Incantations101 Focus on Intention

Another piece for . She's kneeling, in case it isn't clear. And she's casting incantations on coins, that is what the two small round things are. Apparently, this incantation has a slight side effect of giving one wind blown hair when it binds the person casting and the coin...

(I'm starting a new job and wanted to get all these turned in so I can catch up on some back owed Halloween art I promised someone, and I want to do some freebie/giftie art fun with some other Otherworlde OC's for some cool people who are friend's of Natia's.)



Natia researched multiple books, including Professor Razik's recommended Incantations and Spells: Connecting to the Framework of Your Surroundings, regarding incantations and spoken spells focusing on the use of intention. She had taken some books from the library the other night to finish her potions assignments, and grabbed several volumes that she felt would help her with her Incantations assignment. So now Natia lay sprawled out on the floor, surrounded by open books and several loose pieces of parchment with her notes scribbled on them. "I really need to gather all these into a journal someday," Natia mused as she flipped another page of a book titled Intentions and Casting: A Guide for Hexes and Charms.

Natia began writing her paper to turn in, grabbing a fresh piece of parchment to write on.

In my research, I have found that the commonly accepted school of thought is that intention influences the tone of the spell. If the intention of the caster is good or positive the spell will be helpful in its actions toward the target, while bad or negative intentions will cause misfortune toward the target. For example two coins are enchanted with the same spell, allowing the caster to be able to let the bearer of the coin know they are being summoned or to send a short message, but one is cast with a positive intention while the other is cast with a negative intention. The positive intention causes the coin to sing a pleasing melody when the bearer is being summoned, while the negative intention causes the coin to burn hot, often causing mild pain to the bearer.

Natia stopped writing, thinking back on her experience in the dungeon with Al for Shamanism last month. They originally did not focus on intent with their assignment because they did not understand at the time how important it was. The way the assignment was explained to them, they were supposed to summon a demon or spirit in the dungeon with a song or story or by using a cursed object, and they had chosen to use songs from their cultures. Because Al used a violent song in summoning a demon, as he had hoped for, the intent by default was negative and resulted in Al going into a catatonic state after the wolf demon he summoned touched him with some sort of spiritual blood. Natia's original song was about two lovers from warring tribes who stood against the warring factions on the field of battle, and were slaughtered by their kinsmen, and she had chosen this song in hopes of summoning a demon. Natia had unknowingly changed her intent to a more positive tone when she changed her song to a sad one about the experience she and Al shared in the dungeon in hopes of summoning a spirit who would take pity on their plight and help them. This was a conscious choice on her part, she knew she wanted to summon a spirit to help her, so even though the summoning song was sad itself, the result was positive. This was how Natia learned for herself the impact intent had on any type of casting and the importance of knowing exactly what intent you want to use in order to be prepared for the results.

Natia quickly added this experience and her revelation to her paper. However, she felt that relying solely on her past experience with another assignment was a bit like cheating, so Natia decided to test the coin theory on two fellow students to prove the impact of intentions in casting, with the plan of recording the results in her paper. She decided Al and Jordanna would be the perfect subjects for this little experiment. Because Al was her friend and she was fond of him, Natia decided to give him the coin she would cast a spell on with a positive intention, and that she will also inform him of the coin's purpose. Since she was still a little miffed with Jordanna for the trick she played on Natia earlier with a certain incantation, Natia decided she would sneak the other coin into her pocket as a surprise, figuring Jordanna won't really be harmed by the burning coin but still upset that some one might give her a hexed object. She wrote out her plan for this test of her theory as part of her paper, then closed the books and went to her desk to see if she could find some loose coins for her project.

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Natia sat in her darkened room, thankful that her roommate, Coldie, was off in one of her classes for a while. She cleansed the room with a bundle of white sage and cast her circle, finding this skill to be quite helpful as of late. Once her circle was sealed, Natia quickly pulled two copper coins from her pocket, one polished and new and one slightly scratched and old. She decided to cast the incantation over Al's coin first, concentrating on how the coin would help her reach out to her friend when it was important or to warn him about something. Something about Al's adorable, yet slightly reckless, nature made Natia want to protect him. When she was certain she was ready to cast, she spoke her incantation and felt the energy flow through her and into the newer coin as the bond was formed. She spoke Al's name once, slowly and clearly, to bond the coin to Al when she called for him. When this was finished she put the coin to the side.

Now it was time to cast an incantation over Jordanna's coin. Seeing as she didn't hate Jordanna so much as just wanted to get mild revenge on her for the prank, Natia was careful to remind herself that the girl was generally friendly toward her, and how much Natia enjoyed chatting with her prior to the prank. Ugh, I can't believe I fell for it. But it was kind of funny...and no one got hurt. Natia didn't want to risk harming the girl if she was wrong about how Jordanna's sense of touch worked, so she was careful to only imaging the coin growing warm instead of hot to let the girl know Natia was calling her. Except that Jordanna wasn't going to know it was Natia, since she decided to slip the coin to her as a prank. Natia grinned and began casting the incantation again, reveling in the confusion she expected Jordanna would have. Again she felt the flow of energy go through her and into the older coin as the bond was formed. "Jordanna," she said. Natia opened her eyes and looked at the coins for a moment before slipping them back into her pocket. She quickly reopened her circle and removed the stones she had set to form the edge of her circle.

Natia stood, looking at her door, a bit concerned about actually using the coins now, more so with Jordanna's coin. She didn't want to cause anyone undo suffering. She reached into her pocket and withdrew the coins. She laid them side by side on her desk. "Al," she whispered, and the coin began to ring out a tiny tune sounding a bit like a wind chime in the breeze. Natia grinned. "Jordanna," she said, a bit bolder now. She tentatively touched the coin with her finger to find it growing warmer, but not hot enough to burn anyone. Natia sighed with relief, she didn't want to risk harm to anyone over a prank.

She quickly pocketed the coins and ran out the door to look for Al and Jordanna, glad to know her incantations had done what she had hoped they would. She would make sure the coins reached their targets and have a little fun with Jordanna's coin for a bit, then she planned to return to her room and document how the coins worked with their targets, relieved to know she could report that the incantations with different intent preformed as she had theorized.

But, most of all, Natia was happy to know she could now try to influence charms to protect her friends, and just in time, because her friend Mira recently told her she was having problems sleeping. Natia wanted to make her a nightlight in the form of a crystal that softly glowed when it grew dark around the bearer. She hoped she could find an incantation that would help her do that.

Word Count: 1406