Divination bones
Recall
First created by the shamans of the Arid Steppe as a means to scry the future, carved and enchanted bones have been used for countless years and are among the oldest known type of divination tool. Part astrology, and part mysticism, there are some Nomads who believe that the power of the bones lies in their connection with the dead while others insist that it is the enchantment process, through which the bones are imbued with magic properties, that gives them their unique properties.
When a prophet casts the bones forth with intent, probability will tug and twist the bones about in a reflection of the future. How strongly the Krr-tich bone is drawn towards the prophet reflects the potency, just as the lay of the Sek-rith reflects the extent. The domain is addressed by the Moon Sphere while the Sun Disk sets the tone for the reading.
Divination bones are known for their uncanny ability to stir the life-force within, a trait generally attributed to the once living nature of the bones. Skeptics note that even non-traditional bones carved from stone or wood display this trait and attribute it to ontological symbolism. Whatever the reason, the domain of survival is unquestionably ruled by bones.
Properties
- Sect Affinity: Nomads of the Arid Steppe.
- Domain: Survival.
Availability
- Krrish's Bones of Therenborough
- Stone Bones of Muspar'i
- Azdara's Workshop on the Trabe Plateau. Nomads only, Plateau accessed via a permanent moongate in Hibarnhvidar or by visiting the Grazhir shard Dor'na'torna.
- The Grey Raven Commissary in the Crossing (for prison scrip)
- The Hollow Eve Festival shop The Future is Now (very expensive)
- Guildfest or Hollow Eve Auctions, occasionally
Use
Prerequisites
- Knowledge of ALIGN, learnable at 4th circle.
- A set of bones that have been INVOKEed to bond them to you.
Syntax
- OBSERVE a heavenly body until you have successfully learned something. If the constellation/planet you want to observe requires a telescope, use CENTER TELESCOPE ON <HEAVENLY BODY> followed by PEER TELESCOPE.
- ALIGN to a skill or skillset. Must be associated with one of the heavenly bodies you observed. You can use RECALL HEAVENS <HEAVENLY BODY> to check this, or check the Star Chart. If your aim is to curse rather than bonus, use ALIGN <SKILL|SKILLSET> CURSE.
- ROLL BONES, or ROLL BONES AT <TARGET>.
Example
- The Krr-tich bounces twice and lands pointing directly away from you.
- The Sek-rith stands on end for a moment before falling over, pointing directly away from you.
- The Moon Sphere coming to stop with the top face depicting a rune.
- The Sun Disk lands black side up.
- You notice a small chip in the Krr-tich that wasn't there before.
- You gather your bones back up.
Interpretation
- Krr-tich = Power. Pointing towards the seer indicates a larger bonus or curse.
- Sek-rith = Duration. Pointing towards the seer indicates a longer duration.
- Moon Sphere = Skill.
- Sun Disk = Polarity. White is positive, black negative.
- Any additional messages have to do with quality changes, or turned predictions.
So the example given is a very weak, very short, negative prediction (curse) on the Arcana skill. Furthermore, the Krr-tich bone was damaged, reducing its quality.
Qualities
ANALYZE bones to see their qualities. There are two types of qualities for individual bones: craftsmanship and conduit. The craftsmanship of a bone indicates how likely its conduit is to improve with use. Larger conduits increase the power of the bones, presumably by increasing the chances of a good result with that particular bone. Thus having good quality bones increases the chances that they will become very powerful. All bones will take damage over time, meaning the conduits will grow more and more slowly as the craftsmanship degrades. Eventually, the bones will be too damaged for the conduits to grow any further.
In addition, ANALYZE will show the age of the bones, the amount they have been used, the overall craftsmanship, and damage resistance. Age and use are cosmetic only. Overall craftsmanship appears to be a general indicator of how well the four bones are made, while damage resistance indicates how susceptible the bones are to damage.
Example
- The Krr-tich is slightly lopsided.
- The Sek-rith is slightly lopsided.
- The Moon Sphere is slightly mis-weighted.
- The lacquer unevenly coats the Sun Disk, which is slightly off-balance.
- The bones are over a decade old.
- They appear to have seen great use.
- The overall craftsmanship is below average and the bones should prove slightly susceptible to damage.
- Recognizing the investiture as your own, you cautiously probe the bones with your prophetic talent.
- A small conduit of probability flows through the Krr-tich.
- A small conduit of probability flows through the Sek-rith.
- A small conduit of probability flows through the Moon Sphere.
- A delicate conduit of probability flows through the Sun Disk.
Interpretation
These bones are well used and not in great repair. Each of the bones is slightly below average in quality, which means they are not as likely to grow their conduits any further. The conduits are small on the grand scale of things, meaning the bones will not perform as well at predicting. These bones are best at power (Krr-tich), duration (Sek-rith), and hitting the correct skill (Moon Sphere), and not as good at getting the desired positive or negative prediction (Sun Disk).
Possible Qualities
Disclaimer: The orderings below have been arranged based on common sense, not extensive testing.
Krr-tich/Sek-rith
exceptionally well-balanced
very well-balanced
well-balanced
fairly well-balanced
balanced
slightly off-balance
notably off-balanced
slightly lopsided
horrifically, unapologetically lopsided
Moon Sphere Symbols
meticulously detailed
well detailed
easy to distinguish
difficult to differentiate
poorly rendered
Moon Sphere Weighting
fair
slightly mis-weighted
really more of a Moon Ovoid
Sun Disk Lacquer
smoothly and evenly coats
smoothly coats
unevenly coats
only a few specs of black and white lacquer differentiate between the sides
Sun Disk Balance
exceptionally well-balanced
well-balanced
adequately balanced
slightly off-balance
Overall Craftsmanship
masterful
spectacular
very good
above average
average
below average
poor
criminally poor, and the bones should likely be destroyed on principle. Possibly the creator as well or defenestrated at the very least.
Damage Resistance
nearly impervious to damage
extremely resistant to damage
resistant to damage
slightly resistant to damage
slightly susceptible to damage
rather susceptible to damage
Messages
Krr-tich (Power)
| Direction | % |
|---|---|
| It points directly away from you. | 1-4 |
| It points away from you. | 5-8 |
| It points off to one side. | 9-13 |
| It points towards you. | 14-17 |
| It points directly towards you. | 17-20 |
Sek-rith (Duration)
| Direction | Minutes |
|---|---|
| It points directly away from you. | 1-15 |
| It points away from you. | 16-30 |
| It points off to one side. | 31-45 |
| It points towards you. | 46-60 |
| It points directly towards you. | 61-75 |
Defensive Skills
| Skill | Symbol |
|---|---|
| Brigandine | several tiny scales |
| Defending | pauldron in front of a shield |
| Chain Armor | several linked rings |
| Light Armor | piece of leather |
| Parry | two crossed swords |
| Plate Armor | suit of armor |
| Shield Usage | shield |
| Endurance |
Lore Skills
| Skill | Symbol |
|---|---|
| Alchemy | flask |
| Appraisal | gemstone |
| Enchanting | wand |
| Engineering | catapult |
| Forging | anvil |
| Mechanical Lore | gear |
| Outfitting | paintbrush |
| Performance | musical note |
| Scholarship | open book |
| Tactics | three figures surrounding a fourth |
| Bardic Lore | shattering glass |
| Empathy | two clasped hands |
| Trading | donkey |
Magic Skills
| Skill | Symbol |
|---|---|
| Arcana | rune |
| Attunement | prism |
| Augmentation | imposing figure |
| Debilitation | cowering figure |
| Primary Magic | spellbook |
| Targeted Magic | lightning bolt |
| Sorcery | bat-winged skull |
| Utility | moongate |
| Warding | cage of slender lines |
| Astrology | several stars |
| Summoning | guinea pig |
| Theurgy | woman in prayer |
Offense Skills
| Skill | Symbol |
|---|---|
| Bow | bow and arrow |
| Brawling | fist |
| Crossbow | crossbow |
| Heavy Thrown | spear |
| Large Blunt | morning star |
| Large Edged | longsword |
| Light Thrown | throwing dagger |
| Melee Mastery | crossed sword and mace |
| Missile Mastery | arrows and a spear |
| Offhand Weapon | pair of parallel daggers |
| Polearms | pike |
| Slings | sling |
| Small Blunt | club |
| Small Edged | small sword |
| Staves | quarterstaff |
| Twohanded Blunt | maul |
| Twohanded Edged | greataxe |
| Expertise |
Survival Skills
| Skill | Symbol |
|---|---|
| Athletics | mountain |
| Evasion | acrobat |
| First Aid | drop of blood |
| Locksmithing | lock |
| Outdoorsmanship | mushroom |
| Perception | eyeball |
| Skinning | bear hide |
| Stealth | dark cloud |
| Thievery | coin |
| Backstab | skull |
| Scouting | paw print |
| Thanatology | ?? |
Special
- The Sun Disk teeters for a moment. It tips over to land white side up. Your knowledge of the heavens made this so. - Turned prediction due to observation pool.
- The Sun Disk bone teeters for a moment. It tips over to land white side up. Your bond with the bones made this so. - Turned prediction due to Sun Disk attunement.
- You feel a strengthening of the bond between you and your bones. - Improvement to one quality.
- You feel a weakening of your bond with the bones. - Damage to one quality.
- The Sun Disk spins for a moment. - Critical success, improves all physical qualities.
- The (bone) seems to have been damaged. - Fumble, damage to quality of specified bone. Sun Disk is the most rare result, but suffers the most damage.
Verbs
- Everyone: BABBLE, BREAK (destroys bones), CLEAN, COUGH, GASP, HUG, PAT, PRAISE, PULL, PUSH, SHAKE, TAP, TOUCH, TURN, and WAVE.
- Nomads: CLEAN, KISS, PRAISE, and RAISE.
Creation
Creation of divination bones is currently disabled, pending the release of the Enchanting skill.
Variations
| Item | Source is | Rare item | Is incomplete |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabaster divination bones | Stone Bones | ||
| Amber divination bones | Some Things Amiss (2), Some Things Amiss (1), Pavilion Mystic | ||
| Bones painted with tribal markings | Stone Bones | true | |
| Brass-inlaid divination bones | Future is Now (3), Future is Now (2), Future is Now (1) | true | |
| Chalky demonbones enruned with moonsilver | Su Helmas: Seeds of Entropy/End loot, Su Helmas 444: Make Haste!/End loot, Su Helmas 440: Entrapped/End loot, Su Helmas 438: The Forbidden Temple/End loot, Su Helmas 434: The Forbidden Temple/End loot | true | |
| Convoluted clockwork divination bones | Hollow Eve Festival 410/Auction | true | |
| Coralite-inlaid divining bones | Future is Now (4) | ||
| Crimson-painted bones | Stone Bones | true | |
| Crude yeehar bones | Stone Bones | true | |
| Delicate clockwork divination bones | Future is Now (3), Future is Now (2), Future is Now (1) | true | |
| ... further results | |||
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