[✗] [Invention Lore] Pondering Orb

[Tael 216]

Pondering Orb

 

 

“Come on, come all! Experience a marvel of magical engineering created by the hands of a skilled artificer!
The Pondering Orb, yes! A device that allows one to do oh-so-many wonders once thought to be impossible! Buy one, take it with you and spread the word of this marvellous invention!”

❂ Explanation ❂

For ages on end, powerful wizards have had to rely on birds of flight to carry their messages to communicate with other wizards, either to share to discuss their newly found Magic theories or their knowledge in the arts, but no longer! With the invention of the Pondering Orb a magus may at last be able to communicate through more fitting means for people of their station.

 

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❂ Creation ❂

In order to make a Pondering Orb it can be intricate but overall, it is just a few simple steps for those who dabble in the making of magical baubles and trinkets.

 

1. First two separate components must be crafted separately - A Focus Crystal-based glass-like filling and a metal frame of a mana-conductive metals that needs to fit neatly around or as a support for the Crystal.
2. The item must be neatly put together in whatever way they should be arranged, and properly connected to one another through a physical mana-conductive material, linking the two components.
3. The item as a whole must then be charged by [1] Master Mage capable of manipulating soul or inner mana expertly or equivalent, requiring no Greater Mana Source for the process. This is also done in an attempt to have the Focus Crystal retain mana in an idle state for a long period of time so it can still receive communication attempts even if the orb is not activated. Should said reservoir of mana run out, it must be recharged through the same means.

 

However, a Pondering Orb, despite the name “Orb”, doesn’t necessarily need to be orb-shaped and can assume any given shape and it will still count as an Pondering Orb as long as it follows the following guidelines

 

1. It must be composed of the two base components.
2. It must follow one of two sizes - Small and Large. Small Pondering Orb items are carriable and movable from their original location, while Large ones cannot. An example for a small Pondering Orb is a literal crystal ball or a crystal prism, while a Large one is something like a Mirror. Small size must not exceed 6 inches but not fall below 3, while a large one should not exceed 6 feet nor fall below 2 feet.

Note that depending on the type of magic that the user charging it utilised

 

Spoiler

Redlines:

❂ Despite the extremely freeform ways of creating Pondering Orb, it’s overall structure must still make sense and abide by how it is normally constructed. It is up to ST discretion to decide if it is viable.

❂ One must have a valid MA in either Voidal Magic, Housemagery or Bardmancy to participate in making the item, They must at least have Tier 5 mastery to complete the ritual alone, while mages of a lower tier will to gather a group equivalent to it, though Tier 3 or Tier 4 practitioners may attempt it in groups of [2] to yield the same results.

❂ An Pondering Orb must be charged every [1] OOC day to keep it's functionality. Once charged by a specific type of magic, be it Voidal, Housemagery or Bardmancy, it cannot be charged by another kind, or else the orb will grow unstable and become unusable.
❂ The creation of a Pondering Orb is meant to be open knowledge to all wizards and can be easily learned through being told, participating in making one, reading about it from a book while having an active Voidal MA.
❂ This item requires ST signature.

 

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❂ Capabilities ❂

The Pondering Orb was made specifically to operate [2] distinct functions: Communication & Broadcasting. Both of the functions fall roughly in the same category of the reason what it was made for - To facilitate communication between magi.

Firstly, in order to activate the Pondering Orb, one must have it stationed somewhere, and the caster must be connected. After that is achieved, the Pondering Orb may be operated as long as one part of the magus’ body such as a finger touches the orb’s surface - One will be able to tell when their orb is activated when it is softly enveloped by their aura for a brief moment before pulsating with their color. This first time an orb is activated by their caster, it will remember the caster by their aura, marking their name into the Orb, as if soulbinding itself to its user. 

After activation, the magus no longer needs to keep physical contact with the orb but must remain in at least a [1] meter proximity of the orb and with their concentration on it, or else it will disconnect and deactivate once more. After the fact, one may choose which function they wish to operate.

There are [2] to operate the function of Communication, receiving or transmitting a communication request. To transmit a Communication request a magus must touch the orb while it is already activated and semantically give a command to the orb with the keyword “Summon” followed by the name of the individual they wish to communicate with. This will send a request for Communication that must be received from the other end. To do so, one simply must swipe to left or right in the vicinity of the orb if it is already activated, if not, one must first activate it in order to answer it , until the Communication request is received, the orb will emit a soft, repeated humming noise in the person connected to the orb, the object pulsating softly with light. A swiping motion to the right, will result in the call being received, while one to the left will result in the call being denied. After that, both parties can communicate between each other, though their voices will always sound distorted.

 

There are [2] ends to Broadcast much like Communication. Broadcast may be used by keeping both hands touching the orb and closing one’s eyes and uttering the semantic command “Broadcast” to begin a broadcast to all orbs possible. When one is done, they can simply remove their grip from the orb and the broadcast will end. One may then receive a Broadcast through an orb by peering through the orb to receive this information, one will not be warned about it and the message will simply be floating about within the orb when it is activated until the mage wishes to see it.

 

Spoiler

Redlines:

❂ When communicating through a Pondering Orb, Party Chat must be used after the emote establishing communication is done. The participants of the call must then leave the party after the communication is deemed ended. One may resort to a whisper directly to the player to warn them that they are being called, announcing that the called character hears a humming on their mind from the orb.

❂ An existing Communication link can only be established between a total of [3] mages, one of which being the magus establishing the connection to begin with.

❂ One cannot establish a communication during or to avoid a combative scenario.

❂ In order to utilise the orb, it must be stationary.

❂ When utilising Broadcast, a Forum post must be made with what was broadcasted. It also must be clearly stated on the post that it was meant as a broadcast for all Pondering Orb. From that point on, everyone under the possession of a Pondering Orb may see this Broadcast.

❂ A Broadcast may be revisited, being saved within the Orb’s crystal piece, and can be accessed by having physical contact with the orb.

 

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❂ Purpose ❂

I was honestly surprised to know that a Crystal Ball as a means of communication was not a thing yet in LotC and I have been really considering doing it for a long time, so I thought to kill two birds with one stone by making that a reality for people who want to be part of the niche of the Pondering Orb Wizard while also giving the Party plugin some use since I think very little people use it these days. The objective of the Pondering Orb is for it to just be a fun thing that may get some additions later either from me or whoever wants to add small flavourful things to it that could be fun!

 

❂ Credits ❂

Tael - Author
Nepir - Consultant on the creation process.
 

Spoiler

❂ Changelog ❂

21/08/2024 - Pondering Orb is now compatible with Bardmancy and Housemagery alongside Voidal arts as per @salamanderfantasy request

 

Edited August 21, 2024 by Tael

[6Dark 431]

 +1

[Wizry 1218]

[Tigergiri 3073]

Gosh I hope we can use party chat again 

[TysCreations 458]

ORB

 

+1

[PhilosopherBear 397]

TURN ON THE ORB TURN ON THE ORB THEY'VE HIT:

Spoiler

REDACTED

 

[Tigergiri 3073]

3 minutes ago, Tigergiri said:

Gosh I hope we can use party chat again 

BIRD ORB 

[PrimnyaQuorum 3999]

Voidal Magic already has arcane relays - this feels like it could easily be a amendment to that lore instead of a entirely new submission. Otherwise, it looks neat, but just feels like a way to avoid birding with some flavour

[salamanderfantasy 1340]

PLEASE may i suggest that it can be charged by a few other magic users than just voidal magic -- one for uniqueness, and another because i dont wanna see another Quintessential Wizard Thing made to be void-only. god i fuckigg love orbs though.

[Tael 216]

3 minutes ago, salamanderfantasy said:

PLEASE may i suggest that it can be charged by a few other magic users than just voidal magic -- one for uniqueness, and another because i dont wanna see another Quintessential Wizard Thing made to be void-only. god i fuckigg love orbs though.

 

It can be done for sure! The only reason why it's strictly Voidal at the moment is because it's the magic I am most familiar with - With a little help I am more then open to change it to be more inclusive @salamanderfantasy

[ScoutTheWitch 520]

42 minutes ago, Tael said:

I was honestly surprised to know that a Crystal Ball as a means of communication was not a thing yet in LotC

voidal NERDS have their megascopes, us seers have had crystal balls for years B)

[salamanderfantasy 1340]

34 minutes ago, Tael said:

 

It can be done for sure! The only reason why it's strictly Voidal at the moment is because it's the magic I am most familiar with - With a little help I am more then open to change it to be more inclusive @salamanderfantasy

i suppose that depends on how exclusive/rare you wanna make these or not! could be as simple as any person who can channel mana w/ magic to some degree can activate an orb made of the right materials? or more complicated

[salamanderfantasy 1340]

time for the pondering of O R B

[King_Kunuk 3022]

See arcane relay lore

[Laeonathan 5889]

this exists already, arcane rlays