow, those altered by this spell produce flames of blue, indigo and violet.

Producing more heat than warmers and thus being better suited towards activities such as cooking or even smelting soft metals or glassblowing, items enhanced with shadow flame are, to the delight of the Arcanamirium, fragile things, prone to being spoiled by something as simple as the touch of sunlight. The Arcanamirium greatly prefers these items, for that reason, as it results in more resale opportunities than a constant hearth would. Another advantage over the constant hearth, is that shadow flame can never cause accidental fires, and doesn’t interfere with the sale of tindertwigs or similar items that generate actual fire, which remains needed for many mundane uses, from lighting candles to stoking forges.

After several 'false starts,' Maliya is now regarded as a favored journeyman at the Arcanamirium, thanks in large part to the shadow flame spell. She recognizes that this sudden status is as fickle as her former disfavor, and so pays it little heed, save to occasionally exploit it for her own convenience.

Due the painstaking nature of her previous researches into shadow magics, none but her snoopy scying maven suspect that she didn't discover shadow flame through spell research, but through the old fashioned way of actually *finding* it, on a scroll, which came into her possession through means she has no intention of sharing with anyone, before she even began her apprenticeship. It took her years to decipher the secrets of the scroll, and her previous deviations from curriculum have more to do with her dogged insistence on unraveling the secrets of the scroll, than any interest in criminal applications of magic.

[Set]

Some of the factions in the Faction Guide had Traits assigned to them, and the Arcanamirium suggests a few;

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Arcane Enthusiast Your time touring the city and providing practical demonstrations and promoting the benefits of magic have made you quite the charmer. You have a +1 trait bonus to Diplomacy checks and it is a class skill for you.

Gifted Craftsman You have been trained in Arcanamirium techniques of spellcrafting, and receive a +1 trait bonus to Spellcraft checks. When attempting to research a new spell on the grounds of the Arcanamirium, and with access to its libraries and workspaces, you have an additioal +1 bonus to Spellcraft checks to research a new spell, and it costs you 5% less than it would normally.

Magical Familiarity You are intimately familiar with any spell or magical item that you have researched or crafted yourself, and cast these spells (or activate these items) at +1 caster level. (This bonus stacks in the case of activating an item that you have crafted, that triggers a spell you have researched.)

Widened Lexicon You never forget a spell that you have researched yourself, and carry some of it around within yourself. If you are a spontaneous caster, you can add spells that you have personally researched to your spells known, to a maximum of one per level of spells known, and none of a level higher than your Charisma modifier, or of a higher level than one below the highest level of spells you have mastered. If you are a prepared spellcaster, you are treated as having Spell Mastery in spells that you have personally researched, and can spontaneously exchange a prepared spell for one you have researched once per day, although this spell cannot be of a level higher than your Intelligence modifier, and cannot be from the highest level of spells you have mastered.

[Set]

When Ashoda, the unwitting inventor of the Twig-Troll, submitted another research proposal involving harnessing the regenerative properties of troll's blood, Metadame Vannessir told him oh-so-politely to get bent. And, also, no. She was quite firm on that point.

So he smiled a strained smile and curtsied his way out of the audience, before setting off on 'sabbatical' to rent laboratory space elsewhere in the city, far from the Arcanamirium, to pursue his studies.

Six months later, Ashoda began to market his new 'Restorative Putty,' first to ships in harbor, and later to various construction enterprises working around the many docks of Absalom.

A thick, lumpy and tart-smelling greenish concoction, Restorative Putty dries in the sunlight to near black over the course of a minute. During that minute, while it remains fresh, it bubbles and writhes, almost as if alive, and any unliving organic surface upon which it is spread gains fast healing 1/2 for that minute (restoring 1 hit point / 2 rounds, to a total of 5 hit points at the end of the minute). Wood, bone, cloth, even paper or parchment can be repaired by this salve, but, due to it's thick tar-like nature, and the hard-to-remove stain and smell, it's rarely ever suitable for use on anything other than thick wood in need of fast repair. While it can be used to rejoin a broken beam or plank, it can't regenerate more a fifth or so of the missing material, and cannot be used to simply 'grow wood' from bits of sawdust or splintered remains.

Ashoda charged 25 gold pieces for a single application, during this first month, despite the Restorative Putty costing him 20 gp / dose to create, wishing to establish the value of the substance to repair dampness-rotted piers and pilings, or barnacle-weakened sections of hull. He was quickly approached by the Metadame, who expressed disapproval of his 'initiative,' but quickly warmed to the idea of all sins being forgiven, so long as Ashoda returned to the Arcanamirium, and his new invention come with him, to be refined (making it less odiferous) and repriced at 40 gold pieces / does (and typically sold in 5 application buckets for 200 gp, and weighing six lbs.).

His hands indelibly stained greenish black, and his sense of smell burnt out entirely, Ashoda has, to the relief of everyone who knows him, decided that he has exhausted the potential of troll's blood, and will be finding a new line of research to explore.

Indeed, his guildmates have no shortage of suggestions;

"Have you considered the amazing transformational abilities of the butterfly?"

"The sound-absorbing properties of owl's down certainly has untappped potential..."

"Aboleth mucus, you say?" <nervous laugh> "Oh dear, surely, there is nothing to be learned from that!"

[Set]

An Osirioni wizard, of the Pahmet 'sand dwarves,' named Menu-Teret, brought to the Arcanamirium a series of minor conjuration spells, based off of stripping wall of stone down to a much weaker expression, for convenience in construction.
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Lesser Stone Summoning
School conjuration (creation); Level Sor/Wiz 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a pinch of sand)
Range touch
Target personal
Duration 1 minute / level
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no

With a throwing action or the twirl of a sling, the caster can conjure forth stones suitable for throwing or for use as sling bullets as a free action through the spells duration. These stones can be thrown to inflict 1d4 damage (if the caster is size Medium, 1d3 if Small) with a range increment of 10 ft. proficiently by the user, or to inflict damage as sling bullets appropriate to the casters size, and allowing the caster to load his sling with these stones as a free action, affording him the option of firing his sling as an attack action, or even taking advantage of iterative attacks, if his basic attack bonus is high enough. Stones conjured in this fashion are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction, but gain no enhancement bonus to attack or damage rolls. Any stones conjured disappear at the end of the round they are created and hurled or slung, and the caster cannot create additional stones beyond what he is capable of hurling or slinging in a round.

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Stone Summoning
School conjuration (creation); Level Sor/Wiz 2
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a one inch cube of stone)
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Duration instaneous
Saving Throw Ref negates; Spell Resistance no

This spell conjures a a 5 ft. by 5 ft. by 5 ft. block of stone into the target square. An attempt to conjure the stone into a square that already contains items that cannot be pushed out of the way, the spell fails. Smaller occupants of the target square, or those not secured in place, are shoved roughly aside to the nearest open space and are allowed a Reflex save to avoid taking 1d6 bludgeoning damage and being knocked prone.

Once conjured, the stone cube has the normal hardness and hit points of stone, and is otherwise an unexceptional and mundane block of stone.
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Greater Stone Summoning
School conjuration (creation); Level Sor/Wiz 3
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a 1 lb cube of stone)
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Duration instaneous
Saving Throw Ref half; Spell Resistance no

This spell conjures a 10 ft. by 10 ft. by 10 ft. block of stone into the target square. An attempt to conjure the stone into a square that already contains items that cannot be pushed out of the way, causes the spell to fail. Smaller occupants of the target square, or those not secured in place, are shoved roughly aside to the nearest open space and are allowed a Reflex save to avoid taking 2d6 bludgeoning damage and being knocked prone. Those who succeed on this saving t
throw still take 1d6 bludgeoning damage, but are not knocked prone.

Once conjured, the stone cube has the normal hardness and hit points of stone, and is otherwise an unexceptional and mundane block of stone.

.

Menu-Teret has an assortment of other spells, to call up hissing vipers and constrictors of sand and stone from a handful of dust, to call up a clacking giant scarab beetle of stone to serve as mount, worker or combatant, or even to create a nourishing, if bland, 'stone soup,' from a gallon of water and a rock. He shows no interest in sharing the secrets of these spells, having only begrudgingly parted with the practical spells he has in order to gain access to the libraries of the Arcanamirium, to further his own research goals.

[Set]

"Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink..."

.

The Wondrous Fountains [Puddles District]
When one lives calf-deep in water, it's a cruel jest that there is a constant shortage of drinking water in The Puddles. No well exists that is not flooded with the salt and sewage-tainted water that drowns this all-but-abandoned district, but the Arcanamirium considers this merely an opportunity to test water purification magics that anyone of any greater station would shudder to consider.

In three locations in the Puddles, all near the edges of the district, providing convenient access to residents of the Docks or Foreign Quarter, stone basins have been formed at intersections, resembling fountains, and containing great quantities of fresh water in copper bowls, poured forth from the center sculpture of an eight-armed four-faced maiden pouring water from four jugs oriented in the four cardinal directions. (An astute viewer will note that each of the faces is different, and might be stylized representation of Calistria, Iomedae, Sarenrae and Shelyn.)

Ostensibly, the water is magically conjured into existence, but the Arcanarmirium arcanists who work on this project did not have access to divine magic, and stubbornly refused to simply hire the services of an adept to provide such power. Instead, fouled and brackish water is pumped from the surrounding district, and a combination of magics, including burning hands (to boil the water), chill touch (to necromantically purge it of any living parasites or contagion, as well as to chill it after the boiling), magic aura (to make the statues at the center detect as conjuration magic to any casually curious individual who might examine them magically), prestidigitation (to make the now-mostly-purified water taste, smell and look like fresh water) and unseen servant (to work the 'pump' that brings the water from pipes below the streets into the metal chambers where it is boiled, then chilled, then 'made presentable' and finally discharged from the maiden's jugs), renders it safe for consumption, and gives it the appearance of fresh water.

The process is ridiculously complex, and cost a fair sum to engineer and prepare, but the Arcanamirium was specifically asked to perform this service, as the Puddles residents were trekking into surrounding districts to pump fresh water from the wells of residents who, quite frankly, were willing to pay the Arcanamirium to keep the Puddles residents out of their districts...

While those who paid for the process would likely not be terribly concerned that the Puddles residents are drinking their own marginally purified wastewater, as well as whatever the tides vomit forth, the Arcanamirium has kept the exact nature of these 'Wondrous Fountains' a secret, and left both the residents of the Puddles, and anyone else who asks, with the impression that the water is conjured magically.

Some locals have noticed that the calf-high waters around the Wondrous Fountains tends to be more brackish than usual, but are unsure as to why this is so, and have their own theories, such as a reaction from the sea-god, challenged by this source of fresh water in land that is in the process of being reclaimed by the sea. (In truth, the process of boiling the water to remove the salt from it leaves behind quantities of salt in that particular chamber, which is then removed by unseen servant and ends up being disposed of into the surrounding water table.)

[Caedwyr]

Good stuff. I'm always interested in everyday magic and not things intended soley for adventurers/combat. Its the one area that tends to be lacking from most magic/spell books, so this material fits my needs perfectly. It'd be cool to see some of this published in Wayfinder or elsewhere.

[Drejk]

Interesting stuff Set.

Could you put all this into single pdf for ease of download?
(or maybe later I do it myself...)