This is the online version of the Hexcasting documentation.
</h1>
<p>
Embedded images and patterns are included, but not crafting recipes or items. There's an in-game book for
those.
</p>
<p>
Additionally, this is built from the latest code on GitHub. It may describe
<b>
newer
</b>
features that you
may not necessarily have, even on the latest CurseForge version!
</p>
<p>
<b>
Entries which are blurred are spoilers
</b>
. Click to reveal them, but be aware that they may spoil endgame
progression. Alternatively, click
<a href="?nospoiler">
here
</a>
to get a version with all spoilers showing.
</p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div class="container">
<header class="jumbotron">
<h1 class="book-title">
Hex Notebook
</h1>
<p>
I seem to have discovered a new method of magical arts, in which one draws patterns strange and wild onto a hexagonal grid. It fascinates me. I've decided to start a journal of my thoughts and findings.
Aha! While mining deep underground, I found an enormous geode resonating with energy-- energy which pressed against my skull and my thoughts. And now, I hold that pressure in my hand, in solid form. That proves it. This
<i>
must
</i>
be the place spoken about in legends where
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
accumulates.
</p>
<p>
These
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
amethyst crystals
</span>
</a>
must be a
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #490">
convenient, solidified form of
</span>
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
Media
</span>
</a>
.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
It appears that, in addition to the
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Amethyst Shards
</span>
</a>
I have seen in the past, these crystals can also drop bits of powdered
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Amethyst Dust
</span>
</a>
, as well as these
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Charged Amethyst Crystals
</span>
</a>
. It looks like I'll have a better chance of finding the
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Charged Amethyst Crystals
</span>
</a>
by using a Fortune pickaxe.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
As I take the beauty of the crystal in, I can feel connections flashing wildly in my mind. It's like the
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
in the air is entering me, empowering me, elucidating me... It feels wonderful.
</p>
<p>
Finally, my study into the arcane is starting to make some sense!
</p>
<p>
Let me reread those old legends again, now that I know what I'm looking at.
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="basics/couldnt_cast">
<div class="spoilered">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
A Frustration
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
it humming in the scroll-- the pattern is true, or as true as it can be. The spell is
<i>
right there
</i>
.
</p>
<p>
But it feels as if it's on the other side of some thin membrane. I called it-- it tried to manifest-- yet it
<i>
COULD NOT
</i>
.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
It felt like the barrier may have weakened ever so slightly from the force that I exerted on the spell; yet despite my greatest efforts-- my deepest focus, my finest amethyst, my precisest drawings-- it
<i>
refuses
</i>
to cross the barrier. It's maddening.
</p>
<p>
<i>
This
</i>
is where my arcane studies end? Cursed by impotence, cursed to lose my rightful powers?
</p>
<p>
I should take a deep breath. I should meditate on what I have learned, even if it wasn't very much...
</p>
<br/>
<p>
...After careful reflection... I have discovered a change in myself.
</p>
<p>
It seems... in lieu of
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
amethyst
</span>
</a>
, I've unlocked the ability to cast spells using my own mind and life energy-- just as I read of in the legends of old.
</p>
<p>
I'm not sure why I can now. It's just... the truth-knowledge-burden was always there, and I see it now. I know it. I bear it.
</p>
<p>
Fortunately, I feel my limits as well-- I would get approximately two
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Charged Amethyst
</span>
</a>
's worth of
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
out of my health at its prime.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
I shudder to even consider it-- I've kept my mind mostly intact so far, in my studies. But the fact is-- I form one side of a tenuous link.
</p>
<p>
I'm connected to some other side-- a side whose boundary has thinned from that trauma. A place where simple actions spell out eternal glory.
</p>
<p>
Is it so wrong, to want it for myself?
</p>
<br/>
</div>
</div>
<div id="basics/start_to_see">
<div class="spoilered">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
WHAT DID I SEE
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
experienced. I offered my plan to Nature, and got a firm smile and a tearing sensation in return-- a piece of myself breaking away, like amethyst dust in the rain.
</p>
<p>
I feel lucky to have
<i>
survived
</i>
, much less have the sagacity to write this-- I should declare the matter closed, double-check my math before I cast any more
<span style="color: #b38ef3">
Hexes
</span>
, and never make such a mistake again.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
...But.
</p>
<p>
But for the scarcest instant, that part of myself... it
<i>
saw
</i>
...
<a href="#greatwork/the_work">
<span style="color: #490">
something
</span>
</a>
. A place-- a design, perhaps? (Such distinctions didn't seem to matter in the face of... that.)
</p>
<p>
And a... a membrane-barrier-skin-border, separating myself from a realm of raw thought-flow-light-energy. I remember-- I saw-thought-recalled-felt-- the barrier fuzzing at its edges, just so slightly.
</p>
<p>
I wanted
<i>
through.
</i>
</p>
<br/>
<p>
I shouldn't. I
<i>
know
</i>
I shouldn't. It's dangerous. It's too dangerous. The force required... I'd have to bring myself within a hair's breadth of Death itself with a
<i>
single stroke
</i>
.
</p>
<p>
But I'm. So.
<i>
Close
</i>
.
</p>
<p>
<i>
This
</i>
is the culmination of my art. This is the
<span style="color: #54398a">
Enlightenment
</span>
I've been seeking.
</p>
<p>
I want more. I need to see it again. I
<i>
will
</i>
see it.
</p>
<p>
What is my mortal mind against immortal glory?
</p>
<br/>
</div>
</div>
</section>
<section id="casting">
<h2 class="category-title page-header">
Hex Casting
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
will take the iota at the top the stack, if it represents an entity, and transform it into an iota representing that entity's location.
</p>
<p>
So, drawing those patterns in that order would result in an iota on the stack representing my position.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
<span style="color: #490">
Iotas
</span>
can represent things like myself or my position, but there are several other types I can manipulate with
<span style="color: #490">
Actions
</span>
. Here's a comprehensive list:
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Numbers (which some legends called "doubles");
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Vectors, a collection of three numbers representing a position, movement, or direction in the world;
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Booleans or "bools" for short, representing an abstract True or False,
</p>
<br/>
<p>
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Entities, like myself, chickens, and minecarts;
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Influences, peculiar types of iota that seem to represent abstract ideas;
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Patterns themselves, used for crafting magic items and truly mind-boggling feats like
<i>
spells that cast other spells
</i>
; and
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
A list of several of the above, gathered into a single iota.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Of course, there's no such thing as a free lunch. All spells, and certain other actions, require
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
as payment.
</p>
<p>
The best I can figure, a
<span style="color: #b38ef3">
Hex
</span>
is a little bit like a plan of action presented to Nature-- in this analogy, the
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
is used to provide the arguments to back it up, so Nature will accept your plan and carry it out.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
That aside, it doesn't seem like anyone has done much research on exactly how
<i>
much
</i>
any particular piece of
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
amethyst
</span>
</a>
is valued. The best I can tell, an
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Amethyst Shard
</span>
</a>
is worth about five pieces of
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Amethyst Dust
</span>
</a>
, and a
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Charged Amethyst Crystal
</span>
</a>
is worth about ten.
</p>
<p>
Strangely enough, it seems like no other form of
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
amethyst
</span>
</a>
is suitable to be used in the casting of a
<span style="color: #b38ef3">
Hex
</span>
. I suspect that whole blocks or crystals are too solid to be easily unraveled into
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
It's also worth noting that each action will consume the
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
it needs immediately, rather than all at once when the Hex finishes. Also, an action will always consume entire items-- an action that only requires one
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Amethyst Dust
</span>
</a>
's worth of
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
will consume an entire
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Charged Amethyst Crystal
</span>
</a>
, if that's all that's present in my inventory.
</p>
<p>
Thus, it might be a good idea to bring dust for spellcasting too-- waste not, want not...
</p>
<br/>
<p>
I should also be careful to make sure I actually have enough Amethyst in my inventory-- some old texts say that Nature is happy to use one's own mind as payment instead. They describe the feeling as awful but strangely euphoric, "[...] an effervescent dissolution into light and energy..." Perhaps that's why all the old practitioners of the art went mad. I can't imagine burning pieces of my mind for power is
<i>
healthy
</i>
.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Maybe something's changed, though. In my experiments, I've never managed to do it; if I run out of
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
, the spell will simply fail to cast, as if some barrier is blocking it from harming me.
</p>
<p>
It would be interesting to get to the bottom of that mystery, but for now I suppose it'll keep me safe.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
I have also found an amusing tidbit on why so many practitioners of magic in general seem to go mad, which I may like as some light and flavorful reading not canonical to my world.
</p>
<p>
<i>
Content Warning: some body horror and suggestive elements.
Finally, it seems spells have a maximum range of influence, about 32 blocks from my position. Trying to affect anything outside of that will cause the spell to fail.
</p>
<p>
Despite this, if I have a player's reference, I can affect them from anywhere. This only applies to affecting them directly, though; I cannot use this to affect the world around them if they're outside of my range.
<br/>
I ought to be careful when giving out a reference like that. While friendly
<span style="color: #b38ef3">
Hexcasters
</span>
could use them to great effect and utility, I shudder to think of what someone malicious might do with this.
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="casting/vectors">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
A Primer on Vectors
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
It seems I will need to be adroit with vectors if I am to get anywhere in my studies. I have compiled some resources here on vectors if I find I do not know how to work with them.
Additionally, it seems that the mages who manipulated
<span style="color: #490">
Psi energy
</span>
(the so-called "spellslingers"), despite their poor naming sense, had some quite-effective lessons on vectors to teach their acolytes. I've taken the liberty of linking to one of their texts on the next page.
</p>
<p>
They seem to have used different language for their spellcasting:
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
A "Spell Piece" was their name for an action;
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
a "Trick" was their name for a spell; and
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
an "Operator" was their name for a non-spell action.
Unfortunately, I am not (yet) a perfect being. I make mistakes from time to time in my study and casting of
<span style="color: #b38ef3">
Hexes
</span>
; for example, misdrawing a pattern, or trying to an invoke an action with the wrong iotas. And Nature usually doesn't look too kindly on my mistakes-- causing what is called a
<i>
mishap
</i>
.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
A pattern that causes a mishap will glow red in my grid. Depending on the type of mistake, I can also expect a certain deleterious effect and a spray of red and colorful sparks as the mishandled
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
curdles into light of a given color.
</p>
<p>
I also get a helpful error message in my chat, but a nagging feeling tells that will change once the "mod updates," whatever that means. I shouldn't rely on always having it.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Fortunately, although the bad effects of mishaps are certainly
<i>
annoying
</i>
, none of them are especially destructive in the long term. Nothing better to do than dust myself off and try again ... but I should strive for better anyways.
</p>
<p>
Following is a list of mishaps I have compiled.
</p>
<br/>
<h4>
Invalid Pattern
</h4>
<p>
The pattern drawn is not associated with any action.
</p>
<p>
Causes yellow sparks, and a
<a href="#casting/influences">
<span style="color: #fc77be">
Garbage
</span>
</a>
will be pushed to the top of my stack.
</p>
<br/>
<h4>
Not Enough Iotas
</h4>
<p>
The action required more iotas than were on the stack.
</p>
<p>
Causes light gray sparks, and as many
<a href="#casting/influences">
<span style="color: #fc77be">
Garbages
</span>
</a>
as would be required to fill up the argument count will be pushed.
</p>
<br/>
<h4>
Incorrect Iota
</h4>
<p>
The action that was executed expected an iota of a certain type for an argument, but it got something invalid. If multiple iotas are invalid, the error message will only tell me about the error deepest in the stack.
</p>
<p>
Causes dark gray sparks, and the invalid iota will be replaced with
<a href="#casting/influences">
<span style="color: #fc77be">
Garbage
</span>
</a>
.
</p>
<br/>
<h4>
Vector Out of Ambit
</h4>
<p>
The action tried to affect the world at a point that was out of my range.
</p>
<p>
Causes magenta sparks, and the items in my hands will be yanked out and flung towards the offending location.
</p>
<br/>
<h4>
Entity Out of Ambit
</h4>
<p>
The action tried to affect an entity that was out of my range.
</p>
<p>
Causes pink sparks, and the items in my hands will be yanked out and flung towards the offending entity.
</p>
<br/>
<h4>
Entity is Immune
</h4>
<p>
The action tried to affect an entity that cannot be altered by it.
</p>
<p>
Causes blue sparks, and the items in my hands will be yanked out and flung towards the offending entity.
</p>
<br/>
<h4>
Mathematical Error
</h4>
<p>
The action did something offensive to the laws of mathematics, such as dividing by zero.
</p>
<p>
Causes red sparks, pushes a
<a href="#casting/influences">
<span style="color: #fc77be">
Garbage
</span>
</a>
to my stack, and my mind will be ablated, stealing half the vigor I have remaining. It seems that Nature takes offense to such operations, and divides
<i>
me
</i>
in retaliation.
</p>
<br/>
<h4>
Incorrect Item
</h4>
<p>
The action requires some sort of item, but the item I supplied was not suitable.
</p>
<p>
Causes brown sparks. If the offending item was in my hand, it will be flung to the floor. If it was in entity form, it will be flung in the air.
</p>
<br/>
<h4>
Incorrect Block
</h4>
<p>
The action requires some sort of block at a target location, but the block supplied was not suitable.
</p>
<p>
Causes bright green sparks, and causes an ephemeral explosion at the given location. The explosion doesn't seem to harm me, the world, or anything else though; it's just startling.
, also known as a "LIFO", is a concept borrowed from computer science. In short, it's a collection of things designed so that you can only interact with the most recently used thing.
</p>
<p>
Think of a stack of plates, where new plates are added to the top: if you want to interact with a plate halfway down the stack, you have to remove the plates above it in order to get ahold of it.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Because a stack is so simple, there's only so many things you can do with it:
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
<i>
Adding something to it
</i>
, known formally as pushing,
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
<i>
Removing the last added element
</i>
, known as popping, or
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
<i>
Examining or modifying the last added element
</i>
, known as peeking.
<br/>
We call the last-added element the "top" of the stack, in accordance with the dinner plate analogy.
</p>
<p>
As an example, if we push 1 to a stack, then push 2, then pop, the top of the stack is now 1.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Actions are (on the most part) restricted to interacting with the casting stack in these ways. They will pop some iotas they're interested in (known as "arguments" or "parameters"), process them, and push some number of results.
</p>
<p>
Of course, some actions (e.g.
<a href="#patterns/basics@hexcasting:get_caster">
<span style="color: #fc77be">
Mind's Reflection
</span>
</a>
) might pop no arguments, and some actions (particularly spells) might push nothing afterwards.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Even more complicated actions can be expressed in terms of pushing, popping, and peeking. For example,
<a href="#patterns/stackmanip@hexcasting:swap">
<span style="color: #fc77be">
Jester's Gambit
</span>
</a>
swaps the top two items of the stack. This can be thought of as popping two items and pushing them in opposite order. For another,
Influences are ... strange, to say the least. Whereas most iotas seem to represent something about the world, influences represent something more... abstract, or formless.
</p>
<p>
For example, one influence I've named
<a href="#casting/influences">
<span style="color: #490">
Null
</span>
</a>
seems to represent nothing at all. It's created when there isn't a suitable answer to a question asked, such as an
<a href="#patterns/basics@hexcasting:raycast">
<span style="color: #fc77be">
Archer's Distillation
</span>
</a>
facing the sky.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
In addition, I've discovered a curious triplet of influences I've named
. They seem to have properties of both patterns and other influences, yet act very differently. I can use these to add patterns to my stack as iotas, instead of matching them to actions.
<a href="#patterns/patterns_as_iotas">
My notes on the subject are here
</a>
.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Finally, there seems to be an infinite family of influences that just seem to be a tangled mess of
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
. I've named them
<a href="#casting/influences">
<span style="color: #fc77be">
Garbage
</span>
</a>
, as they are completely useless. They seem to appear in my stack at various places in response to
<a href="#casting/mishaps">
<span style="color: #490">
mishaps
</span>
</a>
, and appear to my senses as a nonsense jumble.
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="casting/mishaps2">
<div class="spoilered">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Enlightened Mishaps
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
It seems that I'll find three different forms of amethyst when breaking a crystal inside a geode. The smallest denomination seems to be a small pile of shimmering dust, worth a relatively small amount of
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
.
</p>
</div>
<br/>
<div id="items/amethyst@shard">
<h4 class="spotlight-title page-header">
Amethyst Shard
</h4>
<p>
The second is a whole shard of amethyst, of the type non-
<span style="color: #b38ef3">
Hexcasters
</span>
might be used to. This has about as much
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
inside as five
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Amethyst Dust
</span>
</a>
.
</p>
</div>
<br/>
<div id="items/amethyst@charged">
<h4 class="spotlight-title page-header">
Charged Amethyst
</h4>
<p>
Finally, I'll rarely find a large crystal crackling with energy. This has about as much
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
inside as ten units of
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Amethyst Dust
</span>
</a>
(or two
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Amethyst Shards
</span>
</a>
).
</p>
</div>
<br/>
<p>
<i>
The old man sighed and raised a hand toward the fire. He unlocked a part of his brain that held the memories of the mountains around them. He pulled the energies from those lands, as he learned to do in Terisia City with Drafna, Hurkyl, the archimandrite, and the other mages of the Ivory Towers. He concentrated, and the flames writhed as they rose from the logs, twisting upon themselves until they finally formed a soft smile.
</i>
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="items/staff">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Staff
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
can have peculiar effects on any type of information, in specific circumstances. Coating a glass in a thin film of it can lead to ... elucidating insights.
</p>
<p>
By holding a
<a href="#items/lens">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Scrying Lens
</span>
</a>
in my hand, certain blocks will display additional information when I look at them.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
For example, looking at a piece of
<span style="color: #b0b">
Redstone
</span>
will display its signal strength. I suspect I will discover other blocks with additional insight as my studies into my art progress.
</p>
<p>
In addition, holding it while casting using a
<a href="#items/staff">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Staff
</span>
</a>
will shrink the spacing between dots, allowing me to draw more on my grid.
</p>
<p>
I can also wear it on my head as a strange sort of monocle. This reveals information, but won't shrink my grid. No matter. There must be a way to have both...
</p>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Scrying Lens
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<p>
<i>
You must learn... to see what you are looking at.
</i>
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="items/focus">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Focus
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
Fortunately, the old masters of my craft invented an ingenious device called an
<a href="#items/abacus">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Abacus
</span>
</a>
to provide numbers to my casting. I simply set the number to what I want, then read the value using
<a href="#patterns/readwrite@hexcasting:read">
<span style="color: #fc77be">
Scribe's Reflection
</span>
</a>
, just like I would read a
<a href="#items/focus">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Focus
</span>
</a>
.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
To operate one, I simply hold it, sneak, and scroll. If in my main hand, the number will increment or decrement by 1, or 10 if I am also holding Control/Command. If in my off hand, the number will increment or decrement by 0.1, or 0.001 if I am also holding Control/Command.
</p>
<p>
I can shake the abacus to reset it to zero by sneak-right-clicking.
</p>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Abacus
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<p>
<i>
Mathematics? That's for eggheads!
</i>
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="items/spellbook">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Spellbook
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
is the culmination of my art-- it acts like an entire library of
<a href="#items/focus">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Foci
</span>
</a>
. Up to
<span style="color: #490">
sixty-four
</span>
of them, to be exact.
</p>
<p>
Each page can hold a single iota, and I can select the active page (the page that iotas are saved to and copied from) by sneak-scrolling while holding it, or simply holding it in my off-hand and scrolling while casting a
<span style="color: #b38ef3">
Hex
</span>
.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Like a
<a href="#items/focus">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Focus
</span>
</a>
, there exists a simple method to prevent accidental overwriting. Crafting it with a
will remove the lacquer along with the page's contents.
</p>
<p>
I can also name each page individually in an anvil. Naming it will change only the name of the currently selected page, for easy browsing.
</p>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Spellbook
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<p>
<i>
Wizards love words. Most of them read a great deal, and indeed one strong sign of a potential wizard is the inability to get to sleep without reading something first.
</i>
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="items/scroll">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Scrolls
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
; I can copy a pattern to them and place them in the world to display the pattern.
</p>
<p>
However, I have read vague tales of grand assemblies of
<a href="#items/slate">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Slates
</span>
</a>
, used to cast
<a href="#greatwork/spellcircles">
<span style="color: #490">
great rituals
</span>
</a>
more powerful than can be handled by a
<a href="#items/staff">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Staff
</span>
</a>
.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Perhaps this knowledge will be revealed to me with time. But for now, I suppose they make a quaint piece of decor.
</p>
<p>
At the least, they can be placed on any side of a block, unlike
<a href="#items/scroll">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Scrolls
</span>
</a>
.
</p>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Blank Slate
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<p>
<i>
This is the letter "a." Learn it.
</i>
</p>
<br/>
<p>
I'm also aware of other types of
<a href="#items/slate">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Slates
</span>
</a>
, slates that do not contain patterns but seem to be inlaid with other ... strange ... oddities. It hurts my brain to think about them, as if my thoughts get bent around their designs, following their pathways, bending and wefting through their labyrinthine depths, through and through and through channeled through and processed and--
</p>
<p>
... I almost lost myself. Maybe I should postpone my studies of those.
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="items/hexcasting">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Casting Items
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
is quite helpful, it's a huge pain to have to wave it around repeatedly just to accomplish a basic task. If I could save a common spell for later reuse, it would simplify things a lot-- and allow me to share my
<span style="color: #b38ef3">
Hexes
</span>
with friends, too.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
To do this, I can craft one of three types of magic items:
<a href="#items/hexcasting">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Cyphers
</span>
</a>
,
<a href="#items/hexcasting">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Trinkets
</span>
</a>
, or
<a href="#items/hexcasting">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Artifacts
</span>
</a>
. All of them hold the patterns of a given
<span style="color: #b38ef3">
Hex
</span>
inside, along with a small battery containing
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
.
</p>
<p>
Simply holding one and pressing
<span style="color: #490">
Right Click
</span>
will cast the patterns inside, as if the holder had cast them out of a staff, using its internal battery.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Each item has its own quirks:
</p>
<p>
<a href="#items/hexcasting">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Cyphers
</span>
</a>
are fragile, destroyed after their internal
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
reserves are gone, and
<i>
cannot
</i>
be recharged;
</p>
<p>
<a href="#items/hexcasting">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Trinkets
</span>
</a>
can be cast as much as the holder likes, as long as there's enough
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
left, but become useless afterwards until recharged;
</p>
<br/>
<p>
<a href="#items/hexcasting">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Artifacts
</span>
</a>
are the most powerful of all-- after their
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
is depleted, they can use
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Amethyst
</span>
</a>
from the holder's inventory to pay for the
<span style="color: #b38ef3">
Hex
</span>
, just as I do when casting with a
<a href="#items/staff">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Staff
</span>
</a>
. Of course, this also means the spell might consume their mind if there's not enough
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Amethyst
</span>
</a>
.
</p>
<p>
Once I've made an empty magic item in a mundane crafting bench, I infuse the
<span style="color: #b38ef3">
Hex
</span>
into it using (what else but) a spell appropriate to the item.
<a href="#patterns/spells/hexcasting">
I've catalogued the patterns here.
</a>
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Each infusion spell requires an entity and a list of patterns on the stack. The entity must be a
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
-holding item entity (i.e.
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
amethyst
</span>
</a>
crystals, dropped on the ground); the entity is consumed and forms the battery.
</p>
<p>
Usefully, it seems that the
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
in the battery is not consumed in chunks as it is when casting with a
<a href="#items/staff">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Staff
</span>
</a>
-- rather, the
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
"melts down" into one continuous pool. Thus, if I store a
<span style="color: #b38ef3">
Hex
</span>
that only costs one
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Amethyst Dust
</span>
</a>
's worth of media, a
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Charged Crystal
</span>
</a>
used as the battery will allow me to cast it 10 times.
</p>
<br/>
<div id="items/hexcasting@cypher_trinket">
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Cypher
</code>
and
<code>
Trinket
</code>
.
</blockquote>
</div>
<br/>
<div id="items/hexcasting@artifact">
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Artifact
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<p>
<i>
We have a saying in our field: "Magic isn't". It doesn't "just work," it doesn't respond to your thoughts, you can't throw fireballs or create a roast dinner from thin air or turn a bunch of muggers into frogs and snails.
</i>
</p>
</div>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="items/phials">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Phials of Media
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
, but the technique is irritatingly elusive, and I can't seem to do it successfully. I suspect I will figure it out with study and practice, though. For now, I will simply deal with the wasted
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
...
</p>
<p>
But I won't settle for it forever.
</p>
<br/>
<h4 class="spotlight-title page-header">
Phial of Media
</h4>
<p>
<i>
Drink the milk.
</i>
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="items/pigments">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Pigments
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
Although their names were lost to time, the old practitioners of my art seem to have identified themselves by a color, emblematic of them and their spells. It seems a special kind of pigment, offered to Nature in the right way, would "[...] paint one's thoughts in a manner pleasing to Nature, inducing a miraculous change in personal colour."
</p>
<br/>
<p>
I'm not certain on the specifics of how it works, but I believe I have isolated the formulae for many different colors of pigments. To use a pigment, I hold it in one hand while casting
<a href="#patterns/spells/colorize">
<span style="color: #fc77be">
Internalize Pigment
</span>
</a>
with the other, consuming the pigment and marking my mind with its color.
</p>
<p>
The pigments seem to affect the color of the sparks of media emitted out of a staff when I cast a
<span style="color: #b38ef3">
Hex
</span>
, as well as my
<a href="#patterns/spells/sentinels">
<span style="color: #490">
sentinel
</span>
</a>
.
</p>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: Several crafting recipes, for the
<code>
White Pigment
</code>
,
<code>
Orange Pigment
</code>
,
<code>
Magenta Pigment
</code>
,
<code>
Light Blue Pigment
</code>
,
<code>
Yellow Pigment
</code>
,
<code>
Lime Pigment
</code>
,
<code>
Pink Pigment
</code>
,
<code>
Gray Pigment
</code>
,
<code>
Light Gray Pigment
</code>
,
<code>
Cyan Pigment
</code>
,
<code>
Purple Pigment
</code>
,
<code>
Blue Pigment
</code>
,
<code>
Brown Pigment
</code>
,
<code>
Green Pigment
</code>
,
<code>
Red Pigment
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<p>
Pigments in all the colors of the rainbow.
</p>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Agender Pigment
</code>
and
<code>
Aroace Pigment
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Aromantic Pigment
</code>
and
<code>
Asexual Pigment
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Bisexual Pigment
</code>
and
<code>
Demiboy Pigment
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Demigirl Pigment
</code>
and
<code>
Gay Pigment
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Genderfluid Pigment
</code>
and
<code>
Genderqueer Pigment
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Intersex Pigment
</code>
and
<code>
Lesbian Pigment
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Non-Binary Pigment
</code>
and
<code>
Pansexual Pigment
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Plural Pigment
</code>
and
<code>
Transgender Pigment
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Soulglimmer Pigment
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<p>
And finally, a pigment with a color wholly unique to me.
</p>
<p>
<i>
And all the colors I am inside have not been invented yet.
</i>
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="items/edified">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Edified Trees
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
In the course of my studies I have discovered some building blocks and trifles that I may find aesthetically pleasing. I've compiled the methods of making them here.
</p>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Block of Slate
</code>
and
<code>
Block of Slate
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Scroll Paper
</code>
and
<code>
Ancient Scroll Paper
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Paper Lantern
</code>
and
<code>
Ancient Paper Lantern
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Ancient Paper Lantern
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<p>
Brown dye works well enough to simulate the look of an
<a href="#items/scroll">
<span style="color: #b0b">
ancient scroll
</span>
</a>
.
</p>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Amethyst Tiles
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<p>
<a href="#items/decoration">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Amethyst Tiles
</span>
</a>
can also be made in a Stonecutter.
</p>
<p>
<a href="#items/decoration">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Blocks of Amethyst Dust
</span>
</a>
(next page) will fall like sand.
</p>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Block of Amethyst Dust
</code>
and
<code>
Amethyst Dust
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Amethyst Sconce
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<p>
<a href="#items/decoration">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Amethyst Sconces
</span>
</a>
emit light and particles, as well as a pleasing chiming sound.
</p>
<br/>
</div>
</section>
<section id="greatwork">
<div class="spoilered">
<h2 class="category-title page-header">
The Great Work
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
I have seen... so much. I have... experienced... annihilation and deconstruction and reconstruction. I have seen the atoms of the world screaming as they were inverted and subverted and demoted to energy. I have seen I have seen I have s
<span class="obfuscated">
get stick bugged lmao
</span>
</p>
</div>
<div id="greatwork/the_work">
<div class="spoilered">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
The Work
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
I have seen so many things. Unspeakable things. Innumerable things. I could write three words and turn my mind inside-out and smear my brains across the shadowed walls of my skull to decay into fluff and nothing.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
I have seen staccato-needle patterns and acid-etched schematics written on the inside of my eyelids. They smolder there-- they dance, they taunt, they
<i>
ache
</i>
. I'm possessed by an intense
<i>
need
</i>
to draw them, create them. Form them. Liberate them from the gluey shackles of my mortal mind-- present them in their Glory to the world for all to see.
</p>
<p>
All shall see.
</p>
<p>
All will see.
</p>
<br/>
</div>
</div>
<div id="greatwork/brainsweeping">
<div class="spoilered">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
On the Flaying of Minds
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
A secret was revealed to me. I saw it. I cannot forget its horror. The idea skitters across my brain.
</p>
<p>
I believed-- oh, foolishly, I
<i>
believed
</i>
--that
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
Media
</span>
is the spare energy left over by thought. But now I
<i>
know
</i>
what it is: the energy
<i>
of
</i>
thought.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
It is produced by thinking sentience and allows sentience to think. It is a knot tying that braids into its own string. The Entity I naively anthromorphized as Nature is simply a grand such tangle, or perhaps the set of all tangles, or ... if I think it hurts I have so many synapses and all of them can think pain at once ALL OF THEM CAN SEE
</p>
<p>
I am not holding on. My notes. Quickly.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
The villagers of this world have enough consciousness left to be extracted. Place it into a block, warp it, change it. Intricate patterns caused by different patterns of thought, the abstract neural pathways of their jobs and lives mapped into the cold physic of solid atoms.
</p>
<p>
This is what
<a href="#patterns/great_spells/brainsweep">
<span style="color: #fc77be">
Flay Mind
</span>
</a>
does, the extraction. Target the villager entity and the destination block. Ten
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Charged Amethyst
</span>
</a>
for this perversion of will.
</p>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: A mind-flaying recipe producing the
<code>
Budding Amethyst
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<p>
And an application. For this flaying, any sort of villager will do, if it has developed enough. Other recipes require more specific types. NO MORE must I descend into the hellish earth for my
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
.
</p>
<br/>
</div>
</div>
<div id="greatwork/spellcircles">
<div class="spoilered">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Spell Circles
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
are for. The grand assemblies lost to time. The patterns scribed on them can be actuated in sequence, automatically. Thought and power ricocheting through, one by one by one by one by one by through and through and THROUGH AND -- I must not I must not I should know better than to think that way.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
To start the ritual I need an
<a href="#greatwork/impetus">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Impetus
</span>
</a>
to create a self-sustaining wave of
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
. That wave travels along a track of
<a href="#items/slate">
<span style="color: #b0b">
slates
</span>
</a>
or other blocks suitable for the energies, one by one, collecting any patterns it finds. Once the wave circles back around to the
<a href="#greatwork/impetus">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Impetus
</span>
</a>
, all the patterns encountered are cast in order.
</p>
<p>
The direction the
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
exits any given block MUST be unambiguous, or the casting will fail at the block with too many neighbors.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
As a result, the outline of the spell "circle" may be any closed shape, concave or convex, and it may face any direction. In fact, with the application of certain other blocks it is possible to make a spell circle that spans all three dimensions. I doubt such an oddity has very much use, but I must allocate myself a bit of vapid levity to encourage my crude mind to continue my work.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Miracle of miracles, the circle will withdraw
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
neither from my inventory nor my mind. Instead, crystallized shards of
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
must be provided to the
<a href="#greatwork/impetus">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Impetus
</span>
</a>
via hopper, or other such artifice.
</p>
<p>
The application of a
<a href="#items/lens">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Scrying Lens
</span>
</a>
will show how much
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
is inside an
<a href="#greatwork/impetus">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Impetus
</span>
</a>
, in units of dust.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
However, a spell cast from a circle does have one major limitation: it is unable to affect anything outside of the circle's bounds. That is, it cannot interact with anything outside of the cuboid of minimum size which encloses every block composing it (so a concave spell circle can still affect things in the concavity).
</p>
<br/>
<p>
There is also a limit on the number of blocks the wave can travel through before it disintegrates, but it is large enough I doubt I will have any trouble.
</p>
<p>
Conversely, there are some actions that can only be cast from a circle. Fortunately, none of them are spells; they all seem to deal with components of the circle itself. My notes on the subject are
<a href="#patterns/circle">
here
</a>
.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
I also found a sketch of a spell circle used by the ancients buried in my notes. Facing this page is my (admittedly poor) copy of it.
</p>
<p>
The patterns there would have been executed counter-clockwise, starting with
required to actuate a spell circle is complex. Even the mortal with sharpest eyes and steadiest hands could not serve as an
<a href="#greatwork/impetus">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Impetus
</span>
</a>
and weave
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
into the self-sustaining oroboros required.
</p>
<p>
The problem is that the mind is too full of other useless
<i>
garbage
</i>
.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
At a ... metaphysical level-- I must be careful with these thoughts, I cannot lose myself, I have become too valuable --moving
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
moves the mind, and the mind must be moved for the process to work. But, the mind is simply too
<i>
heavy
</i>
with other thoughts to move nimbly enough.
</p>
<p>
It is like an artisan trying to repair a watch while wearing mittens.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
There are several solutions to this conundrum: through meditative techniques one can learn to blank the mind, although I am not certain a mind free enough to actuate a circle can concentrate hard enough to do the motions.
</p>
<p>
Certain unsavory compounds can create a similar effect, but I know nothing of them and do not plan to learn. I must not rely on the chemicals of my brain.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
The solution I aim for, then, is to specialize a mind. Remove it from the tyranny of nerves, clip all outputs but delicate splays of
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
-manipulating apparati, cauterize all inputs but the signal to start its work.
</p>
<p>
The process of
<a href="#greatwork/brainsweeping">
<span style="color: #fc77be">
mindflaying
</span>
</a>
I am now familiar with will do excellently; the mind of a villager is complex enough to do the work, but not so complex as to resist its reformation.
</p>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Empty Impetus
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<p>
First, the cradle. Although it does not work as an
<a href="#greatwork/impetus">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Impetus
</span>
</a>
, the flow of
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
in a circle will only exit out the side pointed to by the arrows. This allows me to change the plane in which the wave flows, for example.
</p>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: A mind-flaying recipe producing the
<code>
Toolsmith Impetus
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<p>
Then, to transpose the mind. Villagers of different professions will lend different actuation conditions to the resulting
<a href="#greatwork/impetus">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Impetus
</span>
</a>
. A
<a href="#greatwork/impetus">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Toolsmith Impetus
</span>
</a>
activates on a simple Right Click.
</p>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: A mind-flaying recipe producing the
<code>
Cleric Impetus
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<p>
A
<a href="#greatwork/impetus">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Cleric Impetus
</span>
</a>
must be bound to a player by using an item with a reference to that player, like a
<a href="#items/focus">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Focus
</span>
</a>
, on the block. Then, it activates when receiving a redstone signal.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Peculiarly to this
<a href="#greatwork/impetus">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Impetus
</span>
</a>
, the bound player, as well as a small region around them, are always accessible to the spell circle. It's as if they were standing within the bounds of the circle, no matter how far away they might stand.
</p>
<p>
The bound player is shown when looking at a
<a href="#greatwork/impetus">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Cleric Impetus
</span>
</a>
through a
<a href="#items/lens">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Scrying Lens
</span>
</a>
.
</p>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: A mind-flaying recipe producing the
<code>
Fletcher Impetus
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<p>
A
<a href="#greatwork/impetus">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Fletcher Impetus
</span>
</a>
activates when looked at for a short time.
</p>
<br/>
</div>
</div>
<div id="greatwork/directrix">
<div class="spoilered">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Directrices
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
Simpler than the task of creating a self-sustaining wave of
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
is the task of directing it. Ordinarily the wave disintegrates when coming upon a crossroads, but with a mind to guide it, an exit direction can be controlled.
</p>
<p>
This manipulation is not nearly so fine as the delicacy of actuating a spell circle. In fact, it might be possible to do it by hand... but the packaged minds I have access to now would be so very convenient.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
A
<a href="#greatwork/directrix">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Directrix
</span>
</a>
accepts a wave of
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
and determines to which of the arrows it will exit from, depending on the villager mind inside.
</p>
<p>
I am not certain if this idea was bestowed upon me, or if my mind is bent around the barrier enough to splint off its own ideas now... but if the idea came from my own mind, if I thought it, can it be said it was bestowed? The brain is a vessel for the mind and the mind is a vessel for ideas and the ideas vessel thought and thought sees all and knows all-- I MUST N O T
</p>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Empty Directrix
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<p>
Firstly, a design for the cradle ... although, perhaps "substrate" would be more accurate a word. Without a mind guiding it, the output direction is determined by microscopic fluctuations in the
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
wave and surroundings, making it effectively random.
</p>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: A mind-flaying recipe producing the
<code>
Mason Directrix
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<p>
A
<a href="#greatwork/directrix">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Mason Directrix
</span>
</a>
switches output side based on a redstone signal. Without a signal, the exit is the
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
-color side; with a signal, the exit is the redstone-color side.
</p>
<br/>
</div>
</div>
<div id="greatwork/akashiclib">
<div class="spoilered">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Akashic Libraries
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
I KNOW SO MUCH it is ONLY RIGHT to have a place to store it all. Information can be stored in books but it is oh so so so so
<i>
slow
</i>
to write by hand and read by eye. I demand BETTER. And so I shall MAKE better.
</p>
<p>
... I am getting worse ... do not know if I have time to write everything bursting through my head before expiring.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
The library. Here. My plans.
</p>
<p>
Like how patterns are associated with actions, I can associate my own patterns with iotas in any way I choose. An
<a href="#greatwork/akashiclib">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Akashic Record
</span>
</a>
controls the library, and each
<a href="#greatwork/akashiclib">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Akashic Bookshelf
</span>
</a>
stores one pattern mapped to one iota. These must all be directly connected together, touching, within 32 blocks. An
<a href="#greatwork/akashiclib">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Akashic Ligature
</span>
</a>
doesn't do anything but count as a connecting block, to extend the size of my library.
</p>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: A mind-flaying recipe producing the
<code>
Akashic Record
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<p>
Allocating and assigning patterns is simple but oh so boring. I have better things to do. I will need a mind well-used to its work for the extraction to stay sound.
</p>
<br/>
<blockquote class="crafting-info">
Depicted in the book: The crafting recipe for the
<code>
Akashic Bookshelf
</code>
and
<code>
Akashic Ligature
</code>
.
</blockquote>
<br/>
<p>
Then to operate the library is simple, the patterns are routed through the librarian and it looks them up and returns the iota to you. Two actions do the work.
<a href="#patterns/akashic_patterns">
Notes here
</a>
.
</p>
<p>
Using an empty
<a href="#items/scroll">
<span style="color: #b0b">
scroll
</span>
</a>
on a bookshelf copies the pattern there onto the
<a href="#items/scroll">
<span style="color: #b0b">
scroll
</span>
</a>
. Sneaking and using an empty hand clears the datum in the shelf.
</p>
<br/>
</div>
</div>
</section>
<section id="lore">
<h2 class="category-title page-header">
Lore
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
I have uncovered some letters and text not of direct relevance to my art. But, I think I may be able to divine some of the history of the world from these. Let me see...
</p>
<div id="lore/terabithia1">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Cardamom Steles, #1
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
Full title: Letter from Cardamom Steles to Her Father, #1
</i>
</p>
<p>
Dear Papa,
<br/>
Every day it seems I have more reason to thank you for saving up to send me to the Grand Library. The amount I am learning is incredible! I feel I don't have the skill with words needed to express myself fully... it is wonderful to be here.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
I sit in the main dome as I write this. It's maintained by the Hexcasting Corps; they have some sort of peculiar mechanism at the top that captures the stray thought energy as it leaks out from the desks and desks of hard-working students, as I understand it. One of my friends in the dormitory, Amanita, is studying the subject, and oh how she loves to explain it to me at length, although I confess I do not understand it very well.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
The way I understand it, our processes of thought--the intangible mechanisms by which I move my pen and by which you read this letter--are not completely efficient. A small amount of that energy is released into the environment, like how a wagon's axle is hot to the touch after it has been turning for a while. This spare energy is called "media." One person's spare media is trifiling, but the hundreds of thinking people in the main dome have a sort of multiplicative effect, and combined with some sort of ingenious mechanism, it can be solidified into a sort of purple crystal.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
But that's enough about her studies. I returned from my first expedition with the Geology Corps today! My apologies for not sending a letter before I left; the date crept up on me. We ventured into a crack in the earth to the east of the Grand and spent the night camping under the rock and soil. We kept to well-lit and well-traveled areas of the cave, of course, and in all honesty it was likely safer in there than the night surface, but oh how I was scared!
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Fortunately the night passed without mishap, and we proceeded deeper into the cave for our examination of the local veins of ore. We were looking for trace veins of a purple crystal called "amethyst," which supposedly occurs in small amounts deep in the rock. We did not find anything, sadly, and returned to the sunlit surface empty-handed.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Come to think of it, the description of this "amethyst" I now realize closely matches those crystals of media Amanita speaks of. Imagine if these nuggets of thought occurred naturally under the ground! I can't imagine why that might happen, though...
</p>
<br/>
<p>
As a student, I am entitled to send one letter by Akashic post every three months, free of charge. Unfortunately, you know how thin my moneybags are ... so I am afraid this offer is the only method I may communicate with you. I will of course appreciate immensely if you manage to scrounge together the money to send a letter back, but it seems our communications may be limited. I hate to be cut off from you so, but the skills I gain here will be more than repayment. Imagine, I will be the first member of our family to be anything other than a farmer!
</p>
<br/>
<p>
So, I suppose I will write again in three months' time.
</p>
<p>
Yours,
<br/>
-- Cardamom Steles
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="lore/terabithia2">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Cardamom Steles, #2
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
Full title: Letter from Cardamom Steles to Her Father, #2
</i>
</p>
<p>
Dear Papa,
<br/>
... Goodness, what an ordeal it is to try to summarize the last three months into a short letter. Such a cruel task set before me by this miracle I receive entirely for free! Woe is me.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
My studies with the Geology Corps have been progressing smoothly. We have gone on more expeditions, deeper into the earth, to where the smooth gray stone makes way to a hard, flaky slate. It creates such an awful, choking dust under your feet... it's incredible what hostility there is below all of our feet all the time, even disregarding the creatures of the dark. (I have had one or two encounters with them, but I know how you shudder to think of me having to fight for my life, so I will not write of them.)
</p>
<br/>
<p>
We did manage to find some of this amethyst, however. There was a small vein with a few trace crystals on one of our expeditions. We were under strict instructions to keep none of them and turn them in to our Corps prefect immediately. I find the whole affair rather ridiculous; they treat it like some matter of enormous importance and secrecy, and yet have a group of a dozen students, all barely six months at the Grand Library, trying to excavate barely ten drams of the stuff with twelve prospector's picks in a square foot...
</p>
<br/>
<p>
I cannot imagine for what purpose, either. A librarian pointed me to an encyclopedia of gems, and amethyst seems to have next to no purpose; it's used for certain specialty types of glass and lenses, of all things.
</p>
<p>
If I were to speculate, I would guess that these amethyst crystals and the media they so resemble are one and the same, as I wrote of last time.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
If this is true, the secrecy, not to mention the prefect's aversion to questioning, may be because this is an original piece of research the Grand Library is not eager to let into the hands of enemy factions.
</p>
<p>
However, this theory does not sit quite right with me. The amethyst I handled in the cave and the crystals of media Amanita has shown to me do seem quite similar, but not identical. I would like to see them side-by-side to be sure, but media has a peculiar buzzing or rumbling feel beneath the fingers that amethyst does not.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
It is quite possible I was unable to sense it on the amethyst in the cave due to the stress of being undergound-- my hands were shaking the one time I managed to touch some, and the feeling is very light --but it does not seem the same to me. The light reflects slightly differently.
</p>
<p>
I suppose if I ever manage to get my hands on a crystal of amethyst outside of a cave, I will ask Amanita to see if she can cast a spell with it. Every time we meet she seems to have some new fantastic trick.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Just last week she suspended me in the air supported by nothing at all! It is an immensely strange feeling to have your body tingling and lighter than air with your clothing still the same weight... I am just glad she tugged me over my bed before the effect ran out.
</p>
<p>
Yours,
<br/>
-- Cardamom Steles
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="lore/terabithia3">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Cardamom Steles, #3, 1/2
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
Full title: Letter from Cardamom Steles to her father, #3, part 1/2
</i>
</p>
<p>
Dear Papa,
<br/>
Two very peculiar things have happened since I last wrote.
</p>
<p>
Firstly, the professor in charge of the entry-level Hexcasting Corps students has disappeared. Nobody knows where he has gone. His office and living quarters were found locked, but still in their usual state of disarray.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Even more peculiarly, any attempts by the students of the Grand to rouse the administrative portions of the gnarled bureaucracy have been very firmly rejected. Even other professors seem reluctant to talk about him.
</p>
<p>
As you might imagine, Amanita is sorely distressed. Whatever replacement professors the Grand managed to dredge up have none of the old professor's tact or skill with beginners.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
But amazingly, that is not the stranger of the two things I have to tell you. The most horrendous thing I hope to ever experience happened on another trip out with the Geology Corps. This time, we were due for an expedition near a village.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Usually when we do such a thing, there is a long process of communication with the mayor or elder of the village to ensure we have permission and establish boundaries on where we are allowed to go and what we are allowed to do. But on this expedition, there was very little of that; we were notified where we were going by a prefect of the Hexcasting Corps scarcely two days before we left.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
We camped near the village, but in a thick forest, even though the nearby plains would have been much more hospitable. We could barely see the village from where we pitched our tents. As I laid down my bedroll the evening we arrived, the peculiar silence troubled me. Even if we couldn't see the village, we should have been able to hear it. But the whole time we were above-ground, there was next to no sound.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
The few things I did hear all sounded like work: the peal of hammers on anvils and the scrape of hoe on dirt, for example. I never heard a shred of conversation.
</p>
<p>
The next morning we readied our lanterns and descended into the earth.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
We weren't told exactly what it was we were spelunking for, but one of the other students had overheard we were looking for more amethyst, which seemed reasonable enough. I had my eyes trained for any specks of purple I might find in the cave walls, but just as the gray stone was making way to black slate, an incredible sight unfolded before me.
</p>
<p>
It was an entire chamber made of amethyst, nearly ten times as tall as I am. The inside seemed to glow with purple sparks and lanternlight glint, every surface covered with jagged crystal. There was more amethyst here than our entire group had ever excavated since I came to the Grand.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Gloves were distributed and we were told to get to mining. One of the prefects along with us had a peculiar lavender box I've seen some of the higher-ups in the Grand using for storage, and the other students and I dutifully got to shattering the glassy crystals off the walls of the cave and putting them in the box. Under the outer layers of brittle crystal there seemed to be two types of denser growth. One of them seemed of similar composition to the loose crystal, but one seemed more ... I struggle to find the word.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
I hesitate to say "important," but that's the best I can think of. It had a certain ... gravitas, like the dark, sunken X in its surface held some sacred meaning. Whatever the reason we were under strict instructions not to touch them. Occasionally a misplaced pickaxe would shatter one, and the student responsible would get quite the earful. Although the labor was hard and took most of my attention, I couldn't help but notice how ... lucid I felt. It was a strange mix of feelings: I felt incredibly clear-headed, but I also felt if I stopped to examine the feeling I might never stop.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
It was like each breath in erected a friendly signpost in my head promising the way forward, pointing directly down a steep cliff. I shook my head and immersed myself in the work of mining, which seemed to stave off the signposts.
</p>
<p>
I did manage, however, to hide a shard of the crystal in my knapsack.
</p>
<p>
We spent nearly the whole day mining, excavating most of the crystal by the time the prefects' chronometer said the sun would set soon.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
As we left, I couldn't help but notice that on the surfaces of those dark, scored places we left unmined, there seemed to be the faintest buds of new crystal, like they were somehow growing out of them. Everything I had learned about the geology of crystals said they took thousands of years to grow, but here there was new growth in less than a day. I suppose the prefects' warnings against breaking those spots were warranted, at least.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Our journey back to the surface was uneventful, and we got back to our tents just as the sun was setting-- My apologies, I am nearly out of paper for this letter. There's only so much you can write on one Akashic letter ... This tale is worth purchasing another letter for. I'll send them both at once, so they should arrive together.
</p>
<p>
Yours,
<br/>
-- Cardamom Steles
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="lore/terabithia4">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Cardamom Steles, #3, 2/2
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
Full title: Letter from Cardamom Steles to her father, #3, part 2/2
</i>
</p>
<p>
Dear Papa,
<br/>
As I was saying, I was running out of paper to write my story, so the rest of it is in this letter. We made it back to camp just as the sun was setting. And that night was the most horrible event of the whole strange outing.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
I had gotten up in the middle of the night to relieve myself. The moon was covered with clouds, and I confess I got lost in the winds of the forest and could not find the way back to the camp. Fearing the monsters of the night, I decided I would find my way to the village and see if I could find a bed there. At the least, I would be protected there.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
The village was easy enough to find, though there was very little sound. Even this late at night I would expect the inn to be, if not bustling, at least not silent. But peeking through the inn door I saw absolutely nobody.
</p>
<p>
I knocked on the door of one of the houses to no response. The next two houses, too, seemed completely empty.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
My pulse started to rise, and I resolved to enter the next house. I figured whoever might be inside would be understanding of their rest being disturbed. At the least, hearing another voice would have been reassuring, even if they didn't let me stay the night under their roof.
</p>
<p>
The house was very small, barely more than a cartographer's table and a bed. I could see there was someone in the bed, and I tried to reassure myself that everyone in the village was just deeply asleep as I turned to leave.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
But then the clouds shifted, and moonlight glinted across the bed's occupant.
</p>
<p>
I screamed, and its eyes snapped open. It was ... distinctly, horrendously not human. It was like some awful de-evolution of a man, its forehead too high, its body stocky and dense. I believe it is appropriate to say "it," at least; the thing before me was obviously not as wise as a human, despite how it resembled us.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Its eyes trained on me-- oh, its eyes were awful, dull and unintelligent like a sheep's! It opened its mouth but a pained mockery of speech poured out, a shuddering, nasal groan.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
I ran. In the light of the newly-revealed moon I caught glimpses of other townspeople through windows, and they were all warped and simplified as the first
<i>
thing
</i>
I had seen. I sprinted into the darkness of the forest, away from those terrible, terrible animal eyes in those distorted faces.
</p>
<p>
The camp was easier to find now that I could see in the moonlight. No-one seemed to have noticed my prolonged absence, thankfully. I crawled back into my bedroll and did my very best to forget the whole night.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
As you can tell from this letter, I did not do a very good job. That warped visage still haunts my dreams. I shudder to think that it once might have been human.
</p>
<p>
After we got back to the Grand I showed the shard of crystal I had smuggled out to Amanita. She confirmed my suspicions: it is definitely a crystal of media. What an enormous geode full of it is doing underground, though, is beyond her.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
She also mentioned something interesting: apparently media can be used in a similar way to true amethyst in those niche glasses I mentioned a few letters ago. The physical manner in which they both crystallise happens to be nearly identical, and it has nothing to do with media's magical properties, or so she says.
</p>
<p>
I chose not to tell her of the village full of monsters.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
I know how tight money is for you, and how expensive it is to send a letter all the way back to the Grand, but I beg of you, please send a word of advice back. I am greatly distraught, and reading your words would do me much good.
</p>
<p>
Yours,
<br/>
-- Cardamom Steles
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="lore/terabithia5">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Cardamom Steles, #4
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
Full title: Letter from Cardamom Steles to her father, #4
</i>
</p>
<p>
Amanita has disappeared.
</p>
<p>
I don't know where she has gone, Papa. The last I saw her was over dinner, and she had just spoken to someone about the disappearances, and then--
</p>
<br/>
<p>
then-- then she was gone too. And no one speaks of her, and I am so so scared, Papa, do they all know? Everyone must have a friend who's just
<i>
vanished
</i>
, into thin air, into non-being.
</p>
<p>
Where did they
<i>
go
</i>
?
</p>
<br/>
<p>
They keep shutting things down, too-- we haven't been on a trip for the Geology Corps in weeks, all the apparati that collect media in the main dome are gone, the Apothecary Corps haven't been open for months... it's like termites are eating the Grand from the inside, leaving a hollow shell.
</p>
<p>
I think they've started scanning the letters, we write too...
</p>
<br/>
<p>
This letter has taken so much courage to write, and I don't have the courage to tell people myself, but if no one here can hold the knowledge I hope and pray you can send the word out... it's a vain hope for this to spread from somewhere as backwater as Brackenfalls, but please, please, do your best. Remember them, Papa... Amanita Libera, Jasmine Ward, Theodore Cha... please, remember them... and please forgive my cowardice, that I foist the responsibility onto you.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
i can no longer write, my hands shake so much, please, rescue us.
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="lore/experiment1">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Wooleye Instance Notes
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
I only managed to find these five entries from this log.
</i>
</p>
<p>
Detonation #26
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Location: Carpenter's North
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Population: 174
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Nodes Formed: 3
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Node Distance from Epicenter: 55-80m vertical, 85-156m horizontal
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Media Generation: 1320 uθ/min
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Detonation #27
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Location: Brackenfalls
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Population: 79
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Nodes Formed: 1
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Node Distance from Epicenter: 95m vertical, 67m horizontal
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Media Generation: 412 uθ/min
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Detonation #28
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Location: Greyston
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Population: approx. 1000
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Nodes Formed: 18
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Node Distance from Epicenter: 47-110m vertical, 59-289m horizontal
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Media Generation: 8478 uθ/min
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Detonation #29
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Location: Unnamed; village two days west of Greyston
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Population: 35
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Nodes Formed: 0
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Node Distance from Epicenter: N/A
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Media Generation: N/A
</p>
<p>
Note: inhabitants still affected in the normal way
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Detonation #30
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Location: Boiling Brook
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Population: 231
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Nodes Formed: 4
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Node Distance from Epicenter: 61-89m vertical, 78-191m horizontal
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Media Generation: 1862 uθ/min
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Conclusion: approx 60 needed for one node. Too few consumes them but does not provide enough energy for node formation. Little correlation between input count and breadth/depth.
</p>
<p>
Effects on inhabitants still consistently more severe than with single-target testing, especially the physical effects.
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="lore/experiment2">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Wooleye Interview Logs
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
These documents were heavily redacted. I have copied the readable text from them here.
</i>
</p>
<p>
Subject #1 "A.E."
<br/>
Stopped struggling immediately after procedure. Facial expression and limbs slack, but can stand unassisted. When left unattended, absently pantomimes actions commonly done in previous profession (groundskeeping).
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Heartrate was very high immediately after procedure, but this is inconclusive due to state of fear immediately before. Resulting bud produced 35 uθ/min.
<br/>
...
<br/>
Subject #4 "P.I."
<br/>
Psychological tests run on P.I. Subject has object permanence, spatial awareness, basic numerical reasoning. Difficulty learning new tasks.
</p>
<p>
...
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Subject #7 "T.C."
<br/>
Consented to procedure. Similar results several hours after the procedure to other subjects: able to stand, perform simple tasks.
</p>
<p>
...
</p>
<p>
Subject #11 "R.S."
<br/>
Sedated before procedure; dosage such that subject would wake up as procedure occurred...
</p>
<p>
...
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Subject #23 "A.L."
<br/>
Ability to speak retained to a greater degree than most subjects; dwindled to broken sentences, then a single word "card" over the course of several hours.
</p>
<p>
For further testing: how does the procedure affect previous Hexcasters vs. non-Hexcasters?
</p>
<p>
...
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="lore/inventory">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Restoration Log #72
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
Cell 39, Restoration Log #72, Detainment Center Beta
</p>
<p>
Prisoner Name: Raphael Barr
<br/>
Crime: Knowledge of Project Wooleye
<br/>
Reason for Cell Vacancy: Death
<br/>
Additional notes: The following letter was scrawled over most of the wall space.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
I see hexagons when I close my eyes.
</p>
<p>
The patterns, they invade the space between my eyes and my eyelids, my mind, my dreams. I sparkle in and out of lucidity, like a crystal dangling from a string, sometimes catching the light, sometimes consumed by it.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
I am more lucid today. Maybe. I cannot tell anymore. I cannot even say I am tired anymore; at some point the constant companion of exhaustion left me, even as something else came to prick at my eyes. I can't sense the fatigue. But it's there.
</p>
<p>
My bones are fragile. My joints are rough and sharp.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Sometimes why I am here comes back to me. I remember being too loud about something I knew ... I remember a very bright room where I was told things. I remember my thoughts freezing into glass, shattered, melted and recrystallized over and over and over and over and over with a purpose behind them to make me forget worse than that to keep me alive while killing me, my self, the iota of ME being meaningless because there would be no observer just a body but I tricked them I did it somehow
</p>
<br/>
<p>
they thought they broke me beyond the point of pulling the wool over my eyes but i was awake enough and am awake enough to feel PAIN
</p>
<p>
I do not sleep but when i wake up I cannot rub the crust off of my eyes because it would cut my skin and I do not want to see the purple glints inside
</p>
<br/>
<p>
They do not kill me, because my husband has my focus, and he would know if I died. But he is no Hexcaster and could not find me with his mediocre skill. i am out of ambit
</p>
<p>
it h urts to think. quite literally. the thoughts are so wasteful now the leftover striates directly onto the million microcrystals
</p>
<br/>
<p>
i remember the doctors in the bright room forcing me to inhale something like sand but sharper and it hurt so much. At first just the physical pain of mucous membranes trying to absorb shatterglass but then they got their fingernails into my stimulus-response and they could do it with a word
</p>
<p>
i remember camping out and seeing the corps setting up their circle all around a village and the ground under my feet rumbling
</p>
<br/>
<p>
drift out of time. Sometimes I believe I see visions of the future, because they seem to make sense but cannot happen now because I know i will be here until forever because the white room men said so. i see myself toppling over and my skull cracking open into halves and inside will be spears of not-amethyst dripping with blood piercing the wrinkled three pounds of fat and meat dreaming that it is a butterfly
</p>
<br/>
<p>
i hope my students are alright. why do i think that? waste. they told me i'm a waste, they couldn't be content with destroying me they had to make me feel like I deserved it the whole time, too. No sticks or stones to break my bones, just words to hurt me. if they released me no one would believe me because my body is inspectable fully i just look like one more addicted to overcasting
</p>
<p>
But they locked me up insted and i dont know if it's a mercy
</p>
<br/>
<p>
with all the media around I tried many times to cast a hex and get me out or at the least snuff out my suffering but the patterns that march through the fields of my mind snicker and dissolve when I try to reach for them. i think i remember being forced to forget them, I remember grand structures of knowledge interlinked getting chipped away and splintering as it fell apart under the weight of forced ignorance but it hurts so much to try to remember forgetting what you remembered you thought you knew
</p>
<br/>
<p>
maybe I am just in the late late late late stages of overcasting dependency, the patterns papercutting into the space between my eyes and my eyelids I have heard of, the purple edges of my nerves i have heard of. is there any point trying to make myself believe what is true I am not being tortured. I deserve this. if i will never have anyone to discuss it with ever again why try
</p>
<br/>
<p>
they're going to kill everyone n the whole world aren't they the grand needs to eat just as much as i ... when did i lasst eat
</p>
<p>
everyone else has to eat and they cannot do that if all the farmers in the world are empty and all the knowledge of farming is underground or at least someone else is going to Find out and melt their smug faces to wax
</p>
<br/>
<p>
maybe wake up someday and wonder about all the thngs we left them and wonder why there are million miles of tunnels underground with no one smart enough to mine them
</p>
<p>
i can see them reading this . they ... will be too far gone to care
</p>
<br/>
</div>
</section>
<section id="interop">
<h2 class="category-title page-header">
Cross-Mod Compatibility
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
by certain other powers, it's possible that I may use
<span style="color: #b38ef3">
Hexcasting
</span>
in harmony and combination with them.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
I should keep in mind, however, that Nature seems to have paid less attention in crafting these aspects of my art; strange behavior and bugs are to be expected. I'm sure the mod developer will do her best to correct them, but I must remember this is a less important pastime to her.
</p>
<p>
I may also find that there are sharp disregards to balance in the costs and effects of the interoperating powers. In such a case I suppose I will have to be responsible and restrain myself from using them.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
Finally, if I find myself interested in the lore and stories of this world, I do not think any notes compiled while examining these interoperations should be considered as anything more than light trifles.
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="interop/gravity">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Gravity Changer
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
I have discovered actions to get and set an entity's gravity. I find them interesting, if slightly nauseating.
</p>
<p>
Interestingly, although
<a href="#patterns/great_spells/flight">
<span style="color: #fc77be">
Flight
</span>
</a>
is a great spell, and manipulates gravity similarly, these are not. It baffles me why... Perhaps the mod developer wanted players to have fun, for once.
I've divided all the valid patterns I've found into sections based on what they do, more or less. I've written down the stroke order of the patterns as well, if I managed to find it in my studies, with the start of the pattern marked with a red dot.
</p>
<p>
If an action is cast by multiple patterns, as is the case with some, I'll write them all side-by-side.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
For a few patterns, however, I was
<i>
not
</i>
able to find the stroke order, just the shape. I suspect the order to draw them in are out there, locked away in the ancient libraries and dungeons of the world.
</p>
<p>
In such cases I just draw the pattern without any information on the order to draw it in.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
I also write the types of iota that the action will consume or modify, a "→", and the types of iota the action will create.
</p>
<p>
For example, "
<span style="text-decoration: underline">
vector, number
</span>
→
<span style="text-decoration: underline">
vector
</span>
" means the action will remove a vector and a number from the top of the stack, and then add a vector; or, put another way, will remove a number from the stack, and then modify the vector at the top of the stack. (The number needs to be on the top of the stack, with the vector right below it.)
</p>
<br/>
<p>
"→
<span style="text-decoration: underline">
entity
</span>
" means it'll just push an entity. "
<span style="text-decoration: underline">
entity, vector
</span>
→" means it removes an entity and a vector, and doesn't push anything.
</p>
<p>
Finally, if I find the little dot marking the stroke order too slow or confusing, I can press
<span style="color: #490">
Control/Command
</span>
to display a gradient, where the start of the pattern is darkest and the end is lightest. This works on scrolls and when casting, too!
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="patterns/basics">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Basic Patterns
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
Your browser does not support visualizing patterns. Pattern code: wqaawdd
</canvas>
</details>
<p>
Combines two vectors (a position and a direction) into the answer to the question: If I stood at the position and looked in the direction, what block would I be looking at? Costs a negligible amount of
<span style="color: #74b3f2">
media
</span>
.
</p>
</div>
<br/>
<p>
If it doesn't hit anything, the vectors will combine into
<a href="#casting/influences">
<span style="color: #490">
Null
</span>
</a>
.
</p>
<p>
A common sequence of patterns, the so-called "raycast mantra," is
<span style="color: #fc77be">
Mind's Reflection
</span>
,
<span style="color: #fc77be">
Compass Purification
</span>
,
<span style="color: #fc77be">
Mind's Reflection
</span>
,
<span style="color: #fc77be">
Alidade Purification
</span>
,
<span style="color: #fc77be">
Archer's Distillation
</span>
. Together, they return the vector position of the block I am looking at.
Your browser does not support visualizing patterns. Pattern code: dedd
</canvas>
</details>
<p>
Irritatingly, there is no easy way to draw numbers. Here is the method Nature deigned to give us.
</p>
</div>
<br/>
<p>
First, I draw one of the two shapes shown on the other page. Next, the
<i>
angles
</i>
following will modify a running count starting at 0.
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Forward: Add 1
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Left: Add 5
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Right: Add 10
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Sharp Left: Multiply by 2
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Sharp Right: Divide by 2.
<br/>
The clockwise version of the pattern, on the right of the other page, will negate the value at the very end. (The left-hand counter-clockwise version keeps the number positive).
</p>
<p>
Once I finish drawing, the number's pushed to the top of the stack.
In the first and second cases, the top of the stack or its components comprise the dividend, and the second-from-the-top or its components are the divisor.
Your browser does not support visualizing patterns. Pattern code: aadaadaa
</canvas>
</details>
<p>
Removes the number at the top of the stack, then copies the top iota of the stack that number of times. (A count of 2 results in two of the iota on the stack, not three.)
Your browser does not support visualizing patterns. Pattern code: ae
</canvas>
</details>
<p>
An infinite family of actions that keep or remove elements at the top of the stack based on the sequence of dips and lines.
</p>
</div>
<br/>
<p>
Assuming that I draw a Bookkeeper's Gambit pattern left-to-right, the number of iotas the action will require is determined by the horizontal distance covered by the pattern. From deepest in the stack to shallowest, a flat line will keep the iota, whereas a triangle dipping down will remove it.
</p>
<p>
If my stack contains
<i>
0, 1, 2
</i>
from deepest to shallowest, drawing the first pattern opposite will give me
Your browser does not support visualizing patterns. Pattern code: qaawdde
</canvas>
</details>
<p>
Rearranges the top elements of the stack based on the given numerical code, which is the index of the permutation wanted.
</p>
</div>
<br/>
<p>
Although I can't pretend to know the mathematics behind calculating this permutation code, I have managed to dig up an extensive chart of them, enumerating all permutations of up to six elements.
</p>
<p>
If I wish to do further study, the key word is "Lehmer Code."
Your browser does not support visualizing patterns. Pattern code: deeed
</canvas>
</details>
<p>
Remove the number at the top of the stack, then replace the list at the top with the nth element of that list (where n is the number you removed). Replaces the list with
Your browser does not support visualizing patterns. Pattern code: qaeaqwded
</canvas>
</details>
<p>
Remove the two numbers at the top of the stack, then take a sublist of the list at the top of the stack between those indices, lower bound inclusive, upper bound exclusive. For example, the 0, 2 sublist of [0, 1, 2, 3, 4] would be [0, 1].
Your browser does not support visualizing patterns. Pattern code: dedqde
</canvas>
</details>
<p>
Remove the iota at the top of the stack, then replace the list at the top with the first index of that iota within the list (starting from 0). Replaces the list with -1 if the iota doesn't exist in the list.
Your browser does not support visualizing patterns. Pattern code: wqaeaqw
</canvas>
</details>
<p>
Remove the top iota of the stack and the number at the top, then set the nth element of the list at the top of the stack to that iota (where n is the number you removed). Does nothing if the number is out of bounds.
can act as iotas-- I can even put them onto my stack when casting.
</p>
<p>
This raises a fairly obvious question: how do I express them? If I simply drew a pattern, it would hardly tell Nature to add it to my stack-- rather, it would simply be matched to an action.
in a more permanent medium. Nearly any iota can be stored to a suitable item, such as a
<a href="#items/focus">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Focus
</span>
</a>
or
<a href="#items/spellbook">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Spellbook
</span>
</a>
), and read back later. Certain items, such as an
<a href="#items/abacus">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Abacus
</span>
</a>
, can only be read from.
</p>
<p>
Iotas are usually read and written from the other hand, but it is also possible to read and write with an item when it is sitting on the ground as an item entity, or when in an item frame.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
There may be other entities I can interact with in this way. For example, a
<a href="#items/scroll">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Scroll
</span>
</a>
hung on the wall can have its pattern read off of it.
</p>
<p>
However, it seems I am unable to save a reference to another player, only me. I suppose an entity reference is similar to the idea of a True Name; perhaps Nature is helping to keep our Names out of the hands of enemies. If I want a friend to have my Name I can make a
Your browser does not support visualizing patterns. Pattern code: eqaqe
</canvas>
</details>
<p>
Removes the number at the top of the stack, then takes the logarithm of the number at the top using the other number as its base. Related to the value of
Set operations are odd, in that some of them can accept two numbers or two lists, but not a combination thereof. Such arguments will be written as "num, num/list, list".
</p>
<p>
When numbers are used in those operations, they are being used as so-called binary "bitsets", lists of 1 and 0, true and false, "on" and "off".
</p>
<br/>
<br/>
<div id="patterns/sets@hexcasting:or_bit">
<h4 class="pattern-title">
Unifying Distillation (num, num/list, list → num/list)
Your browser does not support visualizing patterns. Pattern code: waweaqa
</canvas>
</details>
<p>
Unifies two sets.
</p>
</div>
<br/>
<p>
As such:
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
With two numbers at the top of the stack, combines them into a bitset containing every "on" bit in either bitset.
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
With two lists, this creates a list of every element from the first list, plus every element from the second list that is not in the first list. This is similar to
<a href="#patterns/lists@hexcasting:concat">
<span style="color: #fc77be">
Combination Distillation
</span>
</a>
.
</p>
<br/>
<div id="patterns/sets@hexcasting:and_bit">
<h4 class="pattern-title">
Intersection Distillation (num, num/list, list → num/list)
Your browser does not support visualizing patterns. Pattern code: dweaqa
</canvas>
</details>
<p>
Takes the inversion of a bitset, changing all "on" bits to "off" and vice versa. In my experience, this will take the form of that number negated and decreased by one. For example, 0 will become -1, and -100 will become 99.
, it will be pushed to the stack. Otherwise, non-patterns will fail.
</p>
</div>
<br/>
<p>
This can be
<i>
very
</i>
powerful in tandem with
<a href="#items/focus">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Foci
</span>
</a>
.
</p>
<p>
It also makes the bureaucracy of Nature a "Turing-complete" system, according to one esoteric scroll I found.
</p>
<p>
However, it seems there's a limit to how many times a
<span style="color: #b38ef3">
Hex
</span>
can cast itself-- Nature doesn't look kindly on runaway spells!
</p>
<p>
In addition, with the energies of the patterns occurring without me to guide them, any mishap will cause the remaining actions to become too unstable and immediately unravel.
, will consume additional items from my inventory. When this happens, the spell will first look for the item to use, and then draw from all such items in my inventory.
</p>
<p>
This process is called "picking an item."
</p>
<br/>
<p>
More specifically:
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
First, the spell will search for the first valid item in my hotbar to the
<i>
right of my
<a href="#items/staff">
<span style="color: #b0b">
staff
</span>
</a>
</i>
, wrapping around at the right-hand side, and starting at the first slot if my
<a href="#items/staff">
<span style="color: #b0b">
staff
</span>
</a>
is in my off-hand.
</p>
<p class="fake-li">
Second, the spell will draw that item from as
<i>
far back in my inventory
</i>
as possible, prioritizing the main inventory over the hotbar.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
This way, I can keep a "chooser" item on my hotbar to tell the spell what to use, and fill the rest of my inventory with that item to keep the spell well-stocked.
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="patterns/spells/basic">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Basic Spells
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
Your browser does not support visualizing patterns. Pattern code: aawaawaa
</canvas>
</details>
<p>
Remove a number and vector from the stack, then create an explosion at the given location with the given power.
</p>
</div>
<br/>
<p>
A power of 3 is about as much as a Creeper's blast; 4 is about as much as a TNT blast. Nature refuses to give me a blast of more than 10 power, though.
</p>
<p>
Strangely, this explosion doesn't seem to harm me. Perhaps it's because
<i>
I
</i>
am the one exploding?
</p>
<p>
Costs a negligible amount at power 0, plus 3 extra
Your browser does not support visualizing patterns. Pattern code: awqqqwaqw
</canvas>
</details>
<p>
Remove an entity and direction from the stack, then give a shove to the given entity in the given direction. The strength of the impulse is determined by the length of the vector.
<br/>
Costs units of
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Amethyst Dust
</span>
</a>
equal to the square of the length of the vector, plus one for every Impulse except the first targeting an entity.
This family of spells all impart a negative potion effect upon an entity. They all take an entity, the recipient, and one or two numbers, the first being the duration and the second, if present, being the potency (starting at 1).
</p>
<p>
Each one has a "base cost;" the actual cost is equal to that base cost, multiplied by the potency squared.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
According to certain legends, these spells and their sisters, the
<a href="#patterns/great_spells/zeniths">
<span style="color: #fc77be">
Zeniths
</span>
</a>
, were "[...] inspired by a world near to this one, where powerful wizards would gather magic from the land and hold duels to the death. Unfortunately, much was lost in translation..."
</p>
<p>
Perhaps that is the reason for their peculiar names.
They all require me to hold the empty item in my off-hand, and require two things: the list of patterns to be cast, and an entity representing a dropped stack of
Your browser does not support visualizing patterns. Pattern code: awddwqawqwawq
</canvas>
</details>
<p>
I must be holding a
<a href="#items/pigments">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Pigment
</span>
</a>
in my other hand to cast this spell. When I do, it will consume the dye and permanently change my mind's coloration (at least, until I cast the spell again). Costs about one
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Amethyst Dust
</span>
</a>
.
</p>
</div>
<br/>
</div>
</section>
<section id="patterns/great_spells">
<h2 class="category-title page-header">
Great Spells
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
The spells catalogued here are purported to be of legendary difficulty and power. They seem to have been recorded only sparsely (for good reason, the texts claim). It's probably just the hogwash of extinct traditionalists, though-- a pattern's a pattern. What could possibly go wrong?
</p>
<div id="patterns/great_spells/create_lava">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Create Lava
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
Your browser does not support visualizing patterns. Pattern code: eawwaeawawaa
</canvas>
</details>
<p>
The power of flight! I have wrestled Nature to its knees. But Nature is vengeful, and itches for me to break its contract so it may break my shins.
</p>
</div>
<br/>
<p>
The entity (which must be a player) will be endowed with flight. The first number is the number of seconds they may fly for, and the second number is the radius of the zone they may fly in. If the recipient exits that zone, or their timer runs out while midair, the gravity that they spurned will get its revenge. Painfully.
</p>
<p>
It costs one quarter of an
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Amethyst Dust
</span>
</a>
, per meter of radius, per second in flight.
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="patterns/great_spells/teleport">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Greater Teleport
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
, this spell lets me teleport nearly anywhere in the entire world! There does seem to be a limit, but it is
<i>
much
</i>
greater than the normal radius of influence I am used to.
</p>
</div>
<br/>
<p>
The entity will be teleported by the given vector, which is an offset from its given position. No matter the distance, it always seems to cost about ten
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Charged Amethyst
</span>
</a>
.
</p>
<p>
The transference is not perfect, and it seems when teleporting something as complex as a player, their inventory doesn't
<i>
quite
</i>
stay attached, and tends to splatter everywhere at the destination. In addition, the target will be forcibly removed from anything inanimate they are riding or sitting on ... but I've read scraps that suggest animals can come along for the ride, so to speak.
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="patterns/great_spells/greater_sentinel">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Summon Greater Sentinel
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
Your browser does not support visualizing patterns. Pattern code: waeawaeqqqwqwqqwq
</canvas>
</details>
<p>
Summon a greater version of my
<a href="#patterns/spells/sentinels">
<span style="color: #490">
Sentinel
</span>
</a>
. Costs about two
<a href="#items/amethyst">
<span style="color: #b0b">
Amethyst Dust
</span>
</a>
.
</p>
<br/>
<p>
The stronger
<a href="#patterns/spells/sentinels">
<span style="color: #490">
sentinel
</span>
</a>
acts like the normal one I can summon without the use of a Great Spell, if a little more visually interesting. However, the range in which my spells can work is extended to a small region around my greater
<a href="#patterns/spells/sentinels">
<span style="color: #490">
sentinel
</span>
</a>
, about 16 blocks. In other words, no matter where in the world I am, I can interact with things around my
<a href="#patterns/spells/sentinels">
<span style="color: #490">
sentinel
</span>
</a>
(the mysterious forces of chunkloading notwithstanding).
</p>
<br/>
</div>
<div id="patterns/great_spells/make_battery">
<h3 class="entry-title page-header">
Craft Phial
<a class="permalink small" href="#table-of-contents" title="Jump to top">
