Sections:

1. Intro
2. History
   
3. Normal Seals
4. Basic BCR
5. Percent Damage with Seals
6. Normal Seals and What they Do
7. Archaic Seals, and What They Do

Seals are a very special case of the Limitless Magic System used by the Seal Acolyte class. We Seal Acolytes are mage-fighters, primarily warriors, and our powers are enhanced by our Seals, magical artifacts that channel natural elements into magic-like effects. Unlike Mages, Seal Acolytes only have a fixed set of abilities corresponding to the seal that they wear. Seals are not normal magic. Mages can create and manipulate elements, like tossing a fireball, or creating a tidal wave. Seal Acolytes cannot evoke an element, they can only manipulate it. So, therefore an acolyte with a fire aligned seal cannot cast damaging spells as effectively in a blizzard, and a water-aligned seal user is worthless in the desert.

History

In the First Age, magic was a rare and very mysterious art. Even the least powerful mages were much more powerful then then they are now. Above all of the mages ruled the Wizards of Feanor. From where the Wizards appeared, and where they went to is unknown, but it is well known that they tightly controlled when magic was taught, and who it was taught to. The furres of Taigorr were welcoming to the Wizards and their students, the Magi, at first. But when the Wizards vanished, the Magi were driven from the jungles and plains of Ðamzon and Tigath. For nearly 500 years, the south of Calenndor was devoid of Arcane magic. In the early FA 5200's, an alchemical process was defeloped that could distill the dying soul of an Elemental and bind it to a specially crafted crystal. This crystal was called a 'seal', after the mark that was left when such a crystal was 'aligned' to its host furre.

In the year FA5280, the Pillars of Grak'thar were constructed upon the mountain of the same name. These two monoliths were designed for one purpose - to aid in the creation of new seals for Taigorr's war effort. Around the base of the pillars, was constructed the City of Grak'thar, the home of the Acolytes of the Seal. Over twenty millennia later, the pillars still stand, and Grak'thar remains the home for Seal Acolytes around Calenndor.

In the intervening millennia between the founding of Grak'thar, and the rise of Aractha to the north, the Sealmasters developed their art. Across Feanor, Seal magic had achieved its golden age - and to satisfy the demand for new seals, the Acolytes constructed hundreds of Pillar complexes. The production of seals took a sinister turn in this time as well. Instead of catching the dying spirit of an elemental naturally, Elementals were rounded up ans sacrificed at the Pillar complexes en masse. During this time, the Archaic Seals, created from the spirits of other planar creatures were also created. This golden age ended abruptly at the beginning of the Second Age of Calenndor. The fall of Taigorr, and the meteoric rise of Aractha led to what was known as the 'Acolyte's Purge'. Summoners and their Elemental kin warred against the Acolytes across Feanor, destroying many of the Towers, and nearly wiping the Acolytes from the face of the world. During the purge, the Pillars of Grak'thar were marred, and the inscriptions (which told the formula for seal creation) were damaged. Those tower complexes that survived were similarly damaged, and consequently, the secrets to creating the seals were lost forever.

In the modern era, seals are no longer made, they are found. On Calenndor, unless you are Tigahrrim and trained at Grak'thar, you must first find a seal, and train yourself to use it. Luckily, seals can be found across Feanor. Though many have been destroyed, or their power has faded over time, there is still a significant number of common seals to be found, especially in the Desert of Death (Tharivol) as well as in arcane magic shops in the Freelands (for an exhorbitant price). Of the Archaic seals, there are only 6 known on Calenndor: the Seals of Time, Color, Courage, Mind, Blood and Harmony. The Seal of Blood was corrupted by the Heretic Kendrick, and is known as the Sanguinius Fatalis, and the Seal of Harmony was recently brought to Calenndor from Fyak'norr, where it had been hidden for two eons.

Normal Seals

Seals look like elongated crystals, about 6 inches long, and an inch and a half thick. When first found, a seal will be either smooth, or faceted. This is an indication of the power of the previous user of the seal. When a seal is first 'aligned' to a new user, the user feels a strong shock, and forevermore that seal is aligned to that furre, and reverts to a faceted appearance. When the seal is aligned to a user they integrate themselves into the hand or paw of the user, leaving only a mystical tattoo. This tattoo is different in color and shape depending on the seal equipped, and to some extent, the wielder. Both the tattoo and the crystal change as you bond with your Seal. Each Seal starts out as a jagged looking crystal with a liquid-like center. Seal Runes float up from within this center. As you bond with your Seal and you each gain levels, the crystal becomes smoother and the center solidifies, eventually appearing as the element itself. The Seal Runes will still appear to float up from within the element though. For example, a Lv 12 Chill Seal will appear to look like ice in the center. Just as the crystal changes, so does the tattoo. The more you use your Seal and bond with it, the larger the tattoo becomes. Seals have distinct personalities, and every one is an individual. The Seal Runes are the only method of communication that the seal has, but it understands the common tongues of whoever it is aligned to or has been in the past.

The seals themselves have impeccable memory. If a seal is aligned to one user at level 12, that particular seal will always effortlessy revert to a smooth rod of crystal after realignment, even if it had previously been aligned to a 1st level acolyte, and took on a jagged appearance. If your seal is ever destroyed, you cannot simply replace it with another of the same type. You must undergo a full realignment with the new seal. This costs 10 XP per level of the seal lost, This XP cannot apply to gaining levels at all.

There are 6 Elemental Seals:

And there are 6 Para-elemental Seals:

As a beginning Seal Acolyte, you are given a Basic Seal. As you grow more attuned to its powers, the Seal transforms into a Greater Seal of the same type, so a Ground Seal would become a Stone Seal. This change happens at 8th level. Each seal has a set of special powers that can be used when the seal is equipped. As you gain levels using a particular Seal, more powers are granted to you. Seal Acolytes cannot use typical focus items, as they do not have inherent magical abilities themselves. Instead, the seals themselves are focus items. A Basic Seal is a +0 focus item, and a Greater Seal is a +1 focus item.

The next couple of paragraphs are the trickiest things in the Combat System. This is NOT for the feint of heart or people who don't like complex things.

Once you hit 12th level in a seal, you have mastered that seal, and you can choose to use another one. Once you trade seals, your Seal Level drops down to 1. Your actual Level does not. Let me give an example as to how this works.

Example:

Cormona is a 12th level Seal Acolyte. She is Seal Level 12 in the Inferno Seal. When she gains level 13, if she wants to, she can choose another seal. She chooses the Gale Seal. She then becomes a 13th level Seal Acolyte with a 12th level Inferno Seal and a 1st level Gale Seal. She chooses to gain levels with her Gale Seal to make it more powerful. After a while, she gains level 14, and gets second level in the Gale Seal. She is then a 14th level Seal Acolyte with a 12th level Inferno Seal and a 2nd level Gale Seal.

When you have one Greater Seal, you can equip another seal (Greater or Lesser) at the same time. Only two seals can be equipped simultaneously. However, every level earned with multiple seals raises the level of only one seal. Also, if you have two seals equipped, there can be no elemental overlap (i.e. you can't equip a Fire seal, and a Fire/Water Seal.)

When you gain 24th level, you can take the Archaic Seal feat. If you take this feat, you can learn the more powerful Archaic Seals. These will be described later on on this page.

Basic BCR

Remember how I said that this was like the Limitless Magic System? Time now to remember the ideas behind CR and BCR. If you don't remember them, go back to the magic page and read about them again. If you do remember, ask Kele for a cookie.

For Seal Acolytes, CR = <Intelligence Modifier> + <Seal Focus> + <Class Bonus>

Increasing the number of preps spent on a spell can power the spell. Damaging/draining/special spells are never able to be boosted in this way. These overpreps can be combined. A two overprep can add +2 dice to a AC boost (1 overprep) and +1 to the duration (1 overprep) = 2 overpreps.

BCR by Level

As your seal level increases, the BCR of each seal power changes. Archaic seals have a completely different progression.

Percent Damage with Seals

Damaging spells with Seals are treated in a special way. Please read this section on the magic page.

Normal Seals and What they Do

Now for the section we have all be waiting for. What can you do with Seals? In the following tables, the columns list the level of the power, the name of the spell, the number of preps of the spell, and what the spell does. If an effect does damage, take note that you need an amount of the element to work with. You cannot create fire, but you can use a torch's flame, for example. Level means the level of Seal Acolyte at which you get the power. For non-damaging spells, the number of rounds that the spell lasts is always twice the number listed in the preps column.

Archaic Seals, and What They Do

Archaic Seals are one-of-a-kind Seals that grant extreme power to those who wield them, for a price. In order to wield an Archaic Seal, you have to have the Archaic Seal feat. Equipping one Archaic Seal is the same as equipping 2 normal seals, and the Basic BCR for an Archaic seal is 30. More will be posted as they are discovered.