Brass Embassy Field Manual For Diabolic Magic

Fallen London
1

Brass Embassy Field Manual for Diabolic Magic
Registered to (x), Conjurer of the Fifth City of the Echo Bazaar, Fallen London

§10.5 - The Summoning of Small Animals from Mirrors in the Course of a Public Performance

A quick and advanced general-purpose conjuration, utilizing the principles of transposition for the entertainment of valuable clients. Suited for intimate gatherings and skeptics; unsuited for larger gatherings, outdoor spaces, or children’s parties.

REQUISITE TOOLS:

ONE (1) Brass Conjurer’s Wand (&quotWand&quot)

TWO (2) Mirrors of Dimensions Equaling or Exceeding Two (2) to Three (3) Feet (&quotMirror&quot)

ONE (1) Full Deck of Brass Embassy Bestiary Cards - Sorrow-Spider (&quotSorrow-Spider Deck&quot), (&quotBestiary card(s)&quot)

ONE (1) Transposition-trained Sorrow-Spider (&quotSorrow-Spider&quot)

REQUISITE TECHNIQUES:

§3.52 - Sorrow-Spider transposition

§8.63 - Parabolic transposition

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Prior to the summoning of small animals from mirrors in the course of a public performance (hereafter referred to as the &quotpublic summoning conjuration&quot), the Conjurer is to prepare a Sorrow-Spider transposition pursuant to §3.51 (Arachno-transpositional Preparation) with his assistant.

  2. The assistant is to hide within earshot of the Conjurer, possessing ONE (1) Mirror and Sorrow-Spider.

  3. The Conjurer is to display ONE (1) Mirror in plain view of the Client, unobstructed from any angle.

  4. The Conjurer is to spread the full Sorrow-Spider Deck, face down, before the Client, and invite the Client to select ONE (1) Bestiary card from the Sorrow-Spider Deck.
    4-Addendum: It is imperative that the Client does not under any circumstances view the full Sorrow-Spider Deck face up, for to do so would ruin the deception of card choice.

  5. The Conjurer is to invite the Client to relay the content of the Bestiary card.

  6. If the Client replies with ‘Sorrow-Spider’, proceed to guideline 6a. If the Client replies with any other small animal, proceed to guideline 6b. If the client replies with a non-zoological term, or the name of any unreasonably large organism, including but not limited to the terms &quothorse&quot, &quothuman&quot, &quotrubbery man&quot, &quotfungus colony&quot, &quotdevil&quot, &quotMaster&quot, or &quotsnuffer&quot, expose his deception, taking care not to reveal the deceptive nature of the Sorrow-Spider Deck under any circumstances. .
    6-Addendum: Note that such deception is generally rare in the performance of a public summoning conjuration, but is not without precedent, particularly in cases of pronounced skeptics of conjuration; Conjurers are thus advised to take particular care in the preparation for and performance of guideline 6b.

6a) In the case of the Client truthfully relating the content of the Bestiary card, the Conjurer is to take his Wand and gesticulate vigorously with it in the direction of the displayed Mirror, while reciting the following incantation:

Mirror, mirror, standing there,
is no other quite so fair?
From your inky depths I ask,
a spider, for this current task!

Upon hearing the word ‘spider’ in the above incantation, the assistant is to perform a standard Sorrow-Spider transposition pursuant to §3.52.

6b) In the case of the Client falsely relating the content of the Bestiary card, yet with a reasonable and transposable animal, reporting, for example, the terms &quotweasel&quot, &quotbat&quot, &quotrat&quot, &quotcat&quot, &quotdog&quot, or &quotraven&quot, the Conjurer is to perform Parabolic transposition pursuant to §8.63 (Parabolic Intercession for the Purpose of Transposition). For the purposes of expedience, the relevant excerpt is reprinted below.
6b-Addendum: Parabolic transposition is only to be performed in cases of deceptive, yet plausible, reporting by the Client. Any Conjurer caught needlessly transposing Sorrow-Spiders or unreasonably large organisms from Parabola in the course of a public summoning conjuration will be stripped of their title, abstracted if applicable, executed for a duration not exceeding one month, and dismissed from all current and future employment with the Brass Embassy.

§8.63 - Parabolic Intercession for the Purpose of Transposition

 The Fingerkings have assented to assisting in the transposition of live animals common to the Neath. The transposition process is straightforward, but, as always, contacting the Fingerkings on short notice is not without nominal expense. Pursuant to §8.22 (Mirror-communication with the Fingerkings of Parabola), a Conjurer intending to contact Parabola by way of a mirror is to take ONE (1) live Phosphorescent Scarab in his hand and crush it before the surface of the relevant mirror; the resulting incandescence will bring the mirror to the attention of the Fingerkings. If at all possible, other mirrors present are to be shrouded from the light of the Incandescent Scarab, to minimize the risk of a mistaken additional avenue of communication.

 If the Conjurer is in a public performance pursuant to §10 (Conjurations for public entertainment), particularly pursuant to guideline §10.5-6b (Parabolic transposition as an alternative to Sorrow-Spider transposition in the course of a public summoning conjuration), then it is sufficient to recite the incantation printed in §10.5-6a (Sorrow-Spider transposition in the course of a public summoning conjuration), substituting the term 'spider' for the appropriate animal. The Fingerkings will transpose the requested animal within seconds. Note that the Fingerkings [i]will[/i] send a Sorrow-Spider if the mirror is brought to their attention by the crushing of an Incandescent Scarab; Conjurers thus implementing guideline §10.5-6a are reminded not to crush a Scarab, for to do so would invoke §10.5-6b-Addendum (Proscription of Parabolic transposition in the summoning of Sorrow-Spiders or unreasonable organisms in the course of a public summoning conjuration), and thus end the employment of the Conjurer. If the Conjurer needs to contact the Fingerkings for any other purpose pursuant to §10, refer to §8.2 (The Fingerkings of Parabola). Parabolic transposition in the course of a public performance in any and all other circumstances is prohibited, on pain of abstraction, execution, and dismissal.

  1. The animal, once transposed from the mirror, is to be caught in the free hand of the Conjurer and presented for the wonderment of the Client.
    7-Addendum: Animals once transposed in the course of a public summoning conjuration are not under any circumstances to be transposed back through the Mirror; Sorrow-Spiders are to be kept, and other animals pursuant to guideline 6b may be offered freely to the Client, kept, disposed of, or sold for the profit of the Conjurer to the Echo Bazaar.

  2. The assistant, whether having completed the Sorrow-Spider transposition or not, is to flee his hiding place within earshot of the Conjurer with the Mirror and, if applicable, the Sorrow-Spider.
    edited by Mdnthrvst on 6/19/2014

2

This was inspired by my character’s recent promotion to Conjurer and the general lack of detail offered regarding what that actually entails. I surmised that there would probably be a manual of some sort detailing the various tricks and seductions sanctioned by the Embassy, and so I wrote this excerpt.

3

A very interesting read, and I got lost in the fine print. Just like in real fine print!