Scrolls, spell books, etc.

Magic is often recorded in scrolls, spell books, and other writing (collectively refer to as 'scripts').

Spells recorded in this way are laid down in a magic users own symbols. No two scripts are identical though they may share many common features. The symbols used are often created by the author as they learn their craft.

A spell recorded in symbols (a script) is more than a simple account of how the spell is performed, the symbols contain power in themselves. This power is necessary to imprint the spell in the mind of the caster.

Imprinting from a script

A practitioner can alway imprint from their own script. This still require time but it is not an onerous task. It is practically unheard of for a spell imprinted in this way to fail.

A skilled practitioner may, after comprehending the script, imprint from it. This process is slower than imprinting from their own script as the foreign symbols are 'reluctant' and resist imprinting by anyone other than the original author. If imprinting from a foreign script there is always a possibility the spell will fail when cast. Worse, it is possible the script contains a malignancy that could harm the caster.

Casting from a script

Once created a script can be used to cast the spell directly. If cast directly the power of the symbols is instead used to 'bypass' the need to imprint the spell. Once the symbols power is gone the script becomes inert.

Inert scripts

An inert script may:

• Disintegrate the medium on which it is written (the material's integrity was maintained by the spell's symbols potency---this is most common in ancient scrolls where the material would have naturally decayed without the spell).
• The symbols vanish entirely, leaving the scroll, spell book page, etc. blank.
• The symbols remain but the spell becomes inert. It can no longer be cast or fully comprehended.

It is practically impossible to recognise an inert script without extensive study. It is one of life's great disappointments to encounter a script that on first exam seems to contain great power but after extensive study is found to be inert.

Creating a script

Writing a script requires time (care must be taken as mistakes can be deadly, embarrassing, or simply render useless result) and often special materials. Simple ink and parchment are rarely sufficient to contain the power of magical symbols.

Duplicating a script

A script can be duplicated by a skilled practitioner. This requires study, and possibly the application of magic, to fully comprehend the script. Not only the form of the spell but also the steps necessary to safely transcribe the symbols. A magic user who fully comprehends a script can, with care, transcribe the spell into their own symbolic form.

When a spell is duplicated in this fashion the process of imprinting the spell becomes easier for the magic user as the spell is now in their own script.

When a script is transcribed the origin is generally rendered inert if the symbols used change. Thus a magic user can duplicate their own work without risk but transcribing another's work will usually render the original impotent.

A script cannot simply be copied unless by the original author. A skilled practitioner can comprehend another's work (with time and effort) but cannot imbue the script's symbols with power, they can only empower their own symbols.