Tiffany: Runes

This is the page for the magic system of Tiffany, a quest by Nahkh. Information regarding the usage of runes and whatnot in the practice of magic belongs on this page. Everything else belongs on the quest's main page.

Known Runes

Runes are the basic components of which spells are made. These are all multi-function units, which are used to compose larger and more complicated spells.

Enemy

Can be interpreted as 'enemy', 'threat', 'danger', or 'attack'.

Detection

Can be interpreted as 'detection' or 'warning'.

Reversal

Can be interpreted as 'reversal', 'remove', or 'prevent'.

Seeing

Can be interpreted as 'seeing' or 'scrying'.

Absolutely

It means what it says. A common expletive.

Touch

This one means 'touch'. Presumably, that refers only to physical contact.

Forward

Directs the spell in a forward direction.

Hook

The hook carries a myriad of meanings, the most prominent being to ensnare, to capture, to keep hold, to catch.

Golden Scale

Splits the power flow. (used to devote a part of the power into the barrier and another part into the attack)

Cradle

Can be interpreted as 'gently' or 'no harm'

Sunset

Can be interpreted as '(to) close', 'night', 'darkness' or 'sleeping'.

Circle

The oldest symbol of them all. A boundary. The circle divides the world into an inside and an outside. Often used as a base symbol.

Blade

Combines the runes inside it tightly together. Often used as a base symbol.

Compound Runes

These are associations of runes which serve a given purpose, and can be integrated as a unit into a spell. In terms of logical hierarchy, a compound rune is equivalent to operator within parenthesis.

Concealment

A commonly used combination of "Detection" "Reversal" and "Absolutely". It conceals the spell to which it is applied. "Seeing" is most commonly the rune on the bottom.

Soul Anchor

Holds a captured soul or piece of soul in place for use later in the ritual.

Watch out. It bites.

Spirit Pump

Moves a captured soul from one container to another.

Power Transference

It transfers power

Known Spells

Note: For purposes of this article, a "spell" is any rune, chant, or specific combination thereof which have been invoked or observed in-thread to accomplish an effect. Any known or speculated effects of the spell should be recorded, and the source of information should be noted if possible. Images should be the spell in as complete a form as possible, copied directly from the thread to minimize the possibility of inaccurate information. Spell-related speculation is permissible in the Notes section, but please reserve the Procedure section for as pure a mechanical description of the spellcasting process as possible.

Sever Soul Piece

Notes

This spell was used as the initial step in the creation of Tiffany's familiar, Mulder the raven. According to Grandpa, this spell summons a soul eater, which he called "a common enough critter from the outskirts." That creature attempts to eat a portion of the caster's soul, but since the soul anchor holds the soul piece in place it is unable to escape with it after severing it from the caster. The soul eater will begin to digest, but the soul portion remains intact for long enough to prepare significantly complex rituals. There is no known reason to doubt this information.

Grandpa also implied that stopping mid-spell, either the chant or pulling the hand from the circle, would "get real bad". It seems likely that while casting the spell he used his mental controls over Tiffany to stop her from pulling her hand from the circle. His motives for this are potentially questionable, however; he may have been merely pushing Tiffany to create a familiar which he could manipulate, as Mulder later proved key in his plans.

Procedure

The initial spell diagram.

While chanting; animated.

The right hand is held above the central circle in the Soul Anchor rune of the diagram. The rune is focused upon, and the following chant is uttered repeatedly.

lafta nian tuaftiatsa
tuaftia nian 'iaianuutsa
kaialaktu annan
laftkaktu u'shan.

As the chant is repeated, the rune appears to come alive as a giant mouth, which devours the caster's hand and with it a portion of their soul. After the hand is completely severed, the caster may stop chanting with the spell complete; they will find their hand intact, if pained. A severed piece of the caster's soul is held within the soul anchor, with a soul eater slowly digesting it.

Al-Asmari's Atonement

Notes

This spell was used as the second step in the ritual to create Tiffany's familiar. It banished the soul eater being held in a soul anchor after it had severed a portion of Tiffany's soul, successfully separating the creature from its meal. Grandpa said that Tiffany would feel an easing of tension when the spell was complete, but if she did or not was never noted; it is possible that she did and was simply too agitated to effectively perceive it at the time.

It was mentioned that the banishment would take place "using the outer circle", referencing the runes involved. This may imply that the circle surrounding the soul anchor in this spell could actually be used as an independent rune in other contexts, but this has yet to be confirmed or investigated.

When asked about dangers, Grandpa said that "Al-Asmari is pretty failsafe against this kind of thing", implying that the spell is quite reliable. Exactly how broad "this kind of thing" is has yet to be determined. It was implied that a stronger type of creature might be able to somehow fight back, but that the soul eater being banished would not be able to; in spite of this it was able to make the table upon which the spell cloth was set groan and detonate a nearby lamp. Other creatures would likely be able to accomplish substantially more.

Procedure

The relevant portion of the diagram is in the upper right.

The spellcasting process.

The following chant is uttered three times while the caster focuses upon the rune circle.

hiat luut laha hanku
kiaufta'autsan naatsa
uftus niaftfta hx'ä 'anku
nxs kasua shu taatsa

That completes the spell.

Animate Familiar with Sense Spirit

Notes

This spell was used to bring Tiffany's familiar Mulder to life. It defined his familiar ability, specifically Sense Spirit, placed part of Tiffany's spirit inside him, and reanimated his corpse.

This spell is obviously comprised of several discrete parts- use of the spirit pump, the application of the sense spirit ability to the familiar, the binding of the soul fragment to the body, and the body's reanimation- and could likely be broken down into separate spells, all connected and cast in sequence. Unfortunately, lack of background knowledge regarding the diagrams used and the error which occurred during spellcasting make it very difficult to extricate them from one another for more generalized use.

An error occurred in the casting of the spell, which came very close to resulting in Tiffany's demise. The spell was completed successfully in spite of this. Exactly why the error that we made caused Tiffany's near-death, and how Grandpa managed to keep her alive, are at the moment unclear. It seems likely that the anchor on the severed portion of Tiffany's soul gave her the ability to find her way back to her body and thus revive herself, but beyond that the details of why exactly things occurred as they did remain uncertain.

When asked, Grandpa said that stopping between each section of the spell would be safe, and that it was stable for as long as a few hours between each part. However, stopping in mid-sentence would be unsafe, and stopping during the binding section of the spell would result in "a world of hurt". The reanimation section was described as much less dangerous- even stopping after a mispronunciation would result in nothing worse than needing to repeat the spell.

Procedure

The required drop of blood is added to the spirit pump.

The diagram as the binding was attempted. The hook on the left of the spirit pump has been smudged; this is incorrect, as the right hook should have been the one removed.

The spell should begin with a piece of the caster's soul already in the soul anchor rune.

For the spirit transference, a drop of blood is placed on the rightmost circle in the modified spirit pump diagram. Then the following chant is uttered five times.

A krudk vavk kravk dhlaikh avai

At this point, the hook on the right side of the soul anchor should be smudged out. It was not.

For the sense spirit ability, the following chant is uttered while focusing upon the bottommost rune.

naan nakxnassunan
luuftaktu'an lu'ian
uftan ha"anu tuftnas
sha utansanu ku"as

At this point, the hook on the left side of the soul anchor was smudged out in an attempt to correct the previous mistake.

The binding in action; animated.

The most dramatic results of the flawed binding.

For the soul binding, the following chant is used seven times, focusing once on each symbol on the binding section of the diagram. The first symbol focused upon is the one closest to the caster, and each subsequent symbol is the adjacent rune when moving counter-clockwise.

tuaftia tian 'iaianutaat
hanku hangassunaan
kiaufta'atsa afta'aktu
'aagutsa 'aasashaktu

At this point in the spell, an error became apparent. As described, each repetition of the above chant should cause increasing discomfort; other evidence of the spell's working is unknown. As performed, the binding circle began to glow and the table to shake as the final chants were uttered. No discomfort was experienced until the seventh repetition was completed, at which point the caster experienced excruciating pain and was rendered unconscious and close to death; outside action was taken to ensure her survival. In spite of this unanticipated event, the binding apparently succeeded.

The diagram as the reanimation is attempted; it is unknown if the damage would have occurred in the absence of Tiffany's error.

The results of the reanimation.

For the reanimation, the following chant is uttered once while focusing upon the binding circle.

Kiauftftaatsa afta'aktu
ftiaiatsa ftuhaktu
'aagutsa 'aakuftaaktu
kaftnutsa ka'shakuktu

Osa tuaftia, tugu haftsushaan
usa haftsusha, tugu tuaftiaian
tugu 'iaianut, tugu aftana,
hangan kiaftsautaftfta ftangaftfta

Upon completion of the chant the corpse is reanimated, and immediately emits a mind-piercing screech. It should obey commands.

That completes the spell. To fully realize the familiar's potential a name must be chosen, but this can wait for some time if necessary.

Anti-scrying Protection Spell

Notes

This spell was used by Tiffany's mother to protect the key used to unlock her wardrobe. It disabled Tiffany's postcognative abilities entirely for about a day.

Procedure

The chant for this spell is unknown. It shares a few runes with other spells (notably Concealment and the Postcog dampener) but uses two unknown runes in its construction.

Terror Ward

Notes

This spell was used to protect the contents of the wardrobe. Causes intense paralytic fear to anyone who beholds it.

Procedure

The chant for this spell is unknown. Its rune incorporates "Enemy" and an unidentified rune, withing "Blade". It can be countered via a friend circle spell.

Friend Circle Spell

Notes

Tiffany improvised this spell when countering the Terror Ward in her mom's wardrobe. While not completely effective, it "lessens" the feeling of fear. It functions by negating enmity within the circle; this causes "enemy" dependent spells to malfunction, in a manner dependent on the nature of enemy's usage within that spell.

Procedure

This simple spell has a chant, but was not explicitly mentioned. Adding a "Concealment" rune to the outside will make it become invisible. It incorporates the runes "Enemy," "Reversal," and "Circle".

Knockout Spell

Notes

Martin cast this on Tiffany after cornering her in an alley. It's unknown how this was cast, as it appeared out of nowhere, not written on anything in particular. However, Grampa at one point mentioned that it is possible to prepare a spell ahead of time, so one might surmise that this has something to do with that.

Procedure

This consists of "gently" "Extremely" and "sleep", unified by a blade. This causes the target to be made unconscious while remaining unharmed. It is connected to "forward" rune, which defines the target as a person in front of the rune. The purpose of the three brackets around it is unknown.

Labyrinth of Hak'keth

Notes

Grampa had Tiffany prepare this in the second chapter. It is a trap with the purpose of causing a target's huftsasha to fight itself. It is extremely dangerous for the person caught in it. Technically, the Labyrinth of Hak'keth consists of only the circle and those portions within in it; the outside items are modifiers to the manner in which the Labyrinth interacts with things that are not within it.

Procedure

The base is a circle.
The hook on the left covertly lures someone into the trap. Grampa said it lured an enemy, but in practice it seemed indiscriminate, and it lacks an accompanying "Enemy" rune, so it is likely he used that word merely in keeping with his facade. Were we to be more discriminate, we could likely bind the hook and enemy runes together in a blade.
The circle to the upper right is the location in which Gramps was stored. It serves to allow a mage control over the whole shebang. It could be omitted if the purpose were merely to cause harm to or neutralize the target. In this case, the victim would likely eventually die.
Concealment conceals this from the target; it would not be a good trap if it could be seen.
The central circle on the line is a reference point. It appears to refer to the victim, but this is not entirely certain.
The right side contains the Mad Eye of Hakuman. It determines the place from where the enemy is least likely to defend. We know very little about this compound rune, and thus should not mess with it. It is connected to the reference point with "touch".
Above the reverence point is an enemy rune, which likely identifies our victim. It is connected to Power Transference, which is in turn connected to the Mad Eye of Hakuman.
Below the reference point is the Golden Scale, which redirects power into the barrier and back at the enemy.