Draft:Sceptre of High Magic
| & | |
| Type | Artifact |
|---|---|
| Base value (Au) | 1000 |
| Item level | 10 |
| Weight | 1000 |
| Unidentified appearance | Extremely Heavy Stick |
| Cursed name | Sceptre of High Magic |
The Sceptre of High Magic is an artifact found in the court beneath Archmage's Castle. Possessing it makes the Throne of High Magic usable, and activating it opens a portal back to that court. The portal and throne rewards share one use per calendar date.[1]
Generation
The Sceptre lies on the throne square, (32, 19) in the court's local coordinates, while it has not been recorded as taken. It is a ground object underneath the initial Archmage, not his carried reward and not the reward for becoming head of the Collegium. His carried Kolwynia is a separate artifact.[2]
Talk to the peaceful Archmage to make him leave the throne, then collect the Sceptre. Resolve any attempt to obtain Kolwynia before that conversation, because his departure does not drop his possessions. Decline the invitation to sit until the Sceptre is in your inventory or pack. Merely standing on its ground square does not satisfy the possession check.[3]
Ordinary random-object generation excludes the Sceptre's initial reserved state. Taking it prevents another normal court placement, and the throne's eventual destruction of it does not reopen that source.[4]
Portal activation
Use A → a with the Sceptre in accessible inventory. It needs no mana, and its own portal effect does not require identification or a blessing. It is not an ordinary weapon or charge-using staff despite its appearance.[5]
| Situation | Result |
|---|---|
| Neither portal nor throne has used the current date | A portal is offered; accepting takes you to the court entrance at (32, 2) |
| Portal declined | You remain in place, but that date's use is spent |
| Astral Plane or Circle's demesne | No portal; that date's use is still spent |
| Date already used | No portal and no additional throne reward |
The marker is shared by all Sceptres and the throne. It initially equals date 0, so that date is unavailable even before a first use. New games choose a random starting date; this is a date-zero exception, not a restriction on every character's first day.[6]
Throne rewards
The throne accepts the Sceptre in accessible inventory or the pack. Wielding it, identifying it and activating its portal are not prerequisites. Sitting without it erases known spells, sets current Power to 3, mana to zero and HP to 1, then invokes harmful dispelling.[7]
| Successful use | Reward or consequence |
|---|---|
| 1 | +5 current and maximum Strength |
| 2 | +5 current and maximum Constitution |
| 3 | +5 current and maximum Dexterity |
| 4 | +5 current and maximum Agility |
| 5 | +5 current and maximum Intelligence |
| 6 | +5 current and maximum Power |
| 7 through 17 | Learn wishing if it is not currently known; otherwise receive no new power |
| 18 | The throne becomes rubble and one carried Sceptre is destroyed |
Only a date-eligible sitting with the Sceptre advances this sequence. Sitting while wishing is already known still spends that stage. Portal uses consume a date but do not advance the throne's cumulative count. The seventh sitting does not shatter the throne; the destructive branch is the eighteenth.[8]
Strategy
Plan court visits around the calendar. Using the Sceptre to arrive prevents a reward on that same date, so arrive before a date change or reach the court by its ordinary dungeon route when an immediate reward matters. The court's upward escalator exits directly to the countryside, avoiding a climb back through all sixteen castle levels.[9]
Once the first six rewards are claimed, the remaining non-destructive sittings can replace knowledge of wishing after the spell has been successfully used and forgotten. Do not spend those sittings merely to hear the refusal while wishing remains known. Kolwynia is another source of that spell, but the throne's +5 attribute rewards and the Key's maximum-Power doubling are different benefits.[10]
At weight 1,000, the Sceptre is a substantial burden. Keeping it in the pack still permits the throne check; move it to accessible inventory only when you need its portal. Ordinary artifact enchantment does not recharge the shared date or reset the reward count, and an intact Sceptre can retaliate against enchantment.[11]
References
- ↑ iinit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 432; env.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 260–268; itemf3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 23–46; move.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 857–947.
- ↑ lib/court.dat in Omega 0.90.4; env.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 260–268; lev.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 450–460; mon.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 563–570.
- ↑ mtalk.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 681–704; mmove.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 228–241; move.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 857–875; inv.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 1600–1623.
- ↑ item.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 7–41; inv.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 636–640; lev.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 450–460; move.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 928–942.
- ↑ command2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 100–128; itemf3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 23–46; iinit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 432; inv.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 1536–1572.
- ↑ itemf3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 23–46; aux2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 889–899; omega.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 118–120; omega.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 355–361.
- ↑ move.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 857–880; inv.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 1600–1623.
- ↑ move.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 876–947; itemf3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 23–46.
- ↑ itemf3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 23–46; move.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 876–947; env.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 307–310; move.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 952–963.
- ↑ spell.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 8–25; move.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 914–942; itemf3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 292–308.
- ↑ iinit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 432; inv.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 1600–1623; effect1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 54–114.