Cypher's Book of Runica

## Introduction

Cypher's Book of Runica is her way to keep track of different parts of her Runica, those being the sigils, marks, and brands she uses to cast magic. It holds no magical power in and of itself, but it does help translate her sigils and marks in case that is ever needed.

Cypher keeps this book on her at most times, with her journal. She's had it since she began training with her powers. She's unlikely to part with it due to it possibly being used against her.

The rest of the information here is described from Cypher's perspective:

## Elementa

So my book has a couple main parts to it. The first bit is about the primary part of runica, those being known as *Elementa*. As you can probably guess, they determine the element being cast.

My main element is force. I can draw and cast it fairly easily. It was the first I learned and I still believe the most important of all my elements. Lightning is the next, and then fire. I recently unlocked the ability to cast ice through sigils. While it took being in a difficult situation, my ability to cast it exceeds the others when I first learned them. Anyways, that's that. Just always draw the *Elementa* first, otherwise your giving your spells no substance.

## Mandates

Next bit is the actual casting part of the runica, *Mandates*! Completing this part casts the spell immediately (or I guess, primes it in the case of marks). So be ready for that. I'm saying this like you'll cast these spells. Which I believe is literally impossible, but just in case.

Combining *Mandates* with *Elementa* gives you actual runica, which leads to an actual effect (this is good). Note that the effects of *Mandates* can vary between the elements, although they are similar, especially for the simpler mandates. Blast is gonna blast that element, whether it be a blast of force, a blast of fire, or a blast of lightning.

For the *Mandate*s, here is a brief description:

* Blast launches element in a short but immediate direction from point of casting.
* Hold keeps the element in hand, to be thrown farther away and to greater effect than just blasting.
* Ward creates some sort of barrier, either held in hand or place nearby.
* Pluck is similar to blast in its effect, but occurring from a point behind the target of the casting.
* Enchant surrounds the target of the cast in the element, while keeping them (mostly) safe from its effects.
* Hex curses the target with a minor but lasting effect from the element.
* Fold surrounds the target in the element, similar to enchant but inverse, blasting the target inside with the element.
* Nova explodes the element from the point of casting (as in, me, or a mark, I guess. I prefer blast marks to nova marks though).
* Barrage launches a heavy in strength amount of the element from a point above the target, like a far casted held spell.

These are written in the order of difficulty of the spell. This combines with the elementa to determine how much it actually tires me out. A short blast of force isn't really tiring, but a barrage of fire can make me almost pass out.

## Combinations

I have names for each combination to better describe their effects, listed in this table.

## Brands

I don't detail brands in this book as they frequently change with state of body or object. But I will briefly describe them.

Body brands are painted ink on skin. My skin that is. They give minor but helpful boosts to my ability. They have *Elementa* like sigils and marks, but instead of *Mandates*, they have *Binds*. These determine the actual effect of the *Elementa*. My main brands are force-strength, lightning-speed, and fire-vigor. It gives me a comfortable boost on the standard person, although in the face of supers, it just lets me keep up sometimes.

Weapon brands are more interesting and allow my normally dulled glaive to gain a sharp edge, melt through armor, or even jolt with lightning. They also use *Elementa* and *Binds* like body brands. They can make it so my glaive feels lighter, yet more durable, than a standard steel weapon. My main brands for my glaive are force-durable, lightning-weight, with the castable brands being force-sharpen, fire-pierce, and lightning-lance.

Note that brands wear off over time, especially with overuse of magic or anti-magic being used on the bearer. Overuse of magic can cause the brands to burn hot, leaving minor burn marks before flaking off. Anti-magic does the same, although the burning is quite reduced (thankfully). Even without those happening, brands should be washed off and rebrushed every week, to maintain proper ability. I do recommend, as with all my ink, to use waterproof ink, so you don't have to redo brands every time you take a shower. I'm getting off-topic, but it is important! Use good ink!

## Conclusion

So there you have it. Runica in all their glory. Note that runica are unique to the person who uses them. My mother has different ones than I do. They are created after enough training with normal runes that me and my mother's powers can shorten them, basically. But I'm getting off topic. If you have found this book forgotten somewhere, please return it to Ivy Noverre, who also goes by the alias of Cypher. Thanks and don't use this knowledge against me!