"Ed Greenwood - Volos Guide to All Things Magical" - читать интересную книгу автора (Greenwood Ed)

Most readers will be unsurprised to learn that duels are common at Mage Fairs, and magical pranks even more numerous. Due to the nature of magic, both duels and pranks are apt to get out of hand, and Mage Fairs are therefore usually held in remote meadows or valleys, ruins, abandoned castles, and similar places where few folk dwell who might be terrorized - or driven to attack attendees of the fair. The only recent Mage Fair to be held in a settlement of any size took place over a dozen years ago in Derlusk, a port city in the Border Kingdoms. I do not know where the next Mage Fair will be held, but the Heralds will begin to spread the word a good year before the event, once the Magister decrees the site. A council of senior wizards organizes and decides the location of the fairs, but how one gets onto that governing body-or even who is on it-are secrets guarded, I am told, by no less than divine Azuth himself!

The Well of Spells
This legendary site seems to move about from place to place in Faerun at the will of Mystra.' It is always found in a large cavern, but the cavern may be deep in Undermountain or the Underdark, high up in the heart of a lofty mountain, beneath the crumbling ruins of Myth Drannor, or half a hundred lesser fallen places. Apprentices in the Art and readers in Candlekeep who do not care to get any closer to magic than reading about it whisper excited tales of the Well of Spells to each other as they come across them in their readings, for it truly seems like a paradise for mages.

The Well is not a shaft or pit filled with water at all, but rather a vertical, cylindrical field of glowing golden light that marks the boundaries of its magic. Its diameter has varied from appearance to appearance, but it seems able to assume any diameter. Any wizard who finds and enters it is borne up by its enchantment, flying very slowly at MV 3 (A) in a random direction and for a random distance until the Well stops providing lift for him or her; the wizard floats slowly along, driven by force of will, but need not concentrate unduly on this movement so as to affect his or her other actions.

If this is the mage's first visit to the Well, she or he is confronted in its glowing heart by a monster materialized by the Well. All sorts of beasts have been reported to have shown up, but neither they nor the mages they attack can employ magic or psionics while inside the Well. If a wizard flees from the Well, this monster pursues, but if the mage slays the beast within the Well by physical means, she or he is instantly granted full knowledge and use of a spell new to him or her. The spell is never be one that is wished for, but seems to be always determined randomly-it may even be of a level or school normally denied to the mage and still be successfully used by him or her at no penalty. This mystically granted spell is gained as an extra spell and carried in addition to the wizard's usual roster. Its casting never requires material components.

Note that if a mage flees or is hurled forth from the Well and defeats the monster outside it, no spell is gained. Reentry into the Well calls forth another monster for the wizard to face. The Well lands the wizard and ceases to allow him or her to fly if the wizard leaves the Well while fleeing the monster or after the wizard gains the random spell.

The Well has no top or bottom. A wizard reaching its uppermost reaches is transported instantly to the bottom, and vice versa. Any number of sorcerers can be in the Well at the same time and can see and speak to each other, but they cannot strike at or pass items to each other, since each wizard and all of his or her possessions seem intangible to other wizards in the Well. Missiles fired into the Well reach its edges and stop, hanging frozen in its radiance, but they can readily be retrieved by anyone reaching into the radiance.

If a wizard has entered the Well before, all that is gained by reentering it is a vision of a being, place, or item of importance to the mage. This subject is not necessarily something the mage is interested in or desires to see, and the vision is often cryptic in its relevance. Beings who are not wizards are not affected by the Well or its monsters. They can see its radiance, but it does not cause them to float or affect them in any way, except to remove charm spells, curses (including lycanthropy), geas spells, and other magical controls and compulsions existing upon them at the time of contact. This power of the Well can affect the same non-wizard beings again and again if they find and enter the Well repeatedly.

Hideaways
Across Faerun , many scores of extradimensional chambers or complexes of rooms known as hideaways or safeholds exist. Here I recount only descriptions of a few of these hidden places, but it should be noted that Chessenta. and Turmish are said to be positively riddled with them. They are said to feature so many of these hideaways that a military invasion of either country would be imperiled from the outset by the ability of defenders to hide away in the heart of an invading army, striking at leisure from concealment.

The construction of such hidden lairs was evidently greatly in fashion in the dangerous days of human dominance in Faerun in the centuries after the fall of Myth Drannor, but many of the spells used to construct these areas, which typically have magically concealed and operated entries, have since been lost or become secrets hoarded carefully by liches and perhaps a few living mages.' Some of these safeholds are clearly retreats for desperate warriors to hide in, but others are just as plainly cozy corners for wizards to study in at their leisure or caches for merchants to employ in the safe storage of coins, food, and trade wares.

Gaining entrance to most safeholds involves the speaking of a certain word or the possession of a magical key item, but all hideaways share the necessity for a person attempting to enter them occupying a precise location to effect entry. I know of one hideaway that is reached by leaping in a certain direction off the top of the Standing Stone in the Dales at a certain time of day. if one avoids falling injury by making the correct leap, one enters a dark, echoing labyrinth of chambers guarded by at least a dozen beings that resemble liches.-, The deepest chamber is rumored to contain a spell library, but other tales insist that the innermost chamber holds a stair into the Underdark, a gate to the Outer Planes, or even a cache of treasure put there by the Cult of the Dragon.

Another known hideaway is entered from inside a certain ruined, once magnificent building in Myth Drannor by means of a magical key, at least a dozen of which are known to exist. This safehold is a single chamber furnished with spellbooks, a wardrobe, a Murlynd's spoon, a bowl, a decanter of endless water, magically preserved food, and a comfortable armchair complete with a footrest! Anyone trying to remove any of the spellbooks or enchanted items is instantly attacked by the fully operating eyes of a death tyrant' that open in the chamber walls, floor, and ceiling - but this guardian is not otherwise seen. The maker of this hideaway remains unknown, though many mages who have spent a night there and found it a safe refuge in the heart of Myth Drannor's dangers swear that they felt as if someone were examining their memories, knowledge, and the spells ready in their minds---although no host otherwise betrayed his or her presence.

A third hideaway is thought to exist somewhere in the heart of Athkatla in Amn. It is used by a secret society of unscrupulous merchants to hide stolen items, smuggled goods, kidnap victims, hired slayers and unsavory evidence from the eyes of the general populace. Local legend has dubbed this place "the Nighthole" because its owners only enter it during the hours of darkness.

Making permanent extradimensional lairs requires not only entrance-cloaking and entrance-locking spells, but also magical means of heating or cooling and circulating fresh air through the interior. Some hideaways even have facilities that magically remove personal waste (presumably to a locale not traceable to the hidden lair) and many have back doors or several entrances. Both Castle Waterdeep and Piergeiron's Palace in Waterdeep are rumored to have safehold chambers, and the Palace of the Purple Dragon in Suzail definitely has one-stuffed with the bones of would-be usurpers, if tales of the deeds of some Obarskyr kings are to be believed.

The Sorceress in Grey
A persistent and widespread legend in the Sword Coast and the North on both sides of Anauroch is that mages who face peril alone are sometimes visited in their hour of greatest need by an unspeaking, ghostly image of a tall, graceful lady in robes. This apparition can heal injuries and restore cast and forgotten spells with her tingling touch. Supposedly, those who dare to gaze into her eyes see visions to guide them here and now. I have been unable to see this apparition myself or otherwise confirm these tales. Any reader who can is urged to contact me.'

The Magic of Guardianship
Almost as many traps, defensive spells, and mis-directional magics, guard the towers, lesser abodes, and storage caches of powerful mages as there are mighty wizards around to create them. Contingency magics guard those who can cast them-or afford the services of other casters-against death and calamity, and even the lowliest wizards paint impressive but powerless symbols on things and cast magic mouth spells in profusion in an attempt to cow would-be thieves into seeking safer goods to make off with, A definitive guide to all traps and wards used by mages-from the glowing but false spellbook that is the counterweight of a falling bag of boulders to the chain contingency-linked multiple meteor swarms of certain archmages' tombs that slaughter intruders in entire networks of false burial chambers--is something I doubt any mortal could pen. Here I have set forth some brief notes and spells gathered from my own observations of spell-hurlers.

Construction Materials
It seems half of Faerun now knows that gorgon's blood in the mortar and stucco of a building prevents astral and ethereal travel into or out of it and that lead sheeting or strong concentrations of lead in rock foils scrying magics, but there is far more to be learned. To be effective, the gorgon's blood must be in a solution of one drop to a pint of water or stronger and must be applied so that no area of the external walls larger than a large man's head is untouched by it. Xorn or medusa blood can be used instead, but it must be applied in the following complex formula: three drops of xorn blood or four drops of medusa blood and two drops of unholy water per pint of water. Needless to say, the second formula is not used within upon buildings belonging to or used by good or (most) neutral faiths.

Trans-locational travel, such as teleport spells, can be prevented by magical items such as weirdstones' or by the presence of sufficient Underdark radiation (strange emanations from certain rocks in which the metal arandur is found).' These radiations fade swiftly if the rock containing them is exposed to sunlight, but if taken to the surface on moonless nights or cloaked in magical darkness, the ore can be used as a rubble filler within double walls to foil teleporters. Be warned that certain preservative spells not known to me, wondrous web spells, and magics that melt the rubble into a flowing, briefly molten mass must be used to make the protection of the radiations both continuous and long-lasting. Even with such precautions, use of Underdark ores is notorious for leaving, as die turtle soup fanciers of Neverwinter say, "gaps in the shell," so that teleportation is difficult and its destinations restricted, but complete prohibition rarely gained.

I am told that when mixed with mortar, a solution of three drops of giant slug spittle, two drops of remorhaz ichor, and (as a base) a flask of amber-jet poison prevents the entry of all slimes, molds, jetties, cubes, and other amorphous, creeping, corrosive monsters into a building or over a wall whose stones are set with this substance. I have not seen the precise formula, but I have been assured by several sages and merchants, as well as a mage I trust,' that it is preserved at Candlekeep and that the mixture works because it is abhorrent to these creatures rather than a damaging magical or biological barrier to them.

Spells
Magic is far more commonly used for the defense of temples and wizards' homes than the aforementioned construction materials with the attendant hard work necessary to implement them. Most mages are familiar with the guards and wards spell. its clerical equivalents are all the secrets of the various churches' priesthoods, so I will not discuss them here-to reveal such things means sure death if the church one has offended can reach one.

As readers of my guides to various regions of the Realms know, the wardmist spell is a popular defense in the Sword Coast lands, especially in the Sword Coast North.' The crafting of wardings began in the North, probably in ancient Netheril. Ancient wards often include wild magical effects and prohibitions against magical items, which simply cannot enter the wardmist. There are also instances of prohibitions against spells of a specific school or those manifesting as heat, fire, lightning, or cold. Many sorts of monsters and spells - I ran into something very nasty known as a guardian whirlwind just the other day - can be linked to wardmist spells to battle intruders. Some old wards incorporate reverse gravity effects or huge blade barriers.

The boundaries, guardian monsters, and other properties of a ward cannot be changed once it is cast--and therein lies a weakness of wardmists. Only a single wardmist can exist in a given area, and safe entry and egress from such wards is provided by means of tokens - specific objects made of a certain material and bearing a certain rune to link them to the wardmist. Thus, ward tokens are like keys, and though they cannot be readily copied as keys can, they are often stolen. Well-known shops in all the cities of Sembia, Athkada, Baldur's Gate, Calimport, Luskan, Mulmaster, Myratma, Waterdeep, Westgate, and Zazesspur-plus many lesser-known or more prudently covert establishments - do a brisk trade in stolen tokens.

A second line of defense often employed by mages, priests, or those able to hire them, when they know that ward tokens have fallen into the wrong hands or that capable and unfriendly adventurers may come calling is the use of so-called wandering wards: glyph and symbol spells that cause their harmful runes to move about from place to place within an abode in order to block intruders who seek to evade such things. A third means of harming unwanted visitors is by means of enchantments on doors or doorways.' I am still engaged in researches on the effects of such enchantments, but I have included here a rare but very useful spell, web of ways that can render magical door traps far more dangerous than they usually are.