Date: Mon, 8 Aug 94 13:52 PDT
From: (Nicholas Fang) <fang@cse.ogi.edu>
Subject: New version : Agbaar's Guide to the Isles

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----------------Agbaar's Guide to the Isles, ver 1.1------------------
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        After landing on the secluded island, you have trudged to no end
though the boggy and rainy terrain. You feel that you must have
reached your destination by now, yet the trail continues on, as far as
you can see.
        Your destination, is the dwelling of Agbaar, the Abjurer. He
has until now remained secluded, however you have come to appeal to
him for knowledge of his art, the mighty and mysterious powers of the
air and the sea.
        You continue your hike, walking on and on, and still you have
not found any signs of the abjurer's domain.
        Suddenly, you find yourself frozen, and unable to move, and as
you stand there, the mist and rain clears, and the surroundings change
abruptly. You can see the abjurer as he removes the phantasmal terrain
from around you as you watch in amazement.
        "You are surely persistant for a mage yet untrained," says
Agbaar, as he completes the transformation. "Your dedication is indeed
remarkable, and it merits attention. Come, I will enlighten you on the
arts of abjuration," he says, and teleports the two of you to his
tower in the distance.
---
        You find yourself seated next to the mysterious mage, as he
begins to tell you of his craft.
        "Blue is many things. It is the magic of Tempestry, the water,
Aeromancy, the air, Abjuration, negation, Illusion, Manipulation, and
Control. However, no matter which you would go by, all will agree that
blue is a magic of frustration. Many times have I been assured a
victory solely because of an opposing mage losing hope and sanity, as
frustration and annoyance overcomes them. The psychological effects of
blue are surely as powerful as the physical effects. I shall never
forget the time I faced the red mage, and I had venomed 2 of his
mountains. He winced as he took 4 damage casting out his admittedly
fearsome Shivan Dragon. I didn't even blink once as I sent the dragon
back to the mage with my Unsummon spell. Of course, he could not
resist the sheer power, so he cast it again. Again, I sent it back. A
third time he cast it, for a total of 12 damage. You can imagine the
frustration of his when I blasted it with the pure force of blue. But
more on this later."
        "Blue has unarguably the most effective type of magic that
exists...that of negating other magics. Green has its power of
creatures, Red has its massive powers of deestruction, White has its
protective powers, and Black has it's Evil powers of sorcery and
creatures. However, all of this amounts to nothing, if the mages of
these colors find themselves unable to conjure anything. Indeed, no
magic in the world will help you if it does naught but Fizzle."
        Agbaar pauses, and scratches his head as you nod your
understanding. "There are two main types of abjuration," he continues,
"the countering of spells yet to be cast and the countering of spells
that already have been cast. The abjuration powers of blue cover both
of these." "Do you understand the extent of the abjuration spells of
blue that cover spells yet to be cast?" he asks you. You shake your
head, certain that your knowledge is lacking.
        "Let me enumerate the spells that the blue mage has at his
disposal for the countering of spells being cast. For the mundane,
simplest way to counter a spell, we have the blanket spell
Counterspell, which will render any spell useless for the cost of only
2 blue mana. In the same vein, is the newly created spell Mana Drain,
which has much the same effect for the same cost, but takes in the
amount of mana of the countered spell in colorless mana with which you
can do what you wish. However, be careful that you do not suck in more
than you can expend, as this mana is capable of doing you great harm.
        For specific spells, we have several devices. When facing the
summoning of a creature that you do not wish to deal with, we have the
option of removing its soul with Remove Soul before it comes into
being. When facing spells that are hurtled at us with great speed, we
have the Flash Counter. This is a valuable spell when facing a fellow
abjurer. Finally, when facing those mages of destruction, we have the
Blue Elemental Blast, a blast of pure force that will destroy anything
red.
        For all types of spells, there are also the two most basic
spells of abjuration. For the less costly of spells, there is the
Spell Blast, which utterly destroys the coherence of a spell for but
the cost of one blue mana and the amount of mana that the spell to be
destroyed cost. For more costly spells, there is the Power Sink, which
drains the very mana out of both the spell and the caster, who must
make up the diffference if possible, or be drained if it is not. Power
Sink is also a very valuable spell for it's ability to drain the
opponent of all of their mana. Then, for the times where the opponent
has expended every last drop of mana on spells and you have little
mana remaining yourself, there is the Force Spike, which causes a
blockading spike of energy that costs the caster of the targeted spell
one additional mana to overcome. Oftentime, especially in the
beginning of a duel, this one mana can be the most important one."
        Agbaar stretches, and pulls out a weathered tome of magic,
very think and, as far as you can tell, very full of tricks. "Ahh
yes," he says, "That gives you a total of 32 spells with which to
counter your opponents spells, given that your memory cannot retain
more than 4 copies of each spell at a time...Counterspell, Spell
Blast, Power Sink, Force Spike, Flash Counter, Remove Soul, Mana
Drain, and Blue Elemental Blast. However, for those times that you are
not ready, and do not have one of these spells prepared, then you must
fall on your second line of defense, the manipulations that affect the
spells already in play.
        There are several things that you can do to spells in play in
the form of creatures, lands, and enchantments. The first, one of my
favorites, is to send it back to the caster's memory. Like the case
above with the Shivan Dragon, Unsummon is a formidable tool for
undoing the casting of a creature. Oftentimes, Unsummon can be used
when you did not have a counter handy, but have since recalled another
abjuration. You unsummon it, and then blast it on the way out again.
        Even more effective than Unsummon is Boomerang, as it can
affect not only those creatures, but also lands, artifacts, and
enchantments as well. This is definitely the best spell for returning
things to the nothingness from whence they came.
        An important point to remember about these two spells is that
they are both instants, and they can be cast at any time, even during
battle. There are a lot of timing nuances involved that the novice may
not be aware of." You nod your head in recognition. "Unsummons are
best used on the defense, when you have many more options," continues
Agbaar, "but during the attack, you can safely retrieve a creature of
your destined to die before it takes damage. However, the common
misconception of unsummoning their creatures after the defense has
been declared unfortunately doesn't work, as once a defense is
declared, blocked creatures do no damage to your opposing mage,
regardless of what happens to the blocker.
        On the defense, there are several things that you can
do. Using the same rule that an attacker does no damage to you once it
is blocked, you can unsummon your creatures that would be in danger if
they blocked, and safely keep both the creature and your life
points. You could also use the unsummon on a creature that you were
unable or unwilling to block, as well as on one that could kill one of
your creatures.
        There are several other uses of the Boomerang and
Unsummon. Besides unsummoning your opponent's things to counter when
they are recast, and the uses in battle, there is also the fact that
they will destroy any enchantments on any thing that is returned to
it's caster, a handy thing in it's own. If one of your permanents has
been cursed with an evil enchantment, you can Boomerang it and recast
it, purifying it from the enchantment. Likewise, if an opponent's
permanent is enchanted to his benefit, Boomerang it and watch their
helpful enchantments go to waste."
        Here, Agbaar pauses, as he flips a page in his ancient
tome. "Ahh yes, and then there are the powers for which you can allow
their spells to go unchecked...temporarily. There are the powers of
subversion and of corruption that blue possesses that make even the
most useful of their spells into your tools.
        For creatures, there are several things to do. First, you can
bond the creature to your opponent with Creature Bond. It's subsequent
destruction will cause your opponent anguish and pain. In the same
vein, you can cause the creature to Backfire, and it will do as much
damage to it's vile owner as it does to you. Finally, and best of all,
using such tools as Control Magic and the elusive Old Man of the Sea,
you can take control of these creatures, and they will serve you as if
they were your own. Little is better for razzling your opponent's
state of mind.
        You can also cause them to fall into trances with the help of
two very useful spells. Placing a Glyph of Delusion onto a wall will
cause the aggressor to fall into a deluded trance, and the more
powerful the creature, the longer the paralyzation. If you have no
walls handy, or are looking for a longer solution, try some powder
from Venaria...Venarian Gold will keep even the largest of creatures
sleeping for as long as you have spent mana on.
        However, this is not the extent of our creature manipulations
and illusions. There are several less common spells that are quite
effective at manipulating creatures. The Time Elemental can return a
permanent once per turn that is unenchanted to the owner's hand, like
a permanent form of the Boomerang. The best thing is, if a permanent
is enchanted, you can return the enchantment to their hand and then
return the permanent. And then, in a powerful enchantment of the seas,
you can Invoke Prejudice on their creatures, doubling the cost of
their creatures. And Telekinesis will freeze their creatures, making
their attack futile and wielding them unusable for a score of time."
        At this point, Agbaar scratches his chin and starts again.
"Not all of the manipulations affect the opponent's creatures. Some of
them can be of equal use on their creatures and on yours, in the right
situations. Unstable Mutation can give a creature a temporary
boost. Useful for the last few points of damage on your side, and
useful on an opponent's creature for the slow degeneration. Coupled
with the aforementioned Glyph of Delusion and Venarian Gold, this
spell can be a slow and sleepy death.
        The Anti-Magic Aura and the Spectral Cloak can be used on both
your creatures and your opponent's with good results both ways. An
opponent who relies heavily on creature enchantments may be devastated
when they no longer can enchant their creatures, thanks to the
Anti-Magic Aura. On the other hand, an important creature of yours can
be kept safe with the use of a Spectral Cloak.
        Teleport can be the fatal blow in a long drawn out battle,
when one of your large creatures, for example an Island Fish, suddenly
dematerializes, and then rematerializes to strike your opponent into
submission. Teleport can also save your creatures from those lured
Basilisks and Cocatrices, as well as the newly spawned Infernal Medusa.
        Silhouette can also have good use when played on your
opponent's creatures. One case in point is the ... " Agbaar
hesitiates, and then spits out a word as if it was an anathema. "Rukh
Egg. If your opponent lightning bolts their own Rukh Egg to speed the
hatching of the Rukh inside, you can Silhouette it to cause his spell
to strike the wrong image," chuckles Agbaar. "Of course, Silhouette
can also be used to keep your own creatures safe from those damnable
Fireballs and Disintegrates, all those cowardly defenses of Red. That
is, if you don't just counter them first," smiles Agbaar. He is
clearly pleased with the thought. "There are even more spells than
this, which I will not go into now. There is much more to talk about
that is more important.
        Speaking of red, we move now into the realm of Geomantic
manipulation, the changing and manipulation of lands. Just imagine the
look on the faces of all red mages when a Volcanic Eruption not only
destroys their precious mountains, but," chuckles Agbaar," destroys
all of their puny creatures to boot. And the 'power' of the forests is
nothing when Acid Rain destroys them all.
        Land Equilibrium can be deadly for an opponent, causing them
to lose a land for each they play if they have more land than
you. Coupled with the Dingus Egg, this can seriously hamper their
development.
        Not only can we destroy the lands in these way, but the evil
powers spawned in The Dark will give us the ability to destroy lands
in yet unknown ways.
        If you are not in the mood for destroying lands, you can also
change and corrupt them. Imagine their glee when your hordes of
islanwalking creatures find no islands to shelter them. Now imagine
their horror when right before their eyes, one of their precious
Plateaus is transformed into an island, and hear their screams of
surrender as your creatures tromp all over them. The power of changing
lands and giving islandwalking to creatures through the use of
Fishliver Oil is truly a remarkable one.
        Psychic Venom is a truly remarkable spell, causing mental
anguish upon the release of mana from any land. Multiple copies of
this spell can be deadly with the use of such useful spells as Mana
Short, Twiddle, and Drain Power, each of which taps their lands.
        Sindbad gives us the ability to quickly search for land,
whereas the Serendib Djinn extracts a cost of land for the benefits of
it's awesome powers.
        Artifacts can be both copied and controlled by the magic of
blue, with the use of Copy Artifact and Steal Artifact,
respectively. But this is not all that can be done. Through the
prodigious work of Drafna, at the College of Lat-Nam, we have the
power to return artifacts, change them, gain knowledge from them, and 
reconstruct one or even several of them (through the use of Hurkyl's
Recall, Transmute Artifact, the Sage of Lat-Nam, Reconstruction, and
Drafna's Restoration. However, not many people know
of the use of Drafna's Restoration on your opponent, to return to his
library all of those worthless artifacts that have already expired
their purpose. This greatly stunts their growth.
        Enchantments are not free from the wrath of blue either, as
they can be Feedbacked to cause damage to their controller, or can be
Power Leaked, to extract a toll of mana from their controller.
        There are many, many more spells of manipulation. Recall, to
return from the grave, Sleight of Mind and Magical Hack to change
spells themselves, Flight and Jump, to give the power of the air to
creatures, Field of Dreams, to give a forshadowing, Relic Bind, to get
even greater use from artifacts, and many more even. I may enumerate
more if necessary for your later training.
        Last, but definitely not least, are the powers of aeromancy
and tempestry, the creatures of the seas and the skies. The power of
islandwalking is not to be underestimated, as is the power of
flight. Both give blue creatures an advantage normally hard to
acquire.
        Blue has a wide range of creatures, from the Merfolk and their
Lord to the Island Fish and the Mahmoti Djinn. Many consider the
Flying Men one of the best creature investments, and easily bolstered
by an Unstable Mutation. The elementals of water and air are forces to
be reckoned with, and Phantasmal Forces and the Phantom Monster have a
strong hold in the air. The Zephyr Falcon has the stealth of attack
seldom elsewhere seen, and is the cheapest creature with this ability
outright."
        Agbaar shuts his tome. "I hope you have learned much, but this
is but a fraction of the powers of blue. Do visit me again sometime,
and I shall enlighten you yet again. And remember...the magic of
negating magic will defeat all other magics in the end."
        Suddenly, you find yourself where you began...and there is not
a tower in sight...

--Agbaar the Abjurer, Mage of Blue

----------------- 
This document was written as a treatise on blue magic by Nicholas
J. Fang (fang@orange.cse.ogi.edu). Feel free to distribute as you
wish...although I'd appreciate it if my name was on it somewhere.
Thanks go to Mercenary and Canticle for their invaluable assistance.
-----------------

P.S. Note : Is this interesting and helpful to you all? Comments are
welcomed and appreciated. As you can all tell, I am more of a
strategist than a writer, so if you are looking for a good story, go
seek Canticle or Morgan. Please tell me what you would like to see in
the future.

Nicholas Fang                Interactive Systems (Media) Group Intern
NFAgbaar@aol.com             Computer Science and Engineering Dept.
fang@orange.cse.ogi.edu      Oregon Graduate Institute, Portland, OR
