Fyodor's Nimbus of Porterage

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Fyodor's Nimbus of Porterage
Spell information
Nickname fnp
Guild Wizards
Type Miscellaneous
Description Summons a cloud companion that can carry items.
GP cost 75
Mind space 35
Thaums 7
Components candle, wet towel
Tome Invoakatyons in thee Mysterie of Wynd

The spell Fyodor's Nimbus of Porterage is a miscellaneous wizard spell requiring a candle and a wet towel. It creates a cloud to carry your items.


Casting

This spell costs 75 GP to cast, and takes up 35 units of mind space. It is cast on an item, which the cloud picks up when it appears. Despite this, almost everyone seems to think you have to cast it on the towel. They're wrong!

Skills

Spellcheck results
Scale      
50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250 275 300
 
water            
 
       
fire            
 
       
air            
 
       
summoning            
 
       
abjuring            
 
       
channeling            
 
       

The following skills are used in the stages of this spell:

Components

A candle and a wet towel are required. Neither are typically consumed in the casting.

The towel may sustain damage during the casting. If the towel is too badly damaged, it will eventually break. If it is too dry, it will disappear.

The initial colour of the cloud is derived from the towel, whenever possible. Otherwise, the cloud can be ordered to "change colour" as desired, within the range of black to white shades.

Casting messages

Success
You prepare to cast Fyodor's Nimbus of Porterage on the red beach towel.
You unwrap the wet towel trying to avoid squeezing too much water out of it.  
You light the candle and hold the towel above the flame.
The red beach towel grows hot in your hands.
You command the steam coming from the towel to form a cloud.
You whistle innocently as you try to trap an air spirit using your steaming towel as a lure.
You struggle to hold the trapped spirit under control while thinking hard what to do next. 
You decide to share your mental and physical strength with the spirit.
The air spirit seems pleased with his new-found strength and agrees to do your bidding.
A bright red cloud forms in front of you.
Fail (towel is too dry)
You prepare to cast Fyodor's Nimbus of Porterage on the red beach towel.
You unwrap the wet towel trying to avoid squeezing too much water out of it.
You light the candle and hold the towel above the flame.
The towel appears to be dry enough to ignite!
You hastily release the spell.
Fail (caster already has a cloud)
 A cloud of white fog appears from nowhere, envelops you and makes you really, really soaked.
What others see
Wizard unwraps a wet towel carefully.  
Wizard lights a candle and attempts to ignite her towel.  
Wizard stares at the steaming towel and looks somewhat disappointed. 
Wizard whistles innocently.
Suddenly, a weird mix of physical and intellectual effort turns Wizard's face into an ugly grimace.  
Wizard's face muscles relax gradually, and you see grim determination in her eyes.  
The air in front of Wizard swirls and darkens and forms a cardamom brown cloud.  
Wizard looks tired.

Clouds

The spell creates a cloud which the caster can give objects to carry. The caster can interact with the cloud using the following syntaxes:

give <item> to <cloud>
order <cloud> to {take|grab|carry|lift|get} <object>
order <cloud> to {release|drop} <object>
order <cloud> to return <object> 
order <cloud> to follow
order <cloud> to change colour
poke <cloud>
order <object> to {surround|envelop|swallow} <someone> 

The size and therefore the weight capacity of the cloud depend on the caster's skills. If the cloud has no objects to carry, it will dissipate after a short, variable period (it's possible to give the cloud items during this time to prevent it from disappearing). Given too many objects to carry, it will fumble some of its contents. If the cloud is ordered to return something but it doesn't, the caster would have been too heavily burdened with the object.

The cloud will also dissipate (dropping anything it was carrying) if the caster logs off. If they log back on quickly enough, the cloud may not dissipate, but it may need to be poked.

The caster can have more than one cloud (Maximum appears to be 3). However, it's harder to summon a cloud if you already have one.

Ordering the cloud to surround someone (including yourself) makes that person soaking wet - however this weakens the cloud each time, and done enough times will result in a cloud that can barely carry anything at all, and will even drop the items it was already holding.

Stat effects

The caster shares some mental and physical powers with the cloud, thus intelligence and strength are reduced for several minutes while the caster recovers. The stats may be returned to normal with the Restore ritual.

Intelligence is reduced by 1 to 2 points, while strength is reduced by 2 to 3 points. After fifteen minutes, penalties of 2 or 3 points are reduced to penalties of 1 point, while penalties of 1 point are removed. All stat penalties thus fade completely after exactly half an hour.

External links