Smoke Web

Intensity: 3

Casting Time: 1 minute 30' of radius of smoke or mist around the caster to be affected.

Duration: Height in minutes

Attunement: No

This spell takes an area of ordinary smoke or mist and extends very fine tendrils of smokemass through it; these tendrils are not strong enough to impede the movement of creatures, but the caster can sense when they are broken, and so feel the movement of creatures through the smoke.

Once cast this spell allows the caster to use Sense + Hearing to determine details about groups moving through the mist. Greater height on the roll gives more of the following pieces of information: location, number, size, direction of movement, formation, whether they are being stealthy and the 'feel' of their equipment – metal, leather, cloth or flesh.

Cloud Fixing

Intensity: 6

Casting Time: 10 minutes

Duration: Width in years

Attunement: No

This spell takes a cloud of mist and smoke and fixes it in place. It can affect a volume of up to twenty times the casting roll's height in all directions about the caster. It was the creation of a retired Smoke Magician, who retired to a baroque self-created mansion to refine his art. He filled the marsh around his home with such clouds to discourage and disorientate visitors. Eventually his grand-daughter, who was following in his footsteps discovered that he had died alone years before, having scared off all potential visitors. She brought his library back to Turningford, and his mansion slowly reverted to the marsh mists from which it was created.

Eat Darkness

Intensity 4

Casting Time: Slow 1

Duration: Instant

Attunement: Yes

On rare occasions when two Shadowbinders come into conflict one wishes to remove darkness created by the other. This spell was created long ago as an intellectual exercise by one of the first Shadowbinders to court social acceptability rather than live in a dark tower in dark woods, surrounded by corpse minions.

The caster must be in contact with the darkness that they wish to attempt to consume, and succeed in both exceeding the intensity of four, and a difficulty of the intensity of the spell to be consumed.

Wrest Control

Intensity 5

Casting Time: Slow 1

Duration: Width in hours

Attunement: Yes

This spell attempts to steal control of undead servants created by other casters of this school. A favourite of a group of Shadowbinders who made a living stealing from other members of their school who couldn't imagine that their undead could be suborned.

Casting the spell requires a wreath made from vines that grow only in darkness, which must be placed on one of the suborned undead. If the wreath is removed or damaged then this spell's effect is ended, so canny casters often hide it under the rags, clothes or uniform of the target. When casting this spell a number of undead equal to the width of the set are affected, as long as they are within close proximity (roughly within ten paces).  

Vallard and the Smoke Sculptors

With Vallard's entry into the Empire, it quickly became apparent that Smoke Sculpting could be incredibly useful for constructing and maintaining bridges between the islands of the city, and within a generation a group of Smoke Sculptors had established themselves in Vallard with the patronage of the then Prince.

The wealth that they gained lead to Vallard becoming a centre of the art, second only to the Academy in Turningford. At one point relations between the Academy and the Pontifices were tense, but Vallard's ceding of the right to teach the magic settled the issue for many years.

Now Pontifex Labant has been a prime mover in Vallard's declaration of independence, and there are rumours that he has been suborned by Uldish agents, for their Guild would dearly love to obtain the secrets of Smoke Magic.

What makes this worse is that Vallard has a unique spell belonging to the school, that could potentially devastate the whole tradition.

Unravelling

Intensity: 6

Casting Time: 10 minutes

Duration: Permanent

Attunement: No

Casting this spell requires a flame and a variety of specialised powders; burning these produces coloured smokes that can infuse into a Smoke Sculpture and cause it to come apart into multi-coloured wisps that quickly disperse.

The caster, in addition to exceeding the Intensity of the spell with the casting roll must also achieve a width of 2 for Minor smoke magics and 3 for Major.

The only copies of this spell are held very closely – half the text is with the Pontifex at all times, the remainder is held in the Vaults of the Pontifices Island under guard.